Wide eyed, Midoriya Izuku stares at the phone in his hand. His lunch remains on the cafeteria table, half-eaten and abandoned in favour of his latest notebook. Already 'Rewind' is scribbled at the top of the page, followed by a quick sketch of the sidekick. Of All Might's sidekick.

Three months have passed since their first appearance; they'd been caught on camera apprehending some guy who could assemble and reassemble things. To begin with, the media had been under the impression that the duo were vigilantes. However, All Might himself had filed the paperwork at the government office but three hours after the arrest on villain. The paperwork on his new sidekicks. Izuku still can't get over it. Sure, All Might has had sidekicks before, but they'd been support types. Rewind and Dabi, however, are not. Well, Rewind could be, but she chooses not to be. A quirk that can rewind people and objects… and he'd thought Kacchan's quirk was powerful! It's no wonder All Might had snapped her up as a sidekick, even if she hasn't actually been on a hero course in High School. Though, she might have been. Like all of All Might's sidekicks, her identity is shrouded in mystery. The only thing the community at large knows is that her name is Eri. Which is more than they know about her partner.

Dabi is older, perhaps by two or three years, has a quirk known only as 'cremation', and he's a grump. That's it, that's all the solid information Izuku has and he's been looking. Sure, he has notes on his fighting style, has theories and thoughts, but nothing official. Not like the interview Eri had done for All Might weekly, professing her love for cats, bright colours (strange, given her predominantly black costume) and apples. After that interview, a limited-edition Rewind shirt had been released, a bold thing with a cat and apple repeating pattern. It was through sheer chance his mother had been able to get a hold of one for him and while Izuku will never dare wearing it himself, it hangs from one of his walls just like a poster would. He can't wait until their action figures come out.

"I'm gonna be the number one hero! Not these fuckers!" Kacchan is in full throttle, his phone clenched in one hand and his foot stomping down on his now empty chair. He's probably got the same article open that Izuku has. Both of them have alerts for hero news activated, it's the best way to keep up with everything that happens. The most recent thing being a full Team All Might outing to take down villains. Ever since he took on these two new sidekicks, All Might appearances have shot through the roof. It's like the man has a renewed determination; there'd be one day where he'd performed hero duties for sixteen hours straight, only stopping to shove twenty-three hotdogs down his throat halfway between lunch and tea. Even his sidekicks had called it a day after the thirteenth hour, returning only to drag All Might back to his offices at the sixteenth hour. That All Might had gone willingly, even if he'd taken the time to save a cat from a tree on the way back, shows the relationship they have. Izuku is all kinds of jealous.

"Bakugo's all fired up, isn't he?"

"I'm not surprised, what with his goal and all, but now that the media is pegging Rewind or Dabi as All Might's successor." That, that was a bit of a leap. Still, Izuku can understand the hype. All Might taking on sidekicks that have powerful quirks after reducing the amount of his hero time (even if it has shot right back up now), well, it's no wonder that everyone is jumping to those conclusions. Only, Izuku thinks All Might would be pushing the two further into the limelight if that was going to be the case. Maybe he's trying to decide between the two of them, though it doesn't really seem like an All Might thing to do.

"-but then he might be trying to focus on expanding their potential as heroes first…"

"Urgh, Deku's at it again." Blushing, Izuku snaps his mouth and notebook shut, focusing back on his phone. Despite three months in the business, Dabi and Rewind have yet to pose for a photoshoot. People are still getting good shots of the duo with mobile phones though. Even if their hero costumes are mainly black, he still thinks they're cool.

He wonders what Rewind or Dabi would say about a quirkless hero.

.

.

"I can't believe you're wearing that monstrosity." Smoothing down the apple and cat print shirt with one hand, Eri grins over at Touya as she works on flipping the latest pancake in the pan. All Might had left them to it after devouring his own stack, leaving clear instructions that they were to meet him at the train station by eleven o'clock to begin their patrol. She's been here in the past for three months now, been All Might's sidekick for three months and… and she's almost comfortable with it. Almost.

(There's no Dad and no Deku or Lemillion and that hurts, hurts more than she can even begin to describe but she has to grit her teeth and trudge on because there's no other option for it)

"Yeah, well, at least I can stomach bright colours. I don't think I've seen you in anything other than monotone."

Touya flicks her a hard glare, lips pulling down in a frown.

"Untrue. I can manage a dark blue once every full moon."

She snorts, flipping the pancake one last time before sliding it onto a plate. It's the last one of the batch and she pushes it Touya's way, not yet finished her previous one. He slathers it in lemon juice (the heathen) before folding it over (even worse; everyone knows you're supposed to roll a pancake).

As Touya eats, Eri takes her seat at the breakfast bar, one hand toying with the leather bracelet upon her right wrist. It'd been dropped off at All Might agency a month ago, the first gift she's ever received from a fan before. A little boy whose life she'd saved during their first month of patrolling with the Number One. Speaking of-

Eri turns her attention to the muted TV, watching All Might rush onto the scene to help in a mugging. She could do nothing other than heal the greatest hero in the world, for better or worse. It's going to screw the timeline six says to Sunday, but given that she'd already managed to write her younger self out of existence, that's a ship that'd long since sailed. Nothing she could do about it now. And speaking of screwing the timeline six ways to Sunday-

Eri flicks a glance towards Touya, watching him chew on his breakfast as if he's not utterly ruined a perfectly good pancake with all that lemonyness. The tiny little pucker marks where the surgical staples had rested in his face remain there; he'd refused her offer to heal them up, stating he didn't mind the scares. Which, given how he'd look before, she's not surprised. If he can come to terms with the mass amount of scar tissue he'd had before… No, she's not gonna focus on that concept too much. Instead, Eri turns her thoughts away from what still scratches and claws as only a history of abuse can and, instead, focuses on the present. Touya (Dabi. Dabi which is his hero-name and isn't that a turn of events?) is still with them. It's been a couple of months and he's still here. He's working with her, working as a sidekick to All Might himself and if that isn't a complete 180, then she doesn't know what else could constitute as one.

"Oi, Short-stack, what's with the look on your face?"

Eri faults slightly at being called out, one hand rising to tap at the edge of her horn again. It's no longer a stump but nor is it wildly out of control either. Right now, she's fine and dandy, as she always is with regular exercise of both her body and quirk. It's only because of Dad that she's this in control, only thanks to his work with her quirk, thanks to Deku's fearlessness and Lemillion's constant encouragements.

"So, it's Short-stack is it, now? Have I been upgraded?" Smiling, Eri leans into Touya's space, white waves of air tumbling over one shoulder to hang before her. Her fellow sidekick huffs, pressing his dry, warm palm to her cheek and pushing her back. His thumb catches at the edge of her lips, forcibly pulling a frown at one corner of her mouth. She probably looks weird but Eri's in too good a mood to care right now.

"Tch. You've been making pancakes all more, stacking them up would probably make a tower as tall as you."

"I am nowhere near that short," Eri insists, one elbow on the table dropping into the bar stool beside Touya as he shoves the last of his dreadful pancake between his teeth.

"Was All Might's injury common knowledge in the future?"

"I- Why ask a question like that?" She's a little blind-sided at the sudden change in conversation, both because it's far off the current topic of insulting her height, and because she hadn't been away All Might had even told Touya he was hurt.

"It's not that big a secret to guess given the hints you've dropped and what I've seen you do. His hero time had been dropping and then, after you show up with the ability to magically heal others, his work hours sky-rocket? Please, don't insult me. The fact he flinches whenever we get too near his left side during training was the final giveaway."

On the TV, the reporter only supports Touya's point, mentioning the long hours All Might has been pulling in the last few months, how it's a three-hundred percent increase on his hero work previously.

Yeah, she might have royally fucked up, but that's one thing she's done one-hundred percent right, healing All Might.

"It was revealed before the whole world in a villain battle about three years from now," Eri confirms, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, slouching into her chair as one hand goes to the hem of her shirt. "He defeated the other, went out on a high, but the true extent of his injury was revealed. It was… it was chaotic after that, what with the League of Villains coming out of the woodwork."

Touya snorts, dropping his unused fork down onto the china plate, scratching at the side of his face where red fuzz lays. He forgets about it a lot, the shaving thing that is. Probably a result of all that dead skin; the hair follicles had probably been utterly destroyed until she'd worked her magic. Whenever he notices the facial fuzz, Touya's quick to find a razor, almost obsessive as soon as he realises he's got a five o'clock shadow going on. Clean face is clearly a preference for him.

"League of Villains. What a ridiculous name."

Strangling a laugh into a cough beneath her breath, Eri gathers her hair up and binds it into a ponytail, ensuring the bobble holds it tight.

"I agree. Come on, we've only got a half hour to make it to the train station for patrol."

She's relatively certain Touya mutters a "fucking patrol," under his breath, but he gets up regardless.

.

Hero costume fully on, Eri bounces out of the car one of All Might's workers dropped them off in, Touya following after her and looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else, the grump. How he's ended up so popular with that apathetic look on his face, Eri's not sure. Probably because he's the pretty one out of them; what with that jawline and intense blue eyes. All Might's the strong, reassuring one, so that leaves her to counteract Dabi's spiritlessness with a Rewind that's relatively sunny. If she's challenging Deku and Lemillion a bit… well, no one will know. It's her way of holding onto them, no one can judge her for it because no one knows.

A hand clamps down on her wrist, reeling her back.

"Slow down, Short-stack. He's not even here yet."

Huffing, Eri turns to eye Touya in his 'Dabi' get up, inspecting the long coat. Dabi'd been before her time, after all. She'd been busy, focused on her studying and internships and her upcoming official licence.

"Would it kill you to look like you're invested in your job?"

"I only took this up to stay out of jail," Touya grunts, his voice pitched low enough that no one else would hear his words. He's released her wrist now, stuffing his hand into the pocket of his pants. Neither of them have particularly colourful outfits, what with their primary colour being black. Though All Might had tried steering them towards something brighter… well, it turns out they were about level when it came to sheer stubbornness.

"And look at how many other people we're putting in there," Eri chimes back, threading her arm through his, pulling the slowpoke along towards the front of the train station. A few people are starting to look their way, beginning to whisper. It's obvious she's a hero, given the cape she wears. Touya's 'Dabi' outfit can almost pass as civilian wear, if it weren't for the hardware material it's made from. Once one person clicks on, others do too; she spots a handful of kids rummaging through their backpacks, undoubtedly reaching for a notepad or book or something for them to sign. Eri loves giving out signatures, loves leaving messages of support and inspiring the next generation.

Touya's a little less crowd friendly than she is though.

"HAHAHA! I AM HERE!" As per usual, All Might drops from the sky, landing in a small cap in the crowd, hands on hips and looking as heroic as ever. Touya doesn't mutter 'show-off' but, given by how hard he rolls his eyes, it's damningly close. It doesn't stop her fellow sidekick from smiling though.

"We're ready for patrol, All Might!" Snapping off a quick salute, Eri bumps her hip into Touya, prompting him to nod.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be."

.

.

How has this become his life?

Three months ago, he'd been getting by. Sure, he'd taken a few shady jobs, but nothing explicitly against the law. He'd been teetering closer and closer to that ledge to villainy as Endeavour continued with his ways and no one stopped him.

Then Eri'd come crashing into his life and proceeded to fuck up a timeline of events, heal the Number One Hero from a life-threatening wound (and hadn't that been a surprise to see; not that he's surprised All Might can keep ahead of Endeavour even when gravely injured, it just proved how big the gap was), and… secure him a job as sidekick to said hero.

(He's got enough income now to put in a standing order for autumn bellflower's now, not just a single one a month, but a small bouquet tied with a single white ribbon, all sent to the same address).

"Dabi, down!"

Touya ducks as Eri (Rewind, she's Rewind when they're on duty) goes sailing over his head. The mass of glass that'd been sailing towards them crumbles into sand particles, filtering away harmlessly to lay out on the floor as Eri rewinds the projectile, the tape around her wrist undone and at the ready to capture the villain before them.

All Might is fighting three at once, leaving two for them and Touya'll be damned if they don't take down their share of the villains before All Might finishes up. He might have been a 'failure', but he's not incompetent.

He sends out a rocket of blue flames and they race for the villain, melting through the walls of glass she puts up in an attempt to block him. As Eri advances on the one the glass yielder had been protecting, Touya makes a move for his own target. He doesn't carry a mass amount of capture tape like Eri does; he'd been trained from a young age to incapacitate, to win in a fight quickly and efficiently. He might have been deemed a failure by that bastard, but he sure as hell knows how to use that training in a fight. A spear of glass becomes a glowing red puddle on the floor and Touya's hands blister from the heat but he pushes through it. It's not something he hasn't experienced before, after all, and it'll be far from the last time he'll get the joys of third-degree burns given his new occupation. Eri'll probably insist on healing him up the second she actually notices the damage he's doing and… and he's okay with that.

(Maybe he'll be able to drum up the courage to go see her now that he doesn't look like a wildfire victim, now that he's almost stable)

A quick palm thrust to the face and the woman goes down, utterly dazed and it only takes another punch to put her out. Perhaps the not most heroic way of capturing a villain, but it works. Efficiency above all as far as Touya is concerned.

There's a thud as All Might lands an attack on the other end of the street, the clouds rearranging themselves overhead after the blow he'd dealt out. That's 'round about the time Eri wraps her own fight up, sitting atop her downed opponent with the loser's wrists tied up behind his back.

The crowd, a respectable distance back to avoid injury but close enough watch, cheer at the sudden finale, chattering and clapping and snapping photos.

The one time he'd followed Endeavour, he'd never seen such a positive reaction from the public. Hell, this is downright pleasant.

It's 'round about this time that Touya realises he has a new goal, something to aspire to in his role as All Might's latest sidekick.

He's going to become a better hero than his fucker of an old man.

Oh, he might not get the same amount of solved cases under his belt, he might not reach the Number Two ranking. But if he can get a higher public approval rating… Yeah. That, that sounds good. He'll get the approval rating, get the people to love him and then… then he'll expose the bastard. He'll show them the difference between true heroes and false heroes. Because if he's trapped working as a sidekick, he's going to damn well use it, work towards his goal of vengeance.

"Oh," Eri's soft whisper breaks through his thoughts, forcibly reeling Touya back to the present. He follows her line of sight, beyond where All Might is speaking to the photographers and reports, focusing in on one particular head in the crowd. It's difficult to tell which one she's looking at, the one with the pig's head or the one with red skin.

"Oi, you looking at scarlet or oinks?"

"The boy with the green hair." The plain looking one? He's got a wild mess of green hair, freckles on the bridge of his nose, and he's frantically scribbling in a notebook. He doesn't look special nor particularly interesting. No obvious quirk as far as he can see (the kid's probably about Shouto's age, come to think of it).

"He's one of the boys that rescued me. He took down Overhaul."

Disbelieving, Touya hisses, "him?" as he looks the kid over again. Nope, still scrawny and plain looking. Doesn't look like much. But this pint-sized kid took down Overhaul? The fucker they'd had such a problem with before All Might literally dropped from the sky to save the day? Well, looks aren't everything, he supposes.

"He's a kid," Eri whispers, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, indecision written across the entirety of her face.

That's what does it for Touya. He didn't get saved, he didn't get to climb out of the pit (Eri'd dragged him out of that one here but, in her timeline? Who knew what'd happened to him) but Eri… she got her hero's cape, she's the one who got her ass saved by genuine heroes. One of which is currently standing before them and looking like a breeze would knock him over. She doesn't have the same connection with this brat anymore. Doesn't mean she can't start a new one.

Fuck it. Touya hasn't signed one autograph yet but it seems that's about to change.

"Come on then, let's go introduce you."

I live! And so does this fic. I'm sorry for the long wait and I can't promise another update for a while, but I'll try?

Tsume
xxx