Mission Midoriya || A RuthTheNerd MHA fanfiction||

Chapter 27: Noticed

Meiying sprung into the dorms with the grace of a dancer, her black cape billowing around her. The students rushed inside to follow her, but she kept running, hoping to lose them and give the children enough time to hide somewhere with their parents. Already, the effort to keep the portal up and run away from athletic, brawny teens was exhausting her. 

Downstairs, however, a few strayed near the entrance, eyes watching idly as a middle-aged man fell out of the portal, and the three newcomers greeted him with confusion.

"Wow!" Ochako muttered, her face pressed against the glass. "This is surreal."

"Quite so," Iida agreed. "It's not too often you are part of situations such as these, even in superhero training."

"Exactly! It's just that I have so many questions, but I didn't ask them." Ochako frowned.

Izuku scooted closer to the window. "Why?"

"Well, they were already being bombarded with them. And Ryo did look very stressed...I can't imagine how that's like, landing somewhere without any idea how to get home."

"Yeah...but I feel like she was moving around some of those questions," Izuku said thoughtfully.

"Moving around?" Ochako raised an eyebrow. "What'd you mean?"

"I mean she was avoiding some of them, like she didn't want us to know about something. I just thought it was a bit suspicious, but they couldn't possibly be telling a lie within a lie...right?"

"I don't think they'd do that, but we don't know much about them, right?" 

"I guess not. But...Ryo's quirk has had me confused for days."

Ochako crossed her legs and blew some strands of brown hair out of her face. "Is it because her quirk is like yours?"

"It's exactly like mine. It just doesn't make sense."

"How do you know it's exactly like yours? I mean, quirks that are identical aren't abnormal, right?"

Izuku bit his lip from saying more. "You're right. I guess I've just been overthinking."

Ochako giggled and patted his back affectionately. "Aren't you always?"

He weakly laughed, but the truth was that Ryo's quirk was just like his, which shouldn't have been possible unless...

She was the next holder of One For All.

He'd thought about it for weeks, feeling awfully paranoid. Perhaps she just had green lightning powers or something? It wasn't necessarily impossible, but the more he thought the more improbable it seemed. He felt a certain sensation around her, as if he just knew she was holding One For All, like the energy was tugging at him. Even her moves and battle stances were similar to his. 

And that confirmation made him think more about the future. Why did his future self give his quirk to this girl? Was it just a random girl, or was she his own child? Did that mean he was married? Did he have more kids? If she was a random child, was she quirkless? If she wasn't, what new quirk had been added to the line?

The questions hadn't relented in the past few days, so he had decided to stay away from Ryo to avoid them from resurfacing. Despite this, there was just something strange about her, how every flinch and gesture was familiar in a way he knew. It was like looking at a reflection of himself - she wasn't identical to him, yet still carried some of the same behaviors and looks. Those bright, large, information-sucking irises haunted him. 

Izuku desperately wanted answers.

He hadn't been able to store the growing anguish without at least one person finding out. Ochako had singled him out during training and asked, but he'd swerved around her questioning. It wouldn't matter anyways, Ryo would soon be gone, and naturally, the questions would linger before disappearing. No sense wondering about something that would leave, right?

Izuku knew how wrong that notion was. Who was he kidding? 

His attention turned back to the window. Iida had wandered off, stating that he had assignments to finish, but he and Ochako were still staring at the white portal, the energy whipping and curling like steam. The older man had brushed off his coat and was now conversing with Toshi, who dragged him into a hidden alcove. Everyone but Ryo followed, leaving her alone. She stood, her body outlined by the bright glow of the portal's light, making her look godly in some ways.

"Who are they waiting for?" Ochako murmured. In her intense concentration, she had accidently activated her quirk and was floating angelically. 

"I'm not sure. Maybe a-a..." he stopped talking. A silhouette appeared from the portal, large and brawny. Green flashed before their eyes. Ochako dropped with a loud thud, her shock causing her to lose control over her quirk.

Himself. It was him. But...not him.

Izuku, reeling from shock, nearly tripped on a cream-colored bolster in his attempts to regain stability. Ochako blew hot breaths against the window and wiped the glass furiously with her palms. No good. The man was still there and definitely him. 

He ran a gloved hand through his curly green hair, looking just as baffled as them. His hero suit was the same as the one Izuku currently owned, with a few minor changes on the waist belt and boots. Freckles covered his face and the emerald shine of his eyes were dimmed underneath the shadow of the looming building. 

"That's...that's..." Ochako stuttered, unable to build words.

"Me. Future me." Izuku finished, his tone everlastingly final. There was no other explanation.

"Ooh. You...er, look so...." her face flushed, and he felt his turning crimson as well. There was no need to finish that sentence. His build had changed, and for the better, too.

Another figure dropped down next to Future Him, though his body blocked whoever it was. His expression turned fond, and he stepped backwards to properly meet them, and that was when Ochako gasped.

Or rather, gasped into a sequence of unattractive choking noises. Either way, the shock had shaken up her system for the second time, and Izuku's as well.

This time, it was future Ochako. She was taller and her gaze was fierce, full of determination. It was a look that suited her well. She pressed her hand on Future Izuku's shoulder and hauled herself out of the portal, which seemed to be dragging her in somehow. She gracefully landed on the pavement below, her large, pink boots making a click sound as they met with the ground.

"It's me..." Ochako blurted out in awe. 

Izuku could hardly believe what they were seeing, yet it made sense considering the three strangers' situation. 

"Ah. I see you've found them."

Both Ochako and Izuku flinched and immediately turned around. The black-haired woman was facing them, looking awfully bored. The strain of her fists made it obvious she was tired, but not from all the running she'd done.

"Who are you?" Ochako asked, getting into a defensive pose. The woman laughed weakly and raised her palms.

"I come in peace, as you people like to say."

You people, Izuku noted. She made is sound like she didn't come from here. Didn't belong.

"Show us you come in peace," Ochako muttered, still distrustful. "Where's Aizawa?"

Izuku shrugged. Nowadays their teacher wasn't in the right place at the right time. 

"Great," she huffed. "Well, I'm Uraraka. That's Deku."

"Deku?" Meiying tilted her head, before smirking like she'd just heard the punchline to a clever joke. "Interesting."

Ochako's eyebrows shot down defiantly, and she looked like she might have said something, but Meiying spoke up. "Do you know where that boy slept during his time here?"

"Toshi? He slept in the room over there," Ochako pointed a finger in that direction.

"Good."  She shot up and billowed towards the secluded hallway.

Izuku suddenly regained his voice. "W-wait! Where are you going?"

Meiying shot him a smile as she drifted towards the door. "Easy, child. I'm going home."