If he's anything like me - BakuDeku

"Could" isn't Enough

A/N: uh, long chapter. sorry and your welcome, I guess.

The dream was strange. Abstract, Izuku thought. His feet never touched the ground, like he was floating, and yet his body felt the soft compression of gravity, like he was asleep in his bed. He was, wasn't he? This was a dream, wasn't it?

Nana Shimura appeared, a soft smile on her golden face. "You look tired," she said. "In a good way, I think. Tired from growth."

He knew better than to try to speak while in this realm of sorts. Izuku wasn't himself, not entirely. He was experiencing this interaction through the fraction of his soul that he exchanged for the powers of One For All. His soul piece was learning to live in this quantum world within this quirk, piecing together a manual on how to maneuver and flow and speak. The mist claimed part of his body, but not all of it. One For All recognized him, ever so slightly, as the next holder. The next potential symbol of peace.

"The message we sent was a little jagged," Yoichi Shigaraki said, stepping forward. He, too, seemed to be balancing between laying and floating. It gave Izuku a headache to think about. "Probably because you didn't sleep very well."

Izuku thought up an apology, unable to voice the words out loud. Daigoro seemed to understand, manifesting himself behind Izuku to slap a big palm on his back. Like a funny drunk uncle at a cookout. "We already talked to the alternate version of you. Let me tell you, he was a little fucking brat. God forbid I ever have to see his dumb face again."

Izuku frowned.

"Sorry," Daigoro laughed. "I'm not a fan of freckles. All the little dots freak me out."

"Anyways," Nana continued, "we weren't able to talk to him like we're talking to you, since One For All didn't fully recognize him as a holder. With you, we'll be able to explain a little more clearly."

Izuku nodded, listening intently. The vestiges told him everything they knew, from the surprise attack, to Izuku's head wound, to the sudden split-second reality jump. It was nice to have some answers, Izuku thought, but these answers just pushed him to ask more questions. How did the quirk know it was in danger? Does it have a consciousness? Is it sharing or stealing part of the holders' consciousness? Why go back in time? Why now, why here, why–

"Don't stress too much," Yoichi advised. "We don't need to have everything figured out just yet. What you need to focus on is getting back to Yuuei to have Eraserhead cancel the quirk. Then we should be brought back to our current time and rightful location."

Izuku nodded. He didn't like having his questions go unanswered, even if it was only temporarily, but he couldn't argue with Yoichi. Or the author, since it seems they had no idea what the hell was going on, either.

Izuku had to admit, it wasn't a very comforting thought. But it was a thought nonetheless, and Izuku wasn't going to take it for granted. By the sound of it, he could've been dead if it wasn't for the reality jump. The thought of death wasn't appealing to him anymore, not after properly deciding what to do with his future career and sorting through his feelings for Kacchan.

He was going to be an independent hero, not an overused commercialized symbol. And he was going to beat the living shit out of Bakugou Katsuki, and then confess his feelings.

Because Izuku knew that Katsuki was a good person. Well, he could be.

Maybe it was partially his fault that Katsuki turned out the way he did. Izuku had idolized the boy growing up, determined to see that sliver of awesomeness he knew was there somewhere deep down. Izuku had longed for Katsuki to be his savior, for Katsuki to grant him some wish like a genie or fix him up like a fairy godmother. He had waited and waited and waited, sitting through beatings and insults just hoping for Katsuki to turn himself around. Izuku never spoke up, never stood his ground, never even thought he was worth the trouble. If he had been more assertive, would Katsuki have stopped?