Something Different

20: Time

"We've never actually... sat down like this, have we?" Izuku fidgetted with the medal around his neck. He didn't know why he hadn't taken it off yet—perhaps he wanted to boast about his win toward Kacchan. Was that petty? Yes. But this was the only time their battle hadn't ended in a tie, and Izuku wanted to cherish the moment... regardless of whether Kacchan had allowed him to win.

"No, not since..." Kacchan paused, swallowing something in his throat. He bore a sour expression. "Not since kindergarten. We talked a bit before you, uh, died... but that was it."

"About that..." Clearing his throat, Izuku glanced at anywhere but his childhood friend. He didn't understand... He longed for a moment with Kacchan's future self—he wanted to be in a situation like this. So why was he so uneasy? "Apparently, I was... transported back in time, or something."

"Or something...?" Kacchan furrowed his eyebrows, "What makes you unsure?"

"Um, well... I have no way of seeing the future, so I can't assume that the things I'm doing are actually affecting it. If it does leave an effect, that's time travel. If it doesn't... That's more akin to dimension travel. It sounds a little confusing, so I don't expect you to understand right away–"

"I get it," Kacchan scratched his chin, where a stubble used to be. Izuku used to think that the hair on his chin made him look attractive. Apparently, women found it endearing as well. There was a period in time when Kacchan let his stubble grow and only shaved it once a month and a half—his girlfriend loved it. "Let's assume that it's time travel. Even if the present doesn't effect our future, it's still a better future than the one we had. And if it does, we can rid of Shigaraki once and for all."

Izuku's eyes sharpened, "All For One."

Kacchan glanced around frantically. After a while, he turned back to Izuku with a puzzled expression. "What?"

Izuku shook his head vehemently, "We get rid of All For One, not Shigaraki."

"...Right, loyalty and whatnot." Kacchan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't get why you're still following him. After everything he's done to us, you should–"

"Watch your words, Kacchan," for some reason, even if it meant standing against his hero, Izuku's loyalty wouldn't waver. "He's only ever wronged you. And that's because I held a grudge over you, and he wished to exact revenge on my behalf. Otherwise, he would have left you alone."

"Tch. You're still the same, following whoever treats you nicely like a dog. I used to be a victim of that snoot of yours..." The pair locked eyes, staring intensely as though on the verge of starting a fight. Izuku had almost forgotten that this was how all of their meetings went. "You're an annoying pest."

Izuku scoffed, "You're the annoying one, hero."

"You're acting like you're not a hero now–"

Kacchan swerved his head to the side and avoided a knife, its sharp end embedding onto the plastic chair instead. "Don't be mistaken," Izuku snarled, "I'm no hero. I will never hesitate to murder for Tomura's cause."

Kacchan's expression darkened at that, crimson eyes piercing his childhood friend. "Goddamn villain..."

"That's more like it," Izuku retracted the knife that had stuck onto the back of Kacchan's chair and pocketed it. "Anyways, how did you even end up... here?"

Kacchan rested his hand on his forehead. "I was hoping that you could tell me that, being the first one to be blasted to the past and all."

"An incident could've triggered this effect, such as someone's Quirk going out of control or..." A thought surfaced in Izuku's head; a rather... Scary thought. "One of All For One's Quirks."