My Hero Academia: Ruby and Emerald

Chapter 3: Older Midoriya Izuku POV

So. This was going to be problematic. Izuku stared down at his phone as they waited for the train, thumb hovering over the “CALL” button on Tsukauchi-san’s contact.

“Do you think his number is still the same?” Izuku asked.

“You knew him for eight years in a professional setting. Did his number ever change then, Deku?” Kacchan answered.

Baby Izuku looked up at Izuku. “Who’s Tsukauchi-san, anyway?”

“He’s a detective with the Musutafu police. He has a lie-detection quirk. It means he’ll be able to back up our story so Nedzu doesn’t dismiss us as a quartet of fuckin’ weirdos,” Kacchan explained.

“Don’t lump me in with you!” Baby Kacchan exclaimed, mostly in reflex. Izuku had forgotten how cute Kacchan used to be. His cheeks were so round as a middle schooler.

“Right. Okay. I’ll call him, and then I’ll try to contact Principal Nedzu,” Izuku decided.

“Tch. Nedzu has a public email. I’ll put the emergency code in the subject line and draft a message while you call the detective. No point in you stressing out over it,” Kacchan said.

“Thanks, Kacchan,” Izuku replied, genuinely touched. Kacchan always looked out for him in the big ways, but somehow it felt more personal when he helped out in the small ways, too. Izuku could feel his face don a soft smile against his will.

“The hell is with that face you’re making?” Baby Kacchan demanded. Izuku grinned wider, just to mess with him, then looked away. He pressed down on the “CALL” button and lifted the phone to his ear.

Ring. Ring.

Ring. Ring.

Ri—Click!

“You’ve reached Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa. This is my personal line, so I would like to know how you got this number.”

“Tsukauchi-san! I got this number when you gave it to me! I’ve had a mishap involving a quirk, you see, so…”

“...Yes?”

“There’s not really a good way to say this, Tsukauchi-san, but I’m a hero from the future. I was hoping you could help me.”

“Well. You’re right, there’s not a very good way to say that. Lucky for you, my quirk works over the phone. I’m not exactly sure how I could help you, however…”

“Ah! That’s easy, actually! If you could, will you please meet with me at UA in—”

The train pulled into the station.

“—approximately thirty minutes!”

Tsukauchi-san sighed. “Sure. I can do that. Who should I be looking for, ah…”

Kacchan started pulling him into the train car.

“Oh! I’m Midoriya Izuku! I’ll be wearing a dark green hero costume with a metal mouthguard. I’ll be waiting outside UA’s front entrance!”

“Alright, Midoriya-san. I’ll meet you there!”

“Thank you!” Dial tone. Tsukauchi-san had hung up.

“Well?” Kacchan asked, raising one eyebrow.

“He’ll meet us outside UA in about thirty minutes!” Izuku explained, excitedly.

“Thank fuck. If he said no I really don’t know how Nedzu would believe anything we say,” Kacchan said, shoulder slumping as he relaxed. Sometimes Izuku suspected that Kacchan had the same amount of trouble with anxiety as he did, and was just better at hiding it.

“No, because you inherited my super-anxiety, remember?” Hikage half-joked. “Nobody can have worse anxiety, actually.”

Daigoro burst out laughing.

“What did you say to Nedzu, anyway?” Izuku asked.

“That we were heroes from the future and willing to prove it.”

“Uh, did you add… anything else?” Izuku asked, wincing.

“What else is there to add? Everything important oughta be explained in person, anyway,” Kacchan groused.

“Oh, yikes,” said Second. Izuku politely ignored him.

“I… suppose you have a point. It just seems a little sparse, I guess.”

“Right, like I couldn’t have sent the fuckin’ rat three words and had him immediately know what’s going on,” Kacchan snapped. Baby Izuku’s eyes went wide.

“You can’t call Principal Nedzu a rat! He’s a respected hero!” he exclaimed, at a volume that was much too loud. Several other commuters gave their group sideways glances.

“Shut the fuck up, Deku,” Baby Kacchan hissed. Baby Izuku shrank back under both the looks of the other commuters and the force of Baby Kacchan’s glare.

“Aw, he’s precious,” cooed Nana, unhelpfully.

“Oi, be nice,” Kacchan scolded, slapping Baby Kacchan upside the head lightly.

“You both be nice or we can get off at the next stop and walk!” Izuku threatened in a low voice.

“Tch,” Baby Kacchan dismissed him, but averted his eyes and shut up. Mission accomplished.

Kacchan shuffled his feet and fell silent, also averting his eyes. Mission accomplished there, too.

“Heh. Whipped,” Banjo chuckled.

“Make one more whip pun and I’m finding a way to kill ghosts,” En threatened.

“You’re stalling,” Kacchan interjected suddenly, whipping (oh god they were infectious) his head around to meet Izuku’s gaze. “Call Yagi.”

Unfortunately, Kacchan was right. He was stalling. It was just… Toshinori didn’t even know him yet! And he was so close to him back in… in the future. He hadn’t even been in the past for a whole hour yet, okay? Sue him for not adjusting to the idea of losing everyone he loved in an instant! Or, well, at least his relationships with everyone he loved…

“Oh, sweetheart,” Nana whispered. “It’s okay, baby. It’s going to be okay.”

“Who’s Yagi?” Baby Kacchan asked.

“Toshinori. Sorry, I call him by his given name, but Kacchan always sticks to his family name for some reason…” Izuku explained. Kacchan’s face turned red from embarrassment.

“It’s respectful, asshole!”

“Okay, so, Principal Nedzu, a detective with a lie-detection quirk, and… a random man named Yagi Toshinori?” Baby Izuku summed up, obviously trying to get to a point, but unsure how to articulate it. Izuku felt an overwhelming sense of fondness for his younger self. A matching sense of pride welled up for his current self; he had come so far. Combined, it was just…

I am fond of you for the innocence you still hold, Izuku thought towards Baby Izuku. And I am proud of myself for growing from where you are now; for gaining experience and maturity, and for overcoming the insecurities you still live with.

“You can see it now, can’t you? Why I was fond of you from the start,” Yoichi murmured.

Thanks, Izuku thought back to him.

“Yagi isn’t random,” Katsuki spit. “He’s important!”

“Well, I’ve never heard of him. How important can he be?” Baby Kacchan scoffed.

“Oh,” Kacchan said, face slowly being overtaken by what Denki had once called the baby-eating grin, “I am going to make you eat those words.”

To be continued...