Stuck Between Realities-Remastered

Part 30~Discovering the Past

Katsuki walked around the school. Izuku and Hitoshi had camped out in the teacher's lounge, something that he couldn't understand or ever be comfortable doing. As he walked past the classrooms, he heard a voice booming from inside one.

"Eat this," Yaoyorozu shouted as Katsuki peered through the window in the door, finding Yaoyorozu with a skeleton-looking man in a yellow suit.

"No, not that part. I said that it didn't matter what it was as long as you took in my DNA," the skeleton man explained as Katsuki frowned. What?

"Wait, does that mean he has One for All?" Yaoyorozu hopped up in concern as All Might laughed.

"No. One for All cannot be transferred to anyone unless the bearer wishes it. It cannot be stolen by force. It can be transferred by force, though. Kind of like this: if a person gives a gift, they can force that gift onto the other person. It's a special Quirk."

Yaoyorozu let out a sigh of relief as she collapsed back into her chair, holding her head in her hands. Katsuki frowned more, completely lost in the conversation that he probably shouldn't be listening to anyway.

"Yes, and this is how it came about," the skeleton leaned forward, a serious look on his face. "One for All was derived from a certain Quirk that existed in the past."

"A Quirk that existed in the past?"

"The name of that Quirk is 'All For One'. A quirk that could steal Quirks from others and make them holders and one that could give those Quirks to others."

Katsuki stopped listening. His veins had gone cold as he stepped back. His head began to hurt like it was trying to retrieve something from the other side of the world, and his breath quickened.

He remembered tubes and fire and a grin.

"Kacchan?" Izuku tilted his head as he and Emiko came to a stop. "That can't be good. He looks like me." Izuku hopped over, gently taking Katsuki's arm. "Hey, can you hear me?"

Katsuki's eyes flickered before he gulped. "Izuku?"

"Yeah. I'm here. What's wrong?"

Katsuki let out a shuddery breath, the thoughts that had consumed him a moment ago already fading.

"Kacchan?"

"A Quirk that can take Quirks," is all Katsuki managed to get out.

Emiko and Izuku shared a concerned look as Izuku pulled Katsuki to the floor and sat next to him. "What brought that memory on?"

Katsuki pointed at the door as Emiko peered through, noticing the skeleton man and Yaoyorozu inside. Their conversation moved on to talking about some brother who was sick. She looked back to Izuku with a shrug, not understanding why some family emergency would cause Katsuki to freak out.

"Okay, well, how about we walk away from the classroom and go outside. Want to go home or to a park?"

"Izuku," Emiko interrupted as Izuku gave her a look.

"Seriously? Won't let me outside when my friend is hurting?"

"Last time you went outside unsupervised, you blew up a building. I don't think that will help him right now."

"Then supervise me because we're going wherever Katsuki needs to go." Emiko opened and closed her mouth but found no retort to that. "So, Kacchan, where do you want to go?"

Katsuki's eyes were still unfocused. "Just outside."

Izuku nodded, pulling Katsuki back up and leading him outside. Emiko trailed behind as she pulled out her phone. Izuku was willing to put money down on the suspicion she was contacting Charlie. Normally, Izuku would tease her about it, but Charlie made sense to contact. She was the only other person there that Emiko knew and could help to fill her in on details that Izuku was unwilling to share.

When Izuku got outside, he walked to a patch of grass and sat down. Katsuki was breathing easier now he was outside, picking at the grass and glaring at it like he could set it on fire.

Emiko chose to stand by a tree, keeping guard but letting the boys talk in relative privacy.

"Your mum said you don't remember it," Izuku eventually said, breaking the silence that had surrounded them.

"I don't."

"You sure? You don't look like you've forgotten."

Katsuki glared at the grass more, making a bald spot in the field. "Sometimes I remember. Then I calm down, and the details get fuzzy again." Izuku hummed. "Do you remember?"

"Bits and pieces. I had nightmares the first few months, but I kept things fresh. Then-" Izuku faltered, not sure what to say- "then someone from that place showed up, needing help. It forced me to confront the memories. Then, the whole hallucination thing happened, and my brain loved bringing up that place. Kind of numb to it now. It doesn't really scare me anymore."

Katsuki chewed on his lip, finally giving the poor grass a break. "I'm sorry I left after what happened."

Izuku shrugged. "Your parents were scared. No one could have known what was gonna happen." Izuku suddenly sat up, completely straight and turned to Katssuki. "You know I don't blame you for what happened, right?"

He nodded as Izuku flicked him.

"I. Don't. Blame. You. Got it?"

Katsuki managed a small chuckle. "Got it."

"Good." Izuku leaned back down, staring at the sky. "It's peaceful out here."

Katsuki hummed, but neither made any attempts to move.

~~~

Yaoyorozu walked out of the classroom, leaving All Might behind as her brain worked hard. She didn't really understand everything she had been told. It all felt like a bad fairy tale meant to scare people into coming home by 8. She kept thinking about the two brothers and their Quirks and the fact that this guy was probably behind the League of Villains. It was hard to ignore it all.

As she walked closer to the door, planning on making the walk home, Jiro hopped out of seemingly nowhere. "Yao-momo, there you are. I was getting worried?"

"Jiro? What are you doing here?"

Jiro rolled her eyes. "I need to return the music. I thought we could compare notes on the walk home." Jiro pulled out a record with some classical old man on the cover, handing it to Yaoyorozu as she smiled.

"Right. My apologies. I forgot your record at home."

"Don't worry about it. I've got plenty to listen to anyway." Jiro waved for Yaoyorozu to follow her as they began their walk out of the school, calming Yaoyorozu's thoughts with each step.