Chapter Text
It was a relatively normal day for Midoriya considering all the shit Class 1-A had been through, and that’s excluding all the Villain attacks that happened. He, Iida and Uraraka were walking towards the gym room, chatting about the usual things like Heroes and homework. Iida had requested for his help to move some things as per Aizawa-sensei’s orders and Uraraka had volunteered to help.
But it seems that Midoriya spoke too soon.
While heading towards their destination, a sudden bright light flashed behind them. Immediately, their senses went high on alert, wondering if this was yet another Villain attack.
They heard two thuds as the light faded, like the sound of bodies hitting the ground. And maybe because it was what they were taught to do or their Heroic instincts, the three of them didn’t hesitate to run forward to help.
If Aizawa-sensei were here, he'd have threatened to expel them for rushing forward recklessly, but someone might be in danger, so to hell with expulsion. They were the closest to the scene, and if it really were a Villain attack, they’re the only ones who could stop them before someone else gets hurt.
After regaining their eyesight from the blinding light, they found two bodies lying on the ground motionless. Midoriya feared the worst as he activated One for All even if it was against the rules. He shot forward, arriving at the two bodies in a split second.
With trembling hands, he shook one of the bodies, praying that they were still alive. Not a drop of blood was seen, but with how diverse quirks are, it isn’t a stretch to assume a quirk could stop someone’s heart from beating without spilling blood.
Only when Midoriya was searching for a pulse did he realise the peculiar get up of the unconscious boy he was holding onto. Almost every inch of his exposed skin was wrapped in bandages. Around his neck, his wrists, even his right eye. An ominous feeling made his hair stand on end.
When Iida and Uraraka finally arrived, they inspected the other body still lying on the ground. It was at this moment when the bandaged boy in his hands cracked open his eyelids. Relief washed over Midoriya in waves, glad to see he was still breathing.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt–” Before Midoriya could even finish voicing out his question, he felt someone grabbing his wrist and in one swift motion, he found himself face-planted on the ground. One moment, the bandaged boy was unconscious on the ground, the next, Midoriya was the one on the ground.
The boy had a firm grip on his wrist, holding it at an angle that would dislocate his shoulders should the greenhead move rashly. His other hand was pinned down with a foot, a knee dug into his back, locking him down. All these happened in a moment and Midoriya couldn’t even react.
When Iida and Uraraka noticed, they ran forward to help. Well, they attempted to. Yet before they could even take a step forward, a red glow enveloped their bodies before they fell face first into the ground.
“Iida-kun! Uraraka-san!” he shouted. Midoriya could still move his legs and head, albeit uselessly, but both Iida and Uraraka couldn’t even lift a finger. They tried, yet ultimately failing, their bodies sinking deeper into the ground along with their anguish cries.
“Wh-What quirk is this…?!” Iida stammered out weakly. The invisible force crushing him made it hard for him to speak properly.
When Midoriya tried to activate One for All again, he heard a click, then the nozzle of a pistol aimed at his skull.
“You, who are you?” a voice so cold and detached drifted from the bandaged boy.
“I-I’m Midoriya Izuku! We’re just… We’re just trying to help! W-We found you lying on the ground uncon–” he stammered out, trying his best to sound harmless. The boy was probably startled, so if he assured the boy that he’s safe, he’d calm down. But it seems the bandaged boy had other plans.
“I don’t give a shit about your name. Who are you and where am I?” Perhaps it was because he’d been involved in too many dangerous situations, but Midoriya felt the murderous intent rolling off the brunette. It was so dense the young hero felt it difficult to breathe.
“I-I’m a Hero student at the UA Hero School, we’re in the UA school grounds currently!” Midoriya had hoped that the mention of UA would cause the boy to back off considering how many Pro Heroes were stationed here after all the Villain attacks but he should’ve learned from before to not hold onto hope so much.
“UA? What kind of institute is that? Never heard of it. And what’s with the Hero storyline? Are you filming a movie or something?”
That can’t be. Who in Japan would not know of UA Hero School? And who in the world would not know of Heroes, the very pillar holding up society right now?
The boy spoke again before Midoriya could respond. This time, his question was directed at someone else.
“Chuuya, is your brain still intact?” he called out, pistol still aimed at the greenhead’s skull. “Oh right, you don’t have one. Nevermind then!”
“Would it fucking kill you to be serious for once, you shithead?” the other boy–Chuuya, apparently–who still had both Iida and Uraraka pinned down answered. “And here I thought you were actually concerned for my well-being.”
The two boys continued bickering back and forth. Midoriya strained to turn his head so he could get a good look at the second boy. A bed of red hair sat on his head, an old-fashioned hat over it. He was wearing a suit similar to the bandaged boy with a bolo tie instead, and a long black overcoat. His eyes were a bright cerulean blue instead of the dark amber eyes the brunette has, a stark contrast of the both.
Was he a foreigner? But his name is Japanese, so maybe a mixed race then.
Just when Midoriya was trying to form a plan to get out of this predicament and save both Iida and Uraraka from being crushed to death, numerous footsteps were heard, coming from the direction of UA’s towers.
He first spotted Aizawa-sensei at the front, running towards them at full speed, his eyes glowing with the activation of his quirk. Then following behind is All Might in his shrivelled form and Nemuri-sensei.
The sight of the Pro Heroes put Midoriya’s mind at ease, thinking that they were saved. The young hero would remind himself later to learn from his mistakes.
“That’s enough. One more step closer and I’ll put a bullet through his head.” Dazai–Midoriya had picked up his name from their bicker earlier–said, pushing the pistol deeper into his skull and unlocking the safety.
Dazai’s voice wasn’t loud, but it’s clear that Aizawa-sensei heard him from where he halted in his steps. All Might and Nemuri-sensei stopped at his side too, obeying his command.
“Put the gun down and let my students go. Whatever it is, we can talk.” Aizawa-sensei still has his quirk activated from the way his eyes were glowing and his hair floating, but it was practically useless when his assailant had a literal gun pointed at his head.
Dazai seemed to notice this too. He took a second to think about it before saying, “I think not. We can converse this way perfectly.”
When Aizawa-sensei was at a loss, thinking about his next course of action, a shot was fired.
Midoriya went rigid, wondering if the bandaged boy had pulled the trigger and if he was the target. Yet he felt no pain and his vision was still clear. Did he hear wrong? Or was it Snipe that fired it?
His answer came in the form of a stinging pain from his right ear, where he felt something moist sliding down to his neck.
“One more misstep and I won’t be so merciful. That includes you too, oba-san .” Dazai had fired the shot. Not at his head, but close enough. The bullet had grazed the skin of his ear and embedded itself into the ground. If Dazai had angled his gun just a few degrees left, Midoirya would be buried with a hole through his skull.
Nemuri-sensei looked positively offended at being called an aunty, but her hands returned to her side where she was about to tear her skintight suit and release her sleep-inducing aroma. She was mostly hidden behind All Might and Aizawa-sensei, so Midoriya had no idea how Dazai found out.
“Young man, we’re not trying to harm you. There’s no need for viol–” All Might tries to diffuse the situation, holding his hands up in surrender, taking a small, slow step forward.
But Dazai meant every word he said. He aimed his gun and fired. Without hesitation.
However, what should’ve been a loud bang from a gunshot was instead replaced by a soft click of an empty gun.
“Ah… That was my last bullet,” Dazai drawled, swinging the pistol in his hands dramatically.
Aizawa-sensei reacted immediately, pouncing forward while unwrapping his scarf. Before he could even get close, an object enveloped in a red glow came hurtling at him at the speed of sound. Because of the imminent danger, he was forced to change directions midway, barely avoiding the object aimed at him. A small slit appeared on his cheek, oozing with blood.
If Aizawa-sensei had been any less slow in noticing the danger, there would be a dagger impaled into his skull.
“Oi, the bandaged freak said to not move didn’t he? Hope you didn’t forget about me just ‘cause I was quiet.” Chuuya glared at Aizawa-sensei fiercely, his pupils narrowing to slits like a cat. At some point in time, he had made himself comfortable on Iida’s back with one foot over Uraraka to keep her down.
“Chuuya! How could you call me that?! I’m sensitive to cruel words y’know?” Dazai whined, his tone high pitched like a girl’s.
“Quit whining and get down to business, you fucker. Find out what the fuck’s going on so we can get the hell back!” Chuuya snapped, throwing a pebble at Dazai’s direction which was easily avoided by the latter. “This some kind of child experiment facility? Kid’s got a jet engine on his calves.”
Chuuya taps on the exhaust pipes protruding from Iida’s calves, a confused look on his face.
“Ugh, fine. Maybe if you grew some brains, I wouldn’t have to do so much. But I guess life is never fair, huh?” Dazai rolls his eyes, completely unaware of how the ginger was practically fuming from his ears.
Meanwhile, Midoriya was busy trying to think of a way to escape with Iida and Uraraka. The fact that they had been subdued by the enemy was hindering the teachers from doing their jobs. If they weren’t being held as hostages, Aizawa-sensei and the others wouldn’t have to hold back.
“Reinforcements are coming. If you surrender now, we can still talk this out,” Aizawa-sensei gritted out, his glowing eyes now trained on Chuuya. Yet, the red glow enveloping both Iida and Uraraka remained, not weakening in the slightest. This outcome baffled Midoriya, Aizawa-sensei even more so. The Pro Hero’s eyes widened. “How…?” he muttered.
“Might I remind you that I have three of your students under my mercy? If anything, you’re in no position to negotiate with me,” Dazai said matter-of-factly. Midoriya couldn’t help the tense feeling crawling up to him. The three of them were his biggest bargaining chips. If Midoriya could just escape with Iida and Uraraka, they’d lose their initiative and the Heroes can act freely.
Midoriya caught All Might’s gaze, who gave him a slight nod, understanding what he was about to do. With his reassurance, and the fact he doesn’t have a gun pointed at him anymore, Midoriya stopped holding back and activated One for All.
One for All, Full Cowl!
One second.
Two seconds.
Nothing happened.
The power that had grown familiar with Midoriya for a long time showed no signs of responding no matter how much he called out to them. He tried reaching for it, yet it felt like his connection with his quirk had been completely cut off. Never had he thought that he’d feel so powerless again like he was back when he was still the ordinary, quirkless boy.
Was it Dazai’s quirk? Does he have an erasure quirk similar to Aizawa-sensei’s?
“No need to be so stiff. We just wanted to ask a few questions.” Dazai waved the gun in his hands playfully, a bright smile that didn't quite reach his eyes plastered on his face.
“...What questions?” Aizawa-sensei asked sceptically. Realising that his quirk doesn’t affect the two boys, he wisely deactivated it to conserve his energy. It would be bad if he overworked himself before capturing the two intruders.
“Oh, just simple ones. Nothing you can’t answer,” he replied. “Like where are we and what year is it.”
“Wait. What year is it? Are you saying we teleported and time travelled?” Chuuya caught onto Dazai's keywords and asked incredulously, his jaw hanging slack.
“Of course your pea-sized body comes equipped with a pea-sized brain,” Dazai tutted, to which Chuuya flipped him off aggressively. “Let me break it down in simple terms so you don’t fry your brain,”–Chuuya looked like he wanted to throw Iida at him but thought otherwise–“Since we’re conversing in Japanese, I assume we’re still in Japan, and since Yokohama is a port city yet there’s no scent of salt basically means that we’re in a different city but still in Japan.
“Then there’s the weird Hero shit they mentioned. Right now, in our time, Abilities are a rarity and people would rather hide them so they don’t stand out in society, yet in this timeline, it’s used as a profession. I don’t think the boy’s engine calves are an experiment but rather an evolution of time, where Abilities can now manifest itself physically. Though I guess they call it quirks considering how quirky they are. Pun intended.”
It was an amazing analysis with so minimal of evidence, Midoriya noted. And he was the one who was supposed to have the Hero Analysis Book he recorded from his observations.
Even though he was very much in a dangerous situation, Midoriya couldn’t help but find Dazai’s situation intriguing. Teleportation and time-travelling? The closest he had ever been to a space or time ability was Kurogiri’s warp quirk. And even that was limited to places the Villain has been before.
“Ugh, fine, you can stop rubbing it in my face now, you arrogant bastard.”
“But Chuuya! I was only trying to help!” Dazai pouted, yet it didn’t stop the smug smile from forming on his face. Then he turned back to Aizawa-sensei. “As I was saying, where are we and what year is it?”
“... We’re in Musutafu, Japan,” Aizawa-sensei answered, careful to keep his tone levelled and to reveal as little information as ever. Though it wasn’t necessary because Midoriya already revealed they were in UA. He’ll need to learn from that mistake too. “The year is 2257–”
“200 YEARS?!!” Chuuya shrieked, startling everyone on scene.
“Chuuya calm down, I can do basic maths, there’s no need to yell,” Dazai chided.
“CALM DOWN?! WE’RE THROWN 200 YEARS INTO THE FUTURE AND YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN?! ” He started scratching his head furiously, then proceeded to pull his hair.
Dazai only covered his ears with a grimace as a response.
“Now, I assume you realise the predicament we’re in courtesy of the loud, idiot slug back there. Just like how you want your students to be freed, we would very much like to go back to our world too,” Dazai answered all sincerely. “I’m sure as Heroes , you people can’t bear to watch two powerless teenagers wander around in a world that’s not theirs right?”
Midoriya baulked at that statement. Both Dazai and Chuuya were anything but powerless teenagers. In fact, they’re the ones holding all the cards here!
The silence around them thickened, the tension so tangible one could cut it with a pair of scissors. Dazai only stared at Aizawa-sensei with a light smile on his lips. His gaze firm and unwavering as he continued his stare-down with the Pro Hero.
Eventually, it was Aizawa-sensei who backed down first.
“...Very well. I’ll talk to the Principal and we’ll see what we can do,” Aizawa-sensei sighed, rubbing his temples and letting go of his scarf. “Now, will you please release the students? They don’t have to be involved.”
Dazai tapped his lips, miming a thinking expression. That’s when Midoriya heard the pattering sounds of multiple footsteps approaching this way. This was most likely the reinforcements Aizawa-sensei mentioned.
Just when he thought freedom was in his grasp, Midoriya felt it being ruthlessly ripped away from him. With so many Heroes arriving, there was no way Dazai would let go of his one and only bargaining chip. Now more than ever, he has to hold on to the three of them so the Heroes won’t arrest them.
However, the opposite happened instead.
Midoriya felt the weight on his body lifting and the grip around his wrist loosening. He could feel the familiar tickle of One for All returning back to him.
“Of course. Since we have a deal, I won’t need them anymore,” Dazai said, raising his arms in surrender and even dropping his gun. Chuuya mirrored the brunette’s actions, retracting his powers over Iida and Uraraka, coming over to stand beside Dazai.
Such a development wasn’t one that Midoriya expected, but he didn’t have the time to think it over. After being freed, he rushed over to his two friends who struggled to get up from their positions on the ground.
“Are you guys alright?” he asked worriedly, checking to see if they were hurt or anything.
“I’m fin–ugh!” Uraraka held onto her ribs, folding over and groaning in pain. Chuuya’s power had crushed her so hard one of her ribs probably broke.
“Midoriya, take both of them to Recovery Girl now. We’ll take care of things here.” Midoriya wanted to protest, but seeing how his friends were in pain, he obeyed his teacher’s words, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
Before he left while supporting both Iida and Uraraka, he dared a last look at the duo who appeared so suddenly to find Dazai staring at him with a mysterious smile on his face. The look he gave was chilling enough to send a shiver travelling up his spine.
“Now, shall we get our discussion going then?” was the last thing he heard before he sped off to the infirmary.
—
“So I heard of your situation from Aizawa-sensei. You’re saying you travelled 200 years into the future?” Nedzu repeated. They were currently in the conference room with the Principal seated at the head of the table while the two intruders from the past were seated at the opposite end. Most of the UA teachers who arrived at the end of his interaction with the two of them took up the seats at the side.
“Yes. That’s what I presume to have happened from all the evidence I’ve gathered thus far.” The boy–Dazai Osamu as he introduced earlier–replied truthfully. His companion–Nakahara Chuuya–was rather quiet by his side, though his glare was anything but.
Aizawa swears those eyes could kill someone. Just how does a teenager have a gaze that intense?
“Time-travel? Seriously? Quirks had only just manifested 200 hundred years ago and you’re saying something that powerful was what caused you to appear here?” Hizashi said sceptically, an incredulous look on his face. Aizawa, for the first time, thought his friend's reasoning was sound and nodded along beside him.
“Like you said, quirks only manifested 200 years ago. It may not be that powerful of an ability, but since it was a relatively foreign addition, there’s a chance of it going out of control and causing this to happen,” Dazai reasoned. Aizawa never liked the boy from the very start when he threatened his students, but he had to admit, the boy was smart. “Plus, it may not even be because of someone from my timeline, but rather yours.”
“Oh? What do you mean by that?” Nedzu asked, his eyes widening in curiosity. Aizawa was dying to know too but he composed himself.
“Well as I told you before, my ability is that it can nullify others. So technically speaking, no powers can affect me, or at least the ones I’ve encountered before.” Aizawa wondered if their quirks clashed, would his quirk erase Dazai’s nullifying one or would he nullify Aizawa’s quirk first. “Unless say I’m a collateral from whatever ability that was activated. For example, if Chuuya here was hit with an ability that causes all living objects to stick to him–”
“What the fuck is that stupid ability?”
“–I would also be affected by it and have to, unfortunately, stick to him.” Dazai continued, ignoring his companion’s question.
“I see. So you’re saying that while you’re able to nullify whatever quirk that’s been used on you directly, there’s a chance of it affecting you if it was used indirectly, is that right?” Nedzu simplified it, earning a nod from the brunette.
“Gosh, talking with someone on the same wavelength is so refreshing. Unlike someone.” Dazai’s comment earned a swift kick to the shin from Nakahara.
“So you’re saying that there’s someone with a quirk from our timeline that…sort of summoned you here?”
“That’s a possibility, yes.”
“Alright, I’ll see what I can do. For now, you can rest at UA while we discuss our next course of action. Ishiyama-sensei, please show Dazai-kun and Nakahara-kun to the lounge.”
“Perfect! We definitely need some rest after everything that happened. I’m sure you Heroes know what’s best to do so we’ll leave it to you!” With that, Dazai hopped up and followed Cementoss out along with Nakahara.
The lack of protest made Aizawa feel wary. With how adamant the both had acted previously, it was hard to believe they’d accept Nedzu’s dismissal so easily. Was it because their numbers were at odds against them? It would indeed be foolish to provoke a fight in a room full of Heroes.
If that were the case, he could understand their behaviour back on the field. Since his quirk didn’t work on them and both Nemuri and Toshinori couldn’t act, it’s clear that they had the upper hand. However, there was still something that didn’t sit right with him.
“Hm, something rather interesting happened,” Nedzu commented with a gleam in his eyes. Aizawa didn’t like the look of that. He was sure the Principal would make this into one of his sick games to toy around with. “You said he released the students when you agreed to his terms and the reinforcement came?” Nedzu directed his question to Aizawa.
“Yes. I think he realised he couldn’t defeat us since the numbers were against him.” Aizawa answered.
“That would be the logical explanation now, isn’t it?” Nedzu said vaguely. “From what I can tell, Dazai-kun is a smart kid. Perhaps as smart as me even with my High-Spec quirk. He made a deal with you knowing that you won’t go back on it. Then he released the students because he deemed them unnecessary and to paint a picture of innocence to the other teachers who had yet to arrive at the scene.”
“Are you saying the kid planned all of this? Right down to the moment in this room?” Aizawa asked in disbelief. Indeed, he used logical reasoning to deduce the bandaged boy’s actions, but if he really was as smart as Nedzu praises him to be, then logic doesn’t apply to him either.
“It’s a stretch, but there’s a high chance it is.”
“Doesn’t that make them highly dangerous then? UA is still in their sensitive period with all the Villain attacks that occurred, we can’t possibly accommodate two variables at this critical time.” At this moment, all Aizawa could think of was the safety of his students despite how much he finds them insufferable. If the two boys would be a threat to their newfound peace, he wanted them out as soon as possible.
“But we can’t just leave them. Even if we’re being manipulated to do their biddings, we can’t just abandon them,” Toshinori said in a defeated tone. He looked like he was in a dilemma. He must’ve been shaken after witnessing his favourite student almost at death’s door. But even if the Symbol of Peace is out of commission, he was still All Might, the number one Hero. “We have to help them…
“Because we’re Heroes.”
—
After that cube-looking cement dude left them at the school lounge to return to the conference room, Chuuya finally let out his pent-up frustration by stuffing his face into his hat and groaning loudly.
Just two hours earlier they were busy taking down a drug ring Mori had ordered them to. They were just finishing up when a bright light flashed and they were falling. Never once had Chuuya felt so untouched by gravity as he was falling without knowledge of where was up and down.
The trip had been so dizzying it made him unconscious, which was a deadly mistake that could cost him his life if he ended up at a different place. In a way, he’s grateful he fell into a world run by righteous, justice-filled Heroes, albeit how ridiculous it sounds.
As for Dazai, he seemed totally unaffected by what’s happening and was already scurrying off to snoop around. Eventually, he returned with a laptop he found lying somewhere around the lounge.
Taking a seat beside Chuuya, he went to work immediately, his fingers flying through the keyboard.
“How are you still so energetic in this situation?” Chuuya couldn’t help but ask, knowing the brunette would tease him to no end about it.
“It’s not like we’re stuck here forever, Chibi. There’s still a chance of us returning.” The ginger pointedly ignored the insulting nickname seeing as he doesn’t have the energy to fight back. Even if he did, that waste of bandages would just retort back and this would go on and on and on until someone stops them.
“Yeah, but still. We’re going to be stuck here for a while, no?”
“I’m afraid so. Not until we find who or what brought us here in the first place. So until then, I have to oh so graciously put up with your constant presence beside me that’s eating up my brain cells every second,” Dazai faked passing out dramatically, placing a hand over his forehead to sell the act.
“Would it kill you to lay off the insults for one fucking day, you bastard?” Chuuya retorted weakly. There was no fight in his voice. “What are we supposed to do now? Are you sure it’s alright just leaving the meeting like that?”
“Oh, it’s fine. I had everything under control when that tired-looking teacher agreed to let us speak with the Principal,” Dazai brushed the topic off like someone was just commenting about the weather.
“You think they’ll just let us stay and help us without question?”
“Oh, I don’t just think. I know they will.”
“Why?” Against his better judgement, Chuuya voiced out his question. They say curiosity killed the cat, and right now, he was dying of curiosity. They just got transported into an unknown world, yet Dazai was as sure of himself as ever. Even centuries apart, he still managed to read the people like a book.
And perhaps Dazai really was feeling ‘gracious’ today. Because for once, he forgoed teasing the ginger and answered truthfully without talking in roundabout ways.
“Because they’re Heroes.”