Act 1 - Ravages of Time
Notes: I'm sorry for Neglectful/Abusive Inko in this fic but I wanted a specific reason for making Izuku this jaded like in previous chapters. He's way different from the cannon but still has his heroic, idealistic side of his personality. So while he's obviously stressed and shocked, my Izuku is more versatile and he adapts much faster to the situation due to his terrible and lonely childhood. He's also more guraded and distanced by he was still chosen by All Might due to his heroic side of his personality. Now that's settled, let's get started.
Chapter Summary: Izuku reminisces aboout Inko's abuse and his fathers death and tries to adapt to a new life in chaotic, violent times known as the Dawn of Quirks. Iris and Zuku also encounter a small, dirty, lonely child in a dark alley.
TW: Domestic abuse, child neglect, addiction to alcohol, bullying, gore & violence, child abadonment, murder, suicide (let me know in the comment if I forgot one)
Izuku's PoV
Inko wasn't so bad at first, no the issues started when my father died. It happened 2 months after his diagnosis, after coming back from work he was killed in a crossfire during a Villain attack. All that remained from him was his mangled, horribly burned corpse. I still had some snapshots of him in my memory - after I was diagnosed quirkless, he was still there. Too bad he died not long after. In Inko's bedroom there was a family photo of him - he had crimson red eyes, freckles and black curly hair. All I knew is that he ran away from his terrible grandfather, not being able to stand up to his abuser he had to escape.
When Hisashi died, things took a turn for the worse - Inko had to take longer shifts, often leaving alone in the house for more than 12 hours. Whenever I mentioned my dream to become hero, Inko started yelling and throwing stuff at the wall in her rage. That was still when she grieving the loss of her husband. After some time, this grief turned into resentment - Inko obviously disliked Pro - heroes for unknown to me reasons. Inko started drinking when I was 9, soon falling deep into an addiction - she would come home drunk as pig, stinking alcohol and eventually beat the crap out of me.
Combined with Bakugo's bullying and suicide baiting, it was a miracle that I didn't kill myself. But I adapted to the situation - even after years of living with Inko, my heroic side of my personality didn't disappear. Maybe that was why All Might chose me as his successor and the Ninth Wielder of OFA. Whatever the case was, it didn't matter. I was stuck in a distant past with no way out and I lost One for All. And all that was left was this weird quirk...Green Flare.
God must have really hated me, I thought when I went to sleep.
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When we woke up, the sun was just rising which was a good thing. We ate a small breakfast and packed our belongings into our backpacks. According to Iris knowledge, Osaka was bombed 2 months after it's fall, so we had to get out of there fast. The best course of action was to get to Tokyo and then figure out what to do next. We left the apartment and after a few mintues of brainstorming, we figured out that we were in fact in the north of Osaka. So we started moving, as quickly as possible before the city was bombed.
Why it was bombed? Iris stated that the history books never explained it, just that Osaka was destroyed 2 months after its fall. In other words, we knew jack. But as it turned out, manveuring in the ruined city was no easy task - all of the bonuses that came with OFA were gone, so I was basically quirkless which was both good and bad. Good because quirkless people were more common during the Dawn of Quirks. Bad because I had no way to defend myself against quirked opponents.
It took us almost 4 hours to reach Osaka's border - Iris was thinking about borrowing a car to get a ride to Tokyo but most of the cars we encountered were beyond repair. So we were forced to scrap that idea. By the time we were almost out of the city, my legs were giving up - so we took a break in an alley near a ruined shopping centre. Windows of the building were shattered, the dome had a hole in its structure and the whole thing stinked of blood, ash and smoke. We found a bench in the alley and took out two cans of flavoured tuna. Right, back in the dorms I cooked a supper which was tuna with rice before the whole time travel thing happened. Probably Shouto, Uraraka and others were worried sick about me.
And there was nothing I could do. And that thought haunted me, even in sleep.
We ate our meal in silence, before Iris violently flinched. Her body tensed up and she activated her Quirk - her eyes glowed silver and she scanned the area. Then she noticed someone behind a trash can. While I packed our stuff, Iris went after the person hiding behind trash - and just then when she reached that person, Iris froze. Her eyes widened in shock and she deactivated her Quirk. I catched up with her and passed her bag - she got her backpack on her back but didn't move an inch. And then I also noticed.
That person was a small child with a dirty face and golden pupils. He had pointy cat ears on his head, brown short hair resembled fur and pale skin covered in bruises and old scars. He was obviously malnourished and probably very hungry. In his left hand, he had an almost empty bottle of water and his other hand he held a light backpack with a yellow journal, pen and half - eaten pack of candied cherries. The boy obviously had a Quirk.
-"Hello, there" - I said -"What's your name? Are you hurt or hungry?"
-"I-I'm Kouji" - the boy whispered -"W-Who are you?"
-"I'm Izuku and the girl over there is Arisa but call her Iris. She prefers this nickname" - I anwsered and got him a full can of tuna out of the backpack -"Here, eat. It looks like you need it".
Kouji without a second thought opened the can and ate it with his bare hands in a matter of few minutes. Then he looked at us and realised something.
-"You both have Meta - Abilities" - he said aloud
Ah yes, I almost forgot that back in the past, Quirks were called Meta - Abilities.
-"How did you know?" - Iris asked suspicious
-"Izuku has one red eye, and your eyes glowed silver" - Kouji revealed his reasoning
-"Are you on your own?" - Iris questioned
-"Yeah...a-after t-the m-movement attacked my parents ditched m-me...not long a-after I f-found their....t-their" - Kouji started crying
-"Hey, hey...easy kid" - I said, trying to calm him down -"You don't have to tell us the whole thing if it's triggering you".
-"Huh" - Iris huffed -"Kouji, why don't you come with us?"
-"What?!" - I and Kouji asked Iris at the same time
-"We're heading towards Tokyo, in order to search for some place safe" - Iris explained -"And you won't make it here for long. So, do you want to come with us? Do you have any relatives in Tokyo?"
-"N-no I don't have any family in T-Tokyo. My p-parents were o-orphans" - "B-But both of you have M-Meta - Abilities. You won't abandon m-me, right?"
-"I won't abandon you". - Iris responded confidently
-"So welcome, to the team Kouji" - I announced, giving the kid a hand which the lively took
To be continued in Chapter 3...