"Please don't make fun of my bedroom, okay?" Izuku pleaded as he led the Assembly to his apartment. They were getting together to discuss his theory in more depth and since school was on break, they thought it was best to meet up at someone's house. Momo had suggested her house, but her parents weren't allowing her friends over if it wasn't study related.

"We know you're a big hero fanboy, Deku-kun," Ochako teased. "We've all seen your dorm room! I'm sure it can't be that bad."

"Ah well..." Izuku muttered, scratching the back of his head.

"You haven't seen nothing yet," Katsuki snorted. "I'm more worried about poor Auntie Inko though. She's gonna have a heart attack when she finds out you invited friends over."

"I warned her," Izuku stated.

"Still, I know how she'll react, don't you?" Katsuki asked, raising a brow. Izuku visibly paled, imagining all the ways the meeting with his mom could go wrong.

"Oh god, you're right..." Izuku breathed, his eyes widening. "Oh my god, Kacchan I haven't told mom about our relationship yet!"

"What?!"

"Oh my- Deku!" Ochako wheezed.

"Dude, how can you forget something like that?!" Eijirou exclaimed.

"I've been busy, okay?!" Izuku whined, covering his face with his hands.

"It's fine, isn't it? You could always tell her today," Momo smiled. "I'm sure she'll understand. Your mom is such a sweet lady, after all."

They'd all met Inko before, in the future, or the past- Izuku wasn't sure how to refer to a timeline that didn't exist anymore. Or did it exist? In an alternate universe, maybe? It was pointless to theorize about it right now.

"Poor Auntie, she's going to be so overwhelmed," Katsuki laughed, making Izuku feel even worse about all of this.

"Just- Please behave," Izuku pleaded.

"Don't worry Deku-kun, we'll make sure Inko doesn't get a heart attack," Ochako promised. Izuku wasn't sure she could keep that promise, seeing as he was about to bring six guests over after not having any friends over since he was a brat, as Kacchan would say, let alone his boyfriend! He didn't have a lot of time to panic about it, since the group quickly arrived at his apartment building and soon they were standing in front of his door.

"Mom, I'm back!" he called out as he entered, allowing everyone else to come in before he closed the door. Inko entered the small entryway as they were taking their shoes off, taken aback by the amount of people in her home.

"Hello auntie, it's been a while," Katsuki greeted her, pulling her from her shocked trance.

"Oh, uh, it sure has been, Katsuki-kun," she answered, forcing a smile.

"We'll be in my room," Izuku said, wanting to get this over with quickly before his mom started asking any questions, or worse, tell them embarrassing childhood stories. With that, he was able to guide his friends to the hallway and towards the door with his name on it. "Please don't look at the mess, I haven't gotten a chance to clean yet."

"Deku, what the fuck," Kacchan breathed. The others were stunned as well. They'd all expected to see the room of a hero fanboy, expecting even more All Might figurines and posters and merchandise, probably of some other heroes too. They didn't expect to walk into the room of a conspiracy theorist... There were pictures and notes hanging up on the walls, threads connecting several of them, notebooks sprawled open over Izuku's desk and some papers lying messily on top of his bed and on the ground. It was an absolute mess.

"Dude, you're in deep," Eijirou whispered.

"What? No! No, no, no, it's not that bad, I swear!" Izuku exclaimed nervously, quickly gathering some of the notes that were sprawled around. "I just- I've been busy, that's all! I told you I was trying to figure things out and I did my research-"

"These are personal logs of everyone in class 1-A, things that have occurred and have yet to occur and their significance to their personal growth," Shoto pointed out, grabbing one of the notebooks from the desk. "Izuku, I hate to tell you this, but I think you are a stalker."

"I'm not! It's all just research, I swear!" Izuku told him, quickly grabbing the notebook from his hand and throwing it in a box with the rest of them, shoving it under his bed before they could ask any questions about it.

"I've never been more happy that you never turned to villainy," Ochako stated. "Because holy fuck, Deku, this shit is insane."

"Is it really..?" Izuku asked. "I mean, it's a bit messy, I know, but, well, ah, this was the first real lead I've had in years so I guess I, uhm, I overcompensated?"

"No wonder you weren't sleeping properly! Izuku-kun, this is not healthy!" Tenya frowned. "You should have involved the Assembly and divided the tasks into manageable proportions! How long did all of this even take?"

"Oh, uh, I don't really know, I guess a week? Maybe two?" Izuku shrugged.

"That's it, I'm staying over, I'm forcing you to go to bed whether you want it or not," Katsuki said, making it clear that it wasn't up for discussion. He underestimated the psychological trauma this nerd went through. How could he have forgotten that Deku had been stuck here for literal years?! Of course he'd jump on the first lead they had! This was Deku they were talking about!

"But I'm fine! Besides, I was able to work out my theory about triggers and memory gain and oh! Right! I need to show you guys how I did it," Izuku rambled, jumping on his bed so he could point at the mess of pictures and papers and notes and thread that was sticking to the wall. "So I started listing everyone that was involved in the Jikan raid and then I started thinking about how we all got our memories back-"

He went on a long rant after that, about how he came to this conclusion, how he did his research, some things more concerning than others. They grew more and more worried for Izuku's sanity as he went on, though. That and they were visually reminded of the fact that this guy knew everything about them. He was obsessed with over-analyzing things, so of course he'd keep taps of things like their quirks or major events in their lives, but there were freaky details too, ones they didn't know Izuku knew and they were too scared to ask him how he found out.

"...So that's how you predicted I would regain my memories during our practical exam?" Momo asked, still a little confused.

"Yes! You gaining confidence in your decisions and not relying on others to make plans or not allowing yourself to be treated as a pushover marked a new beginning for you in your hero training," Izuku explained. "It eventually made you into the strategic hero you are now! Or, well, that you were, I... I don't really know how to refer to, uhm, you know, our past lives? Are it our past lives? It's technically a possible future but-"

"We get it, Deku," Katsuki interrupted him.

"Right! So, uhm, that's pretty much it," Izuku told them.

"Do you have a guess as to who will regain their memories next?" Shoto asked.

"Ah, I'm not sure," Izuku told him, turning back to the wall. "You see, Aoyama-kun would be a very likely possibility, due to his resistance against the League during-"

He cut himself off, leaving an uneasy silence in the room. Training camp. When the League of Villains attacked them in the woods in the middle of nowhere. When they- Izuku bit his lip, avoiding eye contact. When they kidnapped Kacchan. The events that would lead to the battle of Kamino, to All Might's retirement. It was a traumatizing event for all of them, one Izuku didn't want to repeat if he had a say in it. But he didn't. Some things were meant to happen, and the consequences of all of this were too big to be negated. Izuku was pretty sure he'd die if he tried to change it.

"During their attack on our training camp," Katsuki finished. "It's okay, you can talk about it."

"...Are you sure?" Izuku asked quietly. "We don't know whether we can avoid you being taken again a-and I don't want you to have to go through all that again. I know how much it hurt you, even now."

Katsuki huffed, annoyed by the looks of pity he received from the others.

"I talked about it with my therapist before, processed my trauma or whatever, it's fine," he said. "Besides, getting kidnapped a second time can't possibly be any worse than the first time around."

"Don't joke about things like that man," Eijirou frowned. "We were all really worried about you!"

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm still expecting you guys to come and save me if I get taken again," Katsuki pointed out. "Bet Aizawa sensei won't even be mad about it this time around."

"Hm, he was still pretty mad about the whole Stain thing even though he knew about it," Izuku said.

"That's because you decided to sneak off and fight the Hero Killer without a quirk!" Tenya exclaimed. "Which was reckless and irresponsible! If we bring the rescue squad back together, it will be calculated and coordinated!"

"Do you think Aizawa will allow me to join this time around?" Ochako wondered. "I mean, I wasn't part of the original gang, so I'm doubting he'll take the extra risk, but..."

"We'll see when we get there. For all we know, Katsuki won't even be taken this time around," Momo smiled, trying to be optimistic. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen... It must've shown on his face, because Kacchan gave him a look that said he knew what was coming. You can't escape fate, no matter how hard you want to.

//\\
\\//

Izuku felt nervous, listening to Tenya announce the time and place they would be meeting up again, telling them to always stay in a group while wandering around the mall. They were shopping for supplies for training camp. Just like last time, Shoto wasn't with them. He instead opted to visit his mom, wanting to restore their connection. But unlike the last time, Kacchan was here with them now, standing next to Izuku, holding his hand. They both knew Shigaraki would be here today, that he would approach Izuku when he was alone, and Katsuki was determined to not let the nerd out of his sight for even a moment.

"Does everyone understand?!" the class rep asked, chopping the air in front of him. There were murmurs of agreement as the group split up, everyone going their own way with their set of friends.

"Come on, let's go," Katsuki hummed, tugging Izuku along as they started walking. "You wanted some new training weights, right?"

"Kacchan, we don't have to-"

"Shut up, I don't want to hear it," he hissed. "Just... Let's not talk about it, okay? I just want to spend some time with you today, maybe call this thing a date, I don't know, but don't remind me of what's going to happen. Believe me, I'm well aware."

"So...a date, then?" Izuku asked, feeling his face heat up. It felt like years since they'd been on a date. It had been years, actually, to Izuku at least. What did they even do on dates..?

"Yes, a date," Katsuki smiled, squeezing his hand. "Want to go check out that smoothie place you like so much? I think it exists already."

"Only one way to find out," Izuku smiled, allowing himself to be led by Kacchan, momentarily forgetting all his stress and worries about the future. About the hurt and the trauma and the uncertainty of it all. Right now he was just a teenage boy hanging out with his boyfriend at the mall, drinking a smoothie as they browsed the stores, talked, laughed. It reminded him of simpler times, made him forget about the complicated calculations and predictions he had to make the last couple of months while attending UA.

It made him forget about Shigaraki, who aimlessly wandered through the mall, right outside his field of vision. Shigaraki, who never interacted with him, or anyone for that matter. Shigaraki, who went back to his hideout with no new resolve or goal or determination whatsoever, doomed to stay a man child, a self-destructive man who dreamed of bringing down the world. A dream that would never become reality, not if Izuku had anything to say about it.