Katsuki didn't know why Deku had bothered coming over. His birthday party had been yesterday and he wasn't invited. His mom had nagged him about it but ultimately gave in to his demands. But now that dumb Deku was standing at his door, a present in his hands, looking super nervous. And of course his parents had let him in with happy smiles and now Katsuki was forced to accept whatever crappy gift that nerd got for him. They weren't even friends anymore, so he really didn't know why he even put this much effort in.

What? He thinks he's better than Katsuki or something? Rub it in his face how good he was even if Katsuki was being mean to him. Ugh. This guy, I swear-

"Happy birthday, Kacchan," Izuku smiled, holding out the box with trembling hands. "I, uh, I know you didn't want me to, but uh, I got you...something. Ten is a big number, you know! I hope you're not too mad."

Katsuki huffed, pulling the box from his hands and ripping open the paper wrapping. Don't be too mad, ha, as if! This better be the best gift he'd ever been given or else he'll- Katsuki frowned when he looked inside the box, seeing one of Deku's nerd books inside. It looked a little different from the other ones, because this one was white instead of those standardized grainy lines that normally covered the front. It didn't have that little line box in the corner either, you know, the place where you write your name and stuff. Instead it had some kind of symbol drawn on top of it, which Deku had obviously done himself.

"There's something inside," Izuku said quickly, scared Kacchan would just blow it up or throw it away without knowing why Izuku had given it to him. Katsuki frowned, opening the book just so Deku wouldn't whine about it later, taking out the folded piece of paper that was stuck behind the first page. Assembly, that's what Deku had written in the middle of that first page. That sounded...oddly familiar, somehow. Katsuki didn't bother trying to figure it out, though, slamming the book shut before unfolding the note.

Please don't take this the wrong way, Kacchan.

If you really wanna be a hero, go take a swan dive off the roof and pray you'll be born with a quirk in your next life.

Katsuki blinked, looking up at Izuku, who was staring resolutely to the ground, avoiding eye contact at all cost. This guy- This fucking guy-

"I fucking hate you."

"I'm sorry, Kacchan," Izuku mumbled, still not looking up.

"This is the shittiest birthday present ever," Katsuki continued. "And way too fucking late. I'm ten, Deku!"

"I know," Izuku sighed.

"You were four!"

"I know..."

"And I'm ten! Again!" Katsuki hissed, exploding the note in utter frustration. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"You were having such a hard time with Tsubasa and I... I thought maybe it would be better if you didn't have to be here for all of it," Izuku shrugged helplessly. "I know it's not what you wanted and I know I was absolutely useless back then- in the last timeline, during that Nomu attack- and I... I don't know what happened after, but it couldn't have been good, right?"

"It wasn't," Katsuki said, looking down at the hand drawn Assembly symbol again. "It doesn't matter anymore. It never happened, so there's no point in beating ourselves up about it."

"Still..." Izuku said. "I don't know whether I should have the quirk... I don't know whether I can still be the hero I need to be."

"Stop that," Katsuki hissed, hitting him over the head. "Stop doubting yourself. You're fucking great, even though this gift is absolute shit. Why give me a notebook?"

"I thought we could work on it together," Izuku shrugged. "Combine our thoughts and theories and possible actions... We don't have to if you don't want to, of course! I just thought it would help us communicate about this stuff."

"...Oh," Katsuki breathed. That was actually...kinda sweet. That way Katsuki wouldn't have to worry constantly about Izuku overthinking, he wouldn't have to prompt him to tell him the most basic shit. It was a big obstacle in their past life when they were figuring this Jikan bullshit out, something they still didn't fully understand, so if this notebook could actually help with that then who was Katsuki to say no? "Okay."

"Okay?"

"I accept your shitty gift, Izuku," Katsuki snorted, wacking him on the head with it. "But I'm still angry you kept me in the dark about this."

"I'll make it up to you."

"You better," Katsuki huffed, looking down at the notebook again. He flipped through it, seeing Izuku had already written down the basics of what they knew. Details about Jikan, an explanation about the memory loss and memory regain mechanics, and with it the specifics of certain people. "Starting with a sleepover."

"A sleepover?" Izuku asked, a little surprised. "Won't your parents-"

"Shut up, I don't wanna hear your lame excuses. Wanna make it up to me or not?" Katsuki asked, giving Izuku a playful glare.

"...Sleepover it is," Izuku smiled, glad he didn't have to deal with a distant Kacchan anymore. Yeah, having to watch them grow apart again wasn't something Izuku liked. To be honest, he was kind of surprised he was able to keep himself from telling Kacchan everything up until now. It had been hard, harder than he would've liked. Because how do you go from inseparable to barely being friends? How could Izuku face the one person who understood what kind of trauma he went through, knowing he didn't remember any of it?

Luckily auntie Mitsuki wasn't too hard to convince of their whole sleepover idea and they spent the night huddled together inside a blanket fort, shining a flashlight into their shared notebook as they read and added things. They must've fallen asleep at some point, but Izuku didn't remember when. He remembered Kacchan being skeptical about his whole 'time is linear' theory, reminding him he didn't actually have any concrete proof or evidence.

"It's a time loop, Deku. It's circular," Kacchan had huffed. "The same fucking circle over and over again."

Izuku must've fallen asleep sometime after that conversation, because one moment he was staring down at the badly illuminated lined paper of his notebook and the other he was looking up at a dark night sky. He was sitting up on a roof in a city he couldn't name, his body that of an adult, dressed in the familiar greens and blacks of his hero outfit. He was out on patrol, his subconscious supplied. A night shift, both packed with the most action and the least public recognition. Izuku didn't hate it, though, and it was quiet this evening.

"Think we can actually see that shitty comet from here?"

Izuku turned around, seeing Kacchan walk over to him before sitting down next to him on the edge of the roof. The comet..? Ah, so it was this memory, then. Back when they weren't dating yet, when they'd ran into each other at random during their night patrols. It wasn't that unusual they happened to find each other that way, not back in the day. Izuku wondered whether Kacchan had set those seemingly random meetings up, though. Definitely this one. People had been going off about this comet in their group chat, a piece of space debris that only soared past the earth every hundred years, give or take. It was supposed to be romantic to watch it together, but Izuku hadn't been giving that aspect a lot of attention.

"Don't know," Izuku shrugged. "You can barely see the stars from up here."

Katsuki grunted, a sign he was listening as his eyes scanned the surface below. There were barely any people out at this hour and it didn't seem anyone was going to try and start any trouble.

"The squad won't shut up about it," Katsuki sighed. "Good thing I had to work or they would've dragged me to their lame viewing party."

Izuku snorted at that, knowing more than anyone how much his friends meant to him.

"What? Don't wanna skip your bedtime if it means you don't get the chance to beat a villain?" he teased. Katsuki didn't react to it, though, and they fell into a peaceful silence. Izuku hummed as he saw the tiny streak of light graze the sky, growing brighter as it raced closer. "Kacchan- Kacchan, look! It's the comet! You can actually-"

Izuku smiled, facing Katsuki, wanting to make sure he had his attention, only to find that the ash blonde's form had distorted beyond recognition. Suddenly the world around them fell to darkness, until there was only a small spark of orange left. And when Izuku reached out to touch it, he darted awake. His eyes shot open and he gasped as he heaved himself up. A dream. It was all a dream. He knew that, he'd been lucid the whole time, but still.

"Nmgh," Kacchan grumbled next to him, his arm swinging up as his hand grabbed Izuku's shirt, dragging him back down. "Too early."

With that he was pulled into Kacchan's arms, humming as the blonde dozed off again. Izuku didn't actually know what time it was, unable to free himself from Kacchan's grip and unable to see anything other than the blankets hanging above their heads. He was still mulling over that dream, too. It had felt so...real, in a way. Like- No. Izuku frowned. It felt like a quirk dream, like when the vestiges pulled him inside One For All to talk with him. But that wasn't possible, he didn't have that quirk yet. Maybe it had been something like...a phantom dream or something. Did those exist? Izuku never had those in the other timelines...

"Stop," Katsuki groaned, smacking a hand in Izuku's face. "Your mind is so looouuuud..."

"Sometimes I wonder if you're not secretly a mindreader," Izuku mumbled, throwing his hand back at him.

"Ima Deku reader," Kacchan huffed, shifting a little to get into a better hugging position. "Deku expert."

"Yeah, probably."

"Definitely," Katsuki corrected him. "Don't doubt me."

"Never," Izuku chuckled. He liked sleep deprived Kacchan, it wasn't a version he got to see often. He was always clingy and super open about what he was feeling and it was absolutely adorable. Izuku sighed, giving the blonde a small smile before closing his eyes again. Maybe getting some extra rest would do him some good? He'd been restless for about a week before all of this, anxious about how Kacchan would react to his gift, to his memories. Yeah, maybe Kacchan wasn't the only one who was sleep deprived...

Maybe that's why he dreamed like that, as if he was within One For All, as if he possessed a quirk he wasn't supposed to have. Maybe that's why he'd seen Kacchan the way he had. An image of a memory and then... Then he'd been a feeling, a light, like the powers the vestiges had left behind. It was probably because they'd talked about the possibilities of a linear time loop, because it had reminded Izuku of that other weird dream he had, back in UA's nurse's office. When he'd seen Kacchan standing with the First and Second, when he'd been convinced his boyfriend was a part of being- the essence, that was One For All.

"Shut uuuuup," Katsuki whined, burying his face in Izuku's chest, making Izuku chuckle. He must've been mumbling subconsciously again. Huh, he should really get that bad habit under control, shouldn't he? Before he said the wrong things to the wrong people...

"Sorry, Kacchan," Izuku whispered. "I'll be quiet now."

"You better," he mumbled, and he kept true to his word, closing his eyes and snuggling closer to Kacchan, falling asleep once more. That's how uncle Masaru would eventually find them, all cuddled up in their blanket fort, with the notebook shoved under the pillows and the flashlight abandoned somewhere at the side. He made them pancakes after he woke them up around 10 o'clock and Izuku was actually surprised how long they slept. Then again, he had no idea when they finally fell asleep last night.

"You boys had fun? Didn't stay up too late?" Masaru asked.

"Playing with Kacchan is always fun!" Izuku smiled, being used to playing the part of a child by now. "Thank you for letting me sleep over, uncle Masaru."

"You're always welcome here, Izuku," the man smiled, looking at his son. "Right, Katsuki?"

"Yeah," Katsuki nodded, stuffing his face with a big chunk of pancake a second later. "Guess Deku isn't so useless."

Izuku smiled, knowing Kacchan was trying to make the transition seem less sudden, but he could assure the blonde their parents wouldn't ask questions. They were kids, for crying out loud. Kids changed their minds about all kinds of things at random all the time. It wouldn't be so weird if Kacchan decided Izuku was his friend again.

"I'm glad to hear it," Masarue chuckled. "Come on, eat up and I'll take you to the park. Your mom will come and pick you up there too, Izuku."