Izuku ended up staying the night at the police station, giving them his statements about what happened and what he knew. Tsukauchi wasn't with him for all of it, giving him some breathing space to stretch and mold some of the facts without being called out on it. They also allowed him one phone call to his mother, who was worried sick. She was at the Bakugou's when Izuku called, probably seeking comfort and answers. Izuku wouldn't be surprised if auntie Mitsuki made a few angry calls, demanding to know where Izuku was and why they were containing him like some kind of criminal.

His release left him feeling queasy, though. Because both the police and the UA faculty now knew about his biological connection to All For One. And he felt bad throwing Aoyama under the bus like that... He was sure things would turn out for the better for the sweet french boy though. Izuku had tried to push redemption as much as he could, underlining the fact his family was being used and threatened. Plus, they could use him to misguide All For One. That might've been the factor that won the argument, but Izuku wouldn't know until school started up again.

"Come on, I'll drive you," Tsukauchi said. "To apologize for keeping you all night."

"It's okay," Izuku yawned, rubbing his eye as he trailed behind the detective. "Would be suspicious of me too if I was you, so."

"I'm glad you understand," he smiled, unlocking his car. He motioned Izuku to get in and they drove off a little later. Izuku directed him to the Bakugou household, since that's where his mom was at the moment. Besides, he really needed to talk to Kacchan. Izuku wanted to know what the ash blonde had told the police about him, since they seemed to know about his knowledge of the USJ attack as well as the training camp ambush. Sure, they hadn't brought it up until Izuku started talking, but still. They might as well have. It's really no wonder they thought he was the traitor with how much villain attacks he was in the know of...

"This is my stop," Izuku said, pointing at a house up ahead, the Bakugou household.

"This isn't where the officers picked you up," Tsukauchi said, frowning a bit. "I remember the address being-"

"It's a friend's house. My mom's there," Izuku explained. "So it's fine, isn't it? And uh thank you for bringing me, detective Tsukauchi. I hope everything will be resolved soon."

"It should be," he hummed. "But that's not something you should concern yourself with. Go and take a nap, Midoriya. I've kept you long enough."

Izuku gave him one last smile, waving as he drove off before walking up to the front door. He didn't have his key with him, so all he could do was ring the doorbell and hope someone came to answer. It was quite early in the morning, after all. Thinking about that, he glanced up at the sky, still filled with those pink and orange hues of the sunrise. Huh... He hadn't even realized when driving here. God, he must be more tired than he thought he was.

"Izuku-kun!" Mitsuki gasped as she opened the front door, having Izuku's eyes trail back to the woman in front of him.

"Hi auntie Mitsuki, I heard my mom-" Izuku started, only to be pulled inside. There was shrieking and hugging and before he knew it, Izuku got smothered by his crying mother.

"Izuku, my baby!"

"I'm okay mom, I'm fine, I promise," Izuku told her as he rubbed her back, allowing all her worry and relief to wash over him. Mitsuki and Masaru weren't much better, although they were more composed and angry, frustrated as well as relieved that Izuku was finally back. He could see Kacchan in the corner of his eye, too. Standing off to the side with a look Izuku couldn't decipher with just a glance alone. "Turns out they had more questions than I thought they'd have. I'm not in trouble or anything, though."

"It's like I told you, Inko. They're letting the brats get away with a warning this time," Mitsuki said. It was soft, softer than Izuku expected it to be. Bet she already lectured the hell out of Kacchan about this, though.

"Why didn't you say anything, Izuku?!" Inko cried.

"I didn't want to worry you," Izuku sighed, forcing a small smile. "Things turned out okay, didn't they? It won't even leave a stain on my record! And I promise I'll never, ever do something like that again!"

There was more crying and hugging, but Izuku was too tired to do anything about it. So he simply endured it, forcing the breakfast down his throat that uncle Masaru so kindly made them. All the while Kacchan was glancing at him in the corner of his eye. He hadn't said a word to him yet...

"Can we...talk? Please?" Izuku asked after he was able to excuse himself from the table. He was sure he and his mom would be leaving soon and he didn't want to miss this chance to hear out Kacchan. He must've said things to the police, right? Otherwise they wouldn't have known about the USJ. There might've been other stuff they knew about, too, but they just didn't tell him. Things that got explained away with his connection to All For One. Like...the name of the Hero Killer. Would Kacchan have told them about that? Would they have used the fact he sent out coordinates before against him if they thought he was lying about it?

"Talk," Katsuki simply said, which made Izuku frown.

"In private?" Izuku asked, eying their parents on the other side of the room. Kacchan seemed reluctant at first, but Izuku guessed he wanted some answers too, so he gave in and motioned for the stairs. If their parents saw them going up to Katsuki's room, they didn't say anything about it. Once there, Izuku made sure to close the door before opening his mouth again. "You told the police about my knowledge of the USJ attack."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. A fact. Nobody else could've known about that.

"You told them I gave the coordinates to the warehouse," Izuku continued. "That I planned the rescue mission before I saw the scene, because I knew what it would look like. You... You told them I knew about All For One."

"They fucking asked," Katsuki snapped, not making eye contact. "What the hell do you want me to say, Deku? I'm not gonna lie to the damn cops!"

"You told them about the USJ," Izuku reminded him. "They wouldn't have asked about that. So why did you tell them? What else did you tell them?"

"Does it fucking matter?" Katsuki hissed, looking up for the first time during their conversation, only to look away immediately. He seemed hurt. Scared. Izuku didn't know why. "You bullshitted your way out of it, right? They released you."

"They thought I was a villain informant because of what you said," Izuku told him, watching Kacchan clench his fists. He didn't want to make him feel guilty. He just wanted to know why he said what he did. Why Kacchan ratted him out like that if he himself had asked Izuku to come and save Shinsou. Izuku had done nothing but help him, right? He'd warned him about everything. So why..?

"...And you aren't..?" Katsuki said, but it came out more like a question, like he was unsure of his own words. Izuku's eyes widened as he realized what was going on here.

"Oh my god, Kacchan, no!" Izuku exclaimed. "You- You thought I was- You think I'm the traitor? That I'm helping the League of Villains?!"

"What else was I supposed to think?!" he snapped, a small explosion popping from his hand. "You always knew everything about them! Knew when they would strike, who they were talking with, where they would be- You fucking know everything, Deku! You know everything and you refuse to fucking tell me how! So tell me, what else am I supposed to think?! What else could it possibly be?!"

There were more explosions, but they weren't aimed at Izuku or anything in particular. No, they were just Kacchan's way of venting his emotions. His frustrations. Izuku could see tears forming in the corner of his eyes, feeling his own eyes start to water as well. Kacchan... Kacchan thought he was a traitor. A spy. And he confessed those suspicions to the police when he saw his chance, providing any and all information he had on him. And yet... Yet he called him to organize the rescue party. He still trusted Izuku enough to follow his lead, no matter how dangerous the situation.

Oh, he was definitely crying now.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry I can't tell you, that I need to hide this part of myself- I don't want to. I want to tell you- tell you everything, anything."

"Then tell me," Katsuki hissed. "Fucking talk to me, Deku!"

Talk to me!

Those words pushed him over the edge, making way for a waterfall of tears as Izuku broke down in Katsuki's arms. As he sobbed and cried and mumbled incomprehensible apologies. He didn't know how long they sat there like that, didn't know why Kacchan was still so fucking patient with him even after all the shit he pulled. All the pressure he was under just seemed to collapse in on itself. The pressure to perform, to be a hero, to fix this mess. To be the number one. To be perfect.

And Izuku was far from perfect.

"I'm gonna ask one more time," Katsuki whispered as Izuku calmed down. "It's the last time I'll ever ask and I won't ever bring it back up again if you don't wanna answer, promise."

Izuku nodded, knowing what was coming next.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"You want to know what I told the police?" Izuku sniffled, trying to clean up his tearstained face as he composed himself.

"Depends," Katsuki shrugged. "Did you tell the cops the truth or did you bullshit your way out of it like you always do?"

"Ah, uh... Half-truth?" Izuku answered with a nervous smile. He didn't outright lie to them- Not about everything, not while Tsukauchi was there with him. What he had told them was true. Tomura was Tenko, Aoyama was the traitor, All For One... All For One was his father. What's a few little lies sprinkled in between?

"So, bullshit," Katsuki huffed. "Are you going to give me the bullshit answer, too?"

"No," Izuku sighed, glancing aside, fiddling with his hands. How was he going to do this? Was he actually going to give him his memories back? Izuku would never hear the end of it if he did. Kacchan would step right up to the UA faculty and demand All Might hand over One For All. He'd bring back their friends with no hesitation, all the while berating Izuku on his self-sacrificial nature. All his work would've been for nothing. Keeping up this quirkless facade would've been for nothing. The knowledge he gathered about technologies and quirk infusion were still incomplete, too. He couldn't possibly stop now!

Maybe... Maybe he could tell Kacchan without returning his memories to him. Maybe it would be for the best if the ash blonde didn't know how fucked up their past lifecycles had been. How much pain and torture they endured, how much strain was put onto their relationship. Maybe it was best if he thought this was just a one off thing, something a villain put him through, specifically. Not a time loop, but more of a reincarnation.

"Promise me you won't freak out," Izuku said. "And to be open minded. This is going to sound like I'm insane."

"You are insane," Katsuki pointed out, earning a glare from the green head. "But alright, I promise."

"I uh... I'm from the future," Izuku said, waiting for Kacchan's response while looking down at his hands, still fiddling. Could you really blame him for being nervous, though?

"The future..?" Katsuki frowned. "So, like, time travel? Is it a quirk?"

"A combination of quirk and machine," Izuku shrugged. "I don't- I don't know how it works, exactly. I'm still trying to figure things out-"

"That's why you're in the support course. Quirk infused technology," Katsuki stated, slowly connecting the dots. He'd always been too smart for his own good. "It's how you know about what's gonna happen. It's why you were able to warn me about all the shit that was gonna go down."

"Yeah," Izuku breathed. "It's... I wasn't part of the support course, you know, in my first life, but uh... Well, I don't exactly have a quirk right now-"

"You have a quirk?" Katsuki asked, his eyes widening. "In the future you're from, you... You had a quirk?"

"Yes," Izuku nodded. "A strength enhancer- Or more like, an energy manipulator."

"You could become a hero with that quirk," Katsuki mumbled. Izuku gave him a tightlipped smile, making his eyes widen. "No fucking way."

"It's how I ended up here, blasted to the past," Izuku said. "I... I don't have my quirk now, though. I don't know why or how this whole time travel thing works, but... But I'm figuring it out, okay? I'm gathering intel and doing what I can to learn more about what happened so I can reverse it."

"You're- Fuck," Katsuki breathed, rubbing his face in his hands for a second before sitting up again. "Alright. Fuck. How old are you, really?"

"I was 26 when I was brought back in time," Izuku answered truthfully. "I was a pro hero at the time. We, uh, we actually worked together a lot! I mean, I was originally a part of class 1-A so, uhm, yeah, that's how I knew everyone's names and quirks and stuff at the start of the year. It's how I know about the attacks- about everything."

"So you know who the real traitor is too, right?"

"Yeah, I told the police about that," Izuku nodded. "It's why they let me go."

"You didn't tell them you're from the future?" Katsuki asked, frowning. "Why not?"

"Not all people can be trusted. All For One has spies everywhere," Izuku sighed. "That and, well, I don't want to attract too much unwanted attention or pull in people who got nothing to do with this whole ordeal. I don't want to interfere with the timeline if I can help it."

"...So you're not gonna let me do shit to help you, are you?" Katsuki asked, glaring at him.

"You're a teenager, Kacchan," Izuku told him. "I'm afraid there just isn't much you can do right now."

"My parents," he started. "They're into the whole quirk infusion shit. They could help you. You could tell them."

"Like I said, I don't want to pull civilians into this mess," Izuku reminded him. "But asking to work with your parents might not be a bad idea. They may be able to answer some of my questions."

"And let me guess, you want me to stay quiet about this?" Katsuki asked.

"If you could, please," Izuku smiled, taking his hand. "Things will work out fine, Kacchan. I promise you don't have to worry about me."

"Were we-" Katsuki choked out, his cheeks dusted in a soft pink. "Were we a...thing, in your future?"

"We were dating," Izuku confirmed, pulling Kacchan closer, hugging him once again. "I love you, Kacchan. I'm sorry I kept this from you. I promise, from now on, no more secrets."

That was a lie. A blatant lie. And Izuku hated how easy it left his mouth. How good he had become at deceiving those he cared about. How calm and rational he made himself look, as if his mind wasn't crumbling apart. As if these time loops hadn't taken a toll on him, hadn't affected him at all. Forever suppressing his own feelings for the sake of others, for the sake of the world. Holding himself together for as long as this mission lasted, until he'd undone what Jikan had caused.

Maybe then, he could finally let himself fall apart.