Today was the day. Inko was working late and Eri's parents were as well. They had one of their mothers babysit, like usual, but she had the tendency to fall asleep on the job. It was something Izuku took note of during his...research. Yeah, it was research, not stalking! No matter how much Eraserhead tried to phrase it that way. No matter, tonight was the night. Everything lined up perfectly! If they were going to kidnap this child, now was the moment to do it.

"Do you have everything taken care of back home?" Aizawa asked as they met up at their usual spot.

"Yep! Have you?" Izuku asked. Aizawa grumbled, still a bit reluctant about that part. I mean, someone had to take care of Eri after this, right? And Izuku couldn't exactly show up home with a baby in his arms- His mom would freak out! It was a problem he hadn't found a good solution to before he teamed up with Eraserhead, something that was giving him a headache trying to figure out. But now that he had an adult helping him, taking care of a toddler should be no problem!

"It's a temporary solution, remember that," Eraser told him. "Once she gets her quirk and learns how to control it, we're finding her a suitable family."

"Sure thing," Izuku smiled, knowing fully well this man would never be able to let her go again. Taking in strays was his whole thing, after all. Troubled teens, traumatized kids, it didn't matter. Hell, there was a reason he was working with Izuku right now and it wasn't just because he could see into the future, he was sure of it. "Let's save her first though, okay? Granny should be asleep by now so we can slip in through the window and take her from her bed no problem!"

"Why do I feel like there will be problems..?" Aizawa sighed as Izuku shrugged, securing his mask before powering up his quirk and jumping off the building. He'll always be a problem child, so that can't really be avoided. But like he said, the timing was perfect! There was no way something would go wrong.

Of course, by saying that, he totally jinxed them.

Because Granny wasn't sleeping as they snuck into the apartment through the living room window. She was awake in front of the tv and spotted them almost right away. There was screaming and shouting and a lot of stuff fell on the ground as she used her quirk to defend herself. Aizawa neutralized her, wrapping her up in his capture tape, glad he hadn't worn his actual hero outfit for this mission. If it got out that Eraserhead helped kidnap a child... Yeah, that wouldn't be good. Meanwhile Izuku barged into the nursery, seeing Eri had woken up from all the commotion, staring wide eyed at the intruder.

"Hey there Eri," Izuku smiled, picking her up from her bed. "Wanna feel what flying feels like?"

She was confused, but giggled anyway. At least she wasn't crying, right? That changed when he headed back to the living room, where Granny was still trashing and shouting and oh god the neighbors were definitely hearing this.

"Let's get out of here before someone else shows up," Aizawa said, urging him to the open window as Eri started bawling her eyes out, crying and wiggling in his hold, trying to escape. Izuku tried to shush her but it took a while. Jumping and flying around didn't seem to be helping, either. No, wait, actually, it was kinda calming her down once he turned her so she could look around. The motions lulled her back to sleep somehow, her eyes drooping by the time they slid into Aizawa sensei's apartment.

"We did it!" Izuku cheered, making sure to keep his voice quiet enough as to not disturb the sleeping girl. "It was a bit of a mess, but we did it, Eraserhead! I actually saved her!"

Izuku's smile fell when he noticed the odd look on Aizawa's face. He was never one to show much emotion, not unless you were someone close to him, someone he cared about. And Izuku did not fall in that category, not in this life, so why... Why was he looking at him like that..? Eyes full of sorrow and worry and pain... As if-

"No," Izuku choked out. The first time he succeeded in something in front of him, the first time he made him realize that he had potential, that he had the heart of a hero and the mindset to back it up. He couldn't have actually felt that just now, could he? Their mission was a mess, Izuku didn't even do all that much- They were barely even able to secure Eri! And at least one of the neighbors had to have called the authorities, they weren't out of the woods just yet, not if they left anything behind. Which they couldn't check because they had to leave in such a hurry and Eri was crying and now-

"Midoriya," he called out, taking a step closer as Izuku took a step back. "Put Eri down, you're shaking."

He was right. Izuku hadn't noticed his body had started to panic, that his breath was coming in short superficial puffs, or that he was quite literally trembling on his legs. It was a good thing Aizawa took Eri when he did, because he crumbled to the ground not even a second later.

"It's alright. Come, look at me," Aizawa said, pressing onto his shoulders so he would stay upright. "Breathe. Come on Midoriya, you can do it. Just take a deep breath like this-"

He took a deep breath, holding it a few seconds before letting out a long exhale. He grabbed Izuku's hand, pressing it to his chest, as if to make sure Izuku was following his instructions, as if he didn't know how to breathe. He did. He'd been alive for so long, it was kinda ridiculous he'd forget how to do such a basic thing, right? And yet... Yet panic made someone do weird things, didn't it? Because Izuku didn't know how to breathe. He could feel Aizawa's chest move, could feel his own heart beat so rapidly- and yet his breaths were short and shallow and his lungs burned.

"Listen to my voice, focus on the rhythm," Aizawa continued. "You're safe, you're okay. You just have to breathe."

Safe, ha, what a joke! It was clear sensei remembered, that Izuku was doomed, that his plan had failed. Again. His plan failed again. Just like all his other plans, just like every single thing he'd tried ever since this mess started. It didn't matter if the others were in the know or if they involved more people- No, it always seemed to turn out like this. Failure. Izuku's chest tightened up and he could hear the doctor's first words ringing in the back of his mind, mocking him.

"Yeah, that's not gonna happen kid."

As if telling him he'd never succeed. That no matter what he did, he'd always go back to that pearly white room. No matter what he tried, he'd always wake up to those spotless tiles, to the soft fabric of an old plushie. And every time it happened, he would be told how worthless he was. No quirk, no chance. Just a useless kid trying his best. Trying and failing over and over and over and over and-

"Izuku!" Aizawa snapped, momentarily pulling him out of his downward spiral. "Breathe."

Breathe.

Right.

He was supposed to breathe.

Izuku took a shaky breath, clenching his fists around the fabric of Aizawa's shirt. His heartbeat was erratic, blood rushing through his ears, making it hard to actually listen to anything going on around him. Hearing. Senses. Right, the trick. To help him calm down. How did it go again? Izuku's mind was in shambles, trying to puzzle the pieces together and failing horribly. Failing, like he failed at everything else in life. Aizawa seemed to know exactly what was happening though, because he took over the reins with no struggle at all.

"Izuku, listen to me," he demanded. "Tell me about five things you can see. Can you do that? Can you talk to me?"

Izuku nodded, noticing his vision was blurry with tears. When had he started crying..?

"You," he croaked out, his voice hoarse and quiet and oh so broken. He absolutely hated the way he sounded. "Eri... The... The floor. Wood."

Huh, Izuku hadn't noticed the wooden flooring before now.

"Two more," Aizawa told him.

"Paintings on the wall," Izuku choked out. Or were they pictures? He didn't know. "Uhm, the... The table,"

"Good. You're doing good," Aizawa said, rubbing his back. "Four things you can feel?"

"Your shirt," Izuku mumbled, his fist still clenched around the fabric. "Your heart. My heart. It's too fast-"

"Don't think about that for now," Aizawa told him, distracting him. "One more thing."

"...Sweaty," Izuku said. He hadn't realized how hard his body had worked during all of this, the adrenaline taking care of most of it.

"Three things you can hear?"

"Your voice... Eri crying," Izuku muttered, and oh, that wasn't good, was it? "...Rain?"

The window was still open, probably, but Izuku didn't remember whether it had been raining before. Had it only just started..?

"Now two things you smell," Aizawa asked.

"I stink," Izuku mumbled. He really was sweaty. That and these clothes hadn't been washed properly in a while. His mom would ask questions if she found these in the laundry load, after all. "And this place is dusty."

"If you're complaining, I'm kicking you out," Aizawa stated, making Izuku snort. "Come on, finish the list. Something you taste."

"Tears," Izuku sighed. "They're salty."

"Have you calmed down?" he asked. Izuku nodded, trying not to feel too bad at the sudden loss of contact as Aizawa got up to take care of Eri. Right, he wasn't the priority right now. He'd never been, but that was beside the point. Aizawa knew. Izuku was sure of it. The way he looked at him... It was that very same look they all had whenever they regained their memories. Izuku should know, he'd given people their memories back a thousand times over before going solo. He didn't know how things would revolve from here on out though. The only thing he could do was sit and watch as Aizawa calmed Eri down.

He moved her to her new room when she fell asleep again, leaving Izuku alone in the living room for a moment. Izuku could count the times he'd been here on one hand, even over the course of multiple lifetimes. Aizawa never liked having them over at his place, thought it would give off wrong impressions on his neighbors, who already thought he was a sketchy person to begin with. No, they mostly met up at school or a secure location only underground heroes used.

There wasn't a lot of furniture, giving it the feel of someone who just moved out of his parent's house and didn't have a lot going for them yet. Izuku knew Aizawa was still young, but he also knew he could afford better than this. Then again, it had a certain charm to it. Izuku could see his teacher living here, give or take a cat or two.

"I'm surprised you didn't run away."

Izuku tensed up, his eyes widening as he watched Aizawa enter the room again.

"How many timelines have you been keeping silent now?"

Izuku bit his lip, looking down to the wooden floor, not knowing how to answer that question. Of course it was easy to answer five. Five lives in which he kept others in the dark. But being silent? Izuku had stopped voicing his darkest feelings long before that. He'd stopped sharing anything he knew wouldn't be accepted within his friend group, anything he knew would get their attention, something that would make them worry. He wasn't truly honest with them long before he went off on his own. Kacchan wasn't an exception to that rule, although Izuku supposed he'd always wanted to open up to him, a feeling he didn't have with the others.

"...I didn't expect you to remember," Izuku whispered, hearing Aizawa sit down on the floor in front of him as the wood creaked under his weight.

"And I didn't expect you to be this stupid, but here we are," Aizawa said, making Izuku feel even worse about all of this. "How many, Izuku?"

"Five, I guess," Izuku mumbled.

"You guess?"

"Do we have to do this?" Izuku asked, glancing up at the other man before quickly looking back down to the floor. "I know I messed up."

"Do you now?" Aizawa asked. "So you would've told me if I hadn't remembered on my own?"

"That's not-"

"If not," he interrupted, "then I doubt you realize the severity of the situation, Midoriya."

And we're back to using last names, great!

"If you keep us in the dark again, I'll have to remove you from this mission."

Izuku's eyes widened, his head shooting up to meet Aizawa's eyes. Remove him from this mission? And how the hell was he going to do that?! If it wasn't for Izuku's interference, he wouldn't even remember at all! Everything started with him and him alone and there was nothing any of them could do about it! It was something only Jikan had control over, something their rewind machine was responsible for. There was no way Aizawa could kick him off the team unless Izuku was actively contributing and there was no way in hell he'd do that.

"I'm serious, Midoriya," he said. "I don't approve of such reckless methods and you should know better than to try and go solo. You, more than anyone, know that nobody is perfect. That the number one hero doesn't need to carry the burden alone. It's what caused All Might to fall, and it'll be your undoing as well if you keep this up."

"Assembly exists for a reason," Izuku sighed. How long had it been since he heard those words? Since someone looked at him, worried and exhausted, telling him to look after himself, to rely on others. Sure, the vestiges tried their best, he knew that too. But even so, he hadn't actually talked to about half of them for quite some time now. He shut out the voices who tried to reprimand him, who tried to lecture him, make him stop acting reckless. He shut out Kacchan's voice first, pushing him so far back his ghost never even manifested around him anymore. Not in his dreams, nor in reality.

"We'll fix this," Aizawa promised. "And afterwards, you're getting therapy."

Izuku snorted at that, wondering what good therapy was going to do when Kacchan never wanted to see his face again.

"But before we start making plans, I need you to tell me some things."

"I won't be a liability on the field, I promise," Izuku sighed, already knowing where this was going. "I'll follow your orders and work with everyone else. I don't know whether they still want to work with me, though..."

"We'll work on rebuilding the trust between you," Aizawa promised. "But that's not what I wanted to ask."

Oh? Was there something else then? Izuku thought his teacher wouldn't go too deep into his trauma right now, that they would just establish some basic rules and work their way up from there. He had hoped the psychic evaluation could be postponed until morning, at the very least.

"How are you able to wield One For All?"

Ah, that. Izuku almost forgot no one else knew about the synchronicity of the timeline, about the linearity of their lives. He wasn't sure how Aizawa would react to it, or anyone else for that matter. It changed reality as they knew it, changed how they'd look at things. Because, hey, they were surrounded by dead people walking, and wasn't that creepy? Izuku didn't know how Jikan gave them substance, how they imitated people who were dead, but lived again in these fake worlds. It was one of the few mysteries left to him after thoroughly investigating their organization when he was part of the Hero Commission.

"I don't have time to explain all of it right now," Izuku said, getting up from the ground and eying the open window. It had started to rain, great. "Mom is going to be home soon and I need to beat her there or there'll be questions."

"Give me the short version then," Aizawa demanded.

"Time's linear," Izuku shrugged as he pulled down his mask before making a run for it. He was sure his teacher would have a lot more questions for him the next time they met.