Izuku didn't know where he was, or rather when he was. Because this was One For All. The misty outlines in the corner of his eyes, the way the laws of physics seemed to disappear, the little wisp like thingies wafting off him like smoke. It could only mean one thing: he was dreaming. Dreaming of One For All, or within One For All, in this case. Still, Izuku had no idea where he was, whose memory this was, because it wasn't his own, he was sure about that.

But then he saw a small figure hunched over in the corner of the room. Izuku didn't know who it was, not immediately. The boy had pulled his knees to his chest, his head facing down, his hair falling down with it. Izuku sat down next to him, vaguely aware of the fact he had a body, that he was dressed in the same pajamas he went to sleep in. He was also aware that the person next to him was Yoichi. Some part of his brain seemed to have connected the dots somehow, even if no word had been spoken yet.

They both looked up when the door opened and another presence entered the room. Izuku recognized him, too. The second wielder of One For All. Then his surroundings faded into nothingness, mist, smoke. Yoichi was still there, though, as was Second.

"You're hiding away," Second said. Izuku felt as though those words weren't meant for him, but it still hurt, in a weird way. He was hiding, wasn't he? Hiding from his past, from the future, from everything. Izuku was barely even living in the present.

"I'm imprisoned," Yoichi corrected him, glancing sideways at Izuku. "Trapped in a vault of my brother's making."

"This is your rescue," Izuku whispered, realizing what that scene was. "The day Second broke you out, the day you escaped from All For One's clutches."

"You're hiding," Second repeated, walking closer to them. This time he was talking to Izuku.

"Trapped in a prison of your own making," Yoichi supplied. "Locking away your feelings and weaknesses in a vault, hoping they will never resurface."

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"You're trying to run away from who you are, who you were," Second said, kneeling down in front of them. "You try to deny the past, but you can't, not forever."

"You can't keep the memories at bay, Izuku. Not by force," Yoichi told him. "As long as you don't face yourself, you'll stay trapped. Locked in a vault in the depths of your heart."

Izuku frowned, pulling his knees up to his chest in a similar fashion as Yoichi had done. The vestiges had never been so talkative so soon, and Izuku wondered whether they'd just accepted him without question, or maybe Izuku's natural proficiency with the quirk had increased somehow over the span of four lifetimes. Izuku didn't know the answer, and he was too tired to try and figure it out. He doubted that, even if he wanted to, Yoichi and Second would let him right now. Their focus was on something else entirely right now, after all.

"I'm doing what I can," Izuku mumbled.

"We know," Yoichi said. "We're with you, every step of the way."

"You don't have to walk this path alone," Second added, basically repeating what Yoichi just said. "Isn't that right, Tenth."

Izuku's eyes widened, his head shooting up. Tenth. There never was a tenth. Izuku was the last, the ninth, or Nine as they liked to call him sometimes. But that was a name they only used back in the day, when the ghost of the past didn't know him all that well, when their minds weren't fully integrated yet. So he had no idea what to expect, how to react when a shimmery orange figure manifested next to Second. His form was unclear, vague and ever changing, but his aura, the feelings that radiated off of this spirit- It couldn't be more clear.

"K-Kacchan..?" Izuku breathed out in shock. Kacchan was the tenth..? But that wasn't... Izuku's breath hitched when he remembered his first life, when he remembered that fight on Nabu Island. He was only a teenager back then, so desperate to win, to save, that he'd do anything in order to achieve his goal. Even if that meant giving away this sacred power All Might bestowed upon him. He'd passed One For All to Kacchan, fought side by side, won side by side. And then... Then they woke up, and Izuku had One For All once again.

"He's not conscious," Yoichi said. "He's probably not even aware he left his essence, however small. He was only able to manifest like this a few days ago."

"You two are facing this together, just like we once did," Second stated as Izuku scrambled to his feet, still staring wide eyed at the fuzzy figure in front of him. "So don't hide away, Izuku. Don't let this fear, this trauma, consume you. Not even today."

Before Izuku could ask what he meant, the room filled up with a dense fog. It came out of nowhere, and suddenly his eyes opened, his alarm blaring through his bedroom. Izuku took a shaky breath, slowly placing a hand on his chest. His alarm was unrelenting, tough, forcing him out of his trance and out of bed. He should tell Kacchan what he saw, what the vestiges told him. And All Might. All Might should know, too. He quickly grabbed his phone, wanting to text Kacchan right away, only to see the ash blonde had already texted him a few hours prior, in the middle of the night.

Kacchan💥: You gonna be okay today??

Izuku frowned at the message before looking at the date. Oh. Oh. He remembered now, why Second had said what he said at the end. He remembered the way Aoyama looked at him when he was handed the information the League needed. He was still a spy, after all. A traitor. And UA was going to use him to their advantage. But in order to gain the League's trust, he first needed to prove he would do what needed to be done. Which meant leaking information, giving them a time, a location- It would ultimately lead to the USJ attack.

Don't be consumed, not even today.

Deku🥦: Can we talk before school??

It didn't take long to get a response.

Kacchan💥: I'm on my way

Izuku smiled, quickly walking over to the bathroom to get ready for the day. Kacchan rang the doorbell by the time he'd grabbed breakfast, Inko opening the door before he had the chance to get up.

"Katsuki-kun, you're early," Inko said, a little surprised to see him. "Come in, Izuku is still eating."

"Hi auntie," Katsuki greeted her as he stepped inside the cozy apartment. "I wanted to talk to Izuku for a bit about some homework before school. Is that alright?"

"Of course," Inko smiled. She had no reason to be wary of Katsuki, after all. Not in this timeline. They'd been the perfect childhood friends, always standing up for one another and supporting each other in whatever they did. There had never been any...rough patches, never any bullying or bruising. Only love and friendship. "I'll be leaving first, then. Have fun, you two!"

"You too. Love you mom," Izuku smiled, waving her goodbye.

"Love you too."

With that, they were alone, and Kacchan quickly made his way over to Izuku, hugging him from behind. Izuku hummed, leaning into the touch.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," Izuku nodded, patting the spot next to him. "Come, sit."

Izuku's back felt cold when Katsuki broke contact, only for the ash blonde to take a hold of his hand as he sat down.

"Are you okay? You were still up in the middle of the night," Izuku pointed out. That and Kacchan had been ready to leave the house for who knows how long, or otherwise he wouldn't have made it here this quickly.

"Nightmares," Katsuki sighed, before silently confessing, "Memories."

"Are you okay to go to school today?" Izuku asked, and Katsuki nodded.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Just... Just stay in sight today, okay? Please."

"Of course," Izuku smiled, squeezing his hand. "We'll face this together, like we always do. And uh speaking of being together..."

Izuku didn't really know how he should bring it up. Was it weird? It was kinda weird, wasn't it? To be told a part of you is inside someone else's mind, someone's quirk. A part that shouldn't be there. A part that had been left behind lifetimes ago. It was something Izuku hadn't thought about when he was dreaming, but when he stared at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth, it all dawned on him. One For All being as active as it was, Kacchan's essence being carried over despite him never having the quirk in this world, in this reality.

Then he'd remembered one of his first meetings with Tenko, back in his second life, when the boy had been stuck in the basement of the teacher's dorm. When One For All connected with him in a strange way. How Nana was able to call out to him, even if he didn't possess All For One. It were those little things... Small things that contradicted one another. Things that shouldn't be possible, and yet...

"What's on your mind, Deku?"

"The vestiges came to me in a dream," Izuku said. That was a good way to start, right? Nice and simple. A quirk dream, nothing new. "The first and the second. They, uh, they basically told me to get over my shit and move on."

"It's not that easy," Katsuki huffed.

"Right," Izuku agreed. "But uh, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. Well, no, yes, it's part of it, but-"

"Just spit it out, nerd."

"You were there," Izuku said.

"...What?" Katsuki asked, not really getting it.

"You were there, in my dream, in One For All," Izuku explained. "Your essence, your spirit- I can't really- But you were there. They called you the tenth holder of the quirk."

"But I never had One For All," Katsuki frowned.

"Not in this timeline," Izuku added on. "But during our first lives, our original lives, we fought together on Nabu Island, and I gave you One For All."

"But that's not-"

"But it is!" Izuku exclaimed. "I can't explain why or how, but a part of you resides in One For All, inside me, and I... I just needed to tell you that."

Katsuki still wasn't fully convinced, but he didn't try to refute it, either. And so they just sat in silence for a while as Izuku ate breakfast and Katsuki let it all sink in. It was nice. It reminded Izuku of his original lives, in a certain way. Back when he was a pro hero and Kacchan forced him to have a somewhat decent meal before going out. He was only able to do so when their missions lined up, though, since they hadn't been part of the same agency. For some reason their missions lined up quite a lot, and yeah, Izuku really should've seen the signs sooner, shouldn't he? It was clear now that Kacchan had been pairing up with him on purpose, that he wanted to spend more time with him.

That he loved him.

"You think that-" Katsuki started, cutting himself short. "Nevermind... We should get going or we're gonna be late."

Izuku didn't question what he was gonna say, knowing it was a lot to take in. He didn't fully understand it, either. Kacchan's soul being inside of One For All had certain...implications, after all. Because his essence couldn't be inside the quirk if Jikan's machine worked the way they thought it worked. If this was possible, if something from a time long past, a time that didn't exist anymore, had been transferred to this timeline... It would mean their original timeline still existed, somehow, somewhere. That they still held onto a connection, however weak and small. And maybe, just maybe, they could use that link to guide them back home...

Izuku shouldn't allow himself to hope, though.

And so they made their way to school, pressed against each other on the train in the busy morning rush hours, walking together with so many other students through the gates of UA high school. It seemed like any other day, really, but they both knew it wasn't. Not just because of his dream, but because of what was going to happen at the USJ. Sure, Izuku wouldn't be there, not this time around. Neither would any of his previous classmates, to avoid the unnecessary trauma of having to watch your teacher die in front of your eyes. No, no students would be there this time, because this time it was a trap.

"Morning," Kendo greeted them as they walked into the classroom. "You guys okay?"

"Fine," Katsuki grunted, rolling his eyes. "We don't need a fucking babysitter, hands."

"Just checking in," she shrugged, holding her hands up in surrender.

"And we appreciate it," Izuku smiled, "but really, it's not necessary."

"Yeah, Eijirou told me not to believe any of your lies," Tetsutetsu said, crossing his arms.

"My lies?" Izuku asked, clearly offended while Katsuki couldn't help but snort.

"Apparently you have the tendency to overestimate your abilities," Monoma teased. "Typical class A."

"We're class B students now, in case you haven't noticed, asshole," Katsuki scoffed before looking aside at Izuku. "But he's right. You're shit at looking after yourself."

"Hey!"

"That's why you have me," Katsuki ended with a smirk. Izuku's face flushed at that, but he didn't know whether it was from frustration or embarrassment. He was glad he looked, though, or he wouldn't have seen the sadness hidden away in those teasing eyes. Grief, because he hadn't been able to save Izuku, because he couldn't protect him. If Izuku didn't know Kacchan as well as he did, he probably would've missed it.

"And you have me, always," Izuku said, giving his boyfriend a small smile. They'll be okay. As long as they stayed together, they'd be fine. Izuku knew they would be.