Chapter Text
Izuku sighed with relief as he sipped his cup of tea. “I must commend your brewing skills, Shigeru-san. This is the finest tea I have had in months.”
Shigeru chuckled and held out the pot, pouring a fresh cup for the young man. “Now, I believe this might be a good time for stories.”
Izuku nodded and set his cup on the table, folding his hands in his lap. “Yes, where to begin? Well, I suppose it would make sense to start at the beginning. You see, I am not of this world. When I was nine years of age, I was dropped in a forest in the kingdom of Araluen by a mysterious force. Naturally, at such a young age, I was confused and scared, especially with a scraped knee I had earned from falling through the trees. Then, Halt-san and Will-san found me and took me in. I was trained to be a Ranger alongside Will, though he was the one sent on important missions while I was the one who stayed back and trained.”
Will chuckled. “You could say that. You did your share of important stuff, too, though. Remember our first year with the Kalkara?”
Izuku snorted. “How could I forget? It was the first time I ever saved Halt’s life.”
Halt raised his cup of tea with a warm smile on his face. “And I’m still grateful for that to this very day. In any case, you were saying?”
Izuku nodded and schooled his features. “Anyways, when I had completed my training, I was preparing to ride out to patrol the village, when the same mysterious force reappeared and brought me back to my own world. There were many adventures and stories, but they’re not important right now. Eventually, I encountered the man who was the source of that mysterious force, and I chased him through a hole in space, finding myself on that cliff above the battlefield. You know the rest, of course.”
Shigeru hummed, gazing into his tea. “How fascinating. Another world, with its own share of mysterious and mystical forces.”
Izuku nodded, before turning to Will. “So, what sorts of trouble have you gotten yourself into while I was gone?”
Will launched into a series of stories. His initial assignment in Seacliff, and the Skandian raid he had warded off. His mission in Norgate, with Alyss being captured and held in Castle Macindaw. His reassignment to Redmont alongside Halt, and the mission to Hibernia. The return to Araluen and Halt’s brush with death. The treaty between Toscana and Arrida, which led to their presence in Nihon-Ja.
Will finished, “I could tell that those arrows were aimed for Shigeru. I was going to push him out of the way when you shot them out of the air.”
Izuku grinned. “What, did you expect me to get rusty while I was gone?”
Shigeru coughed. “Speaking of rust, I believe Kurokuma has yet to join us.”
Frowning, Izuku switched to Japanese and asked, “So, why the name Black Bear?”
Shigeru chuckled. “During our journey through the mountains, we stopped at a Kikori village. I convinced the elder to accept my payment by pointing out that they had to serve not only my Senshi, but also a foreigner with the appetite of a black bear.”
Izuku snorted. “Appropriate. If memory serves, he once thought of asking Master Chubb to try and make a four-legged chicken.”
Shigeru burst into laughter, and the non-Japanese speakers glanced at each other. Will frowned. “I think I heard Master Chubb’s name thrown in there. The Kurokuma thing is referring to his appetite, isn’t it?”
Izuku pointed at him and tapped his nose, and the rest of the tent burst into laughter alongside Shigeru. At that point, Horace chose to enter the tent, glancing around in confusion. “Did I miss a joke?”
Izuku grinned and said in Araluen, “Hit yourself in the head. Then you won’t have missed the joke.”
Horace stared for a bit, then started chuckling. “Quick-witted as ever, huh?”
Izuku’s grin widened. “I grew up with Will. What did you expect?”
Eventually, dawn began to break, and as Izuku went to check on Thumper, Vanisher began to stir. Izuku glanced over at him and snorted. “Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. Have a nice nap?”
The villain started struggling against his bindings. “Let me go!”
“No can do, bucko. You were about to use your Quirk to escape from the scene of a crime. That makes you a villain. You know the laws.”
Vanisher scoffed. “The laws didn’t stop the other kids in my high school from trying to get the drop on me.”
Izuku tilted his head curiously. “You used your Quirk to escape from bullies in high school?”
Vanisher nodded. “They called it Aldera High School. I called it hell.”
Izuku groaned. “Even four years later, Aldera still manages to be a pain in my ass.”
Vanisher raised an eyebrow in confusion. “You went to Aldera?”
“Elementary and junior high. I was the Quirkless weakling and every bully’s favorite chew toy. Fun fact, my mom actually got the school system shut down after I was accepted to UA.”
Vanisher huffed. “Good riddance.” He glanced sidelong at Izuku. “By any chance, did you happen to live in the apartment complex a few blocks from the middle school?”
Izuku nodded. “Second floor, forest end. Why?”
Vanisher sighed. “It was one of my worse days in high school. The thugs were chasing me as usual, and I tried making a portal in front of me to make my escape. Unfortunately, I tripped on a random pebble, and the portal kinda got thrown into one of the apartments. Must’ve been yours. About five years later, I was fully into villainy, and I was making my getaway from the cops. I’d managed to lose them, and I found a decent-sized clearing in the woods. I made a portal in the air and jumped through, intending to find my way back on this side. But then something almost hit me mid-portal, and I got lost over here for a few days before I regained control of my Quirk.”
Izuku snorted. “Wow, you have shitty luck around me.”
Vanisher chuckled. “Yeah, pretty ironic. Honestly, at this point, I’m convinced that you’re just gonna show up every time, so I might as well quit now before I make a bigger nuisance of myself in the future.”
Izuku slapped him on the back. “Smart choice.” He tilted his head in thought. “One sec. Don’t go anywhere.”
Vanisher shrugged. “I think you’re the only person who knows how to untie this knot. Don’t worry, I’m not leaving without you.”
Izuku quietly undid the straps on his saddle, removing it from Thumper’s back and whispering in the horse’s ear. After a few seconds, he led Thumper over to the edge of the palisade of Ran-Koshi and let out a whistle. Immediately, Will came up to see what was going on. “Is that Thumper? He’s not looking too good. You’ve been taking care of him like Old Bob taught you, right?”
Izuku nodded and glanced over at the horse, rubbing at Thumper’s mane. “I’m going to head back to my own world soon. I’ve got the guy who makes the portals tied up, and he’s confirmed that he’s not leaving without me. Unfortunately, my world isn’t exactly the best for Thumper’s health. Lots of smoke, not a lot of healthy grass, very little good drinking water. It’s taken a toll on his health, and he’s tiring out a lot faster than most Ranger horses would. I thought I might get you to take him back to Araluen, give him back to Old Bob. He’s more than earned a nice field to lay in, and a nice mare to sire a child with.”
Will nodded and held Thumper’s head in his hands, turning the horse’s head back and forth to look into his eyes. “He looks… tired. I didn’t think it was possible for a Ranger horse to look tired.”
Izuku chuckled. “I honestly think that keeping Thumper around is going to turn both of us into greybeards before I hit thirty. Trust me, it’ll be a load off my mind if I know he’s safe and healthy back in Araluen with you.”
Will smiled softly. “I’m sure Tug will be happy to see him again. They’ll finally be able to race each other after five years of being apart.”
Izuku nodded, reaching one hand out to stroke Thumper’s mane. The horse whinnied, tossing his head and turning to look the green-haired teenager in the eye. Izuku felt tears welling up, and he patted Thumper’s head before stepping back. “When the girls get back from their mission, tell them that I stopped by. I’m gonna miss you guys, you know.”
Will waved his hand dismissively. “Eh, you can probably just find the portal guy and get him to bring you here whenever you wanna see us again. It’s not like we’re gonna be cut off forever, right?”
Izuku shook his head sadly. “In my world, the guy’s a criminal. Even if I did explain why, it still wouldn’t look good if I was consistently seeking him out. So, this is goodbye.”
Will sobered up quickly. The two Rangers stepped forward and clasped forearms, before Will pulled Izuku into a tight hug. Eventually, they split apart, and Will said, “Halt’s gonna be pissed that you’re leaving without telling him goodbye, you know.”
Izuku shrugged. “He was always your father figure, not mine. But you were my brother in all but blood. I needed to say goodbye to you.”
Will nodded, and the two of them stood there in silence, watching the sun come up. Eventually, Will said, “Godspeed, Izuku. May Gorlog have mercy on whoever pisses you off.”
Izuku smirked and gave a mock salute, before turning around and climbing up the cliff next to the palisade. He walked up to where Vanisher was sitting, briefly glancing back at where Will was standing, still holding Thumper’s head. Izuku waved once, before turning and steeling his resolve. He picked up his saddle, untying the rope and letting Vanisher stretch his arms. “C’mon, let’s get back. Before I start having second thoughts.”
Vanisher snorted, before placing his hand in the air as though it was on a wall. A swirling green portal appeared, centered on Vanisher’s hand, and the two stepped through, never to come back.
Mei glanced up as Izuku-kun walked into the workshop, saddle in hand. “What’s up, Izuku-kun? Does your saddle need repairs or something? I thought you usually handled that sort of thing yourself.”
Izuku-kun shook his head and dumped the saddle on a nearby table, before plopping into a nearby chair and burying his face in his hands. “Mei, I… I told you the full story about the whole Ranger thing, right?”
Mei hummed. “Yeah. Towards the end of third year, about how you were taken to another world when you were nine and trained by badass archers. Why?”
“Turns out Vanisher was the reason for it. When I chased him into the portal at the jewelry store, I found myself in a different part of that world, and I actually ended up finding my old friends again.”
Mei frowned, turning off her welding torch and taking off her mask. She scooched her chair over to where Izuku-kun was sitting, laying a hand on his shoulder. “You left your horse back there, didn’t you?”
Izuku-kun nodded. “I knew that this world wasn’t good for him. Too much pollution, and with my line of work, he didn’t really get to go out and exercise all that often. It was taking a toll on him, and seeing him get worse was taking a toll on me. I figured it’d be better to leave him with my old friends instead of watching him suffer in this world.”
Mei sighed, grabbing Izuku-kun’s cheeks and forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Hey. Remember what I told you back when you won our second-year Sports Festival?”
Izuku-kun sniffed. “Follow my heart and brain and never regret where they take me?”
“Bingo. Your heart told you to stop your pal’s suffering, and your brain told you that the best way to do that was to leave him with your old buddies. You made the logical choice, so don’t even think about beating yourself up over it, alright? You’re motherfucking Silver Arrow, slayer of number one supervillains. You don’t have regrets.”
Izuku-kun sniffed and wiped at his eyes, grinning up at her. “Thanks, Meiday. You always know how to make me feel better.”
Mei grinned. “Oh, and don’t worry about your horse skills getting rusty. I’d noticed Thumper was getting a wee bit old, so I went ahead and built you a new mount in case you decided to put him out to pasture. Nedzu gave me permission to leave it for you in Gym Pi. The track’s set up and ready for you to give your new toy a spin.”
Izuku walked into Gym Pi, eyes widening when he saw a slick, forest-green motorcycle sitting by the doors. Walking over and running his hands over it, he noticed the Hatsume logo emblazoned by the handlebars, and a note in Mei’s handwriting on the dash.
Hey, Izuku-kun! Here’s your new toy, the 7HU-MP3R motorcycle! I know you prefer a horse to something static like this, but I figured a horse was kinda out of place in cities. Besides, this baby features my revolutionary new wind-solar dual battery, so it’ll have to stop just as rarely as your old mount! Plus, I gave it a super-cool “offroad form” that I think you’re gonna totally love! Cheers!
-Mei, “the best damn Support genius this side of the Pacific”
Izuku hummed, pulling the note off the dash and settling into place. The controls seemed to jump into his hand, the electronic dashboard coming to life at his touch. He twisted the right handle, and the engine revved to life, somehow sounding like the whinnying of a horse. Izuku quickly skimmed through the provided owner’s manual installed in the menu on the dash, before swiping to the section labeled “offroad form”.
If you wanna get across rough forest terrain, this is the way to go! Just pull the handlebars out to the side to switch. Controls in this form are programmed to be the same as your signals for Thumper. Have fun, Izuku-kun! Note: to change back to on-road form, simply bring the reins closer to the bridle. This baby will do the rest.
Izuku raised an eyebrow and pulled outwards on the handlebars, and the bike shuddered. Izuku felt himself rise off the ground, and suddenly he was sitting atop a mechanical horse. The horse rolled its head around to look back at him, and he swore he heard Thumper’s voice in his head say, Are we gonna get going now, or what?
Izuku grinned and tapped his heels into the horse’s sides. Immediately, it broke out into a gallop, and Izuku laughed wildly as he felt the wind rushing through his hair.
He was the UA Ranger once more.