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Record & Rewind

Summary:

Aizawa Shouta wasn’t expecting his student’s apparently semi-sentient video camera to change his perception of his student.

Notes:

A/N: You know that tma Infinitesimal mv on youtube? The one with the polaroids with Jon and Martin through the series? This fic was started actually before we found that, but they have the same vibe so we thought we should mention it.
When I was almost done like this, I had decided to check the word count. My initial reaction was “WHAT DO YOU MEAN 18 PAGES IS ONLY 6000 WORDS” and proceeded to text-shout that at our friend Ursa.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Shouta wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he saw the camcorder. Of course, this wasn’t the first time he’s seen this camera. It was a familiar one, owned by one Midoriya Izuku. 

A bit old, but well taken care of. He’s never seen it up close though, he’s never noticed the two matching ring bands that are looped onto the strap. They looked familiar, kind of like the one on his necklace. Shouta checked to make sure it was there even if he could feel the metal under his shirt. 

He was just confused why it was on his desk in the teacher’s lounge. The problem child had had it out at the end of the day and was doing something on it before getting called away by his friends and accidentally forgetting it. He had left it locked in his desk drawer in the classroom to return it tomorrow. 

But here it was in the teacher’s lounge… that was on the other side of the school. 

“Why is Problem Child’s video camera on my desk?” The other teachers startle and look up over to the desk. 

No one had even noticed when it had got there. Shouta picked it up, inspecting the rings first. Looking at the rings, he checked the inscriptions to find they were the same ones of Hizashi and his rings. Then he turned it over to the already open screen, a paused image of an excited Midoriya as a child. It was only his years of being an underground hero that he didn’t drop the damn thing when it started playing itself. 

“Okay, okay,” the video said. “Gotta calm down!” Mini Midoriya took a moment to stim and breathe. “It’s fine. Not like anyone will ever see this… right! I’m Midoriya Izuku and I have a quirk! And not just One for All, like my own quirk!” 

 

Nemuri whispered behind him, “One for All…” Yagi let out a wet cough. The teachers slowly gathered over, all watching over his shoulder.

 

Midoriya is going off on an excited tangent about what he assumes is quantum mechanics and quirk singularity theory. It’s quite endearing to watch a small version of the problem child, until he stops. 

“O-oh. I just died…” the excitement wilted and he sat down on his All Might themed sheets. “Oh my god…” 

 

It’s hard to describe, Shouta realized, watching a four year old talk himself out of a panic attack. He didn’t ever want to watch a child mourning, let alone mourn himself and his own future. How do you comfort someone who didn’t lose just everything? More than everything, even his future for some reason not currently perceived by Shouta. 

 

Eventually the boy calmed. He spun a tale of two brothers, of eight torches, of a ninth almost burnt out by the world. 

“I almost did it,” he admitted somberly. “My hero just said ‘no’ like everyone else. But then I heard Kacchan’s explosions.”  

Yet the story continued on, of a year of determination and terror. 

“And then came the final battle. We were so close… I was so close.” He sighed and looked away from the camera. “Not that it would’ve probably mattered at that point if we had won or if All for One had. Japan was probably too far gone. Wouldn’t doubt a repeat of the Urbans would’ve started up.”

The boy changed his expression to a determined grin. “But I can change things now! I probably won’t be able to do much until at least I make it to UA. I’ll already be misdiagnosed as quirkless in a year. Maybe I can keep Kacchan from being too much of a bully growing up…” Later recordings show he wasn’t all that successful, Midoriya apparently had gotten into the habit of sassing Bakugou that he didn’t ever bother breaking. 

The loop, as narrated and recorded by Midoriya, was supposedly a lot like the original loop. Except that apparently the vestiges looped too, probably because Midoriya had the quirk at the time of the reset, which caused more chaos. Especially when Midoriya was being taught memes by the previous users. 

The quirk apprehension test was funny in regards to Midoriya’s response to Bakugou this go-around. After the bomb shouted about “Deku being a quirkless liar.” Midoriya put his hands on his hips and snarked, “Well excuuuuuse me, Princess . It’s not like I’ve only had the damn quirk for a week or anything.”

Which spurred on past-Shouta’s… well Shouta saw it as concern but others probably saw it as scolding. Midoriya later explained that the bone breaking was because even with the extra training, his body still couldn’t handle the quirk at 1% until his body acclimated itself. 

Since he was initially worried about changing things too fast, Midoriya called in an anonymous tip about the USJ. Neither the students or Shouta were harmed, much to Midoriya’s initial relief. This however caused All for One to start plans faster and still led to Japan’s demise, and Midoriya’s subsequent reset. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The next loop started with a disgruntled Midoriya saying a lot of colorful swears and threats to All for One’s kneecaps and feeding the man’s toes to himself. 

“-and that pedo fucker should just go choke on a Lego-“

“Izuku! Are you up? I made you a special birthday breakfast!” 

The boy’s mood flipped, and he gave an excited squeak and a flap of his hands before running out of the room into the kitchen. 

“I am here!” He had the camera pointed into the kitchen as he slid on the floor with his socks. 

Inko smiled fondly at her son’s antics. “Yes! Mini-Might, today we have a special mission for you! Defeat the Evil Katsudon-dragon and his rice minions!” 

“Of course, Captain Mom! Justice shall be served!” 

 

The loop played out similarly to the first one. Izuku spent more time with his classmates. And this time he tried to warn UA about the attack before hand. 

The result was the concentration of all the villains and nomu on All Might in the center. Even with his full time limit, he was overwhelmed. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

Watching through several loops as the camera played them at random. Not all loops were of Midoriya trying to be a hero. Sometimes the kid became a vigilante, did analysis, others he streamed video games. One loop he was a musician but hardly ever let the camera record him. 

He worked at support, but really didn’t have the talent for inventing so it took him a few loops to get into the groove of it. 

But it was odd that regardless of the loop, he always ran into Yagi. Even when he didn’t go into heroics, they kept up a sort of mentor-mentee relationship. It was sweet. And the ones he did, Midoriya flourished with the quirk every time, and helped Yagi with his teaching. 

One time he mentioned the vestiges called Mirio ‘Tenth’ with no explanation on who was the Ninth. But he would always be theirs, all of the vestiges have decided. 

There were very few loops he ever told anyone he was in a time loop. After the first six botched attempts at stopping the USJ, Shouta would stop telling people too. But Izuku persevered, bringing all the stuff that he’s learned with him. 

Shouta was actually a little sad. Midoriya was so happy and bright in these early videos. It’s sad that he’ll never get to know him like that. The boy he knew now seemed guarded and somber in comparison even with the bright persona. 

He watched that spark slowly die, even if it never went out. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The next video plays. It’s the common room again, an older version of Uraraka and Sero sit on the couch. It was a little disconcerting to see Uraraka with both arms instead of the prosthetic she currently used. And Sero’s lack of scarring around his elbows and cheeks. 

“Has Deku-kun been a bit off lately,” Uraraka asked. 

Sero shrugged, “Not any more than when he usually gets stressed. Did he pick up a new hyperfixation? Todoroki said those sometimes get him worked up.” 

Uraraka thought about it before shaking her head. “Not that I can think of… hey isn’t that his camera?”

Some steps made Sero and Uraraka turn to look. “Hey guys,” Midoriya off screen said, “have you guys seen my- oh! There it is.” Midoriya moved to pick it up. “Hey why is it recording?” 

“Eh,” shouted Uraraka, “it’s been on this whole time?” 

He flips the camera. “No, looks like it’s just been running for a minute or so. Weird. You guys didn’t turn it on-“

 

“That was,” Nemuri trailed off. 

“Concerning,” finished Thirteen. 

Nezu nodded, “Indeed. If the camera started itself, then Midoriya’s quirk may be more powerful than first thought.”

Aizawa raised an eyebrow. “You think it’s reached singularity.” 

“Perhaps,” he tapped his paws together. “It’s possible that its interaction with One for All, a partially sentient quirk that hit its singularity with Midoriya’s first acquisition, was the catalyst to create a drastic boost to an already powerful quirk.” 

“Greeat,” Snipe snarked, “A kid with a camera that takes videos of what it wants whenever it wants. Glad it at least doesn’t belong to that one kid… what was his name? From the first few loops.” 

Nezu replied thinly, “Minoru Mineta. Currently a member of 1-C and my next… project is going to be his fabricated school record.” The teachers shivered. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The camera opens to the common room in the dorm. The couches have been pushed back and a dance floor has been set up. Yaoyorozu is in the background still making some of the equipment while eating something. 1-A is running around in formal wear, decorating. 

Bakugou and Kirishima can be seen in the corner of the screen bringing food from the kitchen. Kirishima says something that makes Bakugou blush before replying with shouts that were barely audible with the rest of the noise. 

Shouta is on the ground in a dress shirt and slacks laying face down on top of his sleeping bag, Hizashi is sitting next to him with Eri sitting in his lap. 

Jiro is setting up the music equipment with Kaminari who whispers something teasingly while pointing at Yaoyorozu making Jiro flush. 

Midoriya and Uraraka are floating in the air with Todoroki and Hitoshi, looking like they’re teaching them to float while hanging decorations. 

Iida is trying to stop Ashido and Hakagure from sneaking alcohol over to the drinks table, which leads Shouta to come over and hold up two fingers. The girls cheer and hand over all but two of the bottles to a sighing Shouta. 

Sero and Aoyama are hanging up a sparkly banner on the back wall that reads “Class 1-A’s Homecoming.” 

The video speeds up until it returns to normal speed, the decorations have been completed and everyone is dancing and having a good time. Midoriya is seen in the middle, crying while dancing with Todoroki, Uraraka, and Hitoshi. They’re all laughing as he wipes away large tears. 

Kirishima seems to be giving the world’s most awkward confession and Shouta can swear he can hear the excessive “manly”-s that would come out of his mouth while doing it. Bakugou didn’t seem to mind… he thinks. Honestly, Shouta couldn’t really tell the difference between Bakugou’s embarrassed and pissed off faces. But the hand holding was probably a good indicator of how it was going. 

Seemed like Jiro’s confession to Yaoyorozu went along quicker and they were dancing together behind the dj booth.

The rest of the “Bakusquad” plus Hakagure and Aoyama seemed to be playing party games. 

Next to the sleeping Shouta, the quieter students sat or just relaxed. Iida was reading a book with noise canceling headphones but kept a watchful eye on his classmates. A gentle smile as he gazed at them enjoying themselves. Tokoyami looked like he was reading over his shoulder while Dark Shadow played with a sleepy looking Eri. Shouji, Sato, and Kouji were having a discussion in sign language that seemed like a recipe swap. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

A small forest clearing is shown, Midoriya looking around at the entrance in awe. Shouta took a moment to recognize the secret gardens on campus. It had been a while since he’d been there. He seems unaware of the camera recording him. Opening the garden shed, Shouta hears an excited gasp and Midoriya pulls out an old guitar case. 

Wait… isn’t that-

“My old guitar? I was wondering where I left it on campus,” Hizashi looked thoughtful. Shouta remembered that day. Hizashi had left his guitar on campus. It was an old thing from a thrift store and his parents had gotten him a newer one for placing so high in the third year sports festival. But it still meant a lot to Hizashi.

Midoriya spent a little while tuning it, laying out everything gently in the small gazebo off to the side that was near the stone table. The strings were old though and some snapped even under the tender care. This led to Midoirya pulling out the strings kit and following along to a video on his phone to replace them. It took him a while but eventually he got back to tuning. 

When the sound came out clean, Midoriya smiled. 

 

I felt a break in a sacred place where your hands don’t heal

These are the reasons you’re ruled by the things you feel

 

He gently strummed away, hidden from the world. 

 

But could you stomach it anymore? 

Could you stand to be a breath away?

Can you feel the way my face distorts?

 

It had been the first time the staff had actually heard him sing more than a few words, none of the videos from his loop where he decided to be a singer ever fully recorded him singing. 

 

Would you watch me as I fade away?

 

He looked tired. Even with a smile. It made sense, living countless times over and over, repeating life to just make it to the next day with the ones you loved. 

 

Bless my darkness, bless my light

I lost my soul in your skin tones now…

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“It’s you, right?” Midoriya’s camera was situated high up, looking down on Mirio Togata and Midoriya. Midoriya was in a tank top and had his curls pushed back by a bandana. 

Midoriya tilted his head with a hum.

“You’re the Ninth, aren’t you?”

Midoirya’s confusion turned into a mischievous grin. “Ninth to what? I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about, Mirio-senpai.” 

Mirio’s friendly persona tightened. “Don’t act like that. We can talk about this right?”

“Maybe…” His smile softened. “But not in this lifetime. For now I’m just ‘quirkless’ support student Midoriya Izuku. Not hero-in-training Deku, the Ninth user.”

“What does that mean?” Midoriya just sighed. He leaned up against a nearby wall and looked up towards the sky. 

“Do you know what the definition of insanity is?”

“Huh?” Mirio came by and leaned on the wall next to his kouhai. 

“To do one thing over and over again, expecting the same result. What would you do, senpai, if you had infinite redoes at life? Knowing that all your loved ones will die too young, having to meet them all over again,” his voice cracked, “looking at your parental figures in the face and all you can ever see is the first time they ever died. What would you do?”

Instead of answering, Mirio took a deep breath and looked at his underclassman with a sad smile. “Well, what did you do?”

Midoriya shattered, the video ending with Mirio holding him tight.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Hero too~ hmn hum Hero too~” the video picks up, with Midoriya in the kitchen cooking, absently humming to a song. 

Jiro, who was on the couch, stood up quickly and almost stomped to the kitchen. “Why do you know that song,” she demanded. 

He stepped back, holding the carton of eggs to his chest. “S-song?” 

“You were singing. ‘Hero too, I am a hero too.’ Why do you know that song?”

“A friend,” he said sadly. “A long time ago…” 

That was apparently the wrong answer. “I’ve been working on that song for a month now! I’m not letting you get away with all those stupid half-answers you use to placate the others. Why the hell do you just know things?! And the mornings. I know you come down here after nightmares and always watch those videos on the camera that shouldn’t be there! Because they. Didn’t. Happen! So what the fuck is going on?!” 

“Right. Sorry… I’ll tell you. But let’s not do it in the dorms, please? I’d rather no one actually know about this.” 

“Fine. But you will tell me.”

He just nodded. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

A video plays. It’s a bar. Shouta feels a grip in his gut when he recognizes its the League of Villain’s base. It seems calm, the League just going about their day. 

The door slams over and a disgruntled-looking Midoriya stops through the door. Shouta knew this loop had been one of the more harrowing loops and it was reaching its end soon. They usually ended pretty quickly after half the class was lost, no matter how hard Midoriya tried to help the rest to at least graduation.

He came over to the bar and slumped into one of the stools. Toga tried to stab him with a knife but he just redirected her arm. He laid his face flat onto the bar counter. 

“What are you doing here, little hero,” Shigaraki asked, dragging a hand over his neck. 

Midoriya sighed. “Hopefully to get drunk off my ass.” The League choked at the curse. “I’ve been alive for several centuries at this point and have gotten drunk twice. This time I think I’ve earned it. Don’t you think, All for One?” He tilts his head to the tv. “It’s your fault anyway.” 

The tv sparked to life. “Oh?” 

“Yeah. Your fault.” He crossed his arms and buried his face in them. “Kurogiri, can I please have something to drink? Just because I look sixteen doesn’t mean I’m not older than all of you combined.” Kurogiri gives him water from a pitcher. Midoriya gave him a half-hearted glare but took the water anyway. 

“So,” said Spinner, clearly not sure what to do in this situation. No one really did. 

Midoriya just sighed. The silence continued. 

Toga tried to stab him with the knife again, but he gently took it from her and began to mess with her hair. The space buns fell down. He ran slightly crooked fingers, humming quietly, through her hair and used the hair ties to put them in braids before folding them, clipping them up to where she now had two hoops on the side of her head. She seemed to calm down while he messed with her hair and she laid down onto the bar like Midoriya had before. 

“I’m tired,” Midoriya admitted softly. “I’m tired and upset that nothing I’ve done matters and no matter how hard I try to fix it because something goes wrong. ‘You can’t save everyone.’ Heh, what a joke. Can’t save anyone…” 

Everyone was clearly uncomfortable and just decided to ignore the green child who had somehow tamed Toga. He hummed absently, poking her mildly sunken cheek. “You’re not eating enough. Do you not go to the blood bank or something?” The villains paused and Toga gave him a wary look.

“Blood bank?”

He nodded slowly, “Yeah, u-um. Japan is pretty cruel to ‘villainous’ quirks but the World Heroes Organization requires that there be at least one building in each prefecture or state of a country to have access for special quirk diets. There’s only one in the Tokyo area but it is open to anyone who needs blood, no questions asked as per international law. It's not the only thing you can get there, some things have to be requested but they tend to have anything someone could need.”

 

Shouta heard some mumbles from the daylight teachers who were unaware of such a building, and had put it on his mental list to go over buildings and services for minorities with his teachers and students.

 

The rest of the loop went like that, only going for another month. It was odd, watching the League just… be people. Humanizing. Sure that didn’t change the horrible things they did, all his students died that loop by their hand or by others who followed their lead. But they were broken, misguided people. Even at the end when they turned away from All for One and the bastard killed them.

“See,” spat Midoriya from the ground. He was laying on a piece of rubble, All for One above him, the camera feed was glitchy and the audio was staticky. “All your fault.”

All for One hummed. “Perhaps. Maybe I should just take your quirk and be done with it?”

Midoriya laughed, “You’ve tried that already. I know that One for All isn’t the only quirk you can only take if given, you just purposefully make it painful so they’ll do it instinctually.” He spat blood on the old villain’s shoes. “Do your worst, you bastard. I’ll see you in hell.”

Something Midoriya said must’ve set off the villain who growled. He impaled Midoriya with a quirk. Midoriya just laughed at the bastard until the light left his eyes. The camera was noticed by All for One who picked it up and threw it. The feed cut.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The loop after the bar was a somber one. Midoriya didn’t leave his room beside for school. Otherwise he was in bed. He hardly ate. Pretending around his mother until third year of middle school, then just stopped. Midoriya didn’t apply for high school. 

The camera recorded his mom watching the news as the world fell apart in what would have been Midoriya’s third year of high school. 

A last recording for the loop showed Midoriya in bed. The only part of him visible was the back of his green curls. There was a bright flash of light from outside the window before the camera shook and cut out. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Hey, camera. I’m sorry about the last loop.” Midoriya looked guilty, as if he was in the wrong for wanting a break, or going through a depressive episode. “I needed that break. It puts it into perspective…” he looked far off. Shouta didn’t like that look. “I have all the time in the world, don’t I?” 

 

Midoriya spent the loop slower than the others, figuring things out, learning elaborate fighting styles. Morbid as it was, he really did have all the time to figure things out. 

“I don’t know if it ever got caught on camera,” he spoke quietly, the video being of the woods that were near Midoriya’s house. The small child took a deep breath, panning the camera to record the stream he stopped at. “But I’ve memorized the quirk erasure formula. Not the one Overhaul made with Eri, but All for One and Garaki made one, based off of the original. Every loop, it’s the first thing I do is ruin their progress if they get close. It doesn’t work on All for One for some reason. I think his quirk gene is too mutated for it to work. Probably won’t on One for All either since it’s not reliant on a quirk factor.” 

He stopped walking and pointed the camera at the river. “The formula will, hopefully, die with me. I’m not going to tell anyone about it, but when I’m older, I’m going to make it and use it on myself. I’m not sure if my quirk will activate if I die of old age but I don’t want to find out. If I ever make it to that point I don’t think I’ll have any regrets.” 

This loop was different from the others. Even in the last loop, Midoriya had put up airs around his mother until it was nearing the end. This time though, he didn’t. Midoriya Inko noticed too. Her initial concern for her son’s drastic change in behavior along with the video camera that just appeared made her anxiety worse, her paranoia spiked until the woman was spiraling. 

His first year at UA was probably the worst and it was noticed pretty quickly by the teachers that something was wrong with his home life with bruises and cuts and new scars he didn’t bother hiding. 

“I’m being fostered now,” he said as he sat on a bed all too familiar to Shouta. A bandage was wrapped around his arms and gauze taped over his cheek. “That’s new. Um, mom had a… a breakdown a few years ago. Thought I replaced her real son. Got pretty bad today.” He sniffled and rubbed at a red eye. “Guess she’s not entirely wrong. I’m not really her Izuku anymore. No matter how much I regress each loop.” 

There was a knock at the closed door. “Izuku,” came Hizashi’s muffled voice. “Can I speak to you, sweetheart?” 

“Y-yeah! One second I need to turn off my camera-“ 

Somber toned videos slowly became warmer. It took a lot of sleepless nights, a bit of shouting, and lots of toe stepping until the three of them got into a routine with each other. Shouta watched as the bright star of a boy, that he saw in earlier loops, filled a space in Hizashi and his life that he’s never noticed until now. Izuku even got comfortable enough to let one of them roll his camera, even if he never let them look through the recordings until they were on his laptop.

One recording was of the three of them in Hizashi’s home studio, Hizashi teaching Izuku a song on the guitar. 

 

And I digress 

 

His husband sang, gently plucking at the strings and Midoriya followed along to the repeated pattern of the song. 

 

Cause I must make you the perfect ev’nin’

I try my best…

To put the priest inside a jam jar.

 

Shouta heard Hizashi hum along to the song. He knew this song too. It was an old pre-quirk Hizashi’s mom would sing with him. The song was one of the most intimate songs to Hizashi that Shouta knew of. 

 

And there’s a millipede,

Angry on your carpet. 

 

Oh, and I must admit,

He’s staring with a vengeance

 

Oh and I digress…

Cause I must make you the perfect morning.

And I try my best…

 

To prove that nothing’s out to get you…

 

Izuku continued to play while Hizashi used Voice to hum the other instruments in the background. 

 

To prove that nothing’s out to get you.



“I don’t want this to end,” Izuku whispered. The video showed the three of them on the couch, Izuku smooshed in the middle, there was a cat laying in his lap and he petted it absentmindedly. He was somewhere in his second year. “But it’s going to happen soon.”

The adults froze, out of context, that sentence was concerning. Hizashi, gentle as always, ran fingers through Izuku’s curls. “What do you mean, sunshine?” 

Izuku snuggled deeper into the touch. “I… I lied about being quirkless before One for All.” Hizashi’s hand froze but started back up. Shouta rubbed the boy’s arm.

“That’s okay, Sunshine.”

“It’s not.” He was crying. “I’ve been reliving my life over and over. I’ve never graduated, papa. The loop ends faster the more my friends, family, die. I regress into a child. This’ll be over soon and you won’t remember me.” The adults shared a pained look over the boy’s shoulder.

Shouta planted a kiss on Izuku’s head. “Izuku,” he spoke softly, “Even if we don’t remember, we’ll always be your parents.” 

He snuggled into them closer, “I love you guys, so much.”

Hizashi pulled his family in closer, “And we love you too, Sunshine. Take all the time you need.”

Izuku ended up falling asleep, curled into Hizashi. Shouta and Hizashi shared another look, then Hizashi handed over his necklace while Shouta removed his. Shouta picked up the camera and turned around. “Huh?” The camera shut off.

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Kacchan!”

The video showed Midoriya outside the dorms with a large sack in his hand, the other in the partially opened top. Mischievous grin and pulled out what he was grabbing at. 

As Bakugou turned around, he was met with a face of water. The blond growled. “ Deku…”  

In response, Midoriya just grinned and tossed one of the water guns at him. Bakugou gave him a feral grin that had Izuku running. The other students were too stunned to move before Kaminari caught on and grabbed a water gun and shot Yaoyorozu with it. She squealed in surprise before making a water balloon with her quirk and hitting him back. 

Their classmates grinned, all diving for the bag on the ground, causing an all out water fight. 

Shouta came around the corner with Hizashi and Eri. Quirk flaring, he gets the group to stop. But Midoriya just grins again and shoots their teacher. Shouta glared, walking over to the side of Heights Alliance. Midoriya was met with a stream of water when their teacher returned with the hose. Ashido laughed, throwing a water balloon at Shouta and thus the water war started again. 

 

~~~~~~~~

 

The next videos were more familiar to the staff. It only took about the second video from UA to recognize that it was the current loop. 

The USJ goes to be expected. Uraraka loses her arm to a warpgate. The sports festival goes the same. He had wondered why Midoriya had dropped out in the third round. He had apparently had a panic attack after his fight with Shinsou and Nezu excused him.

Hosu happened with little fanfare, Midoriya got there early enough that he was able to stop Iida before he went after Stain, Native was sent to the ICU but lived. Stain was carried off by a nomu and no one heard of him since.

The training camp incident occurred, Midoirya was able to stop Bakugou from being kidnapped thankfully, Sero ended up with scarring from flames and running into a tree trying to evade Moonfish. 

Aoyama didn’t make it out of the forest.

It didn’t register when they had went for home checks, but he was still terrified of his mom, even if he hasn’t shown any signs of abuse this loop. Midoriya still looked relieved to be moving into the dorms. The false brightness he carried dimmed ever so slightly, showing his real demeanor. No one really commented on it, especially when he became more affectionate as their classmates died. 

Trying desperately to keep it together. 

 

Midoirya sat on the porch of Heights Alliance, the sky a warm gold. A breeze blew through the courtyard and he scrunched his face in response. Backugou came out and sat next to him. Midoriya didn’t say anything, still presumably watching the sunset.

None of the teachers knew what Midoriya thought at that moment as he turned a soft smile to Bakugou. They would probably never know how the irony almost made him laugh. Because it had been years, centuries , since he last let his childhood friend look at him, really look at him.

“You gonna finally tell me what you’ve been hiding all this damn time?” There was no malice in the words, no anger or contempt. Just quiet resignation. 

Midoriya leaned onto Bakugou, snaking their hands together to hold onto the brother that would never know him the way Midoriya knew him. And all he could do was give a light laugh. It was quiet and sad and nothing like the hopeful and loud laughs of earlier loops, but it still was bright all the same.

“Took you long enough.”

 

~~~~~~~~

 

“Hey, Aizawa-sensei,” Midoriya opened the door with his sunshine smile, “did I leave my camera in the… oh.” All the teachers turned towards the frozen student. His face was uncomfortably blank as he looked over the tear stained faces of his teachers. His gaze lasted the longest on Aizawa and the camera. “I’ll, um, I’ll come grab it tomorrow. Sorry to bother you all.” 

The door shutting snapped the teachers out of their stupor. Shouta pushed out of the way of the teachers to chase after his student. “Midoriya!” He was already gone from the halls. Scouring the school, Shouta thought of all the places Midoriya might’ve gone. 

Then he remembered the videos. 

 

The hidden gardens on campus were probably the single most private place on campus. Shouta never understood why they were the first thing that Nezu built when he became the principal. The gardens hidden in the campus woods made by a permanent temporal displacement quirk that could create pocket dimensions. 

A guitar was the first thing he heard. 

 

And there’s a centipede,

Naked in your bedroom. 

 

Oh, and you swear to God,

The fucker’s out to get you

 

Shouta entered the clearing. He sat next to the boy underneath the large oak. Shouta felt Midoriya’s head lay down on his shoulder. It made him think of the small intimate moments the camera caught. The brief times when Midoriya was his kid, when the camera would choose to roll itself, or when Midoriya would give it to Shouta to record when he and Hizashi did duets. 

 

And there’s a praying mantis,

Prancing on your bathtub

 

And you swear it’s a priest,

From a past life out to getcha

 

Midoriya kept playing through the song but both his strums and voice were quiet but never fully tapered off. 

 

To prove that nothing’s out to get you…

 

“Dad?” 

Shouta pulled him closer. 

“Yeah, Problem Child?”

“I’m tired.”

“I know, Problem Child. I’m here now.” 

“One more loop?” 

“Just one more.” He promised with as much sincerity as he could to the child holding onto him while crying silently. Even if Shouta forgot again, he’d give Mid-Izuku this comfort. Shouta would do anything to help him and his classmates finally graduate. All intact. 

“One more loop. I promise, Problem Child.” 

Shouta felt a weird tugging in his gut. He looked down at Izuku, who fell asleep on him. The tugging grew, spreading through his body before easing up. Izuku relaxed more into his side. 

Later when he remembered that feeling as he died staring at the sky, he thought he heard the shutter of a video camera. It was somewhat of a comforting last thought. 

 

One more loop

Notes:

Midoriya Izuku’s Looped Quirk Analysis Vol 1 (Unencrypted)

Name: Record and Rewind
Quirk Holder: Midoriya Izuku
Activation Date: July 16 2XXX (user’s fourth birthday)
Classification: Mental/Emitter (passive)
Description: Quirk allows user to return to point of activation once the user has either died or reached a terminal state. The user has a camera that they can use to record the loops and retain any of the videos taken during any loop.

Notes:
Unknown if quirk will activate upon the user's death if caused by age.
If destroyed, the camera will return to the user within an hour.
Possibility to make the quirk no longer passive, allowing the user to be able to choose when to loop and by how much time. Not yet proven, unsure how to prove/disprove.
User cannot bring people back with them*
User is able to bring small items with them if attached to the camera.

*Footnote: the user was able to bring one person back with them. See Aizawa Shouta- alias pro hero Eraserhead entries in Hero Analysis 3 and 14 for more information.