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Chapter 2: Too Much Too Early

Chapter Text

His mom cries while clinging onto him for what feels like an eternity. Izuku's tears also spring unbidden from his eyes. What can he say, when his mom cries, he cries. It's just how it is. Nothing to do with his crumbling mental state. Not at all.

Whenever he makes eye contact with the policemen behind his mom's back they give him an awkward smile.

Izuku is not reassured.

He doesn't recognize them, not that he's close to any policemen, but he's sure they aren't among the ones he's interacted with before. One is a man with sandy blonde hair and a bit of stubble. He looks athletic. The other one is a woman, her hair dark purple and pulled into a tight bun. Her eyes catch the light, or seem to emit some of their own and it'd be fascinating if Izuku was in a better mindset. As it is, he can scrub the tears off his face faster than his mom can and attempt to start what is probably going to be a long and confusing conversation.

"Mom. Hey Mom, look at me." Izuku coaxes, his hands unfurl from around her and grab her hands from around him. His mom's eyes are wide and wet. She fists the fabric of his shirt that is now thoroughly tear-stained and stares up at him, holding back more waterworks. Izuku's making an effort too, to stay calm. Goodness knows one of them has to.

"What is going on?" He tries. His mom takes in a shaky breath. "Why are the police here?"

"Izuku. Oh Izuku. Where have you been?" She pleads, as if he has any idea what that means. But she looks so heartbroken and he feels so guilty even though he's sure he hasn't done anything wrong. He needs her to answer his questions, not give him more confusing ones.

"Ms. Midoriya" The female officer cuts in kindly. "Perhaps we can figure things out together after everyone is more comfortably situated." Izuku studies the woman, silently commending her stellar idea. She seems like a seasoned officer, if she's able to read the room like that. When she sees him staring, she flashes a sympathetic smile.

His mother nods and sniffles, likely suppressing another bout of tears, but she still clings to Izuku like a lifeline and doesn't let go until he walks her gently to the couch and deposits her there with the promise of making them all some tea. He thinks his mother only lets him because she realizes they have guests. Or maybe because the kitchen is within her direct line of sight.

But before he can effectively escape, a hand pulls on his shirt. He turns, and his mom is looking up at him with the most miserable set of puppy dog eyes he has ever seen.

"You won't go, will you?" She asks. It sounds more like a plea. "Just to the kitchen?"

Suddenly, Izuku finds it hard to swallow, so he simply nods his head. He reaches down to unclasp her hand, and gives it a squeeze before he lets it go. The officers watch things with pained expressions. Izuku beats a hasty retreat into the kitchen.

The officers take their seats and Izuku can hear hushed conversation from the other room. They're starting the questions probably. To answer what, Izuku doesn't know. Something is seriously wrong and he would really like to know what. His mom obviously thinks that whatever is wrong, it has something to do with him. Is it some side effect to his time travel? Or something else? Should he even bring up time travel? Is his mom aware of it? He isn't sure. But, seeing her this upset, he doesn't want to add to her worries if he makes her aware of it when she wasn't before. He'll have to see what they know first, and grasp the situation that way.

Brewing the tea helps calm his nerves, if only a little, because it's something easy and practiced. Having something to do makes him less nervous, even though when he carries the tray with four cups on it back into the room, the shaking in his limbs makes everything rattle audibly.

"Thanks." Each officer says as they accept a cup. They both have kind eyes and kind smiles, but neither help settle Izuku's nerves. He serves his mom her tea and takes a cup of his own, although he doubts he'll drink it, then sits beside her. Her hand immediately reaches out to find his free one and grabs it in a vice-like grip. It's quiet now, the muffled conversation completely dying as soon as Izuku reappeared.

The male officer sets his tea down on the coffee table and clears his throat. "Izuku," he begins, and Izuku feels as if he's back when he first met All Might and the man tried to gently tell him how he couldn't be a hero without a quirk. "My name is Officer Tanaka and this," He gestures to the female officer, "is my partner Officer Hikarume. We need you to answer a few questions, if that's all right?"

He's being gentle, absurdly gentle as if Izuku is an easily frightened animal. And Izuku is frightened, but that's because he doesn't know what's going on.

When he doesn't answer, Officer Tanaka continues, never letting his sympathetic smile drop.

"There's nothing to worry about. The questions aren't hard."

That's not really the problem, at least not to Izuku. He's pretty sure he's one misstep away from a panic attack and the only thing grounding him is his mother's hand in his. And that's only because it hurts. But, he needs answers one way or another.

"That's fine." Izuku answers, and his voice is shockingly calmer than he feels. "But I'm not really sure what's going on."

"That's alright." Officer Tanaka assures. "We'll help you out. You just need to answer all our questions truthfully."

Which is easier said than done, but Izuku agrees anyway. The officer beams at him.

"Let's start at the beginning. Do you remember what happened the day of April 18th?"

And Izuku is already stumped. If he is in the past, which he's starting to believe he is, then he has to remember the 18th of two years ago. Still, time travel? He might as well take this chance to confirm it.

"Uh, and what would, I mean, could you tell me what today's date is? Year included, p-please." He asks and shrinks in on himself. It's an odd question and it feels as if he's incriminating himself already. Surprisingly though, the officer's look only gentles. His mother sobs into her hand.

"Of course. Today is September 26th 30XX." Officer Tanaka responds softly.

Fortunately, the confirmation doesn't come as too much of a shock. He likely knew, in his heart, that the conclusion he'd come to was correct, even if he didn't want to believe it. After all, what would it mean, if he has gone into the past? Was this the result of a quirk? Or some gadget? Then why couldn't he remember anything like that? It had simply been another night where he went to bed, only to wake up in the past. What could possibly have caused it?

"Izuku? Are you alright?" He's broken out of his reverie by Officer Tanaka. It seems he accidentally zoned out. He blinks back to reality to see three worried faces staring back at him.

"Ah, I'm fine. Sorry. You can ask me the questions now."

Officer Tanaka stares at him for a moment longer, seemingly searching for something before he sighs. "...Right. Do you remember the events of April 18th?"

Since it was two years ago, it would be hard to remember a random day like that, if it wasn't one of the most important days of Izuku's life. That day was the day he met All Might and the Sludge Villain incident happened. The day he was told he could be a hero. He'd never forget it.

Just to confirm though, Izuku says, "Of course. That's the day of the Sludge Villain incident, right?"

The reaction is instant. He's apparently said the wrong thing because his mother looks at him alarmed and the officers share a wide eyed look before focusing on him once more. Sometime during everything Officer Hikarume had pulled out a notebook.

"Sludge Villain? Please explain." Officer Tanaka urges.

And Izuku is confused. Well, more confused. He only went back in time right? The events of the past shouldn't have changed. Then again, the Sludge Villain may have taken a hostage, but he was a fairly local villain, pretty minor compared to something like the League. Maybe these cops just didn't know about it?

"Umm, you know, the Sludge Villain." Izuku tries again, looking to his mom for help. "He took Kacchan hostage and I tried to help but All Might ended up stepping in and saving him. And well, it was- it was on the news. I thought everyone knew about it."

His mom shakes her head from beside him, her eyes look close to spilling again. Officer Hikarume is dutifully recording what he just said, but Officer Tanaka is sitting there with furrowed brows, his smile having vanished.

"I was not aware of this incident. I'll have to look into it. This Kacchan is…?"

"Katsuki." His mother chimes in, voice hoarse. "Bakugou Katsuki. I believe you've already spoken to him. They were childhood friends. It's Izuku's nickname for him."

"Of course." Officer Tanaka says and turns his attention back to Izuku. "So what happened next?"

"Uh, next? What do you mean?" Izuku wonders. A little rattled that no one here knows about the sludge villain. Shouldn't his mother?

"What happened after the Sludge Villain was defeated?" When Izuku is still thinking of how to answer he adds, a little anxiously, "He was defeated, right?"

"Yes," Izuku finally says, "He was taken care of. But I'm not sure what you mean. After that, I just... went home? Nothing happened."

This time Izuku knows he's said something wrong because everyone looks at him again. Even Officer Hikarume has stopped writing to give him a confused expression.

He feels a bit embarrassed. Maybe he wasn't descriptive enough? That must be it.

"Well, I mean, I got scolded a bit for interfering by the pros and I had to walk all the way home which took a while, but I couldn't just stand to the side when someone was in trouble and it was Kacchan and he looked like he needed help, so I had to, but it's fine cause everything turned out okay…" He trails off.

Didn't it?

His mom looks more distraught. "Izuku, honey. You need to be honest with the officers. You won't get in trouble. Just tell them what happened."

Izuku freezes, pierced by his mother's piteous stare and the strangeness of her words. What happened? What happened? As far as he's aware, that is 'what happened'. Why does she think that isn't the truth? Better yet, why doesn't she remember that at all? When he came home, she practically smothered him in worry. She had seen it on the news and wanted to be sure he was okay. Why didn't she remember?

Something is still not right here. Izuku is missing a big piece of this puzzle that has nothing to do with time travel. What happened. Yeah, Izuku's been wondering the same thing since this morning and nothing has made any sense since then. He wants to cry. His anxiety swarms him a little more and it takes everything in him to just stay grounded. He can't let go now, not yet.

"I don't understand." Izuku says, and he really doesn't. He's been 100% honest. "After that I went home and I talked with you about being a hero and then I started training and I was training to get into UA by clearing trash off the beach. And...everything was finally working out." He almost whispers the last sentence. Because it feels like he's backtracked, not just in time, but in his efforts too. He tried so hard to get into UA, to get One For All to work for him, and what would that all be worth, if he was forced back to the start?

"Baby" His mom says, and she's crying again. "That didn't- that didn't happen. You didn't come home. Izuku, y-you never came home that day. I didn't know what h-happened to you, if you were- if you were alright. Until today."

It doesn't make sense. Of course it doesn't. He did come home that day. A cold sensation of dread spreads through his numbing limbs. It couldn't be. Why are things changing? Why is it different? Izuku would never leave his mom alone, so why did she think that?

It's starting to get hard to breathe and before he can stop himself, he mutters, " Impossible."

"Izuku." Officer Tanaka says, and Izuku's attention swivels to him. "You've been missing for a little over five months."