4
4:21 PM, Saturday
"Midoriya-kun?"
"Yeah?"
"...Why are we in a junkyard?"
That was a pretty accurate term, Izuku thought. Mountains and mountains of trash surrounded them. There was everything from thrown away plastic cans and other small items to large appliances, like the ruined fridges strewn about. Izuku could even make out a rusted car, somewhere near the middle of the mess.
Izuku held his arms out wide. "Welcome to Dagobah Beach. A beautiful tourist spot-"
Uraraka pinched her nose. "Oh my god, the smell-"
"-beloved by the community for decades...until they started using it as a junkyard. Now it's just sad."
"Oh. Well uh, why're we here?"
"Well, it's simple," Izuku said cheerfully. "We're going to clean it."
"Huh? But how? Look at all of that trash, Midoriya-kun. Are we going to do all of it ourselves?!"
"Yep."
Uraraka stared at him. "But why?"
"We'd get plenty of strength training, carrying all of this stuff out. And the super heavy stuff-" Izuku pointed at the broken car. "-we can use to train your Zero Gravity. No one's going to complain about our quirk use here."
"Can't we just go to a gym or something, though?" Uraraka asked.
"We could." Izuku looked out at the ocean, barely visible through the heaps and heaps of garbage piled up. "But I mean, don't you want to see what the beach will look like once it's clean? I bet it's beautiful."
A resigned sigh. "It probably will be. But you do realize this is going to take ages, right?"
Izuku only smiled in response, handing her a pair of work gloves.
6:32 AM, Thursday
Three months passed in a simple routine.
Time passage was always a weird thing for Izuku, especially with his quirk. It was nice to keep his day orderly, neat, so he could flip through it later like a book and sort it with the rest of his growing library. He could take a day off the shelf and hold it next to the week before, seeing all the little interesting differences between their pages.
Izuku compared the view of the beach at the end of each day with the day before as they chipped away at the endless pile of trash, and he could feel the slow, steady progress like a changing picture.
"Hey, Midoriya-kun?" Uraraka brought him out of his thoughts.
Izuku glanced at his jogging partner as she easily kept pace next to him on the early morning street, most of Musutafu still asleep in the growing light.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you write in your notebooks?" Uraraka asked.
Izuku blinked, surprised, and she hurriedly continued. "I get the analysis part, you're super good at that. But you can remember every single thought you've had. Couldn't you easily just keep them in your head, or something?"
"Well, yeah. But it kinda helps the thoughts and ideas flow, when I put them down on paper. I make sure to encode them all later, though. It'd be pretty bad if a villain read through some of my notes on heroes."
Uraraka winced at the thought. "Yeah. You've thought of ways to beat practically anyone-it's both amazing and vaguely terrifying."
Izuku laughed. "Thanks. I don't think anyone could beat All Might, though, even with some extra research."
"True! I mean, his punches literally change the weather."
"I know, right? And he's so fast , too!"
They stopped at the intersection, catching some breath as the cars rushed by in front of them. Talking while running was tiring.
"What's his quirk called, anyway?" Uraraka asked curiously. "I've never heard his name before...which is weird, because he's like, the most famous man in Japan."
Izuku shrugged. "No one knows. Some kind of enhancement, obviously, but there's never been one so ridiculously strong, before. There's Muscular, but that guy's transformation quirk has a visible effect..."
"Who?"
"This powerful villain who rampaged a few years ago. He could create and build his muscles, getting strong and stronger until he was this giant, powerful force. It took this combined team of heroes, some top ten, to take him down."
"That sounds terrifying."
"Yeah. Unlike Muscle Augmentation, All Might's quirk doesn't have any visible effect or condition, it's just pure power. Maybe he keeps it a secret because it's drawback is something easy to exploit?"
"I could see that being a thing. That much power might be tiring to use, or something." Uraraka mused as the traffic light finally blinked, letting them cross the street. They slowly built up speed again, pushing off the curb together. "Lots of villains try to kill him daily-it'd be terrible if they knew something like that."
"It's been years since a villain was strong enough to really fight All Might, though." Yet you wouldn't hear Toxic Chainsaw's name mentioned outside of hero forums. Izuku wondered how many dangerous villains faded into the background so easily.
"But-" Uraraka stopped in her tracks, causing Izuku to stop as well.
He followed her eyes down to see a girl curled onto the sidewalk-they'd nearly tripped over her. Long blue hair fell down either side of her face, and she seemed comfortable despite the hard concrete. An orange tabby cat laid on her shoulder, eyeing them suspiciously.
She was wearing the same black uniform he was, looking only a little younger than him and Uraraka. Izuku worried she was hurt, or something, to be passed out on the side of the road, but then he realized she was just asleep. Huh.
"Hello?" Uraraka bent down and lightly poked the sleeping girl's shoulder.
When she didn't even stir, Uraraka pushed harder. She was a heavy sleeper, so Uraraka had to shove her more and more until she was shaking the unconscious girl like a doll. Izuku held back a wince. This probably looked like assault.
Finally, her eyes blinked open. She stared at them curiously, grey eyes and blank face showing absolutely no emotion as she sat up with a yawn, her(?) cat stepping off her. It was strange, to say the least-almost like she was a cat herself.
"Do you two need something?" She asked.
"Uh...no." Uraraka held up her hands almost guiltily. "We were just wondering why you were asleep here. We almost ran into you!"
The girl blinked. "I was taking a nap."
"On the sidewalk?" Izuku asked. "Why not just sleep at home?"
"Too far away."
"...Okay. You should be more careful, though, when you nap." Uraraka said.
"Don't worry." The girl patted the cat next to her, and the tabby leaned into her palm. Her lips curled up the slightest bit. "I have Star here, to protect me."
That had to be one of the weirdest conversations he'd been in. He was almost glad when she wandered away, her cat clinging to her shoulder almost protectively.
Izuku wondered if Star had a quirk. Intelligence quirks were growing more common in animals, along with less comm-
Uraraka poked his arm. "You're muttering, again."
He could never seem to break the habit. "Sorry-"
"I don't mind-it's always about something interesting. Not sure you want all your thoughts broadcasted, though."
"Yeah." It'd be a huge weakness in a fight.
"How about this, Midoriya-kun: I'll poke you whenever you start muttering. That way, you'll always know!"
Izuku sighed. "That sounds like an excuse to poke me, but sure."
Her smile gave him shivers.
Uraraka saved after their jog, as usual, and he headed off to Aldera.
School was very different, ever since he fought Katsuki. He got strange looks from other students, a mixture of awe and fear, sometimes even from the teachers. But no one bothered him anymore.
Katsuki hadn't said a single word to him, turning into a silent presence that reminded Izuku of a dormant volcano. It was nice and peaceful overall, leaving Izuku to his thoughts and memories and half-hearted classwork.
He drifted out of the school gates minutes after the bell, not having to run from anyone anymore.
Izuku and Uraraka shuffled into their training on the beach, collecting and lifting trash and metal as the hours passed. Her weight limit had increased a little again, and she grinned when he told her.
He invited her to eat dinner, and she agreed with an exhausted hum as they stumbled home, limbs filled with a satisfying ache.
Uraraka was a common sight at the Midoriya household now, so Inko barely batted an eye when she ushered them inside.
Uraraka started a riveting discussion on mochi, of all things, and how it was the best food ever(she was wrong, katsudon was far superior). His mother's cooking was amazing, as always, and afterward she went up to sleep as he and Uraraka plopped down on the couch to watch tv, full and content.
Izuku smiled as he mentally added the book to his shelf, date labelled in neat, green script. Another great day-
And then the news started playing, and Izuku's heart dropped to his stomach.
Muscular breaks out of prison, 39 dead.
The villain burst out of prison just earlier, a brief mistake by the guards quickly proving fatal. Muscular escaped easily with the use of his overwhelming strength and a few powerful leaps before ravaging the streets of Musutafu.
Uraraka stiffened next to him.
Several heroes attempted to capture the villain so far, leading to severe injuries among heroes like Kamui Woods and the deaths of the W-Water Hose Duo-
The news anchor audibly stuttered, but Izuku couldn't blame her. The bits of news footage were pretty horrifying. Muscular's eye was covered in blood, a maniac grin on the hulking monster's face as he attacked heroes and civilians alike. Izuku really hoped no children had seen this live.
Endeavor arrived on the scene, finally pushing him back, but the villain got away...
Izuku tuned the rest of the broadcast out, his thoughts a mess.
What were the chances? It was almost like they'd summoned a demon, mentioning him earlier. The attack happened while they were eating dinner-what would have happened if they'd spent just a little longer at the beach? Or if he let Uraraka walk home? He shivered at the thought.
But wait-
Izuku whirled around, grabbing onto Uraraka's arms and meeting her wide eyes. She was still frozen, almost in shock.
He couldn't tell which of them was trembling.
"Uraraka, can you Reset?" Izuku urged. "Back to that save this morning. I can fix this-"
He knew the exact time Muscular arrived, when he crashed into the formerly peaceful street like an angry meteor. Exactly when he needed to get there.
"None of those people would die if I stop him-"
"No."
Izuku stared at her. "What?"
"No." Uraraka said again, her voice firmer. "You're going to rush right in there, right? Then what? You won't stand a chance against Muscular-none of those heroes did."
"I can't just do nothing-"
"You'll die-"
"And then you'll just rewind it, and I can try again." Izuku said, a little too sharp. "It doesn't matter."
The second he said it, he wished he could take it back. Uraraka's face crumpled, but her hands clenched tighter around his.
"Just because it's Reset, that doesn't mean it didn't happen. You, of all people, should know that." Uraraka said quietly. Izuku flinched. "And you didn't even know who I was."
Neither of them said anything for a minute, holding on to each other as the voices from the television filled the now silent room.
"You know, it's amazing that your first instinct is to rush in there." Uraraka said.
"You didn't even falter, though, seeing that. Me, I just panicked and almost did something dumb." Izuku said.
"That's exactly it, though. You see that terrifying villain, and still move to help before you think about it. Meanwhile I kinda just froze in place."
Izuku tilted his head. "So, together...we almost acted like a hero should."
Uraraka hummed. "Yeah. Now that you've calmed-"
Izuku coughed.
" We've calmed down. Think of a better plan than that, Izuku."
Izuku raised his hand to his cheek in thought-not even noticing that he was still holding her hand. She didn't move her hand from his face though, as seconds came and went, his mind turning and turning.
Izuku finally grinned. "I think I got it. Uraraka, do you remember that detective we met?"
Reset.
6:48 AM, Thursday(First Reset)
"-6:48 AM, Thursday." The echo of Uraraka's voice reached his ears as his consciousness snapped back to his body.
Uraraka looked up from her hands, eyes widening when they caught his face. "Whoa, you seem pretty different from two seconds ago."
Izuku let out a genuine laugh at that, despite the resolve weighing down his chest. "Yeah. We've Reset, Uraraka."
He held out a hand and she took it curiously(he held back a wince, this wasn't a fun memory)and showed her the news broadcast. It was probably worse with Izuku's quirk bringing back every little detail of Muscular's attack, but he didn't skip a thing, including that moment afterward-it wouldn't be fair otherwise.
For some reason, Uraraka's cheeks reddened near the end of the memory-was she embarrassed?
"...Wow. That was lot of different emotions." Uraraka blinked. "I think that plan will work. You do realize we could get in a lot of trouble for it though, right?"
Izuku shrugged. He couldn't care less.
He retraced his school day-every step, every word written-through a driving sense of impatience. Aldera already felt like a waste of time, but going through the same lessons twice made him want to jump out the window.
He met up with Uraraka afterward. They skipped the beach, heading straight for Izuku's house and up to his room.
Inko looked surprised to see them this early, taking in their expressions yet not asking a thing.
And Izuku opened up his computer, fingers flying across the keyboard.
5:29 PM, Thursday(First Reset)
Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, sometimes known as True Man, was completely exhausted.
His colleagues were capable, but it'd been a hectic week full of small crimes. They were almost swamped with cases, mostly in response to some stupid social media post that went viral.
Naomasa inhaled his third cup of coffee, glaring at the mountain of paperwork on his desk hoping it'd vanish. It didn't.
Was this what Eraserhead felt like, all the time? This was terrible. He should be nicer to that man next time he sees him.
Officer Sansa sighed from the other desk, desperately writing as fast as he could. "This is my least favorite part of the job."
"Paperwork is important, and necessary to police work and the resolution of cases." Naomasa felt the need to point out. "But some weeks..."
"Yeah. At least these are all simple incidents, though. Nothing big has happened in a while-"
A voice resounded from the intercom, putting the entire precinct on alert. It clearly wasn't any known personnel- a hack.
"Hello. Can you all hear me?"
Every person in the room turned to the cat officer.
"Fuck." Sansa cursed. "I just had to say it, huh."
"...I'll take that as a yes, then." The voice said dryly. It was a woman, maybe in her thirties, but Naomasa had been around long enough to recognize a voice changer.
Naomasa flicked a glance at Sansa, silently telling him to track the signal, and he nodded back.
"Who are you?" Naomasa's pen tapped a steady rhythm against his forgotten paperwork.
"My name is Prophet." A codename. A vigilante? "I'm here to deliver a tip."
"Why not go through the proper channels?" Naomasa asked.
"This issue is...time sensitive. Plus, I needed to inform you, specifically. Without your quirk, Tsukauchi-san, my message would be dismissed."
Truth.
His quirk wasn't top-secret-he had to go through a lot to get it verified for court. But it wasn't exactly public knowledge, either.
"We're all ears, then." Naomasa said. "What's this tip?"
"My quirk lets me get visions of the future." Naomasa's pen paused in shock. "Though it isn't the same as Sir Nighteye's ability. I foresaw the villain Muscular breaking out of prison at roughly 6:30 PM, and rampaging through Musutafu. The heroes on patrol aren't strong enough to stop him."
And to Naomasa's rising dread, all of that rang true.
Sansa shook his head, not getting a trace. Naomasa expected that; from the clear, concise way they talked this vigilante didn't seem like much of an amateur. How had he never heard of a vigilante before? Time-related quirks were incredibly rare.
There was probably no way to stop Muscular's escape, but a warning was exactly what he needed to capture him.+.
"Noted." Naomasa replied. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention."
The intercom cut out, the attacker leaving the system just as easily as they came.
Naomasa broke the stunned silence with a long sigh.
"I'm going to need to make a few calls."
5:33 PM, Thursday(First Reset)
"Wow." Izuku said, impressed. "You're a really good actress, Uraraka."
Uraraka smiled at the praise. "It wasn't that hard. You did most of the work, really, actually hacking into the police department so easily. Are you sure that was okay, by the way?"
Izuku nodded. "I was super careful."
Uraraka let out a breath. "Phew. Now what?"
Izuku settled into the couch. "Now we wait, and see if the story goes any better."
"What if that detective can't do anything about the attack?" Uraraka asked. " I mean, we don't really know anything about him other than where he works and his quirk..."
"Then we'd need a new plan." Izuku admitted. "But I have a good feeling about him, he seemed pretty reliable."
Uraraka raised an eyebrow. "Feeling, huh? What happened to my calm, logical I-Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku laughed.
His mother poked his head into the living room. "Oh, what're you two watching?"
Izuku blinked. "Just a uh...news special, Mom." Uraraka bobbed her head from next to him.
Inko sat on Izuku's other side. "Sounds interesting. What's it about, honey?"
The channel suddenly switched from a nice story about teleportation quirks to the same news anchor from before. She looked panicked, but not nearly as much as before.
This is just in. The villain Muscular has just broken out of prison. His current whereabouts are unknown, but police and heroes are currently rushing to capture him...
"That."
"Oh, my."
The wait was painful. Any second now, Musutafu would be in danger, and Izuku had to force down the urge pushing against his skin to do something. He squeezed Uraraka's hand, probably too hard, but she didn't let go.
And then Muscular was live, smashing through the street on landing, throwing back cars and pedestrians, muscles tearing through his shirt as he faced shaking cameras in all of his terrifying glory.
His entire upper half was red, bulging muscle, towering over the running civilians. He had blonde hair and both of his eyes-whatever injury inflicted upon him had been Reset-and was leveling a fearsome, almost hungry glare. The smirk on his face alone set off warning bells in Izuku's head.
Muscular didn't move for a moment, just throwing back his head and laughing as terrified civilians struggled to get away. Traffic stilled to a stop on either side of the villain.
"Show me your blood!" Muscular roared, loud enough to visibly startle the people on screen.
A man tripped, hitting the concrete hard.
Muscular moved, a blur of red on-screen that Izuku's eyes couldn't even track, an unstoppable predator slamming down to squash his prey into nothing. The poor man's eyes went wide-
And then the fist stopped, caught in a larger palm inches away from it's target.
"It's fine now."
The live footage captured the exact moment Muscular's smirk fell off his face.
"Why?"
Izuku leaned forward so far he almost fell off the couch.
"Because I am here!" All Might's voice boomed, a reassuring grin stretched wide across his face.
Notes:
I might add a few Sakurada Reset characters(like the sleeping girl) and make them relevant later, because their abilities and personalities are easy to factor into MHA. You won't need any knowledge or context of the anime to understand this fic, I'm basically just stealing quirk and design ideas.
I'm aware that Muscle Augmentation is called Pump Up, but since that quirk name is dumb I can't be bothered to change it, lol.
A point that I briefly mention there is that Izuku and Uraraka are literally immortal with Reset, as long as she logically sets a Save within every three days. If Uraraka dies, she'll automatically Reset, and if Izuku dies then Uraraka would definitely know about it before her next Save and Reset. A bit OP, but time travel is time travel.