Architect

I had always known my place in the world.

In a society where 80% of the population possessed incredible abilities—quirks—I was an outlier, a speck of insignificance.

I didn't have a quirk, the single most important thing in a society like ours.

Until this day. This was way back, at least 25 years ago.

For as long as I could remember, I had wished for a miracle—to wake up one morning and discover I wasn't different, that I wasn't quirkless. That I could stand alongside heroes, not just admire them from afar.

But reality didn't care about wishes.

"Deku, you think you can just ignore me?"

Kacchan's voice was sharp, cutting through the warm summer air like a blade. I barely had time to turn before he shoved me. The world tilted, and my back hit the pavement of the playground. Pain flared across my palms as they scraped against the rough ground.

I winced but bit my tongue. I was used to this.

Kacchan stood over me, his expression twisted into something I couldn't quite place. His palms crackled with tiny sparks, the early signs of an explosion waiting to happen. The other kids stood behind him, laughing, but it was distant—like I wasn't really here.

"Look at you, all quiet. What, you think that makes you better than me?" What did I do? I just wanted to be friends with him.

I shook my head. "No, Kacchan, I—"

"Shut up!" His hand shot forward, a burst of heat flaring too close to my face.

I flinched, my heart hammering in my chest. The fear was familiar. The helplessness was familiar. I was helpless against him, was he not my best friend? Why is he bullying me just because I'm quirkless?

I was blasted a few centimeters away, scraping my back. I winced in pain as tears formed in my eyes. Why? Why?

My chest ached—not just from the impact, but from something deeper, something heavier.

Why?

Why did it have to be this way?

I had always admired Kacchan. He was strong, fearless, everything I wished I could be. We used to be friends, didn't we? So why did having a quirk make him so much different from me? Why did it mean I had to be beneath him?

The heat of his explosion still lingered in the air. My skin stung, but I barely felt it over the pounding in my head, the tightness in my throat.

I clenched my fists, trying to push myself up. My limbs trembled. The other kids were still laughing, their voices a blur in my ears. But all I could focus on was the weight in my chest.

Kacchan took a step closer, looking down at me with something almost like disgust. "Stay down, Deku," he sneered. "You don't belong here. You never did."

The words hit harder than the explosion.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

No.

No, this wasn't fair.

I just wanted to be like him. I just wanted to be a hero.

'Okay~ mortal.' 

My breath fastened.

The voice wasn't Kacchan's. It wasn't one of the kids laughing in the background. It wasn't even my thoughts.

It was something else.

Deep. Commanding. Amused.

And it was speaking to me.

I opened my eyes, expecting to see someone standing over me—maybe a teacher, maybe an adult finally stepping in.

But there was no one.

Kacchan was still frozen mid-stride, his sneer engraved into his face. The air still sparkled with the heat of his explosion. The other kids still stood behind him, but they weren't laughing anymore. They weren't moving at all.

The world in my eyes was a green hue, with crystals forming in the sky, as if time had been stopped.

I sucked in a sharp breath. My hands trembled against the rough pavement, my skin prickling with an unnatural cold. It was as if the air itself had turned dense, pressing down on my lungs. My heartbeat was slow—too slow, each thump a drawn-out echo in my ears. The weight of the atmosphere felt crushing, yet my limbs were light, almost weightless, like I was floating between seconds.

This… this wasn't normal.

I lifted my head, my heart hammering in my chest. The world around me looked wrong—a deep emerald hue coloring everything as if reality itself had been dipped in liquid jade.

Time had stopped.

But how?

My gaze darted to Kacchan. His foot hovered above the ground, the embers of his explosion still mid-air. He didn't move. No one did. The whole playground, the whole world, was frozen in time.

Except for me.

'Hmm… interesting,' the voice hummed again, its tone dripping with amusement. 'You're reacting better than I expected.'

I swallowed hard, forcing myself to speak. "Who… who are you?" My voice echoed strangely as if the air itself warped around my words.

The voice chuckled. 'I go by many names, but for now, you may call me Chronos.'

Chronos.

The name sent a chill down my spine.

Was this… was this my quirk?

My heart pounded as the pieces slowly clicked into place. I had stopped time. That wasn't something a normal person could do. That wasn't something a quirkless person could do.

I had a quirk.

The realization hit me like a tidal wave, overwhelming and dizzying.

I had a quirk. But then, everything went black as I fell down with a thud. I closed my eyes slowly as I looked at Kacchan rush to me, worried. I don't understand it.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

There was no pain, no sound—just the weightless sensation of drifting through a void. I couldn't move. Couldn't think. Couldn't breathe.

And then—

Thump.

A dull ache spread through my body as I slowly became aware of myself again. My eyelids fluttered open, my vision hazy and unfocused. The sky above me swirled in distorted colors before settling back to normal.

I was back.

Back in the playground. Back in reality.

And then I heard him.

"Deku?!"

Kacchan's voice wasn't mocking this time. It wasn't filled with anger or contempt. It was sharp, panicked.

I blinked, dazed, as his face came into view. He was crouched over me, his hands gripping my shoulders tightly. His red eyes were wide with something I had never seen before.

Fear.

"Oi, say something, nerd!" he barked, shaking me slightly. "What the hell just happened to you?!"

And then, I passed out, for real this time.

The teachers came rushing in, surrounding me. The last thing I saw before my vision faded completely was Kacchan, his brows furrowed, his expression unreadable.

For the first time in my life, he wasn't looking at me like I was beneath him.

He was looking at me like I was something else entirely.

*Snap*

A few hours later...

Darkness stretched endlessly around me. I floated, weightless, in a void where time had no meaning. There was no sound, no warmth, no sense of self—just an abyss swallowing everything.

Then, a voice shattered the silence.

"You're an interesting one, mortal."

I tried to move, to see where it came from, but my body felt distant like I wasn't entirely real.

Emerald light flickered, forming into something before me. A tall figure stood before me, dressed in robes that seemed to shimmer like a night sky full of stars. His silver hair flowed smoothly, almost glowing, and his eyes… were deep, endless, like they held entire galaxies inside them. [My interpretation, is nothing with the OG.]

"Chronos...?" I whispered.

He smirked, tilting his head slightly. "Ah, so you remember. That's good."

Remember? Had we met before? No, that wasn't possible. And yet, something deep inside me ached with familiarity, like a song I had long forgotten.

"W-What is this? What's happening to me?" My voice trembled, uncertainty clawing at my throat. "Did I stop time? Is this my Quirk?"

Chronos hummed, stepping closer. "A Quirk? Is that what you mortals call your gifts these days? No, child. What flows through you is not something so simple."

I swallowed hard. "Then... what is it?"

"A connection," he said, his gaze piercing through me. "A bond that has long been waiting to awaken."

A connection? 

"You have always been different, Izuku Midoriya," Chronos continued as if reading my thoughts. "Not because you lacked a Quirk, but because your soul was never truly bound by time in the first place."

My breath hitched. Never bound by time?

"You call it a Quirk," he mused, raising a hand. The space around us shimmered, and suddenly, the playground appeared before me again. The moment when time had stopped. Kacchan's frozen expression. The green glow. "But what you have been given... is authority."

Authority?

My heart pounded as he turned back to me. "I am Chronos, the Architect of Time. And you, Izuku Midoriya, have been chosen to be the Architect for the next millennium or so."

I stared at Chronos, my mind struggling to process the words.

"A-Architect of Time? What does that even mean?" I stammered.

Chronos chuckled. "It means you have been granted dominion over the flow of time itself. You are no longer bound by its rules as others are. You can stop it, bend it, even rewrite it if you so wish."

My breath hitched. Rewrite time? That was too much power for someone like me.

"B-But... why me? I'm just—"

Chronos raised a hand, silencing me. "Because you were never meant to be ordinary, Izuku Midoriya. You have always been destined for something greater. The world does not yet realize it, but you have already set events into motion."

I clenched my fists. "But I'm not a hero. I don't even have a quirk. Why would time itself choose me?"

Chronos regarded me for a long moment, then smirked. "You still see yourself as that powerless boy, don't you? Open your eyes, child. You are no longer bound by the limitations of mortals. Your authority is not a quirk. It is something far beyond that."

My heart pounded. If this was true, then everything I had ever known about myself—about my weakness—had been a lie.

"You have much to learn. But for now, you must return. Your body is still weak, unaccustomed to wielding such power."

My vision blurred. "Wait!" I called out, reaching forward. "What am I supposed to do with this power?"

Chronos glanced over his shoulder, a knowing smile on his lips. "That is for you to decide, Architect."

I gasped as I jolted awake, my lungs desperate for air. The bright lights of the nurse's office blinded me for a moment before I adjusted. My head throbbed, my body felt heavy, but I was back.

"Deku!"

The voice was sharp, panicked. Kacchan?

I turned my head, blinking away the dizziness. Bakugo stood by my bedside, arms crossed, brows furrowed in frustration—or was it worry? His usual anger was there, but beneath it was something else. Something unsure.

"Oi, nerd," Kacchan snapped, his voice rough but lacking its usual venom. "What the hell happened back there? You just collapsed!" His fists clenched at his sides. "Tch, damn it, what is wrong with you?!"

I opened my mouth, then shut it. How was I supposed to explain any of this? That time had stopped? That a godlike being had spoken to me? That I wasn't just quirkless anymore—I was something entirely different?

"I... I don't know," I finally muttered, my voice hoarse. It wasn't a complete lie. I didn't understand it all myself.

Bakugo scowled. "Liar." But there was no heat behind the word, just frustration. "Whatever. Just—" He turned away sharply. "Don't scare me like that, damn it."

My breath caught in my throat. Scare him? Did Kacchan actually—?

Before I could say anything, the school nurse walked into the room. She had kind eyes, but her face was full of worry. "Oh, you're awake, sweetie. You had us all very worried!"

I blinked up at her, still feeling a little dizzy. "S-Sorry..." My voice was small, my throat dry.

She placed a gentle hand on my forehead. "You don't have a fever, but you must've been really tired. You should rest a little more, okay?"

I nodded, but my mind was spinning too fast to think about sleep. I had stopped time. I had heard a voice—Chronos. I wasn't quirkless.

Everything had changed.