Ticking of the clock

Chapter 14: Solution

  The next day, Izuku and Katsuki walked through UA's gates, a determination in every step.

  Katsuki waved goodbye to his brother, while Izuku headed for the principals office.

  He knocked on the door before entering.

  "Ah, Midoriya, what brings you here this morning?" He asked.

  Izuku sat opposite the animal, accepting the tea offered to him.

  "I need your help with something." He said.

  Nezu stared.

  "Very well... What is going to happen?"

  Izuku frowned.

  "During his internship in Hosu, Tenya is going to hunt down the hero killer. He's going to die. If I try and get involved, we both die. If I call Shoto we survive, but Tenya does not. I need you to help me. Nothing I think of works except coming to see you. The future becomes hazy and unpredictable, like during the sports festival."

  Izuku paused, and the rat's grin grew.

  "During the sports festival... No matter what I thought of, somebody died. I was willing to be that sacrifice and get Shigaraki taken in. But the future turned hazy.. because of the dice. The dice created so many possibilities that the future became malleable to me. I literally created the future I wanted..."

  Nezu watched as Izuku relapsed into ticking and tocking.

  *He finally figured that out himself. I'm glad it's going to be useful to him now, but I'm afraid of the limits this ability has...*

  Izuku headed to 1A, muttering to himself.

  "1:0... 2:0... 3:66..." He muttered. "4:75?... 5:100? 4:100."

  "Tenya Shoto Izuku ______"

  "4...4...4..4. 4!"

  "Shota Enji Gran Toshi Nem Zashi..."

  Tick tock...

  Stained clock.

  Katsuki watched Izuku come back to 1A ticking like normal.

  "Everything's gonna be fine..." Katsuki muttered to himself.

  Aizawa stood at the front of the class.

  "Your internships start tomorrow. I'd just like to remind you that your actions represent UA, so don't do anything foolish."

  His gaze landed on Kaminari.

  "I said I was sorry! I didn't mean to drain the school's power!! Please believe me Mr Aizawa!!" Kaminari almost cried.

  Aizawa sighed.

  "When the internships finish, you'll have a few weeks to do extra training, and then you will be taking your end of term exams. Make sure to gain all the experience you can from your internships."

  Aizawa went straight back to sleep, leaving the class to their own devices until the first lesson.

 
  The next day, too early in the morning to be sane human beings, class 1A and Aizawa were standing on a train platform.

  "Alright, make sure you get on the correct trains, I will not be doing anything to aid you if you do something as stupid as get the wrong train or get off too early or too late. Now go away, get stronger, and come back."

  "Plus Ultra!" Everyone said.

  Izuku rolled a pair of dice on the floor.

  Nine.

  He rolled again.

  Seven.

  He rolled one die.

  one.

  Izuku looked up at Aizawa.

  "Should.. I.. comfort... Tenya.. now.?" He asked.

  Aizawa shrugged, turning to leave.

  "It's always best to do what you can when someone is hurting."

  Izuku paused, rolling a single die again.

  Four.

  He walked up to Iida.

  "Ten..ya... I'm.. here... For... You.. please.. talk... To.. me.."

  Iida looked surprised, then his expression softened slightly.

  "Thank you Midoriya. I shall think about it. I hope you have a good experience on your internship."

  The tall teen turned and briskly walked away.

  Izuku nodded to himself, satisfied.

  He hadn't changed anything major, but maybe Iida felt a little differently about his revenge.

  Izuku followed Aizawa back to the school bus, sitting silently in one of the seats near Aizawa.

  "Did anything change problem child?" He asked.

  Izuku shook his head, but he smiled.

  "Ten..ya... Feels.. better.. for now..."

  Aizawa nodded.

  "That's good. When do you and I need to be in Hosu?" Aizawa asked.

  "63 hours, 57 minutes and 29 seconds. 28. 27. 26. 25...."

  "You don't need to start a countdown, I'll keep an eye on the time. Besides, there's still two days until Iida is attacked, are you going to count for the entire time?"

  "15. 14. 13. 12. 11. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. 63 hours and 57 minutes. 56 minutes and 59 seconds. 58. 57. 56..."

  Aizawa groaned, starting the bus.

  Izuku chuckled to himself, falling silent.

  The two days Izuku spent with Aizawa were very helpful. They spent their time training Izuku's quirk. Or rather, Present Mic did while Aizawa slept, neglecting his duties.

  Mic rolled the dice behind the cardboard shield. The 4 die came to a stop.

  "Roll your dice Midoriya, and then you can give your answer!"

  Izuku rolled his own dice, the 4 die rolling to a stop.

  Mic adjusted his dice, according to the numbers on Izuku's.

  Izuku sat for less than a second.

   "Four.. Two... One... Three... Your right to left."

  Present Mic beamed at Izuku.

  "Great! Alright, let's do one more control test, then you and Aizawa can go do your thing."

  Izuku nodded, pulling out a notebook. He wrote two numbers down.

  Mic rolled two of his own dice, watching them spin on their corners for a few seconds.

  Izuku let out a deep sigh, closing his eyes. With two dice there were 36 different possibilities, 36 outcomes, 36 futures. He reached out for the future he wanted and took a hold of the path. He opened his eyes.

  Izuku smiled at the result, placing his notebook down and rubbing his temples.

  "I guess we can move onto 3 die when you get back!"

  Izuku groaned, his head in his hands.

  Aizawa nodded approvingly.

  "Will that be enough problem child?" He asked.

  Izuku shrugged.

  "I don't know. But I am completely aware. Which means I can now choose the path I want." He grinned at his teacher.

  "We can definitely win this."