Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

34: SIBLINGS (3)

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Lunch Rush's katsudon was nice, but it couldn't compare to Inko's. Izuku poked at the pork with a chopstick, so used to the overwhelming loudness of the cafeteria that he didn't even bother looking up when there were some yells across the room; someone had probably started a fight. He stared at the bowl for a moment longer before sighing in resignation, folding his arms on the tabletop and resting his cheek against them.

"Are you okay, Deku-kun?" Ochako inquired softly, lightly patting his shoulder until he blinked open one eye to gaze at her.

"Yeah," he mumbled unconvincingly, "I'm fine."

"Izuku-kun," Tenya said across his table, his tone stern and reprimanding. "We'll listen to you. If there's a problem you're struggling with, we can help fix it."

"Unless it's not something you can tell us," Shouto added in a low tone, brow furrowed slightly.

He hummed in acknowledgement, offering a fragile smile of thanks before closing his eyes again, clasping his arms around his head protectively and squeezing to try and ground himself. There was definitely something bothering him, but it was difficult to explain.

Time-travel was an undeniably tricky concept to consider. Since Izuku hadn't had any way to know if it was something permanent, he'd just done his best to run things through as they were, and it would've been fine. It was fine that he no longer had that same, special bond with his peers, because it only affected him, and that was something he could learn to deal with.

But now he knew there was a possibility of returning to his own timeline... what was he supposed to think? He'd spent months rebuilding relationships to the point where he was actually closer with several people than he'd ever been before, and he loved it, but... even if all the people were technically the same, it was still different, and he... he felt like he was replacing his friends from the other timeline, and the guilt was becoming unbearable.

Not to mention the fact that he'd shoved this burden onto multiple people in both timelines: Tsukauchi was overworked enough as it was without a time-travelling hero thrown in the mix. Izuku didn't doubt that his loved ones in the future were having a horrible time because of him; first they assumed he was killed, then he suddenly reappears and tells them he might be able to return if they work out the details of Banisher's Quirk... and what if he discovers that he can never return? How could he give them hope, only to snatch it away like that?

"Deku-kun?" Ochako gently tugged his hand away from his head, and he flexed his stiff fingers, realising that he'd been tensed up. "We could all go back to the dorms, if you're not feeling well."

Izuku forced himself to sit up straight even though he just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. "Ah, thank you, but it's alright... I think I will take a breather for a bit, though. On my own, if that's okay?"