#jirodeku

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photos of the past, videos of the future: Chapter 2

On AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35116858/chapters/87526378

Todoroki Shouto seemed to finally notice things as he ran, glancing up in the large screen broadcasting the face to the stadium in confusion, given it currently focused on Midoriya. Many of the spectators flinched from his face, tears trickling down their faces in horror. Did that scar come Endeavour? How long had it been going on? How could a hero do that?

People were thankful when the picture flickered and settled on Izuku wearing a gym uniform, along with a boy who had a tail. The screen then began dissolving into a video, much to the relief of most of the watchers—anything to distract them.

Izuku stood on the screen, dressed in a pair of jeans and a loose shirt. He stood in a grocery store, a cart beside him. He hummed, checking the back of a jar. He squinted at the jar before sighing.

“I need glasses,” he grumbled.

“I could have told you that,” another voice spoke. A man walked into the screen, placing a box of cereal into the cart. The man has a long tail and blonde hair. He’s wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt with a flannel over it.

“Remind me to schedule an appointment,” Izuku said, smiling. “You find everything, Mashirao?”

“I did- except for your limited edition Red Riot cereal,” Mashiaro said, smirking. Izuku pouted.

“Awww, I wanted to eat cereal in the shape of Kirishima’s face,” Izuku said playfully. Mashirao laughed, shaking his head.

“You can make a fanboy a hero, but you just can’t separate the two.” he teased.

“Nope!” Izuku agreed, putting the jar into the cart. “I still troll the internet looking for your merch, Mr. Underground.” Mashirao laughed, shaking his head.

“Please, you wish you could have gone underground,” Mashirao said. “You just got shoved into the limelight.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. If I could go back to little me, I’d tell him not to accept half those internships. That limelight sucks.” Izuku sighed. “I’d like to have had a choice.”

“The thing I’ll never forgive All Might for never giving you that choice,” Mashirao said honestly. “You would have been great as an underground hero.”

“The Commission wouldn’t have let me go underground either, you know,” Izuku pointed out. “One for All is flashy as hell.”

“You could have made it work, love,” Mashirao replied, leading Izuku down the aisle. Izuku shrugged.

“Possibly,” Izuku responded. “We’ll never know.” The two continued down the aisle, heading to a cashier. Said cashier did a double-take upon seeing Izuku but managed to keep her calm enough. Izuku flashed a smile at her that had her eyes widening. The heroes paid for their groceries and left the store, carrying the bags.

On their way out, a little boy spotted them. He ran right over.

“Dekiru! Tailman!” the boy cried out. Both heroes stopped and turned to him.

“Hello, citizen!” Izuku said in a cheerful voice. The boy looked up at them with huge eyes as a woman walked over with a smile on her face.

“You two are so cool! Can I have your autographs?” the boy asked. Mashirao chuckled.

“That’s the downside of being with the Number One hero- I’m underground and still get recognized.” He winked at the kid to let him know he was joking, getting a giggle. Izuku laughed though and took the paper that the boy’s mom handed to them to sign.

The screen went back to the photos, flickering once more. Meanwhile, Izuku felt just thankful the scene seemed normal. However, he felt startled about the bit with All Might. Did… did All Might push him into the limelight? Why? Did… Izuku knew he was his successor, but did he want a copy that badly?

Mashirao had to pause for a second, blinking at the screen. Wow,… he never thought about being recognized like that. He’d always sort of planned to go underground in the first place… yet he found he didn’t mind. He didn’t know why he and Midoriya were together in the future, but… it seemed sweet. Happy. He wouldn’t mind at all.

All Might watched the video with a frown, his gut turning. Could he potentially be forcing young Midoriya into the limelight? He… well, he didn’t want that. He wanted his successor to stand out and make a splash, but if he didn’t want to be a limelight hero, he’d be more than willing to help. He would even dare to ask Aizawa for help!

Aizawa, on his part, currently plotted how to shuffle the students who wanted to go underground properly. Anyone could do it if they had the right drive and didn’t care about fame. They could always use more heroes in the underbelly…

The screen flickered again, ending on a photo of Izuku and a girl with what looked like audio jacks dangling from her ears. They were again in their gym uniforms. Jirou Kyoka looked at the screen in surprise as it began twisting to show the video.

“Hello, and welcome to Jacked!” Kyoka said into the microphone, sitting in a chair with headphones on and a laptop in front of her. She looked more mature as an adult but kept a similar hairstyle. Next to her was Izuku, the man looking similar to previous versions seen of him, though with longer hair, pulled into a bun. Patterns were shaved on the sides of his head, and he wore a pair of glasses. “I’m your host of this podcast, Earphone Jack!” she grinned. “We have a special guest today- my husband, the pro-hero Dekiru!”

“Hello!” Izuku chirped into the mic. “It’s nice to be on the show!”

“Hell yeah!” Kyoka said. “Now, today’s topic is about bullying.” Izuku hissed through his teeth, wincing. “Yeah, heavy topic. I got the usual mutation Quirk bullying plus the ‘useless Quirk’ bullying. Not fun. And Dekiru here…” Kyoka turned to her husband and bowed her head to him.

“I’ve been pretty open about being not only a False Negative but also a late bloomer,” Izuku said into the mic. “I only managed to activate my Quirk on the day of the entrance exam to UA. Before that, I was believed to be Quirkless. So I got that experience- plus our homeroom teacher for a while did not read our files.”

“On one hand, I understand not wanting to be biased,” Kyoka voiced. “A lot of us actually didn’t have the more traditionally marketable Quirks. Teachers tend to be nasty about that.”

“One of my middle school teachers had a vase to put the spider lilies I would get into them,” Izuku voiced. Kyoka looked disgusted by that.

“You know like I got the usual yanking from kids, and a few teachers would go ‘Don’t listen to music’ and try to pull on them, but like that’s gross.” she shook her head.

“It was life- and why I fund the ‘Bad Teachers’ charity where we help students like us. We help sue schools and teachers for their actions and provide extra help.” Izuku explained. Kyoka nodded.

“Right on, but our main topic isn’t terrible teachers, but the bullying we faced… which you know sometimes did come from teachers….”

The video moved forward a bit until it showed Kyoka stopping the recording. She grinned and then turned to Izuku, reaching up to pull him into a kiss. He happily kissed back. She pulled away to lean her forehead on his. They sat like that for a minute, just smiling at you.

“I’m glad you were a dumbass back in school,” she told him softly.

“I’m glad you have a bad case of eavesdropping,” he responded. Kyoka laughed, throwing her head back before pulling him in for a kiss. Izuku wrapped his arms around her, holding her as they continued their make-out session lazily.

The screen vanished, and Izuku let out a shaking breath as he reached the minefield. He yanked off the robot part from his back and began digging. He couldn’t think about it, didn’t want to even entertain what was going on. He just… he needed to focus. He couldn’t let himself be distracted.

Kyoka stood on the obstacle course, staring at the screen. He… oh. Oh god. Suddenly a lot of things about Bakugou made sense, and her stomach twisted uneasily. She bit her lip, looking away from the screen. It felt too private- she hadn’t been given the right to know this yet. And apparently, she heard something that drew them together.

A part of her wondered what. Another part didn’t want to know.

Aizawa stared at the screen, his stomach dropping while his husband very much did not look at him. For years, Mic told him to read the profiles, that you could ignore the comments. Aizawa never listened, too self-assured and self-important. So convinced he could tell things where they weren’t that he didn’t need profiles to make him biased.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” Aizawa voiced, reaching out to flick on the intercom. “I, Aizawa Shouta, apologize deeply to my students. Furthermore, I apologize for making judgments based on my own bias. I promise to do better in the future.” He flicked off the intercom and sighed, leaning his head back.

“You still owe them a lot.” Mic voiced.

“Yeah, I know,” Aizawa said.

The screen above Izuku’s head flickered some more as he processed a teacher actually apologizing. It didn’t feel real… No one ever did that before. He barely noticed that the screen stopped on a photo of him and a bird-headed teen on the first day of UA. But Tokoyami Fumikage did.

The alleyway the screen showed held many shadows and a man with a knife. He held it to a woman’s throat and leaned in to her.

“You’re going to be a good little girl, aren’t you?” the man sneered. The woman whimpered, but a movement from the shadows had her dropping the face. The man looked confused. “Wh-”

“You’re an idiot,” the woman said just as a shadow ripped out from the shadows and grabbed the man. He was flung away, slamming into the wall. A bird-headed man appeared from the shadows, wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, black pants and a pair of combat boots covered in silver buckles. The man smirked.

“Ah, thank you, Dekiru, for luring our prey here,” the man said, his voice a purr. The man thrown into the wall choked.

“Dekiru?!” he said. The woman grinned and yanked off her long coat, revealing a green bodysuit underneath.

“The one and only,” Izuku said, for it was him in disguise. He grinned ferally as his partner used the shadow extending from him to cuff the other. “I don’t think he’d involved though Tsukuyomi. ”

“Why not?” Tsukuyomi asked. “He fits the profile we’ve created.”

“Seems more of a mugger than a kidnapper,” Izuku replied. The man they captured stopped struggling.

“Wait? You guys thought I was part of that shit? What the hell?”

“You just tried to mug me,” Izuku said sarcastically. The man still looked offended as they dragged him out of the alley and towards a van. A cop opened the door with a sigh.

“Dead end?”

“Sadly,” Izuku replied. The cop shrugged.

“At least we caught a mugger. We’re going to call it in boys, go home,” he said.

“Understood, officer,” Tsukuyomi said. Izuku nodded his agreement. The two heroes moved away from the van, Izuku pulling the jacket back on before climbing up a fire escape. They stopped at the roof, Izuku groaning as he sat right down.

“Another night of the stupid wig,” he whined.

“You were the one willing to dress as a woman, my love,” Tsukuyomi replied.

“Fumikage!” Izuku whined at him. Fumikage, obviously the actual name of Tsukuyomi, laughed. “Just because it’s true doesn’t mean you can say it.” Again, Fumikage chuckled, reaching out to grab Izuku’s hand. He bowed over it, pressing it to his chest.

“I apologize, love,” he purred, a smirk on his face. Izuku’s face went red, and he looked up at the sky.

“Why do I love you?” he said, a smile on his face despite the redness.

“Because we are a fantastic underground duo despite your fame,” Fumikage replied. “...And because Dark Shadow likes your Quirk.” Izuku just laughed.

The screen began flickering again, and Izuku slammed down his robot shield onto the mines to catapult him into the air. He tried to ignore the bubbling feeling in his gut. He… he was loved. He saw it in each of the videos- they loved him. Truly and honestly loved him. It felt amazing to know. He never thought he’d get that- ever. But he did- and not just one person. So many people could love him. It filled him with hope and a desperate wish to be cared for.

Fumikage felt something similar. He never thought anyone would look past how he looked or the bond he carried with Dark Shadow. But someone did in a future. Someone saw past it and married him. Perhaps they treated Dark Shadow as part of the relationship, perhaps not. But, it… he felt happy. He looked at his classmate and wondered just how he wooed the other. He probably should start soon- it seemed that he would not be the only one captivated by the other…

Aizawa smirked, happy that his student managed to go underground in one life at least. Probably through the influence of Tokoyami in general anyway. He watched as the screen morphed to show Midoriya in his gym uniform the first day once more, with his frog-like classmate Asui Tsuyu right beside him. Interesting…

Izuku stepped through a door, a hand going to his neck to pull off his tie. Next to him, Tsu stepped in. Her hair is much shorter than her teenage self, cut into a bob rather than handing down her back. She wore a pantsuit that she shucked the jacket off of, throwing it against the wall.

“Tsu-” Izuku said, turning to her. The frog-like woman shook her head as she lifted a foot to remove her shoes. Izuku quietly followed her lead. The woman moved into the apartment properly as Izuku locked the door behind them before following her. His hair was in the undercut most of his future selves wore. He followed the other into the apartment, finding her sitting on the couch, staring at the wall. “...Want pasta?”

“Yes,” Tsu responded, voice dull. Izuku pulled out his phone. The woman turned to him, raising an eyebrow.

“After the day we just had- I think us having a cheat day with take-out is good.” Izuku flashed her a smile. Tsu blinked, and then a smile spread across her face. She nodded. Izuku typed away at his phone and then moved to sit on the couch. Tsu curled up against him, leaning her head on his shoulder. Izuku wrapped an arm around her shoulders and simply held her. Silence reigned for a minute before Tsu breathed out.

“Is it bad I hate them a bit, kero?” Tsu asked.

“Is it bad I kind of hate my mother a bit?” Izuku responded. Tsu sighed.

“No, but… your mom was a helicopter parent with toxic tendencies. My parents were mutation Quirk users who had to work insane hours to be able to put food on the table.”

“Who left their eldest daughter with their youngest children and committed parentification,” Izuku responded. “And now they’re doing the same thing to your brother- you have every right to fight for custody of them.”

“I still feel awful,” Tsu replied. Izuku sighed, hugging her tightly.

“I know- but I love you for doing this. I love you for standing up for yourself,” Izuku said honestly. He smiled at her. “You helped me stand up for myself as kids; let me help you stand now.” Tsu smiled up at him and then leaned in, kissing him softly on the lips. The two softly traded kisses, cuddling on the couch.

The screen went back to flickering with pictures, and Izuku slid into first place. He stood there, breathing as he tried to figure out how he felt about the recent video. His mom… he didn’t want to poke at that. He didn’t want to, but he felt his gut drop as he realized he might have to. It made him want to burst into tears or run. But…

He wouldn’t be alone now. He saw the future, saw people love him in the future. And he knew that he would never be alone again. It felt good knowing that.

Tsu ran in the race and thought about what she saw. She never really considered a relationship with anyone before, but seeing herself happy with Izuku made her feel warm. Though hearing about her parents made her feel cold too. She knew what her parents did was wrong- making her take care of her siblings. They didn’t have a choice, so she let it slide but hearing that Samidare might be forced to take her place made her want to puke. She wouldn’t let it happen. With or without Izuku- they would not do to her brother what they did to her.

Never.

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Alright- so… not much to say here.

-Ojiro and Izuku are a plainish couple who are happy together. This world has Ojiro stumbling upon the secret of OFA and keeping it. They bonded and are now happily married.

-Jirou and Izuku have a similar story with Ojiro, but also bonded over shared trauma from teachers. They’re married and have a daughter who is not mentioned.

-Tokoyami and Izuku bonded because OFA in this timeline got really spooky and like the ghosts would possess him, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow were down for that! They are engaged here.

-Tsu and Izuku bonded after the USJ and also because Izuku let slip a few stories about his mom Tsu vibed with. They are not married here but are a strong couple. It’s five years after their first year, they’re twenty and Tsu now has three younger siblings. They do in fact end up gaining custody of her siblings.

-Actually, one thing. I don't really plan on going in-depth about the backlash some of these videos would cause in this story proper. This is solely for cute scenes and Izuku being all 'I can have a happily ever after...'

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