Before she knew it she was standing in front of Mimi, shielding the other child with her own body. Even though she knew she had no part in this internal affair among old souls, no knowledge of the circumstances or context, and that Mimi was rightfully in the wrong for causing this entire mess… she still decided to help the other girl.
"Leave her alone!" Kiri declared angrily. "Don't bully her."
Everyone blinked, stunned at her actions. But within that glowing orb floating above Nana's shoulder Toshinori Yagi felt himself smile unconsciously. For a brief moment an image of his young successor flashed across his mind.
"You… you would stand up for her?" Hiro asked, brows furrowed in confusion as he knelt down to match her height. "Even after she fought you? After she hurt you?"
"You're all being really mean!" The girl folded her arms defiantly. "She's already sorry, can't you see she's crying?"
"I'm not crying!" Mimi denied vehemently, lip quivering.
"I'm not being mean to her, I—" Nana paused then sighed, realizing the girl didn't understand that she was being harsh because she cared. She reigned herself in, realizing that perhaps everyone was a little too emotional as well. "I'm the bad guy now, huh."
A small hand reached out and touched Kiri on the shoulder. Mimi gave her counterpart a confused, clearly distressed look.
"Why?"
Kiri tilted her head in response.
"Why are you defending me? Logic dictates that…" Mimi hung her head shamefully, glancing at the ground. "That you should hate me! Nana's right. I attacked you and brought panic to your city because of my own selfishness… s-so why—"
"Because a hero will always help those in trouble." Kiri answered earnestly, causing the other girl's eyes to widen. "Because I believe it's the right thing to do!"
A small silence fell over the group as they considered her words. She was so naive, so foolish, so childishly idealistic… but perhaps that childishness; that innocence made her statement all the more genuine.
"You really are better than me." Mimi whispered after a while, her expression sombre. "Thank you… and I'm sorry. She's right, and I'm responsible for what happened. I fucked up. It's… it's time for the truth."
The tiny girl gently nudged Kiri to join the crowd, everyone calming down and going back to sitting on their chairs which were now rearranged to face her. Mimi sat back on bed, her little legs dangling dejectedly as she considered what she wanted to say.
"Okay." she said finally. "Keep the damn questions to a minimum as I explain."
The group glanced at each other, then nodded in unison.
"Please understand that due to certain… circumstances I was unable to reveal this information previously. There's no point hiding it now. There was an organization that tracked One For All." She looked right at Kiri to emphasize her point. "Just not in the way that you think. Mikumo Akatami was a false name that I created…"
She took a deep breath, steadying herself to reveal a truth she had hidden for nearly a century.
"My real name is Midoriya Izumi." Mimi announced. "And I'm from an alternate world."
[x]
It was as if time itself had stopped as those words left her mouth. Then everyone started talking simultaneously and all sense of decorum went out the window, a cacophony of chaotic noise drowning out most of their voices. Various exclamations of disbelief and even a few swears were thrown around.
"Everyone, please!" Hiro held out his hands, actually managing to calm the charged atmosphere. "One at a time. Mimi, what are you talking about? Midoriya? Wait, what do you mean that you're from an alternate world?"
"It's exactly as it sounds." the girl said timidly. "I'm from another world. Another dimension. Another Earth."
"Good lord, is she…" There was a confused sputtering from Johnny. "She is! You're trying to tell us that you're what, from some… some Parallel Earth?! You can't be serious, this is some twilight zone shit we're talking about here! Those nutcases from the Institute for Extraspatial Studies were right all along?!"
"Existence of other worlds? Urban legend. Like from comic book." Misha rumbled thoughtfully. "But then again, we are also in our own 'world' now, yes?"
"Other Earth or not, Koko will still love you!" the dog-girl huffed in a show of camaraderie. "Mimi is family."
"Oh nonono, I refuse to believe this is happening." the blonde Caucasian said incredulously. "And you guys call me crazy. Are you listening to this? At least it's not some convoluted nonsense like time travel, but still. She's like, from another universe or something!"
Hurm. Be good. The distant memory of a man in a hat and trenchcoat flashed across Kiri's mind, symmetrical blots of ink swirling across the bone-white canvas of his face. He ruffled her hair awkwardly. I'm going to find that big blue bastard that sent me to this universe in the first place.
"This is happening way too fast! Are we supposed to just believe what she says?!" Johnny continued, still looking unconvinced.
"I guess we are. This is the first time she's actually talking about her past." Nana declared angrily, drawing attention to Mimi once more. "I can't believe you kept this from us, Mimi! You could have prevented the USJ attack, Zabanya, Ravager—"
"No, I couldn't have… because I had no knowledge of what was going to happen. It doesn't work like that! My world is similar, yet different. Some things happened, others did not." Mimi explained in frustration, trying to defend herself. "In my world there was no confrontation between All Might and All For One where he got away. There was no assault on USJ."
Mimi seemed to take a deep breath, then looked straight into Nana's eyes.
"There was no Shimura Nana."
Nobody spoke, all eyes on the two girls.
"And yet, One For All managed to make its way to Toshinori Yagi, albeit a younger version..." Mimi pointed at the golden orb with a trembling finger. "And more importantly, Midoriya Izuku. Exactly as our algorithm predicted."
"Let's say we believe you for a moment. That you, Midoriya Izumi, are from another world." Chen began, addressing the elephant in the room. "On that other world... is another Midoriya Izuku. You're somehow related to him?"
Mimi went silent while Aftermath marched forward, a silent puppet controlled by invisible strings. The girl kept her gaze downwards, but it was clear that she wanted them to understand something… Nana picked up on her implication almost immediately.
"Wait a minute, this..." she breathed, involuntarily taking a step back. Her expression was no longer clouded with confusion, melting away to one of horrified realization. "You made it look like him."
Those words seemed to echo through the air as everyone slowly realized what she was talking about. The projection, Aftermath… or rather, the costume it wore. The long, bunny-like ears. The strange metallic respirator. The green jumpsuit.
"Yeah." the girl said shakily, looking straight at them. "I made it in his image."
"So you're obviously here to meet him again but what's your deal? You're—what; his ancestor, sister, daughter from another world? " Johnny added, shooting her a conflicted look. "You making this really hard to believe."
"I know all this is..." Mimi seemed to search for the words, clenching her hands in frustration. "...difficult to take in. I-I couldn't have told you all before—"
"Then at least tell us who you really are now."
"Midoriya Izumi. That was the name he gave me. Before that, I was just known as Mimi. It wasn't originally a name, it was a designation." There was a little sniffle as the girl clenched her fist, trying her best not to break down completely. "An acronym. M-I-M-I."
Everyone held their tongue, waiting for her to speak. Kiri knew how it must have felt for the other girl to reveal everything like this, just like she had done back then to Nana and Toshinori. Her past, her shame and her truth finally revealed to them after decades of secrecy.
"Artificial Human, Midoriya Izuku Mark I. I'm not his ancestor, his sister, or his daughter…"
Glistening emerald eyes looked up at them, filled with grief, regret and misery.
"I'm his clone." Mimi sobbed, tears rolling down her face. "The aftermath of a broken world."
There was only silence as the conspiracy within their ranks unfolded, something that would shake the very foundations of their phantom lives. Everyone stared, not believing what they were hearing. Perhaps not wanting to; for the truth was almost too unimaginable to comprehend.
The fourth wielder of One For All; Mimi... was a clone of Midoriya Izuku from another world.
"I came here to protect him, just as he protected me. He…. he saved me! Izuku took me in when no one else would, and raised me as his own!" Mimi choked. There was a series of sharp breaths at that revelation. "Where everyone else saw a monster, a freak, he… he gave me a chance. A chance to be something different. To not be bound by the circumstances of my birth, that I could be who I chose to be. He gave me a name. A home. A family."
They understood almost immediately. The Midoriya Izuku of that parallel world had taken her in and raised her as part of his family.
"He was both a father and a brother to me, the Symbol of Hope in my world. He was a hero." Warm tears ran down the girl's cheeks freely. "My hero."
"You came here to protect him…" Nana started, eyes widening. "Don't tell me—"
"The unthinkable happened. We lost him."
Kiri felt her heart drop like a rock upon hearing those words.
"Even though it was selfish to an unbelievable degree, so ridiculously irresponsible I… I wanted to be with him again. Deep down I know it's not the same Izuku but I… I've come too far to stop now! Everything was going as predicted…" Mimi choked, her gaze slowly focusing on Kiri. "Until youshowed up. The plan never accounted for his dormant Quirk to awaken."
Dormant Quirk? Kiri blinked. Then she remembered that one rainy night when she was born. Me?
"You were everything I was supposed to be, only better! I'm just a copy, a clump of cells cultivated in some laboratory. An artificial body, an artificial soul!" she wailed, voice cracking between heaving breaths. "To make things worse, you look like her… It's all just a cruel joke. Everything fell so perfectly into place for you... But the worst part was when he… he accepted you so easily. He loved you."
"Mimi…" somebody said softly.
"When I saw that, I couldn't take it anymore! It hurts. It's like there's a knife in my chest that's stabbing over and over again, crushing and tearing my heart into shreds..." She wrenched at her hair with shuddering fingers, the distress and anguish in her voice palpable. "It hurts! It hurts so much… I'm scared… You have to understand, I had to do something! I had to prove myself, t-that I was w-worthy enough! This time I'll protect him, a-and then he'll… he'll love me again…"
It was at that moment Kiri realized that the other girl really was just like her; Mimi was an example of what she could have become. It was like she was looking at a broken reflection of herself, a startling reminder of the time when Nana and Toshinori intruded on her home and she lost control of her emotions.
"No… no no no… You can't… you can't do this to me. I've come too far, lost too much… y-you can't… Don't take him away from me!" she hiccuped, starting to hyperventilate. "What do you have that I don't?! I-I'll stop swearing! U-um, if Aftermath's too scary I'll change how he looks! I won't yell, and I won't talk back anymore! I'll be good!"
Kiri couldn't help but feel pity for her. The truth was that she was so desperate, so eager to be loved and acknowledged by Izuku to the point where she was willing to abandon her ideals. Perhaps in an alternate world somewhere, this would have been her. The group looked amongst themselves and hesitated, unable to think of anything to say.
"Is that w-w-what he wants?" A heartrending sob, followed by several shaking breaths. "A g-good girl? A quiet g-girl? I… I can be that! I… I just— I..."
There was another sniff, the girl attempting to wipe her away her tears with that tattered cloak.
"I don't know what to do anymore. I was supposed to be by his side… and now I have nothing left. You've taken everything from me..." The poor girl collapsed, curling inward to hug her knees. She was crying bitterly, not even trying to hide it as her tiny body shuddered with miserable sobbing. "W-why? Why am I so useless? Why can't I do a-anything right?"
A stifled silence hung in the air. They had so many questions, with more popping up as the seconds ticked by. They had always thought Mimi was hiding something but never to this scale… things seemed to happen way too fast, their normally quiet way of life seemingly upended once the power of One For All had been transferred to Midoriya Izuku. A truly strange turn of events. Meanwhile, Kiri couldn't help but think back to her conversation with Pixiebob.
"Fight for what you want, what you believe in."
The little girl frowned, thinking hard. True, Mimi had done that as well.
"But what if he doesn't want me anymore?"
A thought flickers. She considers it.
"It's a delicate balance of feelings. Relationships sure are complicated, eh?"
Balance.
Kiri made her choice. She slowly made her way over to the kneeling girl, making sure not to startle her. Sapphire eyes met glistening emerald ones.
The little girl gave her counterpart a warm hug, squeezing tightly.
"W-what are you— why are you h-hugging me?" Mimi stuttered, still in the midst of crying.
"Because people hug each other when they're sad."
"I don't n-need your p-p-pity!" the upset child squeaked, doing her best to sound threatening. "I… I…"
"We can share!" Kiri declared, releasing her grip slightly to look Mimi right in her tear-filled eyes.
"W-w-what?"
"We can share!" she repeated, with even more determination. "Izuku's not just my onii-chan." The little construct took a deep breath. "He's yours too."
Mimi was silent for a moment, her lip quivering. The dam broke and she began crying again, though this time there was a definite relief in her tone. A small comfort to top off a mountain of sorrow.
"Uwaaaaaahhh…"
Before she knew it they were surrounded by warmth, everyone huddling together in one giant group hug. In any other situation it might have seen rather cheesy, but for now everyone was willing to overlook it. Mimi cried and wailed the loudest she ever had since that snowy night decades ago, tears streaming down her face now for a different reason.
[x]
A melodic chime filled the air and echoed down the halls of U.A High School, signalling the end of classes. Izuku shuffled down the pristine hallways wearily, his thoughts clouded with worry. Unnoticed by him a certain gravity-defying girl was only a few meters back, planning to call out to him like she always did. Uraraka Ochaco bounced with a skip in her step, a freshly unwrapped melon bread in her hands.
"Ah, De—"
"Midoriya-san!" a girlish voice called out, interrupting Ochaco and causing her to retreat behind a corner without even realizing why. "I got your message from Kendo-san. I… um… can we talk?"
Izuku turned to face none other than Shiozaki Ibara, the thorned-haired girl fidgeting nervously on the spot. He blinked at her for a moment, then he recalled how he'd left her and the kids in the dust yesterday when Koko snatched him up and jumped off into the horizon. Yeah, he probably had some explaining to do. The boy coughed, scratching the back of his head nervously as he looked around.
"Err, s-sure. Wanna walk with me? Since we're both headed to the exit anyways."
"V-very well." Shiozaki stammered, a faint tint of red dusting her cheeks. "I h-have something to say."
Meanwhile, Ochaco was watching the scene play out from behind the corner with rapidly widening eyes.
What's this?! Deku-kun seems like he knows her! That girl had been blushing! Sure, it was slight, but it was there! And she has something to say to him? D-don't tell me… is this a confession in progress?!
Ochaco turned bright pink, then shook her head rapidly.
Nah, it couldn't be! Even if it was, w-why do I care! It's none of my business anyways! I mean, it's not like I—
"Salutations, Uraraka-san!" Iida declared loudly from out of nowhere. "Heading home, are we? Say, have you seen Midori—mpphhpphhh!"
The brunette had nearly jumped out of her skin at his sudden announcement, causing her to whirl around and slam her untouched melon bread into his open mouth. Beside him Ashido Mina and Hagakure Toru burst into laughter, shaking with unrestrained hilarity.
"What's with that, Ochaco-chan... " Mina giggled. "I know Iida-kun may have scared you but that was a little mean, don't you think?"
"You shouldn't sneak up on people, Iida-kun." Hagakure chided, wagging an invisible finger at the taller boy. "Look on the bright side, at least you got a free meal out of it."
"Mmmmpphh!" Iida protested, his mouth full of delicious melon bread.
"Shhhhhhhh!" Ochaco held a finger to her lip frantically. "Something's going on over there and I don't want to interrupt it."
"Hmm?" Hagakure asked, peeking around the corner. "Oh, it's Midoriya-kun. And… a girl from class 1-B?"
"Whaaaaat? Lemme see." Mina followed her lead, peeking out as well. "Hey, wait a minute. That girl— what's all this then?"
"I don't know, I just saw them seconds ago."
"Maybe it's a confession." Mina muttered quietly to herself, thinking of what she had seen in the cafeteria earlier and the conversation she happened to overhear that morning. Unfortunately she wasn't quiet enough as three heads snapped about to face her with astonishing speed.
"Confession?!" Hagakure squealed, sounding absolutely delighted.
"C-confession?!" Ochaco gasped and turned bright red, then ghostly white.
"Mpphmpphmpphh?!" Iida yelled, his eyebrows rocketing into his hairline.
"Shhhhhh!" Mina shushed them this time. "It's just a hunch! But if that's really what's happening, I don't want to spoil it for them!"
"Oho, now this is a scoop! C'mon, we have to follow them and see what happens!" Hagakure announced, puffing out her substantial chest proudly. "Detective Hagakure is on the case!"
"W-wait, we shouldn't interfere—" Ochaco began.
"We're not gonna interfere, I'm just curious to see what happens!" Mina called back.
"Me too! You can do it, Midoriya-kun!" Hagakure whispered excitedly.
The pink-haired girl then began to dart from cover-to-cover before Ochaco could stop her, Hagakure quickly following suit. Ochaco resisted the urge to smack herself in the forehead. What had she gotten herself into this time… Nevertheless, she too followed along. Iida glanced at the girls for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh and shrugging, joining them in their sneaky tactical maneuver. If you can't beat them, join them.
Luckily for Izuku the group trailing behind were keeping a good distance away, unable to fully hear what he and Shiozaki were discussing.
"Shiozaki-san, I'm—" Izuku started.
"I'm sorry." Shiozaki blurted out sheepishly, causing the boy to blink in confusion.
"Uh, I'm the one who's sorry, actually…"
"No, I said some things that I shouldn't have." the green-haired girl admitted, glancing at her shoes nervously. "For that, I owe you an apology."
"It's f-fine, really. It's not a big deal—"
"I'm sorry for calling you a deviant. And a heathen." Shiozaki blushed. "And one who c-consorts with beasts. You clearly had no control over the situation yesterday. I had my suspicions and that girl that um, kidnapped you seemed a little too… primal. Pardon me if I'm wrong, but was she… one of those rare animals with Quirks, or just a pervert?"
"The former." he said quickly. He was actually a little impressed that she figured out Koko's true nature after observing her for only a few moments, just like he did.
"Ah… thank goodness. If it were the latter I thought she would… would have…" the girl directed her gaze to the ground and refused to comment any further, though her face betrayed her less than pure thoughts. "Um, done something lewd to you."
"W-well, I'm sorry you had to see that." Izuku tried, hoping to lighten the mood. It worked somewhat, the girl giving him a sideways glance accompanied by a small sigh of relief.
"We were worried, you know. I tried telling a police officer what had happened—"
Izuku flinched internally.
"—but he didn't really believe me, even with the eyewitness accounts from the kids. Looking back, I can see why one would think that it was some fantastical, made-up story. 'A young boy kidnapped by a wolf that could transform into a beautiful girl.' How fairytale-esque. Naturally, I didn't tell anybody else." Her pretty acorn eyes turned to him, sparkling with curiosity. "What happened after she grabbed you?"
"I managed to get her to let me go, then I played with her for a while…" Izuku mumbled.
"P-played with her?" the pure maiden stammered and turned red, clearly getting the wrong idea.
"Not remotely what I meant!" he corrected hastily. "I just r-rubbed her back and scratched her ears for her."
"I… I see. So where is the uh… dog-girl now?"
"Her name's Koko. Well, her master is... unavailable so she's staying with me for now." Izuku half-lied. "For the record, I'm pretty certain the dog is her base form so you don't have to worry about her streaking all over town. I'll make sure nothing like that happens."
"An animal with a Quirk, huh. How extraordinarily rare." The teenage girl nodded at his answer, clasping her hands together in relief. "This went much better than I thought. To be honest I expected you to be someone shrouded in decadence and sin, but you seem to be a virtuous soul. It's good to see that my assumptions were wrong."
"Decadence and sin." Izuku raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"You know what I mean."
"Uh, no, I really don't." the boy said innocently.
"A-anyways, I'm glad you're unharmed." Shiozaki turned to face him once they finally reached the school gates, giving him a polite bow. "I'll be sure to tell the Colors you're fine. Farewell, Midoriya-san."
"Ah, t-thanks." Izuku fumbled, bowing awkwardly in return. "G-goodbye, Shiozaki-san."
He silently cursed at himself for being so weird around girls again, watching her take the opposite route out of school. Well, that was one less loose end to worry about. Frankly, he was quite glad that the police didn't fully believe Shiozaki's story; he really didn't need more attention on the current situation at hand. Now he needed to get home and—
"Um, one more thing Midoriya-san!"
Izuku turned back to see Shiozaki deep in thought, her fingers twirling around one of her hair-vines nervously.
"It would be nice if you could stop by the park sometime to see those kids!" she called out. "It'd put their minds at ease to see that you're alright."
The green-haired boy blinked, then relaxed into a warm, friendly smile. "I will. See you around, Shiozaki-san."
To his surprise she actually smiled back, her demure expression accompanied by a small wave as she departed. "See you."
With a small sigh Izuku refocused on getting home. He just hoped everything was going to be alright…
Ochaco, Iida, Mina, and Hagakure popped out from behind their corner once both green-haired teenagers were out of sight.
"Ehhh? Nothing exciting happened." Hagakure sighed, clearly disappointed. "What a letdown."
"On the contrary, detective! We weren't close enough to hear what they were saying, but I definitely heard something about 'kids' and how it'd be nice if he could stop by!" Mina spread her arms out dramatically. "Clearly this was a case of that girl seeking child support from Midoriya-kun! It appears that our poor cinnamon roll has a rocky past."
"C-c-child support?! W-w-w-wha!" Ochaco looked like she was about to faint, turning white as chalk. "T-this means that Deku-kun… Ha-wa-wa-wa-wa—"
"Relax, Uraraka-chan. She's just joking, have you forgotten that we're all fifteen?" Hagakure giggled. "This isn't one of your shoujo manga, Mina-chan. At least come up with a more plausible conclusion."
"Mpph mpph mmphhh hhmmmp pmmmh." a muffled voice offered sagely.
"You're still eating that, Iida-kun? I thought you were supposed to be a guy who's fast at everything."
"I'll have you know that I tend to eat slower so my body can break down food more efficiently." Iida paused to finish the last of his melon bread. "Anyways, what I was trying to say was that they just look like normal friends to me. Even if Midoriya-kun has a love interest or not, it's none of our business. We shouldn't go poking around in his private life."
"I'm sorry, but I'm just too curious~" Mina sighed, head bowed.
"Remember that curiosity killed the cat." Iida said curtly. "I expect you two to respect Midoriya-kun's privacy, alright? Don't go around spreading unnecessary gossip that could potentially harm his reputation."
"Yes, class president~" Mina and Hagakure chroused in unison, giggling to themselves.
In the meantime, Ochaco was doing her best to think rationally. This was the second time she saw Deku alone with a girl.
That girl was from class 1-B, and our two classes haven't exactly interacted with each other. And that Ice Queen from the other day... It can't be, right? M-maybe Deku-kun was just that friendly! Y-yeah, that's it.
Ochaco paused, then took a deep breath to calm down.
I'm overthinking things. It's probably nothing.
[x]
In the realm of dreams and old memories nine people gathered around a large circular table for a more civil discussion, with the atmosphere was much calmer now after Mimi let out all her bottled feelings and some time had passed. Misha had made everyone some tea using a strange metal container and a large teapot, most of the group sipping at the delicious beverage with thoughtful expressions. Aftermath was no longer the tall, imposing statue that stood behind its master, now in the form of a little doll that hung limply in Mimi's grip. The little girl seemed much calmer now, more logical like she usually was. Little did they know she was logical because she kept using her emotions to fuel Aftermath; just like how Kiri fed on emotions.
"Y'know, I feel that we should be more freaked out and upset about this entire thing." Johnny muttered. "I'm surprised we're actually taking this so well, and this is coming from the madman."
"Normally we would... but these are extraordinary times," Chen nodded. "Along with extraordinary circumstances."
"Anyways," Hiro sipped at his tea. "Now that we've all calmed down, is it okay If we ask you a few questions?"
"I'll answer to the best of my abilities." Mimi nodded, hugging her doll tightly. "There are some things I don't know or still can't say… um, it's a precaution to reduce possible information leaks and subsequent unforeseen consequences. For example, I couldn't have told you that I was related to Midoriya Izuku due to the possibility that the current wielder would find out and not pass it to him. Certain parameters have to be followed, some things can't be said and most information about other worlds was purposely kept from me."
"I see. Let's make this simple for all of us, shall we? Please summarize the situation in a way that all of us can understand. Speak as if you would to a dog—" He glanced at Koko, who grinned brightly back at him with her head on the table. His eyes shifted to Nana. "—or a small child."
"Oi." Nana grunted.
"Um, let's start with the basics." Mimi said. "Firstly, the multiverse exists."
"What's a multiverse?" Koko asked innocently. "Can I eat it?"
"No, you can't eat it. How do I put this simply..." the little girl put a finger to her chin. "There are multiple versions of Earth, alternate realities and universes. Some so similar to one another that you could spend a lifetime searching for any distinction. Others so radically different they defy comprehension. Constants and variables. For simplicity's sake, let's call my world 'Earth-1' and yours 'Earth-2'. They are similar historically, but mine is further ahead by around a decade or two. Maybe three."
"Alternate." Nana let the word slowly escape from her mouth. "Doesn't that already mean that this world will have a different future than yours?"
"Were it so easy. The future that I'm hoping to prevent is—" she paused, frowning. "It's difficult to explain in words. I'll show you all my memories of that time later."
"The future, huh. And that of course means advanced technologies like Human Cloning." Chen remarked, looking rather interested.
"Don't count on it, the tech's still fucking garbage." Mimi gestured to her small body. "Cloned bodies don't live very long due to rapid genetic degradation."
"If you really are a clone of young Midoriya from another world…" Johnny interjected, squinting at her. "Why are you a girl? You kinda look like him if I look really closely, but wouldn't a direct clone be an exact copy?"
"It was to make me more docile. However, the original intent wasn't to clone Midoriya Izuku." Mimi admitted. "It was an attempt to clone One For All. It was deemed that a female subject would be much easier to influence and control."
The air went cold. For the power of One For All to fall into the wrong hands… the results would be disastrous. Kiri thought about that weird bird-faced creature that had no soul. Nomu. If what Mimi said was true, she was probably developed from the same type of research used to create that abomination. The girl had been originally created as a tool, just like that monster... She shook that thought out of her head quickly. Mimi was different! She was alive and full of emotion, her soul burning bright.
"You have white hair. New master's is green!" Koko observed.
"That's because I'm a defect. The cloning process was imperfect; heavily flawed and generally unreliable. It's why I look like an albino. Or perhaps that could be attributed to that other factor… Anyways, instead of their own copy of One For All they got me… a defect with Izuku's original dormant Quirk."
"Valkyrie." Hiro breathed.
"Yes. A variation of it, to be precise." Aftermath wordlessly marched forward to stand behind its master, mimicking her every move. Green energy ignited on both their hands, Mimi exhaling a tiny stream of flame. "The fire aspect from the father's side of the family, combined with the projection aspect from the mother's side. But since I didn't have what they wanted, I was put to… other use."
She waved her hands and an image of her in the past appeared, her terrified expression reflected on the mirrored walls of the tiny pod she was stuffed in. Various wires and cables were linked to the little horns on the side of her head, the occasional jolt of electricity causing the poor girl to let out a whimper of pain. Her unseeing eyes were glazed over, chasing phantom images as they darted around frantically.
"This is…" Hiro whispered, covering his mouth with a horrified expression. "Mimi, I'm so sorry—"
"Don't be, it happened a long time ago." The girl turned back to the image of her past self. "Project Antithesis. Known to the Hero Association later as Weapon M."
"What are they—"
"Accelerated mental aging, conditioning and combat simulations using an organic neural interface. Wetware." The girl pointed to the two little horns on the side of her head. "The techniques and fighting styles of the number two hero: Todoroki Shoto, and the number three hero: Bakugou Katsuki, downloaded directly into my brain. An attempt to turn me into a weapon to destroy Izuku using the techniques of the only two people that could even stand a chance of beating him."
She let out a small sniff, seemingly not too bothered by the horrifying revelation she'd just told them.
"Didn't work, of course. I did however have a much easier time fighting the Hothe— Endeavor since I already knew his moves."
The surroundings were quiet for a scant few seconds until Nana's furious voice cut through the silence like a chainsaw.
"Who did this to you?"
"An organization known as the League of Villains. My world's version, anyways. We didn't have the black smoke guy or that weirdo with the severed hands."
"So you came to protect Midoriya-kun from this 'League of Villains'?" she asked.
"Not just that." Mimi stretched out her hand, palm glowing with her signature green light. "It'll be easier to show you this part."
An exchange of glances, then a unified nod. Now was a good time as any. They linked their hands with hers, one by one. Kiri placed her hand out as well. Mimi took a deep breath as she prepared to show them her memories, memories that she kept from them for decades.
"Okay." she exhaled. "Let me show you a glimpse of the world I came from."
The surroundings blurred into a whirling dervish of colors and noise, shifting and twisting to form a broken landscape with an ivory tower that reached into the heavens. Everyone seemed to float within the memory while still seated at the table, like astral projections or how one would experience a dream.
[x]
Her memory flashback was starting.
Torrents of dark smoke and raging flames surrounded the tower like a veil of destruction, an aurora of undulating, ghostly green light spread across the horizon. The air was filled with countless black dots, strange energies crisscrossing and clashing between them. At first Kiri thought those dots were aircraft… no. Not aircraft. People.
Metahumans.
Hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them. The most destructive battles seemed to be focused around the tower, patchwork fleets of helicarriers and flying battleships of all shapes and sizes exchanging fire. A giant pillar-like structure hung in the air with dozens of gunports along its surface blazing, spitting fire and metal into its surroundings as it rotated ominously. A scene of war and mindless carnage. Hell on earth.
"That's—" Nana whispered, her eyes wide.
"The Justice Guild's Watchtower." Johnny paled, fists clenched. "In atmosphere?!"
They watched helplessly as the Watchtower detonated with a brilliant glow, creating a gargantuan orb over the horizon that swallowed the crowded battlefield below. A massive, crashing wave of ethereal light manifested from the impact point, consuming everything it touched. Those that could fly immediately took off, only to disappear as the blinding radiance engulfed them. Planes started falling out of the sky.
The memory-image shook as a titanic woman sprinted across the shattered land, batting away a group that had been attempting to attack the 'camera'. She had to be at least 20 meters tall, the ground quaking with every step she took. A black costume with dark blue highlights hugged her hourglass figure, the symbol of a crown on the left side of her chest.
That's… Mt. Lady? Kiri thought. Wait, her costume is different. Different color scheme, no horns, black hair. An alternate version from Mimi's world.
Then the woman turned to face them, her dark hair shifting and exposing her face. Kiri had to stop herself from gasping... for that Mt. Lady looked exactly like her adult form, except she wasn't snow-white. The similarity did not go unnoticed as a few heads turned to face her, then quickly snapped back to the memory.
"Zenith!" her doppelganger roared, stomping into the ground with an earthshaking boom. "Get her out of here!"
"No!" the memory of Mimi's voice wailed, the image shifting unsteadily as she got to her feet. "Don't leave me!"
A metallic arm encircled Mimi's waist, spinning her around to face another woman with pink hair. She had an intricate silver mask that covered the left side of her face, a visor shaped like a lighting bolt where her eye should have been. Her golden right pupil was in the peculiar shape of a crosshair. Kiri recognized this one, for she had seen her when she was waiting for Izuku outside the school gates. Hatsume Mei. Or rather, her older alternate world counterpart.
"Let me go!" Mimi screamed, struggling against Hatsume's iron grip as her emotions clouded her judgement. "Yuu!"
"Ingenium!" the giant woman howled, a sweep of her arm smashing a trio of opponents out of the sky.
A streak of white lightning tore across the battlefield, speeding to her aid and leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. Ingenium was a literal blur, and when he paused he was vibrating so fast that his features couldn't be discerned. Speed in the shape of a man. Together, the two pro heroes defended Mimi and Hatsume, the latter's fingers flying across a holographic interface frantically. Her silver left arm shifted and flowed into a cannon, beams of arcing pink energy erupting from the prosthetic. The ravenous wave of energy from the Watchtower's explosion was approaching rapidly, consuming everything it touched. A helicarrier tried to ascend out of its path only to be ensnared by glowing tendrils from the wave, dragging the massive airship down into the blinding abyss.
"Calculations complete, coordinates locked!" Hatsume yelled, gripping onto her tighter. "Door!"
Crackling energy and pink lightning filled the air, space itself seeming to warp and twist in impossible ways. There was the unmistakable whoosh of air as a shuddering, unstable rectangle of rainbow light manifested behind them. A door.
"R-r-r-re-mem-ber." Ingenium stopped for a moment to speak, his voice heavily distorted. "E-e-every sec-c-c-cond is a g-g-g-g-gift. M-m-make it count."
"I'm sorry Mimi, but the Door's not gonna take more than two so we're staying." Yuu turned back with a sorrowful smile as the light got stronger. "No matter what you thought, I loved you like you were my own. Always have and always will. Be good, okay?"
"Uncle Tenya!" Mimi sobbed as Hatsume began stepping through the portal, tears flowing from the woman's remaining good eye as well. "Yuu!"
"Don't look back." Yuu grinned fearlessly despite the all-consuming wave at her back. "Keep moving forward."
There was a blinding flash and the memory shifted and flowed to a different time, a different place.
Hatsume Mei was tending to pillar of electronics and wiring, silver tentacles extending from her back and helping her multitask. The woman seemed to be deep in thought, eyes scanning multiple screens.
"Heisenberg equations have been accounted for with a fluctuating 2.86777% chance of error. The multiverse is still beyond my understanding, even if I can look into it. I can't place you in a specific time in Earth-2, only in that exact time period." Hatsume hummed, pushing her goggles up to her forehead as she turned around. She still had that strange silver material that covered her left eye like an eyepatch, some sort of prosthetic. "It'll be decades before he is born, and even that is a prediction. You'll have to become a part of One For All to be with him again, and even then this plan is excruciatingly risky..."
The woman shook her head, wiping the sweat off her brow.
"Even with the prediction algorithm, there are uncertainties. That's why it's called a prediction—we can only make probability-based guesses; looking at the data of other worlds and cross-referencing with our own can help inform our guesses at how things could happen, but ultimately there's really nothing set in stone. Are you absolutely sure?"
The perspective moved up and down as Mimi nodded. "Yes."
"You're so stubborn, just like he was." Hatsume smiled sadly. "You know there's no coming back from this, right? Even my tech isn't advanced enough. Gimme a decade and I might be able to…"
"It's fine. I don't have much time left, anyways." Mimi glanced down at her hands. "I doubt I have even five years left in me. Consider this my last wish."
"You don't have to do this."
"If it means meeting him again… I'll do anything."
"Even if it won't really be him? Another version of Midoriya Izuku. Another Earth. There's no guarantee he'll be the same, even if his existence is guaranteed because of Earth-Prime. We can't account for all those factors over that much time without some degree of error or uncertainty. Approximately ninety years, Mimi. Are you willing to wait that long?"
"Yes."
Hatsume sighed, then rubbed Mimi's head gently. "You really do love him, don't you."
"Of course I do." Mimi sniffed. "He's my papa."
"Yes," The pink-haired woman whispered. "He was."
The memory shifted one final time, this time to a circular room that held an archway in the center.
Hatsume knelt down, a sorrowful smile on her face.
"This is it then. No going back."
"Yeah."
"Remember what you have to do. Save Aisaka Taiga, the ancestor with the projection Quirk. Retrieve One For All and transfer it to someone matching the criteria. Use Izuku's dormant projection Quirk to manifest yourself. Once these three steps are completed, you can meet him again. You can stop all this from happening on that world if you save him."
"What if…" Mimi shivered. "What if he doesn't have any dormant Quirk? What if I mess up somewhere?"
"Analysis of Earth-1 and Earth-2's extreme correlation indicates that he will, with a 99.999% certainty. Plus, you already know the location of the third wielder. As for him receiving One For All, I've predicted a 97.888% chance of success. Believe in yourself, dear."
They were quiet for a moment, until Mimi suddenly ran into Hatsume and engulfed her in a tight hug. The smaller girl's hands were shivering as the woman hugged her right back.
"I'm scared."
"So am I. Are you sure you want to do this? You could…"Hatsume hesitated. "You could stay here. With me."
Mimi looked up at her, lip trembling and eyes shimmering.
"You could stay with me in this doomed world or you can fly free. To a better place. It's obvious which is the superior choice, isn't it." The woman choked. "You poor, sweet thing. I wish there was a better way, another way to fix you or— or something, anything… but there isn't. The only way you can truly meet Izuku again is to put your entire soul into One For All and hope that you'll be reunited again. An utterly reckless plan so full of contradictions and risks and— I'm so sorry… I wish I could have done better…"
"Don't be." The girl sniffed, her grip tightening. "You were the second-best thing that ever happened to me."
The two held each other tight for what seemed like hours, crying softly into each other. Neon circuits glowed along the entire length of the room, culminating in that archway and snaking across its surface. Crackling energy began to form inside the arch, the very fabric of space beginning to warp.
"Door."
Space warped and twisted like oil on water the moment the she spoke the activation keyword, rainbow energy coalescing into a shuddering rectangular 'door' that hung in the air. The lights dimmed as the entire facility's power got diverted into holding the portal open.
"Whatever you do from here onwards is your choice. You're no longer bound by duty, morality, or even life itself."Hatsume whispered. "So what will you do, Mimi?"
The girl looked right back, a gleam of confidence within her tear-filled eyes. A small, sad smile was etched on her face as she said those words.
"I will keep moving forward."
She swept Mimi's hair aside gently and kissed her on the forehead, like how a mother would do to her child. The girl closed her eyes, taking deep, shaking breaths. They both knew it was time to say goodbye.
"I love you, Midoriya Izumi." Hatsume whispered. One last hug before she went. "You really have grown up."
"I love you too, Mei. Thank you for everything." Mimi hugged her tight. And when she let go, it was like she was leaving a part of herself behind. Her fingers seemed to disobey her, clinging on until the very last moment. She felt something trickle down her face. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye. Time flows differently between our two worlds so perhaps one day… no matter how infinitesimal the chances might be..." The woman let the tears flow down her cheeks freely. She clutched at her chest, fingers digging into the fabric. Hatsume smiled at her, lips trembling. "Perhaps one day we will meet again."
There was a flash of blinding rainbow light as Mimi walked into the great unknown, the memory ending with a soft rustle of wind.
[x]
There was a long silence as everyone slowly acclimatized themselves. Nana was the first to speak, still looking a little confused at the whole situation. Mimi quickly wiped her face when she thought no one was looking, but Kiri saw her do it.
"So that's it then? Your plan was to dimension-hop, retrieve One For All, pass it on to someone that matched your criteria and hope that it got to Midoriya Izuku over the span of nine decades?" she asked incredulously.
"It worked, didn't it?" Mimi retorted, before grimacing a bit. "Mostly."
"...That's a convoluted plan if I ever saw one." Hiro admitted. "I think I'm going to have to replay this memory later to make sense of all this."
"Look, I didn't have much of a choice left since my cloned body was dying. To be fair, I'm probably the only one that could pull this plan off since my Quirk is a variation of Izuku's… Valkyrie. I planned to access it with my Aftermath simply by tuning into the correct psychic wavelength; which would have allowed me to manifest correctly and fight alongside Izuku if somebody—" Her eyes flickered towards Nana briefly. "—hadn't jacked my connection. But I'll be honest; being together with Izuku is my primary goal. Preventing that dark future and the end of the world is… secondary. Two birds, one stone."
"The Tinker who sent you here. Hatsume Mei." Misha grunted, scratching his beard. "Helped you. Made plan and portal. She was genius."
"She was..." Mimi stared at him for a moment then looked away guiltily, looking like she was hiding something. "She was one of the most brilliant people on the planet. Took care of me... I wouldn't have made it here without her."
"That woman with the gigantification Quirk." Hiro stated curiously. "Who was she? She looked just like Kiri-chan…"
"Yuu Takeyama. Earth-1's Mt. Lady. She… loved Izuku. Now their relationship will never be. But perhaps her love took on—" Mimi glanced at Kiri, who was munching on a biscuit as she listened. "—a different form in this world. One of familial love."
"The silver tower that reached into the sky." Chen scowled. "Endymion?"
Mimi shook her head. "'Babel'. Not the same one you fought for during the Solar Wars. Zenith created another Orbital Elevator to—" She clamped a hand over her mouth before slowly releasing it. "Um, like I said before; there's some things that she told me not to reveal in order to keep butterfly effects to a minimum. Sorry."
"My turn! What the hell happened to my Watchtower?!" Johnny sputtered, looking furious.
"On Earth-1 a new one was made after the old one got blown up in orbit. Made by the Justice Lords, who were different from your Justice Guild." she answered. "Very different."
"So that's going to happen here?" Hiro asked cautiously. "A war?"
"Not just war. Armageddon. It's what will happen if all hope is lost." Mimi sniffed. "The planet was— I... that's all I can say for now."
"How could this happen?" Misha rumbled.
"Well," The little girl coughed. "Do you know what the "Quirk Singularity" is?"
"It's a theory regarding human evolution and the nature of Quirks, right?" Nana said.
"Yeah. As the generations pass, Quirks will continue mixing together and deepen. They'll get stronger and more complicated, to the point where nobody will be able to control them anymore." Mimi's gaze roamed over everyone present. "Earth-1 is much further ahead, but even with all our advancements we could not stop human nature."
She was met with stares of incredulity. Most of them already knew about the Quirk Singularity as they paid close attention to the outside world, having seen its effects firsthand throughout the ages. Quirks were getting stronger, but to think that they would cause the end of the world? That was difficult to accept. Everyone else murmured to each other and considered what she just said.
"So you're saying that the Quirk Singularity will cause the end of the world?" Nana asked skeptically.
"Not the cause of it. More like it's one of the main contributing factors that led to an all-out war that engulfed the entire planet, which then led to the end of the world. As long as people are being born, the Quirk Singularity cannot, and will not be stopped. All we can do is cushion the blow by ensuring that the people still have hope. The easiest way to ensure that is well… a 'symbol'. On my world Izuku was that symbol; the one thing that held the world together."
"End of the world." Johnny swore under his breath, grumbling. "Shit. I'm still having trouble believing all this."
"Just look at One For All, it's the perfect example of things to come. See how each successive version gets stronger and stronger? One day there'll be a point where the power is too much for any user to handle. You can already see it happening in Izuku— it's breaking his bones because he's still not strong enough to use it properly." Mimi cleared her throat. "But I digress. Call it whatever you want; Ragnarok, Armageddon, Judgement Day, Twilight of the Gods. Things just get FUBAR."
"Hmmm." Misha hummed. "But how does more powerful Quirks lead to big war?"
"With power came arrogance, and the belief that might makes right. As Quirks became stronger, so did inequality. Those blessed with strong Quirks misused their power, and others rose up to oppose them. With prior factors such as an exploding population and dwindling resources, our civilization fragmented into neo-barbarism. Uprising. Discord. Hatred. Earth-1 was trapped in a wheel of blood that spun too fast to stop. The original reason for fighting was forgotten, with grudges and resentment piling up endlessly with no end in sight."
Mimi took a moment to catch her breath.
"People forgot what it meant to be a hero." the girl spat, her voice tinged with anger. "The newer, so-called 'heroes' of the next generation no longer fought for justice, but rather for their own causes and self-interests. They were out of control and fought with abandon. The older generation of true heroes led by Izuku were unable to control them, let alone stop them. Things only got worse when we..."
Her breath hitched for a moment, arms tightening around her little doll.
"When we lost him. With the loss of our 'Symbol of Hope', chaos broke loose. No hope. Everyone started to use their Quirks without any regard for the law, either to defend themselves and others or for their own benefit, perceiving that what they were doing was right in accordance with their own twisted ideals. Thus, an Age of Vigilantes arrived and the conflict reached a new level of fucked." Mimi shuddered. "Can you imagine it? Anarchy in the streets. People just doing whatever the hell they wanted to with their powers. Societal decline was in full swing before; now it practically collapsed overnight."
"If everyone was allowed to do as they pleased with their Quirks, the world would quickly descend into chaos." Nana whispered. "That's exactly why Quirks are restrained and heavily regulated. To think that something like that could happen… it's horrifying."
"Horrifying doesn't even begin to describe it. To quote Destro: 'Society is a prison; we could be gods'." Mimi shook her head. "Well guess what; they fucking did it. Humanity tore down their prison and became the gods they so wanted to be. Their arrogance and hubris cast them out into chaos. Divine punishment? Maybe. In the end we were just animals squabbling in the dirt."
Mimi looked right at her counterpart, matching her gaze.
"Humanity lost its way, and paid the ultimate price."
"At least now we know why you're here. To reunite with young Midoriya and protect him from whatever comes his way." Hiro muttered.
"Pretty much." she confirmed. "There must always be a 'Symbol', someone that people can look up to."
Johnny raised an eyebrow. "The rest of the heroes couldn't reassure society?"
"No. There were… complications I rather not reveal for fear of the same happening here. All you need to know is that if society loses hope in heroes we will be hurtling—" she retrieved a biscuit and popped it into her mouth, munching slowly. "—towards the abyss.
"There's something I've been meaning to ask…" Hiro hummed in thought. "How did the people on your world know that you could… 'interface' with Midoriya-kun's dormant Quirk, and how did they know if it even existed in the first place? Seems like a bit of a stretch to me."
"I'm his clone, remember? Aftermath's a variation of Valkyrie, but they basically work the same way. It's how I opened the doorway back at USJ. Now Kiri-chan probably knows how to do it as well." Mimi lifted the doll-sized Aftermath in her small hands, wiggling him around a bit. "To answer your second question..."
Mimi glanced at the glowing golden orb above Nana's shoulder.
"All Might." she whispered.
Nana raised an eyebrow. "What does Toshinori have to do with this?"
"Earth-1's All Might… or rather, his phantom appeared to help Izuku in one of his most critical moments." Mimi said. "Through further research it was deduced that a dormant Quirk of his had tapped into One For All instinctively, allowing for a temporary manifestation of All Might to come to his aid. I realised I could do the same… if I became part of One For All. It was my last chance to be with him again. Hatsume and I integrated these factors into our plan."
"All Might, huh…" Nana whispered.
"Incidentally, Earth-1's One For All had an entirely different set of wielders." the girl remarked helpfully. I identified Chen as a candidate whilst I was running counterintelligence operations, after retrieving One For All from Koko to throw off All For One's informants."
"Yes, you mentioned Nana didn't exist. Who was the one that passed it to All Might, then?" Hiro mumbled.
"I dunno." Mimi shrugged, looking truly stumped. "Some old baldy."
"Misha?"
"Hey!"
"Some different old baldy."
"I see. And for you to be here among our ranks means that you died, of course." Chen questioned, stern as ever. "You would even give your life to be with him again?"
"I didn't have much of it left, anyway. Like I said before; clones don't live very long." Mimi admitted. "Remember how my physical body died the moment I transferred One For All to you?"
"Forced it upon me, you mean. I couldn't exactly forget. Even though you were my nemesis at the time, I did my best to revive you after realizing that your true form was a child."
"Don't worry, I left behind an empty shell. I put my entire consciousness into the transfer; my entire 'soul' left my body and entered One For All. And yes, I did know I could do that. It's similar to how I can shunt a portion of my consciousness into Aftermath to control him at long range, only this time I put everything into you."
"So how old are you, really?"
"Mentally, I think I'm supposed to be um, eighteen or nineteen. I don't know how long I spent in the simulation." The little girl squirmed on the spot. "I don't really know how old I am physically either but my cloned body came with a slew of genetic defects, including poor health and the inability to age properly. As for the hair..." Mimi fidgeted with a snow-white lock of hair. "Well, we couldn't exactly determine if this was a genetic defect or another sign of what's coming."
Several eyebrows were raised at that statement.
"Albinism and white hair was seen to be a symptom of the Quirk Singularity. Hatsume Mei's research observed that albino children were significantly more likely to have dangerously unstable or even mutated Quirks that diverge from the family line. In other words; Abnormalities."
"Hey, If this Hatsume person had access to the multiverse, why choose this particular world? More importantly, can the method to traverse between worlds be reverse-engineered?" Johnny asked curiously.
"We can only travel to the nearest world, and even then the requirements and restrictions to do so were monumental to say in the least. As far as I know the way to open doors to other universes isn't possible at the moment; the 'Bifrost' device we used requires a myriad of exotic particles and tech that haven't been invented in this world yet. It actually used to be just an experimental teleporter." She shook her head. "The Hatsume Mei of Earth-1 is probably the only who's got the tech and the brains to do it."
"Exotic particles?"
"Tachyons and shit, I dunno. I'm not exactly the science type."
Koko raised her paw tentatively.
"Yes, Koko?"
"I still don't get it, wan."
Mimi sighed. "To summarize; I came here to meet with Izuku and protect him from any and all threats, just as he protected me. This world was predicted to ultimately reach destruction if Izuku dies because then there'd be no One For All, and no 'symbol'. Kaboom, just like on Earth-1. The end. I am here to prevent that end from happening here on Earth-2. Do you get it now?"
"Ohhhh. Then all we have to do," The dog-girl gave her a big, happy grin. "Is to protect new master!"
"That's what I've been trying to say and do!" Mimi sighed in exasperation.
Hiro made a complicated face. "So it's fate? It's his destiny to wield One For All?"
"I don't if something as occult as destiny exists, but there's clearly some form of cause and effect at work." she mumbled, touching her fingertips together. "Personally, I prefer to place my faith in constants and variables."
"I've only got one final question to ask." Johnny cleared his throat. "So, uh... what do we do now?"
A short silence befell the group as they each considered what to say next. In the end they didn't have to, for a unanimous decision was already on their minds.
"Well…" the first wielder sighed, looking around the table and seeing collective nods. "It's obvious, isn't it?"
[x]
"Mom? I'm home."
Izuku closed the front door and flicked on the lights, assuming his mother was still outside for grocery shopping or one of her errands. He took off his signature red shoes, wondering if his little sister had slept through the entire day.
"Kiri? Are you there?" he called gently, wandering towards the kitchen.
She wasn't there. Maybe she really was still asleep? The boy quietly headed to his room, opening the door very gently. He shouldn't have bothered, because they were already there waiting for him.
His sister stood in the center of the room, facing another little girl with long ivory hair and dressed in a dark, tattered cloak. Izuku realised who she was, an expression of shock forming on his features upon seeing her. There was a blur of movement as Mimi flinched, scurrying behind the other girl and peeking out with a frightened, doe-eyed gaze.
Time seemed to slow, Izuku gulping as he remembered the battle that he saw through Kiri's eyes yesterday. This girl; Mimi… she was a far cry from the terrifying Aftermath that had annihilated most of the forest yesterday. That being had been intimidating, ominous and overwhelming; the child he saw before him now was hesitant, lost, and afraid.
Izuku realised with more than a little confusion that she was more afraid of him than he was of her. This tiny girl had gone toe-to-toe with the number two hero and the number one vigilante; and yet she was shaking in her shoes before him. Terrified of what he would think of her.
Kiri nudged her counterpart gently, who responded with a nervous nod of her head. Izuku thought for a moment, then calmed himself and went down on one knee; lowering himself to match their height. The little girl took a step back, uncertain at first… but she slowly inched her way towards him. A steady hand extended towards her, the boy watching as her small, trembling fingers brushed against his disbelievingly, almost as if to confirm he was real.
Then she pressed her forehead against his.
A rainbow kaleidoscope of color and noise met his senses, Mimi using the same type of memory-sharing that Kiri utilized during their first meeting. There, Izuku saw what had transpired earlier within his mind; Mimi revealing her true nature to everyone, her convoluted plan, her relation to him… or rather, her relation to a Midoriya Izuku from another world. The events that took almost an entire day compressed into a convenient memory package for him to understand. A look of realization came over him, the boy too overwhelmed to even speak as his brain processed what was going on. This girl… she was...
Mimi shied away, glancing towards the ground timidly. In the background Kiri watched quietly, not wanting to spoil the moment.
"I… I want you to know that," she began, her voice a trembling cadence. "I am not a good person. I'm selfish, I get angry easily, I curse and swear like a sailor. I've fought heroes and villains alike, broke the law and brought it to its knees. I'm ashamed of some of the things I've done, things that still haunt me to this day. I was willing to alter the path that this world would undergo just… just to meet you. And I… I k-know you're not really h-him but..."
The girl blinked, tears beading at the corner of her eyes.
"I've dreamt of this moment for so long but the words just won't c-come out…" she whispered. "All I want to say is that… that I…"
Izuku was patient, opting to let her take her time. She had gone through much to be here.
"I love you, papa." Mimi said, her breathtaking emerald gaze meeting his own. "And I'll understand if…" She glanced at Kiri for a moment, lip quivering and blinking away her tears. "If I am unneeded here."
There was silence as her gaze met the ground, waiting for his answer like the accused before a supreme court. Just waiting for his judgement, for the axe to fall or for her salvation. Izuku was frozen in the moment, thunderstruck as he considered what he'd just seen in those transferred memories. The existence of other worlds. The revelation that Mimi was his clone. The death of his other-world counterpart. Armageddon. Dimension-hopping. A complicated plan that spanned nearly a century. It was so much to take in, too much for one fifteen year-old boy to digest in such a short amount of time. But that wasn't what truly mattered to him now.
Izuku's mind is numb.
So he thinks with his heart.
Reaching out, he embraced the girl with both arms and hugged her tightly. She let out a gasp and he found tears streaking down his own cheeks at what hardships she must have endured, all in the hopes of just meeting him again. What he saw before him was someone who needed help, terrified that she wouldn't be accepted. He pulled back slightly to get a good look at her, the girl already beginning to cry as great teardrops ran down her face. His emotions surged like waves crashing against rocks, a dozen different feelings rising to the surface. Izuku did his best to smile warmly, finding a face that looked very much like his. Beautiful green eyes that reflected his own, glistening like polished jewels.
"Stay here, Mimi. With me. With us. After all… we're family, aren't we? Family sticks together." he smiled, voice cracking slightly. "I… I don't know what to say… It must have been so difficult for you, you poor, poor thing…"
"Papa..." Mimi sobbed tears of relief, shaking in his arms as she began to return the hug and crying into his chest. Kiri got closer to her, rubbing the other girl on the back lightly. "I've w-waited for s-so long… please don't let this be a dream again…"
"Everything's going to be okay now."
Izuku hugged both children tightly, acknowledging them as his own family.
"I am here."
[x]
The sunset of Musutafu city was a sight to behold, warm evening light cascading down onto the street below like a curtain of gold. Bubaigawara Jin took another drag from his cigarette, feeling the smooth burn make its way into his lungs. What drew his attention was a young girl walking down that same street with her father, her excited chattering climbing up to his apartment and assaulting his ears.
Jin ran a thumb along the scar on his forehead, grimacing slightly. Ever since the accident everything seemed to contrast and fluctuate like ocean waves. His thoughts shifted and flowed as he watched the pair go, a strange pressure that pressed against his skull before quickly disappearing. For a moment he was reminded of the annoying little neighbour girl that used to disturb him. At least she could be quiet.
He wondered how she was doing nowadays, hoping that she was alright. A rare coherent thought of genuine goodwill in that scrambled mind of his.
An incessant ringing began filling the air, sending another dull wave of pressure into his head. Jin fumbled around for his mask while he picked up the phone, the dark holes of the cheap plastic receiver drinking in his smoky breath.
"Hello?" he rasped.
"Yo, Jin-san. It's Giran. Haven't heard from you in a quite a while, how ya doin?"
"I'm okay. I'm not okay. What's up?" There was several thumps as Jin continued looking.
"Have you watched the news recently? Been a wild week, huh? Heheheh." He could almost imagine the smirk on the caller's face. "More importantly, did you hear about the attack on U.A's USJ facility?"
"The one that failed spectacularly? Shame. What of it?"
"Well, you remember Shigaraki right? Pale skin, lotsa hands? He was the one leading the operation."
"Ol' Shiggy diggy? Yeah, I remember. No, I don't remember." Jin smacked his temple angrily. "What, did he get himself captured?"
"No, nothing like that. Y'see, the thing is… with everything going on we'll be needing some capable people to work together with him. Times are changing, Jin-san." Giran chuckled. "Wanna be part of this great change?"
"I'd rather you get to the point. I'm a little busy right now. No, I'm not busy." That last part prompted Jin to begin looking harder, the pulsing pressure against his skull increasing by the second. "Shut up!"
"We're putting together a team." Giran continued on, unperturbed. "A… vanguard, of sorts. A man of your many talents would be invaluable to our cause, you see."
"A team, huh…" Jin finally found his mask, quickly pulling the monochrome fabric down over his face. He took a moment to breathe and consider the offer before shrugging. "Why the hell not. We're all maniacs who have no place to belong or call home. Might as well strike up some camaraderie with you lunatics, yeah?"
"Excellent!" Giran cackled, the sound of scribbling audible in the background. "We'll be in touch, Jin-san. Perhaps sooner than you think."
"Hurm. Only one issue; don't call me by my real name when we're out there doing crazy shit."
He gazed upon a mirror, finding the cracked reflection of a black and grey visage staring back at him.
"Call me Twice."