Age: 15
"Positions," I ordered, my voice echoing slightly in the tunnel under the bridge.
It was 16:02. According to my mental clock and calculations based on school dismissal and the most logical escape route for a fluid villain fleeing a robbery in the shopping district, the target should appear in less than five minutes.
Izuku nodded and positioned himself behind a concrete pillar, pulling out a spray bottle (filled with a saline solution we had prepared to dehydrate the sludge).
"Ready, Kacchan. 180-degree field of view covered."
Toga, who was clinging to the tunnel ceiling using climbing claw gloves Izuku had designed (and I had paid for), let out a soft giggle.
"The spider is in her web," she whispered. "I hope the villain has rich blood. I'm hungry."
I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall, right in the center of the path. I was the bait and the hammer.
"Don't kill him, Toga. Just immobilize him." I checked my wristwatch. 16:03. "Any moment now."
The air was heavy with humidity and the smell of mold. In the distance, I could hear city traffic and the caw of a crow.
I closed my eyes and visualized the scene from canon. The manhole cover flying off. The green sludge emerging. The villain's manic laugh: "A medium-sized invisibility cloak..." Then me attacking, or Izuku running. And finally, All Might emerging from the sewer with his "I AM HERE!"
It was a fixed event. A nodal point in the timeline. It had to happen.
16:05.
I opened one eye. The manhole cover was still in place.
"He's late," Izuku muttered, adjusting his backpack.
"Villains don't run on Swiss schedules, Deku. Patience." My voice sounded firm, but my fingers drummed against my bicep.
16:10.
Wind blew through the tunnel, dragging a dry leaf that scraped against the asphalt with an irritating sound.
Toga lowered herself slightly from the ceiling, bored.
"Katsuki-kun... my arms are getting tired. Are you sure he's coming this way?"
"He's coming," I growled. "It's the only viable escape route to the main sewers without passing the police station. It's basic tactics."
16:20.
The sun began to set, lengthening the shadows inside the tunnel. The orange twilight, which in the anime gave a dramatic tone to the scene, now seemed to mock me.
My heart started beating a little faster. Not from excitement. From something cold and viscous. Doubt.
What if he took the north tunnel? No, that's under construction. What if All Might caught him earlier? No, All Might loses his time limit and drops the bottle.
"Maybe... maybe he saw the police and hid," Izuku suggested, coming out of his hiding spot. He looked worried, but not about the villain, but about me.
"Get back in position!" I barked, louder than necessary.
Suddenly, a noise.
CLANK!
Metal against metal. Coming from the sewer.
"NOW!" I shouted, my palms igniting with preemptive explosions.
Izuku jumped out with the spray bottle ready. Toga dropped from the ceiling with knives drawn. I lunged toward the manhole cover, ready to blow the bastard up as soon as he poked his head out.
The lid lifted a few inches.
I held my breath. Here it comes. The beginning of everything.
A pink nose and whiskers appeared. Then, a furry gray head.
A giant rat, the size of a cat, scurried out squealing, scared by my shout, and ran into the darkness of the tunnel.
The manhole cover fell back down with a dull, definitive thud.
Silence.
Izuku lowered the spray bottle. Toga sheathed one of her knives.
"It was... a rat," Toga said, disappointed. "And not even a tasty one. It had mange."
I stared at the metal lid. Smoke curled from my hands, dissipating uselessly into the air.
It couldn't be.
I pulled out my phone with trembling hands. 16:45.
I checked local news. Searched for villain reports. Refreshed the page frantically.
«Incident in Tatoin Shopping District: Sludge Villain apprehended.»
My eyes went wide. I read the headline over and over, hoping the words would change.
«Thanks to the swift intervention of rookie hero Kamui Woods and the assistance of Mt. Lady, the thief was contained before he could cause major damage. No injuries reported. The villain is already in police custody.»
No chase. No escape. No All Might losing the bottle.
The phone slipped from my hand and hit the ground. The screen didn't break, but something inside my head did.
"Kacchan..." Izuku approached, picking up my phone. He read the screen. His face lit up. "Look! They caught him! That's great! No one got hurt. Your hunch about it being dangerous didn't happen, what a relief!"
"What a relief..." I repeated, my voice sounding hollow, distant.
Izuku didn't understand. Toga didn't understand.
To them, it was a good day. One less villain.
To me, it was the apocalypse.
If the Sludge Villain didn't escape, he didn't attack Izuku (or me). If he didn't attack, All Might didn't intervene. If All Might didn't intervene, he didn't see Izuku's heroic spirit. If he didn't see his spirit... he didn't offer him One For All.
I grabbed my head, tangling my fingers in my ash-blond hair. I started to hyperventilate.
The Butterfly Effect.
I caused it.
Was it because we cleaned the beach? Did that change the air currents or All Might's patrol route? Was it because I trained Izuku? By not being a shy kid walking slowly and sadly, was he not in the right place to stumble upon the villain initially? Was it because Toga wasn't causing trouble elsewhere, freeing up Kamui Woods to get to the scene faster?
I had fixed the world so much I had broken destiny.
"Katsuki-kun, you smell like panic," Toga said, coming closer and touching my arm. Her voice was serious. "Your sweat is sour. What's wrong?"
I looked at Izuku.
There he was. Strong. Smart. Brave. My best friend. My project.
And he was still Quirkless.
I had spent eleven years preparing him to receive the power, and because of my damn arrogance in believing I could control time, I had just erased the only chance he had to get it. I had condemned him to be a cool police officer or firefighter, but never the Number One Hero. Never the Symbol of Peace.
"I ruined it..." I whispered.
"Ruined what?" Izuku asked, confused. "Kacchan, I don't understand. The villain is in jail. We won."
"WE DIDN'T WIN ANYTHING!" I screamed.
My explosion echoed in the tunnel, making Toga jump back and Izuku drop into a defensive stance by instinct.
I punched the tunnel wall with my bare fist. No explosions. Just pain.
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"
"Kacchan!" Izuku grabbed my arm. "Calm down! What's wrong with you?"
I looked at him. My eyes burned. I wanted to tell him. I wanted to scream at him: "You were supposed to become a god today! All Might was supposed to choose you! And I took it away from you!"
But I couldn't. If I told him the truth, he'd think I was crazy. Or worse, he'd know his destiny was stolen.
I swallowed the scream. I swallowed the bile.
"My calculation..." I lied, voice cracking. "My calculation failed. I said he would come here and he didn't. I was wrong."
Izuku looked at me with disbelief.
"You're getting like this... because you missed a prediction?" His expression softened, turning almost pitying. "Kacchan... you're human. You can't know everything. Sometimes villains just have bad luck and get caught early. It's not your fault."
His words of comfort were knives. "You can't know everything."
Yes, I could. I knew everything. And now I knew nothing. The future from this moment on was a blank page. The USJ, the Camp, the War... everything could change. And Izuku was unarmed.
I shook off his grip.
"Let's go," I said, turning around so they wouldn't see my face. "This was a waste of time."
I walked toward the tunnel exit. The sun had already set. The city was dark.
Toga and Izuku followed me in silence, exchanging worried glances behind my back.
"Hey, leader," Toga said softly, "want to go for ramen? My treat. I stole my dad's wallet before leaving."
"I'm not hungry."
I walked faster. I needed to get home. I needed my notebooks. I needed to rethink everything.
I had played God and the universe had laughed in my face.
Izuku Midoriya had no Quirk. And if I didn't find a way to fix this mess, if I didn't find a way for All Might to look at him, it would be my fault forever.
The U.A. entrance exam was in ten months.
The clock had started ticking again, but this time, I didn't have the map
Author's note: Well, I lied, there was one chapter missing.
This was the chapter I'd been wanting to write since chapter nine.
I hope I've created enough of an atmosphere for this chapter.
I think for my first serious fanfic, it's not too bad.
If you give me feedback on how it's going, I'd really appreciate it.