Izuku: Variety (CH 6) (Patreon)

All Might looks at the different versions of his protege at the front of the classroom, then to the one sitting at his seat. He goes back and forth a few times, taking in how the only one of the alternate versions of Midoriya who’s happy to see him is the one with cat features. Eventually he looks at Aizawa with a bemused look on his face, getting a sigh in return before he explains.

“Joke has a niece whose quirk brings alternate versions of someone into our world. I thought it would be a good idea to show the class how much of an impact the smallest choice can be.” He gestures to the Alternates before pointing at the cat girl. “As you can see, the problem child has many, many issues, though I’m not sure why this one is a girl now.”

She hides behind Midosagi so she’s not directly in his line of sight. “Took nap. Woke up. Felt like girl.”

“...I’m not even going to ask.” His eyes turn to Midoriya. “Speaking of, you’re going to be starting sessions with Hound Dog. Starting right after this mess is over with.”

“Therapy is-” The male of the new set of Alternates starts.

“-for people-” The female version continues.

““-too weak to solve their own problems.”” They finish at the same time, having split their focus with one watching All Might and the other watching Aizawa. He looks at them with a raised eyebrow, as does Midosagi, their voices overlapping as they try to question them at the same time.

“Would you be where you are if you got therapy?” “You get along with your sister?”

The hero and villain share glances, Midosagi sticking out his tongue at him before turning back to the twins and pointing at himself while mouthing the words “Pick me.”

The male twin raises an eyebrow while the female snorts. “You don’t get along with your sister?” “Quirkless people don’t get therapy, they get beatings.”

“Eh?” All Might blink at the female twin before looking at Midoriya. “Do they? Back in my day it was just ostracization.”

Midoriya avoids looking at his mentor, focusing his attention on the Alternates as Midoasgi responds to the male twin with a complicated look. “I…dooon’t… My twin sucks.”

“Mine swallows.” The male twin shoots back, as naturally as saying the sun is bright. The female twin turns beet red and whirls around, the toes of her metal-toed shoe making a sharp crack as they make contact with his shin.

“Baka! You can’t just tell people that!” The male twin hops on one leg as he clutches at his knee with both hands, making distressed noises while nodding his head around them. “I don’t care if this is a different reality, if it happens again you’re sleeping on the couch!”

“Wait,” Kaminari holds up his hands, his eyes wide. He points between the twins. “You two…are together? Together together. And do the limbo? Twister? Hide the sausage? Ha-”

He stops talking as the girl, still blushing furiously, points her knife at him. “I will cut you. Free of charge.”

He stops, continuing on with his question. “But the two of you are siblings? Like…blood related siblings?”

The male twin gingerly puts his foot back on the ground, wincing at the residual pain. “Yeah. Born from the same mother and father and everything. Though I was born first, making me the older sibling who has to help their little sister enjoy themselves.”

The female twin snorts. “As if. I’m the older sibling. As such I need to stay close to my little brother.”

“THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU TWO FREAKS! THAT’S FUCKING DISGUSTING!”

Bakugou’s outburst elicits glares once again from every Izuku in the room, including the cat and local ones. The twins snarl at him along with Midosagi, hatred burning in their eyes with such a fervor that many of the students flinch. Quirkless’ glare doesn’t match their hatred, though the disgust in his eyes makes up for it. Analyst’s unchanging expression is unsettling all on its own. And Midoriya is usually very difficult to anger, but when he gets to that point his glare is unexpectedly fierce, freezing people in place and filling them with dread.

But the worst might be Broccoli's, who just seems annoyed. “Loud Boy mean. Not different.” They vanish only to reappear above him by the ceiling, their words warbling as they spin and speak as they drop. “No like. You nap.”

Bakugou tries to dodge the attack, only to find himself stuck in position as the shadows around him bind his arms and legs. Broccoli’s foot comes down hard, putting Bakugou’s head through the desk and lifting his feet from the ground as it does.

Vanishing once again as everyone stares at the limp Bakugou, she reappears between the twins and throws her arms around their shoulders. “Loud Boy quiet now!”

The Alternates all give Broccoli various signs of approval, ranging from nods, thumbs up, and Midosagi clapping wildly. Midoriya’s mouth is moving weirdly, as if he doesn’t know whether he should be horrified or laugh at how easily his bully/friend/rival was rendered unconscious.

Seeing the atmosphere of the class becoming decidedly more concerned, this time for themselves instead of the bushy-haired boy, Aizawa speaks. “This might be the quietest this room has ever been.”

His words break the growing unease, tense laughter bursting from the students even as some silently but genuinely agree.

“Excuse me,” Shoji says, raising his hand as a mouth grows at the end of a tentacle. “Would the two of you mind introducing yourselves? The pattern so far has been what we should call you and what you do. Just so we can have a baseline to go off of.”

They exchange looks, having a silent discussion before simultaneously shrugging and turning to face the class as they sheathe their weapons. They give short bows, flicking their wrists as a pair of cards appear in one of their hands.

“I am Izuku Midoriya.” The male introduces themselves.

“I am Izumi Midoriya.” The female introduces themselves.

““And if you’re smart enough, our cards will tell you what you need to know.”” They finish together, flicking their cards to seat number one, Aoyama.

Squirming at being the center of attention, and not happily for once after Analyst names him as a spy in his universe, he briefly examines the cards, quickly passing them on and shaking his head. “I am un-magnifique when it comes to puzzles.”

Each person examines the cards, some quickly giving up and others taking several minutes as they try to figure it out. Midoriya’s friends take the longest, as they know him best, believing that their close relationship could help them. But they too fail, and they get passed on, skipping over the unconscious Bakugou and eventually falling in front of Midoriya, who looks them over with trepidation.

He looks it over briefly, silently hoping that he won’t be able to figure out the trick. He takes in the seemingly random assortment of letters scattered across the small pieces of paper, the detailed border rimming the top.

Then he blinks.

And blinks again.

A bright smile blossoms across his face, taking his classmates by surprise as he laughs and starts folding them together. “I remember this! Back when I was a kid I got really into origami for a while, and had the idea of making my notes secret! That way if another hero asked for them, a villain wouldn’t be able to steal them without knowing the right way to put them together.”

“Truly? I was unaware that you had an interest in such a delicate art! Perhaps you would like to accompany me to one of the festivals occurring soon?” Yaoyorozu asks in delight. She’s asked Jiro and some of her other classmates before, but while a few had accepted none had any genuine interest. It would be nice to be accompanied by someone who wants to be there.

“Sure thing!” Midoriya says absently as he focuses on folding the cards, being careful since the smallest mistake could render his efforts moot. “I know that there’s one next week in Nagoya, where Hitsumida Lingosu is making an appearance. Or if you want something local I know of a shopping center not far away that has a ton of contests on Saturday.”

“Oh my!” Yaoyorozu covers her mouth with the tips of her fingers as her eyes go wide. “The Hitsumida Lingosu? I was under the impression that he’d retired!”

“He did,” Midoriya says as he finishes the final touches on the small origami piece, which has taken the form of a spider. “But his daughter is going to be there. Apparently she convinced him to show up and use his quirk to make the pieces come to life for the show at the end. It’s supposed to be quite the sight.”

Yaoyorozu smiles in delight with a small clap of her hands. “It’s a date then.”

Midoriya nods as he crosses his arms in satisfaction of his work. “Yeah.” He blinks, coming out of his focused fugue as he realizes what he just agreed to. “Wait, what? A date!?”

“I’d like to come too!” Uraraka shouts as she slams her hands on top of the desk. Listening to several of the Izukus stating they have girlfriends who aren’t her, she’s been becoming a little concerned about someone else starting a relationship with their version. Or him deciding not to be in any relationship.

“Of course!” Yaoyorozu smiles at her, eyes gleaming. “Don’t worry about the price for entrance, I’m more than happy to cover the ten-thousand yen fee.”

“T-t-t-ten-thousand!?” Uraraka shouts. Why is it so expensive!? Because of the Lingosu guy!?

Yaoyorozu nods. “Indeed. Now knowing that Hitsumida Lingosu will be attending, I am again impressed by the honesty of the origami festival organizers. They easily could have inflated the price for admission, but instead they lowered it!”

Steam erupts from Uraraka’s ears at that reveal, her mind unable to process how expensive it is. And that’s just for entering the festival! It doesn’t even include buying food and drink! I will never again underestimate the power of paper!

“So what’s it say, Midoriya?” Sero asks, his own interest in origami or Midoriya’s relationships non-existent. He’s much more interested in what the newest versions of him do!”

“Oh! Right!” Coming out of the muttering spree he’d fallen into at the mention of his future outing being a ‘date’, he reads aloud what’s written on the paper.

“‘Twins of Sin. Wrath and Pride Assassination Agen- WHY ARE HALF OF YOU CRIMINALS!?”

“Not hero. Like fight. Not like hero. Except family.” Broccoli refutes with quick shakes of their head.

Analyst also raises his hand. “I fall more in the ‘neutral’ category since I help both sides.”

“Shut up!” Midoriya shouts with the corner of his eye twitching, a clear sign that the longer this goes on, the more his mental state deteriorates. “I am a hero! H-E-R-O! HERO! I am not a villain, and I refuse to believe that there’s only I was just as likely to become a villain as a hero!”

He takes deep breaths after his mini rant, trying to calm down. All Might makes his way to the boy and gently places a hand on his shoulder. “It’s ok, my boy. Regardless of what might have been, what matters is what is. You are a hero, and there’s nothing that can change that.”

They share a moment of silence as Midoriya takes comfort in his mentor’s words, only to be interrupted by yet another new voice.

“Unless you’re pushed to be who you were always meant to be, like me.”