What Is Written [Part 4]

Izuku groaned as he rolled over, a weird buzzing sound filling his brain.

[Chapter 3]

Izuku groaned as he rolled over, a weird buzzing sound filling his brain. He cracked his eyes open, expecting to see Kiyomi lying awake playing games on his phone again, but both the kids were sound asleep on the mattress up above him, hands linked together atop the blankets. He sat up, then, bracing himself to hunt down the source of the noise, only to see a weird green light pulsating near the end of his mattress, wavering and shuddering as it hung in the air.

“Kacchan,” he murmured insistently, shaking him awake. “Kacchan, shh, look.”

Katsuki rubbed his eyes as he sat up, immediately wide awake when he spotted what Izuku was staring at. He flexed his hands, rubbing them together to make sure he was ready to explode at a moment’s notice, but when the buzzing in Izuku’s brain grew louder, he found himself covering Katsuki’s hand with his own.

“Is that…?”

It took a moment longer for Katsuki to understand, for the image to become clear enough to make out, while Izuku was working off gut instinct, but when the lights flashed a little brighter, settling into a steady form, Katsuki’s hands quickly relaxed.

“Deku?” he asked, rising up onto his knees to get a better look. “Is that you?”

“Kacchan?” the other Izuku asked, blinking at him dumbly. “What are you doing in-? Holy shit, is that me?”

Izuku finally managed to gather himself enough to look over the lights properly, examining every little detail of the mirror-image before him. Except it wasn’t, because everything about the other Izuku was wrong. He had a strong jaw, where Izuku still had a stupidly round baby-face; he had short, styled hair, where Izuku was still all unruly curls he didn’t even attempt to tame; he had stubble, where Izuku couldn’t have grown a single facial hair even if he’d tried; and worst of all, he had big, dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Izuku knew that feeling well, even though he’d long-since recovered from his last sleepless escapade.

“I guess this portal thing only goes to my own past?” he sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose and glancing at something out of their sight. “Mei, is there any way to move this thing?”

A voice came from somewhere in the distance, toofaint to make out the words, and the other Izuku turned to look at the stunned pair again.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” he said, oddly defeated. “We’ve had a bit of a quirk accident here, I’m searching for something, but I guess this device just locks onto my own timeline.”

“Searching for something?” Izuku echoed, eyes darting to the bed beside them. “Um, do you mean…”

“Someone?” Katsuki prompted, watching the older Izuku’s eyes dart to him immediately, a tiny ray of hope finding its way into the gaze, quickly squashed back down.

“Someones,” Izuku corrected him. “Two people. Right?”

“You found them?” the older Izuku asked breathlessly.

Katsuki crawled over to the bed, shaking the twins gently and watching big eyes blink up at him in confusion. He nodded toward the green lights, and Kisaku was the first to catch on, tripping over his own feet as he hurried over. The lights went straight through his hand, when he reached out, and Katsuki picked him up without hesitation, seeing the tears quickly filling his eyes.

“Oh my God, ‘Saku,” the older Izuku whispered, his own face sodden with spilled tears already. “There you are, thank goodness you’re safe.”

“Papa,” Kisaku sobbed. “Papa, where are you?!”

“I’m right here, baby,” the Izuku assured him, wiping stubbornly at his eyes. “We’re spending every minute of every day on this, I promise. Every single hero in the country has been looking for you, and I have all the tech heroes working on this, especially Auntie Mei.”

A familiar face popped into frame, relief filling her expression when she saw Kisaku in Katsuki’s arms, and Kiyomi crept closer to take a peek herself.

“There you are, ‘Yomi,” Izuku sighed, relieved. “I’m so glad you’re both safe, I’ve been worried sick. I’m so sorry this happened, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“We’re okay,” Kiyomi assured him, reaching for Kisaku’s hand. “I’m taking good care of ‘Saku, I promise.”

“I know you are, baby, you’re such a good sister. I love you so much. Both of you.”

“Daddy and Papa are looking after us,” she explained, allowing it when the younger Izuku pulled her into a hug. “And Grandma and Grandpa and Nanny too.”

“We took them over today,” Izuku explained, still a little headachy as he stared at his older self – it seemed like the more he looked, the worse the buzzing got. “Masaru is taking time off work to help babysit, and Mom and Mitsuki are taking turns to help too.”

“I’m glad,” the other Izuku said softly. “Thank you, both of you, for looking after my babies. You have no idea how terrified I’ve been, I’m so glad they found you.”

“Mina ran into them in the street, out of nowhere,” Katsuki explained, rubbing Kisaku’s back in an attempt at comfort. “She thought they were us.”

“What?” Izuku snorted, covering his mouth to stifle his laughter. “Oh, I’m sure ‘Yomi loved that.”

“She called them unobservant assholes,” Katsuki laughed. “God, she’s so my daughter.”

“She really is,” Izuku agreed, looking a little wistful as he watched them, despite the tears. “We’re working hard over here to fix it, Kacchan is out trying to find the guy and make him talk. He’s been eluding us all for like six months, but that was before he dared to take Kacchan’s kids from him. I’m sure he’ll catch the guy by dinner time.”

“Damn right,” Katsuki huffed. “But um, make sure you’re sleeping and shit. We’ve got them until then, alright? We’ll take good care of them, so don’t destroy yourself trying to fix this, they’re safe.”

“I’ll do my best,” Izuku smiled softly. “Kacchan doesn’t exactly listen, you know.”

“Shut up, nerd.”

Both Izukus laughed at that, and the younger one leaned into Katsuki’s side, knitting them all together into a little pile of snuggles.

“I think I can get this thing stable, now that we have a location,” Mei said, from the other side. “You can check in again, if it takes time.”

“I’ll talk to you all again soon, then,” the older Izuku told them, straightening his spine to look a little more in-control. “Be good, ‘Yomi. Be brave, ‘Saku. Take care of each other, and do what your Dads and your grandparents tell you, okay?”

“I will,” Kiyomi nodded, taking a deep breath. “I love you, Papa.”

“I love you too, my baby girl. More than you can even imagine.”

“More than all the stars in the sky,” Kiyomi said knowingly.

“And bigger than the moon,” Kisaku chimed in, sniffling. “I’m okay, Papa, I can be strong!”

“I know you can, my sweet boy. I’ll bring you home super soon, I promise.”

The image wavered, Izuku’s final words muffling and cutting out before they could figure out what he was saying, and for a moment the group just sat in silence, waiting.

“Alright, back to bed,” Katsuki sighed. “You want to stay with us tonight?”

The twins nodded, burrowing in between them, and Izuku smiled weakly as he snuggled down into the blankets.

“Super soon,” he promised in a whisper. “We’ll get you back home.”

─────

[Chapter 5]