"Follow your instincts.

That's where true wisdom lies."

-Unknown

"But... But you... You're so much better than I ever could be, and-!"

The hand resting limply on the green-haired teenager's head suddenly moved and made his messy moss green hair even messier, if that was at all possible. The poor kid looked downright betrayed as his cheeks puffed up with air in a pout, green eyes stubbornly questioning him with more aggression than before.

Deku simply looked back at him, unimpressed.

"Don't give me that look, kid. I'm not gonna think my own goddamn face is cute and pamper you. That's just not how it works," To prove his point, he messed up his hair even further, to the point that he might be confused as someone with a natural afro. He had to suppress a laugh at the sight since this was supposed to be serious. "And you can't be me. Period. You may think I'm cool, that I'm everything you've ever dreamt of being—"

Red eyes peered into green ones uninterestedly, like the eyes of a scientist looking down on a lab rat. They were incredibly impersonal, incredibly unattached. This world's Midoriya had to repress a sudden shiver that went up his spine.

"But everything, and I mean everything, comes at a price. You have to decide if whatever you choose to do is worth that price, brat."

The brat gulped.

"I don't really get what you're saying, but... I think that-... I think it would be worth it, whatever this price is, so please-"

He was hushed by a single finger to his mouth and glacial red eyes.

They were scary - and ever so sad - eyes.

"I've already tried it, and I can say for certain. Nothing. Nothing is worth the price that I paid. It just isn't worth it. Even this," He pointed at himself. "What I am and what you want to be, it isn't desirable. Not by a long shot. Give it up. If you want to be more confident, if you want to stand up for yourself, that's one thing, but don't ever emulate me. Do you understand me, Izuku Midoriya?"

He wilted.

But he still replied.

"Yes..."

"Good. If it was any other answer, we would have had a talk."

"But-"

'Of fucking course there's a 'but'. Why did I expect anything different?'

"-why do you discredit yourself so much..?"

He smirked.

"It's not discredit if it's true, brat. You'll see that soon enough, I'm sure."

And with that, he was gone (he had already forgotten about waiting for Bakugo to finish, but he was sure that it would be fine).

...

'It seems like that brat hasn't followed me. Good. I needed a bit of time alone to think, after all. I suppose the first order of business is to figure out exactly when the whole USJ incident occurs. I can't let my guard down, especially seeing as this is an alternate universe with a whole possibly different timeline. Or even if it will occur... Shit, I didn't think of this. It was an obvious conclusion to come to, but I was the one who made that plan for them. Or more crucially, All for One's interference... If All for One has a hand in the events as he did with my timeline, it should play out the same... Completely disregarding the fact that the League of Villains might not exist in this world.'

He sighed, melting into the park bench with a slight scowl.

'So little information... So much potentially inaccurate information... No matter, I simply have to make finding my universe's Kurogiri my first priority. But finding either one of the Kurogiri's is going to take time. Time for UA to find either Kurogiri or for this alternate universe's Kurogiri to be found via the USJ attack... I wonder if they still disabled the transmission to the USJ facility.'

The sudden screech of a bell almost made him hit his head on the bench as his previously droopy state was replaced with an embarrassing type of alertness.

'I suppose that class has ended... I don't really feel like going over the same material, so should I just skip? Then Nezu might-... Speak of the devil.'

"Why, hello, Principal. How may I help you on this fine day?"

A little paw swatted his head.

(Deku had to try hard not to laugh as that would probably make the creature in front of him actually go against him. That was truly a scary thought.)

"You barely attend the first class, and then you skip the next? You seem to not be a very good student, Midoriya-kun."

He smiled, just a little.

"Technically, I'm not enrolled here, Principal. Claiming that I can be late or skip a class is a little out there, don't you think? But if you wish for me to stay in a classroom and rot away, learning material that is already in my brain, I wouldn't disagree either-"

Nezu snickered a little, interrupting Deku's grand speech.

"You certainly have more of a way with words compared to your counter-part, Midoriya-kun. Do you hate these classes that much?"

'No, they're a piece of normality I've always craved-'

The words almost spilled out of his lips, but he swallowed them down without a single change in expression.

"Truthfully, I was planning to go to the class. I was just thinking a bit too deeply and didn't realize the bell had rung. I just wanted to play a little joke on you; I do hope you don't mind?"

He laughed.

"No, not at all. It was quite entertaining. I prefer individuals who can joke and converse calmly compared to nervousness or worship. But given the cautiousness you've displayed before this point, I think you already knew that. Was it an attempt to win me over? Or did we know each other and this was simply a lapse in through habit? It's truly an interesting situation to puzzle out. What do you say, young man; I'll exempt you from your classes for today if you accompany me for some tea."

The cold sweat running down his back didn't come from the Principal's uncanny deductions or leaps of logic, but the mention of having tea with him.

It had already given him a mild case of PSTD, unironically.

Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter, despite the Principal's phrasing.

"You would give me detention for three classes worth of tea time anyway, wouldn't you? If we keep it under two hours, I'm fine with the earlier arrangement."

He didn't even look surprised that he knew, but simply smirked in the non-threatening way that only cute animals could get away with.

"We'll do that then, Midoriya-kun."

Before he knew it, he had been dragged into the Principal's office but a childish - yet irritatingly mature - mouse and proceeded to get grilled and questioned on all sorts of things.

It was around 15 minutes later that an unexpected arrival barged in, even more unexpected in the form that he arrived in:

All Might.

(Past) AN: I'll leave it here because it's late and I'm tired, but I wrote the extra down there earlier at the bequest of my own imagination and Flame's headcanon, so be satisfied with this.

Everything should wrap up in 2 more chapters that I will post... eventually.

Extra:

"So you're... my other son that my son told me about?" "Uhh... Yes?" There was an ominous pause. "Come over here sweetie, let me give you some hugs, you look like you deserve them, you poor dear. You're so thin and you have such deep dark circles... Mommy will kiss them away, don't worry~" He backed away in horror, but somehow, despite being a villain, despite having an excellent physique, if he said so himself- He couldn't escape. But hey, as the saying goes, if you can't win, join 'em. So it was with no real shame that he melted into the hug, shaking arms clenched tightly around his, no, Midoriya's mom and he felt like a child again (such a brighter time that he'd do anything to get back). He knew that this wasn't really his mom in all technicalities, but there was just something so instinctive, something so comforting as being in mommy's arms again that he couldn't bring himself to let go. He even felt the barest stirrings of what could only be tears, but he didn't let them fall. Surely that would be overextending this welcome too much, wouldn't it? After all, in the end... He wasn't her son, just a duplicate. It was already incredible that she wished to interact with him in the first place. So when she pulled away, he didn't say 'no, please don't go, I can't sleep at night and I haven't seen you in so, so long, I need you, please-'. No, he pulled his lips up and smiled at the woman who had raised him (she didn't raise him, she raised the other him) and he let go.