#rayrambles
Book 2 of my aideku, Doctor Strange-reincarnated-as-Izuku idea will be a sequel to the first, and a crossover/fusion with (mostly) bnha canon (probably canon? nearly canon? canon as interpreted by someone who has seen only the first episode of the anime, read enough bits and pieces of Vigilantes to maybe equal a single chapter, and has read a ton of fanfiction and the occasional wiki article or discord post).
This one will be called No Wormhole Has Ever Starved. “It takes energy for new roads to diverge in new woods, and no energy is spent with complete efficiency, without waste. Where wood has burned, there will be ash. The waste product of the constantly dividing multiverse is a fine, drifting mist of regret, and no wormhole has ever starved.”
I should maybe preface by saying this one doesn’t have a big overarching plot or anything. As of now, anyway. It’s more like, slice-of-life, I guess. Shouta and Izuku have recently gotten together and are exploring this new aspect of their relationship, while Shouta adjusts to Izuku’s big secrets that he couldn’t exactly keep hidden after everything that happened.
Anyway, a random villain attack ends up with a few methods of portal/teleportation/time-related travel quirks accidentally combining and sending Shouta and Izuku to an alternate universe. To (mostly) canon universe.
UA has recently moved to the dorm system, and the pair of travelers appear in front of a group from class 1-A returning from a grocery run supervised by Aizawa, in a billow of smoke and possibly some pyrotechnics. Izuku can sense immediately that this is not their world, and that both of their counterparts are wary witnesses to this unplanned excursion. He’s good at defusing potential hostilities and Shouta trusts him enough to follow his lead.
The pair are escorted to UA, truths and character verified, and they are given rooms to stay in the new dorms while Nezu looks into finding them a way home. Shouta would be much more stressed if Izuku wasn’t their backup plan to getting home if all else fails, and if the doctor hadn’t spent the first week or two mapping out their position in relation to home, figuring that time will pass by much more slowly in their birth world in comparison, and beginning the process of storing enough power to travel home should they need it. Plus, Eri has a fool-proof way of knowing that they are alive and well no matter where they are, and despite themselves they do trust Hizashi and Nemuri to take care of her in the meantime.
So after Izuku takes care of all of the mystical aspects, and after Shouta investigates to confirm that no one they would otherwise trust is unexpectedly evil or villainous, and after they both do some research into the differences of this universe, the couple treats this as a much needed vacation. For, like, a week at best because they’re both workaholics. They get very restless when trying to relax and do nothing. Shouta hasn’t gotten so many hours of sleep in a day since…maybe ever, barring hospitalization. He has no idea what to do with all of his extra energy.
Izuku (having proclaimed his quirklessness right away because being so severely underestimated is a boon he takes advantage of where possible) has never been able to just ignore people’s prejudices, microaggressions, and misinformation about the quirkless because his life, his future, and his community had required him to fight against it, basically every day of his life. He’s so tired of fighting, but now he can just let it go while he’s here. He doesn’t know this community, his future isn’t here, and he’s so fucking exhausted. If they want to cater to him, he’ll take advantage when it benefits him. If they want to treat him aggressively or poorly, he’ll just ignore them and let someone else deal with it. It’s not like he cares what they think of him, and if they are going to act like bigots then he doesn’t want anything to do with them anyway. It’s freeing, and it’s not like he’s required to be present among the student body anyway. Plus, Shouta is there to act as a safe harbor for him.
UA is just kind of blown away by how different Izuku and Deku are, especially when Shouta and Eraserhead are so similar. Shocking as it is that he’s some sort of medical prodigy and already a doctor, they might be most stuck on the fact that Izuku is not a fanboy. Or that he never wanted to be a hero. Or possibly that he had no idea who ‘Kacchan’ was, and only vaguely seemed to recognize Bakugou after some thought (which had Bakugou and his inferiority/superiority complex screaming). A lot of them assume it’s due to their different quirk status. Only Deku and Bakugo know how wrong that is.
Izuku isn’t quite sure what to think of his own counterpart. It brings up issues he thought he’d buried long ago. Namely, whether he had been reincarnated with his memories as Izuku Midoriya, or whether he had stolen some poor child’s life. He sees Peter Parker in Deku more than he sees himself, and it makes him feel vaguely panicked, because he can’t ever imagine being that…that good or optimistic even without his memories. It would have been easier if his counterpart were cruel, or a villain, or insane. It had been easier, in his past life, having seen or met several less than stellar versions of himself and been more or less fine. He tends to avoid Deku, because he can see that this is a traumatized child. Not that he hasn’t interacted with plenty of traumatized children. The issue is that he’s never been kind to himself, but he doesn’t want to treat this child the way he’d treated his Doctor Strange counterparts.
Plus, the scarred, damaged hands make him feel anxious, as if those injuries are inevitable and time is just waiting to screw him over again with chronic pain and permanent injury. Also, he gets angry if he thinks about it for too long, because they were deliberate self-harm. It wasn’t an accident, wasn’t even life or death, or the one and only chance to help someone. He does give tips, though, for dealing with the chronic pain, and shows him martial arts moves/katas that make use of legs, elbows, and forearms instead of hands. It makes some of the more perceptive teachers, particularly Eraserhead, raise an eyebrow as they notice how adept Izuku is at dealing and fighting with damaged hands.
Other shocks include: Izuku absolutely dominating in a heroics lesson he was pulled in to assist with (possibly manipulated into that situation by a gleeful Shouta who was getting tired of Izuku being treated as fragile by several 1-A students, and who was always down for causing chaos, teaching the hard lessons, and knocking arrogant students down a peg); Izuku always being able to tell immediately which was Shouta and which was Eraserhead, even when they switched places and Izuku was more than half asleep; how comfortable the two are in each other’s personal space; witnessing the absolute trust (and synchronicity) between Izuku and Shouta and realizing by comparison how little Deku trusted anyone (or maybe specifically how little he trusted adults/teachers). Izuku’s powers may or may not be exposed during all-out battle with nomu while trying to protect Shouta. Not sure how they’ll get home, but they will get home.
CREAM: “Because only one thing makes you legally exempt from Konoha tax laws and cave-dwelling isn’t it.” So…does that mean missing-nin have more problems than just treason?
Book 3 of my aideku, Doctor Strange reincarnated as Izuku idea will be the final fic in the series and is actually an AU of book 1. I haven’t thought of a title yet; maybe I’ll take it from the quote if I can’t think of anything better. “Never put your faith in a Prince. When you require a miracle, trust in a Witch.”
Izuku is going to be a (fake) villain, and I am going to have a lot of fun with the aideku interaction; there is going to be so much UST (fighting and close contact and restraints, yes) and Shouta is going to be so conflicted…so much fun.
So, what happens is, traveling dimensions in his astral form has side effects in this new world with its new metaphysical rules that had never occurred to Izuku. The time dilation/passage of time differs between dimensions, and he knows how to carefully calculate his travels so that only hours pass for his physical body while the perception of time in his astral form stretches out to weeks, months, or even years. Izuku returns to find that his physical body reflected the passage of time his astral form experienced. That is, he basically ages from 10 to 16 overnight.
Izuku tries not to panic, but there is no good way to explain what happened. Even claiming to be a victim of an aging quirk would bring too much attention, and then there’s the problem if doctors or police have a way to tell, not to mention schooling and government documents, and all of it bogged down by quirkless discrimination (and maybe a neglectful, borderline abusive mother in this AU). Better idea. He disappears and sets himself up as a villain to investigate the stains of dark magic he’s glimpsed in the criminal underbelly (he’s a dumbass on a good day, sudden teenager-hood won’t exactly mitigate that; although he will be grateful to have skipped most of his second puberty). Izuku knows he’ll be declared dead pretty quickly, and no one is going to connect his new identity to his real one when he’s years older than he should be with different hair color and style.
Shouta eventually becomes aware of a villain establishing territory within his patrol route. The villain is making a bit of a name for himself, establishing certain rules within his territory (no trafficking, no children) and having the power to back it up. (Maybe Izuku is more of a thief, but a villain is a villain in the eyes of the law, and anyway there are some bloody and frightening rumors surrounding him that he absolutely encourages to bolster his reputation; ‘Doctor’ can be a rather ominous moniker in villainous circles). Concern regarding this villain, Dr. Strange (is that a good alias, or should I think of something else?), grows in police and hero circles until he lets on that he’s quirkless. Shouta is absolutely frustrated by how this dangerous villain is almost immediately dismissed by most of law enforcement/heroics, and ends up becoming Izuku’s main pursuer.
They tangle often enough, and each time, to Shouta’s anger and irritation, the villain manages to slip away. Dr. Strange plans his heists too well, and is skilled, creative, and adaptable besides. But over the years they develop a rapport. And there are several times Shouta knows he could have been killed or badly wounded, and yet he hadn’t. Had even saved him, once or twice, and Shouta has no idea what to do with that. It would be easier if he wasn’t coming to appreciate him, to respect him, even, if he hadn’t seen little hints that Dr. Strange cared; cared about stray cats, and the homeless, and people who have been beaten down by everyone and everything. But he’s still a villain and those bloody rumors didn’t spring up from nowhere. He’s seen him committing crimes, seen him at villain hangouts while going undercover to infiltrate (and it’s absolutely terrifying that Strange always seems to recognize Shouta no matter how he’s disguised, though he never did give him away either). Sometimes Shouta just wants to forget everything about him so that he could stop being so torn, so conflicted and afraid that Strange would ruin him.
Meanwhile, Izuku finds himself growing attached to Eraserhead, though he does his best not to show it. It’s hard not to respect a hero who actually takes him seriously, who is so fun to taunt, who is kind (even, sometimes, to Izuku, when he is injured and ill and simply trying to stagger his way home) despite his façade of apathy.
Izuku also discovers that it was a better idea than he thought to go undercover as a villain. The dark magic he hunted had two anchors, he only discovered after removing/defeating the first. And the second is somehow related to the Hero Commission. By this point he’s somehow enough of a threat to have gotten their attention (maybe certain people manage to notice him poking around with magic despite his extremely minimal and careful use?; quirkless competence in relation to heroics via villainy is also somehow a threat when it becomes more well-known, maybe), and eventually Izuku’s bright idea to investigate is to allow himself to be captured. Unfortunately, with Eraserhead nearly in the crossfire, but Izuku manages to keep him from being noticed by the agents.
Shouta eventually finds him in rough shape during a raid on a warehouse or lab or something that no one knows is connected to the Commission. Shouta takes care of him, nurses him back to health, and Izuku eventually takes care of the second anchor. Maybe sheds his villain identity and re-enters society as Izuku? Shouta, at least, learns the truth of what he’s been doing for years, and is relieved/validated that he didn’t somehow fall in love with someone truly villainous.
Thought you might like knowing this exists
I’m one of your Anon lurkers’ but I didn’t see anyone recommend these ones; they are some of the original fics that first dragged me to the bottom of the KHR Pit and I haven’t gotten out since.
Vigilante Tendency By Kyogre
Complete, semi-AU. There’s such a thing as being too much like the 1st generation. Tsuna didn’t mean to start a vigilante group, but somehow it happened anyway. Well done, “Neo Primo,” well done
Little Prince By Scheming Rabbit
Iemitsu is not the only one with a notable bloodline. Nana’s lineage claimed Tsuna long before Reborn came to train him for the Vongola. When Reborn goes to Namimori to train the Decimo, he only finds an empty house. Or: in which Tsuna is a prince.
Odd-Job Tsuna By ShamelessDilettante
Tsuna decides to get a job because he didn’t want to be indebted to his father. Somehow, this leads to even more jobs and friends popping up in unexpected places. Tsuna can only blame his inability to refuse requests, but he’ll never understand why he attracts trouble like a magnet.
While I completely agree that the other recs are AMAZING These 3 are part of the legendary category in the Fandom due to being; Completed, with a word count over 30K (2 of them are over 100K), Not a crossover (Any characters from other fandoms are just cameos so the authors didn’t have to make an OC), and is not a SI OC, mostly Gen, as well as Keeping to the orignal crack-y vibe that the show/manga has.
