Reborn 1.1 [Rewrite]

Jordan had four years, four years to come to terms with what had happened to him.

The fact that he had stopped the gunman, died slowly while staring up at the night sky, closed his eyes for good, and then woke up as a baby. He supposed if those things were going to happen, then that was the only possible order for them to occur, but nonetheless not a day went by where he asked himself a simple question.

Why?

Why did he get a second chance, if he could even call it that since he had still had his whole life ahead of him. The feeling of being lost was just the anxiety that he had when being in a new place, surrounded by people he barely knew, and thrown into a culture he couldn't quite sync with. Plus, the guilt of leaving his grandpa behind at his tender old age and weakly hoping that nothing drastic would happen to his health in the four years he spent at college.

Honestly, if all it took to get reincarnated with your memories was to fight some crazed shooter, then god forbid if that information ever got out. Jordan could only chalk it up to luck, a dash of interference from some unknown being, and perhaps a reward for what he had done.

The latter was especially true, as Jordan looked down at the figurines that dotted the carpet floor, most of them colored in his previous country's flag.

All Might, a real life superhero, this had to be a joke.

The blonde haired giant of muscle did not wear a black bat suit and revel in the darkness, he did not have a green ring that bestowed him power, nor was he some warrior of an ancient civilization.

No, he was born with a power that more than eighty percent of the world had, powers Jordan had come to learn were called quirks. This was a superhuman society, where any passerby could perhaps be a walking nuke, sprout vines and attack you, or even just say 'die' and make anything in a certain radius drop dead.

The last one had been mentioned in Sunday's morning news by the use of a villain who had his debut and fall from grace all within a few hours. The simple implications of that power frightened Jordan a lot, even more so how his mom chuckled at it and continued to sip her coffee as the news continued.

Quirks were a bundle of uncertainty, but they also gave birth to a profession Jordan had to raise his eyebrows at every time he heard of it.

Heroes.

Someone definitely put him here on purpose, because Jordan already knew what he wanted to do, and that was to live up to his last words in his old life.

"To be a hero."

The declaration had never faded from his mind despite four years passing, because each and every day, as he did things any normal kid would do, he would remind himself to never forget.

"Katsuki?" The door to his room opened, dragging him from his thoughts.

His mother, or a friendly neighborhood supermodel for most, glanced down at him simply sitting amongst all his toys.

"Hey brat, clean all this shit up, I have a friend that is coming over and I don't want her to think I raised you wrong." Mitsuki flared her nostrils as she spoke, turning around to leave just as quickly as she came, or she was supposed to but the door suddenly opened again. "Also, she has a kid your age, get along with him or no television for a week."

Jordan, now practically Kastuki since he felt like the two names were synonymous by now, shuddered at the thought of another kid his age.

One thing about being reborn was the tediousness of having to go through youth again. The nuisance of learning Japanese had kept Katsuki motivated at first, but he was going to college to be a Computer Science Major, so he knew how to study. Four years of sneaky practice reading the newspaper, snatching his mom's phone to google certain words, and watching youtube videos with said stolen phone had made him practically fluent at this point.

The next issue was being surrounded by honest to god children. Kids who unceremoniously picked their noses, had to question everything that existed, had zero to no patience, and lacked the common sense an adult would have.

Katsuki had to one time just bite his tongue and forget about trying to explain to one of his fellow classmates that jumping off the jungle gym would not have his quirk manifest faster, but a loud thud, crying, and an arm in a cast for four months probably taught him that better anyways.

Children were downright infuriating when you held no authority over them, and doubly so since Katsuki could not scold them, preach to them the value of not eating glue, or simply help them by reaching the top shelf so they don't cause the whole thing to fall over.

Although, the silver lining to his daily struggles as a child was peace and freedom. Most days were spent honing his Japanese, brushing up on his English so it did not become rusty, watching hero videos because movies in his old life only did so much, and exploring the world two hundred years in the future.

The latter was a shock for Katsuki. The Endeavor themed calendar, his favorite hero, depicted the year 2223. The questions coming after such a realization was perhaps maybe he was in the future, rather than another world, but without any evidence it was a blind shot in the dark. All the movies of the twenty-first century were there along with the same history, so he could only bet on the idea and summarize it as truth.

He had come to stop frequently reminiscing on things like how he got here, times of inner turmoil long passed as four years of no responsibility to uphold gave him plenty of time to settle his thoughts.

He would be a hero, and not someone like All Might, but one who did the job and did not ask for fame.

Katsuki would be like Endeavor, a top pro hero who had statistically saved more lives than All Might, rarely did media coverage, had only one line of merch, and had never once graced a commercial with his likeness.

He did his job, and he did it well, just how Katsuki wanted to do it.

He was never one for attention, as it was always those in the light who were targeted first. He could have shown his college level intellect and graduated high school right now, there were plenty of cases like that in a superhuman society. The fact was however, Katsuki would then be alienated, put on a pedestal, and given looks he had been given in his past life for being overly handsome.

It was weird, he could swear people would die to have had his previous life's looks, but he could also promise they did not want the problems that came with it.

'All warmth but no fire,' as his grandpa would say.

"Grandpa…"

Thankfully, that spiral of depression ceased to exist as the door cracked open. Katsuki gulped as he realized he had yet to clean his room, praying that his mother wouldn't bring out her favorite crocs to punish him once again.

Upon turning, Katsuki exhaled the breath he held as he noticed no one was there, chalking it up to his mother not closing it right.

Well, that was until his eyes scrolled down from adult height to his own level.

"Hello…"

A mop of green hair, freckles adorning chubby cheeks, emerald green eyes, and an All Might shirt with matching shorts that completed the look while also all too telling who his favorite hero was.

"Midoriya?"

It was a familiar face, a classmate he recognized but did not socialize with. Katsuki always opted to sit in the back and stare out the window, the only time he relented was due to his teacher's nagging or a classmate manifesting a quirk.

No matter how one spun it, super powers were cool to see, age be damned.

"Um, Katumuski? Katakuri? Katsudon? Sorry.. Kaa-san told me your name but I can't remember." He put his index finger on his chin and tapped a few times. "Ah, Katsuki, I remember now"

Katsuki frowned, "You know you can't just say my first name, we don't-"

Izuku's subsequent squeal cut him off, "Ahh you have the newest All Might figurine, Kaa-san said they were sold out so I couldn't get one."

The boy practically became a blur as he crashed to his knees beside Kastuki, tiny fingers wrapping delicately around an All Might figurine depicted in his one time 'Dark Age' costume he wore for a recent night raid. His usual flamboyant outfit gone for deep blacks and muted grays.

Kastuki was never one for toys, since he was mentally eighteen, but he did have to play the part no matter how much it bothered him. He would unironically put them in silly poses on a few occasions, but most times it was to stave off boredom and when his mom would watch him closely.

He was very new to having both parents, even more so with two who showed him affection and would buy anything he had the slightest interest in. It only took him widening his eyes a slight margin when he saw something slightly futuristic like an Endeavor toy that shot holographic flames, then by the next day it would be magically in his toy chest.

"Woahhh, it's so cool." Midoriya said through a smile rivaling the sun.

Kastuki narrowed his eyes, not particularly keen on entertaining a four year old, since he had his fair share of acting like one for most of the day.

"You can have it." He shrugged.

"Really!" Midoriya must have manifested a speed quirk, his action of grabbing Katsuki's shoulders and shaking him like a piggy bank happening but nanoseconds apart, much to his annoyance.

"Let go of me!" Kastuki pushed the broccoli headed boy off him, frowning as he took a moment to let the dizziness from being shaken fade away. "Yeah, I don't really like All Might all that much, Endeavor is my favorite hero so you can have it."

The last thing Katsuki expected was tears, but low and behold, he could only watch on as emerald eyes were blocked by water and streamed down freckled cheeks. Kastuki took a moment to register the previous fact, then sprung into action after his rear suddenly felt phantom pains from his mother's crocs.

"Hey I was joking, All might is the best."

The mood change was abrupt, one moment Midoriya was a second away from bawling his eyes out, the next he was jumping up and down while nodding so fast he created after images.

"Right? He is so cool and strong. Like the time he punched Dino Claw the Terrible halfway across the city. Oh, or the time Abyss got uppercutted out of the lake and even hit a cloud that looked just like All Might! Or-"

Katsuki blinked slowly in a mix of awe and confusion, seeing as for the next four minutes he was subjected to All Might's entire history of fights for the last five years. He even got to know All Might's favorite color was the American flag, however the hell that worked.

He had wanted to stop the word vomit assaulting his ears, but after a minute of constant failure to do so Katsuki let Midoriya rattle on, taking the time to clean his room once and for all.

It was only when the final toy entered his toy box and the lid was shut that Midoriya noticed he needed to inhale to survive.

"Ah, sorry, Kaa-san says it's a habit I need to break…" he pouted a little, index fingers orbiting each other as emerald eyes met crimson red. "Why do you like All Might?"

Katsuki paused, unsure how to answer in a way that was satisfactory and would not make Midoriya bawl his eyes out and flood the room.

"I guess… his strength? His laughter is annoying and too loud, but I guess when he can level skyscrapers for breakfast it reassures people."

Midoriya was keenly listening to every word, hanging off of them like a monkey who found his favorite branch. Katsuki was unsure how a four year old could pay attention so eagerly when grown adults failed to do so for far more important stuff, but he could only shrug at it and go to sit on his bed.

"Good enough?" He asked.

"Definitely, Hinata says that Thirteen is the best, but she can't even name a single thing she does better."

"Hinata?" Katsuki inquired, more so to get Midoriya talking again. It was always awkward making conversation with someone who was mentally fourteen years your junior, and it took a lot of his power not to be condescending in any way, hence his exclusion from hanging around anyone his age.

"Blue hair, purple eyes, has the quirk to sense butterflies and control them. She sits in front of you I think."

Katsuki slowly blinked, feeling a little bad for not even remembering her name, especially because her light blue hair had always been a backdrop to his day dreaming, reminding him of the sky. She had tried talking to him, but he had given her the cold shoulder.

"Cool…" Katsuki cringed at the fact he had no idea what to say, four years was enough for him to master Japanese but also enough time for his social skills to tank.

Maybe that was why his parents were always worried about him despite his best efforts to play the part, he never brought a friend home or asked to go to one's house.

He was a loner, just like his old life, but did it really matter?

You could repaint the walls a different color, but no matter what the wall underneath was fundamentally the same. Katsuki was far from a people person despite his previous life's model esc looks, because most of his relationships revolved around how handsome he was.

Midoriya was alright, a little too much of a baby, but he was a kid after all. He could be a friend, but would it be sort of grooming if he did so?

Ugh, he always hated having his mind wired to question every little thing, he was sure that would never change.

"Katsuki?" Midoriya asked, emerald eyes darting everywhere but where he currently sat on the bed. "What is your Quirk? Have you manifested it yet?"

Katsuki titled his head, knowing that if he was to show him now there would be no end to questioning, his cousins who would occasionally come over and would never shut up about how cool it was. Although, he would take that over people thinking he was Quirkless, an accusation most of his young classmates kept pestering him about but he didn't really care.

"My Quirk is called [Fireworks], it lets me make explosions." There were more nuances to the power, but for a four year old Midoirya it would suffice.

So, he raised his hand, and a spark danced across his fingers before a small bright orange light denoted on his palm. Smoke emitted from his fingers, crawling up through the air and into the extra ventilation they had installed a month ago.

"Woah!" He really should have not shown him. "That is so cool, that Quirk is great for hero work! Can you control the output? Does it hurt when you do it? Can you do it everywhere on your body? Can-"

Kastuki grimaced, but to be honest they were good questions, as he had been exploring them slowly himself also. He had ten years before he would start his true journey to become a hero, so he was not in a rush to discover every single detail of his Quirk at the moment. He had at the start, but his Mother used her crocs to thoroughly explain the sound of his Quirk was annoying at seven a.m in the morning.

He was just a morning person, sue him, the early bird gets the worm and all that.

"I can detonate it anywhere on my body." Katsuki firmly cut off Midoriya before he could go off again. "It doesn't really hurt much, something about my body being hard wired to tank them, studier bones and more elastic ligaments, and it's a bit hard to focus on the output but I'm getting there."

"Cool!" Midoriya's eyes were practically stars, his body shaking as he had a face that wanted Kastuki to show him more.

Thankfully, they were saved by the door opening wider, a woman Katsuki could only assume was Midoriya's mother walking in.

"Izu, I got what I came for, are you ready to go?" The green haired woman surveyed the room, her gaze landing on Katsuki and causing her to smile brightly. "Hello there Katsuki, I have heard a lot about you from your mother."

He raised an eyebrow at that, hoping that his Mother was not spouting anything bad about him, her foul mouth the only drawback to having her love you. Sometimes, the occasional use of a deadly weapon, and just the thought of those yellow crocs inducing a cold sweat.

"Nice to meet you." He bowed deeply. "Midoriya was fun to talk to."

Of course, he made sure his bow was sloppy, his voice was extra high pitched, and let any roaming thoughts not show on his face to imitate the innocence of a four year old.

"Aren't you just the cutest, hopefully my son didn't make your ears bleed."

"Kaa-san!" Midoriya called out in embarrassment.

"Alright alright," The woman pushed her green locks behind her ear, hand reaching out which her son immediately took. "Say goodbye Izu."

"Bye Katakuri." He waved at Katsuki, not realizing he had messed up his name again.

His mother only giggled, turning to leave after giving him a curt nod. The door shut firmly, letting Katskui relax and go to sit back on his bed again, mind already wandering to his forest of thoughts.

Although, not but a few seconds later the door opened abruptly, and Midoriya ran up to him with a smile.

"Can we be friends?"

Katsuki leveled his gaze at the child, red eyes scanning him up and down before he simply shrugged, "Why not?"

He supposed with this new life, whether he wanted to have it or not, he should try to change for the better.

"Thank you! We are gonna be the best hero duo in the world."

Katsuki just smiled.