3

Chapter 3

Notes:

Sorry for the long wait!

Chapter Text

2296

Izuku leapt to the side, instincts kicking in. He felt the rush of air as the ball tore past him at incredible speed before smashing into the building behind him.

"Really?!" he asked, slightly alarmed.

"Sorry!" came the yell from the other side of the court. Izuku sighed, picking another ball from the bag.

Izuku had been experimenting with various sports to play while bored. He came across tennis in a magazine and wanted to try it. 

He had almost no experience with games. With no friends, Izuku had no one to play with.

After Izuku showed her an image to use as reference, Aurora set up a tennis court made completely out of light on Dagobah Beach. Violet light represented boundaries, formed into a net, and covered the sand below them for a flat surface.

Magic really was incredibly useful.

Tennis was something that was impossible for him to practice when she wasn't there, but that just meant they could get better at the sport together. 

If there was anyone else there to see them, they would be amazed at the game. A ball of light zooming back and forth at incredible speeds across a court of light, both players moving at similar velocity.

Aurora was having the time of her life.

Her starry hair waved wildly, somehow not getting in her face. Aurora's smile was wide, almost blinding as Izuku was reminded once again why she was a goddess of light.

The warm feeling in his chest must surely be her magic.

Aurora didn't seem to be tiring from the match. To her, supersonic tennis was probably light exercise.

Izuku, on the other hand, was using all of his concentration to keep up. Using practiced reflexes to predict the ball, he could make up for his current lack of speed. The effort was taxing though, and after a few hours Izuku's t-shirt was drenched in sweat.

After...40?(He had to check that timer again) years spent training, Izuku's body had become near perfect as he reached peak human condition. It had felt weird at first, years passing as he felt his body change yet not age a single day. He compared it to a very old American comic he had found, about a weak man given a special drug and was instantly strengthened to the limits of the human body. 

Izuku's gained muscle mass condensed instead of piling on, resulting in a more lean frame. Izuku had stopped getting taller, and was now about a head above Aurora. 

This was another reason Izuku never stopped training. As long as the time on Earth was paused, he had a limitless capacity to get stronger.

Aurora was holding back on her speed to keep the match fair, but her control was slipping in her excitement.

Izuku knew that she had no reason to worry about holding back normally, as everyone else she knew was ridiculously strong. The fact that she tried for his sake showed how kind she was.

The workaholic part of his brain was happy with the intense training too.

"Hey Izuku?" Aurora asked as she spiked the ball, using definitely too much force.

Izuku's eyes widened, and he ducked as the ball slammed into the violet ground and rebounded where his head was. 

"Yeah? I'm not getting that ball by the way." Izuku added as he watched the projectile zoom away.

There was no way he was looking for where that landed.

Aurora rolled her eyes, creating another ball of light in her palm. They had started out using normal tennis balls, but the equipment always ended up exploding from the force(Izuku blamed Aurora completely).

"Have you ever thought about travelling?" Aurora asked, out of nowhere.

"Aren't you not allowed to take me to any other world other than Earth?" Izuku said, confused.

Aurora nodded. 

"Yes, but I can take you to anywhere on Earth with teleportation magic if you have a reference. I can always sense you Izuku, so you won't have to worry about me ever losing you while you explore."

Izuku had looked around the Shizuoka prefecture and other cities around Japan in his search for libraries. However, since there was no one to fly him he hadn't left the country. Learning to fly an airplane wasn't something Izuku was interested in, and was far down on his to do list. But this was the perfect chance to tour his home.

He grinned.

"Let me show you exactly why we humans love this place."

Aurora smiled back, eyes glittering. 

"I look forward to it."

Then she launched the ball at his face again, without warning.

2298

Europe was beautiful .

Izuku, armed with the internet and too much time, picked all the best cities. It was pretty much a tourist's dream: No crowds, no spending on anything.

Aurora was there once a week to marvel at the view with him. Izuku spent the rest of the time reading and learning new languages. Even when he now knew Japanese, German, Spanish, and English, French was hard .

Izuku stayed in hotels. Without people though, the empty buildings made him feel so lonely that he made sure he was constantly reading or training. 

Was this what the rest of humanity felt when they were sent away? The feeling of being far away from what you call home?

He was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar flash of light, as Aurora teleported into his hotel room. 

While his clothing taste had gotten slightly better from meeting someone frequently, hers had been drastically influenced by her time spent on Earth. 

Aurora was wearing a red dress that was simplistic in design but suited her completely. She had been growing out her hair, and it now fell to her shoulders. The stars unique to her eyes seemed to be sparkling , and she wore an excited smile at what he could have planned.

She was beautiful.

Aurora blushed, the pink contrasting with her purple eyes.

Ah, Izuku must have said that out loud. 

"Did you wait long?" Aurora asked, recovering. She held out her hand.

Izuku smiled, taking it.

"Not really, I was just thinking."

"So what's the place you wanted to show me?"

Izuku pictured the city in his mind, the one that had amazed him in the brochure.

"It's a surprise."

Izuku opened his eyes as they reappeared, high up. 

"So where are w-" Aurora started, and then cut off. Izuku saw why a moment later.

There was no one to maintain electricity, but with time stopped on Earth lightbulbs essentially had infinite power. Izuku had never been so glad for it until now.

The view of Paris from the Eiffel Tower was breathtaking. A seemingly endless amount of lights spread outward below him, buildings flashing and roads visible like paths filled with stationary cars.

It finally struck him now that this was the exact definition of a date, but for some reason that fact didn't bother him at all. 

"I take back every bad thing I've ever said about Earth." Aurora said breathlessly, breaking the stunned silence. Her eyes were wide as she took in the sight.

Izuku chuckled lightly at her reaction as they stood there together. The realization slowly set in as he watched Aurora happily point out what she could see.

He loved her.

By human standards, Izuku was ridiculously dense. Izuku had known her for at least 50 years, already half of a human's lifespan. When he looked back on it, Izuku was meeting someone once a week, usually at a beach or restaurant. They were basically dating already, only not romantically. Today was a major example: dressing up to show her the view in Paris of all things.

By divine standards, Izuku was realizing his feelings...too early? From what he knew, gods had incredibly high lifespans. A mere 50 years was probably not much to her. Izuku didn't actually know how old Aurora was, since he figured it would be pretty rude to ask. Izuku had no idea how divine beings dated anyway. 

Another question was why. Izuku had read enough shoujo manga to know that love just happened. But Aurora was the only person he had to talk to. Was he falling for her just because there was no one else?

Aurora deserved better than that.

His long buried self discouragement showed itself for the first time in decades. Izuku didn't have a complete understanding of his feelings. He wasn't enough.

Yet.

He let out a fond smile as he lifted her hand, pointing out his favorite parts of the view.

Izuku had time.

2323

Izuku knew he had loved analyzing, especially quirks, before The Drift(He figured it would be easier to think of the event with a name.)

Now, Izuku has an incredibly faint memory of superpowers- quirks . The only two heroes he knew of were All Might and Present Mic, and he had broken down their quirks long ago. 

Izuku's ability to analyze things had instead developed into an intense drive to learn and adapt. Most of this was spent training his martial arts, or whatever new thing he found interesting to try.

At the point where he had an incredible understanding of Divinity, Izuku focused on developing his own staff techniques. 

What he had the most time analyzing through, was Aurora's magic.

It made sense, as a goddess she must have countless years to practice. A simple name like 'Light Magic' just didn't seem to fit in with the notebook's worth of things she was capable of.

Just when Izuku thought he had seen everything, she would absorb the brightness from the nearby streetlight into her hair as she complained about a headache. 

So today, when Aurora said she had something magical to show him, he wasn't surprised. Excited yet worried, yes.

"Why are we in a football stadium?" Izuku asked.

"For the space! Plus, this was the closest thing to an arena nearby." Aurora answered, excited as her arms gestured wide at the stadium.

They used to spar on Dagobah Beach, but that changed once they started travelling. Since they no longer had a fixed location, Aurora just chose clearings or wide areas for their practice. It wasn't like there was anyone to complain.

"So we're going to fight?" Izuku said, preparing himself.

"Well... we're not going to fight." Aurora intoned, a strange expression forming on her face.

Izuku didn't like that smile very much.

She raised her hands, and then closed her eyes in concentration. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then something began to form. 

Violet light condensed before gradually taking shape. Izuku could make out claws, and strong limbs connecting to a lion's body. But then wings formed out of the creature's back, along with a deadly looking tail. The creature moved to Aurora's side, alive , coming up to her shoulders even on all fours.

Izuku faintly remembered the creature from ancient human mythology. A manticore, a beast with a lion's body, yet also wings and a venomous tail.

"You can create creatures! That's amazing!" Izuku exclaimed, awed. She just made a being out of nothing.

Aurora grinned, clearly enjoying the praise.

"Using your advice, I figured it out. My light can replicate life, as long as I understand it!"

Aurora opened her palm, focusing. After a few seconds, a pigeon formed, before flying away and dissipating. 

Just as Izuku was growing and adapting, so was she. 

"So where did you see a manticore?" Izuku asked, curious.

Aurora launches into a story about witnessing a battle between a manticore and a pro hero on a forest planet. The hero apparently had some kind of earth manipulation quirk, and was able to contain the beast's flames and bury it. 

Aurora was able to visit other planets to help with magical related issues as part of the Council of Light. Izuku thought that sounded extremely important, but she brushed it off as simply "her job". Currently she was monitoring Earth, and he saw her every Saturday. 

She couldn't take him to any other planets, something that infuriated her.

Decades ago, the goddess hesitated from bringing up stories of world's other than the god's realm. But she understood that it didn't affect him anymore.

Izuku had accepted that he would not see anyone else for quite some time.

His current life- months passing in an instant with training and weekly conversations- were all he really remembered. And Izuku enjoyed his current life. That didn't mean he didn't enjoy hearing about other worlds. 

Or wasn't lonely.

"So can you make sentient life?" Izuku suddenly said.

Aurora frowned. "Not yet. Right now, they only follow my commands, although they might have basic intelligence." 

Izuku felt a small pang of disappointment, but not as much as he expected. It would have been really weird anyway to ask her to make people for him to talk to.

He looked at the manticore, who had been still during their conversation.

"So when are we going to sta-" Izuku was cut off as the manticore leapt at him, claws flashing. Reflexes kicking in, he leapt backward as the creature landed where he was, unslinging his trusty staff from his back in a fluid movement.

How rude.

"Begin!" Aurora yelled with a wide grin, as if the manticore hadn't already started trying to kill him.

Izuku was mainly on the defensive, dodging and parrying the manticore's claws and jaws. Manticores could breathe fire, but since it was a light replica the beast instead emitted a burst of violet light that was similar to Aurora's own attacks. All of this combined with the tail whipping and stabbing at him, and a manticore was quite deadly.

But it was just too slow. Or more accurately, Izuku was too fast for it.

Izuku moved gracefully, dodging the attacks with skill born from years of experience. The light beams were the easiest to dodge, reminding him of his spars with Aurora. Izuku's raw speed was more than enough for the tail to fly harmlessly past him, and claws were deflected before they could reach him. The manticore almost seemed to be getting frustrated, if that was possible for a light creature.

Finally, the beast made a desperate lunge, jaws wide as it reached for him...

Now.

In a smooth moment, Izuku twisted and the beast passed him yet again. 

But this time, he counter attacked.

He breathed in, focusing his strength into his arms as he moved into the familiar stance.

"Stance Two:"

Izuku swung his staff in an arc with all of his force and slamming into the beast's jaw.

"Bash."

The manticore shattered , breaking into light fragments that dissolved into the air.

Izuku grinned, the familiar feeling of accomplishment rising up. He hadn't ever sparred with anyone other than Aurora, and although he sometimes beat her she never went all out. This was a pure fight, that he won.

Furthermore, his technique worked . His created stances seemed to be worth the years of practice. 

"Can I fight it again?" Izuku pleaded.

2346

Izuku's hair was turning white. 

He didn't realize at first. There wasn't much point in caring too much how he looked when there was almost no one to see him. Izuku wasn't exactly a very social person in general either. 

At least, that's what he assumed. Izuku couldn't really remember what his life was like before the Drift. He did know he was quirkless, and with an invisible quirk he was definitely bullied. There wasn't a single trace of him ever knowing a close friend either. 

So Izuku, being the antisocial, unfashionable person that he was, didn't notice his hair color until he saw his reflection in a store window. 

Izuku's hair was still mostly green. However, a decent portion was now white, creeping in like snow. Nothing else seemed to be different. His eyes were still green, giving him an interesting contrast. 

He opened his phone to check the year counter he made, and was shocked.

Izuku had been abandoned by humanity for over a century .

Aurora was confused when he brought it up to her.

"Don't humans end up with white hair after many years?"

"Yes, because we get old. But I'm not supposed to age right?" Izuku asked, his worry leaking into his voice.

Was he dying? Izuku didn't feel like he was aging. His body and mind were still in ideal condition as he continued to train. Maybe he didn't notice he was getting older biologically because of Earth being paused?

"You don't age right now." Aurora stated calmly, shutting down his spiral. "It's probably the effects of living and training this long on your body. I mean no human has been suspended in time before, not to mention for such an extended period of time."

Aurora tilted her head in thought. "I could try scanning you if you wanted?"

Using her magic to scan creatures allowed her to use a blueprint to see how to recreate them. By extension, Aurora would know if something was happening to him.

Izuku nodded.

The familiar light beamed over him, but unlike her attacks, it didn't hurt at all. Instead, it felt warm, almost like a hug.

Aurora smiled when she ended her lightshow. 

"Nothing's wrong. You're still Izuku Midoriya, just with whitish hair."

"Also, it kind of looks better this way." Aurora added, leaning back on the couch.

Aurora missed Izuku's slight blush at the comment.

She made something that worried him seem so simple. 

Izuku realized that until then, it hadn't fully clicked that he wasn't aging. But this meant he really did have time. Time to get stronger, learn whatever he wanted.

Whatever he wanted?

"Hey Aurora?"

"Yeah?" she responded, turning towards him.

"Is it possible for me to learn magic?" Izuku asked.

Aurora just stared at him, eyes wide. He knew it, it was a dumb quest-

"You mean that you've watched me use magic constantly, for a century, and you're asking now?" she asked, incredulous. 

Izuku scratched his head awkwardly, a bit embarrassed by her reaction.

"Well you talked about how the magic you could learn was based on your quirk. Since I'm quirkless…" Izuku trailed off.

Suddenly, Aurora grabbed his hands, focusing. Used to her bursts of inspiration, he waited.

Soon Izuku felt the same feeling run through him from earlier as she scanned him briefly before opening her eyes. 

"Your body has the capacity for reinforcement magic." Aurora said. "But your right, you don't have magic circuits yourself."

Aurora grinned. 

"So I'll give you some!" she continued, beaming. "But I'll warn you, it'll probably hurt. Are you sure you want me to do it?"

Izuku didn't bother asking if she could do it. The confident smile told him everything. How could he say no to having magic? Aurora wouldn't have mentioned it if it could kill him.

"I trust you." Izuku answered, easily. For some reason, this caused her cheeks to take on a pink tint. Maybe she was tired? 

Aurora held his hands again, breaking him out of his thoughts, and he braced himself.

For a second, there was blinding pain. It was like being electrocuted from the inside of his body, feeling every part of him cry out. And then it ended, as soon as it started.

Izuku lifted his hands, looking at them. Nothing seemed different, but he could feel the energy under his skin, completely calm compared to a moment ago. 

When he concentrated, a violet spark formed on his fingers.

Izuku lifted his gaze to Aurora to thank her, but found her passed out. A lazy smile filled her face as she lay on the couch.

She really did so much for him.

Izuku reached over to wake her; it was late and she probably needed to go back. Then he paused. Checking the time, there were still a few hours left.

It would be fine if he let her sleep a little longer.