11

6:07 PM, Thursday

Izuku's mother and Ochako stood across from them, waiting expectantly.

"What's this big thing you wanted to tell us-um, sweetie, why are you moving me in front of the couch?"

Izuku stepped back to Yagi's side, dodging the question. "Well, it'd probably be easier to just show you."

"What do you..."

Inko's voice trailed off as the small and skinny skeleton next to her son suddenly transformed into the massive and bulky Symbol of Peace. 

"Hello!" All Might boomed. 

Inko's eyes widened so much that Izuku was afraid they'd fall out. She fainted, toppling backward into soft furniture. 

Ochako only blinked. "Huh. Didn't see that coming." 

6:16 PM, Thursday

Izuku maneuvered his unconscious mother into a more comfortable position on the couch with practiced ease. Meanwhile, Ochako interrogated All Might.

All Might himself was in Izuku's living room and currently being interrogated by his best friend. That was an actual thing that was happening. Whoa.

"So you're Yagi Toshinori," Ochako confirmed.

Yagi nodded. "Yes."

"But for a few hours a day, you're All Might and like, super buff and strong. And a lot more hot."

" Ochako -" 

Ochako ignored him. "Am I wrong?" 

"...No, that's uh, correct."

"Neat. I guess that explains Izuku's rant about your decreasing activity and impending retirement."

"What? I never-" 

Ochako poked him, a slight smile playing across her lips. 

"Ah." Izuku really needed to quit muttering. "Yeah, I immediately noticed your patrol times and active hours decreasing five years ago. There was also a clear drop in the number of cases you solved per month and the number of interviews you took."

Yagi blinked. "That obvious, huh?"

"Pretty much. You still held a lot of press conferences, probably to make this step back less prominent. Without knowing about your uh, injury, I just assumed you were retiring. People don't tend to mention it, but you have been a hero for quite a long time."

"...I think that's the kindest way that anyone has ever called me old."

Izuku scratched his hair, embarrassed. 

"But why help us train, Yagi-san?" Ochako asked. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you are. But even if you have more free time now, there have to be a million better things for you to do than train two random teenagers. You could've set up an entire cleanup effort or something instead of driving up every day with your truck to load junk with us. So why?"

Yagi chuckled. "The simple reason? I'm not nearly as busy in this form as you think I am, Young Uraraka, besides some paperwork. Everything I told you that day was true. I was curious and wanted to see the beach clean- a sight that was certainly worth it, by the way. A cleanup effort from my hero self would call way too much attention here, and I wouldn't deprive you two of your training like that. So I helped out myself."

"But moreover-"

"You're retiring soon," Izuku stated quietly.

"Within a few years," Yagi confirmed. Damn. "I've been All Might for quite a long time now, as you said. My body's getting old! So I've started to look toward the future. Training the two of you helped me learn how to do that and recently, I got a teaching job at U.A to find a successor for One for All and nurture the next generation of heroes with my experience."

"You'll still be there to teach us," Ochako realized. 

Yagi grinned. "Yes! And on that note, I must ask- do either of you wish to become my successor? You're both extremely qualified. I don't think Young Midoriya desires the opportunity-"

Izuku shook his head. He had thought about it after learning All Might's secret, of course. He could probably help a lot of people if he became the Symbol of Peace and used All Might's ability. But ultimately, that just wasn't the kind of hero Izuku wanted to be. He didn't need or want that much spotlight- he was far happier becoming an investigative hero like Sir Nighteye and saving people through his intelligence, skill, and future knowledge.

Perfect Recall would be more than enough. 

"-but what about you, Young Uraraka?"

"It's pretty tempting," Ochako admitted. "But no thanks. While being hella' buff would be super cool, I have...more than enough power to control and work on already."

Izuku couldn't help but wonder- if Ochako didn't have to worry about Reset and keep the ability a secret, would she have desired All Might's offer? On the other hand, he didn't even know if the human body could handle three powerful emitters at once- dual quirk users like Ochako were already practically unheard of.

"I respect your decision." Yagi nodded. "One last thing, though- despite being a U.A teacher next year, I won't actually be grading the hero exam. So just as before, both of your successes will be entirely up to your efforts!"

"We understand that, Yagi-san. Don't worry," Izuku grinned back at his favorite hero. "We'll do amazing."

4:58 PM, Sunday

Four months had passed since he made that statement. 125 days, and 125 green books to go with them. Izuku flipped through those memories casually, checking on their improvement.

Izuku and Ochako were both 15 now, a little more well-built than before. 

They started training even harder than before as U.A's exam approached. Having zero clue what they'd be tested on was worrying- for all Izuku knew, it could be something targeted towards powerful applicants, and he'd need every last piece of pitiful human strength he had. 

After the successful capture of Needle Hair, Izuku had started to carefully increase their activities as Prophet. They'd give Tsukauchi hints on small-time villains, maybe a tidbit on a relevant case or the hero news that Izuku kept up with almost constantly.

Izuku convinced Ochako to save every other day instead of every morning, doubling the usual time they gained. Reliving an extra day didn't really matter to him anymore. 

They made sure not to rely on Nono's quirk too much since it was already registered in the quirk database. While its information-gathering abilities were incredible, it had a clearly defined range and couldn't see anything that wasn't happening in public view. His hacking skills were also coming along and were quite helpful in finding criminals- though he didn't want anyone to look into that, either.

Izuku made sure their calls to the detective were timed as unpredictable as possible to avoid suspicion. Tsukauchi was incredibly sharp- a tiny bit of future knowledge was enough for him to close cases and move heroes to exactly where they needed to be in time. He really didn't seem like just a detective at all, actually-

The phone rang, jolting him out of his thoughts. It was the simple one Izuku had specifically for Prophet, containing a voice changer and a few modifications so that it couldn't be traced.

Speak of the devil.

Ochako took it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Prophet. It's me."

"Ah, Tsukauchi-san!" Ochako greeted cheerfully. "You haven't called in a while. Is there something you need?"

"Yes. I need your help finding someone."

"Ah, a villain?"

"No, actually- a hero. He's a good friend of mine named Saltare, who suddenly vanished yesterday during his patrol. He didn't make contact with anyone beforehand, and there is still not a single trace to be found. A source of mine suspects it was a kidnapping."

Ochako hesitated. "You know that I can't control my future visions that well. There's no guarantee that I'll see anything related to..."

"That's fine, " Tsukauchi assured. "But if you do happen to find anything useful, Prophet, please call me."

The detective hung up on her, and Ochako slowly lowered the phone.

"That was weird. He's never asked us to find a hero before..." Ochako noted.

"Yeah." Izuku rubbed his chin. "Saltare's only been gone for a day, and it didn't sound like Tsukauchi had much evidence it was a kidnapping. So why'd he call us- an anonymous informant he barely knows- already?"

Ochako shrugged. "Tsukauchi did say they were good friends- he's probably worried about him. Someone who can see the future is a very welcome, extra set of eyes. But uh, who exactly is Saltare? I've never heard of him before..."

"The Leaping Hero, Saltare, real name Angelo Ikeda." Izuku recited. "A relatively new hero ranked 183 in Japan. His quirk, Leaper, lets him jump pretty high and gives him powerful kicks. He has short, orange hair and this really flashy hero costume."

"Huh. Well, it can't hurt to look for him, even if he isn't actually kidnapped."

"That's true. Tsukauchi didn't really tell us anything except that he vanished yesterday- so if we Reset right now, we'll rewind back around 34 hours and have more than enough time. I already know his patrol route, so if we get a cat to follow him-"

"Didn't you just say his quirk was called 'Leaper',?" Ochako interrupted. "Nono's cats won't be able to trail him if he's jumping around everywhere."

Izuku blinked. Right. 

"Then I guess we have to go with the uh, less legal solution."

5:40 PM, Saturday(First Reset)

"I really should have asked this before," Nono tilted her head to the side. "But Midoriya, why exactly did you have me place a tracking device on a pro hero?"

The three of them were in Izuku's room, the blue-haired girl almost out of place among all his hero merchandise. She had brought two cats with her, both of the adorable creatures now quietly curled into her side. The black cat on her right was the one who snuck Izuku's little device onto the back of Saltare's leg a few hours ago.

Izuku looked up from the tablet in his hands, sparing Nono a glance before staring back down at the moving green dot on the screen. "We were told he'd be kidnapped today so we've been keeping an eye on him-

"Stalking," Nono stated.

"-for the past few hours, but his patrol route is almost over and nothing's happened. It's odd."

The screen displayed a detailed map of Musutafu, with Saltare's route clearly labeled in red and nearby locations shown. Saltare was indicated by a bright green dot and other than when he was sidetracked by fans or actively capturing small-time criminals, the green dot stuck to the schedule and faithfully followed the red line.

Ochako frowned. "Yeah, but there's still enough time for something bad to happen..."

"Couldn't you just tell that detective now that his friend might get kidnapped?" Nono wondered.

Izuku was already shaking his head. "We have no information so that won't really work. That's why I wanted to see what happens first-wait, something's happening!"

The dot suddenly started racing off its directed path, zooming through the streets far faster than the Leaping Hero's usual pace across rooftops. 

He must be in a car. Izuku monitored the path carefully, hoping that they wouldn't leave the tracking device's limited range. 

"Saltare's pretty far away from his patrol route now," Ochako stated. "I think this is the kidnapping that Tsukauchi was talking about."

"Well, he could have still gotten in the vehicle willingly," Nono pointed out. "We can't see anything- he could be driving himself, for all we know."

Ten minutes later, the little green dot stopped on a building. But to their surprise, it wasn't at an unknown location or even anywhere suspicious.

It was the opposite.

Izuku blinked. "That's-that's the Water Hose Duo's agency. So all he was just...going to a meeting?"

What? There was no way Tsukauchi didn't know his friend was simply visiting another agency. The incident must have happened here- and now that he'd stopped somewhere, Izuku needed to track Saltare for even longer in case he got kidnapped on the way back. 

How irritating.

The three of them settled in for a boring few hours, taking turns staring at the stupid tablet and its unmoving green dot.

Ochako brought out some homemade mochi during the wait, something Izuku and Nono thanked her dearly for. Even the cats seemed to enjoy the dessert. 

Nothing ever changed- Saltare remained perfectly accounted for in the Water Hose Duo's agency, even as night fell. 

Impossible. Tsukauchi told him that Saltare was kidnapped during his patrol, so either something bizarre had happened to the agency or- 

Oh.

Izuku sighed. "Wow, I'm dumb ."

"Sometimes, yeah." Ochako agreed readily. "What happened?"

"So you know how we're waiting here for a kidnapping based on zero information, right-"

4:56 PM, Sunday(First Reset)

Ochako pressed her fingertips together, and they glowed a light, pretty blue. "Save." 

Two more minutes passed before their phone rang, just as before.

"Hey, Prophet. It's me-"

"Hello, Tsukauchi-san." Ochako greeted. "Is there something you need?"

"Yes. I need your help finding someone."

"Who?"

"A hero and good friend of mine named Saltare. He vanished yesterday during his patrol. He didn't make contact with anyone beforehand, and there is still not a single trace to be found. A source of mine suspects it was a kidnapping."

Ochako answered calmly, her response already prepared. "You know that I can't control my future visions that well. There's no guarantee that I'll see anything related to your missing hero."

"That's fine, " Tsukauchi assured. "But if you do happen to find anything useful, Prophet, please call me."

The detective hung up on her, and Ochako slowly lowered the phone. She looked over at Izuku. 

"I honestly don't blame you for falling for that. He sounded pretty genuine to me too, there-"

"I know, right?!"

7:26 PM, Monday(First Reset)

And so, Prophet didn't do a single thing to find Saltare over the next day, already knowing that he would be safe with the Water Hose Duo the entire time. But the public- and by extension, Prophet- wouldn't have any way of knowing where he was without literally stalking the hero as they did.

Izuku really had to give Tsukauchi credit for his simple yet very effective plan to find out Prophet's true capabilities. 

First, the detective would tell them about a 'kidnapped' hero and ask Prophet to find him. Prophet would look into the future and then one of three things would happen- either they'd get nothing helpful, they'd find out where Saltare actually was, or they'd see Tsukauchi reveal a fake story about Saltare's whereabouts a day later.

If they got nothing helpful, Prophet's foresight would be seen as weak and unreliable. Izuku briefly considered letting them think this, but it might make Prophet a more vulnerable- and attractive- target.

If they found out where Saltare actually was, Tsukauchi would know that Prophet's foresight was precise and could find exactly who they wanted, even if they were in secure locations like a hero agency. In this case, Tsukauchi would probably play the kidnapping thing off as a misunderstanding. 

If they see Tsukauchi's fake story, the detective would know that the foresight was focused on Prophet themself and even its relative range if he planned out when to tell them the tale.

It was a foolproof plan that'd benefit Tsukauchi no matter how their foresight really worked-

But unfortunately for him, Ochako's quirk wasn't actually foresight.

Ochako picked up the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's Tsukauchi again," The detective said. "I'm just calling to tell you that we already found Saltare. Reports showed that he got captured in the middle of his patrol but luckily, he broke free of the villains within a few hours and was saved by Kamui Woods! He doesn't seem to be harmed at all, either."

"Wow, what a lucky guy! That's incredible!" Ochako deadpanned. 

Izuku stifled a snort.

"Yes, it is-"

"Reset."

Reset.

4:58 PM, Sunday(Second Reset)

Ochako picked up the phone.

"Hey, Prophet. It's me."

"Tsukauchi-san." Ochako greeted lightly. "You haven't called me in a while. Is there something you need?"

"Yes. I need your help finding someone."

"Really? Who?"

"A hero and good friend of mine named Saltare-"

Ochako cut him off. "Wait, are you talking about the guy with orange hair and a super flashy costume?"

"Yes-"

"Ah, don't worry about him. I heard with my quirk that he was captured by villains while on his patrol but escaped within a few hours with the help of Kamui Woods. Apparently, there wasn't even a scratch on him!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, he must be an incredible hero! I'm honestly surprised the man is only ranked 183. My vision also told me that he was set to have a meeting with the famous Water Hose Duo around the same time- probably to discuss those same villains who kidnapped him. I should try to find out who they are, actually- they sound pretty dangerous!" 

Silence.

"Are you still there, Tsukauchi-san? Is something wrong?"

"...Ah, no, it's nothing. I was just surprised. Your foresight quirk is remarkably powerful, Prophet-"

"Thank you! Oh, sorry, I've gotta go now. Something's about to come up. Cya, Tsukauchi-san!" 

Ochako hung up on him, cackling, and Izuku laughed with her. 

The police were finally getting serious about finding Prophet- yet as long as they didn't know what her quirk actually was, they'd always be several steps behind them.

Notes:

Poor Tsukauchi, trying his best to find out more about their mysterious informant and being confused completely.

Reset is simply OP with this kind of thing, letting Izuku explore the situation entirely and then go "Huh, so that's what I need to do." for the best possible outcome.

I hope this chapter didn't skip around with its timeframes too much! At this rate the chapters are going to be so complicated I'll need to make a better labeling system...

I also kind of gloss over Izuku's constant explanations to Ochako, since those are reasonably implied and clog up the flow.

Ochako's lines to Tsukauchi are interesting to write too because I'm trying to make them something she'd say, something fitting whatever knowledge/feeling she currently has, and all technically the truth.