Perfect Reset by shansome

Summary:

Midoriya Izuku's quirk: Perfect Recall. The ability to relive any part of his past with all five senses isn't exactly the most powerful of quirks. Despite that, Izuku's going to become a hero. Even if he has to essentially fight quirkless.

But then one long, long, day, he meets her. And everything changes.

Or: If Uraraka had a second quirk, one that lets her rewind the entire world back to a specific point. The only catch? Her own memory gets reset along with everyone else-everyone, that is, but a single boy with a weak quirk.

Chapter 1Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter TextReset. 7:58 AM, Wednesday(Third Time)

"Izuku, are you okay?" Midoriya Inko asked as her son shoveled katsudon into his mouth with his left hand, writing furiously into a fresh notebook with the right. "You seem a little...distracted today."

Midoriya Izuku waved his pencil at her, making sure he finished chewing before he answered. "Sorry Mom, I just found a really interesting quirk and couldn't wait to note it down."

Inko shook her head with a smile. Her baby really loved analyzing quirks. "Oh really? What's this one called?"

"I don't know its real name, yet." Izuku shrugged, and she suddenly noticed that his bright green eyes were a little dimmer, today. Did something happen?

"But I've named it Reset."

Property of Izuku Midoriya, 13 years old.

Quirk Name: Reset. 

User: Unknown.

Ability: Emitter, Time Reversal/Manipulation.

Observed Use: Three consecutive times so far, rewinding back from 7:50 PM to 7:58 AM. No one seems to remember the Reset other than me. It is unknown if the user can rewind further than this, or if their limit is capped at around twelve hours. But why are they creating a time loop in the first place, constantly rewinding back at the exact same time? Is there some event at 7:50 PM that they keep failing to stop?

Possible Applications: Nearly limitless. In hero work, villain attacks could be predicted, police cases solved with extra time, and any human losses reversed. And in day-to-day life, well, everyone wants to fix their mistakes.

Drawbacks: No drawbacks have been observed, as of now.

"Midoriya. Can you answer the last question, please?" Yoshida-sensei prompted, his voice a bland monotone. 

"It's C, Sensei," Izuku replied, not even bothering to look up from his notebook.

"Correct, Midoriya. Next..." Izuku zoned out again, letting the man drone on.

Izuku sighed. If this class had been boring the first time, by the third Izuku was ready to leap out the window. Why couldn't he be stuck in a time loop on the weekend or something?

He had hacked into the quirk database last loop. But there was no time manipulation quirk listed; if one did exist they'd probably be in hiding or a well-known hero.

The class bell chimed, and Izuku was already out the doorway-

"Oi, Deku!"

-but apparently still not fast enough. Izuku turned around reluctantly.

He played back his memory of the past few seconds, comparing it to the other variations of the day. Katsuki always got up just as he did, meaning that Izuku, unfortunately, couldn't avoid this talk unless he left class early.

Katsuki Bakugou was an incredibly talented teenager; blessed with reflexes, a powerful quirk, and the intelligence to consistently stay right behind Izuku grade-wise. Unfortunately, this inflated the boy's pride. A lot.

"Hey, you give up on being a damn hero yet?" Katsuki demanded.

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Why would I do that, Katsuki?" Like every other time he'd used that name instead of "Kacchan", the blonde twitched the smallest bit.

"I don't know how many times I need to say this, you shitty nerd-"

"'-but with that weak quirk, you'll just fucking die trying to do hero work!'" Izuku cut him off, imitating his gruff voice. Katsuki sputtered, caught off guard as Izuku used his exact words. "Is that what you wanted to say?"

Katsuki gritted his teeth, switching tactics. "Get a job as a quirk analyst or some shit, Deku. But as a hero, you'd be fighting quirkless."

He didn't hate Katsuki. The boy wasn't really his friend anymore, despite how close their parents were, but at the same time he was looking out for Izuku in some condescending way.

That didn't make it any less annoying, though.

"I'm becoming an underground hero; I won't be in those flashy fights anyway. And plenty of heroes don't have combat-related quirks- I'll use support gear."

"What about Auntie Inko?"

The third time through this conversation, it was essentially a script. Izuku's memory told him exactly what Katsuki was going to say, and word-by-word what he responded. 

"My mother supports me," Izuku said, a bit more irritation than the last loop in his voice. "You don't have the right to throw her name at me like that. Leave me alone."

The blonde's eyes flashed. 

Izuku sidestepped in a fluid movement, and Katsuki stumbled over his foot, mid-lunge, and crashed to the floor.

"I'll never give up on being a hero, Katsuki."

Izuku walked away from Katsuki, ignoring the angry shout behind him. Katsuki didn't make any more moves, though.

Even Aldera couldn't help their favorite student if he started a fight in a crowded hallway.

3:17 PM

Izuku texted his mom that he would be out with friends as soon as he got out of school. 

Lying to her felt horrible, but there were less than five hours till the next Reset and he still had no clues to how to break out of the loop. 

Both Resets so far, Izuku was a different spot at 7:50. He didn't notice anything special before the Reset was already happening. So why was Izuku the only one who seemed to remember, if the quirk's activation had no connection to him?

Izuku had a photographic memory; his quirk letting him recall any moment in his 13 years of life with perfect clarity(including the first day he had consciousness, weird). That could be why he could. But Izuku had never experienced a Reset before, meaning that the quirk hadn't been used once over Izuku's entire lifetime.

Izuku placed a hand on his forehead, already feeling a headache pound his skull. The suspects were endless; even a four-year-old newly awakening his ability could be the one causing this time loop. Did Izuku have to check every single kid in Mustatafu? How would he even do that?

What it was somebody across the world? He'd be unable to do a thing-

He forced the panic away. He'd leave that possibility for later. 

Izuku chose a different street to stroll down this run-through, wandering aimlessly as his thoughts raced.

Villain attacks. Maybe he'd find one right before the Reset? That was exactly the kind of thing that'd force you to rewind time.

6:34 PM

He got to see a pro-hero fight.

Kamui Woods captured her easily using his quirk, Lumber without any deaths. Izuku was so excited to see a pro fight in person, flashing back through the memory over and over with a grin.

The giddiness started to fade though, as he realized he still had nothing to show for this loop. His phone was constantly monitoring the police radio(which he'd gotten into easily, they really needed more security if a thirteen-year-old could hack into it), but there weren't any more villains showing up.

Not that Izuku wanted a villain to attack, of course, but he didn't have any other ideas.

His eyes caught on a bright sign, reading out 'Starlight Cafe' in glowing yellow.

He stifled a yawn, coffee sounded pretty amazing right now. Then he dismissed the urge. Something could happen, right past the street, and he'd miss it. He couldn't take the chance.

This time loop thing was really not as fun as it should be, Izuku sighed as he walked away.

Everything was Reset once again in a brilliant display of power.

The world deconstructed around him, roads and buildings and people reduced to blocks and drifting away. They were replaced by a field of pure white, expanding faster and faster. Izuku turned to meet the light as it approached from behind, closing his eyes just before he was engulfed in light- 

Wait a minute. Didn't that mean the Reset had just come from that way?

Reset. 7:58 AM, Wednesday(Fourth Time) 

Where he just was, Izuku realized, was close to the quirk's user. In an incredible stroke of luck, his search had been narrowed down.

"Slow down on your food Izuku, your not late!"

"Sorry, Mom!"

3:10 PM

"Excuse me, Yoshida-sensei?"

The teacher paused, surprised. "Yes, Midoriya?"

"Can I leave early? I have a...cram class soon, and I don't want to be late."

Yoshida-sensei merely nodded, and Izuku passed a grumbling blonde on his way out. 

Izuku activated his quirk, setting off on the exact same path he took in his memory.

7:26

By finding where he was last Reset using a Mapping app, he could systematically search in a wide radius around it. He'd skipped the Kamui Woods fight in a tremendous show of self-control, giving him plenty of time to find Reset's user!

-is what Izuku had thought, like a foolish fool. He slumped his shoulders as the truth hit.

Without some kind of high-level vision quirk, or Ragdoll's Search, one teenager just couldn't search through an entire area in time. Obviously. 

Maybe he should go to the police? 

'I've been hit by a one-in-a-million time travel quirk! You've got to help me break out of a time loop!'

Never mind, there's no way they'd believe him.

Izuku blinked out of his thoughts, realizing he was standing in front of the Starlight Cafe once again. Huh. His exhausted body must really want coffee. 

That's how he found himself taking a booth near the counter, feeling himself relax a little in the cafe's lighting.

"Hello, what can I get you today?" A bright voice said next to him.

Izuku glanced up to see a brunette smiling at him, menu in hand. Why was someone his age working in a cafe? 

"Uh...coffee?" 

Photographic memory and he still couldn't remember what else he was supposed to specify. Figures.

"What size?" The girl prompted kindly. 'Uraraka', he read off her nametag. 

"Medium, please." 

"I'll be right back then," Uraraka walked away, and he checked his phone.

7:45

Five minutes then. His only goal right now was filling up on caffeine before he was forced to go through the day, yet again. He'd think of something new next loop.

Wait, would the caffeine even transfer over? Hm.

Izuku absently wondered how he was so calm about the whole time loop thing. Maybe it was because reliving his past was exactly what his quirk did? When he met Reset's user, maybe he'd ask them if they felt the same way.

Then a man burst through the door, and Izuku almost jumped out of his seat. 

He was tall, his face sharp and alert and a little bit scary. His eyes scanned over Izuku and the few customers before landing on the employee there, Uraraka.

Izuku's gaze sharpened, photographic memory feeding him more and more details on instinct as the man stormed up to the counter. That pink coat was ugly, really, what was he even thinking? It clashed with those gloves, and especially that knife-

Oh. Oh no.

"You there, kid. Hand over all the cash this cafe's got." He waved the weapon carelessly at Uraraka, a clear threat.

A robbery, Izuku realized too late. Could Izuku take him down? He had some training, but he wasn't a licensed hero in any sense of the word. With no clue what the villain's quirk was, he'd just make things worse. The best thing to do, he knew, was to let the man take the money and leave, without hurting anyone.

But it was almost 7:50. This robbery could be exactly what caused the Reset. 

Uraraka's fingers were trembling, but she did as he asked and unloaded the cash register as Izuku and the rest of the customers watched, anxious and silent. The man grew more and more impatient as the counter filled with yen, tapping his fingers against the wood.

"Hurry up, I don't have all day here." His gaze wandered over the rest of them as he waited, and Izuku resisted a shiver when it washed over him. Then the villain's eyes narrowed on something behind him.

Izuku felt his heart sink through the ground as a woman froze in her seat, her phone still held up to her ear. Did she just try to call the cops...in clear view of the villain?

Damn it. Even he had more common sense than that.

The man's face twisted into a scowl as he lunged, grabbing Uraraka. The girl let out a short scream and in a fluid movement, the knife was held up to her neck as his other arm gripped her elbow.

"What's the fucking deal, bitch?" He tightened his hold on Uraraka, and Izuku tensed. "Who'd you just call? Eh?"

"Nobody, I swear! It was just my boyfrien-"

"Bullshit!" The villain snarled. 

Izuku stood, hands up. He had to salvage this somehow. "Hey, hey. Why don't you just take the money and leave before the cops can even get here? This cafe's pretty new, so that's probably all she's got anyway."

The villain met his very reasonable statement with a hard glare. " That's all this shitty cafe's got? Well then, I don't need this brat." The knife pressed harder into Uraraka's throat and Perfect Recall burned the image of a small drop of blood dripping slowly down her neck, deep into Izuku's mind.

And then Izuku was moving before he knew it.

He elbowed the man's knife-arm, pushing it away before his palm struck his chin. The villain stumbled back, and Izuku yanked Uraraka behind him in the opening.

"Y-yeah, no," Izuku said, willing his knees not to shake. He'd never been in a real fight before. "Why don't you just leave?"

The villain laughed in his face. Rude. 

"A kid trying to play hero, eh? What are you, ten?"

"I'm thirteen!" Izuku protested, indignant. Did he really look that small?

"Whatever, brat. I'm going to fucking kill both of you, and then that bitch over there on the phone." 

The villain lunged.

There was a dangerous villain who racked up dozens of kills a few years back, named 'Dagger' by the media. His knife-summoning quirk and skill were unstoppable for years until Miruko finally brought him down.

Izuku flashed through the video in his mind.

He ducked low under the first slash, twisting out of the way of the next. The man hurled his fist forward- too wide- and Izuku sidestepped and kicked him in the ankle, just like Miruko would.

"The hell!" Izuku deflected a heavy arm, his limbs already tiring, before punching him in the stomach. "Why is this kid so hard to hit?!"

Izuku grinned as he knocked the knife out of the villain's hand with a chop, letting it clatter to the ground before throwing a punch at the man's face. "Gotcha, villain-san-"

His much smaller fist stopped as the man's palm closed around it, and the villain smirked. Oh.

"No, I got you, brat."

Pain.

Izuku's vision went white for a moment. He felt like he was on fire as a sharp sting ran through his entire body at once. His thoughts were stilted as his mind was forced to memorize the sensation, before he toppled to the ground, completely numb.

A touch-based electrification quirk, Izuku realized. Activated with all five fingers. All Izuku had focused on was the knife; so many years spent on quirk analysis and he forgets about the villain's quirk in his first real fight.

He'd been so stupid.

"How does it feel? Much worse than any taser, huh? " The man chuckled, picking up the fallen knife. "Serves you right, dumbass. But don't worry, I'll end you soon-"

"Leave him alone!" A fist slammed into his face, almost knocking the villain over. 

Izuku blinked. Uraraka?

The villain growled Uraraka grabbed Izuku's elbow, trying to drag his fallen body away.

"No, no, you need to run away!" Izuku urged.

"What do you-" Uraraka huffed. "-think I'm doing!"

There was no way they could outrun the villain like that.

He raised the knife high, aiming for the still paralyzed Izuku. But instead of moving, Uraraka raised her arms wide in front of him like a shield, her face setting into something determined.

Izuku forced his eyes shut, desperately refusing the memory. Yet he still heard it happen; the unmistakable sound of the girl he'd known for minutes sacrificing herself, and that was enough to make him scream as everything went white once again.

Reset. 7:58 AM, Wednesday(Fifth Time)

"Izuku, is something wrong?"

Izuku's smile didn't reach his eyes. "I'm fine, Mom, don't worry."

Inko bit her lip. "If your sure, honey. Just tell me if there's anything I can do to help, okay?"

"I'm fine," Izuku said, his eyes burning.

He'd be prepared, this time.

3:10 PM

Property of Midoriya Izuku.

Reset.

New information: Reset's user is found to be 'Uraraka', a girl who seems to be around my age. Quirk seems to activate automatically when the user is in critical condition.

The page tore there, his pencil stabbing through the page. He took a deep breath and kept writing.

Can she use Reset at will, then? Given that Uraraka had no clue the villain was going to attack, her quirk doesn't carry her memories back with her as mine did. But why? Doesn't that make Reset completely useless?

"Excuse me, Yoshida-sensei?"

The teacher paused, surprised. "Yes, Midoriya?"

"Can I leave early? I have a cram class soon, and I don't want to be late."

7:40

Usually, the more Izuku viewed a memory the less emotion he would feel watching it. 

But now, as Izuku's mind played back the villain fight over and over until the ache in his chest had turned into an angry blaze, that just wasn't true.

Seeing Uraraka, bright and alive as he walked into the cafe was disorienting. He probably stared a bit too long as he took the same seat as before.

"Hello, what can I get you today?"

Izuku glanced up. "Can I have a coffee, medium please?"

"I'll be right back," Uraraka said, walking away. Izuku watched her for a moment, then checked his phone.

7:45

Now.

Izuku moved from his seat, ducking under the counter while Uraraka's back was turned.

And then he waited patiently as the villain walked in, that fucking knife clenched in his hand.

The scene played out again in front of Izuku's eyes, almost like he was using his quirk.

The villain leaned on the counter, ordering Uraraka to start handing over money. A tense minute, then the dumb woman made her call and the man lunged for Uraraka-

Izuku rose, batting his arm away. Both the potential hostage and villain stared at him, confused.

"Where the fuck did you come from-" 

Izuku cut him off with a punch to the jaw. The knife swung out on reflex and Izuku ducked, kicking him between the legs. 

Hard.

The man screamed like a wounded bear, dropping the knife. Izuku kicked it aside.

The villain's hands shot forward, reeking of ozone and glinting like sparks. Izuku weaved through them, throwing his own jabs and not letting his guard down for a second.

Not this time. Not again.

He caught Izuku's punch and his furious glare turned into a vicious grin...only for nothing to happen. The man looked down at Izuku's gloves, a bright red that matched his shoes, eyes going wide.

"It's rubber, asshole."

Izuku's right hook slammed into his head and the villain fell to the ground, unconscious.

He whirled around, pointing a gloved finger at the woman whose mistake caused this whole situation, and would promptly receive a decent portion of the blame. At least from Izuku. 

"Please tell me you actually called the cops, lady."

Notes:

This fic has been bouncing around my mind for months, so I'm excited to finally write it. I've never written a time travel fic before, so please tell me if the style is confusing/messy or if there's anything else I can work on!