Chapter Text
Prologue: Sky Awakening
Giotto has made a lot of terrible decisions in his life- well- in both his lives as Giotto and Tsuna. As Giotto, it was the lack of choice to accept the Vongola ring from Sephira. She was a good person, his intuition said so, and Giotto was young enough to believe in humanity’s altruistic side. He should have known better, living under the oppression of tyrannic folks in his younger days should have told him to always second guess a contract. Unfortunately he never asked about the fine print on the contract of Trinisette, instead accepting wholeheartedly to do good for the world with the newfound power.
Even after he realized what a pit hole the position of the Trinisette holder was, he didn’t regret it. Someone had to take the job, and it might as well have been him. Then Daemon happened.
In hindsight, letting Ricardo and Daemon get what they wanted wasn’t a good idea. Then again, he was so sick of playing the Messiah of the mafia world that he made his escape to Japan with Ugetsu. Unlike in the fairy tales, there’s no happily ever after. He had done enough, and he wasn't disillusioned that he could fight for life. That resolution pulled the curtains of his story to a close.
If there was a God that wasn’t Checker Face up there, they obviously didn’t get the memo that he was permanently retired. He even left a piece of his soul/his time in the Vongola ring, so surely that was a clue for them to leave the rest of his soul be.
Sadly, it was not meant to be. Nine generations later, Sawada Tsunayoshi was born. And people wondered why he vehemently objected to taking his previous life’s occupation up again. Not that Sawada Tsunayoshi actually remembered it, but it was ingrained in his soul that he had had enough but the world doesn’t care.
At least as Sawada Tsunayoshi, it was inevitable- Reborn was to blame as a natural force that not even a Vongola Boss could stop.
Then Midoriya Izuku was born in a world of heroes and villains, which wasn’t a bad thing, because there’s a lot of heroes fighting for the weak and justice so there’s no shortage of manpower on that front. Unfortunately, said world also saw it fit to brainwash the young generation that being a hero was the best job in the world.
Izuku wasn’t an exception, he dreamed of being a hero.
If Giotto’s consciousness was awake at the time, he would say he approved of the desire to help others in need. However, he would also strongly object to making it a profession- a lifetime occupation- because that was the worst idea in the universe. After Checker Face’s Arcobaleno tournament, but at least Tsuna fixed that one.
Fortunately, he was a Quirkless- an unspoken requirement to be a hero. Izuku would’ve been miserable for abandoning his hopeless dream, but at least he won’t be locked in an unending battle against injustice and evil. Contrary to Izuku falling into misery because of his dream breaking into pieces day by day, he should have rejoiced for the chance to live a normal life.
Then one day, Bakugou Katsuki took his bullying too far and said too much.
“If you want a Quirk so bad,
then why don’t you take a leap of faith off the roof and see if you’ll get one in your next life?”
In another universe, Midoriya Izuku would fish his notebook from the pond and go home. However, in this one, a vindictive part of his mind drove him to walk up the stairs to the rooftop of his school. A logical part of his mind knew to ignore Bakugou’s taunt because it was just more thoughtless cruel words from the boy.
It was malicious, but also a bad habit nurtured by the toxic environment of their society towards the Quirkless. Bakugou’s mother certainly tried to steer her son in the right direction, however, her own unkind words weren’t convincing her son that he was wrong. And nobody else saw fit to tell Bakugou that he had been a villain for most of Deku’s life.
Izuku was smart. He knew if he wanted to, he could ruin his ex-friend’s dream as much as the boy ruined his. All it took was a suicide note of what Bakugou had said and taken the leap of faith he suggested. Bakugou’s wish to be a hero would be up in flames, like what he did to Izuku’s notebook. It wasn’t lost on Izuku how villainous he could be when cornered as he wrote the note, but it was fine. No matter what, he would never go through with a plot that could ruin Bakugou’s future.
“The note goes here.” He put down the paper and used his charred notebook and pencil case as weight so it wouldn’t be blown off by the wind. Then he skipped towards the wire barrier separating him and the four-story freefall to the ground. “Kat-chan, if I follow your advice… you will get in trouble, you know.”
Trouble was putting it lightly, rather than a powerful quirk, a hero’s most important asset was their reputation. Izuku wanted to soothe his heart and mind at least a little, feeling the sense of power that even as a Quirkless he could have ruined Bakugou’s dream when given proper ammunition. It didn’t take long for him to wake up from his daydream and to feel engulfed in shame.
All Might wouldn’t approve.
However, as luck would have it, an accident, something common in his previous life, happened. Izuku was distracted enough to not notice the wire mesh he was leaning on had rusted badly and there are weak spots on the railing. So when he pressed against the wire in distress, the barrier couldn’t hold and broke. Izuku fell.
As he fell he couldn’t think of anything but regret
He didn’t want to die yet
Also, he didn’t want to die and ruin someone’s life
Kat-chan’s dream!
Then a pillar of orange flame erupted and amber eyes snapped open.
Midoriya Izuku didn’t have Vongola blood, his body and mind weren’t attuned by the biological evolution of Vongola line to deal with high purity Sky Flame and Hyper Intuition. Giotto accepted the Vongola ring for more than just power to protect the weak, it was also to ensure nobody in his line became permanently disabled because of their power. So nobody had to suffer like him to get used to them without risking their lives to master their bloodline. At least not to the degree he had; hyper-sensory overload was something he wouldn't wish even upon his worst enemy.
Unfortunately- while he brought along his Hyper Intuition and flame in his soul, the same couldn’t be said for Midoriya Izuku’s body. His mind became a jumbled mess- and in a world when Quirk fueled both heroism and evil, it wasn’t a good place for Hyper Intuition to show up.
Izuku remembered he had been someone else in a previous life- someone strong, foolishly righteous, but not on the side of justice. The world wasn’t black and white, and justice was an abstract concept anyone could twist because the law is made by humans. It wasn’t always wrong but not absolutely always right either.
The pain, blood, and regret- all jumbled up in a sickening cocktail that sent his mind reeling. ‘I am tired… so sick of fighting- I just want to stop.’
With his newfound memories, that was the thought that stuck out the most. All he desired was to escape the burden of shouldering the world while protecting his friends from said world.
Izuku sat up, wincing at the insistent pounding in his head. Instinctively he knew he had screwed himself over beyond help, without even taking into account the scorched crater beneath him yet or the bruises all over his exposed skin. It was such a terrible emergency landing; he should be ashamed as a sky but he was in too much pain to care.
In this world it doesn’t matter- there’s no mafia- no flame- there’s no shame in a sky that just failed a landing.
'How do I suppress my intuition again? Merda---'
He didn't even have enough energy to fully seal his intuition, not if he still wanted to move. At least the headache was bearable enough to move around with. Midoriya Izuku made his way home from school slowly, mind and heart too full to care about the mess he left behind. On that supposedly uneventful and headache-inducing trip, his newly awakened Hyper Intuition alerted him of incoming danger. Or rather, someone dangerous was wandering close and someone was dying in their clutches. Izuku happened to be crossing an overhead bridge and had an excellent vantage point to see who was in trouble.
His tormentor and ex-friend was suffocated by a villain with a sludge body, and the disgusting concoction was trying to fill up Bakugou’s orifices. Karma was a bitch indeed, and were those heroes over there procrastinating instead of doing their job?
Izuku recognized them as young heroes lately on the rise. Kamui Wood and Mountain Lady. But regardless of who they are and how awesome their Quirk is- he doesn’t see them as being heroic. Herding civilians out of the battle scene was good and all, but with this kind of villain, anyone with a healthy amount of self-preservation wouldn’t need to be told to get the hell out of the way.
From his encyclopedic memory of heroes, he understood none of the heroes present had the right quirk to deal with Sludge Villain. Someone like Endeavor or another temperature changing quirk would be the best bet because the villain was almost liquid. Still, they couldn’t seriously be planning to wait for a hero with the right Quirk to arrive, right? How long had the boy been in the company of Sludge Villain? He wouldn’t survive long enough for reinforcements because the human body couldn’t function for long without oxygen before suffering from brain damage and- never mind - it was ironic that the closest person with the best quirk that could save the boy aside from Izuku was Bakugou himself.
He was in no condition to save himself though; he must be too panicked and short of breath to think clearly. For all the bravado he boasted, Bakugou Katsuki was an amateur in the face of a life or death situation. Izuku wasn’t sure if he himself was in good enough condition to do much either, because he wasted so much energy breaking his fall that his whole body was also in pain. However, none of that would stop him from trying to save a life.
Retired or not, Izuku wasn’t going to let someone he could help die. This was just basic human decency. So Izuku raises his arm (that already had a first degree burn) up and lets his flame roar to life. The pain in his back as he slammed against the concrete wall reminded him that every skill he gained in his previous life was through pain and more pain.
It was a good thing the soft flame was easy to command, so nobody died, not even the villain. Unfortunately his control on his speed was so shoddy that he had to use both hands to make up for it, so there was no stopping from meeting the wall.
Ouch- note to self: retired from heroism/vigilantism or not he still needs training so he doesn’t accidentally kill himself or anyone else in this world. Not every hostage had natural heat resistance like Bakugou Katsuki after all.
Izuku wanted to go home- he really did- but he had to use the last of his strength to call for an ambulance for himself halfway home. He was never a fan of the hospital, but when your flame reservoir was dangerously low and your body was protesting the strain you needed a doctor.
How he wished a certain priest was here, Izuku vaguely recalled a comforting presence like the sun and missed it even more as medical staff lifted him off of the road with a stretcher. It was a good thing he was registered as Quirkless, nobody would suspect he was the vigilante coming out of retirement to stop a villain.
Yeah, civilian life sounded good.
Delirious and nearly asleep from the medication, Izuku forgot that the world was always out to ruin his life plans.