Protecting the Past
is a My Hero Academia fanfiction by TheUnknownLegion.
An unknown organization from the future comes to the past in order to acquire certain individuals. If they succeed, they will gain new instruments of chaos for their unknown masters. However, allies follow them into the past in order to stop them. Who are these you may ask? Why the future children of Midoriya of course! Deku x Harem. Crossover elements exists.
The original fic would cease updating on July 27th, 2020, leaving it presumed dead for three years until, on June 19th, 2023, TheUnknownLegion uploaded the original version to Archive of Our Own, with the message they are intending on rewriting the fic at a later date, and are uploading the original version so that it isn't lost once he begins the rewrites on Fanfiction.net.
Protecting the Past provides examples of:
- Age-Gap Romance: Izuku's future wives include several older women. When Suimin (who had earlier mentioned that Yuukan and Sawako had already met their own mothers, Momo and Ochako respectively) takes the opportunity to (loudly) say hello to his mother Midnight, Snipe questions whether the fifteen year age gap between her and Izuku is legal. The two of them get together in chapter 21.
- Bad Future: The future the kids and the Shadow Cult are from is not pleasant, to put it bluntly. To start, heroes killing criminals is not only common but necessary. Otherwise, they’ll come back to take revenge by going after your friends and loved ones.
- Badass Normal: Tensai is this to his siblings, as unlike them he was born Quirkless. He still fights alongside his siblings, using a set of Power Armor to do the job.
- Big "WHAT?!": This is pretty much Class 1-A's reaction to learning that the teens who've been staying with them (Yuukan, Sawako, Suimin, and Tensai) are Izuku's kids from the future. Suimin's the one who actually reveals it, after witnessing the exploits of Chino on TV.
- Chick Magnet: Izuku (and all of 1-A as a whole) is shocked to learn that he’ll eventually have 11 girlfriends and have multiple kids with all of them.
- Combo Platter Powers: Much like their uncle Shoto, the Midoriya children have multiple quirks at their disposal thanks to their heritage, namely their Grandfather Hisashi, heavily implied to be All for One. While most of them inherited quirks from their parents, other have quirks entirely unrelated such as Chino's Portal Gate, while others have Quirks from further down the family line such as Chana having Hisashi Midoriya's Fire Breath. Some, like Isamu and Chino, even manage to somehow use One for All. The only exception among them is Tensai, who was born Quirkless like his father and instead uses a set of Power Armor.
- Death by Adaptation: The Shadow Cult very rarely take prisoners and seek nothing but complete genocide, so anyone they beat has a very faint chance of living.
- Edgeshot and Kamui Woods are both killed when the Shadow Cult attack with a Reaver. Kamui Woods is immolated by Sundercar, while Edgeshot is torn in half by Goliath.
- The top assassin of the Shadow Cult decides to mercilessly slaughter the families of all Izuku's future wives before going after his prime target: Inko Midoriya. Uraraka's, Ashido's, Nejire's, Kendou's, and Hatsume's families are all added to his body count.
- Police Chief Kenji Tsuragamae is bludgeoned to death in his own home by Jason.
- Enemy Mine: Because of the threat the Shadow Cult poses, many former enemies were forced to become allies in the future, among them being the Pro-Heroes, the Shie Hassakai, and the surviving members of the League of Villains. Some of Izuku's kids are attempting to invoke something similar in the present, with Chino and Chana ingratiating themselves with their mother Toga and the League of Villains, and Kenichi and Nariko breaking out the Shie Hassakai from prison. Chino and Chana later have the LOV flee to Gentle and La Brava while simultaneously recruiting them, while Kenichi aims to track down Ujiko and Gigantomachia while Nariko frees Kurogiri.
- Expy:
- Yuki has many similarities to Yang Xiao Long, being a Boisterous Bruiser whose hair becomes lit aflame when using her Hellfire Quirk. It's even suggested that I Burn, Yang's Image Song, be played during her debut fight.
- One of the Shadow Cult members is based directly off of Jason. Another takes cues from Pennywise.
- Face–Monster Turn: The Shadow Cult are known to kidnap people then warp them into being their loyal followers. Among the kidnapped victims is Hansuke, Sawako's little brother and Izuku and Ochako's second child.
- First Kiss: Izuku has his in Chapter 13 with Nejire... with her declaring that they're now dating right after. Izuku promptly faints right after.
- Flat "What": Endeavour's reaction to Yuki (his future granddaughter through Fuyumi) calling him grandpa is a flat "Eh?"
- Kid from the Future: The entire premise of the story revolves around the eleven eldest Midoriya children going back in time to stop the evil from the future.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: It is heavily implied that All For One is Izuku's father.
- Polyamory: The women Izuku gets with are Ochako Uraraka, Mina Ashido, Himiko Toga, Momo Yaoyarozu, Fuyumi Todoroki, Nejire Hado, Ryukyu, Mei Hatsume, Mount Lady, Midnight, and Itsuka Kendo. Ochako is the first one to discover she's one, almost immediately after Suimin reveals he and the three siblings at U.A. with him (among them her kid Sawako) are Izuku's kids from the future.
- Running Gag: Every time the future kids reveal something about Izuku’s future love life (like when they tell him that he’ll get multiple lovers) expect either Izuku or someone else (usually a future lover, most likely the one being mentioned) to comically collapsing with a loud *THUD*. Along with everyone present to respond with "EH?".
- Teacher/Student Romance: Izuku and Midnight get together in Chapter 21, complete with a Big Damn Kiss.
- Token Evil Teammate: Evil is a stretch, but Chino and Chana are the two with the least issue killing villains even when in the past. Whereas most of the Midoriya kids try to keep a low profile and only get involved either to save others or if villains attack them, the two of them go on a murder spree killing as many criminals they can find, necessitating a manhunt to try and capture them. Their behavior makes a lot more sense when you remember their mother is Toga Himiko.
- Touched by Vorlons: While it's not fully specified, Isamu at one point was afflicted by some sort of Entity summoned by the Shadow Cult, giving him access to magic and leaving a glowing scar on the right side of his neck.
- Wham Episode:
- Chapter 5: Chino, after being cornered by Endeavor, shows off another Quirk for all to see. And it's not just any Quirk, but One For All. This leads to Suimin's reveal under Big "WHAT?!" above.
- Chapter 6: Tensai reveals the Shadow Cults' goal: mass genocide and they came to the past to capture three people they need. Two of them are Izuku Midoriya and Tomura Shigaraki.
