Tear Jerker / New Game Plus (2022)

As is the case with all "Moments" pages, Spoilers Off applies!!!

Main Story, Act I

• The first person Izuku meets after returning to the past is Inko who gives off "the air of a mother who felt she had failed her child". It's clearly painful for him to see his beloved mom in the state she was before he met All Might, once again.
• If you thought Izuku's past until he met All Might was sad, look no further than Aoi Haji. Her kind mother died early, her only true friend disappeared, her father, revealed to be a member of the MLA, hated her for being Quirkless and turned increasingly abusive. In elementary school she was victim of a False Friend who left her stranded on a roof for two days, causing her to trust other people less and less. In middle school she became the favourite target of the cruel bully Ai Hirikone, who finally pushed Aoi to the breaking point causing her to jump off a roof... luckily in the new timeline Izuku is there to save her and make her life finally take a turn for the better.
  • Once transferred to Yomawari Junior High, the first thing Izuku notices about Aoi is that she doesn't go to the school cafeteria and prefers eating a bento in class - just like he used to do in Aldera to avoid running into Bakugo and his clique.
  • The description of Aoi's miserable home life in Chapter 4, clearly depressed and in constant fear of being beaten and berated by her father for simply existing. She's in such a state that when later prevented from killing herself, her first reaction is that she doesn't deserve to be saved.
• Ai Hirikone is introduced as a "worthy" daughter of her horrible parents, a bully so spoiled and sadistic, she even gets angry when the Quikless Aoi, whom she pushed to suicide, is stopped. Until the awful truth is revealed: born Ai Uzumaru, she was a Quirkless, sweet and humble little girl. Her parents hated her being a decent person so much, they had All For One force a quirk and an alternate personality on her. Ai spent almost a decade imprisoned in her own body while the "other Ai" did horrible things, up to including the persecution of her childhood friend Aoi Haji. When Aizawa momentarily stops the quirk, the real Ai briefly regains control and desperately pleads to Aoi it wasn't her, while Aoi recognizes her old friend; when Aizawa blinks, it causes a shock that leaves Ai comatose (she gets better).
• It's just an off-hand remark but according to Tsuyu, while discriminating Quirkless people is socially unacceptable, it's still widespread enough that they make the highest rates of suicide and homelessness in Japan.
• As her own Quirk going out of control caused the very time travel, Eri is revealed to have ended up over two years back in time like Izuku - back into the clutches of Overhaul. While she has much more mental fortitude to help herself this time, she still has to relive at least some weeks of torment before being rescued.
• Izuku lets Aizawa among the trusted people who know about him coming from the future, and also tells him about Oboro Shirakumo: the friend whose death greatly defined Aizawa, has been turned into the villain Kurogiri. Worse, he was a fallback plan after they failed at getting the Quirk they really sought - Erasure. The reveal causes the normally stoic man to lock himself inside a bathroom to scream in desperation.
• Shinato, a student of Yomawari Junior High, has a quirk that allows him to see someone's death and learn the details surrounding it. Not only he never managed to prevent any premature deaths he foresaw, his own brother died because of his very attempts to save him. No wonder he's grown so jaded and fatalistic, to the point that even when Aoi's death which he had foreseen for months is prevented, he's not happy but rather comments on how it's an "anomaly".
• As Izuku reflects about how it will take time for Aoi to heal from all the mental scars of the abuse (which in fact killed her in the original timeline), we are told that while the UA School Festival was a huge help for Eri to get better in the original timeline, her years under Chisaki were far from behind, with her still suffering panic attacks and nightmares.
• The death of Nejire, which comes as a shock as it follows a flashback on her origins and the loneliness she suffered for a long time, and her consequent determination to be better. Even as she realizes she's dying due to heavy injuries inflicted by Overhaul's spikes, she spends her last living moments comforting a desperate Izuku. And immediately after, her body is destroyed by Overhaul.
  • Overhaul dies shortly after, involuntarily de-aged to nothingness by Eri as her quirk flares out of control. While he had it coming as he still tried to kill Izuku despite the latter being convinced by Eri to spare him, Eri is clearly left shaken; witnessing Overhaul becoming a wailing baby before disappearing is a likely reminder of how her father died.
  • In the aftermath, it's revealed her blood ending in Izuku's mouth that moment is causing Nejire to become a new Vestige in One For All. After the initial shock at the realization he's going to get her quirk, Izuku freaks out thinking how would he ever explain that to her loved ones. In fact, despite being told they hold no grudge against him, he doesn't have the courage to approach them at Nejire's funeral.
  • Aizawa saved a younger Nejire from a suicide attempt, so her death feels like a failure at the level of Shirakumo's loss to him.
  • Yuyu is devastated by Nejire's death and holds Izuku responsible for it; the eventual public reveal of the boy as All Might's apprentice plunges her deeper into despair.
  • Months later, when comforting Kota about the death of his parents, Izuku mentions Nejire as a loss that weighs on himself. This causes her Vestige to get sad thinking about her family, prompting Izuku to finally meet them and Yuyu and explain the situation. While the Hados accept his words and are happy to know Nejire is still there in some form, Yuyu doesn't believe him, is made even angrier, and ends up alienating herself from the Hados too.
  • As soon as she sees Izuku as a student at UA, Yuyu goes ranting desperately to Nedzu, who sends her to therapy with Hound Dog.
  • Even when she eventually sees Izuku manifesting Nejire's Quirk, Yuyu can't accept it.
• A memory of Izuku from the original timeline reveals that a desperate attempt to bring Midnight back to life was made with Eri's Quirk. Just the thought of the little girl attempting to use it on a dead body...
• When Izuku decides to confess to Ochako his love for her (and Aoi) and the truth about himself having traveled in time, he recounts that Ochako seemed "upset and hurt about something" the day the accident that sent him and Eri back happened, and he intended to talk to her eventually. There will never be a chance for a resolution to that. Izuku also prefers to interrupt Ochako before she can voice her realization that Aoi is dead in the original timeline.
• The changes brought to the timeline by Izuku are causing Bakugo to become even worse than he was originally, and potentially the most prominent victim of the Butterfly Effect. His original development happened because he was in the right environment, at the right time, with the right people; he's got none of that in the new timeline, instead getting attempts by the UA faculty members to railroad him that while well-intentioned, appear to be feeding into his anger even further. He still gets some sympathy in light of Izuku already knowing his original development, and the reveal of the Meta Liberation Army being partially responsible for his upbringing; however going by Nighteye's vision and some tags of the fanfic on AO3, unless that future is changed, the bully who originally matured into a good hero and friend, will instead get expelled from UA and turn to villainy, causing Izuku to give up on him.
• The public announcement of Izuku as All Might's apprentice causes Endeavor to double down on his Training from Hell on Shoto. This in turn causes Shoto's resentment to grow up - some dialogue also suggests a bad episode involving Natsuo happened inbetween - to the point that when Dabi openly proposes him to join forces to take Endeavor down, Shoto can't help but feeling very tempted. Also, his vow to not use his fire side becomes so total he refuses even when someone else's life can be saved with it.
  • During their brief encounter face-to-face, Shoto deduces that Dabi's burn scars are due to his body being badly adapted to his Quirk, and says he had a brother like that; he's however not able to notice Dabi's change in expression and tone of voice after that, or he may have deduced Dabi *is* his brother right that moment.
• When Eri's quirk activates as Kurogiri is about to capture her, his mind reverts to when he was still Oboro Shirakumo, confused and horrified at finding himself with such a heavily mutated body, and his last memory of when he was trying to protect a group of kindergarteners, not knowing fifteen years have passed since. Later, after he is "reprogrammed", Tomura expresses open discontent at how robotic he sounds now: despite the rude and sometimes threatening attitude towards him, Tomura genuinely enjoyed his company.
• As the end of middle school approaches and all of her friends - including Chtylla who's known her whole life - are going to move to UA, it's clear that Hanako cares deeply about them but wants to leave them behind for her goal of eventually finding Stain and joining him.
• Cute as Eri being now Izuku's sister legally, residing in 1-A's dorm at UA, and having Fuyumi as a tutor/nanny may be, it's all due to having to try and protect her; Shigaraki's attack against UA happens because he wants to get back into his master's favours by capturing her. Until All For One is dealt with, she'll be denied living like a normal kid her age.
• Ai is saved from Shigaraki's Decay only because her forearm is hastily cut off. Eri restores it shortly after but the experience is not going to be deleted. After all she went through already, it looks like Ai too won't know peace as long as All For One and Shigaraki are around.
• While it is thankfully thwarted by Mirko, the rape attempt on Aoi is made worse by the perpetrators being MLA adepts who know her father, revealed to be even one of the people behind the quirkist edits to the original doctrine of Destro. They spout an insane ideology that makes them feel justified in violating a teenager just because she's a "Quirkless reject" deserving no rights - exactly what Aoi used to feel about herself after years of abuse.
• While they are a series of moments that will eventually get full context, some "previews" for Act II paint a grim picture of things to come. For example there is apparently no turning back for Bakugo, who will stoop so low he will attempt to kill Eri just to spite Izuku.

Main Story, Act II

• Izuku gets barely any rest in the immediate aftermath of the UA invasion. Yuyu, in even deeper denial, is now convinced Izuku made Nejire die to take her Quirk and would attack him in his sleep, in the infirmary, if it wasn't for Danger Sense. Nejire's vestige can only despair as Yuyu is restrained and knocked out. And soon after Izuku has to see Ai and Cthylla, two of the new friends this timeline has brought him, missing arms.
• Meanwhile Aoi has a Flashback Nightmare where she relives one of the many physical and verbal beatings she suffered from her abusive quirkist father, simply because she was born Quirkless. Upon waking up she's comforted by Ochako but the narration makes clear she's relapsing into her old feelings of worhtlessness. Later, after restoring Ai's missing arm, Eri says that Aoi has now the look Eri herself used to have in her eyes.
• Despite her horrifying slaughter of Tsukauchi's squad, it also becomes clear how damaged Ronri is as she rants about getting All For One implanted in her against her will. Coupled with other events she lived through, she's been turned into a Tragic Monster.
• Nedzu has to threaten Yuyu with expulsion and commitment to a psych ward in the hope she'll pipe down, as he knows that even revealing everything about One For All and time travel would be useless, so bad is her mental state right now.
• The vestige of Hana Shimura has awakened inside Shigaraki but the first memory that springs to his mind is their father's abuse and that time Hana threw him under the bus. He's also being held inside a vault as punishment - the same place where Yoichi, All For One's brother, was imprisoned in the past.
• Now that his true form has been revealed to the world and the time he can maintain the Muscle Form has been further reduced, All Might starts coming to terms with the idea that even if he didn't pass his One For All, his failing body simply won't allow him to use the Quirk for much longer. He's in denial over that at first, as he initially intends to downplay his physical condition to the public, before Recovery Girl convinces him otherwise.
• After being chastised by Nedzu, Todoroki bumps into Momo and vents his frustrations at her, accusing her of being inadequate for the Hero Course and being there only thanks to her parents' money. A tragic inversion from when he helped Momo with her insecurities in canon.
  • He insists on that even during the Sports Festival, in an attempt to cause Izuku to doubt teaming up with Momo during the Capture The Flag phase. It only serves to infuriate Izuku even more towards him.
• Hanako looks to sincerely enjoy her visit at UA. However it just takes seeing Tetsutetsu's Quirk, which reminds her of Mira Akotone's, to trigger what later turns into a psychotic breakdown which ends with Hanako murdering Death Arms, and meeting Stain just as she's become a Hero Killer herself. On top of that, one of the memories flashing during the breakdown is of an Akotone greeting Hanako warmly - if she used to be so nice at first, her turning into the meanest bully is even more tragic.
  • Hanako had her father killed by a racist Hero. Now she's killed a Hero for simply doing his duty; while unsympathetic, Death Arms did nothing to deserve such end. Where is this cycle of hatred and violence going next?
• Kuro Yume is outed as transgender by Mineta in a way that is as insensitive as it is casual; Tokoyami's attempt to stop Mineta from telling in front of a lot other students is fruitless. Even with Aizawa saying that Mineta is going to be expelled for this stunt, Yume is clearly saddened and somberly says that he's used to that happening.
• Before the Sports Festival Todoroki runs into Ai, who calls him out for his attitude; she angrily reveals her own past, tears in her eyes, to remind him he's not the only one to have suffered under abusive parents - especially as her own, despite being now dead, are the cause of Shigaraki attacking her during the villain invasion. She's clearly haunted by the memories of what her body was forced to do. Ai has also taken a subconscious tic of frequently grabbing her arm, further showing how having it regenerated can't erase the experience of losing it.
• Ronri's brief encounter with Eri, which ends with Ronri hugging Eri while telling her she's glad she got her happy ending, becomes this once Ronri's true identity is revealed, and even more when later her past becomes known to the reader.
• During the Sports Festival, Shoto decides to speak to Izuku like in the original timeline, just as Aoi happens to be with him. As Shoto opens by talking about Quirk Marriages, Aoi interrupts and tells she's the fruit of one - except she's a "failed product". Her father Namu Himoto seduced her mother with the hope of mixing his mind conditioning Quirk (implied to be used to court her) with her calming gas Quirk to create powerful offspring. As Aoi turned out Quirkless instead, like abusing her physically and verbally wasn't enough, Himoto would constantly use his quirk to further drive the idea of being a "defect" into Aoi. As she breaks down in tears, she and Izuku basically forget about Shoto, who can only leave while having further doubts about his own attitude.
• Ronri's true identity is revealed to All Might: she's the Eri of her home universe, who was dealt a very bad hand, as her original Quirk (different from the Eri we know) caused the interest of All For One in her, and all the following events that ultimately turned her into what she is now. And while her irrational hate for any All Might she meets in the multiverse is primarily due to her own being a direct cause of her misery, a further reason is that by becoming a pillar of society, he inadvertently caused people to believe that strong and flashy Quirks like his were the only "good" ones, ending up validating discriminatory attitudes that in turn caused many versions of Izuku to suffer. Shocked by her story and the realization that his good intentions also had big downsides, All Might humbly apologizes to Ronri who, deluded that any All Might could only be bad, can't process his sincerity and has a mental breakdown, her quirk flaring as she disappears in a flash.
• Ai is doxxed by the HPSC, who think a Quirkless girl defeating the son of a top Hero isn't tolerable for their ideal of Hero Society. The immediate consequence is that part of the audience at the stadium jeers at Ai, until someone from the seats reserved to Heroes throws a stone and knocks her out. A furious All Might gives a scathing speech to the crowd, finding himself in agreement with Ronri.
  • Like she wasn't proven enough by the recent events, Aoi is heavily distressed as Cthylla and Ochako escort her to the infirmary to reach Ai. And being another Quirkless student at UA, Aoi may be exposed to the same risks.
  • Unfortunately All Might's words seem to not have reached out to Bakugo, who appears increasingly lost in his toxic mindset, implying that the mandatory therapy with Hound Dog isn't working.
• Seeing Ai in the infirmary after the incident pushes Shoto to reveal what happened to Natsuo after Izuku was announced as All Might's apprentice. Angry at seeing Endeavor doubling down on his training on Shoto, Natsuo ultimately lashed out at their father; it ended badly, as he's currently hospitalized and comatose. Worse, Fuyumi is in denial over the fact; there are hints that Nedzu hired her to work and reside at UA exactly to pull her out of the house. As if the Hellish Todoroki Family's situation couldn't get even more complicated.
• Ronri is revealed to have a split personality, a compassionate side opposed to a violent one; born when senses of guilt over her actions started to set in, lest she got overwhelmed by them. As the latter side is currently dormant after All Might's apology, the gentler side is now in control and feeling all the guilt, seeking comfort from Ume Ruta (this universe's version of her mother).
• Despite having placed third at the Sports Festival along with Momo, Shoji receives only a sixth of the number of requests from Hero Agencies that she gets. A sincerely befuddled Kaminari asks Shoji why, regretting it when he realizes the simple answer: mutant discrimination.
• Mina is attacked and left with her spine severed by Stain, who in his crazy and narrows standards has decided that her personality and especially her Quirk would be a "taint" to the title of Hero. Mina's passion is dancing, making her crippling even worse. Stain talks like he almost blessed Mina by sparing her life, and treats this like an almost casual detour as he seeks to reunite with Hanako, who has temporarily split to get food for both and doesn't know he's attacked the UA student she has a crush on.
  • Just like Ai, Mina can easily be healed by Eri but the trauma, including seeing her Hero mentor Goop killed, can't be erased. While Eri is also capable of reverting minds, her ability is not fine-tuned enough and would risk having Mina mentally reverted to a child.
• Mina's identity is not disclosed by the news but Goop's is, so whoever knows Mina easily deduces she's the intern crippled by Stain. Tooru rushes to visit her at hospital, in tears. Ochako and especially Kirishima are shocked, the latter then sneaking out of Mirko's agency, clearly looking for Stain. Despite the efforts to prevent it, History Repeats and UA students have ended up directly involved with Stain once again. All of this while Izuku is in America.
• Vestige Hana Shimura can only cry seeing what her brother has become, as he relishes in the chaos he's going to cause in Hosu by sending a pack of powerful Nomu to rampage.
• After healing Mina with her own Overhaul Quirk, Ronri appears to Kirishima, on a train to Hosu, like a voice of conscience to tell him that and advise him to not go forward with his plan. Unfortunately he doesn't believe her and still intends to avenge Mina.
• Later, as chaos erupts in Hosu, Manual is killed by the Hood Nomu. While not a high-ranking hero he was humble and always giving his best, and his quirk proved unexpectedly invaluable in combination with Erasure. A bigger loss than it may seem for the new timeline.
• Seeing Kirishima as he attacks Stain, Hanako is affected once again by her traumatic hate for hardening Quirks, and makes short work of Kirishima. His conscience appears to him as Crimson Riot, giving him an Heroic Second Wind. Stunned, Hanako has a flashback to her first day in elementary school; once again we see that Mira Akotone was quite sweet and friendly when they first met. A new mental breakdown causes Hanako to use a metamorphosis she's afraid of herself, as it makes her even stronger but feral. Her new attack on Kirishima is brutal, leaving him broken and without an arm; for a long moment it feels like he may end up another victim of the new timeline by the time Ochako arrives.
• While dodging Hanako's attacks in an attempt to make her tire out and revert to normal, Ochako desperately tries to reach out to her, partly using funny and pleasant memories, partly telling her how she and their other friends miss her; her disappearance has made Cthylla, not very talkative to begin with, even more withdrawn. Ochako's gamble succeeds and a tearful hug ensues... Only for a sneering Stain to come forward as Ochako realizes in horror that Hanako is with him.
• Hanako's early fear has become real: now a friend, Ochako, is facing Stain as Hanako, tired and confused after the transformation, just stands there. She gets out of her trance after learning about Stain crippling Mina and his absurd and quirkist reasons for doing so; the man she idolized and for whom she left the few people she held dear behind, turns out to be not much better than the people who made her suffer in the past. As she turns against him, Stain tries to kill Hanako with no hesitation, showing that he's never cared for her beyond an extra hand for his crazy crusade.
• Earlier on Ronri, her gentler personality currently in control, was observing Bakugo with some benevolence, thinking he still had a chance. Despite the way he acts in the fight against Stain, there is still hope (for the reader) he can be swayed afterwards. But Bakugo kills Stain with an explosion, simply because he's made angry by Stain who, while trash-talking, is restrained and defenseless at that point. Stain's last words are "You are nothing but a villain", the same Nighteye saw Izuku pronounce in his vision of the future. He almost takes Ochako out as well, it happens in front of four Top Heroes, including All Might, and the whole scene is filmed by a citizen and goes viral, making Bakugo's disgrace total and public.
• Hanako has started to open up to Ochako when she narrowly saves her from Bakugo's blast. She then approaches Bakugo with a killing intent that paralizes even the Top Heroes on the scene. Her furious rant at Bakugo is in truth a desperate cry from all the pain she suffered because of people like him, clearly reminded of both Gallant Blade and Akotone, before collapsing due to complete exhaustion. Later in prison, as she has admitted to her own murders, she's tearfully reunited with her mother while telling her how much she misses her father, whose death has been the catalyst of everything.
• Kirishima is demoted to General Education at UA, even if with the possibility of returning to the Hero Course in the future; he also declines Ronri's offer to regenerate his arm, to take responsibility for his own actions.
• Bakugo is desperate for having killed Stain and being now under arrest, but at the same time he's even more detached from reality, not taking responsibility - in contrast with Kirishima in the previous scene - while still blaming Izuku for everything. After announcing his expulsion from UA to him, Nedzu even cries as he says “Perhaps it would have been better to not try and help you at all”, implying a realization that the attempts to railroad Bakugo even before he entered UA have backfired horribly.
  • Even if Stain wasn't killed by the explosion, Bakugo's future in heroics would be still jeopardized because no one would trust a Hero who reacts with such violence to insults (even Endeavor of all people is better than that), but he's not capable of realizing that.
  • And if Nighteye's vision is coming to fruition, it's not the worst Bakugo will sink to yet, as All For One personally frees and recruits him, immediately validating his mindset, ready to exploit Bakugo for his own gains.
• Some exchanges in the group chat of 1-A make clear that while she tries to shrug off the concerns of her classmates, Mina is clearly proven by the encounter with Stain; just like Ai who nearly died to Shigaraki's Decay, while fully healed she can't forget that her mentor was killed and she spent a few days as a paraplegic, on top of Kirishima ending up an amputee General Education student because he wanted to avenge her.
• British villain Felix Stowe is a dangerous arsonist who uses his Quirk to cause fires, however he can never turn his flames off: it's implied he's been driven mad by that. When Ninetails blows up a water tower and douses him so much the flames are turned off, Felix even forgets about fighting her, so happy he is about not burning for a moment. He may not even be aware he's been used as a sacrificial pawn to keep Ninetails busy while her daughter is kidnapped.
• Tokoyami's near death to Lady Death's poison, as Dark Shadow finds herself impotent to do anything, watching him convulsing with the implication she can only wait for her own end to come. Luckily Ronri decides to intervene and save both.
  • Despite having nearly killed Tokoyami, when later Dark Shadow takes her down once and for all, Lady Death gets a little sympathy as, sensing defeat, she sheds her (literal) Femme Fatale attitude and laments having suffered a lack of human contact, implying her own dangerous Quirk drove her to villainy.
• Ninetails resigned to taking a fatal strike from Mantis so she can take him down once and for all, as life flashes before her eyes and she mentally gives her farewells to her beloved little daughter. It's fortunately prevented by Eleanor's intervention.
• Izuku finally learns about all that happened while he was interning with Star and Stripe, especially regarding Hanako and Bakugo; we also learn that the HPSC has given a cover story that Bakugo is in prison, rather than missing currently. Izuku lets out some audible frustration. Nedzu and All Might admit their attempts at railroading Bakugo have backfired horribly and, while they rightfully tell Izuku shouldn't beat himself over that, it's hard to not think that his going back in time kickstarted a chain of events leading to this...
• Kurogiri is no more: Eri has managed to restore him completely to Oboro Shirakumo and, after the events of Hosu, he is welcomed as a new student of Class 1-B. While it's good that he gets the chance to live the life that was cruelly taken from him originally, Oboro is still a teenager who died 15 years earlier and has been resurrected, resuming his life in a world where his closest friends are now in their early thirties and UA teachers.
• Even if she deserves her punishment, it's sad to see Shiozaki didn't treasure Kamui Woods' advice and threw defaming accusations in a misguided belief she was protecting Aoi. Unless she seriously learns from there, 1-A will have an element of strong tension in her, in a moment where they really don't need it.
• Chapter 76 is mostly dedicated to Hanako, seen for the first time after her arrest.
  • Her comment "I've been called worse" when Tsukauchi asks how the guards treat her is a cause of concern.
  • She first asks about Ochako, and doesn't answer anything else until reassured that Ochako is fine, feeling guilty of having put her life at risk.
  • She admits the murder of Mira Akotone and the other two bullies, leaving Tsukauchi shocked at realizing it happened even before Hanako was a middle schooler. When he shows photos of the three victims for confirmation, Hanako has a panic attack, in a mix of past trauma from their bullying and guilt.
  • As Hanako also confesses the more recent murders of the Umineko Academy student and Death Arms and their circumstances, Tsukauchi gets a full picture of how an accumulation of past traumas pushed her to commit such acts. Hanako herself is aware of having killed Death Arms during a breakdown, coming back to her senses only after he was already dead.
  • To add indignity to his already horrible end, the HPSC has covered Death Arms' death and instead told the public he has retired early due to health problems.
  • Some days later Hanako is visited by Sarata Akotone, Mira's mother, who brings a very small box - the few remains of Mira found, after Hanako confessed where she disposed of her body and the other two girls'. Sarata however has come to forgive Hanako - after learning of Drakengard as a MLA school and of Hanako herself, she's understood that both girls were victims of the MLA, who brainwashhed Mira into a terrible bully; Sarata and her husband beat themselves for having been too busy with their jobs at the time to pay enough attention to how their once sweet daughter who loved art was plagiarized. Sarata even thinks that, the way Mira talked of Hanako at first, she may have had even deeper feelings for her but was too little to fully understand them.
  • Unseen, the ghost of Mira tries to pat Hanako's head just like her mother does. She, her parents, and Hanako can get some closure.
  • There is a clear sad reference to the much happier world of What If #1, where Mira lives to ultimately realize her sexuality, implying she harbored feelings for Hanako for many years, and Sarata becomes Hanako's mother-in-law.
• During a mock Heroes vs Villains training, Mina has a panic attack when Kuro Yume surprises her from behind, reminding her of when Stain severed her spine, and sprays acid on Yume's face. Fortunately it won't leave permanent damage but Yume is left temporarily blind, while Recovery Girl has to sedate Mina and immediately send her to Hound Dog.
  • The following chapter, at an outing of the whole class in town, beside Shiozaki still on house arrest, Mina is the only one absent, which saddens Tooru when the class gets to know Hikari Hoshino.
• Yuyu finally reappears in Chapter 78, after having been absent since the beginning of Act II - and she is even stalking and spying on Izuku, showing how no warning from Nedzu has been apparently enough.
• In Chapter 87, during their multiverse-hopping, Izuku and Aoi end up in the original timeline where everyting started, and its fate is finally revealed: it is being overwritten and destroyed.
  • The same entity Ronri encountered in Deep Dive #13 explains that it all started from the Trigger dart shot by Namu Himoto. Aoi shudders at hearing the name of her father - who, here, has involuntarily kickstarted the end of an universe.
  • A full Vestige All Might suddenly materializes among the others, signaling that he has died in that world.
  • Izuku and Aoi reach UA, where almost everyone has disappeared at that point. There's a strong implication that at some point everyone stopped fighting and just waited for the end to come. The "original" Ochako has the little consolation of seeing Aoi alive, before disintegrating.
  • Izuku finds the "original" Bakugo, who somehow felt Izuku was still around. Upon knowing what happened to himself in the new timeline, even he thinks the "new" Bakugo is beyond hope. Thanking Izuku for having been always there for him despite how he treated him for the longest time, up until the literal end of the universe, he disappears from existence while giving one last genuine smile.
  • Even if by this point in the story we know that the canon My Hero Academia is safe, this was still an universe almost identical to it. All the events, all the sufferings, all the triumphs we knew... made void by a much bigger, unstoppable force coming a few months later, all due to the fanaticism of a single man.
• After somberly leaving Izuku's dying original timeline behind, Izuku and Aoi end up in one where currently it's 10 years earlier. Aoi gets to meet her mother Mio shortly before her death, the woman recognizing her even if Aoi is at an age she won't live long enough to see. Facing her feelings of worthlessness once again, Aoi can find some comfort and closure by spending one last moment with Mio.
• Next, Izuku and Aoi end up in Ronri's homebase. They find her diary and while the entries show she evidently became more literate (especially after she took the Quirk of a Nedzu variant), her sanity conversely went down, until an entry where she expresses self-loathing.
• In Chapter 88 Ronri brings Izuku and Aoi back to their universe, just in time for an event Shinato had foreseen the day of the graduation from middle school, when Eri involuntarily touched him: Eri's death. What is both horrifying and tragic about it, is that it would have happened because Yuyu, who has infiltrated the dorm and even knocked out Shiozaki in one of her stalking attempts on Izuku, runs into Eri - in her mind equally as responsible for Nejire's death - and nearly strangles her in a fit of rage, wasn't for Ronri's timely intervention. Yuyu would in turn be brutally killed if it wasn't for Izuku, who now faces a Ronri turning against him while still not knowing what caused her to attack Yuyu.
  • Whatever the outcome, it's going to be incredibly painful for Nejire's vestige, as Yuyu's affection has turned into a mad love that has caused Yuyu to outright hate and attempt to murder a little girl, a victim, because Nejire died while helping to save her from Overhaul. The narration even treats Yuyu's attempt on Eri as a "body moved on its own" moment.
  • Despite having been saved from Ronri, a crazed Yuyu still tries to attack Eri and even Aoi, who is forced to knock Yuyu out. And while there are many ways Ronri could have ultimately snapped, Yuyu may even be considered responsible for causing her rampage.
  • Eri was forced to live at UA, with special schooling, for her safety. Now she's been nearly killed inside that very safe space. And if Nighteye's early vision is coming to fruition, within some time she will suffer a second attempt at her life, from Bakugo, also motivated by hatred towards Izuku.
• Izuku gets called "defective" and deserving death by Ronri for attacking her (despite doing that to stop her from going too far), Ronri going as far as far as comparing him to a variant from the multiverse who was a pedophile. Afterwards, just to show off her power to Izuku, she casually destroys a piece of Musutafu, then steals Nejire's Vestige and Quirk from him. She's clearly acting like All For One, despite still raging when compared to him. At this point one has to wonder whether Ronri's affection for Izuku is even genuine anymore, or just an excuse a broken mind lost in clinginess and violence gives to herself.
• Chapter 90 reveals how the Final War ended in the original timeline: Spinner was killed by Lady Nagant before he could awaken Kurogiri, preventing him from derailing the Heroes’ plans any further. When Shigaraki regained control of his body, he realized he couldn’t win in that situation and took his own life to deny Izuku the chance of saving him.
• Chapter 91 shows an universe where Izuku died because he didn't manage to dodge Bakugo's explosion at the Battle Trials; this Bakugo, however, was wracked by guilt over that. Mortally wounded by Ronri, he rightfully called her out on how she's interested only in revenge and her own brand of justice, and how her Izuku would be only disappointed in her. As it turns out, thanks to the advice of a mysterious stranger who knew his future, even with the chance of being brought to a safe place, this Bakugo rather accepted to be killed to become a Vestige within Ronri and help from there, so much he wanted to atone.
• We see the Vestige of Ronri's Izuku for the first time since the end of Ronri: Origins; he has drifted into apathy, convinced that Ronri is beyond saving and feeling responsible for passing her One For All, involuntarily kickstarting the power-up that made her what she is now. It takes a good, loud speech from Vestige Bakugo to convince him to act.
• As Vestige Deku restrains the violent personality of Ronri and calls Vestige Overhaul, she cries as she doesn't want to feel pain again, the reason she split to begin with. In a sad irony, even if for a good cause, this Izuku allows a Chisaki to use his power on an Eri.
• In Chapter 93, Izuku wakes with news that Ronri's attack has left at least seventy people dead, while also receiving confirmation that Yuyu tried to kill Eri, and even Aoi for defending Eri. And of course, the Hero Commission isn't wasting time using the incident to further their agenda - Ronri can't blame anyone but herself. At least, Nejire and the other Vestiges have been returned to Izuku.
• Izuku receives a warning from Ronri about the Ultra High End Nomu project, as she witnessed it happening in some universes. In at least some of those, unfortunately, All For One succeeded in having Ara abducted and turned into a monster by Garaki.
• Just like he did with Bakugo, All For One personally attacks the place where Yuyu is held after her arrest, to free and recruit her to his side. She'd need psychological help, not a man who will surely further her already poor mental state.

Rehabilitation

• While she's been stopped at a time before she became more unhinged, Toga has still caused one death unintentionally. As she's being cured from the blood addiction her parents refused to acknowledge, that is enough for her to feel crushed and think of herself as a monster who doesn't deserve rehabilitation. She thankfully gets better from there.
• Dr. Kojima thinks back of a former patient, a girl whose father was killed by a Pro Hero only because he looked villainous; said Hero was later killed by Stain, making her a fan of the Hero Killer. Kojima thinks he failed her as he treated her case too lightly, and he's afraid she'll go down a dark path. The girl is finally named: Hanako Yumara, revealing there's more to her than it seems.
• Toga befriends a patient called Ume Ruta, who's quickly revealed to be Eri's mother as she recalls the day her husband was killed by Eri's quirk manifesting. As we know what she did afterwards in canon, the eventual realization of her actions broke Ume, and she felt even worse when she found out how Eri ended up experimented on by Overhaul.
• The stinger of the second chapter has Hanako further broken inside by learning that the Hero did in fact kill her father voluntarily, and even his lawyers knew it. Worse, this information is used by the daughter of said lawyers to insult Hanako and her father for being mutants. This causes Hanako to snap and murder her in cold blood. She is now walking the path Kojima was afraid she'd take.
• Chapter 3 gives a vague outline of Ronri's origin. Even before we eventually know in detail through the eponymous spin-off, we can understand why she's so messed up and fiercely protective of Izuku. Made even more tragic by how All Might's fears about jer weren't completely unfounded, as we know that in canon Shigaraki's mind suffered a takeover by AFO-Quirk's vestige, but the approach was completely wrong.
• In Chapter 4 Toga bumps into Saito, the boy she attacked the day her then-untreated instincts took over, in the corridors of the clicnic. He reacts violently due to his own trauma and nearly strangles her, causing her a sudden Quirk Awakening that knocks both of them out. Later in hospital with a bruised larynx, Toga is told that Saito is facing charges of assault after also trying to shift the blame on her. While that deserves to be punished, all of this has happened because of Dr. Konami, who despite many recommendations to not do it, decided to bring Saito to the clinic in what is implied to be a deliberate attempt at sabotaging Dr. Kojima. The young man has been left in a worse state because of the pettiness of the specialist who was trusted to rather help him heal. The situation is also unresolved by the end of the spin-off, leaving it for a later time.
• Chapter 5 has a very optimistic first part but in its second half, it moves to the original timeline for the first time since Side Stories #2. Some months after the final war, Japan is recovering but some people didn't get an happy ending.
  • Cthylla is dead. During the period of anarchy, she snuck out of a safe zone to look for Hanako and ran into Spinner loyalists who attacked her for refusing to join them. One of them was Rika Hyoto, and she ultimately killed Cthylla.
  • Hanako survived the night her mother died but after the final war she learned what happened. Whatever sanity she had left died with Cthylla, her lifelong friend and the last close person she had. After years of motivation from being a victim of the discrimination of mutants, Hanako went on a killing spree, murdering dozens of them only because they were in Spinner's faction; for all we know, she may have not killed anyone directly responsible for Cthylla's death. Now imprisoned with heavy restraints, only anger and resentment are left in her.
  • Hanako has likely got self-hatred as both her mother and Cthylla died as they were out looking for her, mixed with the feeling that she wasted her life caring about fellow mutants.
  • Ochako, already shocked from learning about Hanako to begin with, visits her and tries to reach out to her to no avail, while feeling guilty of not keeping closer to Hanako after Aoi's suicide. She can only witness her former friend react with satisfaction to the news of Ai's death and express regret for not having killed her when she had the chance, even with the explanation that Ai wasn't herself, and conclude that the Hanako whom Ochako used to know is dead, before going into a temper tantrum so violent she needs to be sedated.
  • There's an intentional contrast with the first half of the chapter. Whereas Toga, from the dark point in her life she was, has been lifted up and has got better, culminating in a happy reunion with her old friends, Hanako only went further down into the abyss, often because of situations out of her own control, and the reunion with a former friend couldn't be worse as Hanako is lost in the bottom now.
  • Ronri said she witnessed many sad fates of Hanako in various timelines and this is truly one of the worst: not yet a legal adult but completely broken mentally, has lost everyone she ever held dear, no more ideals or any firm points after losing her best friend to other mutants. Only hatred is left, towards a world that dealt nothing but bad hands to her. And with such a body count, she may never get out of a prison or a mental institution for the rest of her life.
  • Heavily shaken by the encounter, Ochako later stumbles into Izuku who's bringing Eri out in town. Noticing how clearly unwell she is, Izuku promises to himself to talk to Ochako once back to the dorms; sadly, we know that the accident sending him and Eri back in time will happen shortly after. And the last kicker? The man who kickstarts everything with that Trigger bullet is Aoi's father.
    • Then comes Chapter 87 of the main story with the full reveal of what that bullet, hitting Eri, ultimately caused...

Side Stories

• The first two chapters, which show what happened to two of the most prominent original characters in the original timeline. It wasn't pretty for either.
  • Sometime during the Tartarus Escapees arc, the original Ai Uzumaru managed to break free from the evil alternate Ai Hirikone personality, and killed her cruel parents in rage for what they did to her. Devastated by all the evil she was forced to watch while imprisoned in her own body, especially Aoi's suicide, Ai eventually killed herself the same way - jumping off a roof. There are also hints that she was wrestling with the other pesonality for control, and chose to jump to not allow it to use her body again. Ochako, who stumbled on her during the search for Izuku, couldn't do anything to stop her and would fall to despair, thinking she was unable to save anyone, if she didn't receive communication that Izuku had been found soon after. The chapter ends with Ai's soul, on her way to Hell due to killing her parents, joined by Aoi who chose to renounce Heaven to not leave Ai alone.
  • Hanako Yumara grew up increasingly bitter in consequence of the killing of her father and her admiration of Stain, becoming vengeful and violent behind the facade of a bubbly personality; it's even outright stated she had killed some people in the past. One evening she had an argument with her mother, following her assault of a boy who had insulted her mutated appearance; she ran away and spent the night out, just as the mass breakouts from Tartarus and other prisons were happening. Her mother, who was out in the streets looking for her, was among the first casualties of the chaos, and was already dead by the time Hanako found her. The chapter ends with Hanako breaking down over her mother's body.
    • Despite the violence of the assault, which left the young man with broken ribs and punctured lungs, his parents didn't press charges against Hanako; maybe they understood why it happened firsthand and were willing to forgive her. Hanako was sadly way too lost by then, to the point she said to herself she'd have killed him if there weren't witnesses.
    • The eventual fate of Hanako, and not only her, after that night is revealed much later in Rehabilitation, and may leave you wishing to have never known.
• While the third chapter is much lighter, it still involves Eri meeting the ghost Hanako-chan and reliving her last moments, based on one of the saddest versions of the urban legend: Hanako was a child in World War II who was playing hide-and-seek in a school building when a bombing commenced, explosions coming closer and closer until the last bomb hit the school.
  • The chapter notes also explain that, with Quirks making the paranormal common and the advent of superheroes, youkai and ghosts fell out of public consciousness and are almost completely forgotten by newer generations. They are still out there but lonelier because hardly anyone remembers them now.
• Chapter 4 gives a rundown of Hanako's life before Yomawari High.
  • Despite her school - Drakengard Elementary, one run by the Meta Liberation Army - she was fine until 2nd grade when a Hero, accusing Mr. Yumara to be an accomplice of two mutant villains who had just perpetrated a robbery, killed him gruesomely before Hanako's eyes. After the Hero was covered and cleared by the HPSC, Hanako's mother took the bottle for some time; Hanako was depressed and she was subjected to increasingly heavy bullying in school, especially by Mira Akotone.
    • As Mr. Yumara was well liked in the neighborhood, a citizen came in his defense. Tragically, he was mistaken as someone menaced by him which prompted the Hero to attack. Years later, however, Hanako learns it was just an excuse the Hero used to kill the man, simply because he was a mutant.
  • She privately came out as lesbian with Chtylla but a bully overheard and spread the voice, causing homophobia to be added to the already existing bullying. She started even finding spider lilies on her school desk.
  • When her father's killer was killed by Stain, something broke inside Hanako. The following time Akotone bullied her and insulted the memory of her father, she snapped completely: she killed Akotone and her cronies and accurately disposed of their bodies, leaving no proof of her responsibility. We knew from Chapter 2 Hanako killed in the past; we didn't know it happened in elementary school.
  • In a tragic irony, this cold-blooded murder ended up improving Hanako's life: the scandal of the disappearance of three students caused many families to pull their children out of the school district, giving Ms. Yumara a reason to transfer Hanako to Yomawari.
  • Was Drakengard a regular elementary school, Hanako could have just put Akotone in her place but due to how it was run, she would be treated as a criminal and not a victim who finally struck back. Hanako's already damaged mind saw no other solution.
  • Mira Akotone may get no sympathy but she's a victim of the MLA as much as Hanako. She was groomed by an environment that saw value only in her quirk and was fine with her being a mediocre student and cruel bully otherwise, and convinced her she was untouchable - which ultimately caused her demise. Maybe she could have grown into a decent person if pulled out of such toxic place earlier, but she never got that chance: realizing too late she had pushed her favourite victim to the limit, she died after a brief but horrifying agony. She was just eleven years old.
  • The murder happened years before the divergence point caused by Izuku and Eri traveling back in time. Contrarily to Aoi and Ai, it's not something that can be prevented. It is done and Hanako will always have it in her past.
• As if she hadn't already suffered enough, Chapter 5 reveals that despite her grades which are described as average at best, Hanako is very gifted academically but the teachers of Drakengard Elementary regularly forged her results to make her appear less intelligent in favor of students with "good" quirks (like Akotone), to the point Hanako eventually surrendered to that and started voluntarily making mistakes. It was so ingrained into her that she kept doing that even in middle school.
• Ronri has observed Hanako in many different timelines, and apparently her living a lonely existence was the best outcome. The survival of Aoi has opened new possibilities for Hanako but she may not be in the mindset to take them.
• In Chapter 6, during her encounter with Endeavor, Ronri explains that a nightmare he once had was in truth a vision of another timeline. According to her, in there the discovery of Izuku's notebooks caused him to be suspected of being a traitor selling out information to villains, tortured illegally, and imprisoned even with no proof found because he was still deemed "dangerous" by the HPSC, ultimately killing himself in prison. Worst of all, Class 1-A collectively turned their backs on him.
• If Ronri is really just eight years old as she claims, you have to wonder what she went through to become the person she is now, way too wise beyond her years, leaving her individuality behind to fulfill any role (including being a terrifying exterminator of heroes in at least one timeline) for what her minds believes to be Izuku's sake.

The MHA Multiverse: What If...?

• In the timeline of the first chapter, the horrible treatment and forcing of a quirk on Ai is discovered earlier and she can go back to being herself while still in elementary school. However that is achieved through heavy use of quirk-suppressant drugs for several years; she's ashamed of that and there's a hint she's afraid of the Quirk and evil personality taking over again. The situation eventually gets a permanent fix with Overhaul's anti-quirk drug.
• Even if the whole Chapter 1 is a feel-good story set in a timeline where everything went right, there's still a strong sadness in seeing the profoundly different fate of Mira Akotone here; it also implies some details that could have changed Hanako's opinion of her, if she knew and was in a better state of mind herself. It confirms that Mira was a victim of the enviroment of Drakengard school as much as Hanako; how better things could have been for both, had they left that school earlier.
• At first, Chapter 2 is a more detailed description of Aoi's early years of life. Luckily a change is introduced when her mother Mio is miraculously healed but Aoi still has to live some time with the abusive Himoto. It also happens after Ai has been already forcibly separated from her.
• Aoi ends up becoming a neighbor and friend of Izuku as kids, them bonding also for being both Quirkless, but as soon as she is introduced to Bakugo she becomes another victim of his bullying, both her and Izuku with burns caused by his Quirk. Thankfully Bakugo is caught and given the treatment and help he needs, coming back a much better person half a decade later.
• While Aoi lives a much happier life in the timeline of Chapter 2, with her and Izuku eventually becoming sweethearts, she also never attends Yomawari school and never meets Ochako, Cthylla and especially Hanako - who goes from being the protagonist of Chapter 1 to completely absent here - whose personal story has likely stayed the same, and not witnessing Aoi's suicide at least may have not done much to change her path.
• While Shinso gets one of the most unsympathetic variants here, it also makes you wonder if he still suffers from abusive step-parents like in the main story; while not fully justifying him, it'd help partly explain his attitude, making him not finding support in several universes, or not being capable of getting it, much sadder.
• Ai lives a full decade under Hirikone, and manages to regain control of her body only after recognizing Aoi on TV, during the broadcast of the Sports Festival. However the evil personality keeps trying to take over once again, condemning Ai to a life of Quirk Suppressants - luckily Chapter 2 ends with Izuku who's just brought the solution: Eri.
• The divergence point of Chapter 3 is Aizawa being fired from UA and Ninetails replacing him at least a couple years before Izuku and the 1-A we know are admitted at UA. However this means that the rest of the story hasn't changed, so unless further reveals (as this time the story is not all within a single chapter) Aoi may be already dead and Ai, Hanako and Cthylla still destined to tragic fates.

The MHA Multiverse: Deep Dive

• The first chapter details the universe Ronri first talked about in Side Stories #6. Even if you already know how it's going to end, it's much worse observing it closely, looking at how any Hope Spot is dashed and how for most of the story the few truly good characters are constantly crushed.
  • Quirkism seems more common and the hero scene is steeped in toxic competivity, especially the Hero Course at UA; most of 1-A is shown to be quite less friendly than in canon, while Bakugo is a bastard harboring no less than outright, malicious and unjustifiable hate towards Izuku. Despite this Izuku has managed to enter the hero course while quirkless, heavily implied to be thanks to Nedzu's interest and benevolence; however and unfortunately, it's a cause of even more pain for him.
  • It's not clear if Izuku used to idolize him here too but the All Might of this story is a Quirkist who constantly puts the boy down simply for being Quirkless - of course his hypocrisy, knowing he was originally Quirkless himself, is not lost - and the main cause of his misery. You have to wonder what happened in the past to make All Might into a man whose actions throughout the story make him just a Villain with Good Publicity.
  • Aizawa's teaching methods were always questionable but in canon, he showed to still deeply care about his students. Not here as he's directly responsible for creating a toxic atmosphere of competition and paranoia in his class, beside constantly putting down Izuku, treating Bakugo and Mineta with little more than a slap on the wrist while telling the other students (especially the girls) to "suck it up", and being so corrupt he conspires with All Might behind Nedzu's back. The death of Iida by Stain's hands - in this timeline he's got no one to help him in Hosu - is the only moment he shows some emotion, as he's reminded of Shirakumo. Just like All Might, it's tragic to see him apparently having taken all the wrong lessons.
  • Izuku places second at the Sports Festival but receives only one work offer, from Ryukyu, and only thanks to Nejire whom he already knows in this timeline. By comparison Bakugo receives thousands despite having been disqualified at the fighting tournament phase for excessive violence. Aizawa even says one should just put up with discrimination.
  • At Aizawa's announcement that Izuku has been arrested, his notebooks the alleged proof of him being a spy for the villains, Mina is horrified at seeing the rest of the class reacting from relief to indifference, especially Ochako (who's even had Izuku as an internship companion here, both working under Ryukyu). Her attempt to defend Izuku is met with imprisonment and beating with the accusation of conspiring with a villain. Tsukauchi is one of the people who helps free Mina but as he goes to the HPSC to protest what happened, he's instead relieved of his badge.
  • Nedzu reveals the secret of One For All to Mina and explains her that Izuku's notebooks are merely an official cover for his arrest. He involuntarily learned of OFA by overhearing All Might and Nighteye as they revealed the secret to Mirio; fearing he may reveal it to others, the two men conspired with Aizawa to have Izuku locked up. The boy has ended up in Tartarus because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and for All Might to cover his carelessness. Worse, All Might and Nighteye are later shown to hold little to no regrets, deeming their actions necessary to protect OFA, like its power was more important than any justice for which it supposedly exists.
  • The main fanfic has several funny moments of All Might clumsily revealing secrets to other characters; here, one such moment turns into Izuku's tragedy.
  • Mirio is constantly manipulated and lied to by Nighteye, putting too much trust in the man in ways that ultimately don't benefit him, costing him even his friendship with Nejire. He's killed by Ronri before he can know the truth; Tamaki, who survives, is left deeply depressed by his death.
  • Just after Nedzu reassured Mina that he'd do all in his power to have him released, Izuku commits suicide. After signing papers for Mina to move from UA to Shiketsu, noticing how lifeless her eyes have turned, Nedzu appears to cry for having failed Izuku and Mina so spectacularly. Mina leaves 1-A on uncertainly bad terms, not before scathingly telling that none of them deserve to become heroes.
  • In this universe, Ochako's parents got to know Izuku personally and quickly consider him family. Ochako turning her back on Izuku and his death have caused a rift between her and them, and she has clear signs of having cried a lot on her face. She later meets a visiting Hanako and even if the argument is seen from afar and barely heard from Mina's point of view, it ends with Hanako smacking Ochako and uttering "Haji-san", clearly referring to Aoi's suicide. This pushes Ochako, already crushed by her sense of guilt, further to the brink as she's next seen pondering what to do in front of a noose.
  • Ronri enters the scene as she's come to this universe and learned what happened to its Izuku. Acting like a voice in her head, she makes Ochako face her failures and insecurities and tells she deserves to die to stop being a burden to her parents, finally reminding her of Aoi once again. It's the last push: the girl who can cancel gravity uses it to kill herself. And given what happens next, Ochako may have been the lucky one.
    • Izuku, Ochako and Aoi, a happy polycule in the main story, have all died by suicide in this universe.
    • Izuku and Aoi are among the few people Ronri likes in the multiverse, but not Ochako.
  • As Gran Torino beats him and reminds him how much he trampled on Nana Shimura's legacy, All Might seems to finally see the error of his ways but it's too little, too late, especially with Ronri coming.
  • Ronri has a liking for Toga, who is consequently the only villain spared from the indiscriminate killing of all Tartarus inmates including All For One, and the League of Villains. Knowing however that Shigaraki and most of the League are as tragic characters as Toga, they basically don't get any chance but dying due to Ronri's whims.
  • Just as regret for how they acted towards Izuku and Mina is growing, an irredeemable Bakugo shows pride for his past Suicide Dare to Izuku and satisfaction for his death in front of all the class. Their horrified stares tell everything; Kirishima especially realizes how naive he was in thinking there could be some good in Bakugo. Finding Ochako's lifeless body shortly after is a further, grim reminder of how badly they have messed up. Once again, however, too late for them as Ronri is coming...
  • Nejire's intervention makes Ronri act like a kid for once, exposing how much she suffered the loss of Izuku in her home universe and how the absurd, unjust death of the one of this universe has reopened all wounds. Unfortunately, it's not enough to reach out to her as she sends Nejire away while deciding that revenge through further violence is the answer.
  • All Might seemigly subdues Ronri with a desperate last attack but the words he uses immediately after to reassure Class 1-A are very similar to the ones Ronri heard from her universe's Izuku when he saved her. Words of of gentleness and comfort, which however cause Ronri to recover here, and double down on her hate as she mortally wounds All Might and proceeds with killing the students.
  • With some exceptions like All Might, Aizawa and Bakugo, no characters are directly responsible for Izuku's misery; while the way most of 1-A acted was reprehensible, it was also caused by a toxic environment that would make most afraid of speaking up (especially after seeing Mina arrested) or befriending Izuku when their teachers were so clearly set against him. Not enough for them to deserve dying so horribly, especially Momo and Kirishima who merely try and protect their classmates while begging for Ronri to stop, and Tokoyami who first has to see Dark Shadow die as he's shot with the anti-quirk serum. Same for the several Pro Heroes on the scene. The tragedy of Ronri is also in having been so traumatized, she's become capable of such atrocities while putting Izuku on a pedestal and acting in his name - we know he'd be nothing but horrified by this.
  • With both One For All and All For One having died with their holders, half of the top Heroes but also all of the strongest villains dead, and the World Heroes Association coming to fill in for the mostly dead Hero Public Safety Commission, Japan can hope to build a better tomorrow, starting from Nedzu intending to found a new and better school over the literal and metaphorical ruins of UA. It won't change, however, that it will be a future built on Izuku's tragedy and Ronri's massacre, both of which could have been avoided with less discrimination.
• The second chapter reveals that in one of the many other universes, Dr. Garaki was actually successful in having the Vestige of All For One manifest after he implanted his dead master's Quirk in Eri (aka Ronri, the version of her with the Spatial Manipulation Quirk). She suffered two years in the lab vat, only for her body to be taken over by the most evil man in existence, and just like Ai with the Hirikone personality, likely fully conscious and Forced to Watch as Ronri-AFO managed to get One For All, and then Rewind from an Eri in another universe. Ronri managed to contain her after nearly dying, and only thanks to a very specific Quirk. Fighting this Alternate Self who was even more unfortunate than herself, and with the fear her prison may not last forever, is a further weight on Ronri's already fragile mind: when Ochako casually discovers the crystal where Ronri-AFO is sealed, Ronri's reaction is so violent she may even kill Ochako if Izuku didn't intervene, and in The Stinger of Chapter 51, Ronri has a nightmare of the fight where she refers to her counterpart as "that abomination" to cope with the idea of confronting what she could have become herself.
  • The chapter also highlights how Ronri's personal trauma causes her to hold unchanging opinions on some people and dismiss others. While it's sweet she wants Toga to be rehabilitated, she almost gleefully ignores her crimes, and asks only for her to be brought to a mental clinic, saying nothing about Twice. She loves Nejire but due to hating Mirio and Nighteye, she ignores her friendship with Mirio and Tamaki and would even damage it if possible. After seeing what happened when her conviction that any All Might could only hurt her clashed with reality, it's clear that such mindset will only bring her even more grief.
• In the third chapter, the terrifying nightmare Eri recounts is already sad enough if simply attributed to her personal trauma. However, as we know from Side Stories #6, dreams and nightmares are actually windows to other universes: another Eri, just four years old, has been actually experiencing that, terrified, imprisoned in a space with no exits, grievously injured and possibly destined to die because of a malicious supernatural entity that has targeted this Alternate Self and her family (Aizawa and Izuku are her actual father and brother in that universe). And just to twist the knife, Ronri tried to save them but the entity just caused her to forget and leave.
• In Chapter #7, while Ronri denies the Downer Ending of The Witch's House by punishing Ellen, she can't undo everything. Viola's father has already suffered a lot: he feels terrible for shooting the mysterious mutilated girl (not knowing she was his daughter), to the point he gave her a proper burial afterwards, and then he's seen his daughter turn sadistic and cruel (not knowing it was someone else in her body). Ronri decides to alter his memories and make him live on thinking Viola has passed away from an illness, so her spirit can move on.
• Even in an universe with a much more benevolent Meta Liberation Army as presented in Chapter 8, Aoi still took her life because her father was a member of an estremist faction within it, and therefore just the same horrible man we knew in the main fic. He gets his comeuppance but it won't bring her back.
• Chapter 10 would be sad enough already, with a variant universe of Girls' Last Tour where Chito decides to kill Yuuri in her sleep and then herself as she realizes there is no more hope for survival. But after doing the former and getting ready to shoot herself, Ronri appears and offers to bring her to another universe. Such a cruel twist causes Chito to snap, shooting at Ronri; she only damages her dress but Ronri reacts by brutally beating Chito, leaving her to die, broken and bleeding out, wailing for Yuuri as she can't even be beside the body of her friend in her last moments. Only the closing scene, showing that in the universe of Shimeji Simulation there are variants of them who are happily married, prevents the chapter from closing on the sourest of notes.
  • Ronri is portrayed at her absolute lowest here. She doesn't bother to check and understand the situation, talking callously to Chito and basically being the one who causes her to go mad and shoot. As Ronri has Super Regeneration, all she gets is a damaged dress but she brutalizes Chito and leaves her to die painfully because of that. Even the normally heartwarming detail that it was a dress from her universe's Jirou, showing a part of Ronri still cares about her despite everything that happened, here serves to show how deranged Ronri can get, giving little value to any life outside of Izuku and a few others'. It's no wonder the Vestige of her Izuku couldn't bear watching her actions anymore.
• Chapter 15 features Ronri visiting the universe of Persona 4 and encountering Nanako Dojima, who is dealing with some guilt over siding with the girls over throwing buckets at the boys and then staying in the hot springs after Yukiko realized that it was the boy’s turn. While Ronri is talking, she casually reveals that she had visited multiple variants of the Persona universe... including one where Yu ended up disowning Nanako over the affronted hot springs incident, conveniently leaving out the fact that Yu has serious trust issues due to events that had happened before he came to Inaba. Even though she sets things right by confessing to Yukiko’s mother, keep in mind that not only does Nanako love her Big Bro and was already having doubts about what she and the girls had done, but had also lost her mother and her father doesn’t spend much time with her. Imagine how that must had felt for her when she was left fearing she will lose more of her family just because she sided with the girls.
  • The fact there was an Yu in the multiverse that was traumatized enough over past incidents to cut ties with his Nanako over the hot springs incident also raises some serious questions about what he went through and what happened to the Investigation Team afterwards since he would most likely cut ties with the female members as well ^note  since he was willing to disown his own little sister in all but blood . What happened to him to become like that? What became of his friendships with Yosuke, Kanji and Teddie? What became of the team?

Ronri: Origins

• Just like in Deep Dive #1, we get a closer look at an universe we already knew in Broad Strokes (from Rehabiliation #3), including that it won't have a happy ending.
• At first the Eri of this Alternate Universe is happier than the canon Eri, as she hasn't manifested Rewind with all the consequences we know. At age 5 she however manifests a Spatial Manipulation Quirk that turns out to be just as powerful, causing the interest of All For One, implied to be tipped off by the Quirk specialist Ume Ruta brings Eri to. This sends Eri's life into a direction that will ultimately turn her into Ronri.
• Eri has to see her mother killed by Shigaraki; Ume tries to defend her even as she's been already touched once and slowly disintegrating, not managing to utter one last "I love you" to her daughter fully as she turns into dust. Eri's quirk flaring also causes Kurogiri's portal to be forcibly closed as Shigaraki tries to grab her through it, adding the horror of cutting his arm before she's knocked out and brought to AFO's lair. We later get confirmation Eri's father has also been killed. Ume is at least alive in the main continuity; here, both of Eri's parents have been murdered.
• Ochako dies at USJ, struck by Shigaraki's Quirk as she attempts to shield Izuku, even saying "My body moved on his own" before disintegrating. Seeing her dusted before his eyes causes Izuku to already reach One For All's singularity, manifesting Blackwhip in a way that defeats Shigaraki and his Nomu but also injures Tsuyu, who's left with a scar on her face. The entire class is left shocked by the events, including Bakugo who becomes more subdued (although he still gets kidnapped by the villains later); he's even shocked by Izuku rightfully snapping back at Shinso and Monoma as they come to taunt 1-A before the Sports Festival.
  • This also explains why Eri/Ronri doesn't care for Ochako as she does for Izuku or Aoi - she could never form a first impression of her because in her universe, she was long dead by the time Eri was freed from Garaki's lab.
• As All For One doesn't take her Quirk but intends for it to be eventually given to Shigaraki when he'll be ready, Eri is held in a lab tube full of liquid, constantly conscious as she observes several events through the monitors of the facility but also constantly in pain as Doctor Garaki experiments on her.
• Izuku is brought in the case of the murder of the Rutas, as it's clear to the police they have been killed by Shigaraki but not the reason why. After being grimly reminded of Ochako's death, upon seeing the files he recognizes Eri as the little girl he met on the same day he first met All Might, happily telling him of her recently manifested Quirk. All Might's suggestion that she may be turned into a Nomu is enough to make Izuku throw up.
• All For One dies in Kamino, which prompts Garaki to decide implanting the original copy of his Quirk in Eri in the hope his Vestige will take her body over, causing Eri to suffer even more than she already did so far. By the time she is freed it's revealed she has spent at least a couple years in Garaki's lab, and her body is full of scars.
• As Izuku breaks into the lab amidst an operation to find and eliminate any remaining Nomu, Nighteye orders him to not exclude Eri from the commands to put them down as she may be "far too gone". Izuku obviously doesn't comply. While Nighteye's concern isn't completely unfounded, the way he wants to act on it is completely wrong. Unfortunately we know that this mindset will be one cause of the future tragedy.
  • Izuku comforting Eri after freeing her from the lab tube is heartwarming but is also the same memory that, in Deep Dive #1, caused her to recover from an apparent defeat and proceed with her horrible killing of Class 1-A.
• It is to notice that in the first chapter All Might and Izuku's relationship is good, which only makes their future falling-out feel even worse.
• While Eri becomes a ward of UA also to hide her from the HPSC, and looks to be adjusting well to living in the 1-A dorm, an agitated All Might storms into Nedzu's office to talk about her having All For One's Quirk, after being told by Nighteye. While the scene ends with him humorously shooed out of Nedzu's office, it's clear that paranoia, fueled by his own past experiences and traumas with AFO, is taking All Might over. Even if he's dead in this timeline, AFO still casts a shadow over him.
  • By the time the second chapter was published, Deep Dive #2 had also come out and revealed there is another universe where All Might's concerns were founded. His fears are understandable but his inability to separate AFO from the little traumatized girl his Quirk was forced on, is the cause of the whole downfall to come.
• Similarly, even if in the middle of All Might's rant, the idea that Izuku managed to make Toga switch sides by trauma-dumping on her says a lot about how much Ochako's death weighs on him despite having known her for such a short time in this universe.
• In this universe Ai took control of her body back in desperation as Aoi was falling in her suicide attempt, to try and grab her. Aoi survived but with heavy injuries; she's now on a wheelchair, with both legs and part of a hand paralyzed. While now Ai does everything in her power to make it up to Aoi and takes constant care of her, Aoi's state is even more miserable, at least until a moment of bonding with Eri, who hugs her as she quickly understands how much she's been hurt.
• Eri accidentally activates the All For One Quirk in her while touching Momo, taking her Creation Quirk while being unable to give it back. Jirou has an angry reaction, even thinking Eri was deceiving the class; Izuku, Kirishima and Tsuyu stop her while revealing they knew about Eri; Momo is quite sweet and understanding despite being now Quirkless. However there are clear signs this incident has caused a divide within 1-A.
• Aizawa decides that Momo will keep staying in the Hero Course while a way to get her Quirk back is looked for, and proceeds to tell the other teachers. However as he doesn't know of All Might's visit to Nedzu yet, Aizawa tells him too. This while Izuku is telling Eri that he and his parents intend to adopt her.
• Over the second chapter, variations of "everything will be okay" are said more than once, and it's even the title of the third chapter. We know it won't.
• The brief conversation between All Might and Izuku encapsulates the upcoming tragedy. All Might has grown firmly convinced that All For One is in Eri and has also managed to manipulate Izuku; no level of pleading from Izuku or any other means of reassurance, like Tsukauchi verifying Eri with his Quirk, can budge him from his convinction. The truth is that AFO is rather in All Might: despite being dead, he's turned into a shadow that is consuming All Might and pulling him down in the darkness. Worse, All Might is sincerely convinced he's doing the right thing, as he also professes his fatherly love for Izuku.
• Eri is happy of her first attempt to use Creation, as taught by Momo, but Jirou simply ignores her, proof of the divide the accident has caused within Class 1-A. Even sadder as Eri approaches Jirou, showing no resentment for her initial reaction.
• As Nighteye and All Might put their plan to arrest Eri in motion, Nighteye looks into her future and sees her killing 1-A, All Might and several heroes. Any attentive reader will immediately realize it's the universe of Deep Dive #1 but Nighteye can't know and his belief regarding Eri becomes even firmer. However Nedzu blasts him, asking if that's rather a future of Nighteye's own creation - and he's right. The massacre there, and who knows what else Ronri has done, would't have happened if it wasn't for the singular obsession of these variants of Nighteye and All Might. As Bakugo, for once a true hero and friend here, observes, everything happens because they couldn't let go of their past, becoming blinded by it.
• As All Might won't back down from his intention of bringing Eri to Tartarus, Izuku fights him with all the power he can muster while All Might uses up all the embers he has left. Izuku destroys his body to never fail to protect Eri again, while All Might starts wondering why the Vestiges support the boy if he's being manipulated as he thinks - but it's too late: Izuku goes for one desperate final attack and All Might counters with the United States of Smash he didn't get to use with All For One in this universe. The resulting explosion kills All Might, destroys a large portion of Musutafu, and leaves Izuku in critical condition.
• A dying Izuku passes One For All to Eri, his last words an "I love you" he can't complete before exhaling his last breath, just like Ume when Shigaraki killed her. Seeing another loved one die before her eyes to protect her, falling into despair as her Spatial Manipulation Quirk is powered up by OFA, Eri disappears in a flash.
• Chapter 3 ends with All Might waking up and realizing he has died and become a Vestige of One For All himself. He's happy to see Nana Shimura but as his master angrily decks him and shows him that the vestige of All For One there is broken and inactive, demonstrating he's been never in control of Eri, All Might finally and too late realizes the magnitude of his mistakes.
• In the end, All For One has done nothing in this universe to destroy All Might's legacy, as All Might has done that by himself, simply because of his fear that AFO was still out there in some form. AFO caused him to lose his predecessor he loved like a mother, and now the fear of AFO causes him to kill the successor he loved like a son. AFO gets the last laugh from beyond the grave.
• In the aftermath of All Might and Izuku's deaths, we learn that their fight killed several dozens civilians and that Nighteye's version of the story has been fed to the public. Despite the news talking of Izuku as if he was brainwashed, the HPSC classifies him as a Rank S Villain posthumously. You can feel all of Bakugo's anger and frustration as he blows up a tablet after learning that.
• Eri is thought to have died in the destruction. In her home universe, she's officially dead.
• Disappointed and disgusted by Nighteye's actions, Mirio leaves him; Bubble Girl and Centipeder follow suit soon after. Even if he deserves being left miserable, you can still feel some sorrow for how this Nighteye burns bridges around himself because of his obsession, as he is genuinely surprised and desperate at seeing Mirio go without looking back.
  • Mirio himself also deserves some mention: he basically had to watch his mentor go against everything heroes stand for to try and capture or kill a little girl just to satisfy his own paranoia while giving the excuse of “you’ll understand one day.” Once Nighteye continues to frame Izuku and Eri as villains, Mirio is forced to realize that Nighteye is ultimately a man who’s far to trapped in the past and his obsessions to acknowledge the truth and decides he wants nothing more to do with Nighteye’s nonsense, stoically handing in his resignation and walking away despite Nighteye’s pleas, showing just how broken Mirio is over what Nighteye has done.
• The rift within Class A has become insanable. Six of them congregate around Momo, Bakugo and Toga; they have Aizawa and Nedzu's backs but the rest of the class shuns them and believe that Eri and Izuku were villains. It's also implied that they get shunning and pressure from outside the class as well. Monoma's taunting becomes incredibly mean-spirited, to the point he's ultimately expelled from UA.
  • With Eri gone, Momo's quirk is now lost.
• Eri starts traveling through the Multiverse and observes many timelines where things go badly for Izuku and many people, including variants of some she loves in her home universe, hurt him. She even visits some timelines where Izuku is a villain but rationalizes that it's just others' fault that he acts like that - even while witnessing him forcing Tsuyu to be a mole at UA as he threatens her family.
  • The first variant of Ochako that Ronri personally sees is one who is overtly jealous, possessive and manipulative towards Izuku, creating an awful first impression.
• Tired and desperate after seeing so many Izukus being hurt, Eri tries to stop the bullying of a Bakugo using her Quirk but involuntarily kills him. Rather than feeling sad or horrified, she thinks she's protected Izuku that way, a clear sign of how her mind keeps slipping.
  • As Bakugo is listed as one of the people most hated by Ronri in the multiverse, it's likely that despite her home universe's Bakugo being dear to her, meeting many worse Bakugos has broken her perception of him.
• One Nedzu is reduced to animalistic state as Ronri steals his High Spec quirk. Despite the earlier promise to herself to quickly give it back to him after gaining a better understanding, after seeing a bad Aizawa and Shinso causing Izuku to be taken out of the Hero Course, she keeps the Quirk and it's implied that, combined with her frail state of mind, it rather contributed in creating her current personality, giving her the resolution to be proactive in helping Izuku but also making her an high-functioning psychopath.
• Another alternate Izuku is terrified in front of what he recognizes as a girl similar to the Eri he knows, standing in the middle of what is described as a sea of corpses, soaked in blood and flatly telling she did it to protect him. How many other times situations similar to this and Deep Dive #1 have happened? How many with rather an alive Izuku to witness such horrors being done in his name? How many Izukus may have been left heavily traumatized and worse off than they were before Ronri intervened?
• Eri eventually enters a routine of checking any new universe for Izuku's situation, intervening if necessary, and we know the lenghts such interventions can reach. Even if she repeats to herself that it's for Izuku's sake, guilt starts to accumulate.
• Vestige All Might, desperate as he keeps seeing what his horrible choices have led to, pleads his predecessors to try and make Izuku talk some sense into Eri. However as it turns out, Vestige Izuku has been even more broken: even if it was one last gesture of love, by passing One For All he inadvertedly created the terrifying Eri there is now, and has wandered off in the void of the Vestige Realm to not witness her actions further.
• Eri appears in the Vestige Realm. Refusing to listen to a sorrowful All Might, she encases him in a crystal and tells she's come to "get rid of the guilt" - literally: she uses Overhaul on herself and a second Ronri splits off from her, before being left behind there. Her Split Personality is born.
• As Eri meets a version of Dr. Kojima for the first time, she says that only Izuku deserves to call her Eri, and asks to be called Ronri from then on. The sweet little girl who enthusiastically told a Quirkless boy about her newly manifested Quirk is gone, tucked in a corner of her own mind.
• Ronri has never returned to her home universe so far, so she doesn't know the aftermath and how much there needs resolution and closure.
• Ochako's early death in a selfless act caused Izuku to manifest the Vestiges earlier. For this reason he already had Blackwhip when the training camp was attacked, allowing him to capture Toga and convince her to switch sides. With Toga's help, Aizawa could be present in Kamino and shut All For One's Quirks down, giving All Might an easy victory. Thanks to that, All Might still kept a lot of embers of One For All, which allowed him to be still strong enough to fight Izuku on equal footing, ultimately ending in the death of both of them. The Butterfly Effect can be really cruel.