The first ripple came at 2:12 a.m.
A low-frequency hum. Barely audible.
Just enough to make the lights flicker in the underground clinic.
Eri was asleep.
But her horn glowed—deep crimson.
Izuku sat bolt upright.
Notebook still in his lap.
His body moved before thought caught up.
He burst into Eri's room—
She whimpered.
Eyes closed.
Sweating.
"No," he whispered.
"Not yet."
He grabbed a Quirk-suppressing patch from the drawer—stolen tech from the Hassaikai stockpile—and slapped it gently on her neck.
A hiss. A spark.The horn dimmed.
Outside, five miles away…
Chisaki's men felt it.
A single seismic pulse.
Like a sonar call only the infected could hear.
"Sir… we've got a flare."
Chisaki's head turned slowly.
His eyes bloodshot.
"Location?"
"Naruhata. But the signature's unstable."
He stood.
Wordless.
Slipped on his gloves.
Eri woke with a scream.
Izuku caught her before she fell out of the bed.
"It's okay," he whispered.
"You're safe. You're safe."
But her eyes—She wasn't looking at him.
She was staring through him.
Tears streamed down.
And one word escaped:
"Kai…"
Izuku stiffened.
She remembered him.
Too early.
Too clearly.
This wasn't how it went.
This wasn't supposed to happen until months later.
Not until Mirio lost everything.
Not until he nearly died for her.
But now… everything was wrong.
He stepped out into the hallway.
Aizawa was already there.
Eyes bloodshot. Phone in hand.
"You feel that?"
"I did."
A pause.
"Her Quirk's activating outside natural progression," Izuku said. "The butterfly effect's kicking harder than expected."
Aizawa's gaze was hard.
"How bad?"
Izuku didn't blink.
"Level 4 timeline corruption. Maybe higher."
A long silence.
Then:
"Can we stop it?"
"…I don't know."
Somewhere else in Musutafu, Bakugo stared at his phone.
Still reading that page.
His name.
His life.
Written like a science report.
He didn't sleep that night.
Instead, he wrote down every word.
Burned it into memory.
Then burned the page.
Back in the bunker, Chisaki's convoy rolled out.
Black vans. Clean streets.
The rain started again.Soft. Cold.
Inside the lead vehicle, Chisaki pulled out an old syringe.
Red. Swirling.
The serum.
"Prepare the backup plan," he said. "We're going hunting."
Izuku packed the essentials.
Hard drives. Paper trails. An old All Might keychain Eri had reached for once.
Aizawa stood at the door.
"You sure about this?"
"She's not safe in one place anymore."
"Where are you taking her?"
Izuku looked up.
"Somewhere they'd never think to check."
"U.A.?"
"No."
He paused.
Smirked.
"Somewhere even I shouldn't be."
They moved through the shadows that night.
Aizawa driving.
Eri asleep in the back.
Izuku staring out the window, notebook clutched in his hand like a weapon.
His phone buzzed.
A message.
Unmarked.
Just three words:
"STAIN WANTS TO TALK."
He didn't reply.
Not yet.
Too early.
But his eyes narrowed.
The awakening had begun.
End of Chapter 9