Seeing that her cover was blown before she could even do anything, Firefly's first instinct was to lie or pretend she didn't understand what he was talking about. However, after thinking it through, she realized she hadn't actually done anything that would expose her identity. She hadn't transformed, hadn't revealed any information, and hadn't slipped up in her words.
Besides the Stellaron Hunters, no one knew that she was the real person behind the mask of SAM. Yet he not only knew who she was, he also knew about "Shaper," the specialized handheld transformation device she needed to become SAM. That was why he had specifically ordered Feixiao to keep her hands behind her back and visible where he could see them.
That wasn't a guess.
It meant he understood exactly how her transformation worked.
Although she could try to escape by leaving the Dreamscape, she ultimately decided not to. The way he looked at her made it feel pointless. It was as if he could already predict what she would do before she even made the decision. Running now might only make things worse.
It felt like his gaze could see straight through her, reading every thought she tried to hide. Not just her mission, but her doubts, her hesitation, even the quiet expectations she carried. The feeling of being understood so thoroughly by someone she had just met made her feel exposed in a way she wasn't prepared for.
That alone was enough to terrify her.
Her composure cracked, and tears began forming in her eyes before she could stop them.
"I-I… I didn't mean you any harm… I… I was ordered to make contact with you by my boss…"
She didn't hesitate to shift the blame.
If there was anyone responsible, it was Elio. She was only following instructions. Just a messenger sent to establish contact.
Firefly: Yes, everything was Elio's fault!
Elio: "…"
"I already knew that," Tsutsumi replied calmly.
There was no reaction in his voice, no change in expression. The fact that he wasn't surprised only made her more uneasy.
You already knew my identity and mission, yet you still chose to interrogate me like this?
The realization that she was being played with settled heavily in her chest. A faint sense of resentment began to mix with her fear, especially when she remembered what Elio had warned them about. In several possible futures, Decade stood against the Stellaron Hunters, and those outcomes never ended well for them. Even Blade had fallen into those possible futures.
If an immortal like Blade could be killed by him, then what about her?
Acheron raised an eyebrow as she looked down at the crying Firefly on the ground before shifting her gaze toward Tsutsumi.
"Aren't you a bit too cruel toying with a little girl's heart?" she teased lightly.
"Not my fault, she followed a stranger right into their hotel room," Tsutsumi replied indifferently, snapping a picture of Firefly's tearful face without hesitation.
The sound of the photo being taken made Firefly stiffen slightly, but she didn't dare protest.
"You can tell that black cat we can cooperate, as long as they won't get in my way. Or become a thorn on my side," he continued before glancing at Feixiao. "You can release her now. If she tries anything, I'll hunt them down myself."
Feixiao immediately let go of Firefly's wrists. She didn't question his decision. Their relationship had already been established as Master and Servant, and as a soldier, following orders came naturally to her, as long as they weren't unreasonable.
Firefly slowly pushed herself up, rubbing her wrists as she looked at him cautiously.
"Y-You mean I can go now?" she asked hesitantly.
"That's up for you to decide. I don't care," he replied before waving his hand and summoning an Aurora Curtain. "I'm gonna take a walk, be right back. You all decide and plan what you wanna do here."
Without waiting for a response, he stepped forward and disappeared through the curtain.
Outside their room door, a figure quietly waved their hand. Another Aurora Curtain appeared directly in front of the one Tsutsumi had summoned, positioned so precisely that no one inside noticed the overlap.
Tsutsumi has unknowingly passed into the second one instead.
After sensing that he had fully crossed over, the figure calmly closed it before turning around and walking through another Aurora Curtain, disappearing just as silently.
In the U.A. teacher dorm room, an Aurora Curtain quietly appeared in the hallway before fading as a figure stepped out from it. He adjusted his sleeve slightly and walked down the corridor without hesitation, as if he had done this many times before.
Stopping in front of room 11, he reached for the door handle and twisted it open.
"What the? How did you ge-"
Aizawa immediately looked toward the door when he heard it open. His eyes narrowed when he realized it had been unlocked, and irritation was already forming on his face before he froze after seeing who was standing at the door frame.
"Tsutsumi?"
"Long time no see, Aizawa-sensei," the older Tsutsumi greeted with a faint smirk, casually leaning against the door frame like he belonged there.
The two stared at each other for a few seconds.
...
"So let me get this straight, you are from the future," Aizawa said, his tone sounding more confused than shocked.
"Alternative future now," Tsutsumi corrected as he took a seat without waiting to be invited. "After all, from my timeline, the future me didn't come back to meet you."
Aizawa frowned slightly at that.
"Perhaps your future future self told the other me not to tell you."
"Then you would be a fool who does nothing and lets the world burn," Tsutsumi replied evenly.
The blunt answer made Aizawa narrow his eyes. The situation was strange enough already, but the fact that Tsutsumi was treating it as something serious meant whatever happened in that timeline was not minor. His strongest student had apparently unlocked the ability to travel through time and chose to return here, which alone suggested something important was going to happen.
"Explain," Aizawa said, the tired look in his eyes disappearing as his tone became firm.
"Call the Chimera and Skin&Bones," Tsutsumi said. "What I am about to say, they should hear it too."
Aizawa frowned again, but he already knew who those nicknames referred to. Tsutsumi had once called Nezu a Chimera during a discussion, and Skin&Bones clearly described All Might's true form.
Without wasting time, Aizawa called both Nezu and Yagi Toshinori, telling them it was urgent and that they needed to see it themselves if they wanted to believe it.
Neither of them questioned him. They both agreed to come immediately.
After putting his phone away, Aizawa studied the older Tsutsumi more carefully. The resemblance was almost exact. The hair was slightly longer and his posture remained the same, but the face, voice, and expression were nearly identical. Even the black and magenta color scheme of his outfit remained the same.
"So if you are here, then where is your younger self now?" Aizawa asked. Tsutsumi Ryoko had been missing for over a week, and concern among the staff and classmates was starting to grow.
"He will either come back soon or stay gone for another week," Tsutsumi replied casually. "It depends on whether he finds his new job as an Endministrator interesting or not."
He paused briefly before adding, "Although he might not find it very interesting since I already handled most of the work there. So he is probably just checking things out."
Aizawa raised an eyebrow.
"Wait. Don't tell me he has already unlocked time travel."
"Time and space," Tsutsumi corrected before glancing toward the ventilation shaft. "Do you want me to pull out a giant mousetrap to lure you out or something?"
A light laugh echoed from the vent before Nezu appeared, pushing the cover aside and peeking out with an amused expression.
"Oh my, I didn't expect to be noticed so quickly. Although considering your unique circumstances, I suppose something like this would be easy for you to detect, Tsutsumi-kun," Nezu said before climbing down and neatly placing the vent cover back.
A knock came from the door shortly after.
"Shota, it's me."
Yagi Toshinori's voice sounded from outside. Aizawa opened the door, revealing the skinny blonde standing there.
Once both Nezu and Yagi Toshinori were seated inside the room, the older Tsutsumi gave them a small nod.
"Long time no see, Toshinori, Nezu," he said. "If it wasn't obvious, I'm Tsutsumi Ryoko from a distant future."
Yagi's expression became uncertain as he looked at him carefully. The resemblance was undeniable, but accepting that the fifteen-year-old student currently enrolled at U.A. had grown into this version and traveled back through time was not something easy to process.
"I don't mean to be rude, but can you prove that you are-"
His words were interrupted when Tsutsumi calmly pulled out a magenta device that closely resembled his younger self's transformation device, though the color was different, and it was not permanently stuck to his waist.
"Do you need me to transform too?" Tsutsumi asked casually. "Or would you prefer I transform into your illegitimate child?"
The room went quiet.
Yagi's eyelid twitched slightly before he sighed.
"No need. I believe you," Yagi Toshinori replied. "Only young Tsutsumi could say something like that without changing his expression."
He still clearly remembered the chaos that followed the last time Tsutsumi said something outrageous in the teacher group chat, and this felt no different.
"Good, now then, let's get down to my reason for being here," Tsutsumi said with a small smile as he put away the Neo Decade Driver. "It should be obvious why I came. I wanted to change the future of this world."
The room grew quieter.
"Then, if you don't mind, can you tell me what happened in the future?" Nezu asked calmly, clearly catching the weight behind the way Tsutsumi phrased his words.
"The world is destroyed," Tsutsumi replied without hesitation.
The answer was simple, but it was enough to make Aizawa's expression harden and Yagi Toshinori's shoulders stiffen. Nezu, on the other hand, remained composed, though his eyes sharpened slightly.
"I see," Nezu said. "Then what do we need to do to prevent it?"
"Currently, there are a few options," Tsutsumi replied before raising one finger. "The first is to reignite my younger self's sense of justice and righteousness. After realizing that the Hero Public Safety Commission directly targeted him and prevented him from obtaining a Hero License, he gradually lost his desire to be a hero."
The words fell heavily in the room.
Tsutsumi Ryoko was undeniably powerful. His abilities, his intelligence, and even his understanding of heroism were impressive. However, there were times when his way of thinking aligned too closely with something far more dangerous. He had always walked a thin line, and if his desire to be a hero disappeared entirely, there was no guarantee he would remain on the right side of it.
Aizawa felt a subtle tension settle in his chest.
"That doesn't make much sense," Aizawa said. "Wasn't his original goal to find his missing mother?"
Tsutsumi raised a second finger.
"There are factors preventing that goal," he explained. "The first is interference. Future versions of myself returned more than once to implement additional safety measures to prevent my younger self from discovering certain truths too early. That cycle has already happened multiple times."
Aizawa frowned at that implication but remained silent.
"And the second reason," Tsutsumi continued evenly, "is that in my timeline, the Hero Public Safety Commission brought Tsutsumi Kaina out of prison and used her to lure Tsutsumi Ryoko into lowering his guard. Their intention was to forcefully remove his Quirk and take control of it."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop.
No matter how they looked at it, the decision to use a missing mother as bait to forcefully steal a child's Quirk crossed a line that should never have been approached. Even Nezu's calm demeanor shifted slightly as he processed the implications.
"Of course," Tsutsumi added casually, "that plan failed."
Aizawa narrowed his eyes.
"And then?"
"And then All For One gained access to my power."
The statement made Yagi Toshinori's eyes widen immediately.
"You are saying that…" he began, unable to finish the sentence.
"Yes," Tsutsumi confirmed. "Your greatest enemy is still alive."
Although Yagi and those closest to him had long suspected that possibility, they had never been able to confirm it. Hearing it stated so directly removed any remaining doubt.
"You can discuss the details about that faceless bastard later," Tsutsumi said before questions could spiral out of control. He raised a third finger. "The final condition is simple. The Tsutsumi Ryoko of this timeline must achieve what I failed to achieve."
Aizawa's gaze sharpened. "And that is?"
"To become what you most hated. A path of no return. A lonely wanderer with no place to call home. Become the monster they said you are. Become the devil that does not cry. Become the ghost that can not feel. Become the evil that is needed. Become the man, without a heart."