Chapter Text
The lights were out. They always flickered out when a storm hit hard enough. Luckily he’d been hit by enough to already be prepared for this one.
The rain was hitting hard tonight, it tore at the shingles and beat upon them as if they had personally offended the gods themselves. Katsuki figured that if there were gods up there then rainy season must be their pissy fit. Why else would they be sending a storm upon his already soaked city? They obviously didn’t care much for their creations if they were stomping their stupid prowess over mortals.
But he didn’t truly believe in gods, not that he was against the belief. He just had more important things to be pondering about, like when the power was going to flicker back into existence.
And judging by the pounding that he was listening to outside, it didn’t seem like the storm was about to let up just yet. It would probably be a few hours before he ever got to turn the heater on which was a shame since the heat from before was already seeping out of his home. He’d have to find a sweater or two to keep from freezing to death. He’d already been through such a time before and in the comfort of his home he wouldn’t have to worry about some fools laughing at the image of him wearing two wool sweaters to keep from frostbite.
Well, frostbite would be an exaggeration, more like trench foot. His feet were still damp from his commute from headquarters back home. Even though he took his own car he had still managed to stumble into a puddle deeper than it seemed. His socks were drying in the laundry room the same could not be said about his frozen toes.
Sometimes he wished he had Icy Hot’s damn fire quirk, that’s how he’d put it anyhow. Todoroki didn’t have to worry about such matters himself, it just so happened that actual fire was much more helpful for keeping the cold away than an explosion quirk.
That didn’t mean he didn’t try though. It just meant that he got better at controlling his own quirk to better suit making sure he didn’t freeze to death.
He stumbled over to his living room, the dark was definitely not helping in his endeavor. At least the carpet was kinder to his feet than cold tile flooring. It was still way too cold though and he found himself shivering already.
He stubbed his toe against the leg of his coffee table, his cold toes lit up with an uncomfortable sting.
“ ffFuck. ”
He silenced his usual outburst, even though nobody would hear him through his house in this storm he sucked in his breath and hobbled over the rest of the distance to the couch and plopped over. He heaved a heavy sigh and huffed. He was weary to the bone from hero work.
But it was his job and he happened to love every moment of it. Being able to become a hero alongside legends like Hawks and Edgeshot was a damn dream. He was up with the big boys, fighting crime and keeping the peace for all of Musutafu.
He gazed up and though over the bygone days when he used to run around like a hooligan. He cringed some when he thought over his mid adolescent days, those days would stick to his conscious like tar there was no way he’d forget about such a time in his life. Though he could still try to forget, and so he pushed away the embarrassment and in favor of that looked towards a more golden vision he had kept in his mind and heart for ages.
All Might in his golden days of glory, fighting crime with a smile and hearty laugh. It seemed to everyone that nothing could stop this man, this legend. Ahead of him he remembered seeing his silhouette and reaching out to him seemed impossibly far.
But that was years ago and the vision he had of All Might ahead of him seemed to have shifted since then. He was closer to it now, the glory, fame, and wonder. He was almost there, from the little fanboy he was and now a full fledged hero up in the ranks. He still remembers the days he spent gazing at the tv with excitement when All Might passed by on screen.
He smirked to himself in the darkness of his living room. Yeah, he was living his dream. He couldn’t imagine a life for himself that wasn’t this. He wouldn’t be able to stand an office job nor some other profession, it just wasn’t for him.
He slid his phone out of his pocket. He was lucky it hadn’t been soaked by the rain when he rushed on to get inside earlier. It was one of the newest models released, hero work paid off and it showed.
He swiped open his screen, a myriad of messages popped up afterwards. Notifications, from work, friends, and social media littered his inbox. He started swiping, he’d be here for a while but while the storm was raging and pounding away he had nothing better to do. Rewinding and relaxing in his home was probably the most he could really do now.
He swiped over a couple of junk mail notifications before he came across the headline of a news article sent to him by Kirishima. It was a group message and he found that the other pings from before from his friends were mostly connected to that. He stopped for a moment and swiped the message open.
The Search for the Number 1 Hero Continues, Where has the Symbol of Peace gone?
Katsuki grimaced, he’d been missing for over a year now. All Might had disappeared without a trace and without a sound and in his place Endeavor had to step up to fill the void that he had left behind. It had rocked the city for months after it had been revealed. A sharp rise in criminal activity followed the announcement made by news stations and chaos had reigned in the city for weeks. Katsuki, as well as many other heros, found that although the truth had to be put out there it caused more trouble than it was worth. Heroes had nearly lost their lives in criminal attempts to try and pull off stunts and heists after the announcement of All Might’s disappearance. Even Kirishima had been hospitalized for over a week after he had nearly been crushed by a building just days after the announcement.
Although he was annoyed by the stance of the article he read ever bit of it. He irked after reading over the theories put forth. All Might dead? And affair? Criminal backstory? Part of a secret crime syndicate? The list became more ridiculous the further down he read. Even a tabloid fool wouldn’t write something of such slander and it happened to be released on a well respected news site. He figured that the article would be taken down soon anyhow, he didn’t know how they could pass something of such merit to be released in the first place anyway.
But he stopped to stare at the picture that accompanied the article. Flowers dotted seventy five percent of the screen in a myriad of colors and sizes. Solemn eyes and sorrowful souls filled the image. Hundreds of people had gathered together to send prayer and hopes to All Might. Tears littered the grounds that day and it came to the point that even Endeavor made an appearance to share his voice to those in distress and grieving.
He had not attended, he had felt that there wasn’t a reason to. All Might couldn’t be dead, no way, never. He was a symbol of peace, damn near immortal in his eyes. Sure he was human but he was also All Might. The threat of death had never stopped him before and he was too much of a figurehead to ever be able to get away with frivolous mobs crime.
But that didn’t change the fact that All Might had indeed disappeared and the reason was still unknown to him and every single other person who lived in Musutafu.
Where was he and where would he have gone in the first place? His disappearance brought up questions that had been previously unthought of. Unfortunately it also paved way for articles such as that one, frivolous theories with nothing but speculation to back them up. There was nothing to back them up, All Might was elusive, mysterious just as much as he was predictable. He was a figurehead of peace but other than that his life was completely unknown to the rest of the world.
Even he had these questions circulate in his brain, all he had known about All Might was just the same as everyone else and yet he felt stunted. That vision he had was at a standstill in a way, he was getting closer to All Might but the air around him stood stale.
But the real air around him finally started to creep deeper into his skin, colder and colder. The storm had let up though and the pounding turned to a calm patter, soothing his weary mind and aching neck.
The light above flickered back on. Power was back on, perfect for him. Another twenty minutes in his seat would have numbed his joints in place.
He heaved himself up from his seat after closing out of his phone. That was enough shit articles for him for the day. He would have to wash the grime of the day from his skin before he even stepped a yard away from his bed. There was no way in hell he would roll in hero work filth he had gathered from the day.
The warmth of the shower not only washed away the grime, it washed away the stress, the aches and the worries he had set forth in his mind. He could have stayed under the shower head for hours but the threat of wasted water pulled him out after thirty minutes. He plopped into his bed soon after anyway. It would warm up soon enough and sleep was much more welcome now so late at night.
He closed his eyes and soon after fell asleep, deep asleep. The aches of before completely washed away with the tide of dreams unremembered.
Light filtered into his room and unbeknownst to him it filled in, pouring from the cracks of open window and light planes. Red, blue, orange, gold, every hue that could behold lit his dark room alight. It looked like christmas and settled in, comfy and warm. The warmth enwrapped Katsuki as a gentle hand fell upon his face.
“ Kacchan. ” The voice tinged with excitement and fascination even as a whisper it filtered through the room like bell chimes.
Izuku giggled a bit at the sound of his voice. In this newer form he adopted melded more compactly than the original first star form he was more human than he had been in the past year. But the light that radiated from his body was still fully exposed. He looked akin to a human lightbulb. In the world of quirks that may have not been as extreme as it sounds but glowing like a bulb’s filament was still very odd.
Katsuki stirred a bit, his eyes catching the light even though his eyelids remained closed. He was still fast asleep deep in the recesses of a dreamscape.
Izuku dimmed his glow, the tendrils of light enwrapped around him fell to a lower light. In the glow left off his eyes sparkled with wonder and mirth and softened as he gazed fondly over Katsuki.
If Izuku had any semblance of human sense left it surely didn’t show much. It had been years since he had first been introduced out there in the vast open space between the stars and he had already seemingly forgot that humans never took to kindly to being watched as they slept or if they found that same watcher happened to be a life form of energy that slipped through the glass pane of his window.
But in the glittering starlight like precious gemstones floating around his head here and there there was no room for fretting. In his heart there was only joy, admiration, and mirth. Katsuki Bakugou, his childhood friend the one who drove him to become a better person even if he didn’t quite realize it himself was now before him again. Although he was now much older now, more filled and rough than he had been years ago in high school. He hadn’t been able to follow him then as without a quirk of his own he never had the option to even try to get into the same course as he did let alone any other class in UA.
But things were different now, much different. If you could call it a quirk then he had one now. He was the ninth star and was now responsible for the well being of Earth just as Toshinori was before him. If there was anything that could be done he could do it but he still needed a little bit of help.
Izuku knew in his heart the only one he would trust enough for the task was Kacchan, nobody else. Strong, selfish in his desires for valor and yet selfless in his aims as a hero, Katsuki was his choice.
He brushed his hand lightly over Katsuki’s cheekbone. He still did not stir. There would be time later to catch up but for now it was to sleep that he had to fall into. So like Katsuki before him he rested his head upon the side of the bed, closed his eyes and dreamed.