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It all happened rather quickly. One minute the pro Hero Deku was battling a villain with his boyfriend, Shouto. The next, he was sent through a shimmering, purple portal and torn from his partner’s side.
He fell out of the portal and groaned, picking himself off the ground. Izuku looked around, but there was no sign of a villain, battlefield, or any kind of problem at all. Instead, he found himself in a deserted playground.
Where was he? He needed to get back to Shouto. He needed to help him. He needed to—
“Hero-san, are you alright?” a young voice asked.
Izuku froze at the sound. Where had they come from? He was sure there wasn’t anyone there a minute ago, but with a mental shrug, he turned in the direction of the speaker. Upon seeing him, Izuku’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He must be imagining things. That couldn’t be right, it just couldn’t be...
Shouto was standing in front of him. A young Shouto, only four or five years old. Scarless, and looking at Izuku with the sort of innocent wonder that only children could achieve; this was a Shouto before Endeavour had tried to break him.
“S-Shouto?” Izuku whispered in confusion.
The younger version of his boyfriend tilted his head. “How do you know my name?”
“Todoroki Shouto?”
The boy nodded. “Yes.”
Izuku tried to swallow back the feeling of unease that was building in his stomach. “And what—what year is it?”
Shouto frowned. “You don’t know what year it is? Did you hit your head?”
“Please, just—can you tell me what year it is?”
Shouto told him the date and Izuku’s blood went cold. He was—he was twenty years in the past. He fought down a wave of panic and took a deep breath. He couldn’t get into hysterics. He needed to remain calm. He needed to think this through and get back home.
To Shouto.
So, a time travel quirk then. What did Izuku know about time travel quirks? They were rare and little was documented about them. Izuku would be going into this basically blind. It would have to be a powerful quirk to send him twenty years into the past. Or was the villain so preoccupied with sending Deku away that they weren’t focused on how much power they used, so long as they sent the Number One Hero elsewhere?
“You’re from the future?” Shouto’s awe-filled voice broke his train of thought.
Izuku blinked at him. “Huh?”
“You were muttering,” Shouto said, his eyes wide and his expression eager. “Are you really the Number One Hero?”
He couldn’t stop himself from smiling proudly. “Yes, I am.”
“But what about All Might?”
Izuku’s smile turned bittersweet. “He retired.”
Shouto looked down, disappointed. “Oh.”
Izuku couldn’t stand to see that expression on his face. “But he taught lots of students and inspired lots of people, so now they work hard to protect people where he can’t,” he said, desperate to cheer Shouto up. “He still inspires me, and we catch up for tea every week.”
The boy’s head shot back up. “You were taught by All Might?! You have tea with All Might?!”
“Yes,” Izuku hesitated for a moment, “we do.”
Shouto gasped. “I do too?! I’m going to be taught by All Might and be a Hero?”
It was almost heartbreaking to see Shouto like this. So full of innocence and enthusiasm, before Endeavour tried to stamp it out and morph him into his own twisted tool of revenge.
Izuku reached out and gently put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You’re going to be an amazing Hero, Shouto.”
“But I don’t even have a quirk yet.”
“You’ll get one,” Izuku assured him. “You’ll get a powerful quirk, but you have to promise me something.”
Shouto looked at him curiously. “What is it?”
“No matter what happens, you have to remember it’s your quirk, and no one else’s. It’s your power. No matter how much you dislike your left side, it’s a part of you and you can be a Hero with it.”
Shouto’s expression turned to one of confusion. “Huh?”
Before he could reply, Izuku felt a tag at the back of his neck, like someone was pulling at his collar. He stumbled back and, to his alarm, he noticed that he was getting pulled into a portal that appeared behind him.
“Time is pulling me back!” Izuku cried, turning to Shouto desperately. “You have to remember, okay? It’s your power! And your Mother doesn’t mean it, but be careful around boiling water, and—”
“What? I don’t get it,” Shouto was rapidly getting upset. The situation quickly becoming one that he, as a child, couldn’t handle. “Who are you, Hero-san?”
“And you’re a Hero, okay, Shouto?! You save me every day. You—”
But before he could get another word out, there was a second sharp tug at his neck. He went falling through the portal, and Izuku’s world turned dark.
“Deku!”
“Deku-kun!
“Shitty-Deku, get the fuck up!”
Voices were calling him. Distantly, he knew should answer them, but the darkness was absolute. He couldn’t get a word out; there was only darkness, and falling and being pulled in a million directions.
“Why won’t he wake up?!”
“Deku!”
“Midoriya-kun!”
He wanted it to stop, he wanted everything to stop. Where was he? He was nowhere and everywhere all at once, and he just wanted it all to stop. He wanted to stay there in the darkness, to drift, to be lost; to be still.
“Izuku!”
A new voice called out and he knew that he should reply to that one. It seemed important. He should definitely reply to that voice. But...but who was it?
“Izuku, please.”
...S-Shouto?
“Please, open your eyes.”
What? What did that mean?
“Wake up!”
Izuku’s eyes snapped open.
He was lying face down on the ground. He had no idea where he was and couldn’t muster the strength to get up and look around. Instead, he groaned and mentally assessed his condition. His conclusion: everything hurt.
What had just happened? He’d been hit with the time travel quirk, he’d seen a young Shouto and then what?
There had been darkness; an all-encompassing darkness. There’d been falling, pulling and an utter lack of control. There’d been voices he couldn’t respond to, and one that he’d desperately wanted to answer.
There’d been Shouto.
“Hero-san? Hero-san?”
That voice was familiar. He needed to reply to it. He had to reply to it. Words. Izuku could manage words, right?
He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a low groan; apparently the ability of coherent speech was beyond him.
Everything hurt; he just wanted to rest.
“Hero-san?!”
Izuku collapsed back on the ground, and everything went dark.
When Izuku woke back up, the first thing he saw was a head full of red and white hair and a familiar, young face inches from his own.
“Shouto!” he yelped, trying to scramble away from him.
Small hands stopped him. “Hero-san, you have to rest.”
Izuku tiredly rubbed his eyes. “Where are we?”
“You fell in front of me and then passed out,” Shouto explained, “so I took you home.”
Izuku went still in surprise and ripped his hand away from his face to look at Shouto properly. “But what about your Fa—” he began to ask, only to cut himself off with a strangled cry.
Shouto’s left eye was bandaged.
“No,” he whispered, aghast. “No, I tried to stop it.”
“Hero-san, I—”
“Izuku,” he distractedly murmured. “My name is Izuku.”
“Izuku-san—”
“Just Izuku is fine.”
“I didn’t know what you meant,” Shouto said, his one uncovered eye filling with water. “I didn’t know and now Mother is gone.”
Izuku gently went to reach out, going to cup Shouto’s cheek, to hug him, or do something, but he stopped. This was a Shouto that didn’t know him. That wasn’t used to the close relationship they had.
He lowered his hands. “I’m sorry, I tried—”
“How could my quirk be a good thing, when all it is brings is pain?” Shouto asked, tears finally falling from his eye. “How can I be a Hero, when all fire does is hurt people?”
Izuku shook his head. “No, no, it doesn’t. Shouto, it might not seem like it now, but it doesn’t just hurt people. I’ve seen you save so many people with your quirk.”
Shouto sniffed. “I don’t believe you.”
Izuku put his misgivings aside and reached out to pull Shouto in for a hug. The boy stiffened in his arms, but Izuku didn’t let him go. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me,” he said. “I’ll keep trying until I convince you.”
After a moment, small arms reached around to hug him back. “I hate him,” Shouto succumbed to tears and sobbed into Izuku’s chest. “I hate him!”
“It’s okay,” Izuku murmured gently. “Why? Because I am here.”
Endeavour may have been gone on a mission, but Izuku didn’t want to hang around the Todoroki household for long and risk getting the love of his life in trouble. So, once the young boy had calmed down, he stated his intention to leave.
“But—but you can’t!” Shouto protested, clinging to Izuku’s shirt to stop him from going. “It’s been ages since I last saw you! What if I never seen you again?!”
“You’ll see me again,” Izuku promised. “But I need to figure out home to get home. My family and friends need me.” You need me, he silently added.
“But—”
“And I won’t stay here and risk angering your Father.”
“But if you’re the Number One Hero, then he can’t hurt you!”
“He can’t,” Izuku agreed. “But he can hurt you, and I would never, ever risk you.”
Shouto sniffed. “Who—who are you?”
“I’m Midoriya Izuku, and please don’t ever think that your fire just hurts people. Fire doesn’t just burn, it can protect you; keep you warm. It can be a beacon shining in the dark, and no one shines brighter than you.”
“Really, who are you?”
Izuku felt a familiar tug at the back of his neck. He turned to see a portal opening up behind him. He steeled himself for a world of pain and turned back to give a goodbye to Shouto.
“I’m your friend,” he said, then the portal swallowed him up and he was gone.
It wasn’t as bad as the first time. Instead of being pulled in five different ways, the portal seemed to pull him in one direction. It was still suffocating in there and he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face, but the darkness felt less chaotic.
And he could still hear the voices.
“It’s been days, he should have woken up by now.”
“I’m sure he will, kero.”
“But what if he doesn’t?”
I’m trying, he thought. I’m trying to get back home.
“He will! I am sure of it, Uraraka-san!” He could basically hear the exclamation points and robotic arm movements in Iida’s voice.
Izuku tried and tried to talk to them, but they couldn’t hear him. The voices faded away after a while, and Izuku was left on his own until his favourite voice came back.
“I remember you, Hero-san. Please, wake up.”
The next place the portal dumped him out in was a training room. He wasn’t as winded and in pain as the last time, so he took that to mean that he was getting used to the time travel.
“Who are you?” someone angrily demanded. “And what are you doing here?”
Izuku recognised the voice and rushed to his feet. It seemed he interrupted a training session between Endeavour and his son.
“Izuku!” Shouto exclaimed.
Shouto was a few years older than the last time he had seen him. His scar was healed and he was a little taller. His hand were fisted nervously in his shirt as his eyes kept darting between Izuku and his Father.
“Izuku,” Endeavour repeated the name, his eyes widening in realisation. “So, the imaginary Hero my son spoke about was real after all?” He looked at Izuku in interest, a dark hunger in his eyes. “Are you really from the future? Do I ever beat All Might? Does my ambition come true?”
“You make it to Number One,” he answered, unable to stop himself from glaring at the Flame Hero. “But you never deserved the position.”
Endeavour stiffened, his expression morphing into a furious scowl. “You dare—”
“And you never deserved Shouto.”
Endeavour stalked forward, raising a flame-covered hand. “You insolent, little wretch.”
Full Cowl sprung to life around Izuku. “Prove it,” he challenged. “Hit me. Prove me right. Prove you never deserved all the incredible things that you have.”
“Izuku, no!” Shouto cried, scrambling to get between him and his Father.
He was struck by a wave of fear, worried that Shouto would be hurt by his Father. He grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt and hauled him behind him. “Don’t, Shouto.”
“But—”
“You really wish to challenge me, boy?” Endeavour sneered over his son’s protest. “You said it yourself, I’m the Number One Hero.”
Izuku grinned savagely. “You were the Number One Hero. I’m Number One now.”
Shouto tugged insistently at his Hero costume. “Izuku, look!”
He turned to see a portal appearing behind Shouto and sighed in frustration. “Why don’t they ever let me stay for long?” He looked back at Endeavour. “Hurt him, and I swear you’ll regret it.”
Izuku raised a fist and then flicked his middle finger up so quickly, it created a wave of air that slammed into the Flame Hero and sent him crashing against the training room wall, resulting in an Endeavour-sized indent in the wood. Endeavour slid down the wall with a groan and fell heavily to the floor.
Without another word, Izuku turned to his future-boyfriend. “Until the next time, Shouto.”
Shouto was staring opened mouthed at the unmoving form of his Father, but he tore his eyes away from the sight to give him an awed goodbye. Izuku grinned and ruffled his hair, and then stepped through the portal.
“You seem less concerned than I thought you would be, Todoroki-shounen.”
The voices were back, filling Izuku with comfort as the darkness pulled at him.
“It’s okay,” Izuku’s favourite voice replied. “He’ll wake up.”
I will, he silently promised. I will.
“You sound certain.”
“He will, but it’s not time for him to wake up yet.
“What do you mean?”
“He’s taking the long road home, but he has a few stops left to go.”
Izuku appeared on a deserted Dagobah beach. The sun was setting and the soft wind blew his hair in different directions. As always, Shouto was right there when he came out of the portal. He was a few years older than the last time—maybe around twelve—and he looked pensive as they stared out at the water.
“I think you’re my Hero,” the boy said in lieu of greeting, siting with his arms wrapped around his knees.
“You’re mine,” Izuku replied, sitting cross-legged down beside him.
“You flipped off my Father and sent him flying into a wall. Incredible.”
Izuku looked confused. “Hasn’t it been years since then?”
“Doesn’t mean I don’t replay it in my mind every day.”
He laughed. “Fair enough.”
They drifted into a comfortable silence, just enjoying each other’s company and listening to the waves breaking on the sand.
After a while, Shouto raised his left hand and let flames dance upon it. “I’m still not sure I believe you about my fire, but I don’t hate it like I used to. It doesn’t remind me of my Father anymore.”
“Good!” Izuku said happily. “Who does it remind you of, then?”
The flames died out and Shouto turned to face him. His expression was as serious as ever, but he was nowhere near the cold, intimidating Shouto of their pre-Sports Festival days.
“You,” he answered.
Izuku’s breath caught in his throat, and he felt his cheeks warm. Great, even the twelve-year-old version of his boyfriend could make him blush. Of course Shouto could do that to him.
“O-oh, good!” His voice came out a little higher than normal. He coughed and continued, “That’s good! I’m glad!”
“You said I’m a beacon in the dark, so I try and think of it like that.”
Izuku smiled. “I’m glad you remembered that.”
“You’re kind of hard to forget, Hero-san.”
“You’re still calling me that?”
Shouto shrugged. “The name’s stuck.”
“I like it.”
Shouto didn’t reply, but he could see a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
He looked so happy and comfortable that Izuku was reluctant to voice his next question, but he had to know. “Has your Father hurt you since last time?”
The boy shook his head. “No—well—sometimes. But it’s been easier since the last time.”
Of course Endeavour wouldn’t clean up his act completely, but at least that was something.
“Good, otherwise I’d have to flick him against the wall again.”
Shouto snickered. “I still can’t believe that happened. I’ll still be thinking of it the next I see you.”
“You say that, but I don’t know when that’ll be," Izuku warned. “I can’t control where the portals take me.”
“That’s okay. It gives me something to look forward to.”
Holy shit, that was adorable. Apparently, his boyfriend was going to be unintentionally smooth no matter what time Izuku found him in.
In a desperate attempt to change the subject and not be flustered, he asked, “Have you gone to see your Mother?”
Shouto tensed, and Izuku instantly knew he brought up a touchy subject.
“No,” he answered, tightening his arms around his legs. “I’m—I’m scared. I don’t know what to say to her when I see her. Sometimes I get to the hospital and just stare at it from the outside, before going home.”
“You should go see her,” Izuku encouraged. “Both of you would like it.”
“I know,” Shouto sounded guilty for not going sooner. “But…”
“Would it help if I go with you?”
Shouto let out a huff of a laugh. “The portal will swallow you up any minute now, but thanks.” He was quiet for a moment and then continued. “I thought about going to see you, too; about finding Midoriya Izuku, wherever he is right now.”
Izuku appreciated the thought, and wondered what would happen if Shouto and his younger self met. He was sure they’d get along, but how would that change all the things that happened to them during UA?
“But then I decided not to,” Shouto went on. “I’m sure I’m meant to meet you—really meet you—whenever it happens.”
“You’ll like it, I promise,” Izuku said. “Although, I won’t be like this.”
Shouto looked at him curiously. “What do you mean?”
“I have a bit of growing up to do, that’s all,” he replied.
“That’s only fair,” Shouto wasn’t worried. “You’ve seen me grow up through the years, so it’d be nice to see you do it for a change.”
“Keep that in mind when I break all my bones.”
“When you what?!”
The familiar feeling of the portal tugged at him, and Izuku took it as a way to escape his curious, concerned, younger boyfriend. “Oh, would you look at that? Time to go.”
“Izuku, wait. What do you mean ‘break all your bones?’ Wait, no, stop—”
“Bye, Shouto!”
He waved cheerfully, and with a laugh, stepped back into the portal.
“I know you said he’s going through your time stream, but when do you think he’ll wake up?”
Oh, it was Izuku’s other favourite voice.
“Soon. He only has one more memory to go, from what I’m aware of. That said, he could go to my future, so I really don’t know when he’ll wake up. I’m sorry, Midoriya-san.”
“Oh, stop. I told you to call me Inko.”
“Still, I’m sorry, Inko-san.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. I know he’ll wake up when he’s ready, but a Mother can’t help but worry.”
“I’m worried as well, but…I also really like all the new memories of him that keep appearing in my head. And if he stays asleep because he’s going to my future—well—I can’t even begrudge that, because it means my future will have Izuku in it.”
God, Izuku loved him. Even as the darkness tugged at him, pulling him along the time stream, he couldn’t help but smile. Shouto’s words were like a comforting hug, and he couldn’t help but hope that his future had his boyfriend in it, too.
The next place he ended up at was a familiar one. He stumbled into Shouto’s UA dorm room, to find the teenage version of his boyfriend sitting and doing his homework.
“Hi, Shouto!” he greeted.
“You know, you could have told me we were classmates,” he said, looking up from his notes.
Izuku grinned sheepishly. “Surprise?” He sat down beside Shouto. “I thought you wanted to wait and see how we first met?”
“That was before I had to sit in class and remain calm as my childhood imaginary friend walked into my homeroom and had no idea who I was.”
“How rude,” Izuku feigned offence. “I’m not imaginary at all.”
“No, but Fuyumi was adamant you were. At least until Father owned up about how exactly the training room wall got smashed.” He laughed. “That’s still funny.”
“Shouto, it’s been years.”
“Still funny.”
Staring at the grin pulling at Shouto’s mouth, Izuku couldn’t help but give in to the giggles that were bubbling up in his throat. Shouto laughed along with him a second later. It was a nostalgic feeling, with Izuku knowing exactly how much they’d do that in Shouto’s room throughout their time at UA.
When the laughter died down, Shouto said, “This also answers my question about you and breaking all your bones; you can’t control your quirk.”
“I get there eventually.”
“And you can never leave well enough alone.”
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Uh, yes, I have been told that.”
“It wasn’t enough that I sometimes used my fire. You had to break all the bones in your hand to prove that I wasn’t living up to my whole potential. It’s my power, not his.” Shouto gave a sarcastic hum of thought. “Now, where have I heard that before?”
Ah, so that was how the Sports Festival went this time around. It took Izuku a moment to get used to the two sets of memories in his head. There were his memories of the first time line, and now the new one.
“Sorry?” he said.
Shouto shook his head. “Don’t be. Now my fire just reminds me of you even more. Just…don’t be so reckless next time.”
Izuku, thinking back over his all brash actions in the future, simply said, “I’ll try my best.”
“You’re going to be reckless, aren’t you?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
He sighed, exasperated, but didn’t say another word. Instead, Shouto just gave him a serious look.
“What is it?” Izuku asked.
“Who are you to me?”
He blinked, not expecting the question. “What do you mean?”
“Sure, you’re my classmate—my friend—but why am I the one that you keep appearing to? It would make more sense if it was Uraraka or Iida, but you’ve never mentioned seeing them. Plus, you’re the closest with them here and I’ve never heard you refer to them without honorifics. Even when the younger-you talks to me, he uses honorifics. But I’ve known you since I was little, and you’ve never used honorifics with me once.” Shouto leaned closer to him, his expression thoughtful, his eyes searching. “So, who are you to me?”
Izuku stared at him, his mouth hanging open. How was he supposed to answer that? How could he explain that he and Shouto were so close, that they’d done away with honorifics years ago? How could he explain that without giving away the exact nature of their relationship?
He drew breath to reply, but the portal suddenly appeared before them. “I—” he began, looking between his boyfriend and the shining portal in the middle of the room.
“Time’s up,” Shouto said.
Izuku stood up. “I can’t explain it, but you’ll figure it out eventually.”
Shouto looked up at him and gave him a small smile. “It’s okay. I think I know the answer, anyway.”
“See you next time.”
“I look forward to it.”
Izuku sent one last smile over his shoulder, and then he was gone.
“I know the answer now,” Shouto’s voice echoed through the darkness. “I know the answer and I love you.”
I love you, too, he thought back.
“Yeah, I know,” Shouto said, despite Izuku not saying a word. “I know you do. Come home soon, okay?”
I will, Izuku promised.
His next stop was another familiar one. He appeared in his and Shouto’s apartment, and looked around, getting his bearings.
“Shouto?” he called out.
Hurried footsteps came from their bedroom and then Shouto came running out into their lounge room. “Izuku?” His boyfriend paused, taking him in, and understanding flashed on his features. “No…Hello, Hero-san.”
Izuku rushed at him, and Shouto held his arms out. They collided together, their arms wrapping around each other and Izuku buried his head in his partner’s shoulder. “Shouto,” he choked out, his eyes filling with tears. “Oh my god, Shouto.”
“I just got back from the hospital. You’re still asleep; you’ve been like that for days—”
Izuku took Shouto’s face in his hands and pressed their lips together, silencing him with a kiss. Shouto melted into it immediately, tilting his head and opening his mouth to deepen it. Izuke’s hands trailed up and buried in Shouto’s hair, while Shouto’s fell to his waist, and pulled him closer.
It felt like coming home.
“I missed you,” Izuku murmured into his lips. “I was with you, but I missed you. I missed this.”
“I missed you, too,” Shouto replied, pulling back to look at him properly. “I knew what was happening because my memories were changing, but I missed you.” He leant in to press a soft, lingering kiss to Izuku’s lips. “I’ve got two sets of memories now. Thanks for making my second childhood happier than the first one.”
“You don’t have to thank me for that.”
“Still, thank you, Izuku.”
He leant in to kiss his boyfriend again with a happy sigh. “You’re welcome.”
Shouto led him over to the lounge and took a seat, pulling Izuku down with him. Izuku moved so he was laying down with his head in his boyfriend’s lap, and Shouto automatically began running a hand through Izuku’s hair. A comfortable silence fell between them, both of them basking in the feeling of being close to the one they love.
“What is it like?” Shouto asked after a while. “The time travel, I mean.”
Izuku was silent as he thought over his answer. “It’s dark and time must be different, because it hasn’t been days for me, but it has for you,” he replied at length. “It hurt at first, too. I was pulled in a million different directions, and it felt suffocating. It got easier after a while, and I’m only getting pulled one way now.”
“Where is it taking you?”
“To you.” At Shouto’s surprised expression, he went on. “I don’t know why you’re shocked, teenage you figured out that I was wasn’t going to anyone else.”
“Well, yes, but—” pink tinted Shouto’s cheeks.
“It was dark, but I could hear you talking and I knew I’d see you wherever I ended up, so I wasn’t afraid. It’s was dark, but you were there to comfort me.” He reached up to cup Shouto’s cheek. “I told you that you could be a beacon shining in the dark. You were my beacon.”
The surprise on Shouto’s face morphed into a soft smile, and he leant down to give Izuku another kiss. He didn’t need to say anything, his feelings were all in the gentle, loving press of his lips.
Far too soon, Izuku felt the tug of the portal.
Shouto pulled away from him to glare at it. “You know, these things have awful timing.”
Izuku sat up, and gently turned Shouto’s face so he was looking at him. “It can wait,” he said, kissing him softly and then just a little urgently, as if he was trying to stock up on Shouto’s kisses before he left.
They stood and stumbled, still kissing, towards the portal.
“Come home soon,” Shouto said, pulling away from him.
“I will,” he promised with one final kiss.
Unable to tear his eyes away from Shouto, Izuku stepped backwards into the portal. The sight of his boyfriend was swallowed up by the shimmering purple waves, and then everything went dark.
“I can’t believe that villain did this to Midoriya. So not manly.”
“I can’t believe Shitty-Deku hasn’t fucking woken up yet. We caught the villain days ago, he should have gotten the fuck up by now.”
“Aw, and that’s Bakugou for ‘I’m worried about my friend and I hope he’s okay.’”
“Shut the fuck up, Shitty Hair.”
For once, Shouto wasn’t the only one there when Izuku came through the portal. Nor was it a place he recognised. Apparently, he and Shouto had moved.
He found himself in a house, and looking at the sight of Shouto cooking dinner with an older version of Izuku next to him. However, that wasn’t what caught his attention. His eyes bored into the form of a small, dark haired girl that was perched on his older self’s shoulders.
“It smells good, doesn’t it, Papa? Daddy is such a good cook!” the child said brightly.
“That he is, darling,” Older-Izuku agreed. “And he’s making our favourite: katsudon.”
“Grandma Inko’s recipe,” Shouto added.
Happy tears started streaming down Izuku’s cheeks as he took in the scene before him. None of them had noticed him behind them. Part of him burned to know more about his future daughter, but he opted to keep it a surprise. Instead, he turned back to the portal that hadn’t even disappeared yet.
He had nearly stepped into it when he felt someone staring at him. He turned back to see his daughter looking at him with wide, beautiful green eyes. His older self and Shouto were unaware, happily murmuring to themselves as they cooked dinner, but the girl was gaping at him.
Papa? She mouthed.
Izuku gave her a smile and put a finger to his lips. The girl looked confused, but she nodded at him and raised a finger to her own.
See you soon, he mouthed back to her.
Grinning widely and his cheeks still wet with tears, he stepped back into the portal.
“It’s been a few days since you were here, Hero-san,” Shouto’s voice spoke up through the darkness. “I don’t have any new memories of you, so I wonder where you’ve gone?”
A pause.
“I hope our future is happy.”
Oh, it was happy. It was so, so happy.
Izuku found himself in the house he’d just left, but some time must have passed because it didn’t look the same as when he saw himself, Shouto and their daughter in the kitchen.
“Hello, Hero-san,” an old voice sounded from behind him.
Izuku spun, his eyes widening and his breath catching in his throat.
An elderly Shouto sat before him. The bright red of his hair had faded with age, leaving is predominately white than anything else. His skin was wrinkled and he looked frail, but his eyes were bright and a smile was pulling at his lips.
“I was wondering if I’d ever see you again,” he said.
Still shocked, Izuku walked over to him and sat down. “Shouto—you—I—”
Shouto’s hands shook slightly, but he took Izuku’s in his own, and the younger man smiled at the sight of a wedding ring on Shouto’s finger.
“It’s so good to see you, Izuku. My Izuku.”
A cold realisation settled over him. “You mean…?”
“You’ve finally gone where I can’t follow…Age has taken the Symbol of Peace at last. But don’t worry, another has taken your place. She inherited you power and your mantle.” Shouto paused, his small grin pulling into a proud smile. “We raised her well.”
Izuku gasped as the information registered in his mind. He felt a mix of emotions: pride, sadness, acceptance, love; it was overwhelming.
Tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry—I’m sorry for leaving you.”
Shouto gently brushed his tears away. “Don’t be sad. Our lives were long and filled with love, and I’m so glad I got to spend mine with you.”
Izuku was staring at the culmination of their love. Years together to result in this: Shouto aged, but still so breathtakingly beautiful, looking at him like he was the blessed one out of them both. Their love was timeless, it didn’t matter what time they were in. Age, nor death didn’t matter.
Shouto yawned, covering his mouth. “Sorry,” he blinked sleepily. “I tend to get tired easily these day. Old age, you know?”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Old age suits you.”
“Oh, shut up. It’s awful. You ache all the time and have no patience.”
“Yep, suits you.”
Shouto yawned again. “Shut up.”
“You can sleep, if you’re tired.”
“But you’re here, and I don’t want to lose a moment with you.”
He reached out and gently pulled Shouto to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and letting the elderly man rest his head on his shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere. Even if you wake up and I’m gone, I’ll never actually leave you.”
“I love you,” Shouto said, his eyelids drooping.
“I love you, too,” he replied. “Always.”
Shouto hummed in agreement, finally letting his eyes fall completely shut. He was silent for a while before speaking up. “Izuku?”
“Mmm?”
“…Miss you.”
It was a stark reminder that this was a Shouto who had to live on when Izuku was gone. On the verge of tears again, he pressed a kiss to the top of his future-husband’s head. “Miss you,” he murmured back.
Shouto’s breathing turned steady and Izuku knew that he’d fallen asleep, but he wasn’t in any rush to move. He was happy to stay snuggled up with Shouto.
“I’m happy that this is my future,” he whispered to him. “That you are my future.”
He rested his head against Shouto’s, closing his eyes in contentment. He lost track of how long they stayed like that, but after a while he felt the portal pulling at him.
He cracked an eye open to glare at it. “Go away.”
It tugged more insistently.
He sighed and carefully detached himself from Shouto. “Okay, fine. I’m coming.” He gently kissed his husband’s forehead. “See you soon.”
“I better be going home,” he grumbled to the portal as he stepped through it.
But it didn’t matter where he ended up, because Shouto was his home.
“I don’t know where you are right now, but I miss you.”
The darkness wasn’t tugging at him anymore, but it still felt suffocating. Regardless, Izuku was determined to get through it and get back to Shouto. He was getting out of there. He was going home.
“I don’t know where you are, but I’ll wait as long as it takes for you to wake up.”
Forget that. He wasn’t making Shouto wait any longer. Rallying his strength, he pushed against the darkness.
I’m going home, he thought.
“Wherever you are, I hope you’re happy. That we’re happy.”
I’m going home. Full Cowl sprung to life around him.
“Please come home soon.”
SMASH!
It felt like it was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to, but Izuku opened his eyes. He found himself lying in a hospital bed, feeling tired and sore all over.
“Huh,” he croaked. “That worked.”
The sound of someone pushing a chair back in their rush to stand made him look to his left. Shouto stood there, looking a strange combination of vulnerable, relieved and happy. “Izuku?” he asked, voice hopeful, but almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Izuku gave him a tired smile. “I’m home.”
Shouto let out deep breath and then smiled. Within moments, he was leaning down to give him a kiss.
“Welcome home.”