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The smoke was the first thing he noticed before his eyes shot open, the thickness of it causing him to immediately fall into a hacking fit so intense that his eyes started watering. Blinking blearily, he tried gathering his thoughts while looking around his room studying the unfamiliar sight. Trying to catch his breath as it continued to escape his grasp, he stumbled out of his bed and suddenly fell to the floor, his body weighed like lead.
His mind running through trying to remember where he was, he found himself unable to concentrate even on the simplest tasks such as how to breath properly. Every inhale send sharp waves of pain coursing through his chest, causing his entire body to shudder violently.
He knew it was smoke, and he knew something was wrong but he just couldn’t put two and two together.
His mind suddenly screamed one word louder than the rest, and the shock sent him into overdrive. He blindly reached for his phone, unable to see it through the thick waves of black smoke pooling around him.
Fire.
The word kept repeating as he tried to recall where he was and what exactly was happening. Mental images and memories were marred by the waves of pain in each minor movement. His hands stumbled around where he had hoped his phone would be, on the table next to the bed he had been sleeping in.
His bed? Was he… home?
Finally grasping his phone, he pressed the unlock button and brought it to his face, trying to blink the blurriness out of his eyes as he tried to read it.
It’s… 3:16 AM?
Blinking several times, his violently shaking fingers tried to maneuver through his contacts. Eyes growing heavy and body growing weak, he attempted to force himself to his feet. Instantly regretting it as his body heaved with the new exertion, contents of his stomach spewed on the floor in front of him and his knees gave out.
Collapsing on the ground, his phone slipped from his hands and bounced onto the carpet in front of him. At this point, all he could muster was to lay on the floor and reach out, fingers brushing across the the vomit stained carpeting for a moment or two before he once again grasped his phone.
His eyes stinging from the smoke, he pressed the phone so close to his face that it practically touched his nose. Fishing through his contacts once more, he came across the only name that called out to him more than the rest.
Dialing the number as his breath came out in short gasps, he vaguely recognized the blaring bright flames leaping into his room through the gaps in his door as they began creeping along his walls. A hotness washed over him that burned him to the core as he waited for the answer on the other end.
“What the hell do you want, nerd?! I’m fucking trying to sleep!”
Unable to comprehend words, he found himself still comforted by the familiar voice. It helped him gather enough strength to find his own for just the few seconds he needed.
“Kacch- Kacchan… help.”
His voice failed him after that and the phone slipped from his hands as the edges of his vision pooled a darkness that just seemed so welcoming. With a shuddering sigh he closed his eyes and faintly heard very distant and muffled shouts before succumbing to a burning hot blackness.
Katsuki blinked awake to the sound of his phone. He sighed angrily and threw his arm over his eyes, expecting the sun to be wafting through his curtains. His brow creased when he realized that it was still dark outside. Realizing that someone must be calling him, he growled a few choice words before reaching for his phone to silence it.
Glancing at the Caller ID he paused, his brow furrowing. Why the fuck was that shitty nerd calling him at almost 3:30 in the damn morning? He tapped to accept the call, ready to curse him out but something immediately felt off the moment he pressed his ear to the phone.
Frowning, he found himself shouting anyway. “What the hell do you want nerd?! I’m fucking trying to sleep!”
The words lacked their usual bite, and his frown deepened at the nonexistence of an instant apology and excuse. Instead, the noise from the background heightened his attention. Familiar sounds of crackling and then bursts of gasping from the boy on the other end. Katsuki was on his feet before Izuku was able to say anything.
“Kacch- Kacchan.... help.”
There was a thud and a violent shuddering gasp before Katsuki registered that he needed to respond. He was throwing on his shirt before he even realized it, bounding down his stairs before even thinking.
“Deku!? Oiy! Deku, answer me! What the hell’s going on?! Talk to me dumbass. Are you there? Deku! IZUKU!”
Shouting loud enough to startle his mom awake and rushing into the living room bountiful of her own choice of words, one look at her son sent her into gear.
“Katsuki! What’s going on?”
Katsuki ignored her question and simply shouted at her as he wrenched the front door open after shoving his shoes onto his feet. Dropping his phone, he cursed and left it behind. “Hag! Call 911 or whatever, send them to Izuku’s place!”
Without waiting for a response, he ignited his hands and lept towards the direction of Izuku’s apartment.
The smell hit him before anything else. The smell of burning, then the sight reached him next. His stomach dropped to his feet and heart clenched to his throat as he got close enough to realize that Izuku’s entire apartment building was warped with flames and smoke that engulfed an area about a block wide.
He extinguished his own flame and dropped to the ground before rushing up to a growing crowd of people outside of the area. Shuffling through the mass, he found no signs of green hair among the people which only served to increase his heart rate so much that it pounded in his ears.
A yell that exclaimed louder than the others had Katsuki whipping his head around.
“People are still in there! Oh my God!”
And another that sent a crippling chill up Katsuki’s throat despite the heat drifting towards them. He exclaimed to several people who were in his way before breaking his way through and finding Inko Midoriya collapsed to her knees, face twisted in anguish. Izuku was not with her.
“My boy! My Izuku!” She wailed.
No. No no no no nono
Rushing up to Inko, he fell to his knees above her and placed his hands on her shoulders to try and grab her attention. She whipped her head up and stared with her wet, emerald orbs. Something Katsuki was all too familiar with.
Before he could speak, she threw herself into his arms. “Katsuki! Please… Izuku..”
“I know,” he whispered harshly, and Inko momentarily creased her brows in confusion before realizing what he meant.
“He…!? Oh! Katsuki, please!”
Ignoring the thudding in his ears, he glanced at the building before looking back at Inko. “Auntie, where?”
“His room. I couldn’t get to it. Suddenly people were in and rushing me out. They told me it was- it was… it was too late!”
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he stood and before she understood his presence, he was gone just as quickly, sprinting towards the apartment.
Despite shouts warning him away, Katsuki found himself at the entrance of the building looking inside. Luckily the fire had not yet blocked the doorway. He swiftly made his way inside and bounded the stairs, fully aware that the elevators were not going to work.
Flames licked around him and danced dangerously close as he took the steps three at a time to reach Izuku’s floor.
Oh how he suddenly wished his quirk was not fire.
Finally reaching the right floor, his heart skipped a beat as he realized at that moment that this building level was completely consumed in flames. He risked burning himself as he charged forward anyway, climbing over fallen roof tiles and collapsed walls. He wondered how long until the entire building collapsed.
Not as quickly as he would have wanted, he reached Izuku’s apartment door and rammed it open. It collapsed from its hinges and smashed to the ground with a thud. Climbing over top of it, he looked inside to find an unfamiliar familiar sight. It had been too long since he had set foot in here and this was not how he wanted that streak to end.
He took a quick glance around the area before focusing on the hallway that led to Izuku’s room. He was pained at the lack of yelling, the screaming for help he so suddenly wanted to hear. But there was nothing but the sound of roaring flames as they spilled towards the hallway.
Ignoring his urge to run, he pushed forward, stepping cautiously over the spots of flames that spread across the floor.
“Deku!? Izuku! Answer me!” He wanted so badly to hear that nerd’s voice but in return there was nothing but the creaks and groans of the building signaling that i was on the verge of a total collapse.
Katsuki cursed loudly and pressed on towards the green haired boy’s bedroom. The smoke inhalation was starting to affect him, his breathing becoming dry and painful. Katsuki pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth and coughed, his lungs desperate for oxygen. Ignoring the stinging in his eyes and the pounding in his chest he reached the place where Izuku’s door had been. Now it was just another pile of burning ash beneath his feet.
He lurched himself over the flames and coughed, throwing his arm over his face as he quickly glanced around the area. Flames surrounded and overtook the walls and bed and were creeping closely to a completely still form on the floor.
Katsuki’s heart stopped but his feet did not. He jumped over a fallen, partially melted bed frame and not even stopping to check if the boy was breathing, scooped him up and pressed him tightly against his chest making sure his face was tucked in so he would be blocked from the smoke.
The ashy green tufts that sprouted from the boy meant that this was indeed Izuku, but he was physically unrecognizable. His body was completely covered in a slick black film. Much to Katsuki’s horror, Izuku had been assaulted by the flames, evident of the severe burns that riddled the left side of his body.
Glancing back to the doorway, Katsuki found that his way in was not going to be his way out anymore as the flames that were at bay had now licked around the walls and sent roofing tumbling into the path. He spewed curse words before daring to peek at the boy in his arms.
Katsuki didn’t want to admit it but Izuku looked dead. No person could sleep through this kind of pain and not have at least noticeable creasing lines of pain in their features. Izuku, well he looked peaceful. It was funny how Izuku’s peacefulness only make Katsuki more panicked. He tried to feel for his breath but the updraft from the flames proved that impossible.
He resorted to tucking Izuku into his chest again before scouring the room for an alternate exit. Carrying Izuku somewhat bridal style, Katsuki made his way to the window. It was a clear exit down but it was also four stories down.
Where the fuck were the heroes?! The police?!
No one was down in the area where Katsuki had access to, proving it to be more difficult that necessary. He slew a round of curse words to the fire that crept closer to him. Glancing over to the spot where Izuku had been, he found it completely destroyed in a firing heap. If Katsuki had only been a minute later, it would have been too late.
It’s too late anyway, he’s already gone.
Katsuki pushed the thoughts down into a deep crevice in his mind and looked outside again. There was only one choice and whether he liked it or not, it was the only way he could save Izuku, and himself.
“Deku, hold on. You got that? You aren’t gonna be taken out like this. You hearing me Izuku??” Katsuki reached up and ran his fingers through soot covered green hair and gently placed a kiss on his head. “Fucking dumbass. I haven’t told you that I love you yet.”
Peering over the edge, he sighed, taking in the height. “Well shit. It’ll be super awkward if you can hear me right now.”
Without another word he lifted Izuku up and threw him over his shoulder. Making sure he had a secure grip on him, Katsuki launched himself from the open window and fell towards the ground.
Using his one free hand, Katsuki whipped his palm forward and aimed it to the ground. In an attempt to soften the blow of the landing, he shot three short bursts, creating a flame updraft that he could catch. He swung himself around and put himself between Izuku and the ground, bracing for impact.
The ground was harder that Katsuki would have liked. He hit enough to bounce, causing himself to lose his grip on Izuku. They both tumbled before Izuku came to a dead stop, and Katsuki grunted and scrambled to his feet, rushing over to the boy.
Scooping him up, he dashed further away from the building before collapsing into a gasping heap, luckily far enough away that the building could not topple on them if it were to fall.
"Deku, oh God. Izuku? Please! Izuku!"
Katsuki fluttered his hands shakily over the green haired boy, frantically trying to feel for a rise in his chest. Doubting himself, he threw his ear to Izuku’s chest desperately praying for a beat.
There was none, and Katsuki’s resolve finally faltered. He swallowed a sob but then came another and another until he was screaming so raw that his lungs hurt. Going into his own state of shock, he numbly began CPR for what seemed like hours before hands grabbed at him and pulled him away. Then Izuku was no longer in front of him and his world faded into an empty darkness.
Two weeks later
Katsuki was holding flowers.
He stared ahead, his usual messy hair combed back into a sleek presentable look. He was crying. Many of Class 1-A showed up to pay their respects as well. There truly was not a dry eye in the area. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to escape what was around him and focus on what was more important.
Izuku’s grave lay before him, the grass browning from the winter chill that surrounded them.
It had been two weeks since Izuku passed away in the tragic fire, and he was just now being put to rest. However many times everyone told Katsuki so, he adamantly refused to believe it. Why else would he randomly see flashes of green hair escape his vision or dart behind corners too quickly?
Quietly, he placed the partially burned flowers across the stone with the temporary marker for Izuku's name. Hot tears escaped his eyes and he shook his head.
It took a few hours after everyone left before Katsuki could find his voice.
“I know you’re alive asshole. Come back to me. Please.”