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To be honest, it was kinda stupid from Izuku.
“Fifty metres, Deku. Do not lose him.”
Izuku jumped from particularly high building to the other and other in that typical manner of his, enjoying pure strength flowing through his body.
“No way. See you in the bit,” he answered to the speaker connected to his neck. To put it frankly, this villain they were chasing was just a small fish for them – so small that both of them were fairly relaxed while communicating, sticking to full sentences instead of codes. They were still careful, though.
He never though that being a hero would became so brutal so quickly not only for him but for all of his friends.
“Three minutes.”
“On my way. Gonna kill this one.”
After graduation all looked so good, bright, hopeful. they were prepared to change the world.
“Not if I get him first, Kacchan.”
Izuku jumped once again before he saw the running figure. Said figure – Gunrise was his name- was moving somehow sluggishly. His quirk was ability to transform his hands to guns but transformed hands were as heavy as real metal and that slowed him down. At least it was Izuku´s hypothesis and Izuku was rarely wrong when quirks were concerned.
First was Iida´s fall – he ended like his brother and their hero name ended with them. maybe it was just in family… Izuku was glad that his friend survived. Iida then started working as a businessman while his older brother was a leader of hero agency and both of them were successful and respected but something in their eyes just… died. Meetings with Iida were always painful for both him and Izuku until they got to the silent agreement to stop. This is how he lost one of his dearest friends.
Izuku landed in front of villain who looked in shock at him. He looked almost funny if not for fact that he killed two people just few minutes ago. Izuku jumped again, moving, so Gunrise would not be able to aim properly, “come with me to the station and there will be no harm,” he offered.
“No way!” he got his answer. Hero sighed.
Two years after Uraraka followed but it was worse – she died during rescuing mission. Building fell on her. She was unable to levitate ruins because she overused her quirk. Basic mistake, really. Izuku was almost angry with her for that.
He could not speak for week after her funeral.
One projectile scratched his arm. Gunrise smirked.
“You still offer them to surrender? Pathetic,” said the voice behind villain´s back who visibly gulped. Well, Izuku could not blame him for that. He shrugged.
It was only matter of time until something hit Izuku and his boyfriend Shouto.
“At least I try.”
It happened during final fight with League of villains. Izuku needed just few more seconds to hit the final blow and Shouto gave him that, creating one wall of ice after another against the quirk which turned everything into dust.
This few seconds which saved them all, saved life of Izuku Midoriya, cost Todoroki his life.
It was almost easy from that part. Gunrise was shooting without thinking and both Katcchan and Izuku were intelligent enough to predict his reactions. They were almost playing with him. Two wolves, really.
Everybody expected Izuku to break completely. And to some point he did – he stopped to eat, he did not leave his flat for nearly month. During those days he allowed himself to mourn. To miss kisses and soft careful smiles, snuggling and connection to someone to understood him completely. To feel loss with every fibre of his being during every action – when tossing in their too empty bed, when finding his tea cold when his boyfriend always kept it warm for him, with slowly fading memory of Shouto´s scent in their apartment. With Todoroki Shouto it was never about big words but about tender actions. And Izuku loved that.
After month he came back to work.
Izuku got the villain as a first, holding him in the air by his neck.
“Not fair, Deku!”
Two years after All Might passed away. It happened peacefully, in his sleep, but it still hit Izuku hard. Body of his mentor just could not keep going with such injuries.
He did not attend his funeral. He promised himself that Todoroki´s was very last one to go to.
Funnily enough, three weeks after All Might´s death Katsuki Bakugou knocked at his door, demanding him to be his partner in the field. Long time ago, Izuku would do practically everything to have such a opportunity.
“Why do you want that?”
“You are still standing, Deku. That´s fucking enough.”
“I would mock his memory otherwise.”
“You still caught more of them than me, Kacchan.”
When he agreed with tandem with Kacchan he did not expect anything good, honestly, he just did not care. He was certainly surprised that Kacchan bullied him this time to eat and sleep properly. To feel something, anything. To keep him going in his own way.
Midoriya looked to the scared face of villain.
Who knows what his Shouto or All Might would think about this version of him. About the fact that Midoriya switched his white gloves to red ones for purely practical reason, about the fact that their agency called their duo the pack. But they were not there anymore. Midoriya was still visiting Shouto´s mother, now old and somehow eternal lady and All Might died with his words praising Midoriya as his son on his lips.
Midoriya turned his hand and with disturbing sound struggling body in his hands become flubby.
He was seeing Shouto´s face in front of him.
It was easy – heroes or villains. One will survive other will die. There is nothing between, no games, no mercy. Midoriya learnt it in the hard way.
And still…
“I am sorry,” he murmured.