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Midoriya Izuku loved playing with Kacchan. They would run down to pretend at the brook behind the playground, with grand heroic schemes. Trading off being heroes and villains, saving the stuffed bear civilian. It was there when they first saw something they couldn’t quite explain.
“Kacchan…” Izuku whispered, his eyes wide.
“What?” Kacchan half-shouted as he spun around, brandishing a large stick that nearly whacked Izuku in the head. At his friend’s exclamation, Izuku jumped, green hair getting caught up in branches of the bush he was crouched in front of.
“Kacchan! Be quiet!” He kept whispering, fixated on something Kacchan couldn’t see. And that wouldn’t do. Izuku let out a small hup as his friend pushed him to the side, taking the position he had previously held. He elbowed Kacchan back, “Shoving people isn’t heroic!”
Kacchan rolled his eyes and snorted, “Whatever. What are you looking at?” He kept his voice at a semi-whisper this time.
Izuku’s eyes lit up. His friend was going to love this! “Look… there’s something right above the water,” he lifted his hand to point, “right....there.”
He’d been staring at it for a little bit, because Kacchan had been busy monologuing. At first he thought it was just some kind of weird falling leaf thingy. He nearly brushed it off, but then it moved horizontally. And he was pretty sure that leaves fall down, not across. He had to squint and focus real hard, but when he did, he could make out a little person. A tiny person, and they were right there and shiny, and amazing! He wondered if they had a quirk that made them look like that. Their skin was blue and kinda shimmery, and they were floating . Maybe their skin was blue and shiny because of their quirk! But their quirk seemed to be floating. Ohh but they could be two different effects of the same quirk. Ohmygosh he wanted to ask them.
“Woaaah” Kacchan breathed out, leaning forward. “What is that?”
They both stare for a moment, watching as the small person seems to be kicking up the water. Izuku wasn’t sure how he should approach them to ask, and Kacchan seemed content to watch with his mouth halfway open. Izuku blinked, and when he opened his eyes, they were gone.
“Wha-!”
“Did you SEE THAT?” Kacchan jumps up, all volume control gone. Izuku saw a leaf in his hair.
“They just-”
“POOF!”
“Yeah!” Izuku stood up on wobbly legs. One of his feet had fallen asleep, but he wanted to jump up and down with Kacchan too. “That was so cool! Did you see- they were floating, and small, and shiny, and they could also like, and- it- and! Kacchan!”
Izuku stumbled. Kacchan had held up the hem of his shorts and walked right into the creek.
“Where are you going?”
“I wanna see where they went!” Kacchan shouted over his shoulder, on a mission. Though he probably didn’t need to shout, since Izuku was right there. But Kacchan always shouted. But- wait. What if it was a quirk, though? He wouldn’t be able to find anything if it was like, invisibility, or teleportation, or something. And they were really tiny so what-
“Coming?”
Izuku startled. “Yeah!” He moved to walk into the water after him, but stopped just a hair's breadth away. These were his new All Might sneakers, and he shouldn’t get them all muddy. Ripping them off, he tossed them back and followed his friend.
***
Ultimately, they didn’t find anything. Kacchan searched under every rock in the area, literally, and Izuku mostly followed behind, thinking.
Upon leaving the water, Kacchan was infuriated to discover his shoes had dared to have gotten wet. On the way home, he fumed, stomping (squelchily) while Izuku mumbled out loud with broad gestures, and tried to figure out what their quirk could have been. For as angry as he was, Izuku knew Kacchan was listening, but he eventually ran out of things to say and fell quiet.
After a little bit of silence, Kacchan spoke “What if it wasn’t a quirk?”
Izuku nearly fell on his face, but caught himself. Wrinkling his nose, he said “I don’t think people can do that stuff without them. I dunno.”
In the corner of his eye, he saw his friend shrug. “What if they weren’t a person?”
Izuku paused yet again. He guessed it would make sense. Most quirks couldn’t do all that, and if it was a quirk, they’d obviously have to be a hero! It was so powerful. And Izuku knew all the heroes, so they couldn’t have been one. “So what? Like a spirit?”
Kacchan nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah! That’s why they went away that fast. They can just do stuff like that.” He looked incredibly satisfied with himself, kicking a pebble.
“That makes sense.”
***
Over the next couple weeks, he and Kacchan tried to document every time they saw something odd. A weird flower, something flashing in the corner of their eye, or a weird feeling. Izuku was a researcher. And he was going to find out everything he could about this. He started a notebook alongside his hero one to write everything down. And, a very big sacrifice, he devoted 50% of his allotted computer time to researching everything he could about the spirits. Apparently, they aren't just ‘spirits’ in general! There’s more specific ones, like, the horse one, or the seal one. He focused mostly on water-y stuff, but he wasn’t sure what was so watery about a horse. Some of the websites said stuff like ‘fae’ and ‘faeries’ and those were fun words, too.
Some of the websites said stuff about them just being legends or myths, and that was fine. He knew not to trust everything on the internet. Sometimes, he even found articles about people saying All Might wasn’t the best, and if that didn’t tell him about how unreliable the internet could be, nothing would.
Kacchan got his quirk in the next few weeks too, and that, that was fine! It was really cool. He wondered what kind of quirk he’d get. Maybe he could breathe fire like his dad. That’s what mom had always said he did, though he never got to see it. Though, his mom’s quirk would be super cool too! It was always really useful when she dropped stuff. He wasn’t sure how he could use it as a hero, but he’d figure it out! Izuku was pretty sure he could use just about any quirk to be a hero, because he was gonna save people no matter what.
His friend had withdrawn a little from their search. But he’d still look with Izuku, and his eyes were always so good at catching stuff! Izuku had to pay a lot of attention, and look really, really closely. But Kacchan always caught it right away! It was so cool. Sometimes he missed the less obvious stuff though, ‘cause of that. But that’s why Izuku was looking too!
But.
Sometimes Kacchan didn’t listen.
Izuku was furiously taking notes about All Might’s latest fight. He used so many cool moves, and he muttered as he walked alongside Kacchan in the woods. Every now and then Kacchan would add something, but he was mostly focused on his quirk. He couldn’t always control it great, so he was already practicing. Kacchan would be such a good hero. He was holding his hands up, trying to get little sparkles going. Like a mini-sparkler. It would have captivated Izuku into taking even more notes, but Kacchan had shown him earlier and he got everything he could think of written down by now.
They were really bright though, so Izuku let Kacchan walk ahead just a little, trying to make a little fight diagram. He looked up to ask a question and stopped, puzzled. He had that weird feeling he got sometimes, when there was something around. But he couldn’t see anything, and nothing had moved. Kacchan continued forward, intent of controlling and setting off his little hand sparklers.
Frowning, Izuku shoved his pencil into his pocket, and his notebook under his arm. He moved to run toward Kacchan but faltered. There! It was a pair of eyes? It was in the darkest part of some underbrush, but he had thought he saw something in it glinting. Shiny. He thought he saw them staring at Kacchan. But they blinked and turned their attention to him. As he opened his mouth to ask who they were, they blinked again and were gone.
He shook his head to clear the weird feeling, and ran to his friend. “Kacchan! Did you see that?” He tugged on his sleeve to draw his attention away from his hands.
Kacchan jumped letting out a larger burst, and Izuku flinched back, stepping away. “Kacchan!”
“S-” He looked worried for a second, but seeing Izuku was unharmed, his eyes narrowed. “You saw something?”
Izuku had drawn his eyebrows together, hurt. “Um. Yeah. Like, little eyes. They were looking at you, Kacchan.” He picked up his notebook. It had fallen when he was startled.
“Hmph. They should! My quirk is awesome.” Kacchan shrugged.
“No- I mean, yeah! Your quirk is amazing Kacchan. But I don’t think they were happy. Or nice. It was weird, I didn’t like it.” Izuku scuffs the dirt, fiddling with his dirtied notebook.
His friend scoffed “Sure, Deku. Maybe they weren’t even there. I’m better at seeing all this stuff than you.”
Izuku didn’t know how to respond. He knew what he had seen. “But I can still see it. Tsubasa nearly ran into one of them last week.” He didn’t like when Kacchan called him Deku. It was mean. He didn’t get it! He never used to be so mean, they could just be friends. Maybe it was part of his quirk or something. But- his friends were mean to Izuku, too.
It’s fine though. Mom sometimes said friends could be mean if they were upset. And Kacchan always seems kinda upset. So maybe that’s why. Kacchan just shrugged and kept walking.
“Keep up Deku!”
***
It hadn’t even been a week when something changed. Izuku had gotten diagnosed quirkless, and Kacchan had taken to ignoring him altogether. Or being really, really mean. He cried to his mom, and she cried too, so maybe he shouldn’t be making her sad? But she said it was okay, and that sometimes friends can be mean for no reason, too. And maybe Kacchan shouldn’t be his friend if he keeps acting like that.
But Kacchan was Izuku’s only friend! He can’t lose him, and he loved playing with Kacchan. And no one else- not even his mom, got the Weird stuff. Only Kacchan understood, even if he pretended like he didn’t in front of everyone else.
A few weeks later,when Kacchan was out sick from school for a day, Izuku was quietly relieved. People usually ignored him when he was quiet and Kacchan wasn’t there.
When he came back, something was wrong. Sometimes he reacted a split second too soon, or too late. He was nicer to Izuku. Would sometimes talk to him, even! Which was really nice. Izuku liked it when he could talk to his friend. But something in his gut told him it wasn’t right.
A few days after Kacchan came back, Izuku was supposed to be taking a nap, but he was trying to sneak down to the kitchen to get a cookie. A floorboard creaked and he froze, listening carefully. His mom was talking on the phone. Curious, he leaned against the wall and tried to listen.
“No- Mitsuki…” There was a long pause as his mom listened on the phone. “I’m sure he’s fine. Izuku was talking about how nice it’s been at school with him. I think they’re getting along again.”
Izuku inched closer, trying to hear the phone. The volume was way up, so he could catch a couple words.
“...but something….quiet...he’s not acting right…” He held his breath. Izuku wasn’t the only one who noticed something was weird. “...missing…a whole day...”
He heard his mom take a deep breath, before saying “Mitsuki. Have you talked to him? I can’t imagine how scary it was, but, I’m sure he’s just feeling off from being away.” Hearing his mom start to pace, Izuku scrambled to get back to his room before she came within eyeshot.
Something was wrong with Kacchan. And he was going to find out what.
The next day, Izuku did everything to talk to Kacchan, but his attempts were dodged with a skill that his friend was not known for. He did everything he could to avoid being cornered by Izuku. Which was in itself, odd, because Kacchan was never one to run away from a fight. Finally they reached the end of the school day and Izuku scrambled to get to him.
“Kacchan!” He smiled brightly, watching closely.
In an uncharacteristic show of restraint, Kacchan jumped very little. “Hi.” He avoided looking Izuku in the eye, carefully grabbing his stuff. Taking note of everything, Izuku kept smiling.
“Let’s walk home together! We’re right next to each other.” He hands Kacchan a pencil that nearly rolled off the desk. Kacchan examines him closely, before sullenly shrugging his backpack on.
“Fine. Deku.”
For all that he loves to talk, and loves talking to people, Izuku doesn’t always mind when it’s quiet. He can just think of more things to say later. Or plan out his next entry. And right now, his mind is spinning in circles faster and faster, trying to piece together the puzzle of why Kacchan was acting so oddly. He heard something about him being gone, on the phone. But he’s right here. Maybe their mom’s were talking about when he was out sick. That seemed close to when it had started.
“Did you get lost?” He blurted out, tugging on the hanging parts of his backpack straps.
The look Kacchan gave him is not a nice one. “No.”
Izuku hummed, undeterred “Why were you out sick? Are you okay?” He turned to look at his friend, who was staring rigidly ahead of him. He said something too quietly for Izuku to make out.
“Huh?”
“...Went somewhere, shouldn’t have. I’m fine. Why do you wanna know?” The look Kacchan shot him was weird. It kinda. Felt. Wrong. Shifted to the left. Just a little bit not-quite-right, and it turned his stomach.
“...Oh.”
Not-quite-Kacchan gave him a funny look again before rolling his eyes. “We’re by your house.”
“Oh! Um. Bye. K- Um. I- ” Izuku took a big breath. His mom told him when he can’t get his words out, it's okay to stop and try again. “Okay! I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turned and walked quickly to his door, refusing to glance back.
Upon getting inside, he tore his shoes off and ran to his room, slamming the door.
His mom stood in the kitchen, looking absolutely baffled.
***
He didn’t know what to do. Izuku had no idea where to start. What is he supposed to do? He’s not an adult! Who’s he supposed to tell, that he thinks his friend isn’t really his friend? His mom never believed him when he told her about all the stuff, and he would normally talk to Kacchan about it but- but Kacchan wasn’t here right now. He’d run down the street to go talk to his friend and knock on the door until Kacchan’s parents answered looking slightly put-upon. They’d let him in and he’d go to Kacchans door and talk to him until Kacchan got mad. But- even- But Kacchan wasn’t here and he hadn’t been really, even before he was gone-gone. Because he decided Izuku wasn’t good enough to be his friend. He missed him so bad, he just wanted his friend back. Before.
His breath hitched. He’d been standing just in front of his shut door, but at that, he flopped onto his bed and sobbed into his pillow. He just wanted things to be normal, he just wanted Kacchan back. Izuku wanted his friend and his friend needed him.
***
A little while later, he sits up and sniffs, rubbing at swollen eyes. Okay. So, his friend needed him. He could… figure something out. Oh, if Kacchan were in this situation, he’d definitely know what to do. He just needed to think like Kacchan.
Halfheartedly, Izuku kicks his bed post.
It didn’t really work. He doesn’t know why he thought it might help. It actually kind of hurt his foot, but moving on. Back to the Izuku method. First things first: he needed to use the computer. And research some stuff. Maybe. He rubbed furiously at his eyes. He leaned outside his door and hung onto the doorknob, listening for his mom.
“Mom?”
“Hm?” She was folding laundry at the end of the hall and set down one of his t-shirts before looking to him. “Oh Izuku!” She rushed over as soon as she caught sight of him, scanning him “What’s wrong?”
“I- um. I got. Confused. In school? Math was really hard and it wasn’t fun.” He stutters out an answer, surprised. He thought he had gotten rid of all the tears? Math definitely wasn’t fun. And it wouldn’t have been the first time he cried because of schoolwork.
She frowned, tucking a curl behind his ear. “I- are you sure, Izuku? You know you can tell me anything.”
Izuku blinked, before nodding furiously. “I’m fine! I promise. Can I use the computer?”
Giving him a long look, his mom worried at her lip. “Sure, sweetie.”
***
A lot of searching later, he learned about the term changeling. Maybe that’s what happened to Kacchan. Or a curse! Or something. But he didn’t know how to handle either, really. Changeling just made more sense. Oh but he didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the person who was imitating Kacchan. It’s rude of them to pretend to be someone else, but Kacchan was pretty cool, so he could understand that. Maybe he should just talk to them tomorrow. Convince them to let Kacchan come back. Izuku was sure they’d have to listen.
It was decided! Izuku would just talk to not-really-Kacchan right after school, and let them know why it wasn’t okay, and they’d give Kacchan back.
But the next day, he didn’t come to school. And the day after that, too. On the third day, he came home dejected, and decided to ask his mom.
“Why hasn’t Kacchan come back to school?” Izuku was sitting at the dinner table doing homework, swinging his legs back and forth.
His mom froze in the middle of cutting some green onions. “Oh. He caught something of a bad flu, Izuku. He’s fine. He’ll be going back to school in the next couple days, don’t worry.”
Izuku worried anyway. It just didn’t make sense! Kacchan never got sick- and he knows it isn’t really Kacchan, but they should be doing a better job pretending to be him. He needs to talk to them to get Kacchan back! Izuku attacked his homework with more energy, absolutely determined. He figured out the mystery, he just needed the opportunity to try and solve it.
Unfortunately, that opportunity never arrived, because Kacchan was back in school the next day. Izuku was suspicious, but he was acting completely normal. Back to before he was gone, type of normal. He approached after school that day.
“Hi-”
Kacchan sneered at him. It was a pretty impressive sneer for a grade schooler, too. “What, Deku?”
Izuku started, but lit up. “You’re you! Let’s walk home!” Izuku didn’t love the whole ‘angry at him’ thing Kacchan did, but it was worlds better than the quiet apathy.
“Tch.” Kacchan rolled his eyes, and Izuku froze, but swallowed his uncertainty. When Kacchan stood up, he seemed just the tiniest bit taller than he had been. That didn’t seem right.
Things were quiet until they reached the road. “Where were you, for all those days?”
Kacchan inhaled sharply. “I was at the doctor. Leave it, Deku.”
Izuku frowned and wrinkled his nose, confused. “But you’re feeling better, right Kacchan?”
His friend stopped in his tracks, looking pained for a moment. “Don’t- don’t call me that.”
“Kacchan?”
“Just don’t!” He snapped, looking almost panicked.
He nodded, even more confused than before. “I’m sorry, K- Bakugou.” It felt weird. He didn’t like it, but it seemed to make his friend really upset, so Izuku fell quiet.
The sky was a bright, clear blue, and the birds were chirping loudly. It was really nice out. It had thunder-stormed a few nights ago, and he wondered if all the rain had flooded the creek behind the playground. As they passed it, Izuku almost missed the way Kac-Bakugou, held the hem of his shirt in a balled-up fist. He decided to not bring it up.
“Um… did you see any weird stuff recently?” Izuku tries. Bakugou blinked rapidly a few times, and Izuku looked away from his face.
“Weird stuff?”
“Yeah, like, um, fae stuff. Like Weird stuff?” He tries, watching the cracks in the sidewalk for bits of grass and weed growing between. Eyes trained on the ground, Izuku missed the way Bakugou looked utterly baffled.
“Like- a fairy tale? Deku, we’re too old for dumb magic stuff. I don’t play pretend like that anymore, loser.” His voice lacked its usual bite, and if Izuku didn’t know better, he would think his friend sounded confused. But Bakugou didn’t get confused, ever. Or if he did, he hid it really really well.
Regardless, he was upset. “It’s not pretend! You know it’s not pretend! You were gone for longer than you were out sick, you weren’t you and it was fake and he was too quiet and it wasn’t right! You know weird stuff happens all the time!” Izuku exploded, starting to cry. It wasn’t fair! It wasn’t right, either, his friend never denied it when it was just the two of them. But he was so sure this was the right Ka-Bakugou, because he wasn’t getting a funny feeling anymore, and he knew what to look for.
Both Bakugou and Izuku had stopped walking, Izuku’s vision blurry with tears, and Bakugou looking stunned. He opened and closed his mouth several times, before turning and walking away.
Izuku hiccupped, staring at Bakugou’s retreating back. He thinks his shoulders were slightly hunched, but Bakugou was too wobbly in his teary vision for him to be able to tell. His friend was back- but, it still wasn’t right. Was it because he failed to save him? He wasn’t strong enough to save him, and something was still wrong. Izuku didn’t even want to look him in the eyes. Couldn’t. Because he was 100%, totally positive, that Bakugou’s eyes were always the same dark brown as his dad’s.
And today, they had been bright red.
***
Bakugou avoided him like the plague, which Izuku supposed was better than the alternative. He learned to read between the lines- by necessity more than natural skill, and he learned that he could See, and that was something very rare, and very, very worrisome.
Bakugou’s rejection stung worse than his derision. He tried to catch his eyes in class, as much as seeing the red there bothered him, but Bakugou had an almost supernatural sense of how to avoid Izuku in every way. He thinks it’s because of what he said on the walk home, but Bakugou had managed to avoid saying a word to him for months after the fact. By that time, Izuku was too afraid of being ignored again to bring it back up. He didn’t want to chase him off.
Bakugou seemed to either willfully ignore, or be completely unable to See. After some time, Izuku would try to nudge his attention toward something unnatural, like a perfect round circle of mushrooms, or how leaves always fell around a patch of grass. Sometimes, even more obvious things, like a person wearing a thick glamour, or a smaller creature like a brownie scurrying about. All of it, Bakugou passed over, unconcerned. Even things that gave Izuku painful twists in his stomach and static behind his eyes, which Bakugou had always been sensitive to, garnered no reaction whatsoever.
He was so very lucky. Stumbling about and examining things he shouldn’t have been able to was a very good way to gather the exact wrong sort of attention. Izuku should have learned the rules more carefully, been more aware. But it was complicated. He forgot. He didn’t learn caution, the proper sort, for years.
They were nearly teenagers when Bakugou had to run an errand to pick up a few things for his parents, and Izuku tagged along. Bakugou just rolled his eyes when Izuku had volunteered to go and help carry the bags.
At the end of the trip Izuku reached forward, offering to take a couple.
“I’ve got this, nerd. It’s fine.” Bakugou snapped, holding 3 bags in each hand, cutting off circulation to his fingers.
He opened his mouth as if to protest, but closed it quickly at a man approaching. He seemed older, in his 60’s or 70’s, with laugh lines worn into his face. Seemed. Izuku always had the ability to go a bit beyond what things seemed like, regardless of whether he wanted to. This man had a powerful feeling of wrongness, and Izuku instinctively flinched when he saw him. He still needed to manage that. But it was too late just now, if the man saw. His glamour was powerful, but at his mental prodding, Izuku was able to make out the man’s sharp, unnatural features.
“Why, hello!” The man stopped a couple feet away with a friendly smile (an unpleasant leer) pasted on, “I happened to misplace something. Would you two be able to help me look for it?” He clasped his hands together warmly, looking between the two of them. The blood had drained from Izuku’s face, but he attempted a shaky smile.
Bakugou just looked at the old man with irritation.
“Hm? Well, I’m sorry. I should have introduced myself first. You may call me Ito. And you are?” His smile was a bit more strained this time (he was angry, now, his glamor was strengthening, the feeling of static-wrongness was getting more intense).
Izuku moved to introduce himself, terrified of displeasing what appeared to be a very powerful member of the Fair Folk. “O-oh. Sorry! I’m, uh-” Izuku stopped mid-sentence, surprised by Bakugou. He had dropped one of their bags on his foot. It didn’t hurt, but it was distracting, and confusing. Izuku picked it up, glancing back at him.
“Sorry gramps. Gotta run, these bags are real heavy.” Bakugou’s tone was friendlier than Izuku had heard in years and years, but his eyes were narrow and Izuku could see his hand shaking ever so slightly. He elbowed Izuku out of his thinking, pushing him forward. “Good luck finding your shit.”
Izuku stumbled after Bakugou, offering a hesitant wave back to the man. As soon as they were out of sight, Izuku let out an enormous breath, turning to his friend. “What was that? Why’d you do that? Are you alright, is something wrong?”
Bakugou just leaned against the wall for a moment, as if hit by a dizzy spell. “I- I dunno. Just had a feeling.” He sounded unsure, voice quiet in a way Izuku hadn’t heard since he last called him Kacchan. Taking a minute to close his eyes, Bakugou seemed lost. But then, he opened them, he shook himself, readjusted his bags, and shook his head. “He was just a creep, Deku.” He nodded toward the sidewalk, “These bags are heavy, come on. I know your weak arms are probably exhausted by now.” He snorts, looking at the bag Izuku was holding with two unsteady hands. It contained a loaf of bread.
“Funny!”
“Shut up.”
He smiled to himself, watching his sneakers bob backwards and forwards as he walked just a step to the right and behind Bakugou. He needed to make note of what happened.
Sometimes, Bakugou seemed to just have moments where he - not quite remembered - but got feelings. They were important. That day, he had interrupted right when Izuku was about to introduce himself. So no names. Or real names, he supposed. Bakugou’s habits could be downright weird. He once saw him put a handful of uncooked rice into his pocket. When he asked about it, Bakugou hadn’t even remembered doing it, and took it out with an air of vague confusion and anger.
Izuku watched, and listened, and learned. He knew that sometimes telling a lie was the worst thing that you could do, and there are ways to lie while sticking strictly to the truth. But he never was great with his words right off the bat, no matter how much he tried. Stuttered and hesitated his way through an introduction every time. But it gave him extra time to rush through all the possible scenarios and construct as many different sentences as he could.
The internet helped, sometimes, but it was no substitute for actual experience. But it was definitely less dangerous.
He prepared, but he wasn’t sure what for. Maybe just life, in general? He kept track of the little rules he discovered one-by-one, and tried to train himself out of being noticeable.
But literally nothing could have prepared him for the day he nearly drowned on land and his hero had come and saved him, the magic and glamour pouring off him in waves.
“ALL MIGHT???”