Chapter Text
It almost feels ironic that the sun was setting in that moment.
Izuku was grabbing tightly the handle of one of his luggage, while his eyes drifted towards the vivid combination of orange and pink, bathing the sky beautifully.
Maybe it was the sight in front of him or the presence of his colleagues that stopped the tears from spilling from his eyes uncontrollably. Because he was standing in front of the UA dorms, about to leave behind the life of a hero forever. A nightmare Izuku never thought would ever come to life.
The battle of his life and the destiny All Might entrusted him with, had happened only one month before. Izuku had defeated All For One. He had saved the world and had become the greatest hero of all time. But what no one had expected was that with the death of All For One, the flame of One For All had also ceased to exist. Because for balance to be maintained on Earth, one great power may not exist without its counterpart.
Or at least that’s what Izuku liked to think. In a more practical way, as All Might had put it, the moment AFO had died, all the influence of his quirk had died with him. And so, after the thing that had made OFA, had disappeared, OFA went away with it.
Izuku had woken up in the hospital, after one week of being in a coma, when he had found out the truth. He had tried to mask his pain with a smile, like he had always thought he should, and tried to move on with his life. He was once more quirkless and without a purpose in his life, but the only thing he could think about was that everyone was safe and that AFO was finally gone.
And that was why, he was standing in front of his classmates, about to leave UA for good. The school had offered Izuku to at least finish his last year of high school, together with everyone else, but he had declined the offer. How could he have occupied a space, instead of a person who actually had a chance in becoming a hero. He did what was right. He packed his bags and left.
Where to? Was all he could think about at that time. He didn’t have any answers, but the one his heart was crying out to him. To fight alongside my friends for a better future. But he couldn’t do that anymore, so he smiled brightly at his classmates and told them he was going to be ok. Another lie he wished with all his heart they would believe.
He waved them goodbye as the sun finally slipped behind the horizon, before turning around and never looking back.
Now, six years later, life is so much different than back then. Izuku studied at home the rest of his high school year and got his diploma like everybody else. He went on to university and led a rather normal life. Except for, well, all the media constantly approaching him. Luckily for him the frenzy only lasted for about a year, before they moved on to other hero gossip and headline stories. But even so, he still got the occasional reporter, who wanted to know more about the current life of the Great Hero.
Everyone had wanted to talk to The Greatest Hero of all time. A title Izuku felt like he didn’t deserve. But he couldn’t stop the world from seeing him that way. Even now, when he is nothing more than a simple civilian.
After graduating two years ago, Izuku didn’t have many options. He only went to university to keep himself busy and to not worry his mom even more. So, it was no surprise that he had picked the first major he saw on the university’s pamphlet- Business. He could see why many people found the courses enjoyable, but for Izuku everything had been painfully boring. Luckily for him, he had befriended a few people who were part of the university’s botany club. Izuku quickly developed a passion for flowers and their multiple meanings, which brought a little bit of light in his otherwise grey life.
It didn’t come as a surprise to his mom, when Izuku announced last year that he was going to open a flower shop. He may not have been the best in his management classes, but he knew his way around a business. Or at least that’s what he thought when he opened Tulips in the Sunset. Because lately things hadn’t been that good.
Izuku is slowly tying a bow around a bouquet he is preparing for the biggest order of the month. The pastel pink bow matches the peonies and irises, wrapped gently in a dusty white paper. His mind is humming uncontrollably, with countless thoughts appearing one after another. All the worry and the pain, mixing with the lost feeling of purpose, are suddenly coming back to him, all at once and he doesn’t know what to do. Because all Izuku can see is how all the composure he tried to feign all these years, is slowly slipping from his fingers. And any small knock on the already full glass of pain he has been harbouring in his heart, can shatter it completely.
That is when he hears it. The loud sound of shattering glass, right in front of him. Everything happens so fast, but his past instincts kick in as he tries to assess the situation. With wild eyes, Izuku looks over the counter just in time to see a man lying on the ground, in the middle of his shop, fully dressed in black clothing and a heavy-looking military vest.
The man starts moving slowly on top of the broken glass, groaning in pain. What catches Izuku’s eyes first, is the gun tightly held in between his fingers. He rapidly reads the situation in front of him and comes up with his only option. He needs to escape before the villain can take him hostage or even worse, hurt him.
Unfortunately, Izuku isn’t as fast as he used to be, which gives the villain the perfect chance to catch his arm and pull him to his chest, the gun already pointed at his head.
The villain’s plan to take him hostage, in order to make his escape from the heroes is a pretty standard one, with a good chance of succeeding. However, they are basically stuck in this tiny flower shop where an encounter head on with a hero would make his plan useless. His hand is shaking on the gun which shows that he is not used to holding one, let alone kill someone with it. But Izuku doesn’t want to take any chances and decides to wait for a hero to find them.
Fortunately for Izuku, that is exactly what happens, as he hears two heavy boots crushing the glass sprayed all over the floor.
He wonders which one of the heroes was fighting the villain, before he smashed Izuku’s glass wall. He wonders if he knows them and what quirk they could have. He definitely needs to get their name, after all of this is over. Send them a nice bouquet of flowers as a thank you. Maybe he should stop thinking and just open his eyes. Because a hero is here and everything is fine now. He can stop being afraid.
Nothing could have prepared him for the pair of eyes staring back at him in the soft light of the morning. Because Izuku hasn’t seen this shade of red in six years. Not since he left UA. Not since he stopped being a hero.
“Kacchan…” is all Izuku can say as he looks at his childhood best friend, standing in front of him looking like a ghost from the past.