Chapter Text
Izuku considered himself as a good citizen. He didn’t break laws; he didn’t do any evil deeds; and he was doing his best in helping Japan’s economy by working full-time at Mcdonalds. He rarely takes break. In fact, he hates taking breaks, because that meant he would have to starve from the lack of income.
But of course, life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns; Izuku had learnt the consequences of neglecting his health. Izuku still vividly remember the day that taught him the valuable lesson of not pushing himself until his body broke down.
It happened at Last Sunday. When Izuku had refused to take a day off, even with his high fever close to knocking himself out cold.
Izuku was still surprised that he survived that day. His fever was at a dangerous 40 Celsius, and he thought he was even seeing illusions—Afterall, he didn’t remember meeting a blonde? — Anyways, point is: His last memory of that particular day was Izuku waking up on the ground—Figured from the bruise on his forehead —and thank god his immune system was finally kicking in; the drowsiness was unbearable, it was as if his brain was melting.
Although Izuku’s fever haven’t died down, it had decreased immensely; at least he was able to make out clothes from food. There was this one time, he had chewed on his dirty sock, thinking it was an omelet—God, Izuku still gagged whenever he saw an omelet. It reminded him of that disgusting taste of sweat and feet that he still can’t seem to forget.
But at the end of the day, He wasn’t doing anything bad. At least, Izuku didn’t intend on doing anything bad. So why does he have to sacrifice his precious—and very little—sleep to go through—whatever this is happening right now?
<Hey! Hey! Deku! Are you even listening to me?!>
Is this karma for not taking care of his body? That’s weird, because Izuku was sure the gods didn’t give two flying shits about him.
Izuku sighed, reverting his attention from his annoyed thoughts back to the shark spirit that is currently hissing—Can sharks even hiss?—angrily at him.
“It’s 3am.” Izuku was tired—you try dealing with Karens who threatened to complain to the manager because Izuku added too much cabbage in their Big Mac —and his tone clearly showed it. “It’s 3 in the fucking morning. Can’t we do this tomorrow morning?” It’s not like Izuku can run away from them anyways.
That was kind of funny actually; because that would be assuming that Izuku even had somewhere to run away to.
“NO!” The shark spirit jumped from the floor—Izuku wondered why shark spirits was allowed to move on land; when normal sharks can’t—and onto Izuku’s bed, “Save him! Save my human! Save him!” As if acting as a warning, the shark bit into Izuku’s blanket—which was just his hoodie.
It may be ‘just’ a hoodie to most people; but Izuku was poor and he really didn’t want to spend this remaining, and that’s very little, savings to buy a new hoodie again.
“HEY! STOP THAT!” That was Izuku last hoodie/blanket/towel, god damnit!—Izuku likes to think that he is being thrifty instead of flat out disgusting—He had just lost his old hoodie due to saving yet another spirit from a fire last Monday.
Having no other choice, since the shark would not let go; that uncivilized animal, Izuku relented. “Okay! Fine! Fine! I’ll help! I’ll help!” But when Izuku seen how the shark had ripped a hole in his hoodie, Izuku wanted to revoke the deal and just kick the spirit out of his room.
However, his all might plushie—thank god the shark didn’t bite that or Izuku would have drop kick the spirit right there and then—that was sitting beside his pillow—*cough*jeans*cough*—would be disappointed if he had done that. Thus instead of following his heart and put that spirit in her place; Izuku decided to wear his hoodie so that the shark couldn’t bite on it anymore, and dutifully carried out the end of his deal—even if the shark hadn’t kept her own part.
“Okay, so let me get this straight: You said that your human was shot—a nod—and that the link was broken? —another nod— what the fuck?” Izuku was taken back, this was the first time he had heard about something like this. “But that should be impossible. The bridge can’t be broken.”
“Don’t care! Don’t care! Enough talk! Enough talk! Save my human! Save him!”
Don’t care?! “Hey. Just how young are you?” The Bridge is literally their only passageway here; It’s basically their lifeline, Did she not know that?
“3 months! 3 months! Shirame answered Deku’s question! Now save my human! Save him!” God, she even told Izuku her name; albeit it’s not her true name but still--names are pretty important for a spirit. Thus, the fact that she told Izuku—a stranger— her name so carelessly proves that she still has a lot to learn.
But that doesn’t excuse the spirit for being this annoying.
Damn, how pushy. Guess both human and spirit newborns are the same in a way: being demanding as fuck. Izuku grimaced, shielding his hoodie away from the shark’s pointy teeth.
Izuku had unfortunately, was reminded of the incident he had today morning: A 5-year-old wouldn’t stop crying because he didn’t get the Ninja Hero: Edgeshot’s action figure in his happy meal. In the end, Izuku had to buy 5 sets of happy meal—with his own fucking money, #RIPWALLET—to get the action figure just to make the kid stop bawling.
Horrible memories aside; that did explain why the increase of ‘broken links’ incidents.
2 months ago, these cases were incredibly rare. All of them happened only because of the immaturity of the spirits—they didn’t know how to properly cross the bridge. But recently, Izuku was forcefully woken up from his sleep just to deal with these problems. And just to make it all worst, this happened to Izuku at least once every week.
“Come! Come! Come! Save him! Save my human!” more like saving you. But Izuku decided not to entertain himself on that fact. The headache he was having was already bad enough.
“Yeah, yeah. Lead me to him.”
God, he hoped that he can get to work on time tomorrow. His boss was going to kill him if he ran late!
“So. Your human is Kirishima Ejirou right?” Izuku gulped, nervousness welling up his chest as his stared at the ginormous H-shaped building.
The constant nodding from the spirit just dropped Izuku into his bubbling pit of anxiety.
Fuck. Her human is a UA student. Great. Just-fucking-great. Izuku knew this is going to be an absolutely pain-in-the-ass. Just the thought of breaking into UA’s well-guarded security was giving him a migraine.
Thank god, the spirit took the route through the forest surrounding UA as there are no security cameras around there. At least she did something smart for once up until now.
“Hey! Wait—” Izuku attempted to grab Shirame’s tail, before she could swim away—How does she even swim on land? — but her tail had sharp edges and it had cut Izuku’s wrist.
Fuck. The sudden pain made Izuku flinch, which made him lose his focus. Fuck. Izuku had to stop himself from just leaving at that spot when he saw Shirame swam —again how?— up the wall —now that’s just a fucking cheat code— and fade into a room, most probably Kirishima’s—fucking spirit privileges.
But I guess I’m lucky. Her tail didn’t cut too deep. Let’s just focus on the job. Deciding that it was futile to complain, Izuku flung his wrist, shaking away the dripping blood. He didn’t have anything to use as a bandage, but it would be okay. Izuku would clean his wound with water when he got home then everything would be fine.
But before that, Izuku had to quickly finish this up. Izuku almost thanked the heavens when he saw a balcony connected to Kirishima’s room.
Kirishima never felt this frustrated.
If only he was stronger, If only he trained more, If only he could hold out ‘Unbreakable’ longer, If only he was quicker to defeat that villain that time, If only he was—
“Shit, why are you still awake? It’s 3.45am.”
Kirishima jolted in shock, and saw the voice was coming from the boy that was knocking on his window. He was about to activate his quirk—
Oh right.
He...couldn’t.
Wait! Stop with the depressing thoughts Ejirou! There’s a potential villain trying to sneak into his room; quirk or no quirk, he still got to stop him before he hurts anyone else!
“Uh, sorry. I know this is sketchy—”
Kirishima rolled his eyes at the statement, so the dude actually knows that he was being suspicious as fuck.
“—but I can return your quirk—”
yeah, no way Kirishima-
Wait.
What?
Return Kirishima’s quirk?
He had to be joking.
Afterall the doctors told him that it was a high possibility that his quirk would be gone forever!
He’s just trying to trick Kirishima!
…. right?
“—if you just let me in. I can promise you that I’ll give your quirk back.”
Kirishima wanted to yell at the dude; to go away, to stop lying.
But when Kirishima looked straight into his eyes;
His green emerald eyes that were shining with nothing but promise and truth.
Promise that he would keep his word.
Truth that Kirishima would be able to have his quirk back.
“Please. Trust me.” He said.
And Kirishima did.
“Uh, So I just have to sit and do nothing?”
Izuku understood why Kirishima was nervous. He would to, if there’s a stranger trying to break into his room—well, technically Izuku doesn’t really have a room per say; but a room in an abandon building was what the closest to a room Izuku could get—but yeah, Izuku would be scared shitless too.
But then again, Izuku’s ‘room’ was constantly broken in by spirits nowadays. And at this point, as long as they don’t destroy his stuff, Izuku just lets it happens. Because that’s so much easier than trying to keep them out.
Izuku who had finally finished marking Kirishima’s palm with his symbol: デク DEKU, tried to reassure Kirishima with a smile. “Yes. That’s all you have to do. Please leave the rest to me!”
Although he is still uneasy, but Kirishima didn’t question Izuku anymore; seeing how the dude was about to start—whatever he is doing.
“Alright, the preparations are done! Now, I’m just going to—meditate. Yeah. Meditate. So please, trust me, okay?”
Yeah.
Meditate.
Because Izuku couldn’t possibly say: “Oh! I’m just going to relink you and your spirit, no worries! Y'know the spirit that gives you your quirk! Oh yeah, all the shit you learnt at school about how quirks are a physical ability? Lol yeah it’s just a pile of bullshit <3”
Yeah so, meditate.
“Yeah man. I mean, I wouldn’t have let you into my room if I hadn’t trust you!”
...Oh?
That...was surprising.
Usually, people still had their doubts when Izuku offered his assistance. Even until the very end, where their quirk had returned; Izuku could still see, feel the wariness and suspicion deep in their eyes.
But he supposed that was still better than the spirits. They had chased him out as soon as he helped them. Those ungrateful little shits.
However, Kirishima seemed to genuinely trusts him.
So, Izuku starts.
Izuku closed his eyes; and he feels the bridge that connects him with Kirishima through his mark on the said boy’s palm; then he sees.
The bridge between Kirishima and Shirame;
And it’s...perfectly, okay?
Izuku tried to see more; but there was nothing between them. No blockage in the bridge. No trespasser destroying the bridge. No secret barrier.
No nothing.
Izuku was about to return and break the bad news to Kirishima; but his feet were firmly planted onto the ground. He wondered why he felt bad—he never felt like this before when he was helping others— then he remembered the trusting smile Kirishima had on his face, when he had told Izuku that he trusts him.
Kirishima trusts Izuku to get his quirk back to him.
And Izuku wouldn’t ever betray that.
Especially when Kirishima is the very first person to trust him.
So instead of returning, he walked closer to the bridge.
It looked almost brand new.
A bit too new, actually.
And then it clicked.
“So that’s how it is.” Izuku couldn’t help the smile climbing up his lips; he hadn’t betrayed Kirishima’s trust! “I see now.” Kirishima had trusted him; and he was able to live up to it.
The bullet Kirishima got shot didn’t damage the bridge; not at all. In fact, it repaired the bridge; or ‘rewind’ would be a more appropriate term, back to its most original form. Meaning, this bridge was not a bridge between Kirishima and Shirame anymore; instead it’s just a regular bridge to cross between two realms. A simpler explanation would be: this bridge had changed its use; making it unable to transfer power anymore.
Izuku could fix this. He’s the bridge after all.
Izuku went to the center of the bridge. He spoke; his words loud and clear and powerful. At the same time, his fingers started writing in mid-air. Lines and lines of words appearing.
When Izuku spoke, a soft green also started to glow. The more the words appeared in mid-air; the stronger the green light glowed. Finally, when the last line of words was written, the light died down until it was completely gone; and all the words dispersed.
Izuku had succeeded.
Excited — Izuku didn’t even notice that he was excited; He had never once imagined that there would be people trusted him, and for him to live up to people’s expectations— He returned to Kirishima.
Oh my.
So, this is how it feels to be trusted; and to not disappoint that trust.
Izuku opened his eyes only to see Kirishima staring back at him with worried eyes.
“Hey, you’re back man!” Kirishima let out a breath of relief, “I thought you went asleep for a second!”
“Oh, Sorry for keeping you waiting.” Izuku couldn’t help the smile that’s tugging the corner of his lips, “How’s your quirk doing?”
“Huh? My qu—”
Kirishima didn’t get to finish his sentence as his breathing was immediately stopped when he looked at his right hand; his hardened right hand to be exact. Quickly, Kirishima activated his quirk throughout his whole body; as if trying to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming; that all of this wasn’t just an illusion.
Izuku let his grin show, when he saw Kirishima doing tricks with his newly retrieved quirk.
Letting the red-haired boy have his moment with his long-awaited quirk, Izuku shifted his attention towards Shirame who had an expression of pure bliss and relief.
While Izuku helped Kirishima; he knew that the one that benefited the most was the shark spirit herself.
<Since your human is currently busy with his emotions, let’s take this time to finish the deal yes?> Since Izuku wasn’t alone; he had to speak with Shirame via spirit-realm-telepathy.
<Yes! Yes! Finish deal! Finish deal! And leave! Leave!> Izuku thought that being Kirishima’s spirit would mean Shirame would be nicer than most spirits; but it seemed that Shirame was just like any other spirit. Rude and ungrateful.
Well, it’s not like Izuku expected much anyways. Kirishima was already enough of a pleasant surprise and Izuku was content.
<I, Shirame; Spirit of the white shark will be in debt with Deku, until all has been repaid and done>
With that, the contract was signed and done. Contracts with spirits were much different than with humans. Humans form contracts with paper, pen, ink and trust; while spirits form contract with lives, and the consequences for breaking them were extremely severe.
Sadly, Izuku learnt that the hard way.
“Oh shit, sorry man! I didn’t mean to forget about you!” Kirishima who finally steadied his overwhelming emotions, finally returned to Izuku, “I just — I can’t believe it’s back y’know!”
“No, no. It’s totally fine!” Izuku smiled, “Oh right. You don’t happen to feel... weird, do you? If you do, please tell me because it may be related to your quirk.”
Kirishima gave a long thought, and finally shook his head. “Nope! Perfectly fine; better than ever actually!” As if to act as an emphasis, Kirishima flexed his quirk with a bright grin.
“I see. Then, that’s good.” Izuku was worried; while he managed to relink Shirame and Kirishima back together, and even though he had done this countless of times, he wasn’t sure if there were any side effects or did he relink correctly. However, judging from Kirishima’s reaction, it seemed to went well.
And— Oh god, it’s already 4.30am?! “I should get going now. Please take more care of yourself.” Izuku had to hurry, his shift starts at 6am!
“Wait!” Kirishima’s hand shot out to grab Izuku’s wrist.
His fingers brushed against Izuku’s wound which is still fresh and very much out in the open. That made Izuku flinched violently, and slapped Kirishima’s hand away while securely holding his injured wrist.
“Crap man! I didn’t mean to!” Kirishima quickly apologized; his tone was so sincere that Izuku believed him. “I—uh, I noticed that wound of yours when you were—uhm, ‘meditating’.” Huh, another pleasant surprise: Someone was actually worried about Izuku. “And uh, since you helped me, a lot. At least let me treat your wound man! I get a lot of injuries like that during my hero training, so I know a thing or two about bandages!”
Izuku would have agreed, just for the sake of chatting and seriously getting to know Kirishima—Izuku thinks he is really nice! But time didn't allowed him to. He had a job, and nobody was going to feed him except himself.
“Thanks, but I really have to get going.” Politely, Izuku declined. If this were any other person, Izuku would have dipped right after returning their quirks. But since this was Kirishima; Izuku wanted to be nice towards him.
Kirishima frowned. Was this person okay? He seemed the same age as himself and he already looked like Aizawa-sensei—the look of someone that have been through a lot; he had eyebags under his eyes and he had a look that seemed far too old for his age.
“Okay then, can you at least tell me your name?” Kirishima quickly explained himself at the questioning gaze Izuku sent him, “I’m just curious about the person that helped me, ‘s all!” As if trying to appease Izuku, Kirishima decided to take the initiative, “I’m Kirishima Ejirou by the way! Hero name: Red Riot! I’m sure you know me as a UA student since, well —a hand gesturing his room— you are right here. And I’m aiming to be a pro-hero!”
Izuku never felt comfortable using his real name; in fact, he hated it. Maybe because of his past, or maybe it’s because he was influenced by the spirit realm’s culture.
But seeing how sincere Kirishima is made him falter for a quick second; so instead he came with a compromise.
“....Deku. You can call me Deku.”
Well, I guess that’s the most I can get out from him. Despite that, Kirishima was happy that Izuku was willing to share even a small bit of information with him.
“Kirishima. May I ask you a favor?”
“Of course man!” Kirishima really wanted to repay Deku for helping him.
“Can you please keep this meeting of ours, a secret? ....Please?”
“Wha—? Why?”
Wait.
Oh god—
No...
Deku wouldn’t...right?
He wouldn’t be a... villain right?
Please don’t be a villain.
But there’s still that possibility right? Especially now that Deku was asking him to keep their meeting a secret.
Memories of the USJ incident appeared in his mind and Kirishima decided he wouldn’t risked it. He wouldn’t risk the lives of his precious classmates.
Kirishima kept his smiling façade up, hiding his inner turmoil that was stirring inside his heart. He can’t believe that he was this careless. Just because Deku had helped him return his quirk, doesn’t mean he’s necessarily a good person!
Damn, what if this was all Deku’s plan? Why else would he know Kirishima lost his quirk and came to help him at 3am? To infiltrate the UA facility maybe? Or worse, to hurt his classmates!? No, Kirishima would not let Deku lay even a finger on his friends!
Calm down Ejirou.
You need to calm down if you need to fool Deku and save your friends!
Keep your head in the game!
“Just—It’s complicated; but I guess you can say that I don’t enjoy having attention.”
Definitely suspicious, but Kirishima faked his smiled nonetheless.
“Oh okay!”
He hoped Deku didn’t notice.
And Izuku didn’t.