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Katsuki knew that today was different. The unease rumbled deep within his bones, igniting small explosions of doubt and anxiety. He paced in the confines of his room, a space once comforting feeling more like a prison with each passing moment. Sleep evaded the blonde, images of scarred hands and soft green hair soaked and matted with blood. The thoughts wouldn’t quit no matter what Katsuki did. He checked the time on his phone, desperate for respite from his thoughts. 4:30 am blinked back up at him mockingly. Katsuki groaned and pulled a calloused hand through his hair. He stalked towards the door, hurriedly donning a sweatshirt and began the trek down to the common room.
He tapped his foot impatiently against the floor of the elevator, regretting not taking the stairs. Slowly - much too slowly for Katsuki’s riled nerves - the doors opened onto the ground floor. Hands were shoved deep into pockets to hide their minute trembling as Katsuki exited the elevator. Crimson eyes locked on messy green curls and Katsuki was drawn inexorably forward. Izuku - kind, gentle, self-sacrificing Izuku - was seated at the couch, reading over papers. Katsuki leaned over the back of the couch and pressed his forehead into Izuku’s crown. Izuku stiffened, before relaxing at the familiar smell of gunpowder and burnt sugar.
“Hi, Kacchan,” he whispered, voice still scratchy and muffled from sleep. Katsuki said nothing, instead wrapping his arms around Izuku’s chest and placing his hand over the smaller boy’s heart. He melted slightly, his earlier tension ebbing away at the comforting and reassuring thrum of Izuku’s heart under his hands.
At a concerned squeak of “Kacchan?!”, Katsuki’s head slid from its position on green curls to rest at the junction of neck and shoulder. He pressed a chaste kiss against the pulse point there before burying his forehead in the soft skin. A hand carded through blonde locks and Izuku denied feeling the warm drip of tears onto his shoulder.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Izuku asked quietly. Katsuki hesitated, before shaking his head. He wouldn’t burden Izuku with his dreams, not when they all ended with Izuku’s picture frame in a place of honor on a memorial.
“That’s okay, Kacchan. Do you want me to hold you?” Katsuki hesitated once more, then slowly nodded. He climbed over the back of the couch into Izuku’s arms. Izuku shifted to accommodate Katsuki’s presence and the blonde pressed his head to a warm chest, hearing and feeling the heartbeat of the boy he loved steadily throb on. A hand carded through his spikes and Katsuki finally felt himself relax inch by inch. Izuku was here. He wasn’t hurt. Izuku was safe. He pressed his head against Izuku’s chest, listening to the intent thrum of the green-haired boy’s heartbeat.
Izuku said nothing, opting instead to continue his soft tactile reassurances. Inch by inch, step by laborious step, the two melted into each other in the half-light of the early dawn. The incessant thrum of Izuku’s heartbeat wrote a heady rhythm against Katsuki’s ear. Its ineffable march rent the last vestiges of terror from Katsuki’s bones, the empty spaces left filled with the sensation of Izuku.
The slow sensation of sunbeams trickled through the windows as they sat in silence, Izuku’s hand tracing patterns into Katsuki’s back. The blonde pressed into Izuku’s chest before pulling away, eyes averted. Izuku said nothing, knowing that Katsuki wouldn’t appreciate his words at this moment. Instead, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Katsuki’s temple before striding away, hiding his blushing face. Katsuki sat where he was, his hand coming up to touch the place that Izuku had marked as tenderly as he could. His hands, so used to violence and destruction, roamed with a tenderness as he thought of the green-haired boy.
The class came in little by little, Katsuki and Izuku swept up by their respective groups. In the midst of the people, crimson eyes found verdant. Their gazes locked for only a second, but Katsuki felt an eternity pass before their gazes broke. The class departed for their daily lessons, and the two had little time to talk. Despite their lack of words, the boys hung on each other. Scarred hands would brush against calloused ones, shoulders checking against each other as they passed. Lunch was a rare affair - the whole class pushed tables together and piled into a group that resembled more of a pile than seats around a table. Katsuki and Izuku were pressed to the middle of the group, their respective friends piling in next to them. Their shoulders locked into each other. Out of the line of prying eyes, Izuku’s hand found Katsuki’s. His crooked fingers interlocked with Katsuki’s, their flesh mingling until the line between the two was fuzzy and indecipherable. Katsuki passed in a daze, high off of the heady feeling of being surrounded in Izuku’s light.
The changing room of the gym was oddly silent that day. It seemed that the boys had felt the unease that Katsuki had carried through the night. Furtive glances passed through the room, each one lingering, as if making sure that their comrades were still breathing. Eventually, the room emptied until it was just Katsuki and Izuku. The green-haired boy turned to face Katsuki. Calloused hands came up and cupped freckled cheeks. Izuku’s scarred hands wrapped around Katsuki’s wrists, stabilizing them instead of removing the appendages. They stayed for a moment, trapped in their own little infinity. Izuku broke the silence.
“Kacchan?”
“Deku. Promise me you won’t do any stupid shit today. I have a bad feeling.” Izuku knew to trust Katsuki’s feelings. As far back as the training camp, Katsuki had an innate ability to sense when shit was going to go down. Izuku squeezed Katsuki’s wrists.
“Please, Izuku.” Green eyes widened at the use of his given name. Katsuki rarely called him Izuku, only using his name in serious situations. It was a plea, a desperate yell into the void of the fates to keep the noble heart in front of Katsuki beating. Izuku’s hands came up to cover Katsuki’s, his appendages dwarfed by the ones he gave comfort to. Izuku’s fingers threaded against Katsuki’s.
“It’ll be okay, Kacchan. I’m here.” Izuku smiled. Katsuki growled and pressed their foreheads together, eyes closed. They pulled apart, hands still intertwined. They walked out into the gym to find a battlefield in front of their eyes.
Students jumped and fought, quirks flaring like flash grenades. It seemed that Katsuki’s worst nightmares were coming to fruition. Before Katsuki could even react, Izuku disappeared in a flash of green lightning. Billowing wind blew through the room as One for All activated. Katsuki jumped into the fray, blasting uncaring shots at any he deemed a foe. He whirled around and narrowly missed Todoroki, the boy throwing up a wall of ice to defend himself.
“On your left, Bakugo.” Todoroki’s yell echoed through Katsuki’s ears and the blonde shot off an explosion, his attack making his mark against a burly, dead-eyed Nomu. The creature was stunned, but turned from attacking Katsuki to focus elsewhere. Katsuki followed its eyes to flickering green lightning, bouncing between three burdensome figures. Katsuki yelled and thrust himself forwards in time to redirect the approaching Nomu’s attack away from Izuku’s undefended flank. He landed next to Izuku and - as if in silent agreement - fell into the familiar dance of defense and offense, each boy flowing together into a hurricane of force and desperation.
A scream rang out and Izuku was thrown across the room, narrowly missing being buried into the wall through the intervention of Black Whip. He dangled for a moment, suspended by the viscous black tendril, before dropping once more into a fighting stance. Katsuki saw Izuku’s eyes widen and heard him shout, his hand extended. He whipped round and came face-to-face with a Nomu raising its fist. He lunged out of the way, a crater where he had stood. Todoroki let out a stream of fire, one that met its mark before wrapping around the Nomu’s body like a whip. It seemed that this particular Nomu was imbued with some kind of fire quirk. The Nomu lashed out with the fire, forming a hurtling flame that travelled with abandon towards Katsuki. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to dodge because of their proximity. He watched it edge closer until it suddenly didn’t.
The ball of fire that hurtled towards Katuki halted and changed its trajectory, pulled inexorably towards widened and confused green eyes and a gnarled hand reaching out towards the blonde. Katsuki screamed, desperate for Izuku to move, to save himself. The fire billowed around the teal figure, meeting its mark. Pained screams filled the air and Katsuki watched helplessly as his love became the center of a funeral pyre.
Izuku Midoriya burned.