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Izuku didn’t let himself look back.
He ran, put as much distance between himself and All Might as he could.
He’ll be safer now. He told himself.
As long as he kept everyone at a distance, they’d be safe.
It was why he left UA.
Why he’d left him–
But All Might was different; he’d clung to the lie for as long as he could.
It had taken him a while to accept, still eager for any guidance, desperate not to feel completely alone – but now he was done fooling himself.
All Might couldn’t help him anymore; he’d already done everything he could, and now it was Izuku’s Deku’s turn.
So, Deku ran; he saved people, reached for whoever needed him, and walked alone.
He didn’t feel tired, or hungry, or sleepy like he was supposed to. Some part of him knew he was overexerting himself, not taking enough breaks as he should, but he couldn’t stop.
It was only when he helped a shopkeeper fight and drive looters with violent quirks away that Deku realised he was starting to feel faint.
The woman noticed and insisted on thanking him by giving him a bag full of protein bars.
Deku accepted, smiling gratefully for a moment before he realised she couldn’t see it. So, he bowed to her instead and moved to the top of the highest building he could see.
He sat on the roof, thanked the lady silently for his meal, and ate four bars in a row, suddenly realising how hungry he was, and almost cried when he found a water bottle in the bag when he choked from eating too fast.
He held his tears as he chugged half of the bottle and forced himself to breathe.
He was okay. He needed to be.
When he was done, he packed the remaining food and water back in the bag and continued moving.
He didn’t have the luxury to stop longer than this.
He needed to find All for One.
Only then he would stop.
The protein bars lasted him for four more days.
After that, he was too busy breaking up fights and saving the vulnerable to remember to eat.
And then, he realised something was wrong when it was too late for him to do anything about it.
He was exhausted. He didn’t remember the last time he’d slept a full hour without starling awake every few minutes from a sudden noise or, more often than not, by his own nightmares.
People were coming towards him, not villains, normal citizens, their faces twisted in fear as their bodies converged in a mass towards Deku.
The Villain named Dictator taunted him as he controlled the innocents trying to hurt Deku.
“This is not me!” one woman shouted.
“I don’t want to do this!” a man cried.
“My body is doing this on its own!”
Hands reached for him, yanked his mask off, scratched at his face, pulled at his hair until chunks came off.
“I’m sorry!” they were crying.
“It’s okay,” Deku said, letting himself be taken under. “I know it’s not your fault.”
Some part inside of him rebelled, urged him to keep fighting, find a way to get out of this; he knew he could do it, he just needed a little more time, and he’d find a way. But he was so, so tired, and it felt so good to finally let go.
He stared up at the sky, at the clouds he’d loved to give animal shapes to when he was four, a part of him still thumbing through strategies to get himself out of this, but the most prominent part of himself was wondering if this would be the last time he’d see the sky and its clouds.
He told himself it wouldn’t be the worst thing to see if he were to die now.
And then.
Like a meteorite streaking the sky in red and orange, like a secret wish come true, Kacchan was there.
Deku felt his eyes widen as he took in the golden brightness his childhood friend was bathed in, like he held the purest form of sunshine beneath his very skin.
No.
No no no no no no, Izuku thought desperately even as his eyes traced the familiar contours of Kacchan’s face like a man starved; his heart so ready to give up just moments before, beating so hard he thought the whole district could feel it, too.
Was it my heart? Izuku thought, delirious on panic. Did I long so hard for you that you felt it and came?
I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.
Izuku’s breath caught as he locked eyes with him.
Kacchan had never looked at Izuku like that before.
There was so much he wanted to say, shout at him to stay back, but in the end, he settled on the simplest of all. The one thing that, for the first time in months, made him feel more like Izuku than Deku.
“Kacchan,” he said, like a prayer answered.
-
Katsuki
“Guys, I found him,” he said into the phone.
He was surrounded by people, normal people whose bodies were trying to smother that trace of green Katsuki’s eyes were snagged on.
Deku mouthed something, and even though Katsuki couldn’t actually hear him, it reverberated through him, felt it shake his ribcage until he felt the restless thing behind it finally settle.
Kacchan
He pocketed his phone and aimed another AP shot at the shitty Villain that had control over the people attacking Deku and let out smaller, quicker flash explosions to deter anyone who was still keen on attacking the closer he got to him.
When his feet touched the ground, he called out, “Can you stand?” as he let out one explosion after the other to cover them.
There was no reply for so long that Katsuki thought Deku must’ve passed out, but when he turned, Deku’s eyes were open and wide, staring at Katsuki as if he had never seen him before.
It shifted some of his worry into annoyance, “the fuck are you staring at? Can you fucking move?”
It did the trick, as Deku’s stunned expression morphed into a smile, and the emotion that it provoked out of Katsuki caught him so off guard that for a moment, he forgot where he was and just stared.
He must’ve stopped shooting because the next thing he knew, he was being tackled to the ground by another shitty villain.
He heard Deku’s rough yell, “Kacchan!”
The agony in the scream was such that for a moment, he thought it was the cause of the sudden sharp pain in his lower rib.
And then there was thick, powdery smoke everywhere, people screaming that they couldn’t see anything, and finally, Deku’s arms wrapping around Katsuki’s middle and jumping with a force equal to one of Katsuki’s biggest explosions.
Katsuki was too stunned to say anything as they finally reached the top of a building.
Deku let him down gently and took a few steps back.
Katsuki steadied himself on his feet and flinched at the sharp pain in his ribs. Ah, fuck, he’d cracked a rib. Fucking Great.
“You got hurt because of me, again.”
Deku’s voice was so low, so withdrawn of his usual lightness, that Katsuki snapped his gaze back to him, startled, his hand on his throbbing side.
He took in the dark bruises under Deku’s eyes, the way they blended into the scratches all over his cheeks, his messy hair falling over his eyelids, and a layer of dirt and grime so thick Katsuki couldn’t even see his freckles.
It twisted Katsuki’s stomach in burning knots, but he forced himself to breathe through it. “We were worried about you,” he said. “Your mom-”
Deku flinched with his whole body as if Katsuki had set out an explosion too close to his face and took a few more steps back, shaking his head. “I need to find All for One.”
Katsuki tried to close the distance between them again, his stomach roiling; he reached out, “We can help you; the heroes can help-”
Deku stumbled back, away from Katsuki, “No, they can’t.”
Katsuki curled the hand that was about to reach for Deku into a fist and dropped it to his side. “You look like shit,” he said plainly. “If All for One attacks you now, you’re going to die,” Katsuki scoffed, “Hell, you were about to just now, if I hadn’t shown up, you would be-”
“Dead,” Izuku finished, his stare still hard and empty. “Or not, maybe I would’ve found a way.”
“Didn’t look like it to me-”
“Thank you, Kacchan,” Deku interrupted, making a muscle jump in Katsuki’s jaw. “I was in bad shape, and you saved me,” he decided to acknowledge all of a sudden, looking away for a moment before he returned his stare to Katsuki. “But I’m okay now; I don’t need you to have my back. I can do this on my own,” he swallowed hard, his gaze turning to stone as he continued, “I don’t need your pity nor your repenting act; you should be happy now,” Deku looked down at his feet, “You always complained how I was stuck to your back since we were little,” he looked up, as he took a few more steps away from him. “I’m not anymore. You’re finally free of me.”
Katsuki stared at this piece of shit for a long moment. Then, he raised his eyebrows, “Oh, you tryin’ to hurt my feelings?” he scoffed. “You really pulling that one on me, shitty Deku?” he took a step closer to him, “You tryna copy me in that, too? Because I can tell you, been there, done that, and it’s shit. So, I know-”
Izuku slapped the hand that Katsuki had unwittingly raised, reaching for him, again, “You don’t know anything!”
Katsuki blinked, then nodded slowly, pulling his hand back, “You’re right, I don’t know what you’ve been through in the last few months,” he felt a muscle in his neck strain as he forced himself to continue, holding Deku’s gaze. “You can tell me, though. I’ll-” he swallowed; his chest was burning. He really felt like the thing that was supposed to be inside his ribcage was lying in the open at Deku’s feet. “I’ll listen.”
A light entered Deku’s eyes, there and then gone, Katsuki registered it like a punch to his broken rib. His lungs constricting even before Deku shook his head and opened his mouth to say,
“Why should I?”
Then Deku had the gal to shove Katsuki to the ground, hard.
Katsuki was so stunned that he fell on his ass like a fucking moron, and by the time he blinked the haziness that his cracked rib caused him, he was staring at Izuku’s fleeing back.
Katsuki gave chase as soon as he realised Deku was running away from him.
“Come back, you little shit!” he yelled, closing the distance.
He couldn’t believe Deku had shoved him. He cracked a smile – or no, he so could; this was the same guy that punched him in the face during their fight with All Might to prove a point, after all.
How could Katsuki give up on him?
He couldn’t, and most importantly, he would not.
Deku will have to deal. Katsuki will make him feel exactly what it was like to have someone attached to his back for more than a decade.
“You can’t get rid of me!” Katsuki yelled after him.
Deku didn’t reply, kept leaping from building to building.
And Katsuki followed.
Deku
No matter how much he tried to shake him off, Kacchan was always hot at his heels.
Deku would’ve marveled at this ironic turn of events, but he was too angry and annoyed and scared to feel anything other than constant dread.
Deku couldn’t watch Kacchan being hurt again because of him. He wouldn’t.
When his nerves had enough, he stopped abruptly and waited until Kacchan’s explosion propelled him forward to use his momentum to shove him back.
Kacchan fell on his butt, hard. He looked at Deku with such a purely surprised expression that he would’ve laughed at not long ago.
“Stay back,” Deku said.
Kacchan’s expression morphed into his usual rage, “Fuck you!” he spat, jumping on his feet in the next moment.
“Please, Kacchan.”
“Fuck you,” Kacchan replied.
“I don’t want you to get hur-”
“FUCK. YOU.”
“Kac-”
Kacchan took a step closer, “Fuck you,” he said, grabbing Izuku by the shoulders. “I’m not some princess you need to fucking protect, you fucking piece of shit; I’m a fucking hero!”
Deku stared at his childhood friend for a long moment. The knots in his stomach coming loose and tangling over and over again. No matter how much he wanted to protect him, Izuku couldn’t deny how much Kacchan’s touch helped soothe a part of him.
He didn’t remember when was the last time someone touched him without the intent to kill.
Tears slipped, making a burning track down his scratched and grimy cheeks, but Kacchan didn’t see. The mask was still on, Izuku was still Deku, and he wouldn’t stop until he made sure that All for One couldn’t hurt anyone else he loved anymore.
So, Deku took a step back first, and then – when Kacchan made to tighten his grip on him – Izuku slapped Kacchan’s hands away from himself again.
“Stop following,” Deku said, voice low, threatening before he turned around and ran.
Kacchan replied with a resounding, “FUCK YOU!” and Izuku almost smiled.
Katsuki
His cracked rib hurt like a bitch even though he’d taken the painkillers he kept in his utility belt. Deku’s second shove certainly hadn’t helped matters.
Katsuki tried to comfort himself by telling himself that at least he hadn’t lost sight of him yet. Deku was fast – he didn’t understand how he had so much energy still when he’d been on the verge of passing the fuck out when Katsuki had first shown up to save his ass.
He wants to shake me off that badly, he thought darkly.
“Well, tough shit, asswipe, I’m still here!” he yelled.
He glared at Deku’s back, fuelling his explosions with thoughts about the last few months.
All the nights that he hadn’t been able to catch a wink of sleep because he kept dreaming about this fucking asshole.
Sometimes, it was nightmares of All for One killing him and Katsuki having to watch on National Television, stuck wherever he was, unable to help or do something.
Pretty messed up dreams, and yet, they were better than the ones where Deku called his name like he’d done since they were four.
Kacchan, you did great!
That was amazing, Kacchan!
Kacchan, look!
Sugoi, Kacchan!
Kacchan!
They were the fucking worst, always startling him awake and making him look around his room as if the nerd was hiding in some corner of it.
They made his guts twist and roil, made him break out in a sweat and tear his desk drawer open for that fucking letter.
The letter he’d almost torn to pieces before his desperation made him read every word to see if he’d left any clue, a special message for his Kacchan – but of course, there was nothing of the sort.
No matter how many times Katsuki read it, folded and unfolded the piece of paper until it was tattered and barely legible. No new words appeared.
Thank you for everything,
I’m sorry.
Ah, yes, Katsuki was plenty mad again.
“Fuck you, Deku!” he cursed at that stupid green back, “You hear me? Fuck you!”
Deku
He was out of breath.
He didn’t know how long he could keep this up, he was starting to get dizzy, and Kacchan had an unfair advantage.
He wasn’t tired, hungry, and sleep-deprived as Deku was.
And it was getting dangerous. Soon, another hired gun would come for him, and Kacchan would get caught in the middle. Deku couldn’t let that happen.
It was taking everything in him to maintain full cowl at 20%, and using any of the other quirks was out of the question. But if he could just use smoke bomb… he’d be able to lose Kacchan once and for all.
Deku closed his eyes and was about to call onto the Sixth holder’s quirk when Kacchan called his name, his tone different than all the other times. Deku looked back at him, just in time to see Kacchan’s face twisted in rage and fear as he yelled,
“Get down!”
Deku threw himself to the ground on instinct, his body still responding to Kacchan like second nature.
And sure enough, a knife swished past him; a hair breath’s away from where his head had been.
Kacchan’s yell and subsequent explosions caught him up on what was happening, and he immediately got on his feet, exhaustion forgotten, adrenaline coursing through him.
Between the two of them, they took care of the hired gun quickly enough, Kacchan being the one to inflict the headbutt that knocked the Villain out.
After, he met Deku’s eyes with another look he had never seen on Kacchan before, almost like sorrow. “This is what it’s been like for you these past few months?”
Deku took a step back, “This is why you need to stay away.”
“Well, I’m not gonna!” Kacchan snapped, taking a few steps to close the distance. “So, you can stop running now or later, it won’t make any difference to me cuz I’ll keep following you.”
Deku gritted his teeth, stumbling back, calling onto the Sixth quirk. “Not if you can’t see me,” he smiled sadly, even if Kacchan couldn’t see him. “Goodbye, Kacchan.”
“Izuku!” Kacchan called out, his voice a rough scrape like it had come from the deepest, forgotten part of his chest.
Deku froze. His heart froze, too – but no, that wasn’t right, it was beating so hard it was making him dizzy. “You have no right,” Deku said lowly.
“No right?” his voice sounded stronger now, clearer, confused, almost disembodied over the smoke covering the source.
“You have no right to call me that now.”
There was a long silence, so long, Deku prepared himself to make the jump that would put distance between them, once again.
But rough hands gripped him by the arms and spun him around until he was forced to face Kacchan’s furious, raging, beautiful eyes. “I have no right?” he spat. “I gave you ‘Deku’ when we were four, and now I’m taking it back,” he glared. “You’ve been Deku for long enough,” he seemed to choke and quickly looked away. Deku could feel his pulse at the base of his throat, his heart threatening to choke him. “You can be just Izuku, again.”
Deku’s eyes were snagged on the base of Kacchan’s throat; he could see his pulse, matching Deku’s own.
When did that happen? he wondered.
When had they started to match up without Deku needing to run to catch up?
Deku raised his hand, his fingers aching to touch that spot at the base of Kacchan’s neck, imagined how it’d feel to have something so precious beat against his fingertips.
But then he caught sight of his hands.
There was blood caked under his fingernails. His fingers, his hands, they were dirty.
He couldn’t – he would not touch something so beautiful with his filth.
Deku pushed Kacchan away.
He turned and ran away.
“Fucking, damn it, Izuku!” Kacchan yelled.
Deku didn’t look back.
He would not.
It all hit Deku at once when yet another hired gun came for him.
This time it wasn’t just one individual with a powerful quirk, but three of them attacking Deku all at once.
Kacchan came to his rescue yet again. And again, they were fighting back-to-back.
A part of him felt excited, and a kind of joy Deku had almost forgotten at being able to fight in this seamless way with Kacchan, the way he’d always dreamt of doing since they’d been little kids with no quirks playing pretend heroes in the woods.
Being able to hold his own, cover Kacchan’s back and Kacchan not only letting him but trusting him to do it… it was all Izuku had ever wanted.
But Izuku was also so fucking tired.
And before he knew what was happening, he was stumbling, his knees shaking and his vision going first stark white and then black. He was fainting.
No, no, no, this couldn’t be happening.
“Kac-chan,” he gasped because he needed to let him know that he wouldn’t be able to cover his back anymore.
“What?” Kacchan let out in the middle of the cacophony, “Izuku?”
Izuku tried to speak, but it was like his body had finally locked down on him, none of his motor functions responding to what he wanted to do.
He thought he felt his body fall, someone yanking him up and away.
He heard Kacchan call out his name, heard him screaming, “NOO!”
Izuku blinked quickly, trying to push the dizziness away. Kacchan was in danger; Kacchan sounded desperate, scared. Izuku needed to help him.
But the exhaustion he’d been ignoring for the past few months seemed to finally catch up to him all at once, his body giving up.
He passed out to the sound of Kacchan’s screaming.
Izuku opened his eyes with a gasp on his lips. Everythings still looked too bright and dark at the same time; noise surrounded him, a horrible cacophony that made his head spin, but in all of it there was one voice that found Izuku in the dark, the one that would always reach him, no matter what.
“Let him go, you fucking bastards!” Kacchan was screaming between explosions. “GIVE HIM BACK!”
Izuku felt like puking. It might have been because he’d just passed out and came through just moments after ad he was being jostled around as the hired guns tried to make their escape, but Kacchan’s last yell also reminded him of the night Kacchan had been taken by the League.
How it’d felt to realise that someone had taken Kacchan away from him, someone that meant to harm him, someone that thought they could make of him a villain.
He had shied away from the memories since the moment they’d succeeded with the rescue mission, but now they crowded in his mind, making it hard for him to take full breaths.
The way his stomach had dropped, the scream he’d let out when Kurogiri’s portal closed before he could reach him.
Was this how Kacchan was feeling now?
It was one of the worst days of Izuku’s life.
There was another yell, and then a flash and targeted explosion that Izuku immediately recognised as Kacchan’s AP Shot hit one of the villains straight in the head.
The Villain dropped to the ground, limp.
“Izuku!” Kacchan yelled again, sending another concentrated hit towards another of the standing villains while reaching out to him. “take my hand!”
Izuku couldn’t yet.
Not while there were still two threats standing, so he called onto One for All with the last tendrils of strength he had left – which wasn’t much at all, he was certain at this point he was running on fumes and sheer force of will to not let Kacchan fight on his own - and kicked the last Villain remaining in the face with his iron soles.
When all of the Villains were on the ground, unconscious, Izuku looked at Kacchan, his mask long since having fallen from his face.
He reached out.
Kacchan grasped his hand hard and pulled Izuku to himself.
Izuku stumbled forward into his waiting arms, felt his arms wrap around him, welcoming. “Why are you here, still?” he couldn’t help but mumble, still not quite believing that Kacchan had followed him for so long, him, Deku. Why would he?
“You looked like you needed saving,” Kacchan said, voice hoarse, half delirious from pain and the feeling of having an armful of Izuku.
Izuku’s eyes widened, and he had to blink as they were suddenly brimming with tears. “Kacchan,” he tried to say, but it came out more like a whine.
And then he couldn’t keep himself together anymore. He came apart at the seams like a ratty, old pillow, his soft insides spilling out for Kacchan to see.
“Stupid, Deku,” Kacchan was saying, his arms around Izuku were shaking – or maybe that was just Izuku. “You’re making me repeat myself, haah? Didn’t I tell you to stop trying to win this on your own?”
Izuku tried to reply, but all that came out was a shuddering hiccup.
Kacchan held him tighter, and this time Izuku could feel the fine tremble in his arms and chest as he continued, “I’m here. Stop pushing me away already. Come home. I promise we’ll figure this out together.”
Izuku tried to push him away at that but couldn’t; Kacchan’s arms were like two bands of steel around him.
“No,” Kacchan growled, “Not letting you go now.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku gasped on a sob, “He’s gonna hurt you, he’s going to hurt everyone I love, ” he tried to push him, his hands on his chest, “I can’t let that happen.”
But Kacchan didn’t budge, his arms held tightly onto Izuku, refusing to let go, “I told you already, I’m not some princess you need to fucking protect, I can hold my own, what the fuck, Deku, wh-”
Izuku thought desperately of Ragdoll’s quirk, the fact that Shigaraki had it and had used it already.
They knew who was Izuku’s weakness. But he couldn’t tell Kacchan that, now, not directly at least.
“My mum!” Izuku blurted, “I can’t go back to UA while she’s there. I’ll be putting her in danger and everyone else, too.”
“Do you really think I’d let anyone – let alone that faceless fucker – get close to your mom?”
Izuku blinked, the remnants of his tears falling down his cheeks, “What?”
“I am with you,” Kacchan enunciated slowly. “Use me, use us. You don’t need to protect everyone on your own, you might be the holder of One for All, but we are heroes, too. You don’t need to carry this on your own; share it with us,” he squeezed Izuku harder, “Share it with me.”
Izuku pushed his forehead against Kacchan’s shoulder to leverage himself to look Kacchan in the face, “Us?”
Oh, Izuku thought as he watched Kacchan’s face be completely transformed as he aimed a smirk Izuku’s way.
Kacchan is smiling at me. Izuku felt almost delirious.
“Your dorky friends are here, too,” Kacchan said, just as familiar voices called out their names.
“Midoriya-kun!” Iida’s voice came first, just before Izuku saw him.
“You found him,” Todorki-kun said next, sighing in relief when his eyes caught sight of Izuku well and breathing. A small smile on his lips as he held Kacchan’s gaze for a long moment.
“Tch,” Kacchan looked away first, making Todoroki-kun’s smile widen.
“Deku-kun!” Uraraka was there all of a sudden, falling beside him to hug him tight. “Oh, I’m so glad, I’m so glad,” she was saying over and over again, crying on his shoulder.
Kacchan still didn’t let go of him to give her more room, though.
Izuku cried, deep wracking sobs shaking his entire body as he gave in the comfort and relief of not being alone anymore.
He felt Kacchan’s grip on him tighten even more. “Okaeri,” he whispered right into Izuku’s ear.
Izuku laughed, almost breathless, still crying. Kacchan’s breath tickled. “Tadaima.”
They didn’t go back to UA.
Instead, Kacchan’s group met up with the pro-heroes, and they took shelter in one of their safe houses.
Which was really an empty hotel inn.
As soon as their got there, Kacchan dragged him inside one of the rooms by one arm and, without preamble, pointed to the bathroom and ordered with the tone of an army general, “Take a shower,” then paused and added, “…and a bath.”
Izuku inclined his head, “Why the bath?”
Something incredible happened, then.
Izuku witnessed as Kacchan’s face grew an astounding shade of red.
Kacchan shook his head like a dog and then promptly turned around to hide his blush, “Whatever, just shower, but do it properly cuz you stink!”
It was Izuku’s turn to blush, utterly mortified, “I know! I’m sorry!” he said, quickly grabbing the change of clothes and closing the bathroom door behind him.
He got out of the shower only when he’d successfully scrubbed all the dirt and blood away, his skin smooth and baby pink again.
He stood in front of the mirror, taking in the new scars, all the bruises and cuts.
There were a lot, but each one of them he’d gotten by saving someone, so they were all welcome.
His hair was a lost cause, so he didn’t even try to fix it.
He changed into the clothes – that he immediately realised were his own; someone must’ve gone to his room to get him clothes from his closet.
He was so grateful for the comfort it brought him that he almost burst into tears again.
There was a thump at the door, “Oi,” came Kacchan’s voice, “You done in there already?”
“Yes!” Izuku called out, finishing to pull up his compression sleeve, as he opened the door, “I’m all done,” he aimed a smile Kacchan’s way.
Kacchan’s shoulders dropped in relief as soon as he saw him, “Good,” he pointed to the bed behind him, “Now, get some rest.”
Izuku eyed the bed doubtfully, “Do I really have time to that? All for One-”
“-Will have my fist if he dares disturb you while you sleep,” Kacchan declared, then sighed, “You need the rest, so get in bed already.”
Izuku gave him a small smile, taking a step towards it, then turned, “What about Kacchan?”
“I’ll have my turn here,” he said, pointing behind him at the bathroom, “Then, I’ll join you.”
Izuku nodded, then froze.
Join you? On the bed?
He turned around, but Kacchan closed the bathroom door right at that moment.
Oh well, Izuku shook his head at himself.
So, what if they were going to share the bed? Not like they hadn’t done it before.
It’d be the same as when they’d been kids.
He sat on the mattress, immediately feeling the familiar guilt he’d felt the last few months whenever he stopped to rest, his thoughts immediately turning to all the people that might be in danger and that he couldn’t save because he selfishly chose to rest.
He got up, heart beating fast.
He was okay. He rested enough.
The window was sealed shut, but he wouldn’t have any problems shattering it with One for All; he’d just need to be quiet enough not to be heard by the heroes keeping watch around the bu-
The bathroom door opened violently, the knob banging loudly against the wall.
Kacchan stood in the doorway with an almighty frown, looking at Izuku as if he’d known exactly what Izuku was thinking and came to stop him. “Get. in. bed,” he growled each word.
“Kacchan-”
Kacchan didn’t let him finish as he bodily yanked him back towards the bed. “I’m not hearing it, fucking sleep already!”
“Someone might need help-”
“You’re not the only hero around! Are you really insulting us like that? You?”
“No, I jus-”
“Then, stop acting like you’re the only hero people can count on,” Kacchan grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him a little, “What do you think we’d been doing these past few months?”
“What?”
“We’d been patrolling, too! Going around district to fucking district, making sure anyone that needed help got it – except while we did that, we were also looking for you.”
“Oh,” Izuku felt his shoulders drop. “Of course, you were.”
“Yeah,” Kacchan said, pushing him down to lie on the bed, “of course,” he looked away, then, “do you mind if I,” he gestured vaguely at the space beside Izuku.
Izuku lifted the blanket, “Please.”
Kacchan let out a long, deep breath, settling himself beside him, slowly, trying not to jostle is aching rib.
Izuku looked at him. Kacchan was lying on his back, so all Izuku could see was the side of his face. “Thank you,” he whispered.
Kacchan turned his face to look at him, his breath catching when he realised just how close they were, then he let out a small breath – Izuku’s heart stuttered as he felt it over his face. “Just returning the favour,” Kacchan said, gracing him with another small, almost secretive, smile.
Somehow Izuku knew exactly what he was talking about, “Kirishima-kun was the one to-”
“We all know whose plan that was, though.”
“Did someone tell-”
“Didn’t have to,” Kacchan dismissed with a flick of his hand, turning his head to go back stare at the ceiling. “Always known – I know a Deku plan when I see one.”
Izuku felt his eyes crinkle as he smiled, sweet warmth spreading in his chest. He curled on his side, relishing in the comfort and the warmth coming off his childhood friend.
Sleep was tugging at the edge of consciousness, but he needed to tell Kacchan, first, put all the cards on the table. “Kacchan.”
Kacchan hummed in askance; his eyes were closed.
“All for One has Ragdoll’s Search quirk.”
Izuku watched as a frown crinkled Kacchan’s brows before he opened his eyes and turned his head to look at him, “So?”
“The quirk makes him see where I am and my weaknesses, too.”
“Your mum is the safest she can be in UA.”
“I know,” Izuku looked away; his stomach was knotting, his heart beating too fast. “It’s just – I have two,” he swallowed hard, he squeezed his eyes shut. “I care about you!”
There was a slight pause, then another huff of breath, like a missed laugh, “No shit,” Kacchan said, sounding amused. “Same,” he said after, “or whatever.”
Izuku opened his eyes wide, “You care about me?”
Kacchan’s frown returned, looking at Izuku as he’d just asked the dumbest question he could’ve ever asked, “You’re saying I’m your weakness?” he countered, electing to ignore Izuku’s question completely.
Izuku nodded, not looking at Kacchan, “He might target you because of it, hurt you again,” he said, waiting for Kacchan’s inevitable offended explosion.
But it never came, “Let him try,” he said. “I’ll be ready this time.”
Izuku looked at him, stunned into silence.
“Don’t look at me like that, stupid Deku,” Kacchan said, covering his face with his arms.
It made Izuku’s eyes brim with tears for some unknown reason.
His mind crowded with thoughts of Lady Nagant, the way she’d smiled so peacefully and happily as she let go of the burden she’d been carrying for so long – Kacchan talking so liberally, so vulnerably scared him. “I don’t want him to hurt you,” he said in a small voice.
Kacchan turned on his side, facing Izuku. “Well, I don’t want him to hurt you, either.”
He was so close. Izuku could count the speck of orange and black in his irises. It was almost overwhelming having him this close, knowing that somehow, he was able to hold Kacchan’s attention for so long. “I would take all Kacchan’s hurt on me if I could,” he whispered, ghosting his fingers over Kacchan’s aching rib, and then resting lightly over his collarbone, where he knew a scar was likely to be.
“That would only hurt me more.”
Izuku’s eyes snapped to Kacchan’s, searching.
Kacchan held his gaze, unflinching, serene. He reached a hand up, smoothing one of Izuku’s curls away from his eyes. “Rest, Izuku.”
Izuku curled his fist around Kacchan’s shirt, where it was still resting on his collarbone.
“I’ll be here,” Kacchan answered his unasked question, leaning his forehead against Izuku’s. “When you’ll wake up, I’ll still be here,” he moved his hand to Izuku’s back so that he could pull him forward, closer to him, “We’ll go look for All for One, and we’ll kick his ass, and after,” he paused to swallow. Izuku followed the movement, enchanted. “I’ll be wherever you want me to be,” he said, voice rough.
“Where does Kacchan want to be?” Izuku asked just as hushed.
“Wherever you are,” Kacchan replied immediately.
“Sure?” Izuku asked, heart beating too fast.
“Yeah,” Kacchan’s sigh washed over him.
Izuku closed his eyes, took comfort in Kacchan’s forehead resting against his, in their breaths mingling together.
It was the closest he’d ever been to anyone in a long time.
There was so much they needed to talk about, so much Izuku needed to tell him, but for now, this was enough.
The possibility of what was to come once All for One was gone, enough to push him forward, a hope he’d never known he was allowed to have, giving him a new kind of strength.
It’ll be okay, Izuku thought as he fell asleep.
Whatever came next, he wouldn’t be alone; they would face it together, side by side like they were always meant to be.
Izuku knew, now – remembered it – as the dream of a child that had wanted to fight alongside his amazing friend, as he felt that friend close his hand around his.
Their hands clasped in between them, each of them curled around them as if that union was the most precious thing they’d ever held onto, they finally fell asleep.
Together.