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The sun rose slowly over the horizon, morning’s first light gently bathing the temple in its glow. Izuku felt the warmth upon his altar, his favourite day of the year had finally arrived and he couldn't be more excited.
Well, excited and terrified but a bit of both was always a good mix.
He enjoyed his days the most when they started with sunlight, so every single time his feet hit the Earth, he made sure to enjoy it to the fullest.
The temple was still empty and he allowed himself to be a bit careless, leaving the altar without paying any mind to people that could possibly see him. It was still too early for people to be able to recognize him and, knowing that this might be his last walk at that temple, Izuku wasn't keen on wearing a magical glamour just yet.
He walked around the altar and through the temple, a bittersweet taste on his tongue. For one, he had some of the best memories of his life inside of those walls and scattered over the old stone steps around it.
He had memories of laughter and love, caresses he could almost feel on his skin, kisses that burned with a love so strong that neither the destruction of galaxies nor the passing of millennia could erase it. His memories were of a million smiles and a million more tears of relief and joy.
But with all the loving memories came the lingering fear that the precious moments shared with his lover were coming to an abrupt end. They were already short, fleeting hours where they made the best with what they had and enjoyed themselves to the fullest without caring for any other thing in the world, knowing it would end before they could even begin to fill the missing piece the other always left.
It was not fair.
And Izuku was not built for pain but with every passing year and every passing Tanabata, Izuku learned how to deal with the heartbreak of seeing his love only one day out of three hundred and sixty-five. Knowing it would be glued back together the moment he laid his eyes on Katsuki again, their love tending the wounds the loneliness had created on Izuku’s heart.
Izuku learned to enjoy life, even through his sorrow. It was painful watching Katsuki’s new reincarnation wander the world without a single memory of him or their time together. He wanted Katsuki to know that he was loved, that Izuku would always care and anxiously wait for him but what he wanted Katsuki to know the most was why, even if Katsuki didn’t realise it himself, he was searching for Izuku.
And that he would find him.
This was his punishment, bestowed upon him for eternity and Izuku had taken it willingly as he knew he had been wrong at the time. He had set his responsibilities and duties to the people and the universe aside in favour of being foolish and so recklessly in love.
It had been selfish and immature and Izuku could see it now after so long under his penitence, but he had never, not even for a moment, regretted his actions. Katsuki was, is, the best person he had ever met and he held Izuku's entire heart.
Every moment, as short as it might be, with him by his side was worth a millennia of heartbreak. Their love was like no other to ever exist.
Izuku would live through every age and century, seeing Katsuki only when allowed, the day their patron stars would shine side by side in the night sky. The day humans celebrated the legend of their love, Orihime and Kengyu.
Izuku was fond of those names, not having heard them in millennia now, even though humans were unaware they were right there beside them all these years.
Well, at least, Katsuki was. Izuku was still a celestial princess, still a deity of sorts, allowed on Earth once a year to fulfil humanity’s wishes.
That, and to see Katsuki. Whether he be growing up, regaining his memories or loving him with all his strength.
Every new life, Katsuki would reincarnate into a different person, a different body, a new voice saying Izuku's name, singing him praise and whispering his promises. Reciting it non stop with every new memory of their shared love restored. Always the same beautiful, loving Katsuki.
Always a deep, gorgeous, pair of ruby eyes burning into his soul. Izuku could not be more grateful that that was the trait kept for all his reincarnations.
It would always take Katsuki a few years to be reborn after leaving the material world and Izuku missed him every second of every moment apart and then, a few more years till he could remember their love and the promise of forever together.
This lifetime though, Izuku felt in his core, time would not be enough. Not enough for him to see Katsuki grow up into a fine man - like he always did. Not enough for him to mature and be able to hold all the memories of his past lives.
Not enough time for them to love each other once more.
Sat at the entrance gates, Izuku allowed his eyes to flutter closed, enjoying the fresh morning breeze and the smell of the summer flowers. He was overjoyed to be back, to the place he held dearest in his heart.
He was anxious and, granted, a tad worried about what was coming their way. He couldn't make out the specifics yet but knew it was something big, something that would shake life as he knew it.
It worried him that Katsuki was still so small in this life, too little to hold their memories and remember who Izuku really was. He hadn't even seen him yet and he had turned five years old just a few months back.
A little firecracker as Katsuki always was, in this life with power as explosive as his personality.
Izuku saw it all, the first quirk, the hero society being created, Katsuki getting his powers for the first time. He couldn't understand where it came initially from but couldn't be prouder of such a strong little boy Katsuki was already.
Voices approaching the gates shook Izuku from his daydreams and he noticed the sun shining a lot brighter than it was when he first took a seat there. The passage of time was something he would forever have trouble getting used to.
Using just a spark of his magic, Izuku went back inside the temple, making himself unseen. The preparations for the festival were already in place, having been completed the previous day, but he knew from experience the food staff would be arriving soon to prepare for the day's festivities.
He would wander the stalls and accompany their work quietly, waiting for the moment where the festival would be open to the public so he would be able to receive and grant the wishes of the people that came to his temple
It wasn't the same as receiving Katsuki with open arms the moment he would awake on Earth but Izuku enjoyed the leisure days he had between his lives. He learned to be grateful for every opportunity fate threw his way.
He specifically savoured the smell of takoyaki being fried and enjoyed himself wonderfully seeing the cooks preparing it so skilfully. If he could wish for one mortal experience, it surely would be to try one of the small balls, even just once.
As usual, his day went on, Izuku having fun seeing the kids out and about, rejoicing in the wishes he received and was able to fulfil right away, spreading blessings to the ones requesting them and all in all, having a sweet day around the temple.
It was close to sunset when Izuku first heard the voice he held so dearly.
"I don't want to! Stop dragging me hag, this is stupid"
Even before turning around, he already had a smile on his face.
"Shut up brat, it’s tradition! You will come with us and enjoy the festival even if I have to tie you to me"
Small chubby hands that held no power against his mother's pushed every advantage towards being dragged inside the festival.
Izuku could not contain the warmth spreading over his whole body, his heart filled with the fondness he regarded for Katsuki and Katsuki only.
The same ruby eyes he loved so much shining with mischievousness intent towards his mother, tiny legs ready to make a run for it as soon as she tried to grab him once more.
He had missed him so dearly, from the spikes of his unruly hair to the tip of his button nose. Katsuki was here and everything was right once more. It always seemed like the world was tilted off its axis when Katsuki was away but one small smile from him and it was enough for all to be well.
None of the specifics of that encounter or the impending developments of their lives mattered at that moment. Not when Katsuki was being hoisted by his father, being caught by a surprise attack from behind, powerless against the public demonstration of love from his parents.
The tip of his ears turned pink while he pouted, crossing his small arms over his chest. His legs dangled uselessly in his father's hold.
Izuku couldn't do anything besides laugh, an act filled with so much love he was sure every person present at the festival could feel his joy and share the affection he was never able to contain inside his heart.
There wasn't a single cell in his body that wasn't drowned in love for him and it overflowed as the feeling of warm sun rays on a cold day and every person within miles could feel it.
He watched the tiny version of the love of his life forgo his initial disregard for the festival in favour of devouring spicy yakitoris even his parents couldn't savour and winning every single game available on the stalls.
He was the same as he always would be, a perfectionist, an overachiever, a prodigy. A much too curious mind for such a small body and Izuku delighted every single time, without fail, in knowing Katsuki would always be the same.
His love, his example to follow for eternity, his hero.
Just before the end of the festival, Izuku noticed Katsuki wandering alone further away from his parents, closer to the temple than to the stalls. He knew what that was, he knew he would always have a pull towards their meeting place.
It was their temple after all.
He threaded carefully through the stone pathways leading to the entrance and climbed the few steps leading to the altar with Izuku following him closely. He had done the same dance a hundred times before and as long as he kept himself invisible to his eyes, Katsuki would most probably just look around and leave.
Izuku learned it gave Katsuki some sort of peace to be inside their temple, a certain stillness in his mind that he would seek for years until the memories of all his past lives would come flooding back. Izuku would always enjoy those moments alone with him, it soothed his heart as a reminder his Katsuki was still in there, every time.
However, as his small feet met the wooden board, Izuku knew this wasn't a simple visit like so many before. With every new step Katsuki took towards the altar, Izuku felt himself losing the hold on his material body and being pulled back to a dimension he had no control over.
He tumbled through the room in Katsuki's direction, in a desperate attempt at stopping whatever was happening when he felt his magic giving out and his body becoming visible once more.
Holding himself upwards, Izuku knew there was no time left, no strength left to fight the inevitable, fate caught up to him much sooner than he believed it would. So he broke the one promise he made himself centuries before.
"Kacchan."
He called for the boy still unaware of him, who still didn't know who he was and what that place meant for them, why he had such a strong connection with that room. The Kacchan that was far too small to be in his presence and regain his memories.
He had never done that before, not when he was so young.
"I promise you won't be alone anymore, wait for me please."
Just as Katsuki turned around, startled, Izuku smiled. His body drowned in light and, suddenly, he was gone.
-----
Katsuki took off his mask and sighed. It had been one of those days not one hero wanted to have and he had been counting the seconds to clock out only to find the sidewalk of his apartment building swamped by reporters.
His body hurt, there were bandages and scratches on his face, his mind was a mess of explosions and screams and never-ending replays of his failed battles with the one from that day now added to the mix.
He did not want to deal with the press, not now, not ever.
Katsuki knew it was part of his job and he loved what he did. He was proud of his accomplishments and how far he had come so early in his career, but if he had to choose one downside, it was definitely the exposure.
The press came down on heroes like vultures just waiting for them to commit a mistake, anything, as simple or harmless as it was, and they would feast on it.
Even when they did not make mistakes, they would still find something to degrade them. The way he talked, the way he walked, his costume, his manners, everything has already been used against him to the public eye.
This time it was a building he failed to avoid destroying. It was an empty building, its destruction allowing him to take down the villains, but that was not what they wanted to hear.
He could always ignore them and force his entrance home but his PR team would have his head the next morning and he was too stressed to risk a lecture over his bed. He didn't even have any sort of attachment to his current home so a hotel for the night would suffice.
With a cap low on his head and the surgical mask back to covering his face, he turned around a block from home, intending on crashing close to his agency to save time for the next morning, but not before letting out a stream of profanities.
Instead, his feet took him down the path he knew how to get to with his eyes closed. The safe place his heart needed and he hadn't thought of before in the middle of his inner turmoils.
He now stood at the grand stone steps of the old neighbourhood temple, head cleared and heart lighter. He never understood why that place was so important, so magnetic to him, but continued to be his grounding force through his whole life since he was a small child.
Katsuki used to loathe coming to pray, even to the festivities, but after witnessing what he had always called a miracle, he became a faithful visitor.
His mother always made it seem like he dreamed it but Katsuki had a clear picture of an ethereal man, in flowing robes and a gentle smile calling his name at that very temple eighteen years ago. He could not forget that, not for a moment.
That man had asked Katsuki to wait for him and although he was still unsure of the meaning behind those words, wait he would.
His young self was found sleeping peacefully on the altar that night after his parents searched for him like crazy for over an hour. He had drifted too far from the celebration and in the blink of an eye was nowhere to be found.
He could remember neither going to the altar nor falling asleep but those green shimmering eyes never left his mind.
He dreamed of that man, so many times during the years, he had notebooks upon notebooks filled with sketches of his beautiful face, his expressive eyes, his myriad of freckles and his hands, outstretched to him.
As if calling to Katsuki, to take them and not let go. He fucking wished he did.
He knew it was crazy, he could barely remember that night and the scene he had in his mind was not longer than a few seconds, but Katsuki would die on the hill that it was the goddess himself that appeared to him that night.
Believing that he was good enough, even if just for a second, for a goddess to show up to him made the hero believe in himself all the more. That there was something good in him, worth saving, worth working towards.
And because he believed that so fiercely, Katsuki knew he would always be accepted at the temple, no matter how awful the media would portray him to the public that week. He had found himself hiding inside those gates more times than he would like to count.
That was also probably why his feet had taken him there before he even realised. Because he needed to feel worthy of his hero mantle, even if just for a little bit after his day.
Adjusting the bag on his shoulder, he took off the cap and the mask, they weren't needed here. The bandages on his face were itchy against his skin, but it was better than potentially infecting his injuries.
The climb up to the temple was a steep one he had long since gotten used to and the burn in his legs was not only welcomed but helped to soothe the ache in his soul. He could feel himself breathing easier with every new step conquered.
He never spent long at the altar, the whole place had enough of that aura of quietness and peace Katsuki always looked for, and damn needed when he came, so just looking around was enough.
Besides that, whenever he entered the altar, his heart filled with a longing he couldn't understand. There had never been someone in his life worthy of the sorrow that his heart felt in that place.
So, as good as it was, sometimes Katsuki avoided it and it was fine, there was rarely another living soul in that temple at that hour anyway. He could roam around as much as he liked.
He finished climbing the steps with that thought in mind, aiming for his favourite path by the small pond at the end of the temple when he noticed another soul coming from the opposite direction.
As much as Katsuki was a pro hero, practised on fast reflexes and last-minute decisions, he was not prepared to find anyone that day and that broke him out of his thoughts faster than any villain ever could.
His step faltered even if he could not see the person yet, the uneven path only allowing him to see a figure approaching through the late afternoon light shining against him.
His heart skipped several beats and he had to remind himself that the temple was a public place and although not very famous, people were allowed to visit it.
It was just an incredibly unusual coincidence and he had to stop allowing such a stupid thing to catch him by surprise.
Tightening his hands into fists just for the sake of keeping himself grounded - and ready to explode if needed - he pushed forward.
The other person seemed to not have noticed him yet, eyes downcast and focused on his step. Katsuki noticed soon it was a man, a tad younger than him it seemed.
Katsuki scoffed when he noticed how ridiculously harmless the other looked, how he could ever think he was a possible threat was beyond him. The guy was dressed in what he could only describe as an insult to his parents' job with a striped shirt and a bucket hat, completely opposite to his own complete sombre outfit.
Contrary to Katsuki, who wanted not to be noticed at all, you couldn't miss that man in a crowd, even if you tried to.
When there was less than a few steps between them, the younger man lifted his eyes to finally look at Katsuki and it was as if the world stopped turning and someone took the air out of his lungs.
His feet kept moving on autopilot because Katsuki was nowhere near Earth at that moment.
Those big, green, expressive eyes he’d dreamed of his whole life suddenly looking at him with the same surprised expression he knew mirrored his. Green curls framing his freckled cheeks and gentle expression exactly as he remembered.
Katsuki could only hear the beating of his heart, loud and obnoxious in his ears, his blood running cold. It couldn't be true. He grabbed the straps of his bag as if to feel something under his suddenly trembling palms.
This man was real, flesh and blood and not a deity, not the goddess he remembers, was he going crazy? Had the blows he took on the job finally caught up to him?
They passed each other as if in slow motion, eyes still locked and minds wandering. Katsuki had to rein in his emotions not to freak the hell out right then and there.
Striking green eyes looked at him, seemingly trying to find a missing piece of a puzzle he couldn't remember ever starting. To top it off, amidst all the turmoil, Katsuki had the fleeting thought that he was probably the most gorgeous man he had ever seen.
One step away from the other man he felt like never before, the pull he always had towards the temple, the invisible strings that always kept him grounded on those steps, pulling him back in the direction of green eyes.
He could not look away, not even for a moment and his mind supplied him with the name he longed to hear just once again in his life.
Kacchan.
Just as the sweet nickname called to him, his whole existence came crashing down like a never-ending waterfall.
Millenia of passion and heartbreak, hands in his hair, his lips, his heart, millions of kisses and hellos and goodbyes. He felt on his face more tears than he would ever be able to shed in a lifetime, more love than he could probably hold in his heart.
His emotions overflowed his body and spilt off him in his every breath, every tear, every thought.
Izuku, Deku, Orihime, his better half, his own north star, the love of all his existence finally in the material world with him and just a step away.
Before he could bear his thoughts, the lives he had lived and forgotten all about moved his body for him, throwing himself on Izuku. His arms circled the smaller frame as if their hearts depended on their proximity to one another to continue to beat.
Hands roaming the other as if to confirm it was really true, the other was there, that close, in person and to stay. Katsuki could not keep himself from holding Izuku tight, hands in his curls and on his back, moulding their bodies together.
"Kacchan, Kacchan, it’s finally you, I finally found you"
His voice faltered between tears of happiness and longing, they were finally here.
"I’m here, Deku, you found me"
Tears flowed freely on both their cheeks and into already soaked shoulders. Katsuki was not above saying he sobbed with his face buried into Izuku's neck, his hands holding onto him for dear life.
Izuku wailed into his arms and his heart felt as if it was failing with how much it filled with warmth and sorrow, one and the same. His body shivered and he held on tighter until both could breathe once more.
Katsuki was the first to pull back, bearing his surroundings and the incredible, unimaginably pure euphoria of having Izuku back into his arms. He would never fight the smile stretching across his whole face.
"You called for me, all those years ago"
Izuku still had his face in Katsuki's shirt, inhaling his scent as Katsuki distributed kisses on his hair, hat long forgotten on the ground. Katsuki wanted to imprint the smell of those soft curls into his brain.
"I did, how could I not? I was about to disappear and I couldn't go without seeing your bright eyes once more. I feared you would never find me again otherwise"
Katsuki chuckled because that couldn't be further from the truth. His heart, mind and body were Izuku's for eternity.
"I promised you, hundred of lifetimes ago, when it was just you and me under the lights of the Milky Way that I'd always find my way back to you"
Katsuki could feel Izuku smiling, he encouraged him to look up. He had always been enamoured by those green eyes and it had been too long since he had last had the chance to just stare at them. Constellations of freckles framing them just for him.
"You always did Kacchan"
And he would be damned if he didn't.
Katsuki lowered his face until their foreheads touched, the contact a breath of relief into their old souls’ yearning for each other for far too long. Their current lives were just a small tiny fraction of all they’d lived together and would still have for eternity.
"Welcome home Deku"
Izuku smiled and it was as if everything was right in the world once more. The ground by his feet disappeared with how light the fluttering feeling inside his chest made him.
With a hand intertwining Izuku's fingers and the other cradling his face, Katsuki joined them both into a kiss, sealing the fate they had been fighting for thousands of years into soft lips against his.
It didn’t last long, just a small peck with a promise of a thousand more. Sweet kisses of good mornings and good nights, heated kisses with the force of lifetimes of passion, fleeting kisses of just a passing thought.
Izuku laughed into it, prompting Katsuki to bump their noses playfully as if they had not a care in the world.
Suddenly, everything else seemed so little and unimportant.
Katsuki might be a hero in this life, Izuku might be something completely different from the princess he used to be, but they were still them. Orihime and Kengyu, Deku and Kacchan.
"I'm home Kacchan, thanks for waiting"