Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Katsuki was so confused it made him furious. He was pretty sure he was a victim of some prank or All-For-One possibly made a mistake and gave him the wrong quirk. Whatever happened, Katsuki wasn’t having it.

He got out of the room he was in. It was previously filled with some other pro-heroes and the villain they took in for questioning. It only took a snap for the scene to change. Now, it was empty save a few foreign and abandoned desks. As soon as he closed the door, some red-haired man in uniform came rushing from the corner.

"Denks! Hitoshi!” The man called out, holding paper bags that smelled like takeout and attempting to knock on the door Katsuki had just got out of. His hair was in unruly spikes that fell all over his head like a mop. It was obviously a DIY dye job because the color was uneven all over. 

Jesus Christ, that's fucking shitty.

He looked at Katsuki up and down, head tilting at the dirt of his hero costume. Shitty Hair beamed nonetheless, bright teeth in full showcase. “Hey, there man! Cool costume! Are Denki and Hitoshi ther--”

“No. Where the fuck are they?” Katsuki immediately makes the stranger close his mouth, surprised at the rudeness.

“I, uh, don’t know man, I’ve just-- I’ve been told this is where they were directed earlier. I bet they haven’t had lunch yet so,” he gestured at the paper bag. “I, uh, didn't know they were filming a superhero music video?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Who even are you? How do you know Hitoshi and Denki?” The ‘ how close are you to them to call them by their first names? ’ went unspoken. The only response Katsuki got was an expression filled with as much confusion as he felt brewing in his brain. 

They both heard footsteps and voices nearing. Katsuki was about to mentally take a sigh of relief but got cut off by confusion. The sight of Denki and Hitoshi left him more lost than he has ever felt his entire life. The pair were in casual wear and foreign IDs instead of the hero costumes they had on just half an hour ago and Denki… didn’t have the black birthmark on his hair all of a sudden?

“We're still at work, why the fuck did you guys change? And how’d you lose your birthmark, Denki? Some kind of quirk accident?” Katsuki felt much more comfortable talking to them than that shitty-haired stranger but they somehow also seemed so different from what he was used to. The two prematurely stopped their conversation before Hitoshi looked at him with a face of offense and confusion meanwhile Denki just looked shocked and somehow amused.

“Excuse me? Who the fuck are you , sir?” Hitoshi snapped too sincerely, almost fooling Katsuki into believing he wasn’t a part of some prank show.

“Woah woah woah, man, what birthmark are you talking about? And by the way, that’s one dope ass costume!” Denki exclaimed as if he'd never seen it in all the nine years Katsuki had been wearing them. “Is there a costume party or some kind of convention happening nearby? I wanna go!” 

When did Denki’s voice start sounding like he never got out of adolescence?

"Wait, you weren't filming a superhero-themed music video?" 

"Dude, it was a murder mystery! That's why we're cast as police officers." Denki showed Shitty Hair his and Hitoshi's fake IDs.

“What the fuck are these bastards even talking about?" Katsuki murmured to himself. "Where are the others— AFO and that villain we captured fucking forty-five minutes ago?!” Katsuki was sure he was gathering attention from the way he was shouting but it didn’t matter because he was the number two fucking hero in Japan.

“Woah, hold on, let’s go with a little less shouting in the police station, sir.” Shitty Hair came back into Katsuki’s vision, looking positively ready to deescalate wherever the conversation was going. They were starting to look like they wanted to call the nearest mental hospital.

“Oh my god, Eiji,” Denki held onto the Shitty Hair’s shoulder and loudly whispered. “He called me by my given name, didn’t he? Why would he do that? Did you tell him my name? Is he a fan?” Denki's eye opened wide in realization-shock. "Oh my god! Do you watch my videos, dude?!"

Just as Denki was about to hug Katsuki, he stops and slightly tilts his head, wondering. "But that's weird, though, 'cause they all call me 'Denkichu'. But it doesn't matter, I'm always thrilled to meet you guys! So, what's your name?"

"Denki, what the actual fuck are you talking about. This isn't funny." Katsuki was about to get a headache from how hard his eyebrows were furrowed.

"For a fan, you're one rude asshole. Talk nicer or leave." Hitoshi stepped up, hiding Denki behind him. Katsuki saves himself the trouble and only rolls his eyes. Clearly, Hitoshi was being protective of his little crush again.

“Wait, I don’t think he’s a fan. That’s too bad.” Denki sighed in disappointment when Shitty Hair pat his back apologetically.

Seriously, what the fuck are these losers talking about?

“I only called you guys because I thought you were still in that room, he came from out of there too. Didn’t you see him inside?” Shitty Hair intervened and turned his head to Hitoshi. “He called you by your given name too.” Hitoshi only shook his head, still judgingly side-eyeing Katsuki and his hero costume.

Katsuki was about to snap again at the running pretend-to-not-know-Katsuki joke before some police officer from the next room loudly asked, “Is there a problem here, Kirishima?”

‘Kirishima’ instantly straightened up and smiled at the officer. “No, Mr. Mori! Our friend here was just practicing some lines for his, uh, roleplaying contest, yeah! No problem here, we were just about to head to the station for some lunch.” The police officer looked at Katsuki weirdly before nodding and going back to minding his own business.

The three glanced at each other, a silent form of communication happening between them that left Katsuki clueless before Shitty Hair sighed. “Look, Mr…?”

Katsuki cocked an eyebrow. “You seriously don’t know who I am?” 

“What, are you a spoiled son of some tycoon?” Hitoshi mocked.

“I’m your fucking brother, you ass!”

The three looked at Katsuki like he was the crazy one. Denki was clutching his stomach from laughing, Hitoshi pitied him as if Katsuki had just escaped the restraints of a mental hospital, and Shitty Hair looked like he wanted to laugh but was overwhelmed with confusion.

“Look, Mr. I-assume-is-an-important-person, why don’t we just head down to the fire station where you can scream all you want and we can have lunch? I was just waiting for these two’s break so we can eat, you should join us! I’m Kirishima Eijirou by the way.” Katsuki exaggeratedly took a deep breath at the man’s offer but took it anyway. It’s been hours since his last meal. 

“Bakugou Katsuki.” As soon as Katsuki introduced himself, Denki hummed.

“Bakugou, huh? That sounds pretty familiar, but I can’t remember where I heard it.”

“Can we just talk about it later? Once we’ve eaten? I’m hungry as hell.” Hitoshi huffed, annoyed, and took off first to where Katsuki would assume the fire station was. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Bakugou!” Kirishima smiled.

“Can’t say I feel the same about you, Shitty Hair.” Katsuki didn’t expect the loser to genuinely laugh at his rudeness, but at least he had to deal with one less person that took him as a complete asshole.

The walk outside the police station disproved Katsuki's theory of being in an elaborate prank show and therefore deduced that whatever he was in, it was because of a quirk. It must've been a really strong hallucination quirk because everything felt incredibly real— including the small embarrassment he felt as people they passed by started staring and giggling because of how he looked, instead of the normal starstruck looks and expressions of praise. He simply chose to flip them off with a glare.

They aren't real anyway, surely my damn publicist won't talk my ear off 'cause of that one.

Hitoshi was pretty silent on their way to lunch which wasn't anything new— his brother wasn't a talker by any means. Denki, however, was being noisier than he has ever been in the last year. His voice also had a much higher pitch than before and his body movements were exaggerated. This hallucination was the complete opposite of the Denki Katsuki grew up with.

The attention from the group was off of Katsuki for a few minutes until they arrived at the fire station where Icy-Hot, without his huge scar, and Sero, without his huge elbow tapes, greeted them. They both wore the same uniform Shitty Hair was wearing and were eating out of their bentos when they walked towards the group, eyeing Katsuki specifically.

Huh, so quirks don’t exist then? Weird fucking hallucination, but okay?

"Who's this? Why's he wearing that?" Icy-Hot bluntly asks, playing the I-Don't-Know-Katsuki card as everyone else did.

"I'm right fucking here, Icy-Hot. And for the record, your hero costume looks too basic for you to talk shit about mine." Sero snorts, slapping Icy-Hot's shoulder for good measure. 

"I didn't know you made costumes in your free time, Todoroki!"

"I don't. Who's Icy-Hot?"

"Fuckin' Christ. Sero, what's in your lunch? The bastards at the police station didn't even bother ordering food for us when we just saved the fuckin' world." Katsuki grabs an onigiri from Sero's bento and he feels everybody freeze for a second. Damn, this quirk sure had its perks because the food he was imagining was amazing (or perhaps he was just starving).

"How… does he know my name?" Katsuki rolled his eyes. 

"Bro, trust me. I don't know too. He called me and Hitoshi by our given names earlier." 

"What? Maybe he's just a fan."

"Nah, man, Hitoshi doesn't even use his real name in social media."

Hitoshi? Since when did Denki use his given name? That bastard must feel ecstatic right now. Katsuki shifts his focus to his brother and sees that he’s not even the smallest bit flustered. Huh. He's less of a disaster gay here.

"Okay, but why's he wearing that? It looks like it costs a lot of money."

"Fuckin' hell." Katsuki had enough of the bullshit he was hearing. As soon as he finished the piece of onigiri, he set up a small explosion, just enough to garner attention. "I'm done with this bullshit. Whoever's behind this quirk, you better stop it or I'm gonna fuckin' kill you!" Katsuki shouted with his eyes closed, voice echoing through the silenced room.

"Did you just-"

"You set up a fire hazard."

"In a fire station!" The three idiots in firefighter uniforms looked at him in disbelief.

"It's just a teeny tiny explosion, stop being so fucking dramatic."

"That came out of his palms…" Denki stated, awestruck. "I knew it! The conspiracy theories are true, superhumans do exist!"

"Woah." Katsuki wished he could burn the image of Icy-Hot's eyes sparkling because of his quirk. But no. Now, it's engraved in his mind forever.

"Alright, that's it, Mr. Bakugou. You're being very weird and we're gonna need to understand what's going on here if you don't want to be handed over to the police."  

"Dude! Are you kidding me, we've got a superhuman right here and you're talking about handing him to the police?! Hell no!" Denki grabbed Katsuki by his arms and led him away from the group, before other firefighters could see what the commotion was about.

"Oh lord, where exactly are you going Denki?" Shitty Hair panicked, exasperated with how comfortable his friend is in his workplace.

“To your sleep stations, of course! We can’t just let anyone hear about a real-life superhuman! Is there anyone sleeping there right now?” Katsuki wasn’t sure what to do with Denki’s boisterous attitude and it made him extremely uncomfortable. He’s rarely irritated with his best friend but this version of him was starting to make his blood boil. Katsuki ripped his arms off of him with a huff and since he didn’t know how long the quirk was going to last, he just silently went with whatever was happening in his brain.

“I mean, not really, I think…” 

“Perfect!” 

On their way to another figment of Katsuki’s imagination, Denki wouldn’t stop bugging him. “Please! Just tell me if it’s some kind of magic trick, I really don’t wanna get my hopes up here!”

“I already fucking told you, dumbass, I can and will blow up your face. Don’t test me.”

“You still didn’t answer my question, though!”

Katsuki stayed silent until they were inside one of the fire station’s sleeping quarters. Sero and Shitty Hair immediately helped themselves with the beds while Hitoshi stuck with Denki and Icy-Hot who were very fascinated with Katsuki. He sighed and set off small crackles of explosions in his palm just to show Denki that there wasn’t any trick behind it. “It,” Katsuki paused, having a hard time believing that he has to explain his quirk to Denki again of all people. “It comes from my sweat.”

Noises of surprise filled the room and those who were initially looking tired suddenly stood up to crowd Katsuki. He just continued to set off tiny explosions in his palms as he observed how amazed the group was. The only reason he tolerated the stupid looks on their faces was that this entire thing was fake and if Katsuki had to do this in front of them for real, he'd rather explode their faces.

“Dude! This is amazing! Can you do tricks with it?” Shitty Hair asked, practically glowing with amusement.

“I can practically fly with it, make holes with it, kill with it, and all that basic bullshit.” Katsuki sighed, halting the sparks just because he was fucking tired . People he knew so well (well, except for Shitty Hair) were acting like strangers instead of letting him be the asocial freak that he is. His battery was about to go dead.

"Can you make fireworks?!" Denki buzzed. Katsuki thought it was kind of refreshing to see him act like such a kid instead of being an uptight asshole. It almost made him feel fond of the man, if only this type of behavior wasn't so annoying . Katsuki just chose to go with it though, too tired to really be spending way too much energy to appear angry. He sets up a trick his publicist made him learn years ago as a punishment for being an asshole to his fans. Perfectly-timed sparks went off from his palms to form a heart in the air, mimicking a firework display.

"Oh my gooood! Dude, that's so cool!"

"Wow, that's pretty dope, man!"

"Why are you not famous for this?"

Hitoshi shook his head at Icy-Hot. "Not everyone needs to be famous, Todoroki."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm pretty updated with every single weird video on the internet. I'm sure I would've heard something about a guy who can fly, make holes and hearts, and kill with explosions from his sweat. I mean, just from that information, you'd know he's had enough practice with it for him to have so much control over it. Unless, you know, it was easy to control. But that's pretty unrealistic. The thing is, it's hard to hide something so showy. So, can I just ask, where have you been practicing this?"

Katsuki scrunched his face up in disgust. "Jesus, do I not get a break from this? I've spent all day with Deku muttering and spewing shit all over the city because of that villain's weird-ass quirk. Is this really gonna follow me inside this fucking shitshow?!"

“Deku? Who’s Deku?”

‘You-- where do you work? How… Did you spend the day with Midoriya-san?” Icy-Hot’s speech was suddenly filled with hesitation.

“Wait, what? You’re friends with Midoriya-san?” Hitoshi’s eyebrows furrowed in doubt and everyone else in the room shifted, but that wasn’t the reason why Katsuki’s confusion peaked. No, it was because why the fuck does Hitoshi sound so respectful of Deku as if the nerd was leagues better than him?

“Hitoshi. Why the fuck do you call fucking Deku like that— like he’s some hotshot?” Katsuki knows that Denki and Hitoshi don’t talk about Deku like that, at least not in front of him. Everybody in his life knew better than to admire and even talk about Deku in his face because they knew how it made him feel. Katsuki knows this whole hallucination has made him see some weird stuff, but if there’s anything that a Bakugou Katsuki hallucination should have— it’s that Deku should be lower than him, more disrespected than him, less noticed than him. But no.

“First off, I've already told you to be nice or leave, stop being rude. Stop calling me by my given name because you’re a stranger . Second, he’s my senior. He’s helped a lot of people like me and Denki in the industry and we respect him a lot. I don’t know who you think you are but you’ve been rude the entire time we’ve met. I suggest you drop the attitude."

Katsuki just stared at him, dumbfounded. He glanced at everyone in the room and it was obvious they agreed with Hitoshi. Is this the fucking Deku fan club? Jesus Christ. "This is a fucking joke. Can someone slap me? Hard? Just so this can end?"

That was sarcasm and Katsuki did not expect someone to slap him at all. So when he felt the harsh sting of a palm hitting his left cheek, it felt like cold water splashed his face.

Katsuki was, in fact, not in a hallucination.

Everyone else, aside from Todoroki, looked more shocked than Katsuki who was just scrunching his forehead in confusion. 

"What? He asked for it." Icy-Hot shrugged as if he did nothing wrong which earned a cackle from Sero and Denki. "Why do you keep calling him Deku, though? That was just a one-time role in a drama. Well, it was his biggest project and it did have many adaptations across the world so… Ah, I almost forgot, that’s what his first leading-lady calls him off-screen. So, you actually do know them?"

"The fuck ." Katsuki breathed, gears in his brain still turning to figure out wherever the fuck he actually was. And Icy-Hot being the biggest fucking fanboy was not helping.

"What did you say your name was? Have you worked with him? Or are you like a non-showbiz friend?" Todoroki interrogated further, confusing Katsuki even more.

"Uhh, wait a sec. Dude, Bakugou, you feelin' okay right there? You're looking a little pale, bud." Shitty Hair approached carefully, voice gentle.

"W-what did you say Deku was?" Katsuki never stuttered, but the situation must’ve been enough to make him that flustered.

“Uhh, a nickname he got from a show?” Icy-Hot tilted his head, unsure.

Katsuki shook his head, “No- no, not that--”

“Are you a foreigner, man?” Denki replied but immediately answered himself. “Nah, he’s also quite famous overseas, as far as I know. Plus your Japanese is really good.” He shook his head, wondering about Katsuki’s apparent obliviousness.

“He’s one of the biggest stars in Japan! He’s basically gonna go down in history as a GOAT in the showbiz industry.” At Shitty Hair’s direct explanation of who they thought Deku was, suddenly, Katsuki was hit by the fast train of realization.

“O-okay. Alright.” Katsuki took a deep breath to steady himself. All of this was too sudden and he wanted to understand it as quickly as possible. It was safe to say everybody in the room already thought Katsuki was crazy with the way they looked but that wasn’t the top concern for now. “You,” he pointed to Todoroki. “You said that you’re updated with the weird shit, right? Do you know someone that goes by the name ‘Gideon’? Ring a bell?” Everyone tilted their heads and looked back and forth at Todoroki and Katsuki as if context will magically appear from one of them. Todoroki thought hard for a couple of seconds before shaking his head.

“Not really. Uh, could you elaborate on whatever they’re about?”

“Someone that practically looks like a shadow, destroys shit, and disappears right after he’s done?” Katsuki adds on quickly, desperate for information. At his further explanation, Todoroki’s face lit up in recognition. He quickly pulls out a phone and taps at various places. At that, Sero moves away from beside him to make space for an eager Katsuki. Todoroki clicks on a video with only over a couple million views and clicks fast forward to a CCTV footage of something that looks vaguely similar to the villain Katsuki apprehended earlier. In the footage, a shadow-like entity threw a couple of grenades to a small restaurant in Tokyo then it immediately vanished without another move. 

“There’s been a lot of cases like that across Japan. Some similar things have happened overseas but it’s mostly Japan that’s affected by the bombing. The biggest case was a garden in Kyoto. Luckily, it was at a weird time so no one was there, but the casualties were pretty hard to ignore.” Todoroki explained as the video played on, more low-quality footage of the same person being provided as evidence for the claims the conspiracy theory channel made. “But, since it just looks like a weird shadow in these videos, it’s hard to further investigate. Even the people who were personally there in some of these videos said it really did just look like a human shadow thing.”

Well, fuck, that explains just about everything. Katsuki rewinded the footage of Gideon he just watched and easily realized that there was no way to tell how he activated the quirk. No hand gestures, he couldn’t hear anything that could possibly act as a magic word, nothing. Katsuki got to where he was without any clear triggers. He was completely lost. Fuck .

“...And how does this exactly relate to Midoriya-san?” Hitoshi interrupts.

“I’m lost, dude. What the heck is this conversation even?” Sero interrupted Katsuki’s train of thought, earning silent agreeance from the other extras Katsuki couldn’t bother acknowledging. 

“I’m all for watching videos on the weird side of youtube but… Yeah, guys, a little context goes a long way.” Denki urges, smiling awkwardly while nodding at Katsuki as if encouraging him to speak. He ignores him.

Well, none of them seem to recognize him so Katsuki must not be famous like fucking Deku is here. Even if he was just a normal citizen here like the weirdos he’s with, they still didn’t act like they knew him. Huh, I must not exist here .

“I need a place to stay.” Katsuki decided that he doesn’t want to be here for any longer so he opted to be direct to the point in conversation, outrightly ignoring the questioning looks of everyone.

“Wow, great context, bro. Really made me less confused there.” Denki laughed. Awkwardly. It had made the air in the room a lot more unbearable.

Hitoshi shook his head as if he couldn’t stand to hear more of the bullshit taking place, took Denki by the hand, and headed towards the door. “We’ll join you for lunch next time, Kiri. Have fun with that weirdo. Or hand him to the police. Whichever’s more convenient.” Kirishima bid him a light-hearted good bye.

“Wait a sec, babe!” Denki stopped for a second before completely heading out. “I’d love to talk more to you about weird shit and watch more fireworks from your palm, but it seems like my boyfriend wouldn’t want you to stay at ours.” He chuckles. “But, Kiri, your parents around around, right? It’d be so cool if we could be temporary neighbors!” As soon as Denki stopped talking, Hitoshi yanked him and they both headed out.

Huh, so he and Hitoshi are a couple here. Nice .

“Does it have to be him? Sero, can’t I be at your house?” Since Icy-Hot's still somehow simping for the damn nerd even here, and Shitty Hair is a practical stranger, Sero's basically the only option now.

"Uhh, sorry, man. As much as I'd like to accommodate ya, my cousins are staying over for the meantime in my apartment. And it's teensy , so…" Katsuki vaguely remembers the man talking about his humongous family, and just the thought of putting up with that— Katsuki would rather eat shit. He groans, rubbing at his temples in an attempt to relieve some stress.

"Where did you even come from? Why don't you find a hotel or something?" Todoroki bluntly asked, not even offering his home, that asshole.

"I don't have money. What currency do you even use here?" The group side-eyed each other, probably thinking to themselves: 'how ignorant can this man be?'

"You speak fluent Japanese, how do you not kno--"

"S-still Yen , my guy, like it has been for a couple hundred years." Shitty Hair smiled, letting hesitancy seep through his voice.

"How'd you get here if you don't have money, dude? Your costume looks like it really cost a lot , though. Like, that is just-- good quality material." Sero emphasized, finally choosing to continue eating on his bento. Todoroki and Kirishima followed his lead.

"Come eat with me first, man. I've got a lot of extra food here." Shitty Hair urged, patting the space next to him as an invitation. "Well, I mean, I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind letting you stay over. So, as long as you're down..."

Katsuki stayed silent, weighing his options. It was hard to trust anyone. Sure, he's been acquainted with these faces for years now, but right now, they're so unfamiliar. Nobody knew him and they certainly weren't the people Katsuki spent his time with. Hell, even his brother and best friend since forever didn't recognize him. Who knows just how different these people might be from the ones he could consider his friends?

Then again, Katsuki didn't have any money. He didn't know how the world worked here. Even his cellphone couldn't pick up a signal. He was technically an alien and he would starve or freeze to death if he didn't accept anybody's offer to help. Unless he could figure out how the damned quirk worked in the next couple of minutes, he had no choice but to take a deep breath in and swallow his massive pride. Besides, it's not like anybody knew him here— he didn't have a reputation to uphold. Everything's gonna be fine .

Except, he was already an asshole before he could regret it. Fuck .

Before Katsuki could answer for himself, his stomach growled, loud. He felt his cheeks heat in embarrassment when Shitty Hair laughed as he was setting up the food on a coffee table. "Come on, pal. Let's get you filled up. Ah, or would you wanna change to some more, uh, comfortable clothes first? I think my clothes would fit you…"

"Does he not even have any extra clothes with him? Where did this man come from…" Todoroki whispered to Sero who just shrugged in response.

Katsuki felt his stomach clench again. Fuck, that single onigiri from Sero just made him want more food. He immediately sat down near the table. "I can eat like this, thanks." He grumbled under his breath, casually throwing in words of gratitude for the food served before digging in.

"Well, it must not be comfortable being stared at when you were walking outside… You know what, you do you, man! Your costume's manly as hell, for all I know." Shitty Hair beamed, practically blinding Katsuki with his smile.

"Sure," was all Katsuki could say, choosing to ignore the curiosity brewing in his stomach for this bright, bright stranger.

Apparently, Shitty Hair's shift at the firestation had ended before lunch and he only stayed behind so he could have lunch with friends. Right after they finished the food, they took the train to a place Katsuki recognized as his own neighborhood.

Katsuki took the train ride as an opportunity to look at the surroundings and compare it to what he was accustomed to. Not much has changed, but what's noticeable was that there was no sign of pro-heroes anywhere. Instead, the advertisements' only focus were on what Katsuki assumed to be idols and celebrities. The more Katsuki saw, the more evident it was that not one person with a mutan-type quirk, or any type of quirk really, was to be seen. Everyone looked pretty normal and similar, as if he was taken back in time to when quirks didn't exist in society.

There were a million questions running in Katsuki's head, but he decided to save them for later instead of talking to the stranger beside him. A simple google search would suffice, anyway. He'd bothered people with his foreignness already, and it made him look like a weird loser living in his own dreamland— he wasn't about to make it worse. All Katsuki knew was he didn't belong here, and the more he stayed, the more clear that'd be for the people around him.

After a small walk from the train station, they arrived at a very familiar apartment complex. It made sense that they went here, considering Denki lived next to him and his brother in Katsuki's world. The only thing that confused him was Shitty Hair opening the door to Katsuki's apartment.

"You live here?" Shitty Hair smiled and nodded even if the answer was already pretty obvious. Katsuki looked around and saw nothing familiar except from the floor plan. Everything, from the walls to the furniture, was different here— it felt lighter. The place was designed artistically and somehow feminine, the complete opposite of what you'd expect a big buff guy would live in.

"Ah, my mom's an artist. She's kind of a design freak so she went all out when we got the place." Shitty Hair explained, leading Katsuki to the living room and cleaning up as he went. "Sorry man, they've been out of town for a while so I was all alone here. Didn't really expect visitors soon."

"S'fine. Sorry for intruding." Katsuki mumbled. He took off some of his gear to get some weight off of him. Everything that's happened was incredibly exhausting his social battery, and it was only around 1 P.M. That damn villain made too much ruckus too early. He really needed a long hot shower. Maybe a nap would be good, though it might be a little too risky considering he didn't have any idea about this quirk or this world.

Fuck, that stupid fucking quirk. They should've asked what it was all about before making All-For-One get it. Fucking hell.

Katsuki then quickly realized that that would defeat the purpose of actually prioritizing getting the quirk, since the villain could actually disappear even before they could realize it. He groans.

"Hey, I'm headed for a nap. I've actually been up all night for my shift so, is there anything I can help you with before I snooze off?" Shitty Hair, now in loungewear, appeared and momentarily distracted Katsuki from his train of thought.

"Can I shower? And... I need a gadget of some kind. Mine's acting up." Katsuki noticed they pretty much used the same phones and tablets here, but he couldn't be too sure. There's still so much he didn't know.

"Sure, man! Let me just get some clothes you can borrow. Also, help yourself with the pantry!" He yawned, quickly disappearing to what Katsuki knew as Hitoshi's room in his world.

The hot bath did a lot to ease some of the tension in Katsuki's shoulders. A lot of the grease and dirt he got from the mission earlier was washed away and it left him feeling much more refreshed. Katsuki sighed. This was as close as he was gonna get to a restart for the day.

Once he got out of the shower, he passed by Shitty Hair's room. It had a board hanging on the door that said 'knock if you need anything! ' with a big smiley face. Tch, is he a kid? 

Katsuki went back to the couch to see an open laptop left for him to use. Though it seemed like it used more advanced technology, it looked pretty similar to the ones he's familiar with so there wasn't anything he really had to figure out. He quickly typed in his name in the search bar and found nothing relevant. Not even social media accounts, nothing. He looked for relatives from his biological family but nothing related to his life came up. In fact, there wasn't anything noteworthy about his biological parents, and that's weird on its own.

The next thing he searched for was All Might and Deku. Surely, they really were some of the biggest stars of Japan. They had taken part in so many award-winning films and shows that were acknowledged worldwide. All Might's mentorship to the nerd continued even in this world.

Where the fuck am I in this place?

He looked up some more of the people he knew back home and they all had something on the internet. Granted, some of them weren't as famous as they were as pro-heroes, but their existence had evidence , mostly in some form of social media. Apparently, Denki was an internet personality here and was slowly getting his acting career started. Hitoshi was an indie singer-songwriter that had a couple of acting gigs as well. Their Dad was a manager in show business while Papa was a DJ that had a podcast (not really far from what he did back home.)

Katsuki was getting frustrated. He soon fell into a spiral, looking into the lives these people lived here. Grasping at any kind of detail displayed on the internet, trying to find if, even once, they've mentioned knowing him. It felt bad— knowing everyone he knew was going on with their lives without his existence. Here, the only people he cared about didn't know who he was, didn't have any space in their life for some kind of Bakugou Katsuki. He wasn't here, and they were fine with that.

He knew it was slowly getting to him. Those thoughts and voices that he tried his best to keep out were resurfacing. It was probably for the best that he took a break from using the internet and attempt to get just a bit of sleep on the couch but he couldn't. The thoughts were suddenly paralyzing him and he felt a jolt of panic rush through his heart.

Fuck, I'm here again and there's nobody here to help me. Denki isn't next door and Hitoshi's not in this apartment and I couldn't possibly call Dad or Pa because my phone isn't fucking working and I'm stuck here because I don't know how to fucking use this goddamn quirk and--

Hands firmly grabbed his shoulders and suddenly, Katsuki's being was shaken back to the present. He looked around and saw that he was still in the living room, the apartment was still pretty quiet, and he was here . He took a deep breath, relaxed his jaw and knuckles, and tried his best to relax.

"Hey, you haven't gotten up at all? It's been hours, man. What do you want for dinner?" Shitty Hair, in all his shitty bed hair glory, yawned. He didn't seem to notice Katsuki's panic attack. Good .

"Are you craving for something? Take a look at these, you can pick something we can order." He handed Katsuki a phone and Katsuki just stared at it before walking away and towards the kitchen.

"I'm cooking dinner."

"W-what?! No way, dude. You're the guest, I should be the one doing that!" Katsuki didn't mind him. Looking at their kitchen and pantry, it was obvious that someone in the house loved to cook. They didn't seem to lack in groceries and Katsuki was free to do anything he wanted. He picked up some ingredients and started prepping.

"Could you at least let me help you chop up those vegetables, man?" Katsuki felt himself smirk. He had to double-check if the kitchen utensils were clean because they seemed to have had dust on them. And when he opened the trash bin to throw something, instant food and takeout packagings were the only things to be seen. That can only mean one thing.

"You've just been eating non-stop takeout since you've been left alone here, huh." He handed the knife over, pointing at the parts he's already cut. "Just copy that."

"Not true! Denki invites me over sometime, and they're both great cooks!" Katsuki secretly rolled his eyes, fond. The Denki he knew couldn't cook if his life depended on it.

"And how long has it been since something was cooked in here?" 

"Three weeks…" 

Katsuki stilled for a bit. "That's some time."

"Yeah, but they deserve the break. It's for their wedding anniversary."

For a while, no one spoke, only the sound of chopping and the stove was heard. Katsuki hesitated to ask, but curiosity got the best of him. Besides, it seemed like Shitty Hair was itching to have some kind of conversation.

"Do you know anything about Hito-- uh, Shinsou's parents?" Shitty Hair tilted his head at him, questioning.

"Were you gonna say Hitoshi? Pretty sure his last name's Yamada." As soon as he heard that, Katsuki was shaken. He took on Pa's surname. So he was still adopted here.

Before Katsuki could even ask for more details, the door opened and Denki's voice filled the apartment.

"Ei-chaaan!" He called out, before he appeared in sleepwear. "Oh you're awake! Hi, Bakugou! So you are staying here! I was hoping you would."

Katsuki looked at him for a second before turning away and continued working on his dish. He had to remind himself that this Denki was not the one he grew up with, therefore this Denki wouldn’t understand that he’s just the way he is, and for some reason, being misunderstood was suddenly a big fucking deal in this world. Jesus, fuck. No, maybe I’m just tired . It won’t matter anyway, I’d be sure to go home before I have to spend another day here.

“Hey Denks! Have you and Hitoshi eaten? We were just cooking dinner if you wanna join us.”

“Yeah, we ate before going home. He’s tired as hell so he’s already in bed. I couldn’t fall asleep because of Mr. Explosion Boy over here!” Denki suddenly stood really close to Katsuki with this look of excitement in his face. Katsuki would’ve already teared up at seeing that kind of expression on his poor childhood friend’s face if he wasn’t painfully aware that this man was just- not his poor childhood friend. God, I need to pull myself together . “So, what have you guys been up to?”

“Oh, actually he was just asking about Hitoshi’s parents- I think?” Shitty Hair hesitated, slightly tilting his head at Katsuki. “Or not. ‘Cause you said ‘Shinsou’, I don’t really know a Shinsou.”

“Wait what? D-did you say ‘Shinsou’? How--” The confused look on their faces back at the firestation came back again. God, this was why Katsuki tried his best to keep his curiosity to himself. Now, he had to answer a bunch of questions.

“Why, who’s Shinsou?”

“That’s uh, well, I guess Hitoshi wouldn’t mind telling you in particular but, that was his surname before…”

“Woah what?! Bakugou, how long exactly have you known him?”

Katsuki sighed, “I don’t know him. I just happened to be aware of that.”

“I call bullshit. You even told him you were his brother earlier.” Denki had an accusing look now, and it seemed like this conversation wasn’t going to end as soon as Katsuki would like it to.

“Holy shit, Denks.” Shitty Hair and Denki looked at each other at the same time, realization hitting them.

“Oh my god, dude! Are you actually Hitoshi’s long lost brother?! Oh lord, he’s never told me about this. How dare he!” Denki stormed off, looking like he was about to wake his innocent boyfriend up. Katsuki mentally face-palmed.

“He’s-- I'm not- we're not brothers. Don’t disturb his sleep. I really don’t fucking know him, alright?” He was seriously about to explode and his brain is itching to have a fucking tantrum so he was trying his best to stay calm just to preserve energy. He still had to have brain power in order to figure out the quirk but these idiots were making him lose it. “Can you just- not mind me and let me continue cooking? Fucking please?”

“Not mind you?! How could we not mind --” Denki took a deep breath before his voice could raise. He suddenly had his serious face on and his movements became stiff and formal. “Mr. Kirishima, something fishy is going on here, and we are getting to the bottom of it.”

“Denks, I think we should just--”

“No. Mr. Kirishima, bring out the lie detector .” Denki had this faux sinister look on his face and Kirishima just sighed before heading out the kitchen, knowing if he won’t get it, Denki would surely do so himself.

Katsuki groaned. “This is ridiculous. I’m literally in the middle of cooking!”

“Just turn it off for a minute, sir. We have to follow these procedures.” Denki nodded to himself while heading to the dining table. “If you don’t, we have literally every single reason to suspect you of danger.”

“Jesus Christ, I’ve been in this apartment for literal hours and I haven’t done a single thing that could danger you.” Katsuki pointed out.

“Well, maybe not here, but you set off an explosion at the firestation! Don’t do that again, by the way, Eijirou’s fire alarm might go off. Plus! You know about Hitoshi’s past! And he barely talks about it!”

“Well, what if I just guessed?!”

“That's too accurate of a guess! I can see you lying through your teeth!”

“What are you, a fucking psychic?!”

“No! But your ears are turning red! That must mean you’re lying!”

“Fucking-- no, Denki! I’m pale as fuck, of course my skin’s gonna turn red when I’m fucking angry!”

“What?! No, that’s actually a good point.” Denki paused and took a minute to think of another excuse. “Well, you don’t have anywhere else to go, right?! Then, I’ll kick you out of here!” He looked smug, finally finding the perfect excuse.

“God, alright! Fucking ask away!” Katsuki begrudgingly took a seat and waited for Shitty Hair to come back with that lie detecting piece of crap.

“Yes! The interrogation of my dreams! You haven’t seen it yet, Eijibro?!” Denki called out.

"Yeah, no, wait a sec! I swear it was just here somewhere."

Katsuki sighed and after a full three minutes of Shitty Hair still not finding the lie detector, he snapped. "Look, I'm not a fucking liar. You don't need that piece of crap. I hate lying, so just- fucking- ask, please. So we can get this shit over with."

"Nah, man. This is my one-time chance to interrogate someone like this. Just let me have this." Denki insisted.

God, who knew Denki could be so fucking annoying? Katsuki gruffed to himself, impatient.

"What did you just say?!"

Must've said it out loud . "Nothing. Fuck."

"No- no, man. You said that like you knew me. Do you know me? Are you really actually some kind of patient stalker who haven’t hurt us because you’re waiting to strike once you’ve gained our trust?" Denki looked positively terrified now, as if only realizing that Katsuki could actually be a dangerous man.

"No, bastard. I wouldn't be here if I had a fucking choice, okay? I'd really rather not bother you shits." Katsuki pinched his nose. That damn lie detector was taking too long.

"Found it! I found it." Shitty Hair excitedly put down a cheap piece of plastic that did not look trustworthy at all. It might've just been a child's play thing for all Katsuki knew.

"Are you even sure this thing works?" They both nodded as Denki took Katsuki's hand to strap it down to the lie detector.

"Of course! We play with this all the time, dude. Okay, let's just double check. Tell us a truth-- is your name Bakugou Katsuki?"

"Yeah." The machine whirred weirdly before making a pleasant ding! sound.

"Now tell us a lie."

"This place is designed shittily." A sudden shock went through Katsuki's nerves from the hand that was strapped down. "Fuck! What the fuck?!"

"Yeah, that's what happens if you lie. So you know better now, pal." Shitty Hair chuckled apologetically.

"We will now start with the interrogation." Denki's fake formality came back. "Mr. Kirishima, the lights please."

Shitty Hair nodded firmly and suddenly all of the lights were out except for the one directly above the dinner table. Katsuki sighed. "You're really having fun with this, huh."

"The absolute time of my life, man. Thank you." Denki whispered, breaking the formality only to snap back into it again. Shitty Hair only snickered, letting Denki take the lead with his agenda.

"So tell us, Mr. Bakugou, what were you doing in the room Mr. Kirishima found you in?"

"I was there for a questioning." Denki raised an eyebrow while he clicked on the lie detector. Ding!

"Were you the one that was supposed to be questioned?" 

"No." Ding!

"Are you in the police department, then?"

"No." Ding! Katsuki was getting agitated, this was going too slow . "Can't this bullshit go any quicker? I still need to finish cooking."

"Well, if you'd just elaborate on your answers…" Shitty Hair trailed off. Katsuki rolled his eyes, "fine! Fucking- just go on."

"Alright, we weren't going anywhere there so let's ask something else. Where are you from?"

"Somewhere really fucking far." Katsuki clicked the lie detector on his own. Ding!

"I'm afraid that's too vague, please give us a specific place."

Katsuki sighed before answering, "I live around this neighborhood." Ding!

"Huh, but you stated earlier that you didn't have a place to go to. Why don't you go home?"

"I don't know, got lost, I guess." Bzzt! Fuck, that shock didn't hurt, but it still triggered panic in his brain.

"Please tell us the truth, sir. We need your full cooperation with this." Denki nodded to himself, proud of his act.

Fuck it, they're not gonna let this go. It doesn't matter, it won't matter once I go back. This is just a one time thing anyway , so fuck it .

"I can't go home because I don't know how. There are things I can't fucking control right now and even if I went there right now, it still won't be the place that I actually live in. Nothing I can think of right now can help me go home, which is why I needed a place to stay for the night- to figure shit out." Ding!

Denki nodded before he hummed. Shitty Hair on the other hand just looked pure confused. "Uh, are you dealing with any mental problems that's… How do I say it, um- related to your situation right now?"

Katsuki thought about that for a quick second. Is there a possibility that he was just dissociated this entire time? Or some other bullshit his brain was making him go through again? Katsuki shook his head. No, he was fully aware and in the moment when he was cooking and talking to Shitty Hair. This was real . He'd already gone through so many events in one day that made him come to the conclusion that this wasn't a hallucination. So he finally answered, "no, nothing related to this."

"Okay, Mr. Bakugou, you said you also needed time to figure out your situation right now so let's move on from that. How do you know about Hitoshi's former surname?"

Fuck, now there was no getting away. "I- we- uh.. Fuck." Katsuki stuttered. "We knew each other before he got adopted." Ding! 

"That can't be right. He got adopted at three years old, you remember him at that time? How old are you exactly?" Denki was slowly losing his formal demeanor and at this point, Shitty Hair was the one in charge of activating the lie detector.

"I'm just older than him by a few months." Ding!

"Huh? You even know his birthday? No, you can actually google that. But still, do you really remember your friends when you were a toddler ?!"

"No. He and I met in high school." Ding! Katsuki sighed, deciding to give in and just answer as honestly and precisely as he could. He knew the things he was saying were confusing but he wasn't about to go and dump the whole quirk accident idea on them. They'll probably catch up soon enough.

"W-what? But that doesn't make any sense, he's went with Yamada ever since. Also, we've been friends since high school and we knew all of Hitoshi's other friends 'cause he doesn't make a lot of 'em! Seriously, dude, this is kinda weirding me out.” Shitty Hair moved to face Denki. “Can you wake Hitoshi up?"

"Y-yeah Eiji, let me just ring his phone up." Denki kept his eyes curiously at Katsuki while trying to wake his boyfriend up through the phone.

"O-okay, so if you knew Toshi in high school, do you know anyone else? Did you really know Denks back then too? Did you know me ?"

"I knew Denki way before high school, but yeah, I knew Todoroki and Sero too. But not you." Ding!

"That- that doesn't make any sense. I was always with them since high school! I was basically glued to them, how could you not know me when you knew all of them?"

"I really don't know, Shitty Hair. I haven't thought about it too much." Ding!

"How's that even possible…" Before Katsuki could answer, Denki was opening the door for Hitoshi.

"What's so damn important that I just had to be waken up?" Well, nothing changed there , he's still as grumpy after waking up.

"Hey, sorry, man. Bakugou- he knows about your former surname… I didn't even know about it!" At Shitty Hair's exclaim, Hitoshi's expression shifted.

"What- how- who the hell are you, bastard?" The grumpiness in Hitoshi's voice became much more prominent, cautious, but ready to bark if needed.

Katsuki shrugged. "The one and only Bakugou fucking Katsuki." Literally , apparently, since he didn't have a counterpart here.

"Did you really mean it when you said you'd rather not be here, man? You don't mean trouble, seriously?" Shitty Hair tried to cut down the tension Hitoshi brought with his intense demeanor.

"Yes, more than anything. I would rather be at home, sleeping incredibly soundly, than having to deal with you losers," Katsuki grumbled. Ding!

"Babe, I really don't think he means trouble… Can we hear him out?" Denki soothed his boyfriend. Being woken up to a potential threat of danger wasn’t really the best way to wake up so he kept the glare at Katsuki.

"Okay, where the hell are you from?"

"We already asked him tha--"

"I'm a fucking alien, alright?" At first, Shitty Hair hesitated on activating the lie detector so Denki proceeded to it. When the machine made the ding! sound, the two of them had their mouths agape.

"That's bullshit. Denki, I already told you that toy isn't accurate."

"No, Hitoshi. You don't understand, I don't think he's really the type to lie. Look at him! He just wants this to be over so he can cook dinner again!"

"Damn right, bastard."

"See!"

"So… uh, what-- wow he's an alien? There's an alien in our apartment, holy shit . Are you serious , dude?"

"No- for fuck’s sake- I meant alien like foreign . I’m still human, I’m just- I don’t belong here .” Katsuki groaned, not sure how to explain his identity without seeming like a nutjob. “You’re all seeing this, right?” He made sparks fly from his palms. When they nodded, he continued. “This isn’t normal here, in the world you’re living in, right? Well, to me it is. Almost everyone I know has something like this.” Ding!

“This is- what- are you for real?” Hitoshi seemed speechless, like he was trying his best not to believe Katsuki. Denki and Shitty Hair, on the other hand, were still processing things. Katsuki could practically see the gears turning in their heads.

“I couldn’t be more serious.”

“Wait-- so, you’re from like, another dimension or something?” Denki asked, deep in thought.

“I’m still trying to figure it out, but it’s probably something more like a parallel universe or some bullshit. From the things I’ve searched earlier, I saw a lot of parallels between this world and mine’s— shit like Deku being a big shot actor here or something, well, bastard’s pretty huge back where I’m from too.” Ding! “Do I still really need to be strapped to this piece of garbage? I’ve been fucking honest enough!”

“It’s way more fun this way, dude.” Katsuki just rolled his eyes when Denki continued. “Wait, so, is that how you know us? Wait! So you and Hitoshi are actual brothers in another world?!”

“Uh-huh. And he’s fucking head over heels for you even there.” Ding! At that, Denki throws himself at Hitoshi and fake-sobs.

“Hitoshi baby, that’s the sweetest, most romantic thing ever! You still love me in another world!” Denki cooed while Hitoshi just sighed fondly. “You better not be fucking joking about this. How do we know that this isn’t some kind of elaborate prank?” 

“Well, first off, I know really personal things about you- I mean, your counterparts- that you might or might not find true. Whatever. Also, what the fuck, I have fucking photos on my phone. How the fuck could I forget about that.” Katsuki internally slapped himself as he tapped at his phone to show pictures of the three of them. The first one was a photo of the three of them at UA, holding their licenses. The next one was a photo of him and Hitoshi when they first adopted their cats. The last one was an old and low-quality photo of him and Denki as kids, playing with toy guns at a park. Katsuki’s gallery wasn’t filled to the brim with pictures, so as much as he’d like to only show unimportant ones, he couldn’t. The only pictures he didn’t delete were nostalgic and were pretty much highlights of his life. It was embarrassing, but he didn’t show that.

“So?” Katsuki prompted. “Can I fucking cook now?”

“Wait, holy shit, is that why you asked me earlier about losing a birthmark or something? You- you’re actually not joking, holy shit. You came from a parallel universe! Parallel universes are real! Holy shit! And I have a cool ass birthmark on my hair there!” Denki was positively losing his shit.

“Wow, that- that gave me intense déjà vu… That’s--” Hitoshi was speechless. “I, uh, um- so you’re really my brother?”

“In my world, yeah. You got adopted before me, though, so…” Katsuki shrugged. “Ugh, can I cook now ?”

“Yeah! But can we ask more questions?” Denki followed Katsuki to the kitchen as soon as he removed his hand from the lie detector. He stopped him.

“I don’t like being interrupted in the kitchen.” Katsuki groaned, blaming himself for signing up for this situation. “Write down your fuckin’ questions. ‘M gonna answer them at dinner.” Denki cheered while going back to the living room, leading his boyfriend there with him who still looked pretty dazed. Shitty Hair was about to step into the kitchen before Katsuki stopped him too.

“No, stay there with your idiots. Just let me cook in peace, a’right? Don’t worry, I’m not gonna burn shit down.” Shitty Hair looked dazed as well when he nodded before slowly walking away.

Katsuki could practically hear them talking and coming up with more questions but he tried his best to ignore it. As soon as he was left alone, he could feel more tiredness seeping through his bones. His body clock was telling him that it was nearly time for sleep and that made him much grumpier than usual— there was just so much more shit to do. He still had to eat and answer more of those idiots’ questions and then after that, he still had to figure out how to activate the quirk to go back home. Just thinking about it left him much more exhausted than he should be. The only thing stopping his mind from spiralling down to getting overwhelmed was the fact that he needed to focus on cooking. After a little while, the food was ready and he had to face those extras again.

“Wow, man, this smells great. Thanks for cooking!” Shitty Hair exclaimed before diving in. “Oh! It’s sooo good too! Are you some kind of Michelin chef from where you’re at?” Hitoshi and Denki gave hums of agreement, eating a little despite having already finished dinner.

“No, I just like cooking.” Shitty Hair looked amazed before nodding and going back to silently gobble his food, leaving room for Denki and Hitoshi’s questions.

“So… You mentioned something earlier, uh, about the explosions from your hands— you said it was normal there. Does that mean we can explode things too? In your world?” Ugh, ‘course they would ask something like that .

“No, they’re called quirks and you’ve both got different ones. You,” he gestured to Denki, “have an electrification quirk. Basically, you can generate electricity from your body. While you,” he gestured to Hitoshi. “Have a brainwashing quirk. It activates when the person you want to control verbally responds to something you say.” At that, the couple's jaws drop.

"That's so fucking cooool! Is that why I've got that birthmark on my hair?! Oh my god, and babe, yours is so cool too!"

"Wait, so like, mine is mind control or something?"

"Mm, you can make someone do everything you say, technically."

"Holy shit."

"What about Eijirou's?" Denki asked, eager. Katsuki only shrugged. He tried to rack his brain for someone named Kirishima, but there really wasn't anything there considering he didn't care for extras.

"Um, okay, well, how'd you think you got here? And can we go there ?" Denki quickly changed the subject, noticing Kirishima being a little disappointed he couldn't hear anything about his life in Katsuki’s universe.

"Dunno. 'M still figuring it out, but it might be a quirk accident of some sort." They looked amazed at all the possibilities their minds could think of about quirks and parallel universes, questions waiting to be said in the back of their tongues. Katsuki tried his best not to smile. This was actually very amusing.

They didn’t notice how long they’ve been asking questions when their plates became empty and Katsuki yawned. He jerked, not meaning to become that sleepy already. He still had to brainstorm any possible triggers for the quirk so he could work on going home. He shouldn’t sleep. He probably needed to make some coffe--

“Ah, maybe we can continue the questions tomorrow, guys. Bakugou looks a little tired already.” Shitty Hair suggested, starting to clean up the dinner table. Hitoshi nodded, having yawned himself from his disturbed sleep.

"I don't look tired, Shitty Hair!" Katsuki snapped, glaring. The couple laughed while Shitty Hair only sent him a look that said 'why are you trying to deny it?'

Katsuki rolled his eyes, silently looking for some reflective surface. When he did, he saw that the circles on his eyes looked more dark and prominent than usual. He huffed in annoyance.

“Wait wait, I just have one last question I missed!” Denki whined before turning to Katsuki who raised an eyebrow, signaling 'go on '.

“Sooo, if we could go there, that means we can meet ourselves, right?” When Katsuki shrugged, he continued. “That means, there’s a possibility you could meet yourself here, too! Oh my god, dude, should we hide you or something? Will that break the balance of the universe?”

“Denki, you spend too much time reading conspiracy theories. Come on, now.” Hitoshi urged his boyfriend to leave.

“Possibly, but I don’t think I exist here.” Katsuki huffed, ready to end the conversation there. He saw Denki’s excited expression drop for a second, only for it to come back right away.

“I don’t think so, dude! I told you earlier that your name sounded really familiar.” As Shitty Hair walked them out, Denki beamed at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure out where I found you and then we’ll befriend you! For more parallels!”

Katsuki prevented himself from smiling despite the warmth spreading to his bones. Glad to know he’ll still want to be friends with me in another life . “Sure, idiot.”

“Goodnight, Bakugou,” Hitoshi nodded at him, his previous sourness nowhere to be found. “Ei, come by for dinner tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay! Rest well, guys!" Shitty Hair smiled before the couple closed the door behind them. He faced Katsuki. "I'll go wash the dishes. Do you like tea?"

Katsuki hummed to the invitation, tired from spending hours with a Denki that seemed more electric than the one with the actual quirk. He headed back to the couch, facing the laptop he borrowed. The video Icy-Hot showed earlier was pretty easy to find and it came along with other recommendations of videos that talked about the same incidents. Despite watching and scrutinizing every single detail of every video he could find, Katsuki still didn’t have a lead for a trigger. Whatever it was, it must’ve been easy to do behind the shadow veil the villain used. Either that, or the trigger was something psychological. It could be fucking anything . Katsuki let out an inhuman sound while pulling his hair in frustration.

“You good, man?” Shitty Hair sat beside him, looking at the screen as he put two cups of tea down. “What’ya doing?”

“Looking for a way to go home. I can’t stay long here.” Katsuki took a sip of the tea and it immediately relaxed a part of him. He sighed.

“Why? You a workaholic man? I think your boss would understand if this was, uh, a quirk accident, right?” Katsuki smirked though a yawn ruined it. God, he really needed to sleep.

“Yeah, it’s their fault anyways. I just can’t afford to suddenly leave my world; too many people count on me for shit.” Surely, Denki could handle their agency and there are a lot of competent pro-heroes this year. Which was all the more reason Katsuki shouldn’t be away unless it was a really needed break— to make sure that no matter how great the others are, he’ll still come on top. 

He tried to take that train of thought as motivation to stay up and attempt to go home for as many times as it takes tonight, but his eyes were getting heavy and several yawns were wanting to break out of him. Katsuki heard a chuckle from beside him and he glared. “What’re you laughin’ at, bastard?”

“Well, since there are a lot of people counting on you, you should probably also take care of yourself, right? Come on, man. I’ve already got the guest bedroom ready for you.” Shitty Hair stood up, waiting for Katsuki to follow his lead. Katsuki was suddenly reminded of the very reason he couldn’t take a nap earlier so he hesitated.

“Wait… Fuck.” Katsuki cursed his lack of proper communication skills. But really, Shitty Hair was right, he should take care of himself. This was only for precaution, it doesn’t mean shit even if the guy misunderstood him. He took a deep breath before saying, “Can I sleep in your room?”

Kirishima stiffened in confusion for a second before agreeing. “I- uh, sure! I can just place a futon. But why?”

“Don’t get it twisted, alright? I’m just worried about the quirk. I don’t know jackshit about it, who knows what can happen while I’m asleep? It’s better if I’m uh--”

Katsuki didn’t even get to finish before Shitty Hair smiled in understanding. “I get it, man! Don’t worry. Let me just get my room ready. And you should finish your tea while it’s hot, it’s gonna help you get good sleep.”

Katsuki only hummed in appreciation before his roommate for the night got out of his sight. It only took a couple of minutes before he got called to the room. Katsuki looked around and saw that this was what he expected the apartment to look like initially. The design was all over the place and every corner looked extremely personalized, not bothering to fit in with a theme. There were a few gym equipment and video games laying around because of course . Katsuki mentally took a deep breath because at least it's not a garbage dump and everything was tucked away neatly. Though, one thing that really catched Katsuki's eyes was this space dedicated to picture frames of people Katsuki knew— everyone from the people he's met today to people like Mina and Jirou, and some extras who vaguely looked like Tokoyami and Shoji if they didn't have their quirks. Hell, this guy even had pictures with Katsuki’s seniors from UA. There were too many familiar faces than Katsuki was comfortable with seeing in a stranger's house. They all seemed really close with Shitty Hair too.

Before Katsuki could really look into each picture, Shitty Hair jumped into bed and told him to turn the lights off once he was going to sleep. It would be rude to keep the lights open when someone was trying to sleep, so despite Katsuki's desire to snoop and learn about all these other lives that he normally wouldn't think about, he turned the lights off and snuggled into his futon for the night.

Much to Katsuki's dismay, the curiosity brewing inside of him drove away all the need for sleep he felt. He tried to wait it out for a couple of minutes to see if his brain could get tired, but it was to no avail. The heaviness in his eyes had already lifted by this time and there wasn't a single yawn wanting to get out of his system. He knew he had to satisfy his brain with some kind of answer.

Katsuki waited a couple of minutes before shuffling and checking if Kirishima was already asleep. The man was turned away from him, but his breathing seemed to be even enough to assume that he was off to dreamland. Katsuki waited for a couple more minutes just to be sure before sitting up and unlocking his phone to have his screen be a faint source of light. Luckily, his futon was aligned with the drawer and wall adorned with the memorabilia he wanted to check out, so he didn’t need to tip-toe to walk anywhere. Katsuki looked at the nearest picture frame and immediately figured it was taken in high school. It was a picture of Hitoshi, Denki, and Shitty Hair in uniform, taken during sunset by the beach. Beside that and a picture of Shitty Hair being hugged by two mature-looking women was a picture of him and Mina. They looked much younger so it seemed that they've been friends for an incredible amount of time. Behind the frame, a smiling Tamaki, the current Top 4 hero, peeked. Katsuki attempted to get his screen closer to it for a better look but one wrong move made him drop his phone and knock a couple of frames down.

Katsuki felt movement from the bed beside as he muttered a curse under his breath. He stood up to fix the mess more carefully and quietly but stilled when Shitty Hair spoke. "Can't sleep?"

Katsuki looked at him and saw that he didn't look like he got woken up by the sudden noise. Katsuki only huffed instead of properly replying before looking at the picture frame that had Tamaki in it. They were both in formalwear and were holding up trophies.

"Oh, were you looking at those? We can open the lights if you wanna, man. I can't sleep either, it's not really everyday you let someone from a parallel universe sleep in your apartment." Shitty Hair smiled, talkative as he wiggled to the edge of his bed. "Do you know him? Amajiki?"

"I know nearly everybody here." At Katsuki's reply, Shitty Hair perks up, immediately getting close to look at the photos as well.

"Oh my god, really?! What are they like there, man?"

Katsuki gestured at Tamaki before finally putting the frame down. "He's one of the highest-ranking heroes in Japan. Cool-ass fucking quirk." He pointed at all his previous classmates and said that they, too, were well-known and well-respected heroes.

"Denki too, he's with me in the top 10. Actually, quite literally everyone here that's around your age, we're all pro-heroes." He breathed out and spared a glance at Shitty Hair only for him to see that the guy had his jaw dropped. Katsuki furrowed his eyebrows as if to ask 'what ?'

"YOU GUYS ARE HEROES THERE?!" Oh, right . Denki must've forgotten to ask what their counterparts did for work. Katsuki smirked.

"Yeah, s'why I all met them in high school. We went to one of the best hero academies in Japan. Trained together and all that shit."

At that, Shitty Hair immediately moves to turn a lamp on so they can see each other much clearer. Katsuki had to adjust his eyes a little before an eager-looking Kirishima stood in front of him and said, "You've gotta tell me all about it, man! That's so freakin' manly!" 

Katsuki suggested they sit down and he let Kirishima ask all the questions he had about heroes. Most of it were about general things like how their quirks and job worked, how famous his friends were, and what it's like to work with them. Shitty Hair looked like a kid finding out superheroes were real. It was honestly refreshing to be reminded that quirks and heroes are fucking cool instead of it just being what they are in Katsuki's mind.

"So who exactly are your friends there?" Kirishima yawned, gesturing to the photos. He layed back down on his bed. "I mean, besides the ones you've already met here earlier."

Yawns truly are contagious because Katsuki started to feel the need for sleep come back as he yawned. Apparently, one last conversation was what he needed to really drain out his battery. He went back to partially being snuggled in his futon.

"I'm not fuckin' friends with Todoroki." Katsuki made sure he got that point across. "I am more familiar with Sero, Jirou, and Mina— how long've you been friends?" 

"Mina? Since middle school, man! Well, it was towards the end of it, but still. Most of them I met during or after high school."

"... How are they?" Katsuki hesitated, not entirely sure why he was curious but went for it anyway.

"They're doing good, man! You already know Sero and I have the same job, and well, Denki and Hitoshi told you theirs earlier, but Mina's a make up artist! She's amazing, man. She gets to know all these celebrities and idols. Jirou's pretty famous too! She just got signed by a record label last month and it's been going great! It's honestly so great that they're friends with me ." Shitty Hair rambled, sighing in amazement. There's something different in the way he said it but Katsuki couldn't be bothered with overthinking about it right now. All he was really curious about was if these people were doing fine, even in another life. And he'd been satisfied with the answer.

"Isn't it kinda weird though, man? Your friends are my friends too! And that's so cool, but since it's a parallel universe, shouldn't that mean you should also know me? Like, I'm pretty sure I'd still be friends with them in a parallel universe, and since my friends are your friends, I should've been friends with you too!" At this point, Katsuki's brain was begging for sleep and all his ears could properly hear was friends, friends, friends .

His brain registered the words, though barely, and agreed. It was weird. Katsuki has never felt like he had someone missing from his life. But he also knew he was supposed to meet Kirishima, that's for sure. The only people Katsuki cherished seemed to cherish and have made a strong bond with this stranger. Hell, Shitty Hair even lived in the same apartment Katsuki did. So why?

Why was Kirishima missing from Katsuki's life?

With that last, silent question, Katsuki drifted off and quietly prayed for no nightmares nor accidental quirk activations for that night. He could vaguely remember wishing he could still wake up in this universe for the next morning despite not having any clear reason for it.