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The last thing Katsuki remembers is chasing a villain through the cold, winter streets of Musutafu with Deku right behind him. One moment he’d been lunging forward to tackle the bastard and the next he was sitting up from a pile of snow, disoriented and a little nauseous. Something definitely feels off and as he glances around himself the villain is nowhere to be found. Deku is next to him, covered in snow and grimacing as if he too feels the topsy-turvy feeling.
“What the fuck,” Katsuki grumbles, staggering to his feet as he searches for a trail the villain may have left behind. He doesn’t find one, though. Just takes in the familiar sight of a park decorated for the holiday season, with a thick layer of snow covering everything in sight. He knows where he is but he’s not sure how he got here. Sure he was in Musutafu before but not here, not at the park right by his childhood home. What was going on?
“Come on, Deku! Keep up!”
Katsuki freezes, eyes growing wide. That wasn't him but he knows that voice. How the…?
“Coming, Kacchan!” An equally young voice replies some distance away. As Katsuki squints ahead he can see two little bundled coats waddling through the snow towards the swings, wild green curls unmistakeable even beneath an obnoxious All Might beanie.
“No fucking way,” he breathes, shell shcoked as he watches himself —his child self– stomp through the snow with mini-Deku trailing diligently behind him. He can vaguely recall this memory from his childhood. Remembers knocking on the Midoriyas’ door to see if Deku could come out to play in the snow with him. Can recall how blinding Deku’s smile had been when Auntie Inko had said yes. He remembers the day with surprising clarity given how old the memory is.
It isn’t until he sees his younger self fall and faceplant into the snow that he remembers why.
He doesn’t even think about it, his body moving before he can question the action. He’s not quite fast enough, unfortunately. He can see Little Izuku reach out a hand to Little Katsuki and can almost hear his worried voice asking ‘Kacchan, are you okay? Can you get up?’. He watches, running through the stupid fucking snow, as he sees his younger self staring at the offered hand. He’s regretted this moment for half of his life at this point, if he can stop it in any way he’s going to. So just as he sees Little Katsuki’s eyes narrow in anger, he dives in and picks Little Izuku up in his arms.
It’s safe to say all parties are a little shocked for a moment. Up until this point Katsuki had been acting purely on instinct and now that he’s intervened he’s not sure what he should do next. He still isn’t sure how he got here, maybe a quirk or something? Is this actually time-travel or a dream? By interacting with their younger selves, will they be breaking some sort of time travel rules?
Fuck it. Too late now.
“Hey!” God, was his voice always so fucking annoying? Loud little shit. He turns, narrowing his eyes to glare down at Little Katsuki who has managed to climb back to his feet and is glaring just as intently at him. “Who are you! Put Deku down, you villain!”
“Shut up, kid,” Katsuki rolls his eyes, adjusting Little Izuku in his arms. “I’m not a fucking villain. I’m obviously you, dumbass.”
“Are not!” Little Katsuki yells, kicking him in the shin. Luckily Katsuki is wearing his bracers so he barely feels it or he’d have to dunk the brat’s head in snow to teach him a lesson.
“Sure am,” Katsuki replies back, turning to look over Little Izuku to make sure he’s okay. “How else would I know you still pee the bed, hah? Not even Deku knows that one.” Or, he didn’t. Oh well. He glances back to see Little Katsuki turning red as a tomato, steam practically coming out of his ears. It’s pretty entertaining but a little concerning– does he still make that face?
“Do not!” Little Katsuki argues. He’s quick to switch subjects, grabbing Katsuki’s belt and yanking on it as he demands, “give Deku back, asshole!”
Katsuki puts a palm on his younger self’s forehead and pushes him back on his ass into the snow without any hesitation. “Nah. No Deku for you until you learn how to appreciate him, little shit.”
“Kacchan,” Little Deku finally speaks up, wide green eyes meticulously studying the adult hero in front of him. “That’s not nice,” he admonishes, frowning as he looks down at his version of Kacchan, angrily climbing back out of the snow.
“Yeah well, he’s not nice, so he deserves it,” Katsuki replies back with a shrug.
“No,” Izuku shakes his head, face adorably serious. “Mama says just because someone is mean doesn’t make it okay to be mean back.”
“Yeah well Auntie doesn’t understand just how mean this little gremlin is,” Katsuki replies, reaching out again to push his younger self back into the snow the second the little shit comes at him again with sparking palms.
“Bakugou Katsuki, don’t you dare!” He hears before he can do it and they all freeze again, their attention turning to see his Izuku walking up to them. “Stop bullying your…self,” Izuku orders him firmly.
“Why?” Katsuki argues, “you know he deserves it.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Izuku shakes his head, “he’s, what? Four?”
“Five, Dumb Deku!”
“--so he hasn’t even done anything, yet. He’s just…a little hot tempered right now,” Izuku finishes with a shrug of his own.
“We both know he will deserve it in a few years so,” he reaches out and shoves his younger self back into the snow again, smirking at the muffled curses that filter up in his younger voice.
Izuku sighs, trudging forward in the snow to get to Little Kacchan himself, tugging the boy out of the snow and back on to his feet. Katsuki ignores them, instead turning to check on Little Izuku again and smiling when he finds the little boy staring in awe at his older self.
“Yeah, ‘Zuku,” he says, adjusting his little All Might beanie to better cover his cold little ears. “You’re gonna be a hero one day. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise, okay? Especially not this little asshole,” he points at his younger self who is telling Izuku how much he does not need any help.
Izuku, an absolute master at dealing with Katsuki by the age of twenty-eight, simply agrees with him but explains that it would make him feel better to dust the snow off of Kacchan because Kacchan is just so cool. Little Katsuki seems to mull this over for a moment before deciding to grant Izuku the honor of assisting him.
“Kacchan,” Little Izuku whispers, reaching out a small gloved hand to poke along Katsuki’s cheek as if to make sure he’s real. “Are you really Kacchan? Am I really gonna be a hero?”
“Sure are,” Katsuki assures him, rubbing a warm glove against the little boy’s cold, pink cheeks. The boys probably need to head home soon before it gets much colder. “You’ll be one of the best heroes in the world, kid.”
“Yeah?” Izuku’s voice sounds so hopeful. Katsuki can see little tears gathering in his eyes and it breaks his heart knowing how much more this brave boy will have to suffer before he’s the happy, successful young man behind him.
“Yeah, bud,” Katsuki leans forward to place a gentle kiss on Little Izuku’s cheek, turning it into a raspberry that sends the little boy into fits of giggles. “You’ll be number one some day, you just gotta keep believing.”
“Hey!” His younger self has apparently noticed them again and he’s none too happy about what he sees. “Stop it! Don’t touch my Deku!”
“I already told you!” Katsuki yells back, one hand on his younger self’s forehead to hold him back as he tries to take another swing at his legs. “No Deku for you until you can appreciate him, brat!”
“Fine!” Little Katsuki pulls away, small palms sparking as he turns and grabs Izuku by the wrist. Izuku could easily just stay where he is but following Kacchan, any version of him, is so deeply ingrained in who he is that he just follows the little boy over to the monkey bars. “C’mere,” Little Katsuki demands, grabbing Izuku’s hero belt and tugging until Izuku’s squats down to his level.
“Wha–”
“If you’re gonna take my Deku then I’ll steal yours!” Little Katsuki smugly shouts back at his older self, leaning forward to press a kiss to Izuku’s lips. The Symbol of Hope’s eyes widen in shock and he’s quick to pull away, bringing both hands up to his quickly warming cheeks.
“Kacchan! What are you doing?” Izuku’s flustered voice comes muffled from between his hands.
Little Katsuki just huffs and rolls his eyes, pointing at something above them. “Dumb Deku. It’s mistletoe, you have to kiss. It’s the rules.”
“...oh.” Izuku replies, face so warm he wonders if he should maybe use some snow to cool it down.
“I don’t want this Deku,” Little Katsuki decides, “this Deku is even dumber. Give me back my Deku.”
“How about you get neither, you ungrateful little shit,” Katsuki yells back at him, stomping through the snow to get to them. When he makes his way over to the monkey bars he can see his younger self gearing up for a fight, prideful and stubborn even in the face of obvious defeat. Idiot. “I swear to god, if you don’t fucking–” He freezes as a pair of small, cold lips press against his cheek for a quick second before pulling away. When he turns his head to look at the little culprit, Little Izuku is blushing just as much as his older self is, little gloved fingers pressed to his cheeks.
“K-Kacchan,” he mumbles, “it’s the rules.”
Katsuki’s brows furrow before he remembers, turning to look at the mistletoe hanging above them. “Tch,” he smiles, “so it is.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku cuts in, having mildly recovered from his own mistletoe experience. “We really shouldn’t meddle too much, we don’t know what it could do.”
Katsuki sighs, bending over to set Little Izuku on his feet again. “Yeah, I know. It’s just…hard.”
“It’ll be okay,” Izuku assures him, reaching out to take his husband’s hand. “We know where they end up.”
“But you…fuck, ‘Zuku, you go through so much to get there. If I can stop even a minute of that I want–”
“It’s all worth it,” Izuku interrupts him before the guilt can bring him too far down, standing on his tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek. “Everything we have now? I wouldn’t change a single thing if it risks that. It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah,” Katsuki sighs, “okay.”
“UGH,” he hears his younger self complain. “How the fuck do we end up so lame!”
“Kacchan,” Little Izuku mumbles from right next to him, “bad word.”
“Tch,” Little Katsuki huffs, “whatever. C’mon, Deku. We’re not hangin’ around these dumb losers anymore. My mom made those stupid cookies you like and I got the new All Might movie. Let’s go.” He grabs Little Izuku’s hand and starts dragging the other boy through the snow towards his house.
“Bye, Big Kacchan!” Little Izuku shouts, waving at them as he’s dragged away. “Bye, Big Me!”
“Goodbye!” Izuku waves back, grinning from ear to ear. “Wow, we were really cute, huh?”
Katsuki rolls his eyes, “if by cute you mean a feral little gremlin and his crybaby shadow sure I guess.”
“Kacchan!”
Katsuki just smirks and brings Izuku in for another, proper, mistletoe kiss this time.