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Izuku was hit by a quirk.
And Katsuki is livid but it gets worse, and that's where he almost loses it.
The quirk may (or may not) have sent him into the future.
At least, that’s what the frightened teenage girl tells them when she is brought in for interrogation.
It was an accident. A villain causing chaos in the middle of the week, barging into a school right when the bell ringed. Quirks were going off in every direction and Izuku couldn't avoid the one that hit him.
He was just trying to hold the villain down and got caught on the crossfire. One minute he was there, the next there was a very confused villain being knocked off by a Dynamight explosion.
“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO DEKU?”
She doesn't know, exactly.
She hates her quirk for as long as she can remember, never used it. People seem to be sent to a weird future, come back a few hours later. She has no control over when or where they will be sent or how long it will last.
For lack of practice most likely.
The longest someone had been out was eight hours. And because of this person - a very pissed off ex-crush - she knows what her quirk can do.
They told her she sent them fifteen years into the future.
They spent eight hours roaming an unknown city and trying to explain themselves to the police just to suddenly appear back at the same cinema seat they previously were together at when the quirk went off.
Katsuki is, rightfully so if you ask him, more than just pissed.
“How the fuck you have such a strong quirk and there's no one teaching you how to use it? Where are the idiots from the quirk control or that bullshit they call themselves?”
“Dynamight, sir, please calm down.”
Katsuki blasts a hand down on the wood table in front of them, leaving a clear handprint on it.
“CALM DOWN? This... Fuck... CHILD might have sent Deku anywhere at any time with no backup or way to come back and you tell me to FUCKING CALM DOWN?”
“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Dynamight sir, please forgive me, I promise I will do everything to find him and bring him back as soon as possible...”
The girl could not be older than fourteen and still, she bows her head as much as she can, sobbing but holding the same ridiculous conviction in her eyes Deku is known for.
Katsuki sighs, feeling guilty for his sudden outburst in front of the girl. Just great, add a hormonal teenager into his problems.
The officer in charge of the investigation interrupts her, his finger pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Thank you, Ms Kaori, for your cooperation, you will be called in for further questioning if necessary. Someone please escort her out and schedule a meeting with quirk control”
The sobbing girl is taken out of the room by another officer while Katsuki is still seething.
“And now what?”
The officer doesn't even spare him a last glance.
“And now we will wait for at least eight hours for Hero Deku to come back.”
“WHAT?”
He is closing the files on the table in front of him, ignoring the parts that Katsuki charred and avoiding the hero’s wrath.
“None of her previous victims, if we can call them that, were harmed in any way, neither physically nor mentally. She doesn’t know how to bring them back and while I agree with you and we will put her down for defence practice of her quirk, there’s nothing we can do as of now.”
He gets up with the files under his arm.
“Hopefully, Hero Deku will be back in no time. We will have officers on watch by the school where he disappeared at all moments.”
As the door closes behind him, Katsuki flips the table over the wall, his explosions burnings the edges of it before he manages to turn them off.
“Fucking stupid Deku, where the hell are you?”
He takes his phone out of his pocket, clad into the hard case Izuku gifted him, one that would withstand the explosions in battle and "matches your uniform Kacchan", to look at the time.
Two hours down.
“Six hours to go, or I swear Deku, I’ll hunt your ass down!”
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It has been one week.
One entirely fucking week of Deku being MIA. And Katsuki doesn't know how he managed to last this long but he is getting closer and closer to exploding just about everyone and everything in his way.
Including and mostly, his friends, who are all so very helpful with encouraging words about Izuku's strength and the agency which refused to release any official statement regarding his disappearance and ignored Katsuki's pleas for information.
But at that moment, it is the school's secretary.
“Dynamight, sir, please you have to calm down.”
“Calm down my ass, where’s the guard that should be here? Why is the school running normally as if a student didn't fucking disappear with a top hero?”
He stops walking when he turns a corner and finds the principal charging in his direction. Her hills clacking on the floors with a sweet, clearly fake, smile plastered on her face.
“Mr Dynamight, I see you’re back again, please follow me to my office so we can address your concerns.”
He turns his nose in disgust at her complete disregard of Izuku’s whereabouts and his demands but has no option but to follow her. They walk in silence through the empty corridors and Katsuki's hands itch to activate his quirk.
She closes the doors to her office as soon as he is inside and doesn't wait for him to get comfortable before speaking.
“We dismissed the guards roaming our school this morning. They were disturbing our students and bringing unnecessary attention to Miss Kaori.”
Katsuki can feel his blood pulsing across his veins, his sight is soon to turn to blood.
“That girl should be finding a way to bring Deku back! Not studying fucking literature!”
“And I assure you, she is receiving all the best training available - after her school hours are up.”
Katsuki balls his hands into fists, a second from pouncing on the woman, knowing very well if he did, his license would be at stake. The police investigator he threatened just two hours ago let that very clear.
He already knew the guards were dismissed, he was informed about it after prodding and screaming and stalking down people, even though he was not allowed into the investigation.
Too attached they said.
Well, fuck them.
Katsuki came to take matters into his own hands even if it costs his job. Which, surprisingly or not, is saying much more than what he wants to understand regarding his relationship with Deku.
“And what good does that make? Where is Kaori now?”
“On her classroom, having science classes.”
He sits at the adjacent couch, not directly in front of her, as if making space for someone else to come still.
“Great, call her here. If she can't bring Deku back, tell her she will send me in.”
The principal looks at him as if he just lost his head right before the doors burst open. She doesn't get a chance to refuse him before he is being lectured by the new additions to their conversation but he was expecting it.
He knows he will have to fight to get his way this time but there's little besides Izuku reappearing that will make him turn back now. There's little in his life, besides Deku, that can make him back down from anything when he puts his mind into it.
“You can’t do this!”
Katsuki sighs for the umpteenth time on the conversation. He doesn't know when his request became a matter of country security but now he finds himself surrounded by police officers, the detective in charge and even the superintendent.
The one girl that could solve his problems is still to be called in though.
“You're not one to tell me what the fuck I can and cannot do, detective. If we don't do this willingly, I can pay Miss Kaori a nightly visit... We wouldn't want that right?”
The whole room falls into silence.
“Mr Dynamight that's not very appropriate for a hero!”
“See if I care, lady, I just want the girl to send me in - nothing more. No backups, no protection, if you want me to I will even sign a fucking security agreement saying I went on free will or whatever.”
“We still don't know the extent of her quirk, she might not be able to send you to the correct place and time.”
He shrugs.
“I’m quite aware that is a possibility. I won't request any sort of help or insurance if that happens.”
The director has been quiet ever since the other party joined them and he knows he could have had her agreeing to him if not for the detective bursting through the doors as if he was some big shot.
Fuck him and his case, this was Katsuki's business now.
“Listen, I'm not going in as Pro Hero Dynamight, I can go unarmed and on civilians clothes if that makes things better.”
He sees the detective pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance and that’s when he knows he got him. Not because he agrees to his stupid plan.
Katsuki knows it is stupid, he at least has the decency of acknowledging when he is putting himself in unexpected unnecessary danger.
But he got him because the detective knows Katsuki can be annoying as fuck if he wants to and won't give up when he has his mind set. That's his damn hero trademark and he is surprised people are still trying to stop him.
“Have you notified your agency?”
“My agency is mine. I don't need to notify shit but my secretary is quite aware both her bosses will be out.”
“Both?”
He nods, all bark leaving his voice. Talking about their biggest accomplishment so far always leaves him with a warm feeling and he can't be mad remembering how far they come together.
“I run it with Deku.”
It is a well-known fact but by the look on the officer's face, his question isn't about who owns it. It's clear they aren't considering Deku to be “out” or missing due to a quirk related incident.
They aren't expecting him to come back at all at this point.
Realizing he is probably the only one in that room still trying to get Deku back makes his heart ache. Excuse him for thinking as one of the top heroes in the country Deku would be granted a bit more importance than a shitty case people are tired to deal with.
The eye rolls and sighs around the room cut through him like a sharped knife. This won't do. He won't stand for this blatant disregard of Deku's existence. If these shitheads can't grasp the importance of hero Deku, he will show them.
He takes a deep breath and balls his hands to avoid blowing all the work he managed to put into the last hour. Fuck them all, he is bringing Deku home. He has an agency to run, a partnership to attend to.
How can they be “Wonder Duo” if he is the only one in the streets?
There is no meaning in being number one if he has no one to catch up to him… as weird and uncharacteristically it may sound.
He knows how much of a hero Deku is, how astonishing strong he got. And... And more.
But that's a tad much for him to unpack at the moment. He will bring Deku back first, whatever the hell that another thing is, later. He needs Deku back, for fucks sake. He means too much.
And he isn’t about to consider Candy Cane as his rival, not on his watch.
He hears the telltale sound of the intercom and snaps out of his thoughts. The director is leaning into her phone and pressing a button.
“Please call Ms Kaori into my room.”
It takes him even more pushing and pleading to convince the girl than the other idiots but he manages to drill into her skull he won't take it on her if she messes this up.
Katsuki has high hopes, even with how many times he tells himself he shouldn't. At the same time, he acknowledges that the possibility of Kaori sending him to a completely different time and place than the one she sent Deku to, is fearsomely high.
While he might acknowledge it, that doesn't mean he will take that into account while standing in front of her, his hand reaching out to be touched.
Is too late to think of what-ifs. And he is not one to second guess his decisions.
Although, well, he cannot stop his thoughts from running wild for a split second right before she touches his hand. A searing pain crosses his whole arm and sudden light blinds him, he closes his eyes on instinct and just lets himself be taken away.
He waits for the sudden blow, the dizzying lightness or a splitting headache telltale of a body-altering quirk but there's... nothing. He doesn't feel his body floating or falling from the sky, he doesn't feel himself moving.
He opens his eyes on a frown that is instantly replaced by a surprised gasp he will never admit to.
Katsuki is looking up at the Tokyo Tower, luckily from the sidewalks, hundreds of kilometres away from the school he had just been at.
“Shit, what the fuck? It worked?”
He looks around trying to piece any information he can. He is in his civilian clothes which is great to walk around not drawing attention but at the same time, awful that no one bats an eye.
People are passing through him and the most he gets is a stinky glare for standing in the middle of the way.
Is this really the future? Shouldn't people at least recognise him somehow? Or is it so far in time heroes are not even a thing anymore?
Nos that he is really here or however he should considerer where and when he is, all the plans he had in his mind completely disappear. His whole body seems to be functioning on adrenaline and not a single thought.
He wills his legs to move, knowing the way to the centre of the city by heart and looking for anything that can be a light to where in time he just landed.
To anything that can lead him to Deku.
He passes by a convenience store, checking the shop window for any clue and lo and behold, there he has it. A newspaper from that morning with black bold print letters showcasing the date.
Same day and month. Thirteen years into his future.
Fuck, fuck, fuck yes!
His heart threatens to leap out of his ribcage, his eyes glued to those simple letters. It did work, he really jumped in time. He has to reign himself, holding in the victorious grim that takes hold of his face and the ridiculous will to pump his fist in the air.
The difficult part is over, he got here and now he has to find Deku. This was, is the plan.
If Deku is even here, but he won't take that into account. He won't gamble with his luck.
He can feel his palms sweating, his anxiety is through the roofs and he feels so much at the same time he doesn't know if he is nervous, excited or scared shitless.
He is glad to be alone because this is definitely not the great Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight he works his ass off every day to be. The rational part of his brain is trying to think but no coherent thoughts are crossing his mind.
Years of hero training did not prepare him for this, which is clearly something they have to fix as soon as they get back but for now, he goes with the basics.
“Shit. Ok, alright, a police station may help, or any hero agency, whichever is closer.”
He motions forward, barely a step, when he sees a mop of green hair stepping from the store.
A mop of green hair, eight freckles distributed on the weirdest pattern ever and a button nose. He could recognize the one person in his life that has those features with his eyes closed.
Time seems to stop for a moment and Katsuki doesn't think he will ever forget how the light shines just that right on Izuku, making his eyes sparkle with golden dust, surreal in a way no other would ever compare.
“Deku...”
Same bright eyes turn to him with a tilt of his head.
“Hm, Kacchan?”
They scan him for a second before widening in surprise, instant tears flooding out. Shopping bags fall to the ground as Deku runs into him without a second thought.
“KACCHAN!”
There's a commotion at the store and a man leaves right after Deku but Katsuki doesn't have time to see who it is because he has a body clinging to him and his face is buried in coconut smelling curls. He wraps his arms around Izuku’s frame and tightens them, breathing deeply as if to commit his scent to memory.
His hands are trembling and he doesn't remember a time he was so out of character for so long, this is the first and last time he jumps in a time-travelling quirk.
“Is that... Are you really Deku? My Deku?”
Izuku stiffens for a second but responds burying his head even further into Katsuki’s chest with a small giggle. That only helps his heart beat faster and he knows deep down he should be embarrassed but Izuku is so warm, so real, so solid in his arms there's no way he is putting space between them now.
“Yeah, I hope so! Thirteen years too young, right?”
He nods and he knows Izuku gets him. He can’t believe this, it was so easy, they just need to find a way back now and deal.
He is about to say just that when a cough catches their attention.
Katsuki somehow has the right mind of tightening the grip on Izuku before looking up at whoever interrupted their moment.
He knows things were going way too smoothly to be true but if they could have had just a few more minutes. One week without Izuku was enough to show him just how much their lives are entangled and how lost he is alone.
Don't get him wrong, he still rocks the shit out of villains and commands the agency with his hands tied... But is just not the same alone. Not the same without constant muttering and a partner with a skip on his step by his side.
Not the same without this warm small body, still pressed against his, fighting alongside him and trading banters 24/7. He misses Izuku, he needs him.
And having him in his arms just solidifies the complicated and unravelled feelings his disappearance highlighted.
He hates it but, no, no he doesn’t. It is way past time he allowed them to take the front stage of his life and shit this feels so nice.
There's just this tiny interruption he needs to take care of first, but as soon as he looks up, his whole body stills.
“What the fuck?”
He feels in the back of his mind Izuku trying to turn around in his grasp, but his arms are frozen and his thoughts shut down. Katsuki can only hear an echo of his name being called right before everything is muted.
He can’t make anything besides the ringing in his ears. A steady terrifying beep that gives him chills down his spine. Hard ruby eyes and a five o'clock shadow he would be caught dead before sporting stare back at him and his head floods with an adrenaline high he can only compare to the split-second before a fight.
The one staring back at him cocks a brow and smiles. That shoots him out of his stupor.
He would never.
“Kacchan, breathe, please! It's ok, you're ok!”
He looks down at Izuku, still in his arms and with a worried look on his face, grabbing at him as if for dear life.
“Stay with me just a while longer, don't let it pull you back yet please!”
“What?”
His voice feels raspy and rough like he had overused it somehow. Izuku holds a hand to his cheek as if for good measure to keep him close.
“That's how you felt right? As if you were about to leave? Light, a bit faint?”
He nods unconsciously because now that Izuku is dictating his symptoms, that's exactly how he felt.
“That's the trigger, to go back. I mean... I think it is at least. I've been feeling it for a while and it's starting to get more difficult to fight it.”
Before Katsuki can fully comprehend his rambling, Izuku is out of his arms and siding by the weird look-alike in front of them. He looks at him a bit nervously and Katsuki will forever pretend he is not seeing a blush on his cheeks.
“Hm, Kacchan, this is... Well, Kacchan.”
Katsuki does a double-take at the man in front of him but as if his brain only now catching up he feels burning fury taking place in the pit of his stomach. He lets the full force of a week of worrying and over-stressing take the reins of his mind.
“Deku. What do you mean by fighting it?”
Izuku lets out a small strangled cry, disguising it with a fake smile before taking a step back.
“I think it's best we discuss everything back at my place, right, Izuku?”
The freaking look-alike has the audacity of interrupting their conversation and Katsuki is seething, he can feel the sparks starting at his palms, he just doesn't know who to blow up first.
“Get out of my way you shitty freaking copy, this is a conversation between me and Deku.”
The dollar tree plastic version of him steps in front of him and Katsuki finally takes a second to really see him. He looks somehow older, which makes sense, counting the thirteen years to his time but that's just not it.
He looks like Katsuki, but he doesn't. He isn't Katsuki.
That is enough to stop his quirk but not his anger. He can admit that now he knows Izuku is safe, there's a tiny part of his mind that wants to understand what the hell is going on and who is this man in front of him.
Katsuki has never stopped to dwell on time travel or anything of the sort, even though with so many different quirks it was obvious at any time one would be bound to have that ability. Still, shouldn't he feel some sort of connection with his future self?
He might not know how this works or if he is even supposed to interact with whatever is happening in the future, but, it feels weird not recognizing the same carmine eyes staring at him.
“If you want to have a conversation in this world, boy, you better turn off those sparkles. We don't have that here.”
And that stops Katsuki in his tracks. In this world?
“What are you talking about?”
Izuku comes forward then, fitting his body in between them both and offering his hand with an apologetic smile on his face.
“We can talk it all back at the apartment Kacchan, please let's get out of the street. There are too many people looking.”
He glances around, annoyed by the stupid extras bothering them expecting to find the usual curious, wide-eyed fans. Instead, every civilian around them was giving them judging looks and had their cellphones out.
Ready to call the police it seems. That's not part of his plan.
“Whatever, let's fucking go.”
He came here on a mission, find Deku and go home.
He has Deku on a hand and the nerd knows how to trigger the quirk. Begrudgingly he can admit he does want to understand whatever is happening around them, but he will kick Deku stupid for making this all more difficult for both of them later.
All he wants is to take them back. Back home. Whatever it takes to get there, he will take it.
He walks beside Izuku the whole time, squeezing his hand and pulling him closer with every step they take, glaring daggers at the stupid blonde by his side. His feet are following Izuku's, not needing to know where they are going.
The city looks just about the same and there are other things in Katsuki's mind than the traffic for him to care where Deku is taking him.
“Why the fuck you called him Kacchan?”
Izuku giggles, before trying to hide it behind a cough. He can probably sense Katsuki's uneasiness with the whole situation and is trying to not make things more difficult than they already seem to be.
“Because he is, Kacchan. He is this world’s Katsuki Bakugou and therefore, Kacchan.”
He is versed enough in quirks that the information they find themselves into another reality washes over him but something picks his interest and it sounds way more important than where they are. It's childish and ridiculous but Katsuki cannot help pouting at his next words even while trying to hide it behind a roll of his eyes.
“I am Kacchan!”
This time, Izuku is the one to squeeze his hand, smiling widely at him with a faint blush on his cheeks.
It makes his heart do a weird somersault.
He hears fake Katsuki laughing by their side and he scowls at him. The man seems unbothered which is not surprising, considering he is supposed to be him.
“We’re almost there Kacchan, I promise to explain everything.”
Katsuki nods but regrets not asking for more information when they arrive at their destination. He wasn’t expecting the apartment they mentioned to be the same one he has on their own time... no, their reality?
Even with all the time in silence he had while they walked around, he is still wrapping his mind over the fact he is not currently in the future but in a whole new ... World. Universe? How is he supposed to call it?
Whatever.
He doesn't plan on staying for long and definitely doesn't have it in him to pay enough attention to what the other him has to say. If he has to knock Izuku out and drag him back he will.
And he is considering that more as a real possibility with every passing minute.
His feet tap the floor on a clear display of anxiety and annoyance and he is quite unsure of how to go from there.
Izuku asked him to wait by the couch while they unloaded the groceries and brewed some tea, which would be bad enough if it was just waiting around but from his seat, he sees Deku smiling and being annoyingly close to his cheap version.
Almost too domestic, as if this is his life. As if he is used to putting groceries away with someone else! The pair work around each other in the kitchen almost as in a practised dance and Katsuki seethes at the scene.
They don't live together back at their places, they barely have time to be home with all the work! Go grocery shopping is definitely one of the activities they haven't done together in a lifetime, so why the fuck is the nerd acting as if they did in this reality? Why does he know where things go?
“Is this gonna take all day or what?”
He is gripping the ridiculous fabric covering a couch he wouldn’t be caught dead buying but that, somehow, screams Izuku. The apartment looks exactly as if he and Izuku's got combined into one with sleek furniture and bright coloured decorations and he is getting a headache trying to figure out how the fuck did this happen.
Izuku has been here only for a week.
It is ridiculous how now putting the time in perspective it seems so fast for him to be so buddy-buddy with shit-reality-Katsuki while Katsuki himself was whining about being too long to be without Izuku not hours before.
“Sorry Kacchan, tea just got ready! Can you believe Ka... Well, this Kacchan also likes cinnamon on it?”
His grip on the fabric tightens at that. This Kacchan his ass. He is getting freaking tired of hearing his exclusive nickname being used for someone else.
“Stop calling him like that Deku, this is annoying.”
Izuku looks apologetic but conflicted as if he doesn't know how to answer that and that would be a first for him. The older Katsuki strolls into the living room carrying the tray with three mugs and some biscuits.
It's weird and infuriating how freaking familiar they seem.
“Yeah, the same ones you like. It really is weird, ne Kacchan? The similarities?”
When all three of them sit down, Izuku is holding an All Might plushie to his lap as a support for his own plate of sweets.
“Yeah... Weird.”
Izuku shifts a bit uncomfortable by Katsuki's stare, he knows his annoyance is flooding the room but he can't stop himself. He doesn't even know where to start.
Luckily, Izuku wants more than himself to fill the awkward silence.
“Hm... Where to start? I remember being on that fight with a villain, that dragged us through the school in the middle of classes, right?”
Katsuki nods. He knew he wouldn't be able to make Izuku summarise the whole thing and if the nerd wants to talk, so be it.
“And then... Then there was this blinding light and a searing pain in my back. When I opened my eyes I was here.”
Katsuki waits for him to continue and when he doesn't, he looks up to see Izuku is smiling at the other man in the room. Both are a bit lost in their own world.
That settles heavy on Katsuki’s stomach and makes him put his mug away.
“Here? What else nerd?”
Izuku shakes his head, a small blush on his cheeks once again. There's a flick of emotion in his eyes Katsuki cannot recognize and it makes him itch with the need to blow things up.
“Here, as in the apartment! I suddenly appeared here and Ka…”
Older Katsuki chuckles and smiles softly at Izuku.
“You can call me Katsuki, as you first did when you got here, love.”
It might have been less than a second, but Katsuki’s whole world shifts on its axis after listening to the man talk.
“What the fuck did you just call him?”
He looks surprised as if he didn't notice what he said until a sad smile takes his features. Katsuki falters on his outburst, the mood completely shifted.
Izuku squirms in place, his gaze down and saddened. Katsuki doesn't know what was it he said but he wants to take it back.
“Ah, I apologise. Is a force of habit. Izuku here is the split image of my Deku. He was just a few years older when he..."
He stops talking in favour of taking a deep breath and it gets Katsuki to the edge of his seat. With a shake to his voice, he continues.
"When he passed.”
When he... When he passed.
Izuku.
There used to be an Izuku in this world and he was Katsuki's.
But he is no longer...
The apartment looks like Izuku has lived in it his whole life because he did. This Katsuki right in front of them lost his Izuku.
How... How does one live without Izuku? What does life look like without bright green eyes and blinding smiles?
“It's been almost eight years now but seeing Izuku here just brought all the loving memories back.”
There's so much longing and love in his words they cross Katsuki's heart like flaming arrows. It physically hurts to hear him talking.
He never imagined himself without the nerd. That's just not a possibility.
“He went as a hero, even though we don't have them here. He saved a little girl from being kidnapped and took the worst of the attack himself.”
Katsuki can feel a hole forming in his heart. Eight years without Izuku. Eight years without his good morning calls and terrible cooking. Without his dumb freckles and incessant muttering. Eight years without bouncing green curls by his side on patrol.
How silent is the world without him? One week alone and Katsuki jumped in an experimental quirk to have him back. But eight years? Knowing he won't come back?
There's a shortage of air in his lungs and he feels the telltale signs of the quirk activating on him, his feet start to tingle and his mouth feels dry. Suddenly an alarm is blasting in his mind.
He can't go yet! Not yet and not alone!
He shuts his eyes closed and bites his tongue to forcefully command his body's attention elsewhere. A hand grasps his own and tightens the hold until it almost hurts.
“That's it Kacchan, you're still here! Drink some water and you will be fine! Thank you for staying a bit longer.”
When he opens his eyes, there's the sting of tears at them and two questions hovering over his mind. Izuku is crouched in front of him, offering a glass of water.
He looks pained and Katsuki hates it.
Emptying the glass offered to him, Katsuki clears his throat and prepares himself for the answers he is not sure he is ready to receive.
“What's the trigger?”
“We still don't fully comprehend but so far we gathered that strong emotions can pull the trigger. Mostly bad ones...”
“When Izuku first got here he had a nightmare. I got to him before he was sent back and that probably grounded him.”
Katsuki glares at him from over Izuku's mop of curls. Izuku could be home by the first night if not for this idiot.
“I thought it could have been some sort of panic attack... It would make sense after all. But it happened again as I learned my other-self story... Just like now.”
Izuku looks back at the older version of him and gives him a soft, sad smile. Katsuki can feel the burn of jealousy twisting his insides but he pushes it down, for now, he doesn't want to feel it.
He doesn't even know why he feels it.
Alright no, that's a lie. He knows why.
He knows it has everything to do with Izuku taking his eyes off him, looking at another with the same adoration he always did to him.
He knows it's because of the insane amount of feelings he is repressing all along and this week managed to mess up with his head and his heart. The barrage is cracking and Katsuki has to learn to deal with all this Izuku causes inside him.
He knows it’s because he wants Izuku back and it seems as if...
“Why don't you want to go back?”
His question startles Izuku, who is still crouched in front of him. He grabs at Katsuki for support before sitting fully on the floor in front of him.
He takes a deep breath and smiles up. It's sad and it doesn't reach his eyes in a way it makes Katsuki’s stomach fall.
He is not going to like this.
“Katsuki, I’m sorry to request this, but could you please give us a minute?”
Izuku speaks without looking back but the older man nods anyway, solemnly, as if he knows what's about to happen and that solidifies Katsuki's conviction that this will go bad.
Izuku doesn't want to go back. He said it himself, he has been avoiding it for a week now. Why doesn't he want to go back?
What does this world’s Katsuki has given him, he hasn't? What is it so important to Izuku that he is willing to let go of everything they built together to stay at this unknown place with an unknown version of him?
What in the world could make Izuku give up his life as a hero?
“What do you have here that I can't give you?”
The words are out of his mouth before he can stop himself. He feels so absolutely shitty with everything that has been happening he doesn't dwell if it makes him look whiny. He was never one to blurt out his feelings but if that's what gets Izuku to talk to him, to go back home with him? He will do it all day.
Izuku lowers his head and grips his knees as this is as difficult to him as it is to Katsuki. And it's bullshit.
Katsuki threw himself into a fucking teenage girl's quirk to find him. He has just discovered there's a whole ass world where he has to live without the most important person for him and this is difficult for Izuku?
He wills himself to calm down, taking a deep breath. The sting at the back of his eyes is back and he hates it. He hates how Izuku makes him weak and needy, emotional and vulnerable.
He hates to feel like this while Izuku is thinking of leaving him behind.
“Do you want to know how we discovered the signs of the quirk?”
No, he doesn't.
“The day after my panic attack, Katsuki told me about this world's Izuku. His words carried so much pain and longing, just like today.”
Izuku stands up to sit by Katsuki’s side on the couch, bringing with him a warmth impossible to find anywhere else. His face is streaked with tears and Katsuki is envious of how he still manages to look so beautiful.
“I'm not his Deku. But he looked at me as if I was a ghost from the past, one he was so incredibly glad to have met.”
Katsuki knows how that feels. He is always glad to see Izuku. Always thankful he was forgiven and how far they are in their relationship. Izuku's true power has always been brightening any place he walks into.
It dawns on him he never let Izuku know that.
“It broke my heart so badly I almost went away. But Katsuki was just so desperate, he saw the tip of my fingers disappear”
Izuku joins his hands on his lap to stop them from shaking and it takes every ounce of willpower in Katsuki not to take them into his. Izuku looks so small, so unsure.
“He grabbed me and hugged me so hard I lost my breath. It allowed me to stay once again.”
Katsuki nods, while he doesn't like the idea of another having Izuku in his arms, he knows he would've done the same. They are the same person in some way or another after all.
He doesn't know what to say, he doesn't want to say anything. He knows there's more from Izuku.
He is just not sure he is ready for it.
“I... I never planned on telling you this, but I think you deserve my whole honesty. After all, you came here for me, right? At least, I assumed...”
There's a cold dread taking place in his spine and Katsuki thinks he might be sick. Whatever Izuku is about to tell him will probably shatter them into a million pieces and it hurts just to think of the possibility of Izuku not being by his side.
“I know I cannot stay here forever, my body is getting more and more fragile by the day and the quirk has been pulling me back stronger with every episode. And I know it's not fair to you, that I leave everything behind for you to take care of while I'm here... Just living.”
Izuku takes a deep breath and raises his head, staring right into his eyes. Emerald green fields catching fire.
“But I want to stay here, because this Katsuki?”
He tilts his head to the hallway of the apartment.
“This Katsuki loves me.”
The world slows to a stop as soon Izuku spilt those words with rosy cheeks and a dreamy tone. Katsuki instead pales, feeling his heart skip a beat and his breathing falter.
Fuck.
“He... He may not love me of course, we've only met, but he loves his Izuku. He loves the me from this world and... And this is more than I could ever imagine, more than I could ever ask for.”
Izuku's demeanour changes as he blinks, tears cascading from green eyes and Katsuki is terrified. He has never seen Izuku look so raw, so hurt and at the same time so hopeful.
“I... He talks about the other me as if I'm so precious. Kac-Kacchan, I... I never expected to burden you with this but please, let me be selfish for just a bit longer. Let me stay, please, please, for the little time I still have here. I will never bother you with a request like this again.”
Katsuki's mind completely gave up on him at that moment. His heart is trying to jump out of his ribcage and present itself at Izuku's hand and he doesn't know what to do.
“Deku...”
Izuku shakes his head and even in the middle of his complete breakdown, he still smiles at him.
“I know is a lot. I'm sorry, I know it's not how we work and that's ok!”
He grabs Katsuki’s hands as if trying to console him even if he is the one crying. Cold droplets fall into his fingers and Izuku cleans them, chuckling softly.
“I loved you all my life, you know? And I never expected you to reciprocate me, I promise I'm content with what we have. But this? This is a dream come true... I don't want this to end so soon. I know is selfish and maybe even hurtful because I know it's not me in his words but... But it is! And I never felt something like this.”
Katsuki realizes he is shaking. Shaking in pure uncontrolled fury, anguish washing over his bones.
He did this. He made Izuku feel all of this.
Izuku is here telling him he loves him and that he accepts being a shadow of someone else if it means he can feel Katsuki loving him.
Because he has never made him feel loved. Because he repressed his feeling and locked them so deep he made Izuku believe he was not worthy of him. And here he is, giving all his love freely and not expecting anything in return.
Asking... Begging, to be able to stay in an alternative reality where he doesn't exist just to feel a portion of his love. A portion of a love another Katsuki has for another Izuku.
It's pathetic and it brings Katsuki to his knees in pain because this is all his fault. He has enough love for a lifetime, his heart soars with everything he feels for Deku and still, here he is, content with crumbs.
What good did it do to hide his feelings? Bury his attraction for his best friend for years believing he didn't deserve more than what Izuku so willingly offered him?
He cannot deal with hurting Izuku, worse while trying to do some good for fucking once.
“Please...”
He shakes his head because his words are all caught up in his throat and he doesn't have enough knowledge to tell him how damn sorry he is. He is not good with words, never was, that's Izuku's territory but Katsuki is tired of not being understood.
He is tired of half-assed actions and not giving Izuku everything he deserves and more because he is afraid.
He is crying, ugly crying like a toddler because he almost lost Izuku being a constipated idiot. He fumbles with his hands until they are free from Izuku’s grasp and threads them into his curls.
They are soft and slip through his fingers like he always imagined they would. Just thinking he could have had this for so long!
Izuku is looking at him with wide eyes and a blush on his cheeks. It just feels so right to be the one to put it on his face, a sudden burst of confidence runs through him.
“Kacchan? What...”
Katsuki doesn't let him doubt, doesn't let him misunderstand this time. He kisses him.
It’s not how he ever wished their first kiss to go. He dreamed of a thousand different scenarios he swore to never let happen and in none of them, he would kiss Izuku between tears and snot in the living room of his another-reality-self.
It's not perfect, there's too much teeth and their lips are wobbly. Not to mention in his haste, he knocked their faces together in a very uncomfortable angle and now his nose hurts.
But he swears he can hear bells ringing anyway and the swarm of butterflies in his stomach lives up to its name*. It's cheesy, Katsuki can admit it, but he does feel bathed in lights and colours and as if everything suddenly has a meaning.
Izuku is warm under his palm and he sighs into his mouth, taking his own hands to Katsuki’s face, guiding them ever so gentle to a more peaceful kiss.
He takes his time moving his lips over Katsuki's, who is more than willing to let him take control if it means Izuku understands everything he is not able to tell him. Never in his wildest dreams, he allowed himself to wish they would get to this point but now he had a small taste of it, there's no way he can go back to not kiss Izuku every waking moment of his life.
It's just when Izuku puts some distance between them to catch his breath, Katsuki notices how much that really meant for both of them. There are still so many tears running down Izuku’s eyes but he is finally smiling at him with all the love in the world as he always has done.
His eyes are sparkling and he can almost see himself reflected into them with the same lovesick stare.
“I guess... I guess we're both idiots then.”
Katsuki lets his own wet laugh and knocks their foreheads together... Just to stumble forward on the couch. His hands grab at the cushion to stop himself from falling and he hurries to stand up again, alone. He blinks and looks around in a sudden panic, what just happened?
Izuku is not sitting by him anymore.
Izuku is not even in the room.
“Oh, I guess I missed the timing. I figured you'd be able to convince him to go back, but didn't think it would be this fast!”
He looks up to see himself standing at the doorway leading to the rest of the house, his eyes also scanning the room for a glimpse of Izuku. In his hands, he holds carefully a folded paper.
Katsuki is still wary of him, still conflicted about the fact he almost lost Izuku to a pathetic version of himself from a quirk-created dimension.
But he would be a bigger idiot than he already is if he didn't at least acknowledge the importance of that man in his life. The importance of him for Izuku, both his and the one that is no longer with them.
After all, he is Katsuki Bakugou and it seems they would love Izuku in every dimension to ever exist. That's something he can be in peace with.
Katsuki swallows his insecurities, elated to have almost completed his mission and much more than he could have initially hoped for when he threw himself into this quirk. There's something he has to settle before going back himself.
“I... I don't really know what to say to you, but... Thank you for taking care of Izuku, I guess.”
To his surprise, his other self laughs at his words. Clearly, conversations weren’t a fort of them, ever.
“No, Katsuki, I have to thank you. For allowing me to meet such an amazing version of Izuku. He reminds me so much of my Deku, but... They’re so different as well.”
He finds himself sitting back down on the couch, with Katsuki sitting in front of him. His grip on the paper a tad tighter.
“I... I admit at first I had mixed feelings, after seeing Izuku here. He, of course, wasn't mine to hold but he reminded me of happier, easier days.”
“When you two were together.”
He nods. Of course, life is always easier and better with Izuku around.
Katsuki knows this and it took him years to even be able to allow himself to stand by Izuku side as his friend. He can just imagine how amazing it might be, it will be to share life with him.
“And, I knew it wasn't healthy, but it brought me something I never thought I would have again. I might have been a bit selfish, allowing him to stay, helping him to, even. Just so I could bask in his presence for a little longer.”
Katsuki understands then the importance this quirk might have had in this man's life. He is still mad, missing Izuku like crazy, but he can't be upset Izuku asked to stay, or that they had this week-chance meeting. He would have done the same.
It's so weird, to see himself in the middle of heartbreak. To see himself trying to navigate life alone. It's weird and is agony because he doesn't think that is possible for him.
“Do you think, this reality... Do you think we will go through the same?”
There's a beat of silence that kind of freaks him out. The situation is already frightening enough without the sinking fear he might go through the same fate soon.
He doesn't think he can survive the possibility. Not when he just got Deku.
“No, I don't think so.”
His other one sighs and it's not as heavy as Katsuki was expecting.
“You’ve only been here for half a day, and the similarities are striking... Izuku was the one to say that. But there are so many differences as well. And I believe they overrule any mirroring of both worlds.”
That's enough for Katsuki, it might not be an exact science but the reassurance is enough for now. He doesn't have anything else he wants to know. He just wishes to go back home and he has a clue on how to do that.
He can’t wait to go home. To Deku.
“I won't keep you long, but if I could ask you something, could you please do me a favour?”
He doesn't have in his heart to deny him anything. As much as he still has his defences up, the older version of him seems completely vulnerable.
“Sure, why the fuck not!”
It still throws him out of balance to see himself smiling so honestly though.
“I wrote this, for Izuku, the day after he almost left for the second time. I knew he was stalling his departure and it was incredibly bittersweet to see him doing so. I... I just want him to know that I'm ok now. And that I hope he can be happy in his reality as much as my Deku was.”
Katsuki has proven time and time again that talking about his feelings it's not his strongest suit. It leaves him uncomfortable and distressed... But he knows where this is coming from.
He feels it the same, the need to make sure the nerd is smiling at all costs.
“Are they really that alike?”
The other one nods. He takes his wallet from his pocket, probably still from their trip to the groceries store and opens it to reveal a picture.
“Of course, their looks are the same, but if you look closely, can you see the same glint in his eyes?”
Katsuki almost chokes at the picture now in his hands. The resemblance is mind-blowing and of course, it is, but he cannot help being impressed.
This Izuku has the same mischief in green eyes Deku has when he goes into his hero mode. Its... Unsettling. And it also breaks Katsuki not to be able to see it in person.
It's not fair. He wasn't the one to lose Izuku and still, it leaves him hollow to see him in a picture unmoving.
“Do you have a photo I can take? With the letter? I think Izuku will like it or something.”
“Of course, you can take that one, I have just about a thousand more.”
He nods and reaches for the letter, folding them both carefully to put into his pocket.
“Before you go, just to amuse me, could you please show me our quirk? Izuku told me so much about it and according to him...”
“Kacchan is amazing!"
He is not surprised they both repeat it at the same time. Izuku would obviously gush about him any given chance. It brings a small uncharacteristic smile to his face while he opens his free hand, palm up, and lets his sparkles fly, attempting a few small explosions.
“This is incredible! The explosive potential!”
“Tch, don't let the nerd rub it in you. He can talk about it for hours.”
“Believe me, I know!”
They stay silent for a moment longer and Katsuki knows is time to go.
“Please take care of him, he is so special. If he is anything like my Deku, he is reckless to a fault. Please allow him to see a long, beautiful life.”
It's all he can wish for after this experience, of course he will. And if he sheds a tear, that's something only for both Katsukis to know.
“You bet old man, I'm not letting him out of my sight again”
“Thank you.”
When Katsuki focuses on the longing for his own home, for his Deku so far away and out of reach, he feels his chest constricting. His heart hurts from being apart and he wants so badly to just go and have him in his arms. His hands shake and his vision blurs.
He knows he made it home.
Katsuki blinks his eyes to adjust to the lighting of the setting sun by the windows. He is back at the principal office as he had started his day, just now he is alone.
Which, great, he really doesn’t want their company right now, he has a single focus on his mind.
He checks his pockets before leaving the room, feeling the crumpled paper inside it.
It may have only been for a few hours but his experience at the other reality touched him deep in a way he is sure he will remember this day for the rest of his life. If he is lucky enough, for the rest of his life with Izuku.
He takes off from the office, speeding through the hallways he knows were where Izuku had initially disappeared. Katsuki doesn't know the school floors or how the corridors work, he just runs and runs without looking back.
Izuku is out there somewhere, he knows it. He has to be. He needs him to be here still.
There wasn't enough time for him to be home already and he knows Izuku, knows he is probably somewhere hurting and overthinking over everything that went through.
Knowing him, he is probably wondering what they could've done differently. He just got to find him. He has to.
“Deku!”
He can pretend his voice didn’t falter at the end but he can’t ignore his heart rate is picking and his hands feel cold. Katsuki lost count of how many empty corridors he has been through, of how many identical doors he threw open.
“DEKU!”
He turns yet another empty corner he swears he has been already and feels his quirk shake with the need to blow all the walls down.
“Shit!”
He stops for a moment, trying to will his thoughts into something helpful. Looking around, his eyes focus on a staircase at the end of the hallway. Before he knows he is taking two steps at once.
He climbs all the way to the rooftop, almost blasting the doors open.
A dark silhouette is leaning on the railing, looking up.
“Izuku...”
Izuku looks back, tears running down his face, hair dishevelled from the wind. The setting sun illuminates his body, a halo around his curls.
Katsuki wants to commit that vision to his memory, he looks ethereal. Like the angel he is.
He cannot stop tears of his own and he hates it. That other version of him made him soft. Stupid emotional Katsuki. Even though, he doesn't falter, he stares at Izuku unblinking, afraid if he does he will disappear again.
The air around them is charged with so much done and a lifetime left unsaid, Katsuki doesn't want to be the one to break their silence.
A small smile finally appears on Izuku's lips and although is pained, it reaches his eyes and it's all welcoming.
He opens his arms, warm and inviting.
“Hey, Kacchan.”
Katsuki doesn't think, he runs in his direction and wraps himself over Izuku. Head in his shoulder, breathing in the scent he missed so dearly without even noticing how present it was on his life.
He takes a deep breath and tightens his arms around Izuku's waist. All the words he thought of saying, everything he needs Izuku to know stuck in his throats once again.
He feels Izuku's arm shaking around him, but hugging him impossible close.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Kacchan, I shouldn't have stayed, shouldn't have learned about the future. Shouldn't have left you!”
A sob cracks through his body.
“I'm so scared, so scared. I don't want to leave you!”
It startles Katsuki, he was not ready to hear that. He didn't think of the possibility Izuku would be most affected by what they lived through the quirk.
It was another place, another time, another them. He seemed sad to leave earlier but… but not scared. Did he really think they would go through the same fate?
“Hey, hey dork, what? What are you talking about?”
He puts space between them and holds Izuku's face in his hands.
“Look at me, talk to me nerd!”
Those green eyes Katsuki is so helplessly in love with are barely seen under thick goblets of tears but Izuku looks at him regardless. Katsuki knows every curve of his expressions and his knees threaten to buckle seeing the fear on his features.
“I... I just got you. The idea of losing you, of you losing me in five years is... I'm gonna go insane.”
Katsuki tries to no avail to stop the tears running down freckled cheeks with his thumbs. He wants Izuku to let it all out, to put everything out in the open but he would love for him to stop crying while at it.
He hears Izuku but he doesn't, his mind working a thousand miles per hour looking for a way to make Izuku smile again, vowing to work his hardest every single day so never a sad tear fall from his eyes again.
“I wasn't thinking about it until I got back and realised we are thirteen years behind and then I did the math... Kacchan, I'm scared of what may happen. I don't want us to repeat that, I don't want to leave you behind.”
It tugs at his heartstrings and crushes him seeing Izuku so scared of leaving him again. The worst part is the nerd being afraid of it for him, afraid of Katsuki being alone.
“Stop being stupid. If you think for a second I'm letting you out of my sight you're so fucking wrong! If I have to chain you down in your room I will but I'm not letting you go! Not again.”
Izuku lets out a wobbly laugh and he looks hideous with so much snot on his face, red-rimmed eyes and blotched nose. Even though, Katsuki counts that as a win. He wants him to keep laughing like that.
“That's so Kacchan I can't even complain.”
“Don't test me!”
He joins their foreheads like he had wished to do before, finally breathing right with Izuku in his arms.
“We’re not going to go through the same. Weird-me said so as well. This reality is too different and you're too amazing for that to happen!”
Izuku gasps at him, eyes shining with what Katsuki believes to be love and hopes so deeply it is. The choice of words was on purpose to try and break the barrage of tears but Izuku has spent their whole life throwing compliments at Katsuki, it's way past time he starts to do the same.
Especially since he stopped lying to himself about his feelings and his insides are overflowing with this attraction.
Izuku still doesn't sound convinced but he stopped shaking at least. His eyes close while he rubs his face in Katsuki's shirt. The smile is back on his lips and it makes Katsuki want to kiss him silly.
The knowledge he can do that now is electrifying.
“I have something from the other me for you, do you want it now?”
A nod.
Katsuki takes one of his hands from around him and pulls the letter out of his pocket, the picture inside still. It's weird, it shouldn't be possible for him to have brought something from another reality.
But he won't dwell on that, quirks are weird and work ways no one will ever know.
“Open your eyes you have to see it.”
Bright green eyes shine into the fading light seeing the paper on his hand, Katsuki sees a flicker of surprise and then fondness passing through them until they focus on him once again. He has his whole life ahead to get used to this stare, maybe one day he will stop losing his breath over it.
He secretly hopes he doesn't.
“He wrote me a letter?”
“I'm gonna punch that puppy look from your face if you make it again. Yes, he did, don't go soft on him now.”
He is rewarded with more laughter and maybe, just maybe, it's worth taking a punch in the gut if Izuku looks at him like that. Like he is special, not generally, he knows he is special dammit. But special to him.
Like he is worth of Izuku's love and that means more than that number one they've been chasing their whole lives.
“Are you jealous Kacchan?”
“Fuck you, I can't be jealous of myself. That idiot has nothing on me.”
He is all bark, he knows there's no competition, but he has to poke fun. He will do anything it takes for Izuku to get out of his head.
And maybe, just maybe, he is a little jealous. He won't ever admit it.
“Hm, not sure, that stubble was pretty hot.”
“Fucker, not happening, I need to look sharp for those villains to kneel before me.”
Another laugh follows, and it feels so incredibly good to be the one causing it. Fuck him, he turned into a sap.
“I know, I wouldn't want you to. Let me read that, there's so much I want to talk to you about my time there too.”
“Hmm...”
He hands the letter to Izuku and is - happily - surprised when he pulls him to his side to look over it together. The picture he took with him is the first thing they see when Izuku unfolds the paper.
Katsuki was prepared to have to take the lead and hold the letter when Izuku eventually dropped it in surprise, but even though Izuku lets out another gasp, he tightens his grip on the paper, almost afraid of letting it go.
“Kacchan... It’s - This is - I... How?”
“You can see why I was so weirded out seeing him? Yeah, that's us. This Izuku has the same idiot drive in his eyes, can you see? The look that says he will get himself in trouble?”
“Kacchan! No! I don't have that!”
“Sure you don't.”
He is rewarded with a pout and Katsuki doesn’t think before diving in and kissing it out. Just a peck, sweet and innocent and just the start of everything he has to give the nerd. It's a blessing and a curse because now he wants more.
But it works wonders to remove the pout from Izuku's face.
“Very unfair of you.”
“I won't hold back anymore nerd, expect to be drowned in aggressive affection.”
Izuku giggle is enough of an answer for him. He wraps his hands over his waist, leaning both of them on the rails. His face buries in coconut smelling curls almost instantly.
“Read the letter nerd, I want to go home with you.”
“Yeah, I want to go home too. Give me a minute”
He takes the picture out of the front and opens the paper again. It's a short letter and Katsuki knows most of what's written in it already. He hasn't read it, doesn't need to.
Dear Izuku, thank you.
Katsuki knows not only for what he was told but because both of them think alike after all. It's a bittersweet goodbye, a heartfelt appreciation of his time and attention, a conviction they will do better and that he will also work to be happier.
He skims through it, knowing the content really is for Izuku but unable to stop his curiosity.
I can only wish for you the same love I had my whole life for my Deku. It might be suffocating at times, I'm aware of that but please allow Katsuki to be by your side. He will be the happiest man in the world and in turn, will do absolutely everything in his power so you are too, happy and safe.
He silently wishes he had expressed his gratitude more to his quirkless counterpart, damn, that man really is rooting for him.
I will be eternally grateful for your little visit Izuku. Thank you for allowing me to relieve the love for life my Deku always had in his heart. I promise to take care of myself as much as you two did for me, I will be ok. Missing you always.
Izuku is crying when he finishes it and he holds it close to his heart. It takes a while for him to align his thoughts, but Katsuki holds him close, waiting for as long as it takes. The sky is almost completely dark when he takes a deep breath.
“I wish I could have thanked him, for so much. If it wasn't for him, how long would it take for us to be like this?”
“I already did. He took good care of you, now is my turn.”
Izuku turns around to look at him in the eyes. They are still wrapped around each other.
“Will you really?”
“For the rest of our lives nerd.”
And it is easy as breathing really, the words are the most sincere he has ever been and flow freely from his mouth.
Izuku holds onto him even closer, smile blinding and green sparkles shining all around him. Katsuki can feel him activating his quirk and both their bodies gaining height.
He smirks, Izuku hasn’t noticed it yet and even after so long, Katsuki loves to see him so effected by something to the point of losing control of OFA. He steps into Izuku's feet for support.
“Why?”
There's mischief in his eyes, he is teasing, testing their waters and Katsuki knows he deserves to hear it. Hell he wants to say it so bad.
“Because I fucking love you!”
Laughter rings through the silent night.
They are several feet above the ground now and Katsuki is holding on to Izuku with all his strength. Izuku, who is smiling at him like he hung the moon and the stars and deserves all of that devotion.
“I love you too Kacchan."
He feels like he could fly himself just by hearing those words. His chest feels so light and full at the same time.
Izuku will be the end of him and he knows he will go down gladly.
"Let's go home?”
He can only nod. Finally.
"Lead the way."