Chapter Text
It was a trap. Of course it was a fucking trap.
"Deku!" Katsuki's feet struck the Earth in rapid succession. They beat against the concrete mirroring the heavy thudding in his chest. He wasn't going fast enough. He needed to be faster.
The sun hung low in sky, its beams peaking through the tops of the towering buildings that occupied downtown Musutafu. The summer heat laid thick, confined in the narrow alleyways Katsuki expertly maneuvered through. With a controlled explosion he hooked a sharp corner, no momentum lost, as his gaze finally landed on a familiar figure about sixty meters away from him.
At the sight his body moved even faster.
Izuku was alone, hunched over with both of his hands clutching his stomach. Katsuki couldn't see the injury, not from here. What he could see was wide eyes blown open and dripping in shock. He could feel the severity in the quivering hands that were darkened from the weeping wound. He could taste his own desperation in the way blood trickled down Izuku's chin. The image seared itself into Katsuki's mind like a brand. Fuck, fuck, FUCK! Breath hitching, he closed the distance, sparks flying as his knee guards slid against the concrete. He barely caught Izuku before the boy collapsed and carefully held the shuddering hero in his arms. As he laid the boy down he wondered how a routine patrol could go so wrong.
"Kacchan?" The nickname ghosted from Izuku's lips. He seemed to be in shock.
"Deku! I'm here." Katsuki stated clear and unwavering, as he immediately began assessing the situation. Izuku was down for the count and losing too much blood far too quickly. His skin was already clammy and cold to the touch. A familiar panic dug its claws into Katsuki's throat at all the red filling his vision but he quickly swallowed it back down. He could do this. He was trained for this. "Im going to lay you back, we need to look at that stomach wound."
"But- but the girl she-" more red.
"Deku! Don't fucking try to sit up you goddamn idiot!" Despite his harsh words, Katsuki gently guided Izuku back to the ground. Huffing a frustrated breath, he continued. "She's long gone anyways. Our priority right now is getting you stable." Katsuki cursed. He's never seen this much blood before. It'd spread entirely over Izuku's midsection and was quickly consuming the boy. It seeped up his body as his chest rose and fell with quick shallow breaths. Katsuki ignored the way his hands trembled as he cracked open his first aid kit.
"Deku, I need to move your hands." Izuku nodded unsteadily with a pained grimace. His hands looked to be what was holding the boy together. Katsuki braced himself and peeled back the bloodstained hands. "We need to stem the bleeding until the med team gets their asses here-"
FUCK .
He swiftly replaced Izuku's hands with one of his own and he worked the gauze around the boy's waist as his mind spiraled. What the hell happened?! He couldn't have been gone more than five minutes and Izuku's stomach was- it was- nausea rolled over him and he blinked back tears. It was really not good. Katsuki steeled his jaw and continued working. He could not lose it right now. Not yet, not when Izuku still needs him.
"That-That bad, huh?" Izuku hissed, eyes screwed up in pain."Did you- have you-"
" You need to stop fucking talking-" Katsuki's hastily tied off the wrapping and shot a bloodied hand to his earpiece. "Where the fuck are you guys?! Deku needs medical right fucking now!"
"We are five minutes out from your location." Shoto's cool monotone crackled to life in his ear. "The med team is trailing right behind us."
"Thats not-" Katsuki's voice cracked. "He won't-" He wont make it that long . The words died when he saw the shining green eyes he's known his whole life gazing up at him. He ripped out the device and struggled not to explode it in his overheated palm. "Goddamnit!" His grip was slipping. The careful control he'd fought so hard to maintain was wavering.
"Kacchan..Please." Izuku struggled to get the words out around the liquid filling his lungs. "I need you" The wet cough shook something deep in Katsuki lose.
"Deku, please please stop talking-" Katsuki begged. "For once in your goddamn life listen to me! Help is almost here you just- you just have hang on a little while longer."
"Kacchan... I cant feel my legs."
"GOD- shut the fuck up!" Katsuki broke, tears stinging as they ran over the cut sliced across his cheek. He brushed the wild green locks sticking to Izuku's sweaty forehead back and watched the his eyes flutter closed, leaning into the touch. Izuku sighed a shaky breath then fixed a determined glare on Katsuki.
"I need.. you to take it." Izuku stated, an air of newfound resolution around him. Katsuki didnt like it. The look on Izuku's face was one that he come to know was accompanied by some self-sacrificing-martyr bullshit that terrified the fuck out of him.
"I dont know what you're talking about but I'm not taking shit." Katsuki's gaze darted desperately around the perimeter. Where the fuck are they?! "So whatever it is you can do it yourself when we get out of here." His watch told him only two minutes had passed since he spoke to Shoto. Maybe if he carried Izuku he could reach them-
"Kacchan.." Izuku called to him. His eyes met Izuku's and suddenly Katsuki was four years old again. He felt excruciatingly small looking to the ghost of young Izuku, a picture of concern, reaching out to him all those years ago. Katsuki shook away the image and couldn't help taking in the differences he saw now. Large crooked hands, scarred arms, and the weight of the world carried on the line of his shoulders. But in the ways that mattered, he was the same. Izuku was still here reaching out to Katsuki. Except this time, instead of swatting the hand away, he let it cradle his cheek as he leaned into the gentle hold, not paying any mind to the warm blood now covering half his face
"I need you.. to take it." Izuku slurred barely clinging to consciousness. Katsuki's brow furrowed in confusion. As he was about to ask what could possibly be so important, a voice rang clear through his head.
This is borrowed power-
Katsuki's body went cold. Dread filled him. No, he couldn't mean that. But w hat else could he possibly mean? Katsuki couldn't breathe. The cut under Izuku's hand ached.
It is a sacred torch meant to be passed on-
"No. NO ! I don't want it!" Katsuki cried, clutching Izuku's hand, harshly shoving his cheek against it. "Take it back now! You have to take it back!" He couldn't take Izuku's quirk! He couldn't! He had taken far too much from the boy already. Katsuki couldn't be responsible for taking his dream too. Part of him wanted to rip Izuku's hand away. Maybe he could stop the transfer or give it back. But another part of him, a part of himself he's buried deep for years, couldn't reject Izuku. Katsuki never could. Is this what it means to be heartbroken?
Izuku eyes slowly began to shut, and terror clawed through Katsuki like it never had before.
"DEKU! Deku, you have to stay awake!" Katsuki gripped Izuku's face, letting the limp hand fall to the ground. He watched dark lashes flutter as Izuku's eyes fought to stay open. For the first time in his life, Katsuki prayed. He prayed for Izuku to be the stubborn asshole he knows he can be. Because this wasn't supposed to happen. They were rivals and whats the point of all of this if he lost- "That's it, Izuku! C'mon, keep your eyes on me!" Izuku gave him a weak smile, and sleepily gazed up at him. A sob tore through Katsuki. "Yes! Yes, just keep your eyes on me."
Katsuki had brushed with death many times. Each time left a scar he still carried with him. The nights he dreamt of slime gagging him, slowly choking him to death in a dirty alley. The morning runs before the sun had risen, where he ran and ran until he couldn't feel burned hands tightening around his throat. But now, if you asked him what death felt like, he'd say it felt like this.
He'd heard of your life flashing before your eyes when you died. Katsuki wasn't the one bleeding out on the ground, but what he saw now was a shy green-haired toddler blushing behind his mothers legs. The playground that had acted as their cityscape for taking down villains. The hero trading cards and sleepovers under All Might bedsheets. He saw explosions. And he saw tears. Small shaking fists raised against him, and how those same hands tore at the slime that tried to devour him. He saw broken bones, green lightning, and a determined grin. Katsuki found himself in Ground Beta. Save to Win. Win to Save. The sunset he appreciated as he strolled back to the dorms with Izuku who was excitedly rambling about their OFA training. He saw the week he made extra servings for dinner each night, knowing the damned nerd always forgot to eat during finals. Katsuki saw Izuku smiling up at him, eyes shining with freckles that rivaled the stars in the night sky. Was he seeing his life or Izuku's? He was unsure. What he did know was he never imagined dying could be so painful.
Behind him footsteps sounded. For a brief moment, Katsuki believed help had arrived. Before he could turn, a stinging pain shot through him. "Fuck!" Katsuki yelled out, grasping an emptied syringe that was stuck in the base of his neck. He yanked it out. Planning to rain hellfire on the bastard behind him, Katsuki tried to stand when his limbs went numb. Vision blurring, he was pulled under the drug's influence. The ground rushed up to meet him and smacked him hard in the face.
All he could do was watch as a tear fell from lifeless gaze of Izuku just inches from his face. The boy was dragged out of Katsuki's sight and he wondered if this was all his fault. His vision darkened around the massive red stain smeared on the concrete.
Izuku, can I still reach you?