Chapter Text
The shelves shook as Bakugou Katsuki slammed his dorm door shut. He cursed under his breath as he clasped the handle in his hands quickly. As if that would suddenly make his loud entrance at the asscrack of dawn any quieter. Or, better yet, take him back in time to before he had passed Deku and asked him to meet him out at Ground Beta. Before he embarrassed himself in front of Deku and All Might. (Honestly, he would prefer it take him all the way back to age four so he could redo tens of things better but it probably wouldn’t do shit anyway)
In his delirium to get to sleep, go to bed, go to bed, now now, Katsuki didn’t notice the fact that the door to his balcony was cracked open the slightest. Or the fact that there might have been something out there. Waiting. But none of that mattered because the sun was fucking rising. And fuck if Bakugou Katsuki didn’t value his sleep. Even if he could only catch a few minutes before his alarm blared at him. He would take it.
When Katsuki did wake up, he was no longer in his dorm.
He felt his body tense, fight or flight kicking in. He observed the ceiling he had woken up to the sight of as if he could tell a room apart by that alone. (He convinced himself he could but that was beside the point) Katsuki tentatively rolled onto his side, all but holding his breath as he waited for consequences to his actions.
When they didn’t come, he forced an eye open (when had they closed??), to see a bland ass wall. But it was enough to tell him this was not his room. The wall was painted yellow. Who the fuck slept in a yellow room?? Not only did he begin judging the shit out of whoever’s room this might be, but he also began scanning his memory for any of his friends who might have this amount of shit taste.
He couldn’t come up with anyone who was psychotic enough to have this much yellow in their room. Next conclusion? He had been kidnapped. Seemingly shittily too because he felt no tension of a rope or anything. He was just lying there. Whoever did this had to be fucking shit at their job.
Speaking of which, Katsuki stretched out his right arm. His body felt.. Odd. He couldn’t fully figure it out, but his body felt sorer than it should’ve been, for starters. His bones ached in a different way than they had previously, too. And he was decently sure even with his and Deku’s fight the night prior, he wouldn’t hurt this much. As he stared at his outstretched arm, it felt strange. It didn’t feel like his. Even though it obviously was. I mean, it was his fucking arm. Something felt wrong.. And it was keeping him from taking full breaths.
All at once he felt something move behind him. And all of a sudden none of his thoughts mattered enough to stick other than run, run, run, run.
In bullet time, Katsuki rolled over to see what the sound could have possibly been. His mind raced in the moment with backup plans. If needed he could blast this fucker’s head off. It would be not only loud but wholly unnecessary and a pain to deal with later. But he could do it. As a last resort. Other options, other options. Alternatively, he could use close-hand combat and try to take out this person up close. It would be difficult, especially with how he was laid out and vulnerable, but it could be possible.
As Katsuki’s mind continued to race with doomsday plans, he had a wave of familiarity hit him that only made things worse. Because who else would be lying next to him other than… Deku. Every thought of violence left his head at Deku’s sleeping face. (Well, maybe a few thoughts stayed.)
So Deku was the psychopath. Made sense.
But.. something was different about Deku too. Since they were face to face lying in bed together (Katsuki would shelf that to process later), he was able to observe Deku’s face closely. Which was an angle he very rarely got. So, he wasn’t sure if it was just that or if Deku did look different.
No, something was definitely wrong. His jaw was somehow sharper, his curls more maintained (even after seemingly slept the whole night), and his face was littered with more freckles. He seemed almost.. More mature. Katsuki squinted his eyes at the man in front of him.
This wasn’t Deku. Not his, anyway.
Katsuki pushed himself backward and broke his eyes away from an… older? Deku? And pulled himself out of the bed. He dragged his hand along his face. His face felt different. Why did his face feel different? He felt a spike of panic as he ran to the full-body mirror inside the room.
In front of himself was a much older version of himself. Katsuki stood, only in a pair of vaguely All Might-themed boxers, and covered in scars. The most notable being one that pierced the space between his heart and his left shoulder. He placed his hand over it, carefully. He wanted to say everything had to be some stupid dream but he was too aware for that. He was aware of how the panic made him feel bile in the back of his throat. How his hands lightly trembled. How his body was aching slightly just from standing upwards. He fucking hoped dreams couldn’t feel this goddamn real.
Katsuki observed his older-looking body, noting that along with scars he also had a lot more muscle mass. He felt a sense of pride well in his chest, but it had nothing on the acid sitting in his stomach. He finally began observing his own face. He also looked more mature, older. His jaw had a sharper shape, and upon moving the hand over his heart to his jaw, found stubble there. He was pretty damn sure no fifteen-year-old version of him could look as he did. This version of him also appeared to have some sort of undercut. If Katsuki hadn’t been losing his fucking mind, he might’ve thought it looked nice on him.
Katsuki looked into his own eyes and saw genuine fear. He looked the most vulnerable he had ever caught with his own two eyes and that fact sent another spike of panic to his stomach. Katsuki’s breaths were coming out in quick, sharp puffs now.
What happened?
Had he gotten into a coma?? Katsuki thought as he made his way to a closet in the room. He grabbed random clothing (not like he would be able to tell what was his and what was Deku’s anyway) and walked out of the room.
Coma was the only reason other than holy fuck I’ve gone insane he could reasonably come up with. But that didn’t explain why he was in this fucking yellow room. Let alone sharing a bed with Deku in his boxers. Especially with how their relationship was now (then?) there was no way in hell Deku would share a bed with him. Ever.
Okay, so no coma. Gotcha. What else was there? Why would he go to sleep yesterday as a teen and wake up today as a man with new scars and facial features?? Because Katsuki was coming up pretty fucking blank.
“Kacchan..?” The small voice calling after him broke his thought immediately. He turned with wild eyes and ragged breath to see Deku had put on a shirt and shorts to follow him. (Assuming he hadn’t slept like Katsuki had…) Katsuki saw the alarm fill Deku’s eyes before he could turn away again. His now rough, scarred hands gripped his own hair. It felt so hard to fucking breathe. Why couldn’t he just breathe??
“Kacchan.” Deku said again, firm and without any of the tiredness his voice had held just a moment before. He reached out and held Katsuki’s face in his hands. It was soft, so soft and it freaked Katsuki out. The Deku he knew wouldn’t ever hold him like this. He wouldn’t. “Can you focus on me, baby?”
Katsuki’s walls were up again in an instant. He broke himself out of the grip forcefully, all but hyperventilating in his panicked state. Deku seemed to register Katsuki’s actions before even he did, because he was looking alarmed again.
And, suddenly, Katsuki was running. He was out the door of their (??? their ???) apartment and into the street. He could barely breathe. Barely think other than, Danger, danger, run, get away, get safe, go go. If he could just get away, get somewhere safe. Somewhere fucking normal, then he could, he could-
His thoughts were forced to a screeching halt as a body mass fucking landed on him.
“Did you fucking jump?!” Katsuki yelled out as his brain supplied that it must’ve been Deku.
“Well, what was I supposed to do?? You were running, Kacchan! You wouldn’t listen!” Yep, definitely Deku.
“So you fucking JUMP?!”
“YES! Will you listen now, please?”
“NO! I don’t know you!” That caused some sort of reaction because it took a long pause for Deku to reply. In the entirety of which, Katsuki wriggled and thrashed and attempted to bite. This might not be any sort of Deku he knew, but he didn’t want to hurt him. Well, at least enough to create lasting damage.
“Ouch, okay. Kacchan- will you- just hold still?!”
“FUCK NO” This granted him an exasperated sigh from Deku. This seemed nearly like routine for him. That lit up a new idea in itself. He could get answers from Deku.. If he cared enough to keep him there like this, maybe he would listen to Katsuki and give him some fucking insight.
“Kacchan, please.”
Katsuki breathed loudly and purposefully. “Fine. But I’m only going because I decided to, Okay?”
Deku chuckled at this, which deeply offended Katsuki. What the fuck was with this guy?! How dare he?? Deku let him up, but not without keeping a tight grip on his arms. He felt like he was being fucking arrested for fuck sake. But he allowed Deku to walk him back into.. The apartment.
Deku led Katsuki to a table in his apartment. Once he was sure Katsuki wouldn’t book it the moment his back was turned, Deku made them both a cup of tea. Such a good host, Katsuki thought bitterly. As if he hadn’t just launched himself out of a window to catch Katsuki and keep him from running. Okay, sure, maybe Katsuki was a little out of line for trying to run away, but this was fucking weird! No one could reasonably blame him for his actions.
After a while, Deku set both cups down at the table and sat across from Katsuki with that stupid, gentle, patient fucking look on his face. Katsuki gripped his cup with strength too unfamiliar for his liking. It took nearly every part of him not to scowl and shout at Deku not to fucking look at him like that.
Katsuki hesitated for a long moment, staring at the dark liquid in his cup and focusing on the still tea bag before he began explaining what had happened. How one minute he had been fifteen and tired from a fight (Deku oddly asked for extra details on that part. Shouldn’t he have remembered?? And why did he look so soft?) and the next minute he was in a body that entirely felt wrong and definitely not fifteen.
When Katsuki finally looked up to meet Deku’s eyes, he was setting his cup back down. Katsuki realized now that he hadn’t actually drunk any of his own. He began stirring it idly, his hands itching to do something. Deku still looked patient and understanding. Katsuki hated it.
“Sounds like you were a part of some sort of body swap incident. It must have sent you to a.. Different reality. Maybe a villain had attacked that night or a different course has a quirk that we didn’t know about..” Deku began muttering to himself about different theories of why Katsuki would end up in this situation.
Meanwhile, Katsuki was finding it hard to breathe (again). Body swapping? He guessed it made sense but.. Had a villain attacked? Were his friends okay if so? What about their teachers? Or All Might? …Deku? Had anyone been hurt? Or sent to other realities just like him? Were any of them here? Should he be out there looking for them? As his thoughts raced, so did his heart. Until Deku pulled him out of it with a light touch of his hand.
“Kacchan. Breathe.”
Oh shit.
Katsuki took a deep breath, filling his lungs as much as he could. He felt like everything was so much more severe in this reality. What was up with this version of himself? What had happened to him? Katsuki forced himself to speak so that he couldn’t spiral down in his thoughts again.
“When will I be back?” Katsuki tried to feign nonchalance but his voice wavered, giving away his true thoughts much more than he was used to.
“I doubt it would last longer than a full day. Quirk accidents like this rarely last more than a twenty-four hour period.” Deku gave a light squeeze to his hand. Katsuki pulled his hand away on impulse, grimacing at the gentleness this Deku held for him. It made him feel things he did not have the capacity to deal with currently (or ever). Katsuki gave a quick nod.
“Guess I have time to kill then,” Katsuki said, still a little bitter to be forced into this position. “So, you and this version of me live together?” He might as well gather some more information about his situation… even if he didn’t give a shit about this reality.
Deku smiled nervously, fidgeting. “Ah.. well, yes. We do.” Katsuki squinted at him suspiciously before noticing that Deku was specifically fidgeting with a ring on his finger.. On his ring finger.
Oh.
Katsuki launched backward, falling out of his seat and into the floor. His cup crashed alongside him as he screeched, “YOU’RE MARRIED ??” Deku stifled a laugh, which barely registered in Katsuki’s ringing ears. They were married?! Well, no. He wasn’t married. Deku was. The Deku that wasn’t his. From his reality.
Deku returned (when had he left??) with a broom and dustpan to sweep his shattered mug.
“Dang.. this was one of your favorites too,” Deku paused, looking at Katsuki who was still gaping at him in shock, with an amused expression. “Well I guess not your favorite, but you know what I mean.”
Deku stood to throw away the mug and Katsuki followed, still dumbfounded by this revelation. Katsuki had already been suspicious, but now he knew something was wrong with this version of him. He and Dek?? That could never happen. Ever.
“How.” Katsuki blurted when Deku turned back to face him. Deku tilted his head in slight confusion.
“Hm?”
“How??” Katsuki rapidly gestured between the two of them which caused Deku to laugh. “OI! Don’t laugh at me! This is wild fuckin’ information!!” Deku hummed, putting the broom in some random closet that Katsuki paid no mind to.
“I guess it would be odd for you.” Deku paused to return and clean his mug. “You were - sorry, are - fifteen, right?” Katsuki nodded wildly, still following Deku around like- like something, okay?! Katsuki was losing his mind a bit too much for fuckin’ analogies.
“Well, time changes things, Kacchan. We became the wonder duo and only became closer and closer to each other.” Deku began staring out the window with a soft, fond expression as he continued speaking. (and Katsuki leaned his back against the counter, watching his face closely)
“It only made sense after all of our history and development that feelings would surface. I’d always loved you.” Katsuki made sure not to think about the inference that if this Deku could love him, it was wholly possible that the Deku where he came from loved him too. “And we were the only ones that could really understand each other. I mean, sure, others could too, of course. But we just have this.. Deeper connection. Maybe it was just our past but I like to think we were meant to be, like no matter what we would find each other.”
Deku turned to look at Katsuki, finally. And he looked so in love. Like there couldn’t have ever been anyone else for him. It was a lot and Katsuki didn’t know how to deal with it.
“Oh.. Cool. ” Katsuki said with a voice crack. Deku laughed again and motioned for Katsuki to follow him. Katsuki followed him to the living room.
“Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have told you all that.. But you know me, always rambling.” Deku sat on the couch and patted the spot beside him. Katsuki sat on the couch but notably left plenty of space between himself and Deku. The him from this universe might be married to Deku but Katsuki was still wildly uncomfortable with the concept of being anything near what they were.
“Yeah,” Katsuki said bluntly, not sure what else Deku wanted from him. Deku smiled, much too kind and much too much for Katsuki.
“Anyway! I thought we could just hang out until you’re sent back. Obviously, I can’t do the routine my Kacchan and I usually do. So.” Deku paused awkwardly before continuing when Katsuki said nothing. “I have all the All Might documentaries and films so we could do a sort of marathon if you’d like.” Katsuki nodded silently, his brain already mush from all the short-circuiting and emotions that he was forced to feel through today in this dreaded body.
Deku put on the first film of many that they watched that day. A silence permeated them for a while before Deku began ranting over the movie as he got more comfortable. It made Katsuki relax too, feeling familiar. If he closed his eyes and really pretended, it was almost like he was in Inko’s house - or even the common room. He could pretend that he was back home, in his reality, and that he had decided to spend the day with Deku. Pretend that everything had been under his control. Pretend that he decided every action he took. Pretend that this was normal.
Hours went by and Deku made them snacks, and eventually dinner (which hadn’t been as bad as Katsuki thought it would’ve been, knowing his reality’s Deku). Katsuki felt a little antsy as the hours stretched on. This quirk seemed to be taking the full twenty-four hours and it was irritating, to say the least. But it was still sort of.. Nice spending the whole day with Deku like this. The movies became background noise to Deku’s rants about the funding behind them and the process of filming and they didn’t actually do this, they did this. Katsuki was pleasantly surprised by how little he was irritated. In his own reality, he was sure he would’ve blown up by now (literally and figuratively).
Eventually, Katsuki’s eyes found their way closed, and a light blanket found its way on top of him. He drowsily noted a hand playing with his hair. It felt sort of nice, so he decided not to fight it as he felt his consciousness start to slip away from him.
“Good night, Kacchan. I hope you find your way home.” Katsuki only barely caught Deku’s hushed words and he couldn’t place whether he meant this version of his husband, or the real one. He guessed it didn’t really matter that much.
When Katsuki woke up the following morning, he was somewhere entirely new.
And couldn’t use his quirk.