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Izuku used to love fairytales. It was so cool to him to hear about various worlds with powers not unlike his own. He especially loved happy endings. So, when his mom would tell him it was story time before bed, he would get excited because who didn't love fairytales?
What Izuku didn't know was that while he considered life to be sunshine all the time like in the stories his mother would read to him, his life wasn't a fairytale.
****
The first thing that popped his fantasy was when he was diagnosed as quirkless.
Quirkless? How could that be? Almost everyone in their world had a quirk, there was only a small percent of people who didn't. How was it that he happened to be a part of that small percent?
Sure, his hopes were down(especially when his mother held him and apologized when he asked if she thought he could be a hero too), but he had confidence he could still achieve his goal.
He was in love with the idea of being a hero, it was his dream. Said dream seemed to be a rocky road with many jagged edges, however. It had made him stumble many times already, but he would and had gotten back up every time.
He may seem crazy to be as fixated on the idea as he was, but he was already cursed with his quirklessness, what could possibly make it worse?
The heroes in the fairytales always achieved their goals, and so would he.
*****
The second thing that made him question his faith was when Kacchan went from childishly teasing him to bullying him.
They had known each other for what seemed forever. Their moms had been friends, therefore their mothers assumed they, too, would be friends as default.
And they were, for a while.
They went on adventures together pretending to be heros fighting bad guys (they would always win because that's what heroes did).
One day, the two boys were strolling along a path in the park with the other boys of their neighborhood when they decided to play a game of hide-and-seek.
"Alright," a young Katsuki said, "You all have thirty seconds to hide before I come to find you. And I will find you."
Thirty seconds?! That wasn't nearly enough time to find a good hiding spot!
Izuku desperately looked around for a place to hide when his eyes caught sight of a large bush. Not the best place to hide, but he only had ten seconds left before his time was up. He slowly made his way over to the bush hoping that he wouldn't be the first person found. Who knows, maybe his hair could help camouflage him and delay the time till he inevitably got detected.
Eyes covered by his hands, Katsuki counted down the remaining seconds, "...three, two, one! I hope you're ready because I'm coming for you all!"
Izuku had tried his hardest to be quiet, had covered his mouth and had slowed his breathing in the hopes of being stealthy, yet, it took all but five seconds for him to be found.
Green shoes got closer and closer until they stopped right by Izuku's hiding spot. "Ha! I've found you, Deku. You really are useless. What kind of person can't find a good place for hide-and-seek?" He taunted.
The other boys were found not long after Izuku, but he still couldn't help but feel dejected at how fast he had been found.
Once they were all found, the boy with a wing quirk asked the question he had been dreading, "So, Katsuki, who did you find first?"
The boy in question clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Deku, of course. You all know that he can't do anything right. Not only is he quirkless, but he's an idiot, too!"
Laughter rang out at the declaration and Izuku shrunk in on himself.
"Yeah," one of the lackeys said, "And he thinks he can be a hero like that?"
"He's pathetic, truly," another laughed.
What had been a good day at the start had turned into something from Izuku's nightmares.
Yet, no matter what, Katsuki was amazing in his eyes. His hotheaded friend could do anything! He was going to be a hero like All Might one day, and Izuku was so proud of him.
They were going to be heros together, too! Kacchan had promised him that.
So why was he acting like Izuku was diseased and he was useless?
Sure, Katsuki had called him that before, useless, but he didn't mean it with malice. At least he didn't think so… Why was his best friend being so mean?
*****
It went on like that for a while. Katsuki lived the life of a fairytale and Izuku was now placed under the role of a side character. He still watched from afar because he still loved to watch Katsuki and he'd always be his supporter.
Katsuki got a one-hundred percent on their test? "Amazing, Kacchan."
Katsuki confirmed he was going to take the UA entrance exam like he had planned as a kid? "I know you'll pass with no problem!"
Katsuki got a love letter from a girl in their class? "..." He didn't know how to react to that. Kacchan was popular, that he knew, but he didn't expect him to be pursued by other people. He probably should have because he wasn't the only one who saw how great and cool Katsuki was.
It had been like any other day in their middle school when a girl with long black hair and baby blue eyes had approached Katsuki's desk after the bell had rang for dismissal.
She was shaking with nerves and the whole class had their eyes on her, wondering what she could be approaching Katsuki for.
It didn't take long for her reason to be voiced, as she partially bowed down, thrusting her arms out. In her hands was a letter with a heart sticker where a stamp would be, and it left nothing to the imagination for what it could be. It was a love letter.
Eyes closed, she whisper-yelled, "Please accept this letter, Bakugo-kun!"
Ruby eyes looked over the girl and her letter several times, sizing her up. Then, he took the letter, much to the whole class's surprise.
Was Kacchan really accepting her letter? He didn't seem like the type to be interested in love; he had said once before that it was nonsense.
If he decided to date their classmate, wouldn't that be a good thing? So why didn't he feel happy for him? Why did he feel a sharp pain in his chest just thinking about Kacchan getting confessed to?
Maybe it was because he was jealous that Kacchan got attention from a girl. Girls never approached Izuku.
But he didn't like that girl…so what was his reasoning for being upset?
Unfortunately for the girl, however, Katsuki had no intention of accepting her proclamation of love.
He crumpled up the letter, then he blew it up for good measure.
When he looked over to his gifter, he saw tears in her eyes as she stared, shocked at his actions.
Sneering at her, he asked, "What are you looking at, huh?" Then, really digging the nail into the coffin, he said, "Beat it, extra."
Publicly embarrassed at that point, the girl ran out of the classroom sobbing.
Such was the curse of trying to get close to Bakugo Katsuki. If you choose to play with fire, you're bound to get burned.
Later that night, he was left wide awake, the day's events playing over and over in his mind. He had felt so many emotions in the span of a few minutes, but there was one that he couldn't quite pinpoint the name of. No use worrying over it, he supposed. It was probably just a passing feeling that wouldn't occur again.
---
A few months later, Izuku was walking under a bridge practicing his All Might laugh when he was attacked by the sludge villain. He had the feeling that was surely about to die.
That moment was what crushed his hope for ever living out his own fairytale life.
How could he be a hero if he was going to die? Maybe Kacchan was right…maybe he wasn't cut out for it after all.
Just when he thought his current breath would be his last, he heard a booming voice declare, "I am here!"
After All Might defeated the villain, he was set to leave.
He had so many questions for his idol, an important one at that. So when he saw the hero about to take off, he grabbed on.
His life flashed before his eyes again, but the answer to his question almost made him regret asking it in the first place.
All Might didn't think he could be a hero, either. His mom, Kacchan, and now All Might? Did no one believe in him but himself?
It's okay he thought as he wiped his tears. It's okay because there's still hope.
-
There truly was hope, because with Kacchan's rescue from the sludge villain, Izuku was seen as worthy of being a hero by All Might.
Even though he didn't compare his life to a fairytale as often as when he was a kid, his current life seemed relevant to something that he would've read in a storybook. When he had received OFA from All Might, he felt as if his curse had been lifted and it was his time to venture on his journey to be a hero.
His life wasn't a fairytale, he would not longer lie to himself, but he could say that his life had fairytale aspects in it.
He trained hard, and when he was accepted into UA, he only had one more thing that could make his childhood dreams come true- a proper relationship with Kacchan.
*****
As his time progressed at UA and more people approached Katsuki, he realized what that feeling had been when he saw the blond get a love letter. It had been jealousy, yes, but his jealousy was not over the girl who had confessed. He was jealous of the girl.
He couldn't ever see himself having the guts to confess his feelings to Kacchan, but at least now he was able to put a name to the feelings so he could lock them away in the back of his mind.
Although Katsuki didn't bully him anymore, he had made a point to pick a fight almost daily with Izuku earlier in their first year. Class 1-A knew they had a complicated history just by looking at them. Their relationship was far more complicated than they would ever know, though.
His emotions for the other boy were like a rollercoaster; thrilling and terrifying all at once. No one could make Izuku as sad as Kacchan did. He had felt his heart break many times and had shed enough tears over him. Yet, no one else could make Izuku feel as happy as Kacchan did, especially when their relationship improved at the end of their first year.
****
He found himself falling deeper in love with Katsuki the older he got. He was so deep into it that he was afraid he would drown in the feeling.
At the current point of time, they worked together as hero partners and he was the happiest he had ever been.
He felt so blessed to have the life he did with his mother, friends, and his dream job as a hero. He even had a good relationship with Kacchan now, achieving his goal of becoming a hero duo with him like they had planned as kids. They had started their friendship over, starting new. Their past wouldn't be erased, but it would be a part of the foundation that their relationship would be built on. So yeah, he and Katsuki were on way better terms than he could have hoped for, even if his heart longed for more.
The Wonder Duo were walking back from their ended patrol when Katsuki had spoken up, breaking the previous silence.
Lifting his black mask from his eyes, ruby eyes outlined in black liner turned towards an emerald green pair, "Hey, Deku. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as fuck right now."
Izuku turned to his hero partner, continuing their conversation as they walked, "I'm also hungry, but why are you voicing your hunger to me?"
It was odd of Katsuki to straight up say something like that without a reason. He hoped by asking about it wouldn't cause the other boy to shut down.
Ruby eyes rolled as Katsuki snapped irritability, "It was a statement, Deku. I was just trying to start a conversation, isn't that what you're always yapping about wanting?"
"Well, yeah. You don't have to force yourself to talk to me if it makes you uncomfortable, though. I know you'd rather spend your time talking to someone else." Izuku replied nervously.
"Was that a challenge, nerd? Are you saying that I'm incapable of spending time with your sorry ass?"
Oh no, Izuku thought, I accidentally made him think it was a challenge.
Waving his hands around, he stopped walking as he faced Katsuki, "No, of course not! I was just stating my observations. You don't seem like you enjoy spending time with me. It's not like you would deny that fact, anyways."
Okay, so maybe he did have an ulterior motive to bait Katsuki into spending more time with him. Could you really blame him, though? He was a fool in love and he would cherish any time he could spend with his childhood friend.
Katsuki actually growled at that. "And who are you to tell me who I enjoy spending time with or what I would or would not deny? Nobody tells me what to do. Nobody. You got that, Deku?"
It was then Izuku realized he had hit a nerve, so he just nodded his head in his confirmation.
Seeing that Izuku understood, Katsuki's face relaxed back to its normal state of a scowl. "Glad we're clear, then. Now then, if you're done acting like a Deku, I'm going to go get ramen. Come, or don't, I don't care."
Taking the invitation for what it was (an invitation), Izuku followed Katsuki to the hero themed ramen stand.
*****
After one of the many times that Izuku's body had moved on its own to save someone, he lay on the ground in a pool of his own blood.
He didn't mind going like this- as a hero. It was all he had wanted to be, and he would die happy knowing the person he had saved would get to continue their life. His only regret would be his cowardice because he had never had the guts to profess his love to Katsuki, even after all this time.
He had spent years together with Katsuki as hero partners and they had made their greatest achievement of being the number one hero duo. With their years of partnership, they had spent a lot of time with one another, so much, in fact, that they had both acknowledged one another as their best friend. That really showed how far they had come, Bakugo Katsuki had admitted that Izuku Midoriya was his best friend.
Looking back on all their memories together, Izuku smiled. They say your life's memories flash before your eyes as you die, and they were right in that regard. However, the longer he lay where he was, the more he felt himself fade into a delirious state; his sense of reality was blurred.
Suddenly, he felt a hand grab his own and saw the face of an angel look down upon him. "Stay with me, Izuku," the angel seemed to be saying.
"Stay?" Izuku managed to work out of his throat. He could taste blood in his mouth, so it was a wonder how he was still able to speak, "Where else would I be heading, angel?"
He smiled up at the handsome man above him. He was boyishly handsome, and Izuku couldn't help but wonder why such a beautiful person was frowning.
"You can't leave me. You have to keep fighting, you just have to!" Katsuki pleaded desperately. Then his words turned angry, "What happened to staying by my side, huh?! You promised me! Don't you dare give up."
Tears started to steam from ruby eyes, catching in blond eyelashes. "I can't do this without you, so please don't make me. That's all I ask. I still have so much to say to you, so don't let this be the end."
Who was this man to be so beautiful, even in tears? He must care about Izuku a lot to be this emotional over him.
"It's okay," he said softly. He lifted a shaky hand up to red eyes and wiped a single tear from them. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness, but he felt it would be a crime to not try to stop those tears from falling.
Not long after, emerald eyes closed as his arm fell back down to the ground.
The last thing he hear as he faded into unconsciousness was a scream of "Hurry the fuck up! He's dying, can't you see that?!"
-
When Izuku came to, it was to the sound of a heartbeat monitor and the smell that could only be described as a hospital.
Blinking his eyes open, he was startled to notice a hand holding his own tightly. Looking over to the owner of the hand, he saw Katsuki.
His hero partner/best friend/secret love was asleep in the visitor chair of his hospital room. He had bags under his eyes, and he was still wearing his hero gear, which was covered in blood.
His hand twitched in the blond's grip, causing also blond eyelashes to flutter open revealing ruby eyes.
Seeing that the other was awake, Katsuki stood from his seat- whilst keeping his grip on a scarred hand- and pressed the call button for the nurse.
After his vitals had been checked deeming Izuku to be good, the nurse left the room, leaving a dead silence with her.
Uncomfortable with the awkwardness of the silence, Izuku broke it, "So, how long have I been here?" he asked.
The silence remained after his question for about a minute before he got a reply. "Two days." Katsuki said flatly.
Two days, huh? Well that's not too bad, Izuku thought. He had been hospitalized enough before in the past that it didn't bother him anymore.
It didn't bother him, but it sure as hell bothered Katsuki.
"When are you going to stop recklessly throwing yourself into danger, Deku? You promised me that you would be better, but here you are again, in the hospital, after nearly dying. It's almost like you think your life doesn't matter." Katsuki said. He was pissed at Izuku and he wasn't afraid to let it show.
Izuku sighed at that because he had expected a lecture, "You know I can't help it, Kacchan. My body just moves on its own, sometimes." He was upset that Katsuki had insinuated that he didn't value his life, however, "And of course I care about dying! I don't have a death wish and I'm not suicidal. Even if I were to die, I would be at peace with it, if it was to save someone else."
"That's the point, Izuku!" Katsuki bellowed. "You don't fucking think about it. You don't think about the people that would be affected by your death at all."
Izuku could see where he was coming from, he supposed. He could admit that he sometimes acted before he thought.
"I get it. I know that I worried you and everyone else, but I'm fine now, aren't I?" He tried.
That must not have been the best thing to say at that moment because Katsuki visibly got angry as a result.
"No, you don't get it. You will never understand how the people close to you feel when you throw yourself into danger thoughtlessly. You wouldn't understand how I feel when you act like a stupid, self-sacrificial martyr."
That confused Izuku. What was he trying to get at?
"It's part of my job, Kacchan. I'm a hero; I save lives, no matter what the cost. If my life happens to be the cost, then it just does."
Katsuki had been holding his hand their whole conversation, but it was that moment that he finally let go.
He laughed humorlessly, "You know what, Deku? This is the part of you that I can't stand. You are both the most selfless and selfish person I have ever known. Have you ever really considered how people would feel if you were to die?"
Now that was a low blow, and Katsuki knew it.
"They'd learn to cope, I'm sure." He didn't have a way to know for sure, but he knew his friends would keep fighting even after he was gone. "With All For One and the League gone, One For All has served its purpose. It was already decided that it would die with me."
"What about me, huh?" Katsuki spoke, his voice breaking, "After all the promises you made to me, you'd be willing to throw it all away just like that? This isn't some fairytale, Deku. This is real life. Death is a permanent arrangement."
They really couldn't get through this without fighting, could they?
He loved Katsuki, but he couldn't keep having conversations with him that brought nothing but confusion.
"Of course our promises matter, I try to keep them the best I can. Some things just can't be helped, though. You have got to understand that, Katsuki." Pausing, he chose to comment on the other part of Katsuki's question, "I'm sure you'll be fine without me, you wouldn't let something like my death stop you from being the greatest hero." It was his attempt at a joke to lighten the mood. His joke had the opposite effect he wanted, however.
Katsuki abruptly stood from his chair and started pacing the room.
He was near hysterical at this point, "You're really joking about that, right now? You were practically dead when they got you here! How the fuck can you just joke about it like it was nothing?"
"Geez, Kacchan. Why is it that you're so caught up on this, anyways? Normally you'd lecture me, but this is a lot, even for you."
And he was right about that. It was common for heroes to get injured in a fight, Izuku included(obviously-). In the past, when Izuku had gotten injured Katsuki had always lectured him plenty, but not to this extent.
"Well maybe it's because I love your dumbass, did you ever think of that?" He then answered his own question, "Probably not because you can't seem to think properly. You make me lose my damn mind, ugh," Katsuki rambled. He really spent too much time with Izuku that his habits were rubbing off on him.
"Hey, I can think just fine, thank you very much."
He earned a fond laugh for that one, "Really, Deku? I fucking confess my feelings to you and that's what you pick up on?"
Izuku blushed as he processed what had been said. "You love me?"
At the question, Katsuki stopped his pacing.
"Yeah," he replied with a smirk, "I'm in love with an idiot."
Izuku couldn't be bothered to focus on being called an idiot. He was elated! Kacchan loved him back!!
Oh, wait, he hadn't told him he loved him, too.
"I'm so happy right now. You love me!" He smiled. "I'm in love with you, too, Kacchan. I'm in love with a mean jerk," he teased as an attempt to get his boyfriend(?) back.
He heard another laugh and stared at Katsuki to see what had prompted the reaction.
He was smiling softly as he gazed at Izuku with what could only be described as love.
"You muttered that, you know. Idiot." He fondly rolled his eyes. "But yes, we're boyfriends now, if that's what you want."
"Yes!" Izuku shouted. Realizing that he had voiced that quite loudly, he looked down at his hands, embarrassed at his enthusiasm.
Katsuki walked over to his bedside and ruffled his hair. "Good," he said, "Because now I can do this."
He leaned down and kissed Izuku softly.
After a while, they pulled away from one another with their foreheads leaning against one another.
"I've been dying to do that for quite some time now," Katsuki admitted.
Green eyes closed as Izuku laughed, "Me, too. I've been dying to kiss you."
"You little shit-"
*****
Izuku loved happy endings. He loved listening to his mother read him stories as a kid; hearing about romance, superpowers, and friendship alike.
Now, having grown up into the hero he was today, he stared at a photobook lovingly. It wasn't just any photobook, though, it was pictures of his life as he progressed- his own story.
On the cover was a picture of him and his husband, gazing into one another's eyes on their wedding day. It was one of his favorite photos of Katsuki because when Kirishima had taken it, Katsuki was unaware, therefore he wasn't prepared to hide the love on his face when he stared at his husband.
Yes, Izuku loved happy endings, but he had learned that happy endings also come with a lot of hard work and not so happy memories- a lot of pain. That was just how it worked, and looking back now, he would say his life was better than any fairytale was.