Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bakugou pushed past the agency's doors in a haze, his first conversation of the day playing on loop in his head. He didn't even have the capacity to acknowledge the receptionist before mindlessly entering the elevator and pressing the button for the sixteenth floor. It didn't feel right to classify this emotion as sad. No, this wasn't something he could be sad about. They were grown adults, professional heroes, this sort of thing was inevitable. 

"Well, you seem off this morning." Bakugou startled so hard he nearly dropped his coffee when Todoroki spoke inside the elevator that he could've sworn was empty when he got in.

"Jesus fucking christ, Icyhot- where the hell did you come from!?"

"We walked in the building together," he deadpanned. "If you actually didn't notice that then my prior assumption must be accurate. Did something happen?"

Two years ago, if Todoroki had asked him anything remotely related to his personal life, he would've cursed him out and stormed off. But in working together they had unfortunately become close enough that most of the agency would probably try to classify them as 'friends'. At some undetermined point he passively decided that out of everyone else he saw on a daily basis, Todoroki was certainly the most tolerable. So though it might've been out of character for his past self, he didn't think twice about answering anymore. 

"Shitty Hair doesn't want to renew our lease."

"That'll be rough, moving in July. Did he at least find a place for you guys closer to work?"

"No. He, uh-" Bakugou stumbled over his words, they felt so foreign on his tongue. "He's getting a one-bed. In Tokyo. Said it's time for something new."

The elevator dinged and he walked out, ignoring the confused look on Todoroki's face. He was confused too. He doubted it made any more sense to the other man as it did to him.

He heard him take a few quick steps to catch up as Bakugou numbly wove through the sea of desks and chatting coworkers until he reached his own, dropping his bag on the floor and himself into his swivel chair. Gravity rotated him to face his partner, who hadn't seemed to quite figure out an adequate response. 

"It's fine," Bakugou mumbled, turning on his computer. "We were bound to split up at some point, I always knew he wanted out of Kyushu."

Todoroki's brow furrowed as he sat down at his desk across the aisle, unable to counter his words. 

The morning went on. Thursdays were his Mondays, which meant wrapping up last week's reports before the mid-morning debriefing. He typed on autopilot, unable to shake whatever odd feeling had come over him. Eventually Uraraka came over and tapped him on the shoulder in passing and he dragged himself out of his seat to follow her.

The invite list to these meetings varied, but Bakugou, Todoroki, and Uraraka were always there. After all accepting sidekick positions at Hawk's hero agency after graduation, they quickly worked their way into his inner circle, so to speak. The man himself was already in the conference room with a handful of others, talking over an intern's shoulder as they pulled up a report on the main screen.

"I've got a fun one for you guys today," Hawks directed towards their trio as they sat down, jumping right into his spiel.

"We've got a serial kidnapper making their way down the coast." He pointed at the map now on the screen, showing a trail of red dots leading south toward Fukuoka. "Seven victims, seemingly random. No patterns in age, relations, or timing. We know she's in our territory, so I need you all to be ready to encounter her in the field."

"She?" Asked Uraraka.

"Yes!" He grinned, moving to the next slide- a grainy security camera still showing an inconspicuously dressed female with dark blue hair. "Suspect number one. Found on security footage at four out of seven of the known incidents. The only repeat bystander to our knowledge at this time."

"Quirk?" Bakugou grunted.

"Officially? Undeclared. Unofficially- we're leaning toward teleportation. All the victims have vanished without a trace; something must be happening to relocate them." He said, sliding a manilla folder with the victim profiles across the table.

Bakugou flipped through it as Hawks continued, memorizing the names and faces of the seven missing persons. He tried his best to focus on the details of the case, ignoring his own whispering in the back of his head.

Kiri is leaving you.

Everything is going to change.

He still couldn't place the feeling that had draped over him like a weighted blanket. It was stupid, the hollow ache in his chest, entirely out of place. Really he should've seen it coming. Kirishima had been quieter lately, always looking like he was about to say something before changing his mind. Something sad and nostalgic behind his eyes whenever they were together. He absolutely had the right to move out, move on. Even if it left Bakugou knowing that his absence would take a piece of him too.

Soon he was walking the streets of Fukuoka with Todoroki at his side. A typical Thursday afternoon. It was summer, hot and humid, but far more appealing than the winter- at least with a quirk like his.

"Did you ever-" Todoroki trailed off with his half-formed thought.

"What?"

He sighed and looked up at the clouds through the high-rises, thinking hard about whatever was going on in his head.

"Well? Spit it out Half 'n' Half."

"Did you ever think you two could have been something more?"

He tripped on a crack in the sidewalk, mind reeling at Todoroki's innocent enough question. 

Something more? Of course he thought about more. He thought about being more until it made him sick, dizzy in his presence, skin vibrating with every touch, every hint that more was in reach. But it wasn't, it never was, because in no universe would Kirishima ever want more. So he let what they had be enough, because it was better than nothing. He didn't need anything more, he already had it all.

Until this morning.

Something more?  No, not since... Not since when? That had certainly been a thought, at some point in time. Where had it gone? Would that have been the difference? Was he wrong to hold so tightly onto what they already had? If he had loosened his grip would more have found its way into his grasp? He never thought so before. Why wasn't it enough to have the lingering stares, the comforting presence, the unspoken knowledge that they were more?

When did he become not enough?

"Never," he replied with a false confidence. The kind that anyone but Todoroki would question.

They walked in silence a bit further until his partner spoke up again. "Izuku is coming back next month."

"Uh, yeah. I couldn't have avoided that news if I tried. I've seen at least three magazine covers with that nerd's stupid face this week alone. 'Pro-Hero: Deku's Highly Anticipated Return! What Will He Have to Show from his Three Years in America?'" He waved his hands for dramatic effect. A bit awkward with his gauntlets, but it earned a soft chuckle from the man beside him.

"You nervous? I thought you two kept in touch."

"No, it's not that. And we have- it's just..."

"Just?" They paused at an intersection. Todoroki hesitated.

"Sometimes I wonder what things would've been like if I hadn't let him go."

In the distance, a flash of dark blue ripped Bakugou's attention away from Todoroki's reminiscing. His instant demeanor change had the other hero follow suit.

"What did you see?"

"Blue hair." 

They took off towards the alleyway she ducked into, pausing at the corner to listen. Nothing but some nondescript rustling, the sound of someone bumping into a steel trash can. Bakugou gestured towards Todoroki, indicating for him to scale the building and be their eyes from above. He shot up on ice as quietly as he could and Bakugou rounded the corner, arm raised and ready to shoot. The alley was a dead end, and he could see the blue-haired woman rummaging through a bag near the back wall, pulling out and brandishing what appeared to be a wallet before swiftly turning to face Bakugou with a striking grin.

"There you are! Sure took you long enough. Did you send Shouto up top again? Shouto! Come on down! Join the party!"

"Who are you?" Bakugou growled, slowly approaching the ecstatic suspect. There was something off about her eyes, but he couldn't quite tell from this distance.

"Always on script, aren't you, Ground Zero? Don't worry, I'm here to help!"

"Who the fuck are you talking to?"

"Oops! Sorry, it's so hard to keep track-"

"Help with what?" Todoroki interrupted, dropping to the ground behind her. She spun on her heels but didn't lose her bubbly demeanor.

"Perfect! It's almost time!"

"Time for what?" Bakugou snapped. "For you to tell us what you've done with all those missing people?"

"Missing? Oh, no, you've got me wrong. They're exactly where they're supposed to be. I'm helping. I'm basically a hero!"

Bakugou was only a few yards away when she swiveled to meet his gaze, her eyes piercing straight through him. They were infinite, black holes, galaxies, an emptiness that held everything. "They're all perfectly safe and should find their way home soon. Just like you boys."

"Shouto!" He yelled as she lunged for the two-toned hero. A wall of ice went up and floated away as a dense fog as she passed through it, grabbing his arm. Bakugou's AP shot crackled and splashed down through the concrete, and suddenly her hand gripped him as well, freezing him in place.

"You're both at a crossroad. I've seen the endings. I really am here to help." She blinked and her galaxy eyes sparkled, his field of vision narrowing until all he saw were the stars.

Chapter Text

Todoroki blinked and he was sitting eating lunch in his high school cafeteria.

It felt like the breath had been knocked from his lungs and he choked on a mouthful of noodles, instantly noticing all the different ways his body felt wrong. Not tall enough, not strong enough, missing the constant tightness in his wrist from an old injury. There was a sudden pounding on his back, accompanied by a high-pitched, "Stop it Kaminari, you're making it worse!"

When he finally managed to get oxygen back into his lungs he looked up and focused on the group around him. It was times like these he appreciated his default lack of expressiveness, because if not his face would currently be loudly projecting absolute bewilderment at the teenage faces of Mina, Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, Jirou, and Momo.

What... the hell?

"That was intense, you okay bro?" Asked Kirishima in a voice that still hadn't quite reached the pitch he was now used to.

"I'm fine," he nodded, uncapping a water bottle to take a large swig.

"What was it Aizawa said? That it's not a competition to see who the last one is to visit Recovery Girl?" Joked Sero.

"Yeah, it's just rude to try to take that title from Kami anyways," Jirou snickered.

"That was not my fault!"

Todoroki heard himself respond, having no context for the words coming out of his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, Mr. Satou-threw-me-through-a-window, I would never try to steal your glory." Where the hell did that come from?

"He literally did though! What would you have done differently?"

"Easy. I would've stopped him." Kaminari guffawed.

The conversation continued around him as he tried not to outwardly panic, digging through his memories for any sort of clue as to what could've possibly happened to him. Not panicking got significantly harder when he realized he had two sets.

Todoroki knew he was a pro hero. He had graduated three years ago and was twenty-one years old. He watched his best friend get on a plane with no set plans to ever come back, while he got a job as a sidekick in Fukuoka with Bakugou and Uraraka.

Todoroki also knew that graduation was only two days away. He had accepted a sidekick position for the EU, but the only one who knew was his best friend Momo. He knew the rest of the squad would be proud of him, understanding how big of a deal it would be to get out from underneath his father's shadow, but he also knew if he told them too soon it would be way too easy for them to convince him to stay.

He felt like he was going crazy. Those memories were his, but they were new. He was sure of it. He looked up and scanned the cafeteria, searching for a clue, for a break in the illusion- and he caught Bakugou's glare boring holes into his skull.

Bakugou! They were attacked- by the blue-haired woman! And now he was in high school again? But... not his version of high school. Seriously, what the hell?

He stood up abruptly after making direct eye contact with his partner, his chair scraping loudly against the tile.

"Where are you off to 'Roki?" Sero raised an eyebrow.

He saw Bakugou shrug a smiling Izuku off his shoulder and leave his table in a similar manner. "I just, um, need to get some fresh air before class."

"Oh, cool. Can I tag along?"

Todoroki hesitated. "Actually, I think I'd rather be alone for a second. Just trying to clear my head."

Sero looked confused by his half-hearted excuse, but let it go. He left with a mumbled apology to his friends- because in this world these people were very specifically his friends, though he definitely heard someone mumble something about 'Blasty' as he walked away. Bakugou easily beat Todoroki to the door, so he followed him to the shade of a tree a short distance from the main buildings, far enough away that no one would hear them in passing.

"I'm just gonna start this off by saying I'm pretty sure I fucking hate you in this reality and the fact that I'm clearly not on any meds yet is making it extremely fucking difficult to even have this conversation," he growled, confusion hidden behind a layer of anger in his eyes.

"Ookay well I will brush past all that and focus on this reality?? What did you figure out that I haven't been able to in the past, what, ten minutes?"

"That has to be it, right?" He leaned against the tree, pulling at his hair. "A different reality? Or we're both in comas and somehow our psyches are connected? That makes less sense to me than the first option."

"It could be an illusion," he suggested. "We could be being held captive somewhere and she's just fucking with us."

"This is too detailed to be an illusion," he brushed him off. "First I was thinking it was fucking time travel, but then the memories hit, and I know they're all fucked up, but it makes sense, doesn't it?

"What makes sense?"

"Well fucking Deku, for starters. Did you not see that nerd just casually hanging off of me?" He threw up his hands. "We've never been like that."

"Okay, sure," Todoroki prodded. "But what memories made that make sense?"

He froze at that, stopped fidgeting, in some moment of deep internal reflection Todoroki could tell he would never be fully privy to, before he said, "I think in this reality, instead of hating Deku when he turned out quirkless, I decided to protect him."

He turned away quickly, marching back to the school with a, "Hurry up! Four Eyes is gonna send someone worried about a fight if we're alone too long."

"Why do you hate me so much here?" He jogged to catch up. Sure, it may have taken a little while for them to really warm up to each other in his reality, but there was never any real animosity between them. Even searching through the surface of his new memories he couldn't seem to fully understand the cause.

"I'll tell you later. For now I think we need to keep pretending. Keep your eye out for the blue bitch." And he was gone. Todoroki slowed his walk towards the school to create distance, only picking up his pace again when he heard the bell ring.

He was one of the last few students to get back to class, following his instincts to the same seat he was used to. The seating was assigned, it wouldn't have made sense for child Bakugou not being a bully (possibly just to Izuku) to have any impact on their arrangement. Just like in his reality, Shinsou had long taken over Mineta's desk not too far from him. These were all good signs, maybe his friend group had changed but everything else seemed fairly consistent. Aizawa arrived as expected and started talking about some graduation nonsense, which he took as the perfect time to sink into these new memories and figure out how he was supposed to be acting.

It took no time at all to figure out that his childhood here had been virtually identical to the one he knew as his own. So he skipped ahead to first year, trying to single out all the big moments and see if he could spot the differences.

Nothing stood out about his memory of the USJ attack, but the sports festival had one glaring difference- He never fought Izuku. Fighting Izuku in first year was a pivotal experience in his life. That was the whole reason he started using his fire again, if he didn't then- when did he?

The War. It was fighting his brother that did it. That whole thing went- wow. Very differently. Is that why he's leaving?

He skipped too far ahead to make sense of it. What was next? Training camp? Bakugou wasn't captured- no, it was Tokoyami. The rescue team was different, though. He wasn't on it. He could remember-

Bakugou grabbed him by the collar and slammed his back against the hospital wall, jabbing a finger against his chest. "You need to stay the fuck away from Izuku. And I don't give a fuck about your feelings, or whatever, so don't even fucking start. He's a reckless dipshit around you and he's going to get himself fucking killed. Don't you even dare think about coming with us, you're only going to get him hurt. So back the fuck off."

Well, that maybe explained some things.

The rest of it all followed that trend. The same things happened but he didn't let himself stand at Izuku's side. Not by lack of want- he was clearly just as drawn to him. No, it was a combination of things. Maybe a slight fear of Bakugou and his protectiveness, but mostly a tremendous feeling of inadequacy. Izuku was going to be the next Number One. Todoroki would just hold him back.

Something he wanted so badly but could never have.

Oh. That's why he was leaving.

***

Out of all the alternate universes he could've been sent to, Bakugou was pretty irritated he ended up in one that explicitly showed everything that could've been different if he was slightly less of a piece of shit to Izuku when they were kids.

Maybe slightly less was an understatement.

It was awful. He should be over this by now. He and Izuku had made up years ago, one hundred percent, through and through. They made it past his their mistakes and were extremely close by the end of school because of it. Izuku was like a brother to him, he didn't have any more regrets.

Well, at least not until he was confronted with what it was like to have had that all along.

The worst part about it though, is that even without all of those mistakes, he still wanted his reality back- and it had absolutely nothing to do with Izuku.

There were two days until graduation, it was basically over. Nothing else was going in the gradebook, so their activities weren't nearly as structured or predictable. At some point everyone was gathered outside Gym Gamma waiting to be paired up for a training exercise, and he glanced over at his friends.

His friends. They called themselves the Bakusquad for god’s sake. Still did even years later. And here he was standing with Four Eyes, Pink Cheeks, Frog Girl, and Mindfucker while the others all laughed and joked and reminisced without him. (Izuku's friends were fine, and he already knew he got on well with Cheeks. But it was different when everyone knew he was really only there for Izuku).

He caught Kiri's eye amidst a sharp-toothed grin and the redhead blushed, looking away to talk to Sero. It killed him inside knowing that that was the best this version of himself would ever get. It was hard to tell for sure, but he was fairly certain it was killing this version of himself too.

Icyhot's stupid words echoed in the back of his head. Something more, something more. Here he was dying for something more, but that's because he had nothing to start. Isn't that proof he made the right call in his reality? Proof that it was worth it to suffer through a friendship he would've been lost without?

He continued to autopilot through the day until they got to the dorms, where he was held up by a very suspicious Sero on his way to corner Todoroki again. (That kind of hurt too, in a different way.)

"So I've decided I agree with your assessment," Todoroki opened the door before Bakugou had even managed to knock with a manic look in his eyes, hair askew. "This is clearly an alternate universe, there are far too many background details for it to be anything else- but why?"

"We need to look at this like the case it is," said Bakugou. He pushed past him to enter the room and froze, staring at the absolute mess Todoroki had made of his wall. "What the fuck, Icyhot."

In front of him was a collection of photographs, newspaper clippings, and sticky notes pinned up with neon green yarn connecting at least half of them.

"I know, the green totally throws it off, but Momo wouldn't stop laughing when I asked for red and then refused."

"That is so incredibly not what I was commenting on, but okay. Find anything useful?"

"Not exactly. As I said- it's all in the details. So much of this world is exactly the same as ours. But the things that are different- they're all connected. What's it called? The butterfly effect?"

"Yeah, okay, like what?"

"Look at this," he gestured to a news clipping from the sports festival.

Tokoyami was standing on the second-place platform.

"I didn't fight Izuku, I couldn't beat Tokoyami without fire." He followed the path of a string to a photo of the destruction at Kamino Ward. "You didn't get kidnapped; I didn't go on the rescue mission. All Might still retired." A news article, describing the battle with Gigantomachia and the rest of The League. "Touya almost killed our dad- I know he almost killed him in real life too, but this was more serious- and that's what convinced me to finally use fire. But really, just look at all of this," he gestured to selfies of himself with Bakugou's friends, grinning ear to ear. A paparazzi shot of him interning alone with Endeavor. A thick white cardstock with the word 'congratulations'.

"What exactly is your point?"

"Illusion quirks don't work like this. Or at least, they never have before. The quirk user needs to know what they're making the victim see. It wouldn't just... autofill like this. I have almost two decades of a different past in my head and I'm under the impression you do too- a quirk like that is unprecedented."

"Okay, okay. So we're in an alternate universe. That's fact number one. What else do we know?"

"It was kidnapping. Hawks said people were disappearing, they suspected teleportation. So that means back home, our bodies are gone. Either being hidden or somehow connected with this reality jump." He sat down on the futon.

Bakugou thought back to the fight in the alleyway- if you could even call it a fight. "That woman- she turned our quirks against us, changed them. It was over in an instant, like she knew exactly what was going to happen. And her eyes..." He trailed off.

"Definitely related to her quirk, but I'm not sure how that helps us," he pondered. "We know what it is now, but we still need to figure out how to break it. She got me first, right? What did you see happen? What do you mean she changed our quirks?"

"Your ice turned to steam and my explosions melted. She grabbed your wrist and it felt like time froze. Then she grabbed mine."

"I... don't remember any of that."

"Wait- and she said something. Something about being at a crossroad? She reiterated that she was helping- she said that multiple times. Called herself a hero. What the hell did she think she was helping with?" He seethed.

"You're going to hate me for saying this but... maybe we're supposed to be learning something from this? That's what it sounds like she wanted. Am I wrong?" He said cautiously.

Bakugou turned and glared, his hands sparking. "So, what? Are we supposed to just go along with this whole thing until we learn something? The first kidnapping was over a month ago and they're still missing! How long are we going to be stuck here?" He dropped down to the floor and put his head in his hands. He was finding it impossible to be rational in this situation and it was pissing himself off even more.

"You don't think I know that? What else do you suggest we do? We don't get our professional licenses until we sign with an agency- we can't just vigilante this shit. What if we accidentally ruin our lives!"

That sentence had him look back over at Todoroki. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He looked exasperated. "This is real! Isn't it? Your whole theory about this being an alternate universe, not some mutual hallucination. If we time and space traveled and are currently possessing the bodies of our younger alternate selves, then our actions might have real repercussions for the versions we're inhabiting."

"But I-" Bakugou choked on nothing. This reality was no good for him. He had missed out on some essential character development- he didn't have his friends to teach him how to be a better person. Maybe he didn't need it as much, but this version of him was still miles away from who he remembered being at age eighteen- he could feel that. And the entire time at UA, through everything that still happened, he never had-

"I don't want this reality to be real."

"I know what you mean," and for as neutral Todoroki's face was, Bakugou could tell he was sympathetic. "I don't like it here either. And we can maybe try to point these lives in a different direction if we really think that's better for them, but we can't go breaking the law trying to find a villain that probably doesn't even have a record yet."

"You're right, I know you're right," he sighed. "So. We just have to keep playing along."

***

It was the day of graduation. Todoroki felt like he remembered it well, and it was pretty close. Everyone woke up and had a big final breakfast in the dorms. They got dressed up, with a couple of the girls shedding some tears in the common room. The ceremony was both long and not long enough because soon it was over, and that was it. No more UA. No more dorms. People were moving across the country, to other countries. Some groups were staying together, but not his. Not then or now.

He let autopilot carry him through the day, just like the two days before. It was uncanny, the way he could fall back on what this version of himself would say, would do, with no second thought. Like he was watching this life pass by, only interfering when he chose to.

Mina threw an after party, and like a mirror of Izuku in his reality, this is where Todoroki announced his planned departure. He leaves tomorrow. Because he couldn't get the things he wanted by staying here.

Is that how Izuku felt too?

Someone broke out the alcohol and Todoroki found himself dragged outside by an eager Kaminari, who planned to use him as his own personal lighter. Izuku was out there too, holding a red solo cup and chatting up Shinsou, who took intermittent hits from whatever Kaminari and Sero were passing back and forth. Eventually Todoroki fell away from the crowd and sat down on a patio bench, staring up at the stars and being reminded of the villain that put him here.

"Mind if I join you?" He turned his head to see a pair of bright green eyes in the florescent patio light, and the kind of smile one would share with a stranger. If that wasn't the weirdest part of it all.

"Of course."

It was a comfortable silence for a short while, until Izuku, being Izuku, broke it.

"So. Europe, huh? That's a big move."

"Yeah. I... needed a change."

"I get it, yeah. If not now then when? Right?" He laughed bitterly, under his breath.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, it's just." He sighed. "It feels like everything happened all at once, like we blinked and now it's over. No more time to do- I don't know, anything we just never got around to doing? Kacchan is probably going to Tokyo, Ochako Fukuoka, and you're going to Europe I mean wow, that's a lot of ground to cover. I know it's not like we were close or anything but that's so crazy like whatifineverseeyouagain-"

"Iz- Midoriya."

"Did you just- Um, yeah?"

He heard himself speak, as if he was on script. "You'll see me again. I'll make sure of it."

"Oh." He turned in on himself, but Todoroki still caught the red dusting his cheeks.

It was killing him that this version of himself was running away, had been running away this whole time- but he couldn't seem to talk himself out of it. He'd been waiting three years to see him again in person, three years to try and come up with a way to stop being utterly in love with him, and here he was about to be the cause of his own undoing.

"Sometimes..." Izuku mumbled in a small voice. "Sometimes I think I held myself back here."

"You? Held back?" He teased. "Please, remind me how many bones you broke in first year alone?"

Izuku laughed at that, leaning back against the bench to face him. "That wasn't my fault! Besides, you know that's not what I meant."

"What did you mean then?" He asked, unable to resist the pull of his sparkling green eyes, leaning forward. He felt fuzzy, on the tip of his nose and behind his eyes.

Izuku was quiet for another beat. So unlike him, it put Todoroki on edge. It took only a moment longer for Izuku to fully face him, moving impossibly closer.

"Do you have... any regrets? Todoroki?" His heart was racing, he could feel the other's breath on his skin. He had already fallen and this was a landslide- he was trapped in it. Both versions of him.

"Just one really," he whispered, eyes fluttering shut and closing the insufferable gap between them.

***

Bakugou had been trying so. very. hard. to not follow all of his hormonal teenage instincts for the past two days, so by the time alcohol had been out in front of him he had absolutely no reservations. He didn't drink a lot in his reality, but he certainly didn't not drink. And after what galaxy bitch had put him through, he figured he deserved it.

Part of him wondered if the violent depressive episode had more to do with this reality or his own, but he didn't want to think too hard about the implications of that.

The night went on. It didn't get too crazy, but he had still worked up to a decent buzz by the time the crowd got overwhelming, and he stepped out onto the front patio. He had seen Icyhot and Izuku out back and wanted no part of that. There was an air of familiarity in his actions, like he'd done this before. And he supposed he probably had, not that he remembered the night of his actual graduation too well. Mina had convinced the entire squad to join in on some drinking game that pretty much ended all of them, he recalled that much.

The music and laughter got louder for a brief moment as the screen door slid open, a particular redhead he may or may not have been avoiding stumbling outside, calling some nonsense inside to the rest of the squad about needing some air. Something about that felt familiar too, but he wasn't sure that held any validity.

"Oh, it's you. Hi Bakugou!" Kiri smiled, leaning onto the decorative fence. It was painful, how long it felt like it had been since that blinding grin was directed at him. (It hurt more that they weren't on first-name basis.)

He hummed back a response and took another swig of his drink, cringing at the taste of cheap liquor.

"You know," Kirishima started, clearing his throat. "I always admired you."

"Tch. What for?"

"I don't know. Your tenacity? Work ethic? Manliness," he laughed again and it was like music. "Something about the way you refused to ever be less than the best."

"I don't know, kinda feels like I missed something important down the line, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

It came to him suddenly, the actual conversation he had had that night. One that had eluded his memories for years.

"You're it for me. You know that, Kats?" He mumbled over a glass of who knows what that Bakugou promptly snatched from his hand, dumping it over the rail and into the bushes.

"The fuck you on about, Shitty Hair?" He tried to be serious but Kiri just started giggling, which brought a smile to his own face.

"It doesn't matter. Whatever you give me, that'll be enough. It'll have to be," he said wistfully.

He remembered the world spinning on its axis as he turned to look back at Kirishima's face, as emotionally stunted as ever. Squinting past the haze in his eyes to look at his best friend, trying to translate whatever half-assed code he decided to speak in. He supposed it didn't matter. Didn't Ei understand he already had him?

"I don't think you need to be worried," he finally settled on. And they were close, too close, he could smell the alcohol on his breath. He kind of wanted to taste it, but that didn't seem like much of a new thought. Maybe he would.

Maybe he would've. But Kaminari threw open the sliding door, running to the side and immediately spilling his guts into the bushes.

"Jesus, Kami." Ei took over, leading him back inside. "Let's get you some water."

"Don't worry about it." He said, forcing himself back to the present. "So, where are you off to? I'm sure you're signed already, right?"

"Ha, yeah. I'll be in Tokyo, at one of the smaller agencies," he said with a small but proud smile. "Fatgum recommended me. Said I'd have better luck breaking out there."

Bakugou remembered this. Yes, he had forgotten but he was positive his Kiri had looked at an agency in Tokyo. Why didn't he go through with it?

"Oh, well that's lucky," he heard himself reply.

"Why's that?"

"I'll be in Tokyo too. With Best Jeanist."

Except it wasn't luck at all. Bakugou could picture this version of himself sitting on his bed, staring at two thick, opened envelopes, unable to decide how to move forward. In his reality, his friend convinced him if he was going to be the best he should work for the best. He didn't even find out about Icyhot and Pink Cheek's offers until he had already accepted. But here... Here there was no one to help him make that final push. Here he hadn't made a decision yet.

"Oh!" He smiled at that. "Maybe I'll see you around sooner than expected then."

"Maybe you will," he smiled to himself. It was reassuring to know that he hadn't made this decision. He was just reading the script. It was inevitable that this Bakugou would choose Tokyo after one tipsy conversation with Ei.

Something twinkled at the edge of his vision. He turned his head, expecting to see someone like Aoyama making his way outside. But there was no one, and the twinkling started to get brighter.

Oh.

He leaned forward against the railing and gripped the edge. As his vision went black he glanced at Kirishima, who was still silently smiling to himself. His last thought being that at least in this world he would get to keep that smile with him for a little bit longer.

Chapter Text

Kirishima's smile faded to black and Bakugou felt the air ripped violently from his lungs. He gasped and blinked and saw Izuku -older now, what the fuck- laugh at him before adding, "It's not pretty that's for sure, but you don't need to be so overdramatic Kacchan."

What? No, no, no. He was supposed to go back after that. He was supposed to go back to his reality and accept that any time with Kiri at all made life so much more worth it and he needed to get over himself and appreciate that instead of crying over him leaving. Right? Wasn't that the point of it all??

Having no idea what Midoriya could possibly have been referring to, he trusted his instincts and just grunted in return, shoving his shoulder lightly as they continued walking. Then he made the mistake of turning a little bit to the right and nearly let out an identical gasp if not for the effort he put into holding it back.

They were in a forest and in front of them was a taped-off crime scene. And smack in the middle was the most decomposed dead body Bakugou had ever seen. He had seen dead bodies before, sure, but it was usually a live-on-the-scene sorta thing. He didn't do undercover work, not yet. This type of decay was new to him.

He held his breath, crossing under the caution tape with Deku leading the way, noticing now the suit he was wearing, the dress shoes. And when he reflexively pulled out a badge to show a police officer, he noticed that too.

"Detective Bakugou, Dr. Midoriya! Thanks for coming with such short notice," called out Yaoyorozu- Sergeant Yaoyorozu- in a sharp blazer with a gun on her hip. A gun?

For the first time, Bakugou noted with alarm, he could not feel his quirk.

She led them closer to the body, much to his chagrin, but before he could even gag Deku had gloves on and was poking the thing- good god.

"The body was found at 8:24 am, by two out-of-town hikers. Called us immediately and we called the Institute twice as fast. The initial sweep didn't pull anything up, but other than tagging I made sure they didn't touch anything."

"Thanks, Momo. We definitely want to bring him back to the lab. The amount of blood alone indicates this was no accident. Bakugou- walk the perimeter and see if there's anything worth noting or taking with. I'll help the crew pack him up before doing a final sweep."

Bakugou did as he was told, walking in a spiral from the body to see if anything else stood out. Not that he was really able to take in many too many details as his mind raced with the knowledge that he was once again trapped in another universe, with very little to go off other than he was apparently a detective.

The alternate memories were fuzzy, competing drastically with his real ones, which shouldn't have surprised him considering how obviously different this life was from his own. He vaguely remembered a war, but a very different kind of war than what he had experience with. One with guns and man-made bombs, bloody deaths, and weaker bodies. It lasted years, not weeks, and though he didn't try to recount much of it, he knew for a fact at some point he was held prisoner.

So, great. He had PTSD in this reality too.

He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't see the muddy tire tracks until he was in them, grateful they had dried out and he didn't unintentionally sabotage the evidence.

"Hey, Midoriya! Over here!" He called out, finally noticing how far he had actually wandered. It took a second for the other man to make his way over, eyes lighting up when he noticed the tracks.

"Perfect! I'll get one of the techs to make a cast and we'll get it back to Kiri. He's gonna have a field day with this."

Kiri - thank god, he was here too. He wondered if they all were, though he had a strong feeling he would at a minimum be running into Icyhot.

***

Todoroki felt the air rip from his lungs and when he opened his eyes, before even registering where he was (only that he was certainly not kissing Izuku) he slammed a fist down on the surface in front of him, gasping for a breath and yelling, "Dammit!"

The intense rattling of multiple small metal objects keyed him into the fact that he just punched a table covered in medical instruments, and he looked up to see Kirishima in a lab coat holding two jars of dirt looking at him in utter confusion.

"...you okay bro?" He asked, triggering a vague sense of deja vu, gently setting down his jars of dirt (?) and approaching him cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," he said, ripping off his latex gloves before running a hand through his much shorter hair. "Just stuck on this case. When do you think Dr. Midoriya and Detective Bakugou will-"

He was cut off by the large front doors to the lab being pushed open by a small team of police analysts, followed by Izuku and Bakugou themselves- Izuku chatting him up while Bakugou looked certifiably green.

"This way!" Izuku broke away from the crowd, leading two rolling a gurney topped with a body bag right up to the secured, raised platform Todoroki and Kirishima were currently on.

"Speak of the devils. Hey guys! How can I help?"

Todoroki watched Kirishima head down to the duo before following some cops out back at the instruction of Izuku, and once again felt Bakugou's stare boring into his skin. He turned to face him, miming a resounding 'what?', but all he got in return was a pinched expression and a vague hand gesture over his face.

"Hey, Todoroki, go grab Sero and Ashido, I want to give everyone a run down," Izuku instructed him as he helped place the body bag on the center table with the raised edges. He turned to do exactly that when Kirishima waltzed back in holding a large dirty cast of what looked to be a tire track with a massive grin on his face.

"Have fun with that," Todoroki teased, somehow knowing that this particular piece of evidence absolutely made the redhead's week. He hopped down the steps to the main floor, heading to the back corner where he knew Ashido's studio to be.

He caught his reflection in the glass wall and very abruptly understood Bakugou's expression. It was a weird juxtaposition, knowing that this was always what he looked like here, yet nothing like he was used to. In retrospect, he had noticed Izuku's hair was more black than green here, that Kirishima’s teeth weren’t sharp, so he shouldn't have been surprised to find his own hair a solid white instead of split down the middle. But the real shocker was his completely unblemished face.

So that's what he would've looked like.

The air conditioning kicked on and he shivered, suddenly very aware of his lack of quirk. It was different than the time he was shot with temporary suppressants in the field. That was almost a painful absence, but since this body never knew any different it was mostly just a mental thing. Some memories flickered to the surface- his dad, a successful politician, his mother a doctor. Eight years of medical school before landing an internship at the esteemed Musutafu Institute working under Dr. Midoriya as high-stakes federal crime scene investigators.

Some movement on the other side of the glass tore him from his thoughts and he moved forward, rounding the corner to enter Ashido's studio.

"Hey guys, Dr. Midoriya is back- oh god," he covered his eyes, turning away from his two colleagues that were apparently a couple because it was certainly not a common occurrence to stumble upon a heated make-out session against a 3D printer. "At work, seriously?"

"Sorry!" Sero all but pushed Ashido off of him, who simply burst out laughing. Her appearance was also shocking- dark brown curls and tan skin with minimal pink undertones. Sero adjusted his belt and lab coat. "You said- uh, Midoriya's back?"

"God, yeah. Sorry, I'm going to go bleach my eyeballs. He wants you to join us up on the platform. Can you at least close the door next time?"

That only made Ashido laugh harder and Sero stumbled through another apology. Todoroki rolled his eyes and turned to head back to the others.

With the whole group together, Izuku began the briefing, Bakugou leaning against a pillar in the background wearing his typical scowl. It was funny seeing him dressed so formally- really all of their outfits were such a far cry from what he was used to it just felt silly. Like they were dressed up for Halloween.

He floated through the briefing, leaning on his surface memories to answer any questions Izuku asked him regarding the corpse. The only time he stuttered was when Izuku gestured at something with his left hand and Todoroki saw the ring.

This version of himself had feelings about that too.

They determined the victim was a male, mid-twenties, who was likely murdered close to a month ago. There were signs of animal scavenging, expected from being dumped in the middle of a forest, and the bloodstained shredded clothes were attributed to multiple stab wounds to the chest and stomach.

Eventually they broke off into their respective specialties. Ashido performed a scan of the skull and what remained of the poor man's face to begin the facial reconstruction process. Kiri practically ran back to his lab to start analyzing the tire treads, dirt samples, and clothing. Sero took multiple close-range photos of the identified wounds and measured the gashes, hoping to identify the exact murder weapon.

All this happened with Bakugou still lurking in the background, taking a few notes but mostly just observing. Somewhere around 5 pm Sero and Ashido took off, the latter indicating she was leaving some software running overnight hoping to narrow the search first thing in the morning. Kirishima left closer to 5:30, announcing he had narrowed the tire size down to a 215/75R15 (whatever that meant) and was confident matching the tread would be an easy process. He also commented on some materials found on the clothing that he hadn't yet identified but was very interested in.

At 6 pm Izuku called it, and the remaining trio exited together, Izuku breaking off when they got to the parking garage, and Bakugou yanking Todoroki's sleeve to stop him from going to his own car.

"Where are we going?"

"The diner we're all regulars at. We need to come up with a plan."

He couldn't argue with that, and let the explosive blond drag him to his SUV, riding in silence and not broaching the subject until after they had been seated and ordered.

"So," he took a long sip of his iced tea, Bakugou glaring at the salt and pepper shakers, bouncing his leg aggressively. "Did you want to start, or?"

"This was not supposed to happen," Bakugou's attention snapped back to Todoroki's face.

"I mean, 'supposed to' is sort of subjective-"

"This reality doesn't even-" he cut off his yell, glancing around and leaning in closer to Todoroki. "This reality doesn't even have fucking quirks, how the hell did one bring us here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. If her quirk is intrinsically linked to multiple realities, and if they're this different, then we're talking more about just alternate timelines here. This is deeper than we first thought."

"We have no idea how long this is going to last. No idea how many times we're going to jump. We were only in the last one for a few days, is that going to be the standard? Or are we going to end up stuck here for weeks this time?"

"You're getting ahead of yourself. We have nothing to base this on, we'll only be able to answer those types of questions if we jump again. The truth of the matter is that we're trapped. Prisoners inside of this quirk. As far as I can tell, our best bet is Hawks cracking the case in our world."

"I can't just sit around and do nothing, knowing this has the potential to last months, if not indefinitely."

"Then what do you suggest doing? Using your federal clearance to hunt her down here? There are no quirks here. Even if you found her it is highly unlikely you would accomplish anything other than scaring and confusing an innocent girl."

"So what the fuck are we supposed to do? Play along?"

"What else can we do? The way I see it, this is a waiting game. No use in fucking up these lives by going off script. We can't crack this case from the inside, Bakugou. I just don't see it being even a remote possibility."

"Dammit." He let his head fall into his hands, tangling his fingers in his hair. "You're right, I know you're right. I wish you would stop being fucking right," he mumbled.

The waitress came by with their food, interrupting his moping.

"It could be worse," he said after she left. "At least we're still, like, aware. And have some form of autonomy. Better than being actually held captive by villains in a secret base somewhere being legitimately tortured."

"I guess," he said in between bites. "Does this not scare you at all?"

"What part?"

"The possibility that we never go back? That we're stuck reality-hopping forever?"

He had to think about that for a second. "I guess I didn't really consider that as an actual possibility. I trust Hawks, our team. They won't stop until they get us back."

Bakugou nodded and his eyes drifted to the window. "Well then. In the meantime, it sounds like we have a different case to solve."

***

Bakugou was greeted at the lab the next morning by an enthusiastic Mina, claiming to have identified the victim by matching her facial reconstruction to a missing persons list and cross-verifying dental records.

"His name was Yokoyama Hideki. Twenty-six years old, married to a woman named Aimi. They have a three-year-old son. Reported missing twenty-seven days ago." She had caught him as soon as he arrived, heels clicking against the tile as she followed him across the lab.

"I hate it when they have kids," he groaned. "Has anyone called her in?" He checked the time on his watch.

"Ochako did a short while ago. They're from a smaller town, not too far outside the city, but it'll still be a half hour or so before she shows up."

"Great. Is Jirou here yet?"

"I passed her upstairs when I was talking to the boss lady. Is she your partner on this case too?"

He paused at the stairs. "She has been my partner on every case for the past eight months and will continue to be for the foreseeable future." He sighed with relief. "Thank god for that, she is so much better at breaking the news than I am."

Mina laughed. "You just need to show a little bit more emotion, and then the victims' families wouldn't be so put off."

"Listen, I know I have resting bitch face. I've accepted this as a character flaw and decided it's not my job to change fundamental parts of myself to be less off-putting to strangers," he turned to head upstairs.

"That was like, almost emotionally intelligent but I feel like you're still just a little off the mark," she called after him.

"I don't care~" he called back, raising a hand in dismissal before pausing and turning back to face her. "Hey, Mina. Can you... help me? With something off-book?"

She looked back at him skeptically. "Not related to an active case?"

"No. This is... personal. I'm trying to track someone down. I don't have a name though. But I can describe them to you."

She hummed, considering. "That's tricky, Kats. I can do a sketch, run it through police databases. But if they don't have a record, if my sketch is way off-"

"I know it's a long shot, but would you be willing to try?"

She narrowed her eyes, clearly trying to read his motives, taking a long pause before replying, "Okay. Meet me in my studio after lunch. I'll see what I can do."

He nodded at her and turned back around to head upstairs.

The second floor of the Institute was for the legal side of the operation. It had a grand entrance up front for civilian use, but most of the agents cut through the lab since the parking garage was in the back anyway.

He passed a few similar faces. Sparky and Mindfucker shooting the shit in the latter's office. Froggy typing up a report in her cubicle. It was bizarre, noticing their subtle changes in appearance from their lack of quirk- but nothing was nearly as jarring as when he first saw Icyhot from across the lab- he had almost not recognized him.

He made his way to the Director's office to find Earphones already present, being briefed. It felt wrong, just like everything else in this world, seeing that she hadn’t maintained her punk aesthetic. Not to say she didn't rock the pantsuit; it was just different.

"Mina caught me up in the lab," he said, walking in and plopping down into one of the very cushy chairs in front of Cheeks' desk. "Do we have an eta on the wife?"

"Plus or minus twenty minutes. She had to drop the kid off at the grandparents’ house."

"God, this is the worst," said Jirou, shaking her head. She turned to Bakugou. "We playing good cop bad cop here?"

"What? No good cop bad cop," interrupted Ochako. "The wife isn't a suspect yet- don't be mean to her, she's grieving!"

Bakugou laughed. "I think Jirou meant heartfelt cop and facts cop. Don't worry about us, we've been doing this long enough to not upfront harass a widow."

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I swear you get joy out of elevating my blood pressure. Speaking of- was Izuku down there when you got in?"

"I didn't see him, but he could've been hiding. Trouble in paradise?" He heard himself ask, very suddenly connecting a few dots as Ochako rolled her eyes.

"He barely made it home by the time I went to bed last night and he was still asleep when I left this morning. I just want to make sure he's doing okay; you know how he can get obsessed with these cases sometimes."

That was odd. Didn't he leave the lab at the same time as him and Icyhot? Maybe Cheeks just had a really early bedtime. A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts before he could respond.

"Hey guys, I have a Yokoyama Aimi in the conference room for you." He didn't recognize the girl in the slightest, but his brain fed him the name Hagakure. He tried not to look surprised as he took in her appearance- there seemed to be a lot of that for him in this quirkless reality.

"That was fast," interjected Jirou, standing up. "Let's get on it, don't want to leave her waiting."

Bakugou grunted in agreement and followed her lead, nodding at Ochako in departure, trying to ignore the uncertainty on her face or the way she was twiddling her thumbs.

The interview was... uncomfortable to say the least. They always were. Bakugou did the best job he could to list out the facts of the case while Jirou did the emotional heavy lifting. The wife was understandably devastated, nothing about her statement gave either detective the slightest suspicion that she was even remotely complicit in the crime. She sobbed through her recount of the last time they spoke, a kiss on the cheek as he left for work in the afternoon. He was a shift manager at a local restaurant and usually didn't get home until after midnight. She panicked when she woke up the next morning and he wasn't there. After multiple phone calls to his cell, the restaurant, a few of his friends, she dropped her kid off at preschool and drove to his place of work herself. It was completely empty, it didn't open for nearly eight hours, so even the prep cooks weren't there yet. She made her way to the police station shortly after that, filed a missing person’s report, and had been- in her own words- a 'blubbering mess of a person' ever since.

The obvious next step was to visit the restaurant, but Jirou had a few more questions for the wife. 'Did he have any enemies' and 'Can you think of any reason someone might've been motivated to hurt him?' The answer was a resounding no, confident that her husband did nothing wrong and that whatever happened must've been a tragic accident or being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

That was the part Bakugou was unsure of. Though the victim seemed innocent at face value, with his history in this line of work he knew that was not always the case. Not that anyone deserved to be murdered, no. Just that there was usually at least an ounce of motivation. But that was for him and Jirou to figure out.

Jirou was the one who suggested they split up, as they walked down the hall from the conference room back to Ochako's office.

"It makes sense. The likelihood that the crime scene is the restaurant or somewhere on his way home is very high. You should bring one of the techies with you to look for clues and I'll snag Kami to come with me on some house calls."

"That's not a terrible idea. Midoriya does catch things that we overlook sometimes. His eyes on the scene might be worthwhile. You sure Kaminari can handle house calls?"

She laughed, "He's been begging to be let out of the interrogation room for weeks. He will be ecstatic to put his skills to an alternative use."

"Alright if you insist. If you discover anything or have any roadblocks let me know. I'll head out now. Hopefully I can catch the prep crew and get a handle on things before the place opens for business." He paused at the glass doors overlooking the stairs down to the main floor of the lab. "You'll update the boss?"

"Yeah. Speaking of..." She got quiet. "Have you noticed anything... different? About how she and Dr. Midoriya have been acting?"

"That is a mess I have absolutely no interest in sticking my nose in. If you find anything out, don't let me know." He pushed open the door.

She rolled her eyes. "And here I thought you were the one with the most dirt on anyone in the lab."

"Oh, I have dirt. But more along the lines of 'photographs of Kami dancing on stage at a drag bar'. Whatever the Midoriyas have going on is none of my business, and I plan on keeping it that way."

"Right on, good sir," she chuckled. "Good luck at the restaurant."

"And you with the entourage." He mock saluted her before heading down to the lab.

A flash of red hair caught the corner of his eye as he jogged down the stairs, but he averted his gaze to look around the room for Izuku.

"Hey, Detective!" He ignored him. "Hey, Bakugou, hold on-"

"I'm looking for Midoriya, do you know where he's at," he scowled, turning to face Kirishima.

"Probably in the bone room with Todoroki. But hey- are you going on site?"

"Obviously, that's why I need Midoriya. And I have to leave now so I'll just be on my way-" he turned on his heel.

"Hey, wait, no, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I think you should take me with you."

"You?" He turned back to face him. "Why would I take you over Midoriya? Are you even a doctor?"

If looks could kill Bakugou was sure he'd be dead ten times over. "I have a doctorate in entomology, specializing in forensics, and a master's in geology. In undergrad I double majored in criminal justice and toxicology. We're all qualified to be here, detective. Not just Izuku."

"Okay sure, but you don't have any field experience. I don't have time to hold your hand-"

"Listen, Izuku's specialty is bones. Let him stay here and piece together what he can from the skeleton and let me follow up on the multiple threads of information I've already started. Let me guess, you're going to a seafood restaurant?"

"How do you-"

"I pieced together his rotting clothing and clocked the blood-soaked fabric as an apron. There were trace fragments of shellfish remaining on said fabric. He has repetitive motion injuries consistent with a line cook's. I've spent the last several hours measuring close-ups of his wounds and am ninety percent sure they would match a chef's knife."

"Well it damn well sounds like you have everything figured out now, doesn't it?"

"Dammit Bakugou, why are you so opposed to me coming with you? I have valuable insight on this case. I guarantee Izuku wouldn't be able to identify the vehicle that left those tire tracks. I can. Can't you just be reasonable about this?"

Why was he so opposed to bringing Kiri? He knew they made a great team as heroes, why would this be any different? His body was filled with what he could only describe as uncomfortable. This him didn't want to spend time with Kirishima. He didn't want to get to know him better. He was content to keep their interactions limited to the occasional head nod from across the room, content to keep his eyes away from his obnoxious red hair (so unprofessional) and captivating smile. This Bakugou wanted nothing to do with anyone in any capacity surpassing 'professional acquaintance' and- oh.

This Bakugou was in denial.

About what exactly, he wasn't quite sure, but he still felt his heart squeeze as he looked Kirishima in the eye with no rebuttal. This Bakugou was terrified of more, wanted nothing to do with it. Would gladly settle for living in solitude if it meant he never had to risk opening up or being vulnerable. It reminded him a lot of himself in first year, before the redhead weaseled his way into his life, refusing to take no for an answer.

"Fine. You can come. Just... ugh. Stay out of my way, okay?"

"Yes sir," he joked with an air of relief. "Let me just grab some stuff real quick."

He took off and Bakugou yelled after him, "And leave your lab coat behind, you look like a fucking nerd!"

He might've heard a laugh in response, and he might've smiled a bit on the inside, because how could he not? No one could make him smile like Ei. Even here.

The car ride was awkward, but he made it that way on purpose. Kirishima tried to start a conversation a couple of times, but he just turned his stereo up louder in lieu of a response. He gave up pretty quickly after that and kept his mouth shut the rest of the drive, staring out the window. Bakugou cursed himself for telling Kiri to take off his coat. He could not come up with a single fucking reason that this Kirishima needed to be jacked in this universe, but his business casual button-up could barely contain his biceps and it was making Bakugou's mouth dry.

This was so fucking dumb. He was sick of this galaxy bitch's game. He wasn't going to play into this will they, won't they bullshit. He had already decided they won't, he had already settled on avoidance. He had already put too much effort into making this Kiri dislike him, there was no going back on that. It was so fucking stupid.

After nearly forty-five minutes of steadily increasing uncomfortable, Bakugou pulled into a relatively empty gravel parking lot at a family-owned restaurant just off the highway. It was 10 am and the place didn't open for another five hours, but they still saw movement behind the glass. There were two other small cars in the lot.

"Neither of those," mumbled Kiri.

"What?"

"Those cars. The wheel size would match a utility vehicle, a small truck. Not a sedan."

"So you've discovered absolutely nothing new."

He scoffed. "You're ridiculous. Listen, just... you go do your thing. I'll stay out of the way."

Kirishima was clearly irritated. Bakugou knew this, he could read Kiri's face in any universe, he was sure of it. And he knew that this version of him didn't particularly like that he was upsetting the redhead, but couldn't seem to come up with an alternative way to act around him.

Following in that same fashion, he chose not to respond and simply turned off the car and got out to head towards the front door. Kiri sighed and followed.

The door was locked, obviously, but Bakugou knocked loudly and caught the eye of someone sweeping the floors, who widely gestured to indicate they were closed. This prompted Bakugou to pull out his badge and hold it up against the glass. The man’s face fell, and he immediately stopped sweeping to come over and unlock the door.

"Is this about Hideki?"

"Unfortunately so. Do you mind if we come in and take a look around? This was his last known whereabouts. We would love to ask the staff a few questions."

"Of course, everyone here wants to do what we can to help find him." He opened the door wide to let them in. "Do you guys have any leads? Any sightings?"

"Sorry, that information would be classified. This should be quick; we will try our best to stay out of your way. If you wouldn't mind leading us to the rest of your staff?"

"Of course, of course. Oh, my apologies. My name is Mitsuhiro. I'm the opening shift lead here. The rest of the team is in the back. Here, this way."

He turned around with the intent of telling Kirishima to do whatever sciencey stuff he was planning and not to talk to the staff, but he was already gone. He glanced around a bit confused, but found him squatting near the hostess podium with a small black light. He decided he wasn't going to babysit him through all of this, so he left him there and followed Mitsuhiro to the kitchen.

They walked through the swinging doors and Mitsuhiro called everyone to attention. "Hey, team! Gather around. This here is Detective...um."

"-Detective Bakugou. I'm here investigating your missing person's case. If you're willing, I would love to ask everyone a few questions about Hideki and the day he went missing."

He got a few nods from across the kitchen, some looks of concern, one of confusion. One voice let out a quiet, "Of course."

"I'll start with your shift lead, back in the dining room, but I wanted to let you all know what was going on. One of the scientists on our team, Kirishima, is here too, just looking around. You can probably just ignore him. He should stay out of your way."

There were a total of five employees there, Mitsuhiro included, so hopefully this would be quick. He let the man back to the dining room, where he could still see into the kitchen through a serving window, and began his spiel.

"Can I please get your full name, for the record?"

"Mitsuhiro Amaya."

"Hisou. Nakahara Hisou."

"Nakou Chiyoko."

"Miura Kayo. Please, call me Kayo."

"How well did you know Hideki?"

"Pretty well, I'd say. He started working here about six years ago, right after he got married. Started on prep, made his way to a line cook, before eventually being promoted to night shift lead. I saw him more in the early days when he was under me, but we still see each other in passing almost daily. My wife and I have had dinner with his a couple of times."

Bakugou was briefly distracted by a loud shutter sound and noticed Kiri had moved on to taking photographs of the podium.

"Not very well at all. I just started a few months ago and mostly just work prep, so I'm usually gone by the time he clocks in."

"I know him enough. Seems like a nice guy. I wouldn't say we were close, but he was an acquaintance."

"Very well, though I know Aimi better. Our kids are about the same age so we would meet up for play dates all the time. Usually when Hideki was on shift, so I spent more time with his wife. Sweet young couple though."

"Did you see him the day before he went missing?"

"Yes, but only briefly on the shift change. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary."

"No, I was off that day. Went on a three-day beach trip with my girlfriend," explained Hisou.

He heard the kitchen door swing open, and Kiri appeared on the other side of the serving window. He could see him smiling through introducing himself before making his way to the magnetic strip on the wall with a good dozen chef knives.

"Yes, the boss's son called out, so I ended up working a double. It was an average shift though, and he ended up sending me home a bit before closing since we had slowed down, and he knew I was there all day."

"I think so? He's usually here setting up the front of house while I'm wrapping up prep in the back. I don't remember talking to him, but it's very likely we were here at the same time."

"How has your team been coping with his absence?"

"The owner seems to be taking it hard. He's been very on edge lately. Everyone else is getting along pretty normal. It's tough, not having any answers. We're definitely still holding out hope that he gets found and is okay."

"It's been rough just from the being understaffed perspective. The owner, Takahashi, has been stressed. Michi has taken over as night shift lead which she wasn't super prepared for but, ya know, she's trying her best.

"It's weird. We try to get along like nothing has changed, but obviously most of us are worried. It's probably hitting the kitchen staff more than us prep guys, they all knew him better. Takahashi's son has barely been here, I don't know if they were particularly close, but it sure seems like he's taking it hard," said Nakou.

He was paying attention to the interviewees as best he could but couldn't help himself from getting mildly distracted every time he saw a flash of movement and bright red hair in the back, taking pictures, pressing a few knives against an imprint block, going over countertops with his black light.

"Oh gosh. It's a rollercoaster. We're all hoping he's okay but every now and then there's a wave of 'what if he never comes back'. Poor Aimi, she's been having a hell of a time. I've been trying to support her as best I can, but it's tough with all the overtime we've been having to pull."

"Did anyone here, customers included, ever get into any sort of altercation with Hideki?"

"Not that I can think of. He was a very friendly, well-mannered man. Hard worker. Loved his family. Everyone here has had to deal with an angry customer so I'm sure he isn't any different, but it would've been over something stupid like getting an order wrong. Nothing worth hurting someone over."

"Not that I'm aware of."

"I think a few weeks before he went missing he had to kick a guy out who kept coming into the restaurant and riding one of those motorized scooters around, just being disruptive. That was just weird though, he didn't even call the cops on him, but I did hear he had to threaten him with it to get the kid to leave. I highly doubt that guy has anything to do with Hideki going missing though."

"Never anything outside of the ordinary. You know how some customers can be. Staff wise though, really I think we have a great team. We usually all get along really well. Tensions have been a bit high lately, but that's situational. I don't think anyone here is guilty in any capacity."

He heard a laugh and caught Kiri talking to the fifth and final prep employee as he wrapped it up with Kayo. He couldn't figure out what was being said, and wasn't positive it was even being said in Japanese, but he still felt something bitter stir in his gut over the idea of someone else making Kiri smile like that. God, his emotions here were ridiculous. He needed to go back to avoiding him.

"Thank you for your time, Kayo. If you wouldn't mind, please send out that last woman in the back."

"Oh, Jin-Ae? Do you, um, speak Korean? Because it might be kind of hard to-" She was interrupted by the front doors to the restaurant slamming open.

"What the hell is the meaning of this?"

"Takahashi! Great timing, this is Detective-"

"Who let you in here? Do you have a warrant?"

"Good morning, sir. Detective Bakugou Katsuki. I was let in by your shift lead Mitsuhiro. Everyone seemed exceptionally willing to assist in our investigation."

"Do you have a warrant?" He demanded.

"A warrant is only necessary if we weren't willingly allowed to investigate."

"Well you're not! This is my restaurant, you and that guy in back harassing Jin-Ae need to get out!"

Mitsuhiro came out from the back. "Boss, I don't see what the problem is. They're looking for Hideki-"

"I don't care what they're doing, I don't want the government in my restaurant! Come back with a warrant or don't come back at all!"

"Understood, sir. Kirishima!"

"Yeah?" He called from the kitchen.

"Let's go."

"Okay, okay. Coming!"

The owner stared him down as he waited for Kirishima to presumably gather all of his stuff. This was incredibly suspicious. A man who had nothing to hide wouldn't prevent him from investigating a friend's possible death, especially if he was taking it as hard as some of the employees implied. Soon enough Kiri was by his side, and they made their exit, thanking Mitsuhiro and Kayo on their way out. Takahashi slammed and locked the door behind them.

"Well that was fucking-"

"Bakugou, hey, look." He interrupted under his breath, gesturing across the lot. There was a younger man, leaning up against the hood of a Nissan Atlas, smoking a cigarette. "That could be it."

"Get in the car." They hurried over to Bakugou's vehicle, hopping in and starting the car quickly. "Take pictures, try to get the license plate. I have a hunch."

He did as Bakugou instructed as they pulled out and onto the road. Bakugou made sure to take a turn that would get him behind the truck so Kiri could get the plate.

"Shit."

"What?"

"Who do you think that is? He saw me get a picture of the plate."

"That's the only new car in the lot since before we got here, dumbass."

"Hey, I wasn't listening to your interrogations, okay? If it's the owner's car, then who the fuck is that guy?"

"His son."

***

Todoroki had spent nearly the entire day in the bone room with Izuku, the victim's clean skeleton on a light table in front of them. They had been cataloging injuries, pre and post-mortem, trying to get a solid summary of the life of Yokoyama Hideki from just his bones. Izuku's specialty was forensic anthropology, and that's what he came here to learn, so getting a chance to analyze the crime from just the bones and no outside influence was exactly how he wanted to be spending his day.

It helped that Izuku never seemed to catch him staring.

Izuku was incredibly smart here. He was destined to be the best at whatever he put his mind to in any universe, Todoroki was certain. He had aged into his thirties stunningly, and every time he smiled Todoroki was reminded that it was so unfair that he had only met him a few years ago. Izuku and Ochako were high school sweethearts, he never stood a chance.

Amidst their work, he tried to form some new theories regarding the reality jumping and the quirk user who caused it. Unfortunately, he was coming to the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to lock down any of his theories until it happened again. Which he was almost certain it would. The influence he had from this consciousness agreed- the experiment needed a larger sample size.

"-what do you think, Todoroki?"

Izuku's words brought him back to the present, he had zoned out comparing the differences highlighted by his black hair as opposed to the green he was used to. "What was the question?"

He chuckled. "Looking at our list of injuries, there is one standout piece of evidence that I think the detectives would be interested in. Any guesses?"

Oh, the case, right. He looked back through his notes, a complete annotation of Hideki's skeleton. They dated a few injuries back to childhood, a healed but obviously broken ankle, some pulled teeth. There was evidence of tendonitis, likely from working in a kitchen for years. And then there were the knife wounds, nicks in his ribcage where the weapon hit bone. It did seem like something was missing though, something obvious that should've been there but wasn't. He went back to the skeleton, looking at each individual bone, reevaluating each injury, until it hit him.

"There are no defensive wounds."

"Ding ding ding. And what might that tell us."

"He... wasn't expecting the attack. He didn't fight back. He must've been too surprised, maybe he knew the killer? Maybe he was even expecting the killer, just... not to be killed."

"Exactly. Nice analysis. We should report this to Bakugou and Jirou when they get back, along with our list of injuries."

Some shouting from the main lab drew their attention and they looked at each other knowingly. "Looks like Blasty has returned," Todoroki sighed.

"Blasty?" Izuku laughed. God his smile was breathtaking. Oh shit- did he just call him Blasty?

"Oh, um, I got that from a friend. You know, because of his explosive personality?"

Izuku laughed again, "I can see it."

There was a brief knock before the door swung open, and Bakugou marched in, collapsing on a chair and rubbing his temples.

"What happened in the field? Did Kiri mess something up? I know he was excited about taking my place today," said Izuku.

"What? No, he didn't mess anything up."

"Then what was with the yelling?" Asked Todoroki.

"That's just how we talk to each other."

"Uh-huh. Sure, okay."

"Shut it Todoroki. I came here for evidence. What do you guys have?"

"We think the victim was surprised by his attacker."

"More than just that," elaborated Izuku. "He had no defensive wounds. We don't think he was expecting to be attacked. In fact, it would make the most sense if Hideki was familiar with his attacker. Or, expected him to be there."

"I see," hummed Bakugou. "That would fit my theory so far. The restaurant owner and his son, the Takahashis- they're suspicious as hell. Everyone else we talked to wanted to help, but as soon as he showed up, he kicked us out demanding a warrant. They drove a truck that is a likely match for the track we molded, but we would need that warrant to confirm. I was going to go talk to your wife about kicking that process off."

Something in Izuku's demeanor changed when he said that. He broke eye contact, gaze drifting back to the bones on the light table. "Yeah, she would be the one to help with that. Did you learn anything else?"

"The son hasn't been around the restaurant much since the murder. It sounds like he mostly helps with shipments or maintenance anyways, but he's been uncharacteristically absent. Kirishima talked to this Korean girl, sort of. He doesn't know much of the language, but pieced together that she had something she wanted to share. She's going to be stopping by when her shift ends at six. Shinsou can translate, yeah?"

"What's this about you keeping my boyfriend working here after six?" Came a voice from the doorway. Kaminari was leaning on the doorframe, with Sero standing behind him.

"Does he know Korean?"

"Yes."

"Then he could help crack this case. We've almost got it; I can feel it. The sooner this interview is held, the better."

"Well I guess I can't argue with that. Bummer though, we were all going to grab drinks after work, it being Friday and all. Sero and I were swinging by to invite you all."

"Sure," Todoroki replied at the same time Bakugou gave a hard, "No."

"Aww, why not Kats? Mina was hoping you'd come hang out."

"You can't use my friendship with her against me, Sero. I'm not coming. You can't make me."

"Whatever you say, detective," sighed Kaminari. "Mido? Ochako already said you two were free tonight."

"Oh, great." Izuku looked deflated. "Yeah, we'll swing by, for sure."

"Great," Kaminari grinned.

"Oh, and Kats, Mina was looking for you. Said something about a profile you wanted done?"

Bakugou looked like he had been caught red-handed, eyes darting over to Todoroki. "Oh yeah, I'll catch her before I leave. Thanks."

"I'll let her know. See you guys later!"

The two of them left and Todoroki glared over to Bakugou. "A profile on who, Kats?"

"Gross, don't call me that. And give it a rest, it's no big deal."

"Are you sure about that?"

Izuku coughed. "Well, I'm not sure what you two have going on, but I'm going to head upstairs real quick. See you later Todoroki."

"Yeah, see you soon." He watched Izuku cross the room, the door clicking shut behind him. "What the hell, Bakugou."

"What?"

He raised his eyebrows.

"I can't just not try, okay? She probably won't find anyone, and if she did, I probably wouldn't pursue it. But I have to try."

"What happened to waiting for Hawks to figure this out? We agreed on that yesterday."

"Are you not at all curious if she exists here? Has a record? Don't you think we could use those details to help us get out of here? Or track her down after we get back to the real world?"

Todoroki sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Who doesn't want to go tonight? The real you, or this you?"

"What?"

"To the bar?"

"Both."

"Why?"

"Gah- I don't want to spend any more time with these shitty extras. I have no interest in being any of their friends-"

"Except Mina?"

"-shut up. I've known her for decades here. It's... it's not worth it getting to know him here, okay? Not if I'll be gone in two days. Not if he would eventually abandon this version of me too.

"Hm."

"The fuck do you mean, 'hm'?"

"I spent some time today debating the impact of our present self’s consciousness on our own emotions. It seems really easy to fall back on autopilot, but we've established we are obviously capable of making decisions ourselves. I just wonder how much of whatever it is you're dealing with right now is because of this Bakugou, or his conflicts with your real emotions."

"What real emotions?"

"You tell me. How do you really feel about Kirishima."

He stood up. "I don't want to fucking talk about this."

"You're being ridiculous if you don't think that he is part of this all."

"What the hell does Kirishima have to do with this stupid quirk?"

"You know what, I don't have enough facts to back up my theory on this, so you'll just have to figure it out yourself. Let's make a deal. I won't stop you from doing your stupid profile with Ashido, as much as I disagree with the whole thing. If she finds anything, do not go after her without talking to me first. I won't stop you, if you come out with us tonight."

"Why do you care so much about me going with you to a shitty dive bar?"

"It's easy to just fall back on the script. But try to think about what it is you really want. Why do you think she sent us here?"

"I don’t fucking know-"

"Just think about it." He stood to lead them back to the lab. "Go talk to Ashido. I'll see you tonight."

***

It really was a dive bar they found themselves at, but Kami swore it was worth it for the cheap drinks. He was on the inside of a booth next to Mina and Sero, and spent the majority of his time silently sipping his beer and glaring at Todoroki across the way in order to avoid Kirishima's gaze.

"Oh, hey guys! Where are the Midoriyas?" Asked Jirou, shoving her way onto Bakugou's bench so that Mina had to squish up against him.

"They were here earlier, I'm not sure where they ended up," Todoroki trailed off.

Bakugou grunted and gestured to the right with his head. "They're at the bar. It looks tense. Whatever's going on there, you should really stay out of it."

"Ooh, that's a great suggestion Bakugou, but you know I can't resist a little eavesdropping. I'm gonna go grab a drink, anyone else want something?"

"Oh! Can you get me another Haiboru?"

"On it, Kami!" She grinned, making her way over to the bar.

Todoroki rolled his eyes. "I don't know what she thinks she's going to discover. Aren't they always like this?"

"Yeah, around you," Mina snorted.

"You are not about to blame me for their marital issues."

"Well, she's not wrong," agreed Sero.

"How the hell is that my fault? I haven't done anything!"

"You're just too pretty for your own good Sho-chan," Kaminari leaned against his shoulder and batted his eyelashes.

"I literally- what?"

"Oh shut up, Ochako is coming over," Mina hushed.

"Hey guys, I've got to head out, but I hope the rest of you have a great night." She grabbed her purse from under the table.

"Oh no, Ochako, why do you have to leave?"

She looked surprised that Mina didn't want her to go. "I just, um, have some paperwork I need to finish up. It's no big deal, I'll see you all Monday."

They all gave their goodbyes, and as soon as she was out the door Jirou came back, sliding Kaminari's drink across the table. "She was definitely about to start crying. I didn't catch much of the conversation though."

"Midoriya is crazy if he lets her fall through his fingers," said Sero.

"They're married."

"Yeah Sho-chan. And people get divorced. You never know."

"It sounds like you're all hoping for the downfall of their relationship," said Bakugou.

"I'm not hoping for anything," defended Jirou. "I'm just pointing out facts."

"Heyy everyone! Jirou! Nice to see you. This rounds on me," Midoriya showed up with a tray of almost a dozen sake shots.

"What's the occasion, doctor?" Kiri reached out to help pass the shots around the table. He had unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt and Bakugou had to pry his eyes away when he snatched his own shot glass. He had a feeling the alcohol would not help with this problem, but the script said to take the drink, so he did.

"No occasion other than wanting to be more drunk than I currently am. Cheers!"

The clinking of glasses mostly covered up Jirou's stifled laughter, but Bakugou glared her way anyways. She stuck out her tongue and turned back to the others, Midoriya and Mina taking two of the remaining shots. "Alright kids, who's going to join me on the dance floor?"

"Me!" Cheered Mina.

"Yeah, I could dance," said Kaminari before chugging the rest of his drink.

Most of the table departed, with only Bakugou, Todoroki, Sero, and Kirishima remaining. The latter duo got into a conversation about some other case they were working on, leaving Bakugou and Todoroki to awkwardly sip on their drinks in lieu of conversation.

Todoroki eventually broke the silence. "So. Any luck on your profile?"

"No. She's letting the system run overnight, but I doubt it'll turn anything up."

"Big surprise."

"Hey asshole, it was worth a shot."

"I guess."

"What are you guys talking about?" Asked Kiri.

"Nothing," Bakugou snapped.

He looked both astounded and completely unsurprised by Bakugou's response, widening his eyes and glancing at Sero before saying something about getting another drink and heading over to the bar. Todoroki looked at Bakugou disappointed before following Kiri.

"Is everything okay, man?"

"Yes, everything's fine, why wouldn't it be."

"You just seem kinda... tense."

"It's just this case, I'm on edge waiting for Shinsou to show up with some news."

"Uh-huh. Okay, well, if you ever need anything, you know Mina and I have got your back."

"Yeah, yeah. Thanks or whatever. You don't need to be worrying about me."

"You're probably right. More worried about the doctor than anyone else right now."

"Because of Ochako?"

"More or less. He's just been off lately. Oh, and look at that."

"What?"

He gestured towards the dance floor. "Looks like a drunk Midoriya found a dancing partner in his intern."

"What? Oh, that bastard. Let me out of this booth, I need to go yell at Todoroki."

"When did you two get so close? I've never seen you talk as much as you have the past few days. You're not like, hooking up, are you?"

Bakugou gagged, "That's disgusting. Todoroki? Never."

"Fair. You seem to have your eyes more set on the muscley type, don't you?"

"What are you implying?"

"Oh nothing, nothing. Here, go wrangle the intern, since you seem so determined." He slid out of the booth, letting a skeptic Bakugou depart. He shook his concerns from his head and marched over to the rest of the group, hearing the tail end of Midoriya and Todoroki's very close-knit conversation.

"I swear Shouto, if I had met you ten years earlier-"

"What the hell!" Todoroki yelled as he was yanked away by his collar, leaving behind a stunned Midoriya as he was dragged to a secluded corner on the other side of the bar.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Icyhot?"

"The same thing you're doing!"

"What's that?"

"Letting my emotions in this universe control my actions."

"What are you talking about? What happened to 'not fucking up our own lives'?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure this me is prepared to fuck up my life. Just like you are."

"Can you just tell me what the fuck you mean?"

"You're miserable here Bakugou, that has been made so obvious. You refuse to make new connections with people because you're scared they'll leave you, even though you're practically gasping for breath every time Kirishima enters the room. Compounded with the complex the real you has with him- you're fucking up your own life by not letting anyone in. Me? I'm doing the opposite. I'm in love with my boss and doing a terrible job of hiding it. What he does about that is up to him."

"You don't care at all if you hurt Cheeks?"

"I don't know her here. All this me has ever seen is those two unhappy together.

"Don't you think you're crossing some boundaries-"

"Oh definitely, but ogling a married man doesn't make him cheat." He yanked himself out of Bakugou's grasp. "I'm going to go back to dancing with my friends. If you can't figure out your own issues, you certainly don't get to throw around your opinion on mine."

"This is idiotic."

"Who cares? I'm just following the script. I'm sure we will be gone soon anyways. Then this me can continue to do whatever he wants without your input."

"Gah!" He slammed a fist down on the bar as Todoroki walked away, drawing the attention of the bartender.

"Can I get you something babe?"

"Fuck, sure. Another shot of sake, why not."

"Coming right up!"

Bakugou was so sick of this place already. Deku and Cheeks? What a terrible idea. That was never going to work, at least not the versions of them he knew. There wasn't much of a reason to believe this reality to be any different. And stupid fucking Kirishima, with his stupid unnecessary muscles and shitty red hair. It was so unfair to be confronted with version after version of his best friend, knowing that he would inevitably be left behind. It was so unfair that he couldn't tell if his heart raced around him because of this version of himself or because of his real thoughts and emotions. This quirk was an absolute clusterfuck and he was worried it would get even harder to manage and differentiate the longer he was trapped.

"Hey Bakugou," he startled out of his thoughts to find the redhead in question directly in front of him.

"What do you want?" He snapped.

"Did I do something to you?"

"What? No."

"Then what's your problem with me? You seem to get along just fine with everyone else at that table, but you won't even look at me. I know you were reluctant to let me come with you today, but I still thought we made a pretty good team. I just don't understand what I've done wrong."

He sucked in a breath. "You haven't- you haven't done anything wrong. I'm just an asshole." There it was again, the guilt for making Kiri feel bad.

"A self-aware asshole?"

"Incredibly self-aware. I'm baffled that you keep trying with me. I'm really not worth the effort."

"You know, I can't figure out why, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to believe that."

"Trust me. There is nothing here worth getting to know. You'll be far happier staying far away from me."

"I don't know, Mina only ever has good things to say. Midoriya too. I still can't help but feel like I did something wrong."

"Here's that shot, sir. Let me know if I can get you anything else!"

"Thanks," he muttered, snatching the shot and throwing it back. He didn't know where to go with this conversation. How was he supposed to explain to this Kiri that he hated him because he didn't, that he avoided him because he would rather not. It was a dumb excuse, he knew that, but he just was not prepared to love and lose him here too.

The door to the bar opened loudly as he slammed the shot glass back on the counter. It was Shinsou, and he caught his eye from across the room and immediately headed over. He was regretting that last shot, there was a sense of urgency in Shinsou's eyes that he was worried he wouldn't be able to pursue. The slight fuzzy, twinkling at the edge of his vision only affirmed this.

Wait. Shit.

"Bakugou, Kirishima. You were right. The son, Jin-Ae caught him and Takahashi leaving out the back early in the morning the day Hideki died. She was there to help restock but was stuck detailing the dining room instead. There wasn't any obvious blood, but-"

"Fucking fantastic," said Bakugou as the edge of his vision went dark. He didn't even get to see this case to the end, let alone find a solution to his own.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up to the persistent beeping of the intercom and a pounding headache. At this point he expected the sudden lack of oxygen in his lungs and simply took a breath, rolling over to slap the comm button.

"What do you want?" He growled into his pillow before receiving the tinny response.

"For you to get your hungover ass to the bridge. We have new intel," said the voice of Denki.

Katsuki's heart rate instantly spiked- this version of him had been waiting for new intel. It'd been a week since they took him. A whole week where they could've been doing anything to him, and virtually no leads as to where he could be.

He got up slowly, nonetheless, attempting to hold back the overwhelming nausea this reality had cursed him with. Sitting on the edge of the thin mattress and metal frame he tugged on his boots, noting the baggy cargo pants and white t-shirt he definitely fell asleep in by mistake. He took in the small room, with its built-in desk and drawers and a sink outside of an airplane-sized bathroom. He knew it was familiar, he had lived in these tight corridors for years, and it felt so empty being in here alone. It was quite the juxtaposition, knowing typically this version of himself typically longed for something more comfortable, less compact.

He fiddled with the ring on his left hand, noticing the slight tan line that came with not having taken it off for years. A ring he never, in any universe surely, expected to wear. A whole week without him, and Katsuki knew that was the longest they had been apart in ages. A week of drinking himself to sleep since there was absolutely nothing he could do until Denki's contacts found him.

It was different here. This loss was inescapable. He had only ever felt a fraction of how badly this version of him missed Eijirou. It was familiar in name only- this level of dread was crushing. And there was absolutely nothing he could do. He spent his entire time in the last reality terrified of what it would be like to have Ei and lose him again, and now he had to face it head-on.

He splashed some water on his face and put minimal effort into taming his hair, it was longer than he was used to. With no mirror, he could only guess the other differences in his body here. He felt older, in his joints. Still muscular but not quite in the same way. Grabbing his flight jacket off a hook, he left his room, following his instincts toward the direction of the bridge.

He knew what to expect, with this reality's memories drifting to the surface when he looked for them, but there was still a short feeling of awe and wonder when he stepped onto the bridge and was confronted with the vast emptiness of space through the windows. Lightyears of nothing but floating rocks and distant twinkling. He knew he had overcome this particular brand of grief decades ago, but he still paused, staring at the blackness.

"There you are! Come on, everyone's in here," Mina waved him into the situation room. He trudged over to find Denki already sliding electric blue projected images and documents around the open space above the conference table, picking a few to throw on the screen on the opposite wall. They briefly made eye contact before he pulled up a grainy hologram, full-sized, in the center of the display. Even without color, Katsuki recognized him in a heartbeat. A cropped image of Ei in prison clothes and handcuffs, being dragged through an open door.

"Where is he," he stared wide-eyed at the projection and collapsed into the nearest chair.

"A Commission prison barge- Facility 49. Location previously unknown, but the spies of Aizawa's that got us this image shared coordinates as well," Denki spoke with confidence and authority, well-earned after sixteen years of his role as commanding officer on a smugglers ship.

"How do we know it's not a trap? Who are these spies of Aizawa and what proof is there we can trust them?" Asked Kyouka, ever the skeptic.

"We can trust them," Denki narrowed his eyes. "I can't say their names, but I know them personally. They're risking their cover to help us get Eijirou back. Have some faith." She stared him down but turned away when his gaze didn't waver.

"You said we have coordinates? How far away is the barge?" Hanta turned to Hitoshi, who was tapping away on a tablet.

"It's floating in the Kamino Cluster-"

"-that's League space," Katsuki slammed his fist down on the table, a rush of pure panic coursing through his veins.

Hitoshi slowly glared up at him before rolling his eyes. "Thank you for sharing. So, Kamino Cluster. Roughly seven parsecs if we jump at the sanctioned warp-"

"-you damn well know we're not authorized to go through the sanctioned warp-"

"For the love of god- seven at the warp, eight if we hit a peripheral, or thirteen if we miss both. If we refuel at Ventura Station we're 76% more likely to hit the peripheral at hyperspeed. If Hanta fixes our phantom carapace we have a 43% chance of getting through the warp and an 88% chance of not being detected by the Commission the second we enter League space."

"You know, Eiji was usually better at translating that nonsense," Hanta mumbled at no one in particular, earning a scathing glare from their stand-in navigator.

"Can you fix the carapace Hanta?" Denki redirected.

"The neogenic circuits are fried, but I have a friend at Ventura who can get us replacements with a little warning."

"Okay, get on it. Hitoshi, if Hanta fixes the carapace, and we refuel to hit the peripheral, how soon can we be in the cluster?"

He tapped again on his tablet, streamlining astrophysical calculations that would've had Katsuki's brain melting. "From the moment we leave Ventura... give or take three hours."

"Alright team, we have our goal. Now let's get our friend back."

***

Shouto blinked and was surrounded by the twinkling lights and dull red glow of the engine room, with a modified comm in one ear and a phaser strapped to his waist. He had removed a panel from a large piece of machinery and was fiddling with a wire, disoriented from the jump and completely unable to access whatever existing knowledge this body must have had for his current task. He shakily inhaled.

“The situation in the seventh wing is clearing up. You'll have engineers on your back in T-minus five minutes, kero.”

He felt a bead of sweat drip down his face- the generators were hot, and he was running out of time. He stared down at the wires in his hands, wracking his brain for any clue as to what he was supposed to be doing. His saving grace came in the form of a static laugh, one he would recognize anywhere.

“You know they could never catch me, Tsu. Cameras are set, by the way. I sped through some footage of the guard rotations too. Might be useful later. How's the alarm going, Sho?”

The alarm- yes! He was disabling an alarm! He could do that, he could definitely do that... how long did he have left?

“Hopefully it's going fast because Geten and his crew are headed your way.”

"Yeah, yeah- working on it." He huffed out, finally able to fall back on muscle memory telling him which wires to cross and which ones to cut.

“They'll pass security first- get out of there Izuku.”

“On it.”

“Shit, not that way. Jin just showed up out of nowhere-”

“-I'm shutting off my comm.”

“Izuku!” Her voice went to static as their signal broke, so Shouto muted his own line. His hands trembled, adrenaline rushing as he made a few last tweaks to the tech, hoping to a moderately trained eye it would still appear as though it hadn't been messed with, before shoving the cover panel back in place, screwing it back on with the world's smallest screwdriver. He was banking on the fact that no one would be able to identify his handiwork when they inevitably realized the airlock alarm had been hacked.

Light, running footsteps rattled the floor grates on the other side of the room out of view and he froze in place, eyes searching rapidly for somewhere, anywhere to hide in between the sweltering mechanics. He was stuck, he was going to be caught and ruin the whole mission because the fucking jump messed up his brain and he couldn't remember how to hack fast enough-

Izuku dashed around the corner, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him in the opposite direction before he even knew what was happening.

"I think Geten heard me- come on!" He urged under his breath, and Shouto followed him blindly. They twisted their way out of the paths of the engine room, finally escaping that stupid rattling metal floor, ducking into a service hallway that led to the engine rooms for the sixth wing.

Voices echoed around the corner and he heard a muffled, "shit," before they slammed to a stop, Izuku pulling out a dozen key cards from his pocket, picking one to shove into a scanner Shouto hadn't even noticed on the wall beside them. A practically invisible doorway slid open and he yanked them inside, the light closing off behind them.

They stood there in the dark confined space, and he covered his mouth, trying to mute the noise he was making in an attempt to catch his breath while the echoing footsteps and voices made their way down the hall. His heart was still racing when they passed the hidden door, completely oblivious to their presence, and didn't slow down as he quickly became fully aware of the fact that he was pressed chest to chest against this version of Izuku.

"...where exactly are we?" He whispered.

"Janitor's closet. Normal agents' key cards don't work on these doors- just custodial staff. Very convenient for dodging patrols."

"How am I only just finding out about this?"

"Because you never come snooping with me," He felt a hand slide up his arm, tracing his collarbone, gently cupping the back of his neck. His breath hitched. "You would not believe how many hidden rooms I could get us into-"

"Okay," he cleared his throat. "Don't we need to check in with Tenya?"

"You're no fun," he could hear the pout in Izuku's voice as he dropped his hand. "But yeah. He's expecting us in the cafeteria."

"Do we need to check with Tsu to see if the-"

"Nah, I got it." He pressed a button on his watch and the dark space lit up, electric green. Izuku's eyes glittered in the light, stunning, as he scanned for any biosigs in their general vicinity. "We're clear, you ready?"

"Yeah-"

"-or we could just hang out in here a bit longer."

"Izuku."

He laughed, god Shouto missed that laugh, and opened the door with the push of a button. "It's like they know people are going to end up stuck in there. Why would they put an exit button in a closet if you weren't supposed to use it as a secret hideaway to make out with your hot-"

"Izuku!" He laughed again and Shouto felt his face heat up, unsure of their dynamic in this reality from both available perspectives.

They made their way to the cafeteria, taking circuitous back hallways to avoid any crowds on their trek away from both relevant crime scenes. By the time they ventured through the main routes of the ship, no one would've assumed they came from anywhere near what would become tomorrow's catastrophe. They nearly made it to their destination without encountering any real threat, but a bubbly Ochako ran into them as she was exiting the double doors to the cafeteria. Izuku casually switched his comm back on, and Shouto followed suit.

"Hey guys! I haven't seen you around much today, were you helping out with the latest Chizome incident?"

“There you are, I swear to god the anxiety you two give me will put me in an early grave, kero.”

"Nah, where was that? Seventh wing?" Izuku paused, giving Ochako a chance to give a confirming nod and Tsu a chance to conjure an alibi.

“Jeez- thirteenth wing transmission repair. I'll update the logs.”

"We were helping out in thirteen," Shouto jumped in. "Transmission issue."

"Ah, that makes sense. Honestly, I'm glad. Chizome seems like a dangerous one. I'd hate to see you guys wrapped up in that nonsense."

"Oh, trust me. We want to stay as far away from that prison-break drama as possible," grinned Izuku.

“You are toeing the line, kero.”

Just then an unknown figure in a pink uniform burst from the cafeteria doors right behind where Ochako was still standing, covering her eyes.

"Guess who!?" Squealed a voice whose tone sounded out of place with the burly female brunette it came from. Ochako startled at first but quickly grinned, raising her arms around the back of the stranger's neck.

"Hii Himiko!"

It was Shouto's turn to be startled as the figure shimmered in place, rapidly transfiguring to the PLF lieutenant he knew and hated, before giving her an obnoxious kiss on the cheek.

"How do you always know it's me?" She pouted before nuzzling Ochako's hair.

"Because you're the only one who does that, silly." She wiggled her way out of Himiko's grip but held onto her hand. "Well, it was nice catching up with you two! We've gotta make our way to a meeting with the other lieutenants- Tenko isn't very happy with Suichi at the moment, as you could expect."

"Sure thing, we'll see you around!" Said Izuku, cheerily waving goodbye as he all but pulled Shouto with him through the cafeteria doors. As soon as they were out of hearing range, he heard him mumbling under his breath.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh. I just, uh. I don't trust her. Shapeshifters, ya know?"

He nodded at that as they made their way over to the line for food. It was jarring to him that Himiko could still shapeshift- though functionally it seemed completely different- even though he didn't seem to have his quirk here. Between all the urgency of the earlier situation, he was finally starting to piece together his memories from this world, finally starting to understand his current standing in this reality.

Clearly he was a spy, and Izuku, Tsu, and Tenya were in on it. They were all stationed on a prison barge that was supposedly run by the commission, one that seemed to be much more than just a prison. Their agency was contacted to see if the commission had been infiltrated. All their evidence up to that point amounted to a resounding yes- the problem was that they couldn't identify which of the lieutenants were being influenced by the League without getting inside. Though, with Shouto's real memories he could make a good guess.

They'd been here for months, but just last week they got word that an important ally of Aizawa's got caught for breaking into one of the lieutenant’s home residences and was sent here as punishment. He had supposedly uncovered something valuable for their investigation, even if he was only tangentially involved. That, and Aizawa had heavily implied that his husband and their crew were just about ready to tear the galaxy apart to get him back.

Having not actually seen said prisoner- it had been Tenya's job to track him down- he couldn't say for sure, but based on how the past few jumps went he had a feeling that a certain angry blonde and his friends would be the ones coming for the rescue.

Dinner in hand, the duo made their way over to their usual table where they had seen Tenya waiting.

"Quite the mess over in Wing Seven," Tenya started the moment they sat down. "Geten lent me to Suichi for the day, but we still haven't tracked him down."

The prison was organized into twelve wings, each run by one of the lieutenants. Though they were numbered one through thirteen, starting at the command room fronted by Tenko Shimura. Each wing had their own staffing, their own rules, and generally their own brands of criminals to guard, but there were still some floating staff like him and Izuku who focused more on general maintenance. Tenya, however, was a guard for Geten, and Tsu an engineer for Ochako.

"That must be frustrating for Suichi," said Izuku in the same tone he had used with Ochako. "We, on the other hand, successfully repaired transmission lines in thirteen."

"Wonderful news, every small success is another win for the Commission's Initiative."

Shouto heard the words on the other side of Tenya's sentence. The commission is still winning. Something new has come up.

"Hey, mind if we sit here?" Three patrol officers wearing violet- Kaina's color- approached their empty chairs.

"Of course," replied Izuku, hiding a tense smile. He turned back to Tenya. "I heard we got a shipment of new blood last week. Did they really all end up in Geten's court?" He was clearly prompting for details on the prisoner.

"For now. With all this Chizome mayhem, they never sorted out the prisoners. Didn't want any to get caught up in the breakout. But I heard they would be reviewing their cases soon." Oh, so the prisoner was not in a permanent location. If they were reviewing the cases soon, that meant someone was going to decide where to put him, possibly as early as tonight. That was not ideal.

"I'm sure Geten is a huge fan of the extra mouths to feed."

"Our team has certainly been putting in the effort to get this mess sorted and over with." Shouto knew Geten had been working his team hard. If he was holding high-risk imports due to Chizome, it made sense he would want that mess cleaned up as soon as possible.

“You have no idea how mad I am that Tenya broke his comm. Half of this cryptic conversation is useless to me.”

Izuku barely held back a snort. "Tomorrow's my day off, so I'll be relaxing while you're hunting down criminals."

"Geten's called back a few of us. Me, and some other transfer specialists."

Fantastic- Tenya got himself onto the transfer team.

Shouto breathed a sigh of relief knowing Tenya would be able to keep track of their target if he was moved. He glanced around, taking a second to reacquaint himself with his surroundings. While the cafeteria itself was nothing special, the diverse group of people within it was worth a second glance. There were over a dozen different colored uniforms, one for the guards of each wing and a few additional for the specialized workers like Izuku and himself. There was also a large variety of species present, many of them looking similar to heteromorphs he had met in real life, but he knew there were no quirks here. He wondered how that would affect the versions of people he knew here. Was Tokoyami human? Or an alien species he had yet to encounter?

A cool blue light flooded the room, followed by a soft robotic PA recording. “All off-duty agents, please report to the dormitories during evening patrol.”

"Ah dammit, we just sat down!" He heard one of the strangers at the table complain.

"You know they're just trying to get us all out of the way to make it easier to find the escapee. Just shovel your food down for the greater good," another guard teased.

Izuku leaned in closer to him. "Bummer. I was really hoping to spend tonight in someone else's bunk."

“Gross, Izuku. I can still hear you, you know.”

Shouto felt a blush creep up his face at Izuku's implication, but before he could come up with a response there was another announcement, from a much more demanding human voice- one that he recognized.

"You heard the PA! Let's get moving agents!" Shouted Lieutenant Rumi, entering the side door with a small entourage of officers in sky blue. They spread out around the room fast, observing every agent as they hurriedly finished their meals and headed off to their assigned bunks.

"We should go," interjected Tenya. "My shift starts early- 6 am. I could use some rest."

6 am, Shouto looked him dead in the eyes. Tenya nodded back. So, that's when it would start. Bright and early- they needed to be ready.

Shouto stood and made way to follow Tenya out the main doors, but hesitated when he noticed that Izuku didn't follow. He turned and caught his gaze, paused a few yards away, on his way to a side door that was certainly not the most direct route to the maintenance crew's dorm. He gave him a questioning glance and Izuku smiled back brightly before winking and continuing on his way.

A wink? What the hell did that mean? He glanced back at Tenya, who had made no effort to wait for him, and back again at Izuku who was being pulled further into the moving crowd. He knew the best course of action to stay safe, undiscovered, and unsuspicious was to return to his bunk as instructed- but a gut instinct told him that he needed to catch Izuku while he still could.

The green of Izuku's hair had almost made it to the exit by the time Shouto followed his impulse and rushed after him, weaving his way through the traffic jam of day guards splitting into four directions. He lost him as soon as he was in the crowd himself, but continued to the side exit hopeful that he would be able to spot him again in the halls.

The halls were worse than the cafeteria. The combination of agents leaving the cafeteria and others headed in from the concourse was nearly impossible to navigate. No one was panicking, but they were still pressed shoulder to shoulder, being pushed from one direction to another. Shouto thought he caught sight of green in the distance and tried to push through the crowd but got swept up in a group of red agents from Wing Two crossing perpendicular to his path.

He had nearly given up entirely when a hand fisted the sleeve of his uniform and yanked him into a narrow service hallway.

"Come on!" Izuku whispered before letting go and taking off down the corridor.

"Izuku! Where are you going?" He was practically running now, thankful only the maintenance crew ever used these hallways since it was unlikely they'd run into anyone else.

Izuku glanced behind him. "Where do you think?"

"I literally have no idea."

"We're snooping Shouto! Come on, live a little! And turn off your comm!" He ducked around a corner.

"Don't you think now is kind of a bad time for that?" He turned and nearly smacked headfirst into Izuku, but the other swiftly caught him by the shoulders and turned to pin him against the wall.

"Not in the slightest," he replied, leaning into his space, and Shouto could feel his breath on his skin. His hand traced up his side before clicking off the static signal in his ears. "Everyone is nervous, now is the perfect time to snoop. Don't you think people are more likely to reveal things when they're nervous?"

Shouto wondered if Izuku was doing this on purpose. How frequently in this universe did he find himself pressed up directly against the other man? Because it's happened twice today already. With the fast-paced drama of this reality, the status of their relationship here hadn't been at the forefront of his mind, but he wondered if the same went for this version of Izuku.

"Are you trying to make me nervous?" His voice came out breathier than he would've liked.

"I just like breaking down those little walls of yours," he winked, running his hands down Shouto's chest." You can be so much fun when you aren't hyper-focused on the rules."

Shouto felt trapped in the emerald of his eyes, conflicted between the memories of this reality that were insisting this mission needed to be treated seriously, and the memories of every. single. time. he found himself frozen like this in his own timeline; pinned to the floor in training, lying face to face in his dorm bed- close enough that if someone opened the door they would’ve certainly startled apart. He thought back to the end of his first jump, how that Shouto got to lean in and claim what every version of him wanted- only for the real him to be ripped away at the last possible second.

He felt Izuku's nose brush against his own, impossibly close, and nearly forgot they were hiding in a maintenance hall. He stood still, frozen, desperate for the man who was so clearly in control of this situation to close the gap. He had done it before, Shouto could remember that much, but not enough for it to be a sure thing.

"If I kiss you, will you follow me?" His words ghosted over Shouto's skin, a loaded question, with more than one meaning.

"W-where?" He stuttered, his heart beating rapidly against his ribcage. If he had his quirk, he was certain he'd have burst into flames.

"Anywhere," he whispered, bringing his hand up to delicately caress the side of his face, running his thumb over Shouto's bottom lip.

"Always."

Shouto could've sworn he saw stars.

Izuku's lips were soft and tasted like honey, his hands were strong, and his firm grip held Shouto in place. Thank god for that, because his knees felt like jelly, his head was spinning as the euphoria of their kiss crashed over him. He felt himself lean into it, deepen it, nibble his bottom lip until Izuku gasped. He surged forward, mapping out the inside of his mouth with his tongue, eliciting a soft moan from the other man that he had no qualms over returning.

His hands moved with no thought, gripping his biceps, caressing the exposed skin at the back of his neck, pulling him closer. He melted into the kiss, forgetting everything about their mission in this world and the quirk that brought him here. It was perfect, it was everything he had ever dreamed, it was-

"Hey! You two! Didn't you hear the announcement- break it up!"

Izuku tore away from Shouto's lips with a soft smile, leaving a gaping absence in his place as he turned to face the night crew staff. "Sorry agent, we were a little... preoccupied. What was the announcement?"

Shouto, out of breath, glanced at the stranger and could tell he was extremely uncomfortable. "All off-duty staff go back to the dorms. Hurry up, go fool around on your own time." He turned to stomp away.

"Oh, gladly," Izuku said under his breath, grabbing Shouto by the wrist and continuing along their path with urgency as if nothing had happened. It ended so fast he nearly thought he imagined it, if not for the flush across the bridge of Izuku's nose and the redness of his lips. He had to actively pull himself back to the present, his mind perfectly content to drown in the memory of kissing Izuku. He didn't quite manage it until the other man stopped them again, this time in front of a larger vent cover.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope!" He responded cheerily, pulling a screwdriver out of a pocket.

"God Izuku. Fine, okay, but where are we going?"

"Is it really not obvious?"

"No."

He popped the cover off the wall. "The command room, silly."

"What?"

"Come on! And close that up behind you," Izuku said, already one with the ducts, not pausing to see if Shouto would follow him.

"God dammit, Izuku." He had no choice but to follow.

The vents weren't nearly as hard to traverse as he had expected, with most of their bends at a reasonable distance to stand and pull themselves up- there was only one short climb they needed mutual assistance. Shouto blindly followed Izuku, his only direction being, "up and starboard," as if that was supposed to mean anything with how twisted around he was before this.

"There is absolutely no way you actually know our position on the ship right now."

"Rude. I know exactly where we are."

"Prove it."

"Top floor. Tenth wing. And-" he paused in front of a grate, taking his screwdriver back out. "Three halls away from a maintenance closet with a ladder that will take us to the catwalk above the command room that's used for storage."

Shouto just stared, defeated.

Izuku popped the vent off the wall and stuck his head out. "We're all clear, hurry up!"

They both hopped out of the vent that was much narrower and higher off the ground than the one they entered from, and they worked together to replace the cover before Izuku grabbed him by the wrist again and booked it down the hall. It was exactly as he said, three turns before he paused to shuffle through his deck of stolen key cards, using one to unlock another nearly invisible door that opened to a very tight space exclusively holding a ladder bolted to the wall.

"You first," Izuku prompted, so he started climbing, Izuku following as soon as he was high enough to get inside the right space and close the door behind them. Shouto had been to the command room before, so he had a general idea of what he was climbing up to- weaving metal walkways with dusty crates nearly forgotten about- all around fifty feet above the main floor.

When he got to the top of the ladder there was another panel to push aside, opening up to the catwalk. He was surprised how much noise was blocked from that panel alone, because as soon as it opened he could hear yelling from the other side.

He looked down to face Izuku below him. "What do you think that is?"

"Shh. That's exactly what we're here to find out. Keep going, stay hidden."

He pulled himself up through the opening, staying low to the floor and quietly creeping over to hide in between some crates. It was dark, the ground-level lighting barely illuminating his path, but he could see those below very quickly.

It was almost exactly who he expected. The League, Geten, Skeptic. What surprised him was the focal point of the room- Hawks, tied tightly with thick metal cables to a chair on display. He still had wings, but they were closer to a dark brown than red. And it was hard to tell from this distance, but his face seemed to look a bit different, pointier maybe.

He looked bloody. It was in his hair, his ripped uniform sleeves, a few damaged patches of feathers. Shouto bit back a gasp when he realized how bad it actually was. Izuku shut the hatch and crept over to meet him.

"For the last fucking time Keigo, what does this shit mean!"

"For the last time Touya," he spat. "It doesn't mean fucking anything!"

Shouto felt his heart skip a beat, his mouth go dry, but it took him a second to figure out why. Izuku gestured at him, silently asking if he was okay, and Shouto nodded, realizing all at once that the version of him on this spaceship did not realize that Touya was here too. Dabi was the lieutenant of Wing Four- with the highest security prisoners. Hardly anyone ever saw him. And Shouto hadn't heard from his brother in years.

"Bullshit!" There was a loud smack, a book to the face, and if Keigo wasn't tied up he certainly would've fallen over. "I know this is yours, that fucking smuggler stole it from your apartment, so why the hell did you go through and highlight random words in our fucking manifesto Kei?"

"I was taking notes!"

"These notes make no goddamn sense! You can't tell me this isn't in code, I'm not an idiot-"

"Enough Dabi," growled out a voice Shouto never wanted to hear again. "Your method isn't working. Atsuhiro!"

"Yes Commander?"

"Work your magic."

"Hey, hey, Atsuhiro," there was less defiance in Keigo's voice now, more fear. "You don't need to do anything to me, I'm telling the truth. You know me, why would I be lying about this? It's all a misunderstanding."

"Shut it, Kei."

"If there's nothing to hide, Keigo, then you have no reason to worry." Shouto shifted to get a better look and noticed Atsuhiro pull a long chain with a pendant out from under his uniform.

"What is that?" Shouto whispered.

"Shh!" Came a shout from below. "Someone's here."

Shit, shit, shit. Why did he say anything? Did those three words really reveal their position? He was such an idiot.

Footsteps echoed to the entrance of the main door, and a loud metallic click indicated its opening. Shouto held back a sigh of relief.

"Hi! I w-was just looking for Himiko? Is she still here with you guys?"

"How much did you hear?" Growled Suichi.

"Hear? I didn't hear anything. Um, if she's not here I'll just go back to my bunk."

"Nice try Ochako," said Jin.

"No, really! I don't- Himiko! What's going on? Ow, let go of me- Himiko, tell them this is a misunderstanding! I didn't do anything! I was just looking for you."

"Oh, sweetheart. You really did show up at the worst possible time. You knew we sent you and the others away on purpose, how long were you listening to us, babe?"

"I wasn't, I swear-"

"We don't have time to deal with her right now. Lock her up and we'll wipe her tomorrow."

"What? Tenko I- Himiko! Why are you letting them- ow! Jin, stop it! What is going on?"

"Atsuhiro, the task at hand."

"Of course, Commander." Shouto could hear the sounds of Ochako struggling against Jin's grip even after he dragged her from the room out the back door, toward what was believed to be the Commander's quarters.

"Atsuhiro, bro, what the fuck are you doing?"

"It's a family heirloom, Keigo." He said with the pendant gently swinging in front of his gaze. Keigo tried to look away, but Suichi grabbed his head and held him facing forward. "Now, tell us about this book the smuggler found."

"I- I didn't give it to him. He broke into my apartment- he wasn't supposed to find that. I don't know who he is."

"Interesting. So you're not working with him. But you still haven't explained the book, Keigo."

His voice came out pained. "I didn't- I wasn’t going to..."

"If it wasn't for the smuggler then who was it for."

"It. Wasn't. For. Any. One." It sounded like he was fighting his own body to hold back a response.

"The bastard is wordsmithing, any ‘one'- it must be for an organization."

"Dammit Touya!"

He shoved Atsuhiro out of the way, gripping either side of the chair that Keigo was trapped in. "Who are you trying to sell us out to, huh? The resistance? Those smuggling agencies that think they run the galaxy? Who!?"

"I don't know their name!"

"Bullshit-" another smack.

"I don't," he choked out. "I was contacted anonymously. They said The League infiltrated The Commission- I didn't believe them."

"He didn't believe them, oh how sweet," interrupted Himiko.

"So then what? You started taking notes?"

"Yes! But I wasn’t- I hadn't made a plan to- I didn't do anything with what I uncovered!"

"Until an unsuspecting redheaded smuggler just happened to break into your apartment on Accipitridae-"

"Yes!"

"And happened to find your fucking notes-"

"No one knew about the book, Touya!"

"Bullshit! This is all bullshit. You think you can fucking come back from this?"

"I've heard enough. We're done here. Leave him here and lock the doors. Those restraints will hold him better than a cell."

"You're just going to leave me here?"

Tenko scoffed. "Be glad I didn't decide to kill you."

The majority of them left quickly after that, but Touya lingered. He looked livid with himself for it, not even looking in Keigo's direction but unwilling to step out the door.

"You know, you're the reason I couldn't believe it. At first, anyway."

He glanced over his shoulder. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"I couldn't get my head around the idea that you, the you I knew, would support The League's mad ideology."

"You don't know shit about me-" he spun on his heel to face him, pointing.

"-I thought I did! Was all of that a lie?"

"You're the one who was lying here, okay? I never pretended to be something I'm not. I didn't keep secrets from you, and look where that fucking got me!"

"I just don't understand-"

"And you never will! So just fuck off and die already."

"I loved you."

"Fuck you," he spat.

"I never sent that book to anyone Touya."

"Shut the fuck up."

"I knew what you all were doing but I still couldn't. fucking. send it."

"I don't want to hear any of this," he turned to storm out of the room.

"Tenko's going to kill me! You know he is, do you even care?"

"Fuck you, birdie! I'll see you in hell."

Reeling from what just transpired, the only thought crossing through Shouto's head was what the fuck?

Seriously. What the fuck? Hawks and his brother? That was disturbing. He turned to face Izuku, about to voice his singular thought, when movement in the shadows caught his attention. Shouto completely froze, brain scrambling to identify what he was looking at. It was just dark enough that all he could clearly identify were eyes.

"Izuku," Shouto whispered, barely audible. "Behind."

Izuku's eyes got wide and he slowly shifted, turning around. The dull glint of the Hero Killer's eyes stared back.

***

He should've expected everything to go wrong at the last possible second. The plot wouldn't have been compelling enough if it hadn't.

They made it to Ventura with no issue- a sort of neutral ground space station that they had found themselves at many times before. Hanta set out for someone named Tamaki (okay, yes, he knew Amajiki Tamaki, but not here) to get the parts he needed to fix their cloaking device, while Mina called up Nejire to get them some cheap(er) fuel. All in all, they were there for less than a day- which Katsuki wanted to complain about being too long but the air was tense enough as it was, so he kept his mouth shut.

They successfully wove their way through sanctioned space, Kyouka only needing to cover for them at a single checkpoint before they were close enough to the warp gate that Hitoshi could get them to hit a peripheral at hyper speed. Hanta activated their phantom carapace mid-flight, and they arrived in the Kamino Cluster two hours later, undetected.

They found the barge. It was absolutely massive, housing an undeniable plethora of prisoners. God knew how many of them were falsely accused of something by the Commission for their political agenda- but this wasn't that kind of operation. All any of them cared about was getting Ei back. So they gravity locked onto the fifth wing as the undercover agents had instructed, sending out a pod with just him, Denki, and Kyouka for the rescue op.

They had been told the airlock alarm had been disabled and entered through an ejected travel pod port, holding their breath to see if it would set anything off. It didn't.

They knocked out some guards and stole their grey uniforms in classic infiltration fashion, hoping they didn't get one of their inside men by accident. Kyouka was comically swimming in the outfit they had snagged her, but they didn't have the time to wait for anyone else. They made their way through the halls, quietly checking in with their remaining team members occasionally, who were tracking them via digital schematics given to them by Aizawa's team. Eventually they reached a door that needed a key card and they put Kyouka to work.

"Guys, I'm worried we're missing something," he heard Mina's voice through their comms, Denki responding before he had a chance.

"Missing what? They said the fifth wing. Hitoshi- how many doors like this before the brig?"

"Three."

"I'm just not seeing his biosignature anywhere Denks, are you sure you're in the right place?"

Katsuki's heart dropped into his stomach, his first and only thought being that if Mina couldn't track his biosignature then the only explanation was that he was no longer alive. He felt his hands start to shake.

"There are people on the other side of this door," whispered Kyouka, ear pressed to the panel as she tried to hack them through, two long wires reminiscent of her earphone jacks plugged into the key card scanner.

"That doesn't make sense. The route looks empty from my end."

"Mina, are you positive your scanner isn't fucking broken-"

"Language on the comms!" Scolded Hanta.

"Shut the fuck up, Mina- what's wrong with your scanner?"

"I don't know, everything else seems to be showing up just fine-"

"Guys!" Warned Kyouka before a hissing sound preceded the door sliding open, revealing two armed guards in navy blue with their phasers raised.

"Fuck," Katsuki said under his breath, bracing for a fight before his real memories caught up to him.

"Oh, thank God, we found you," said Shouto- and he had never been more fucking relieved to see his partner's stupid half 'n' half hair. Of course, he didn't know Shouto here- but the grin on Denki's face showed he clearly did.

"What a lovely surprise, agents. Are you here to tell us why Mina is unable to track Eiji's biosig?"

"He was transferred," Izuku answered. "Literally no more than twenty minutes ago. Absolutely terrible timing. They're taking him to the eighth wing- I don't think we can get all three of you there through the crowd. And Denki... I need your help with something. We have to split up."

Denki's smile faded. "I'm not losing anyone else on this ship."

"And you won't have to," said Shouto. "I'll take your gunner through as a prisoner. That will be the easiest, most direct route to the eighth wing. Izuku will take you, Captain, still disguised. You'll make a quick stop to help him recapture the information your crewmate stole, and then back routes to meet up with us. Hacker- get back to your pod. Bring it around the other side for a quick escape. This is your best bet."

"Fuck," Katsuki responded right as Denki replied, "You're right."

"I set the cameras in this area to loop, but it's too late to do that for anywhere else on the ship. Tsu is monitoring what she can but be careful. Shut off your comms. They track the signals and will notice you're talking to someone on the outside." Izuku explained. "Hacker, we'll take you back to your pod. Let's go now. If you're lucky, Shouto, you'll catch him mid-transfer. He should be with Tenya still."

Denki gestured for Kyouka to pack away her tech. Katsuki glanced towards Shouto, nodding his head in the other direction. "Alright, let's go you Half 'n' Half bastard."

Kyouka snorted, "Katsuki, no flirting with strangers on your husband's rescue mission."

Katsuki gagged. "I am not- oh, fuck off."

Shouto snickered and pulled a bright white prisoner jumpsuit out of a shoulder bag that must've been there the whole time, tossing it to Katsuki with one hand. "Get changed. We'll let you guys know as soon as we find him."

The others headed back the way they came as Katsuki stripped off his stolen guard uniform and pulled the jumpsuit on over his normal clothes. He watched Shouto shove his discarded uniform and the bag down a garbage shoot. The footsteps of the others quickly dissipated.

"So, husband?"

"Who the fuck do you think we're rescuing, Icyhot." He zipped up the prisoner uniform and adjusted the sleeves.

"Oh, I am well aware of who you're rescuing."

"Then I don't know what you want me to fucking say." He gestured for Shouto to lead the way and the other man sighed, snagging a pair of handcuffs from his belt and holding them up expectantly. Katsuki rolled his eyes and held out his wrists. The cuffs clicked shut with a faint electric buzz and Shouto paused, glancing at his face. He was silent for a moment before speaking up again.

"If we weren't us right now, I think this me would be asking you how you're holding up."

"Tch."

"Well?"

"I-" his breath hitched. He was not going to cry. Not here, in front of a stranger. Not in front of Shouto. He looked up at the ceiling, blinking away the tears he had been drinking away for the past week, the emotions that weren't his. "It's been awful."

"Oh."

"Oh," he scoffed. "What did you expect?"

"I guess that's what I expected. But how are you holding up?"

He shook his head. "I'm not," he admitted. "I hate every part of this. I hate how familiar it all feels."

"Familiar?"

"Missing him. It- it won't feel like this when I go back, will it? When he's actually gone? I've barely lasted a week of it here without destroying my liver." He knew he sounded desperate, but his head and heart were so jumbled up at this point it was hard to care.

Here he had something more. He had something more and its loss burned like a wildfire. His insides were melting and if he didn’t get him back he would turn to ash within days. He had something more, but was it worth this?

"I don't know, Katsuki. What do you think the difference would be?"

He couldn't answer that. He thought the words, but he couldn't say them out loud.

Because I don't love him like this in real life.

Did he?

"We need to hurry up before we're caught. Let's go."

Shouto gave him another blank-faced look before spinning on his heels and leading Katsuki with a firm grip on his arm through the door Kyouka had been working on hacking them through.

"You know Chizome?"

"Chizome... The Hero Killer?"

"That's the one. The reason for all the chaos that led to Ejirou's delayed transfer. He broke out a few days ago- we still don't know how. He's managed to avoid all our surplus patrols and we've only got him on camera once or twice, gone by the time we got there. He's been fucking with us, for lack of better words. Releasing random prisoners, messing with tech, the likes. That's going to be our cover for you. Today he freed a handful of prisoners from Wing Eight. He let you out, I'm putting you back in."

"I see," Katsuki nodded. "And that just happens to be where they're moving Ei?"

"Huh? Oh, no. We asked him to target Eight specifically."

"You what?" He asked, right as Shouto waved another key card and the wall opened up to the central concourse, a diverging hub of activity.

"Keep your head down," he yanked him closer, weaving through the crowd. "Like I said, chaos. And between it all, they upgraded Eijirou to political prisoner status. Tenya's got him right now, assisting with the transfer. Tsu is also safe, but don't trust anyone else-"

"Did you just imply that you're working with the fucking Hero Killer?"

"We weren't. At least not until last night."

"Last night?"

"Listen, a lot has happened since I got here, I'll tell you all about it later. But for now, you need to keep your head down and-"

"Shouto! Who's this cutie?" Katsuki's face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ochako! Hey, um, not sure his civilian name. Mirio had me tracking his microchip, 37-050. Made it all the way to the fifth wing in the chaos, I'm just bringing him back."

She eyed them suspiciously. "Chizome sure is making a mess of things. Have fun with that, see you soon." She winked and went on her way.

"Is everyone on this ship just wearing different colored versions of your hero outfit?"

"Fuck," he heard Shouto under his breath. "Yeah, I know. Mess with the logs then! I can't-"

"Earth to Icyhot, you're mumbling like fucking Deku."

He glared back at him. "I'm trying to save our asses. Your mission is going to blow our cover."

"What, Cheeks? She's not even safe here?"

"For the love of God, Katsuki, that was not Ochako."

"What?"

"Let's go."

He continued to pull him through the crowd, ignored by the majority of the officers and mechanics as they passed. Shouto got a few inquisitive glances from people Katsuki didn't recognize, but he just gestured at the cuffs, and they let him by. He noticed that Shouto was fidgeting with something in his pocket, moments before he whipped out his key card against a scanner Katsuki hadn't seen and swiftly pulled the two of them into the narrow hallway that opened up. He picked up his pace.

"Where the fuck are we going?"

"It's kind of hard to catch up to someone in the main halls without looking insanely suspicious. But Izuku and I work in general maintenance. So our keys get us in here."

"And what, is there literally no other maintenance staff? Why is this hall empty?"

"Of course there's other staff. They're just busy out there, doing their actual jobs."

"Tch. Can you take my cuffs off then?"

Shouto scoffed and turned around, tossing him a magnetic key.

"Asshole," Katsuki grumbled, barely snatching it from the air with his bound hands. He unlocked one cuff but kept the other hanging from his wrist in case he had to throw it back on fast.

Shouto stopped suddenly in the middle of the hall, and at the pace they were going Katsuki nearly crashed into him.

"Fucking watch it, Icyhot-"

"What do you mean he's not there?"

Katsuki's heart dropped into his stomach as Shouto listened for a response, presumably from Izuku.

"What, so do you think they killed him?"

"Killed who!?" He jabbed him in the shoulder.

"Shut up," Shouto waved him off. "I'm not talking about Eijirou. Wait. Izuku- don't. Now is not the time. Dammit Izuku!"

"What the fuck is going on? Who was killed? What did Izuku do? Why did we stop?"

"He always does this! God, okay, I guess I'll give you the details now. Come on." He started moving again, taking a left when the path diverged. "Hawks is one of the Lieutenants here. He is the one Ejirou robbed-"

"Ei wasn't robbing him-"

"Shut up, it's semantics. So The League tied him down and beat him for information last night."

"For getting robbed?"

They made another sharp turn, a variety of offshoots appearing on the edges of their new route. Katsuki hoped Shouto knew where they were because he certainly did not.

"It's way more nuanced than that. It got... weird. Anyways Izuku was going to try to get Denki to take him off the ship before they killed him, but apparently he's missing."

"So... dead."

Shouto stopped them in front of a blank wall, pulling his key card out again and waving it in front of a scanner. "No idea. Izuku shut off his comm before he figured anything out. We're on our own for now."

There was a ding and the wall opened up in front of them, revealing an occupied elevator.

"I cannot believe Jin broke your fucking ankle. As if sneaking you out of here wasn’t enough, now I have to carry you."

"Psh, such a drama queen. You're not even actually carrying me, calm down."

"Your wings alone are like two hundred pounds-"

"-Hawks?" Katsuki interrupted their spat, drawing both of their attention to the open elevator door.

Keigo stared at him incredulously, arm slung over Dabi's shoulders, before shaking himself out of his stupor and pointing at Katsuki. "That's racist."

"Shouto? What in the hell are you doing here?"

"Hi Touya. Lots of questions. How about we all continue on our way and pretend we never saw each other?" Touya looked between Hawks, still covered in dried blood, at Katsuki's unlocked handcuffs, and back at Shouto before shrugging and pulling Hawks off the elevator.

"Suit yourself. Good luck with... whatever that is." He gestured towards the two of them.

"Right back at ya," he yanked Katsuki into the elevator and shut the door without another word.

"So. Hawks isn't dead."

"Apparently."

"And your villain brother was rescuing him."

"That he was."

"How exactly has this universe been treating you?"

"You know, I'm honestly not sure how to answer that," he said casually, but Katsuki caught the blush creeping onto his face.

"Oh god. Don't tell me, you and Deku-"

"I wasn't planning on telling you anything. You're the one here to rescue his husband."

"Fine, fine. I don't even want to know." He glanced around the slow-moving elevator. "Give me a rundown on what's about to happen."

"It really could go so many different ways. We're going to Mirio's wing-"

"-Lemillion?"

"The one and only."

"And he's working for the bad guys here?"

"He's like Ochako- he doesn't know they're bad guys. Not all the lieutenants are aware the commission has been infiltrated. That's what brought me and my team here in the first place."

"I thought you said that wasn't Ochako?"

"That wasn't. That was Toga Himiko. Ochako overheard some things she wasn't supposed to and was taken prisoner last night."

"Jesus. Okay. So, we're going to Mirio's wing. Where's Ei?"

"He was supposed to go to cell 6-347. Tsu was keeping track of him and Tenya but since Izuku shut his comm off I can't talk to her."

"Why?"

"Tenya broke his, something something science, needs three signals to function, I really don't know but there's nothing we can do about it now. We're headed to the sixth floor, so hopefully nothing's changed."

The elevator dinged and opened up to a corridor very similar to the one Katsuki originally broke into, but with yellow directional signage instead of grey.

"What I don't understand is how in all of these alternate realities we've still been stuck with all these fucking UA extras."

"Put your cuffs back on and keep your voice down," he scolded. "Don't you think that's the whole point?

"The point??"

"The point to her stupid quirk. To us being here. Have you not speculated on that at all? What have you even spent the past day doing?"

"Day?"

"Yes, or night, or whatever fucking time it is-"

"-I've been here for two days."

"What?"

They turned a corner and were immediately spotted by two armed guards in dark yellow jumpsuits. Shouto equipped his phaser in an instant to appear as though he was actually escorting Katsuki back to a cell.

"Hey! Maintenance- what's your name? Where are you going with that prisoner?" Called out one of the men.

"Todoroki Shouto, sir. Caught him over in Geten's wing, his chip linked him here and they're short-staffed, so they sent me to return him."

"Understood. Mirio is in booking, helping catalog the escapees."

He nodded in acknowledgment, prodding Katsuki's shoulder with the weapon to get him to continue past the other guards. They took another turn and stopped at another door that Shouto needed his key card to open. Katsuki waited until it shut behind them to speak up again.

"I said, I've been here for two days. I woke up on a spaceship two days ago, shortly after Hitoshi showed up at that dingy bar. When did you get here?"

"Two days?" He hissed. "I got here yesterday evening. But... the last thing I remember was Hitoshi showing up too. If you were in this reality, where the hell was I?"

"What about the last jump? When did you show up there?"

"Like ten minutes before you and Izuku got to the lab."

"I was there for hours at that point. What the fuck?"

"At UA?"

"I opened my eyes to you hacking out a lung."

"Okay, okay, that's when I showed up too. I have no idea why our timelines aren't the same, but pretty much nothing about this quirk makes any sense, except for what I was trying to get at earlier."

"Which was what?"

"That regardless of the order of events, or context, some people are just... supposed to find each other?

"That is the sappiest, dumbest load of bullshit I have ever heard. Are you back on that learning a lesson nonsense?"

"How else would you explain it, Katsuki? What reason would there be for us to repeatedly be surrounded by the same faces, regardless of countless other factors."

"Maybe she is just fucking with us. Maybe it is an illusion."

"You know it isn't a fucking illusion. And shut up, there's someone-"

"Shouto! Haven't seen you around in ages, probably because my wing is usually so well maintained," Mirio laughed. "Who's your friend here?"

Katsuki felt his jaw clench, his blood go hot as a loosely contained rage fell over him. This was the man who was imprisoning Ei. It didn't matter that he knew Lemillion. For all this Katsuki knew, Mirio was just as bad as the rest of them.

"One of your escapees, I believe. We found him in Wing Five, I was heading to booking."

"That's interesting," Mirio took a step forward, tilting his head. "I don't recognize him. What are you in for?"

"Arson," Shouto blurted out, and he wondered if he came up with that on himself, or finally had Tsu back in his ear. "That's what Geten's team told me when they looked him up on the system. Burnt down some politician's estate."

"Hm. Sounds believable," Mirio considered, eyeing Katsuki up and down. It was uncomfortably silent for a beat, as Mirio thought his way through their lie. His heart was racing, he was frozen under Mirio's gaze, bracing himself for an adverse reaction.

It came in an instant. A lingering glance at his shoes- his fucking shoes- and Mirio darted to a panic button on the wall. Katsuki unlocked his handcuffs in a fluid motion, channeling his rage as he dove towards Mirio, tackling him seconds after a blaring alarm and flashing red lights went off overhead.

Their fight was a blur. He slid the enemy's phaser down the hall, scrambling to get him in a headlock before he had the chance to orient himself. Mirio was typically a worthwhile opponent, but Katsuki had the benefit of surprise- though he half expected him to sink through the floor. From there it was about ten seconds of blocking off his blood flow and airways until he went slack.

He could hear Shouto talking to someone through his comm again.

"I know! Fuck- this is not. Okay, fine. Katsuki!"

"What?" He growled, untangling himself from an unconscious Mirio. "Thanks for the fucking help, by the way."

"I couldn't help, you dumbass! I have to stay here after this stupid rescue mission of yours- this could blow my cover! I need you to knock me out too."

"What? Why?"

"So I have an excuse, so they don't think I'm in on it. I didn't attack Mirio, my story was convincing enough- I need them to think you pulled this over on me too. And the only way to do that is to overpower me here where you knocked out Mirio."

"Fuck. How am I supposed to find-"

"Take these," he passed off his earpiece and key card. "Tsu will guide you. Hurry up, there will be guards on us any second now."

His ears were ringing from the alarms as he shoved the earpiece in place, putting Shouto into a headlock per his request.

“Nice going, kero. You're not that far, so get a move on.”

“If you fucking hurt him, I swear to god-”

"Shut the fuck up Deku," he said as Shouto crumpled in his grip. "Tsu- where to?"

“Keep going down that hall. The door on the left will take you to the cells. After that, it's your first right and two more lefts. Izuku- how close are you?”

“Denki and I will meet you there. Hurry up.”

He ran, snatching Mirio's discarded phaser off the floor when he passed it. He fumbled with the key card but made it through the next door, just as he heard voices discovering the mess he left in the hallway. He ignored the rows of glass cells and chose not to look over the railing to the other identical floors visible from his position. He heard voices calling out to him as he passed, banging on the glass, the flashing red lights setting all the prisoners on edge, all hoping to be the next ones to escape. The only thing on his mind was right, left, left. That would get him to Ei.

The first right was more of the same. The first left too. He was nearing the second left, past the end of a long row of cells, when a loud bang on the other side of a wall startled him. He slammed to a stop right before a vent flew off its hinges and Denki tumbled out.

"What the hell, Izuku," Denki groaned from the floor.

"You were taking too long," he huffed, casually sliding from the vent to grab the cover off the floor and reattach it. Katsuki grabbed Denki's arm to help him off the ground, and Izuku swiveled around to shove a book into his chest, almost knocking him over again.

"Get this to Aizawa. It is essential to our mission. Don't fuck it up." He demanded.

"Have I ever let you down before?"

"No, so don't start now." He turned to Katsuki and pulled out a deck of key cards, shuffling through them until he found the right one to pass off. "This will open his cell. You've got maybe ten minutes to get out before the whole ship goes on lockdown. Now I've got to go-"

"You're not coming with us?" Asked Denki.

"No, this asshole knocked out Shouto. I have to go back for him."

"You're going to get caught," Katsuki grabbed his shoulder but Izuku aggressively shrugged him off.

"The risks of this mission were worth it to you, right? To get your husband back?" He snapped. "I couldn't care less if I got caught. He's here because of me- I have to go back for him. I'll always go back for him. I'll leave my comm on so Tsu can direct you off the ship. Now go." He nudged his shoulder before taking off back the way Katsuki had come.

"Those two are something else," Denki chuckled. "Come on, let's get Eijirou."

That's all it took for Katsuki to start running again. He took that second left, back to a hallway lined with prison cells, Denki on his heels. He paid more attention to the prisoners this time, eyes scanning every cell for a sign of sharp teeth and red hair.

"Katsuki- up ahead," he heard Denki, nearly out of breath behind him.

He looked forwards, at the next bend on the pathway, and there he was. Trapped behind a layer of thick glass was Eijirou. His Ejirou. He felt an indescribable wave of relief crash over him- Ei was right there, he was actually going to get him back.

His vision started twinkling at the edges.

"No, no, no!" He growled, somehow running even faster, almost slamming up against the glass cage as the tunnel vision threatened to overtake him. He fumbled again with the key cards, he wasn't sure which was the new one Izuku had just passed off, and he guessed wrong at first, a threatening beep coming from the scanner as he threw the dud card to the floor and tried the other one.

It glowed green, and he heard the hiss of the door open, right as his vision went black.

Chapter Text

From Shouto's perspective, Bakugou knocked him out, and he opened his eyes to a gun in his face.

"Go to hell," said Izuku, pulling the trigger.

With no time to remember the context of the situation, he allowed his superhuman reflexes, weakened as they were, to throw him out of the way, dropping to the ground to kick at his opponent’s feet, letting autopilot take over like he had become accustomed to in the throes of this quirk.

"What the fuck Izuku!?"

"Don't fucking call me that!" He dodged, shooting another unaimed bullet towards him.

"What do you even think this is going to accomplish?" Shouto backed further into the alley, keeping to the shadows in the soft light of early dawn. His hands were raised, but he was prepared to dodge at a moment's notice.

"The only thing I'm trying to accomplish is killing you," he glared, firing off three more rounds in quick succession, caging Shouto in towards one of the blank facades.

"And then what? You think no one will come after you? You think the interspecies conflict will be over, resolved because you killed one innocent-"

"None of you are innocent!" Four more rounds, taking out chunks of the brick wall behind him.

"For the love of god-" he had been playing defense up to this point, but this was getting irritating. He lunged for the other man, grabbing his wrist and twisting it until he dropped the weapon. Even in Shouto's weakened state, Izuku was clearly outclassed in a hand-to-hand fight, and panic overrode the anger in his eyes as he effectively reversed their positions, pinning Izuku against the cracked brick with an arm across his throat.

"Please enlighten me. What the hell did I do to earn specific attention from a novice hunter, huh?"

"You killed Uraraka," he snarled, struggling against Shouto's grip.

"I did no such thing-"

"You turned her!"

"I did not! It was probably Monoma- I don't even know who Uraraka is!"

"Keep her name out of your mouth!"

"Oh my god, seriously? I was just minding my own business when you started stalking me, I do not see how any of this is my fault-"

Apparently he had let his guard down because Izuku had the opportunity to knee him hard in a place where even the undead felt pain.

"What the fuck Izuku," he grunted as he collapsed to his knees, the other man yanking out of his grip and dashing over to his discarded handgun.

"Stop fucking calling me that," he heard the click of the safety from Izuku's gun, posed behind his head like an executioner.

"It's your name-"

"And you have no right to say it!"

"-I didn't ask for this, you know!" He was shocked by the emotion in his own voice. This was clearly something this version of him felt strongly about. "I didn't want this- I didn't volunteer like some do. I was dealt a shitty hand in life and an even shittier hand in death- so you know what, fine, shoot me with your fucking silver bullet. See if it fucking does anything, because I guarantee it won't. The only thing you're doing is painting a target on your own back."

He stayed down, letting out an unnecessary breath that he must've been holding the whole fight.

He heard some shuffling behind him, the eventual sound of the safety clicking back on, and the gun being holstered. The man made his way to slide down the edge of the building. He sat almost facing him but kept his head down. "What am I supposed to do? Just let her go?"

"She still exists, you know. She'll be held back for a bit until she gets her thirst under control, but she's not gone. You can see her again." Shouto copied his lead and turned around to lean back against the building, exhausted.

He shook his head, a few silent tears running down his face. "I'm from a long line of hunters, my family runs their own fucking guild. If I saw her again, I'd just be leading them right to her."

This was a different dynamic for them. Shouto knew that this sort of breakthrough had been weeks in the making. He had been stalked, specifically. It didn't help that he spent so much time away from the nest, intentionally exposing himself to humans, and it definitely didn't help that every day he went without drinking blood he looked more and more undead. He didn't know why he was being blamed for Uraraka's fate, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was just because he was noticed.

"I'm sorry. About your friend. I can... check on her? If you want. I don't- I don't know how else I can help you."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You can't. I guess I already knew that. I think I just need to give up. I wasn't ready to do that before, but maybe now is the time."

He had no real response to that. It was probably true. Their worlds didn't mesh, not really. Yes, she was 'alive', but it wouldn't be the same.

They sat for a moment in silence, both reflecting on Izuku's revelation, until the hunter moved to get up, pushing off the cracked asphalt with both hands. "Ah, shit."

He felt a wave of heat wash over him and Izuku quickly stumbled backward along the wall, forcing distance between them even though he was fast enough that it wouldn't have meant anything. He knew how he looked, pupils dilated, fangs descended, and desperately fighting the overwhelming want that came over him at the scent of Izuku's blood. The human made it about twenty feet away before pausing, curious, clutching his scratched hand to his chest.

"Izuku," he growled, frozen in place, suddenly hyper-aware of all the issues that came with fasting again. They warned him, every single time they warned him that it wouldn't only make things worse, but he never listened. "You need to go."

He hesitated for half a second longer before finally coming back to himself and making the very rational decision to book it down the street. Shouto groaned and smacked the back of his head against the wall, maybe a bit harder than was necessary. He needed to go back home but he knew they would all just give him shit for not taking care of himself. Physically he was aware he was hitting a line he had never been able to cross. He would have to cave and he hated it.

He slowly stood and made his way through the back alleys of town, avoiding any signs of human life.

***

Katsuki blinked and in an instant was lying on his back, sprawled across what he knew to be a throne. There was no gasping for oxygen here, he had lost the instinct to breathe centuries ago. It was a different type of old, immortality, his memories stored up in such a way his once human brain wouldn't be overwhelmed. But through all that, his lingering emotions from the last jump still felt like a punch in the gut.

He wasn't even able to fucking get to him.

In a way, he knew that he did. That their mission was successful. That that version of Eijirou and Katsuki were reunited. That he never let Ei go on a mission without him ever again- because if he was going to be captured, goddammit they'd be captured together. And as he lounged on his throne, vaguely listening to Iida give some report on werewolf sightings and overenthusiastic cops teaming up with hunters, he felt the intensity of those emotions fade and new ones replace them. An acute loneliness, the feeling that something dreadfully important was missing, and the understanding that he had absolutely no idea how many more centuries would pass before he found it.

This fucking quirk was emotional whiplash and it was killing him.

A draft brushed over the bare skin of his torso and he heard the addition of several footsteps to the small crowd in the front of the massive room. He glanced in their direction and was content to ignore the following commotion- until the scent hit him.

It was someone new- a human, certainly- but there was something different about this human. His scent was completely unrecognizable, yet intoxicating, filling his head with cotton as he completely tuned out Iida and slowly rose from his throne. He cut him off with a wave of his hand and made his way towards the unfortunately very recognizable sound of Kaminari progressively raising his voice.

His cloak dragged softly over the polished concrete, bare feet hardly making a sound to indicate his approach. He still scoffed at their lack of attentiveness as he took in the scene. Kaminari was arguing loudly with Monoma, as Shinsou and Sero easily held back the squirming newcomer, bound by his wrists with a bag over his head. Bakugou knew it was outlandish to bring a human back to the nest unprompted, which Monoma was angrily pointing out.

"You consistently disregard all of our safety precautions-!"

"He was lurking! What, did you want me to leave him out there? So he can run off and tell his hunter friends where we're based? I've seen him around before too- he's asking for trouble! I'm not about to let someone like that go!"

At that moment they all seemed to grow aware of his presence, Monoma's retort stuck in his throat, and Kaminari caught in Katsuki's withering gaze. He swallowed once before dropping to his knees to explain himself.

"I'm not trying to start anything. I don't care what happens to him- but you assigned me to the guard. I wasn't about to just let him go. Not again. Not after last time."

He didn't dignify the blond with a verbal response, merely nodding and turning his attention to the captive, who had yet to stop struggling in Shinsou and Sero's grip. It was incomprehensible how delicious this particular human smelled- warm from his struggles, bruised up and desperate. He had been alive for hundreds of years and never encountered such a tantalizing combination. He put a conscious effort into making sure he wasn't mindlessly drooling- if he was any younger he would've been worried about losing control.

He took another step towards the trio and Sero kicked in the back of the stranger's legs, knocking him to his knees with a resounding thump. He gave Shinsou a nod and he ripped the bag off his head, revealing a gagged redhead with panicked eyes.

He really shouldn't have been so surprised.

Katsuki took another step forward and Kirishima's eyes fell on him, his heart rate accelerating further. He could hear the blood rushing through his veins. He wanted to taste it, more than he had ever wanted anything before. He traced the newcomer's jaw with a sharp claw, careful not to break the skin, before slicing through the gag that kept him silent.

"What were you doing here?" He almost didn't recognize his own voice. It held the weight of a millennium behind it, a certain dominance that was unfamiliar.

Kirishima glared at him, refusing to respond, still struggling against the bindings on his wrist as the duo held his shoulders tight. Katsuki smiled menacingly at this, showing his fangs. There was something alluring about his disobedience.

"I said," he moved quickly, gripping the man by his hair to pull his head back, barring his throat. "What were you doing lurking outside of our nest?"

"Nothing,"  he growled through gritted teeth, unable to withstand the thrall but still avoiding a real answer.  Interesting.

"Hm." He took a step backward, glancing at Shinsou out of the corner of his eye, receiving a nod that confirmed what he already knew- Kirishima was lying.

"Well, if you have nothing else to say, then I guess we will send you to the cages to await our next feeding." He shoved his head away and waved his hand dismissively as he turned around, a cacophony of chattering and hissing christening his ears as Shinsou and Sero went to drag him off- though they knew he had an ulterior motive.

There was more struggling, grunting, the sound of a human being dragged across the floor by the strength of a superior predator. But only seconds passed before he got what he wanted.

"-Wait!"

Katsuki turned around on his heel, staring the other man into the ground. He could taste his desperation in the air, his fear, but something else too. He sauntered a few steps back towards the human.

"Well?"

"I-" he was trembling, how sweet. "I heard rumors. About people disappearing around here. I thought..."

"You thought?" He cocked his head.

The other man shuddered. "For a moment, I thought... It wouldn't be too bad to disappear."

Oh. That wasn't what he was expecting. There was something more to unpack here, but not in front of a crowd. He looked back to Sero and Shinsou. The latter knew what he was thinking, and Sero would know to follow his lead, but Katsuki still gave them verbal instruction for show in front of their captive.

"Take him to my chambers. I'll decide what to do with him then." He turned on his heel and left with that, ignoring the struggle and yelling behind him.

"Your Highness, but what about-"

"Leave it, Monoma. He didn't break any laws. Can you really blame him, after Jirou?"

Monoma fell back with that, knowing he'd lost. Katsuki wouldn't give him too much grief though, he was just trying to protect the clan. Same as Kaminari.

He left the main hall, taking a detour to wrap around the passageways back up to the bar in front. The crowd had dispersed at that point, a few had made their way over to the bar ahead of him, taking the more direct route. That didn't stop him from taking his usual seat, catching the eye of Ashido who hurried over.

"That was intense," she smiled, pulling out a bottle from his private reserve. "Need a little pick me up?"

"Need something that will stop me from killing this boy on sight. There's something... different about him."

She raised her eyebrows at that, pulling out a different bottle from behind the counter. "Some O negative then," she said, pouring a glass.

A door slammed open from the outside, which he normally would've ignored. Unfortunately, this dramatic entrance reeked of Todoroki. He turned towards the ruffled man -he looked terrible- taking a sip from his glass as he gestured with his eyes for the other to join him. He got a glare in return but compliance, with another glare at Ashido prompting her to step away.

He threw himself onto the barstool beside him. "This place is terrible."

"Tch, could be worse."

"I'm sorry, are we not experiencing the same thing right now? Because it looks to me like you're drinking blood from a goblet. Human blood. What the fuck?"

He glanced down at his glass. To be honest, he had been so distracted by the whole Kirishima business he hadn't really paused to think about the ethicality of it all. "This seems normal for this reality, what else would you have me do?"

"I don't know. Maybe not kill people?"

"Hey, I haven't killed anyone. Not since we got here," he argued.

"But you're still- agh!"

Katsuki raised his eyebrows, exasperated by his childish behavior.

Todoroki sighed. "How long have you been here?"

"Like twenty minutes."

"Like eight hours," he groaned, dropping his head to the counter.

"You look... not okay."

"Gee, I wonder why-"

"When was the last time you drank something?"

"I haven’t-"

"I know that. That's not what I'm asking."

He clenched his jaw, refusing to look back at him. Katsuki knew Todoroki was a rebellious one- hadn't been turned under the best circumstances. But he still couldn't refuse him. "A week."

"Fucking christ, no wonder you look like death. You won't last like this-"

"I don't care-"

"Don't let yourself die here, dumbass. Neither of us know what would happen. Besides, what happened to not fucking up this version of you's life?"

"I regret ever saying that to you- you have drastically misunderstood what I meant."

"Yes, because literally dying couldn't cause irreparable damage to this timeline-"

"Fuck off. This is both versions' opinion. We would be having this exact same conversation either way."

"Fantastic. Well," he stood up, his barstool scraping loudly against the wooden floors. "I have some unfinished business upstairs. This version of me is demanding you finish this off. I won't allow a member of my clan to starve or go feral. And I mean it- who knows what would happen if that body of yours dies before our next jump." He pushed the half-full goblet in front of the other man, who promptly rolled his eyes, begrudgingly eyeing the glass.

"What unfinished business?" He spoke up as Katsuki started walking away.

He turned around and grinned, flashing his fangs. "Kaminari caught a familiar redhead lurking around outside."

Todoroki stared back. "You wouldn't."

Katsuki had thought about that. Had been since he first identified Kiri on his knees in front of him. Would he kill him? Not likely. He was struggling to identify his craving, but it wasn't that. All he could tell was that in this universe, Katsuki always took what he wanted. And this version of him wanted more.

Here they could be more. Here they could be everything. He could play with Kirishima's soul in the palm of his hand. He could give him everything he'd ever wanted and take everything he wanted in return.

He was used to approaching most of life that way. So why never this?

"I’m not convinced it's really about me anymore." Katsuki shrugged and turned around, heading up to where he knew Kirishima had been kept waiting for him.

It was a little fun, being a king. He had no reason to hesitate.

He made his way to his chambers, falling back into the instincts of this reality. It had been confusing in the beginning, trying to navigate the lingering emotions and new ones from jump to jump. To differentiate between his real feelings and the alternatives. But he wasn't finding that difficult at all this time around- he simply decided not to fight this reality in the slightest.

When he got to the door, guarded by Shinsou alone, it clicked that this was the first time after jumping that he actually had Kiri in his grasp. The last one didn't count; they didn't get to actually reunite. It hadn't even been a full week since the real Katsuki lost Kirishima. And he wanted him back.

"What's he thinking?" He asked Shinsou, dismissing him from his post.

"So, so much, and nothing at all. But I get the feeling that you'll like him."

Shinsou left and Katsuki opened the door to find the redhead tied to a chair that had subsequently fallen over, lying cheek-first on the ground glaring directly toward the entryway. He choked back a laugh. "So, you want to disappear, huh?"

"Getting right to it, are we?" Kiri snapped back.

He walked over to the fallen man, poking him in the chest with his toes. "You really should be nicer to me. I'm the judge and the jury, sweetheart."

He scoffed, "What does it even matter? You're going to kill me anyway."

"Now, I never said that." He grabbed the back of the chair and yanked both it and Kirishima upright. "I'll cut your bindings if you promise not to run."

The redhead looked at him skeptically. "Like I'd even make it to the door."

"He's learning!" Katsuki called out to no one, before crouching down in front of him and slicing through the bindings on his ankles with a claw. He was at eye level now. "What do you really want, Eijirou?"

The other man tensed up at the use of his name, confusion written on his brow. Maybe Katsuki was cheating a little, using his real memories, but now was as good a time as any.

Being this close to the human was making his skin buzz, his prior drink having done nothing to absolve him of this intense desire to take a bite out of what was in front of him. He felt drunk on his scent, and he stood, slicing through his wrist bindings behind the chair.

Kirishima sighed, rubbing his wrists gently once freed. He had the slightest bit of rope burn and it made Katsuki's mouth water. Not killing him was maybe going to be a little more difficult than he thought.

"I have nothing left," Kirishima said, in barely a whisper.

Katsuki's eyes snapped back to his. "What is it that you lost?"

"Lost," he scoffed. "They were taken from me. My entire family was killed."

"By vampires?"

He glared again but his eyes looked empty. "By cops. In a shoot-out. They were civilian casualties," he spat. "They already dropped the case."

"I see," Katsuki paced slowly, considering his options. "You want revenge. You came here on purpose."

"-I didn't think it was real! I didn't think... you..." He trailed off when Katsuki approached him again, swallowing as he eyed the vampire up and down. He was still seated, though unbound, and Katsuki gently nudged his chin until he was looking him in the eyes. He heard Kirishima's heart speed up again- it was exhilarating.

"I can give you what you want, Eijirou. Just like you can give me what I want." He caressed his face and the boy shivered.

"What... what do you want?"

He dropped his hand and circled the chair, crouching down behind him to whisper in his ear, "You."

Kirishima's breath hitched and there was something more than the fact that he hadn't yet run away that let Katsuki know he wouldn't be any time soon. "What does- what does that entail? I'm not trying to make a deal with the devil here."

He laughed at that. "You can't sell your soul if you don't have one. Isn't that what they say about us?"

"That's not very reassuring."

"Hm, let's see," he walked away from the chair towards a heavily curtained window, open to the night sky, forcing the boy to turn around if he wanted to keep an eye on him.

"You get a biological advantage against your enemies, protection by the clan while you enact your revenge. And I get to be the one who turns you."

"Do you say that to all the unsuspecting mortals?"

"Not at all. Only a small handful of them here are actually mine- I have standards. Most of them are here by choice."

"By choice? Meaning-"

"Meaning they have no formal allegiance to me. They just like me," he grinned, making his way back in front of the human. "What can I say? I'm a good king. I have centuries of practice."

Kirishima shuddered. "What if I said no?"

"Well, I'd have to drug you, so you don't remember any of this. But technically I could let you go. If that's what you really wanted."

"You keep saying that, like you can tell."

"Oh, sweetheart, I can always tell."

He didn't respond immediately, looking like he was intensely debating what outcome he was looking for in this situation. His eyes had lost some of the panic they held originally but were still darting around the room, taking in his surroundings, trying to understand his potential future.

"Do... do any of the others regret it?"

"A few, but only ever the ones who didn't have much of a choice."

He swallowed down nerves again and Bakugou couldn't help but trace down the side of his throat, feeling his heartbeat through his fingertips.

"You look like you want to eat me."

"Eijirou, baby, I would look that way if I was human too. So, have you decided?"

His eyes widened microscopically, and he looked back into Katsuki's eyes, sealing his fate with a quick nod of his head. "Do it "

He grinned and felt his pupils dilate as he grabbed Kiri by the hand and pulled him from the chair up towards the massive canopy bed that looked straight from the 16th century.

"I thought vampires don't sleep."

"Who said this bed was for sleeping?" He turned him around and pushed his chest, the human falling backward onto the mattress. His heart rate had skyrocketed, the sound of rushing blood oh so tempting- he was going to have to put extra effort into not draining the redhead completely. The boy shifted back and Bakugou crawled on top of him, straddling his waist and staring down at his offering.

There was a voice, barely even whispering in the back of his mind, that he'd dreamt of being in this position a hundred times. He ignored it in favor of a different trailing thought. That in this universe- if never any other- Eijirou was going to be his.

"The good news is that evolution really has your back," he dragged his hands down his chest, noting with slight disappointment that of course this Kiri didn't have quite the same body as his Kiri, even if he was still inhumanly beautiful.

"O-oh?"

He pulled him up by his collar into more of a sitting position and brought his mouth to his pulse point. He licked up the side of his neck and the other gasped. "I've been told being turned feels like ecstasy," he mumbled against his skin. "The best high you've ever had. Unfortunately for me, that was so long ago I barely remember. But you'll tell me what it's like, won't you Ei?"

He nodded, holding his breath. He was tense in anticipation, but that wouldn't do. Katsuki turned his attention back to his neck, sucking small bruises into the sensitive skin, bringing blood to the surface. He continued to do that, kissing along his jawline, to the other side of his throat, until he felt his body relax beneath him, blood making its way to other places. Normally he would've stopped there, but with Kiri he couldn't. His sweat was sweet, his skin tasted divine, and he had to- absolutely had to know what his lips tasted like as well. Warm, still human. He gently grabbed his jaw and brought their faces together, Kirishima seemingly melting into the kiss.

He had never kissed Kiri before, not really. Even if there were lingering memories from the last reality of all the things those versions had done together, it wasn't the same in the slightest. Even this didn't really feel like it counted, it wasn't him making the decision. It was this body, the craving he was fighting to simply eat the boy alive, that had brought their lips together. He knew he was cold to the touch, but his veins felt on fire, absolutely longing to take everything from this Kirishima. He knew that from the moment he had seen him on his knees in the throne room. He would take whatever this version of him wanted and he wouldn't feel bad about it.

They continued like that until the body underneath him was like jelly, Kirishima making soft noises into their kisses that made Bakugou's heart flutter. When he finally pulled back Kiri followed, and when Katsuki put a hand to his chest to stop him, he almost looked disappointed.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes," he said breathlessly.

So Katsuki traced his artery down Kiri's neck with his tongue, turned his head to the side, and bit.

***

When Bakugou walked away, probably to fucking murder Kirishima, Shouto turned his gaze back to Ashido feeling utterly defeated. He caught her eye as she elegantly poured a viscous red liquid into a goblet similar to his own for a stranger, before making her way back to his side of the bar.

"Shouto, Shouto, Shouto," she hummed. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to kill yourself."

"Who says I'm not?"

"Baby please, we both know it doesn't work that way."

He did know, he'd been told a million times that if he fought the bloodlust for long enough it would simply overtake him. Maybe a hunter would get to him first, but the clan wouldn’t want a feral vampire to get set loose on the world. They'd track him down immediately and it would start all over again.

He sighed. "Do you know where they're keeping an Uraraka?"

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! She's such a sweetheart- third floor. Why do you ask?"

"Someone's... looking for her. I said I'd check in."

She clicked her tongue. "Don't let Toga catch wind of that. I know she doesn't seem like the jealous type, but you never know."

"Toga Himiko?"

"Didn't you hear? They fell in love. It had been a secret for nearly two years- she finally asked Toga to change her on her 23rd birthday."

Oh. Well, if that wouldn't crush poor human Izuku's heart. He tried to ignore what this trend was saying about Uraraka. "Good to know. I won't bother checking in then, I'm sure she's taking great care of her."

Ashido dramatically winked and he rolled his eyes. "Can I get you anything else, hun? I know that's all you've had in ages." She gestured down to Bakugou's half-drunk goblet. He felt nauseous even looking at it.

"No, no. I'll... go to the blood bank. I'll be fine."

"Aizawa's blood bank?"

"Save it, Ashido. I'll see you around." He slid off his stool, feeling just as bad if not worse than before, resigned to go feed off some second-rate pigs’ blood from the human-ran vampire rehab. It never worked, not completely. But he couldn't fault the man for trying to help. Besides, he'd been told the whole thing had been started to help his daughter.

He felt dizzy, leaving the nest. The sane part of him knew that was bad, but his present's mind was convinced he could power through. He found himself stumbling through the back alleys of the city, barely aware of his surroundings, black tinging the edges of his vision as muscle memory led him to the back door of the blood bank.

He should've gone there first, instead of stopping at home. He had done it to try to calm down somewhere safe, which he had done, but staring down at that stupid goblet and refusing it was turning him delirious. He paused at the mouth of an alleyway. He was fully in the city now, surely not far from his destination, and he could hear the crowd of late-night shoppers and partygoers in the street.

Maybe 'hear' was the wrong word, even if it was also true. He could smell them, taste their sweat in the air. Their rushing blood and pounding hearts overwhelmed his senses and he caught himself, physically, with one hand on an AC unit, instinctively stepping away from the shadows and towards the optimal food source.

He made it to Aizawa's. He was barely aware of the journey, just that he did end up at that bright red back alley door, and knocked a familiar pattern, leaning heavily against the frame.

"Jesus, Shouto, are you okay?" He nearly collapsed in his sister's arms the second the door opened.

"The Lord will not forgive you for housing the devil in your soul if you continue to say his name in vain."

"Shut it, Ibara," the door shut behind them as Fuyumi led him over to one of the couches in the small sitting room. "You look awful, where have you been?"

"You know," he gestured weakly, "around."

He couldn't see straight but he knew she rolled her eyes at that. "Stay put, I'll get you a blood bag." He nodded weakly and collapsed onto the couch.

She left the room, and he could feel Ibara's burning stare. She hated him for reasons he couldn't possibly control, and he would never truly be welcomed here because of it.

He heard two sets of feet ascending the basement stairs and the last bit of an argument.

"-ust think he's beyond helping with that. Don't you?" Tetsutetsu opened the door ahead of his sister. "Shouto! My guy. You have to know this won't work anymore."

"Your desire for salvation cannot overcome your past sins, Shouto. Leave us before you corrupt others with your treachery."

"Shut up Ibara, that's my brother-"

"It's not your fault dude. I know you took the fall for your sister, and I know you never wanted that- but it doesn't change the facts. You can't survive off this," he snatched the bag from Fuyumi, "like we can. If you don't drink human blood soon, you're-"

"You cannot be saved from the depths in which you have fallen."

"Ibara!"

"Fuyumi, you have to be realistic about this! It's a waste of stock, you can't keep deluding yourself into thinking this will help him! It's too late for that and you know it."

"You're wrong," she snatched the bag back from him.

"He looks worse every time he comes back here!"

"But he looks better every time he leaves! If you didn't all treat him like this, and he stayed-"

"Aizawa and Yamada won't let him stay," came another voice from the basement stairs.

"Kendo-"

"It's not his fault, but it's science Fuyumi. It's not safe for the clinic members for him to be here full-time. Really it's not safe for him to be here now- he's definitely not allowed downstairs." She said, shutting the door behind her.

"Well he's here now, so just let me at least give him the damn blood bag before you kick him out!"

"Artificial nourishment will not cleanse his soul. You merely exacerbate his sins with your irritational support."

"Ibara, I swear to god-"

"Ibara! Go downstairs," demanded Kendo. "Fuyumi-"

"Look at him Kendo," she begged. "I can't send him out there like this."

She sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I know. Give him the bag."

Tetsutetsu scoffed. "You're prolonging the inevitable."

"And this will be the last time," she clarified.

Fuyumi huffed and brought the bag over to Shouto. He barely followed the arguing up to that point, everything hurt in all the worst ways, but he found the energy to take the bag from Fuyumi and bite through the cold plastic.

It tasted like sand, it always did. It never bothered the others here because they didn't know any better, but he did. He hadn't had a choice, when he was changed they made him kill- he did it so his sister didn't have to. He sucked the bag dry like a fucked up capri-sun and fell back onto the couch, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before an overwhelming wave of nausea passed through him. He grimaced, trying to ignore it.

"See? He looks better already."

"I bet he throws up."

"Tetsu-"

"What, Kendo? We watched this happen with Monoma, I don't understand why anyone would expect this to go differently."

"Monoma gave up," accused Fuyumi.

"Bullshit! I'm not blaming anyone here! It's what Kendo said- it's biology. It's been proven time and time again that they can't last like this. Stop kidding yourself."

"I'm not-" Footsteps and laughter echoed up the stairs and Shouto snapped to attention. The door didn't even have to open for him to smell the human approaching and without thinking he lurched off the couch, Tetsutetsu intercepting him with lightning speed, grabbing both of his wrists as Fuyumi leaped to wrap her arms around his stomach.

"-Shouto! Hold your breath, stop this, you're better than this!" He barely heard his sister’s voice echoing through the pounding in his head. He could feel himself fighting their restraint, snarling at the newcomer. He couldn't see straight but he could taste their movements in the air. His body was desperate, fighting to get him to the source.

"Get out of here, Nemuri! Fuyumi- he can't stay."

"If you let him stay long term he could get better-!"

"He won't and you know it! Tetsu-"

"On it."

Somewhere in the back of his head, he knew Tetsutetsu would easily overpower him in this state, but he still struggled against his grip.

"I'm sorry Shouto," he grunted. "It's nothing against you, really." He was vaguely aware of the sound of furniture being shoved out of the way, of his sister arguing with Kendo as Tetsutetsu dragged him to the main door. "Go home. Say hi to Monoma for me, yeah?"

There was the click of the latch and then he was thrown out, the door slamming shut behind him.

He wasn't sure how long he spent at that door, banging on it, fighting to get in, knowing that the painted steel had at least four different locks and a dozen more fail-safes. He didn't notice when it started raining, just that he was suddenly drenched, collapsed on the pavement, dry heaving because his body was rejecting the animal blood, just like Tetsutetsu knew it would. He hated what he had become and everything that had happened to get him there. Frustrated to find himself in yet another universe where he had no choice, stuck because of someone else's intentions or mistakes. Abandoned by his family, misunderstood by his friends, worthless in any respect to relevance.

After what felt like hours he gave up. Still nauseous and hurting and not seeing straight- but accepting that he had to get back to the nest, to Bakugou, to anyone who could help him before he made everything worse. The pouring rain helped wash away the scents of any humans still wandering about on the other side of the buildings as he stumbled through the side streets, hopefully in the right direction.

He was lost, probably. He couldn't tell. Reality was spinning so badly he hoped it was shifting, so he could get out, escape. But it didn't change, the rain and the brick walls and the bloodlust stayed, and he found himself collapsing against a dumpster, hyperventilating even though this body had no need for oxygen. He didn't have a phone and didn't have a way home and knew he would hurt someone if he kept going like this, but he had no choice. No choice until he heard-

"T-todoroki?" He saw a blurry figure approach and he shoved himself further into the corner, a weak attempt to hide. "That is your name, right? Are- are you okay?"

"I- I can't... You need to leave."

"No, no. What's happening, what's wrong?"

"Izuku?" Izuku, not his Izuku but god he wished it was. His Izuku was on a plane somewhere, maybe. Coming home, but not to him.

"Yeah, it's me."

"God, I missed you." Because he did. Even here, being hunted was one level of consistency he didn't have anywhere else. One thing that made the rest of the mess seem real.

"...what?"

He remembered from earlier- the night before, the day before?- the smell of the blood on his asphalt-scraped palm, and his mouth watered. "I can't do this, I can't. I wish I would just die, but I won't, it'll just get worse. And I don't know what will happen if I die in this body."

"Please, can you just tell me what's going on?"

"I haven't fed in over a week," he admitted. "I wish it would kill me, but it won't. I- I tried to attack Nemuri, I can't stop it. I don't know what else to do."

"You need blood?"

"I'm a goddamn vampire, yes I need blood."

"Take mine."

"...what?" If he could double take, he would've, but the motion might've pushed his nausea over the edge. This didn't make sense to any version of him.

"Take mine. Not all of it. Just what you need."

"I could kill you, Izuku. I can't do that, not you."

"I'm offering. You won't kill me. You don't want to."

"But I could-"

"But you won't. Do it, take my blood, stop whatever this is. It needs to come from somewhere and I'm offering."

He stared at him, slack-jawed, trying to focus on his blurry face to read the sincerity in his eyes. "This is a mistake."

"It's not."

"You hate me."

"I don't."

"You should."

"But I don't."

"...it still won't fix the problem. I won't be cured; you should just kill me while I'm down-"

"-Todoroki."

"Yeah?"

He held out his wrist. "Just take the fucking bite."

And how could he refuse that? Izuku's perfect wrist was right before him- no scars, no damage like in his world. Blue veins just under his pale skin, blood rushing. He volunteered, he wanted this, to hand himself over to Shouto on a silver platter. Blinded by the turmoil of this reality, how could he say no?

So, he bit.

Chapter Text

Somewhere amidst the euphoria of drinking Izuku's blood, sweet and rich like cherry wine, reality twisted inside of itself, and he gasped, eyes wide open, staring at himself in a mirror. The emotions he had been feeling- the denial, the turmoil, the relief at Izuku's offering- all crashed abruptly into something much worse. Much heavier. Much more complicated.

He was frozen in the middle of tying his tie. His clouded brain was lost in the same knot that he tied every day before school for three years. There were faint tear tracks still remnant on his cheeks, and a numbness coating his entire body. The only thing he could feel was the gaping hole inside his chest. A void, a vacuum, consuming anything else the world had to offer. Todoroki was suffocating on loss, and he could barely track down what it was that went missing.

There was the faint sound of the news playing on the TV in the background. He wasn't listening, not really, but he caught the word 'memorial' and took a shaky breath, grabbing the remote to turn it off right as there was a knock on his door.

"You almost ready, Shouto? We should probably get going soon," came Uraraka's voice from the other side of the guest room door. He paused mid-motion, choking on a response when he saw the image plastered on the television screen. Smiling, happy, alive- frozen in time.

She opened the door after a second, hesitant until she realized he was stuck in place, staring at the screen, unable to turn it off.

"Hey, hey Sho, give me that," he felt her gently pull the remote from his grasp, turning it off. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the glowing image lingering behind his eyelids. He opened his eyes to escape it, staring up at the ceiling, blinking back more tears, and expressly ignoring Uraraka's sympathetic gaze.

"I just. need to tie this. Then we can go." He turned back towards the mirror, fumbling with the fabric hanging around his neck for only a second before she gently put a hand on his shoulder and turned him back towards her.

"Here. Let me help."

Part of him felt pathetic. Part of him didn't care, couldn't care, knew he had no ability to get himself out the door. Not today. He let her tie his tie, and they made their way out of her apartment, down to the agency car that was already waiting for them.

They drove in silence- most of his life had been silent lately. Through the hope, the denial, the pretending it was just a bad dream. He wasn't sure how long he had been staying in Uraraka's guest room, time had been passing but he was hardly aware of it. He supposed he was grateful for her intervention, even if all he actually felt was lost, drifting through the days, stuck in the eye of the storm with no escape in sight.

They made it to the venue, past the reporters and the attending civilians. It was outdoors, so the speakers' voices could be projected to the back of the growing crowd. Uraraka and Todoroki made their way to the front, the much smaller section reserved for friends and family. He wished it didn't have to be such a performance. He knew the funeral tomorrow would be more private, but that didn't make him feel better about today. He didn't want to be here with his grief on display.

Everyone in their section was a familiar face. Classmates, heroes, family he had met over the holidays. He observed the conversations without participating. It felt more like he was watching everything in front of him through a TV screen, like he wasn't actually there. He nodded at Kaminari and Sero to acknowledge them, he felt Iida put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He watched Uraraka and Kirishima arguing in the distance, and at some point he was certain that he gave Inko a hug. But there was still relief when the event was called to begin. He had been avoiding all these people for a reason, the social exhaustion was eating him alive. Uraraka found him again and they made their way to their seats. He collapsed onto his right as the speaker began.

"We are gathered here today to reflect on the remarkable life, and tragic, untimely death, of our nation's Number One. Pro Hero: Deku- Midoriya Izuku."

***

Bakugou considered it absurdly unfair that he had finally been thrown into a universe that was half decent for him and only got to stay for a day.

Vampires didn't sleep but he had still been close enough to it that it felt like waking up, suddenly perched in the rafters of an abandoned warehouse, choking on his first inhale in thirty-some hours (or almost two thousand years, however you wanted to look at it). It was dusty and would've been completely dark if not for a glowing B-list villain standing in the background of the drug deal occurring below.

He didn't have his gauntlets because, well, the left one was shattered anyway, so he would've just been unbalanced even if the agency had let him bring home his gear. His corresponding upper arm was in a hard cast, slung tightly from his shoulder to ribcage. He was here injured, off the record, and the only ones who knew were his two accomplices- one of the only heroes he trusted who had no obligation to be elsewhere tonight, and the sidekick she vouched for.

"They're moving out here," said Camie through his earpiece, hiding in plain sight with the gang's backup outside.

"Not yet" he whispered back, peering at the deal going down below him.

There had been a trigger resurgence over the past year, with an advanced form of the drug causing horrific collateral damage. Bakugou had been on the case since March, six months, when he got injured and officially taken off of it. Injured at the worst possible time, on a completely unrelated case, on a day when nearly every healer across the country was called to Tokyo.

He pushed that thought away. What happened then didn't matter- what mattered was that he was here to stop it now.

The gang leader went by the name Bloodletter, and he was meeting with a new buyer. It was almost always a new buyer- they had a habit of overdosing. Or at least that was the word on the street. Bakugou had other theories. Camie agreed with him.

There were six cases of the drug up for grasp tonight, and as far as Camie had been told, their main goal was to keep those six cases off the streets. For Bakugou, though he couldn't quite admit it to himself, the mission was a bit more personal. He had a feeling she knew this, and appreciated that she never brought it up.

Bakugou watched the buyer's goons line up, each trading a signature in blood for one of the cases, which were opened for inspection before each handoff. Their leader stayed back as they left the building, one by one, waiting to be the last signature to close the deal. As the extras stepped outside, Bakugou wondered if he had realized his mistake yet, being left alone with the latest big bad of Osaka.

He could hear Camie in his ear, ready to intervene, but this was the part he needed to watch. The part that would hopefully answer some important questions, like why these small-town gang leaders kept going apeshit in big cities. He watched the fool cut the palm of his hand, blood dripping onto the paper in front of him. The question remained as to what kind of hold this contract would have over all of them.

He heard a rumbling outside but ignored it in favor of the conversation below him. It was cryptic, lacking details, but he caught a very specific sentence that finally gave him some answers.

"The next time you see a pro in public, you take this, and you kill them."

So, this was the man who ordered Izuku's death.

"Sorry babe, can't keep hiding. Hopefully you got what you need, because it's time for us to take these guys down."

"Kick their asses, Cam," he gave his approval seconds before jumping down from the rafters and starting a fight of his own.

It quite didn't go how he planned.

The second he touched the floor, his right hand aimed at the ringleader, a cloud of smoke burst from one of the gang members. Without his gear it was quick to infest his lungs, but it didn't make him cough, didn't burn inside. Really that should've been telling, but he was too focused on his attack to notice any effects.

"Dammit Higashi! Okino, take us out of here!" He heard Bloodletter yell as he dodged the attack, made easier when Bakugou was intercepted by one of the lackeys.

He hissed as he was tackled to the floor, an unnatural tearing sensation coming from where the skin on his ribs was pulled. The gang members began to pop away like firecrackers, the one on top of him vanishing before he had the chance to get the upper hand.

"They have a teleporter!" He yelled to Camie and her sidekick as he leapt to his feet, spinning to take in what remained of his botched surprise attack. The glowing villain was the last to disappear, and just before the room went dark, Bakugou locked eyes with the only remaining man in the room- the rival gang leader- whose gaze shifted to the syringe of trigger that had been knocked to the floor in the chaos.

"Don't even fucking think about it-" he lunged blindly towards him, successfully guessing his trajectory and knocking him off his feet. The villain let out an agonized scream, and Bakugou felt the skin of his fully functioning arm tear against the concrete floor.

He grappled with the villain, holding his own even without the use of his left arm. He could feel his skin tearing every time he was touched, the blood pouring from the cracks. At first he thought it was his opponent's quirk, but he quickly realized that his shirt was soaked through with blood too. It wouldn't have made sense for his own quirk to affect him so badly. Then the villain reminded him.

"Stop- please," he begged. "The smoke- I surrender, I surrender!"

In one fluid motion, Bakugou had him successfully pinned with both hands above his head. An additional downside to being essentially one-handed in this fight was that he couldn't grab the cuffs from his belt without letting go of the villain, and was stuck holding him in place as the skin on his palm and the wrists of his opponent cracked, slick with blood.

"Cam! I need one of you in here-" The door to the warehouse slammed open remarkably fast, as if she was waiting, and her shocked gasp was backlit by the light of the full moon.

"What on earth happened?"

"-It's the smoke. Cuff him, we need to get out."

She did as told and he rolled off the villain, suddenly extremely lightheaded.

"Come on Bakubabe, you need to get out of here and I don't think I should touch you."

He grunted in agreement, squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment before abruptly standing and forcing his body out of the cloudy warehouse.

The building was already surrounded by the flashing lights of cop cars. He watched a herd of officers assist Camie's sidekick in throwing the six beaten and bloody goons into the back of several vehicles and cataloging the contents of the cases they had been protecting. He crept around the side of the warehouse, away from the chaos, and leaned against the wall to catch his breath.

The stinging of his torn skin returned as the adrenaline faded, and he looked down to see the moonlight highlighting his blood-soaked clothes. He held up his right hand and sucked in a harsh breath at the site, nearly all the skin of his palm sloughed to the side, revealing dark red tissue underneath.

He felt dizzy again and slid down the side of the building, grunting as he felt the skin of his back split, not as bad as before but enough to hurt. He wasn't supposed to be here, so he needed to get home without the cops noticing his presence. After a few moments he took a deep breath and stood, determined to find his way through the side streets to where he left his motorcycle. It wasn't even half a mile away, but every step radiated through his entire body.

When he finally made it back, he couldn't pretend to be surprised by the familiar blonde leaning against his bike. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"I'm going home. Don't you have paperwork to deal with?" He shoved her to the side and bit back a groan.

"If you walk through the door like that, you're going to give your boyfriend a heart attack. Please at least tell me you brought a change of clothes."

"God, he's probably asleep, he won't even notice." He pulled some bandages and a spare black t-shirt out of his bag anyway, tearing the blood-soaked one off with a hiss as it caught on his cast.

"Won't even notice? Shit babe, you might need to go to the hospital for that one-"

"No." He pulled the clean shirt over his head, not bothering to negotiate it around his constricted arm. Holding the bandage with his teeth, he managed to crudely wrap it around the exposed raw flesh of his right palm.

"You can't just go home like that," she argued.

"Fucking watch me." He swung a leg over the bike.

"I'm not kidding Kats, that looks bad. You shouldn't be driving like that. Kirishima is going to be pissed-"

"Does it look like I give a shit?" He put his key in the ignition.

"Listen babe, I know you're going through it right now, and I'm like so glad you trust me enough to use me for these little vengeance missions, but now is not the time to be pushing away people who care about you-"

His bike roared to life, effectively cutting her off, and she glared knowing he wasn't going to listen anymore. "Thanks for helping out, Cam. I know I can always count on you to handle a drug bust."

He peeled out, and was fairly certain he heard her curse his name into the night behind him.

The drive home was long, giving him ample time to reflect on his decisions. Of course, he did none of that, instead choosing to actively dissociate to avoid the burning pain in the palm of his one hand that was able to steer, and the feeling of his T-shirt clinging to his open wounds.

He managed to get home without blacking out, which was probably more of a miracle than he was giving credit, due to how much blood he must've lost. He paused in the garage where he parked, leaning his head against the handlebars, trying to wrap his head around how he was going to handle this when he went inside.

He took the stairs instead of the elevator, maybe to try and further prove to himself that he was fine, that he didn't need to go to the hospital. He could barely even feel his boots cutting into his calves and ankles anymore; he was sure the skin-melting quirk had worn off at this point. He approached their door quietly, digging through his bag for his key, biting his tongue to distract from the raw feeling of his palm.

He paused again, staring at their front door. It wasn't the same apartment they had in his reality. A lot about them wasn't the same here, but he chose not to think too hard about it. All the lights in the building had been off when he drove up, so he hoped his assumption stated to Camie would be accurate- that Kiri would be asleep.

He was almost certain he would get away without an interrogation when he opened the door to a dark room, but the second he dropped his bag to the floor the light flickered on by the couch.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Fuck. He leaned against the door frame to support himself taking off his shoes, avoiding eye contact, and making no effort to come up with an excuse better than, "Working."

"There's a good fucking reason you're not cleared for work yet, Katsuki. What the hell was so important you'd miss the memorial?"

He dropped his second boot to the floor, debating if he should dare try and go past Ei to clean up in the bathroom. He hesitated. "It wouldn't have mattered if I had shown up. What I was doing mattered-"

"Are you fucking with me right now? Wouldn't have mattered- do you have any idea how upset Uraraka was that you didn't show? Or Midoriya's mom?!"

"Well it doesn't matter anymore, because it's too fucking late to do anything about it now. I'm going to bed," he spat.

He went to storm away, but Ei sucked in a harsh breath when he stepped away from the wall. Katsuki glanced back at the door, cursing when he realized he had bled through his shirt, smearing blood across the white wood.

"You're hurt."

"Fuck off," he swallowed his stupid fucking nerves and pushed past Ei towards the bathroom.

He stood frozen in shock just long enough for Katsuki to make it to the bathroom, slam and lock the door- though he was directly outside of it not even a second later.

"Let me in Katsuki. Let me help you. What- what happened?" His voice was muffled.

"I'm fine, I can deal with this myself. Go away." He got down on the floor to dig through the cabinets for first aid supplies.

"You can't keep doing this, Kats. It's been over a month of this, I can't-"

"I'm not doing anything!" He pulled out the box and slammed the cupboard door shut, dumping its contents on the floor in front of him.

"Bullshit!" He heard a fist bang on the door. "Hardly anyone's seen you but fucking Camie, and even she's worried about you! We sleep in the same bed but I'm still alone most nights. I know you're hurting but you're not telling me anything- please, I need you to give me something. I can't help you if you won't let me."

He found a thick antibiotic paste and plenty of gauze, but he knew he had to at least attempt to clean out his various wounds first if he didn't want to die of infection. He swallowed a small handful of painkillers and eyed the shower, knowing it would hurt like a bitch, but seemingly out of other options. He turned on the water, grateful his cast was waterproof.

"Dammit Katsuki, let me help you!"

"I don't need your help!" He yelled back before stripping and getting in the lukewarm shower. He had the water pressure as low as it could go but it still burned like acid. He felt tears prick the corner of his eyes but refused to let them fall, cursing at nothing as he watched the red swirl down the drain.

There was no more yelling from the other side of the door, but Katsuki doubted he left like he wanted him to. It was far more likely that he would find him sitting on the floor of the hallway when he inevitably left the bathroom. He felt sick knowing it was his fault Ei was upset. He spent universe after universe upsetting or disappointing him in one way or another, it sucked that this was no exception.

Eventually, the water ran clear, and he grabbed the darkest towel on the rack. His hand was still on fire, but he didn't want to take that bandage off until he had dealt with everything else. Reaching all the spots that needed antibiotic was difficult, and he knew that was why Ei had offered to help, but he refused to accept it. It wasn't fair for him to have to deal with the consequences of Katsuki's actions any more than he already was. Thankfully he had practice wrapping bandages around his entire torso, so that process went rather smoothly.

With the towel tied around his waist, he moved to the sink to wash off his palm. He cursed when he removed the bandage completely, and was certain he heard Kirishima shift on the other side of the door. It was bad- had the potential to be very bad, depending on how well it healed. Normally a healer would be able to fast-track it to reduce scarring, but healers were in short supply right now. There was potential for this injury to permanently damage his ability to use his quirk.

He tried his best to push that thought aside too. If he could just finish patching himself up, then he could go to bed. He could deal with all of this later. He wound up using his teeth again, almost proud of how successful he was at wrapping a bandage with no hands, until he heard another shaky exhale from outside the door.

He left the rest of the first aid materials scattered across the bathroom and walked up to the door. He was going to go to their room and get dressed, and he wasn't going to be stopped by Kirishima. He took a deep breath and opened it, immediately moving to cross the hall.

He still froze when he heard him speak, stuck in the hall just outside of his destination. "You're not the only one hurt by this, Kats. We all lost a friend."

"He wasn’t- he wasn't my friend."

"You're never going to let yourself heal, are you? If you can't even acknowledge-"

He turned back around to face him, furious all over again. "I am the only one who is acknowledging the situation! While you and all the other extras spent your day crying to a PowerPoint presentation, I actually gathered new intel, and busted a deal."

"Katsuki-"

"They can't just take away my case! If I had solved it sooner... I am not going to let what happened to Izuku happen again!"

"What happened to Izuku wasn't your fault-"

"Like hell it wasn't," he entered the bedroom and slammed the door shut behind him.

"I can't keep doing this, Katsuki," he called out. "I don't know how to make this better."

"It's not your responsibility to make anything better."

He threw on his clothes in the following silence, debating his options. He could stay and continue to have this conversation until he passed out from exhaustion. Or he could leave, and Ei might never speak to him again.

If he was going to let this case kill him, he might as well cut all ties, right? Make it easier in the long run?

God- what was he doing?

This version of him had what he wanted right in front of him- why was it so hard for him to see that? Ei was his lifeline. Why was he throwing that away?

He wanted to fight the script. He wanted to go out into the hallway and collapse in Eijirou's arms and sob over the month of self-inflicted agony and guilt he had been feeling, but he couldn't. Instead, he stared at the door, screaming at himself in his head to make a fucking decision and just leave him already if he was going to keep hurting him like this.

This version of him had more, but he sure as hell didn't deserve it.

He hadn’t been able to look him in the eyes since he got home. He knew this was his fault, but he didn't know how to end it. He couldn't give up on this case. He couldn't. And he knew exactly why- because this version of him was the closest to the real him he'd been yet. And even after everything that had happened from this quirk, all the other realities he'd experienced, he knew for a fact that if this particular set of circumstances occurred in his real life he would react the exact same way.

He left out the fire escape.

He regretted it almost immediately. It was nearing 1 a.m., he had no plan of where to go, and he was kind of sort of maybe really injured from his fight earlier. Plus, the wind was picking up which made it feel much colder than it really was. He considered calling someone but had a feeling their friends would all be taking Kirishima's side on this one. That was fair- even he knew he was in the wrong.

He wandered out of the cluster of apartment buildings, headed vaguely in the direction of some restaurants and bars that might still be open this late. He found himself inside the first one he passed, all but collapsed on a barstool, sipping on a beer that he didn't even want, just for the excuse to be there.

He was dead exhausted, and the painkillers had helped but not nearly as much as he had wanted them to. He glanced at his phone but turned it off when he saw five missed calls. He tried to rest his head against his hand but winced when the pressure bluntly reminded him of his recent injury, and instead let his forehead fall to the counter.

Why was he doing this? He knew he was self-sabotaging, but he didn't know how to stop. He was wracked with the guilt of Izuku being killed by a villain he was supposed to catch, but the only way he could fathom getting rid of that was to successfully get rid of the villain in question. And he couldn't do that on leave, without agency support, injured to hell. The broken arm was one thing, but that smoke quirk tonight really brought his incapacity to the next level.

He knew Eijirou just wanted to help him. But he also knew he didn't support his endeavors, that he wanted him to stop. He wanted to try to work through Katsuki's emotional distress- as if he was grieving like the rest of them. Katsuki wanted to fix it. Which was turning out to be pretty damn hard to do practically on his own.

After a while, he heard someone sit down on the barstool next to him and clear their throat, which was irritating in and of itself because, seriously? There were not that many people here, plenty of other open chairs. Why couldn't he just be left alone?

They cleared their throat again and if he hadn't been so exhausted he probably would've snapped at the stranger. Instead, he lifted his head off the counter and grimaced through another sip of the drink in front of him.

"Are you seriously drinking right now? Didn't you lose like, a lot of blood?" Kaminari's voice startled him, and he looked over shocked to find that the annoying stranger was actually his close friend.

"How did you...?"

"Remember that time we were on a mission in Taiwan? I made you share your location with me in case we got separated because we were in unfamiliar territory. And, well, I never actually removed it."

"You fucking tracked my phone?"

"Hey! It's not like this is something I do on the regular. Mostly just something I do when my boy Kiri calls me in a panic at 1 am because his severely injured boyfriend left with nothing but his cell phone and the clothes on his back."

"I didn’t-"

"You don't even have your keys, bro. Did you seriously leave out the fire escape? Are you sure you should be drinking right now?"

He rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath, "This wouldn’t be an issue if I was still a fucking vampire."

"What?"

"I'm not really drinking, Dunce-face. I'm just paying to sit here."

"Well that's reassuring at least. That sulfuric acid quirk seemed intense."

"Sulfuric acid?"

"Oh, yeah. Because if Kirishima calling me wasn't enough, a few hours prior I got a call from your pal Camie, who 'like, needed to tell someone what was going on, but didn't want to scare poor Kiri baby,' and went into excruciating detail regarding what the cops discovered about that quirk that hit you. Not only am I shocked that you made it home without going to the hospital, but I cannot believe you thought it was a good idea to leave again."

"I couldn't stay there just so he could cry at me."

"He's worried about you, Blasty."

"Tch. He needs to stop. This isn't something he can help with."

"See, I'm not entirely convinced that that's true."

The bartender came over and interrupted them, offering Kaminari a drink. He stuck with water.

"What are you even doing here? Did Ei call you to track me down and drag me back home? I don't want to be there with him right now."

"Oh, not at all. He doesn't even know I can track you. I came here from my own volition after hearing you were hit by a sulfuric acid gas quirk and ran away from home in the middle of the night, the same day you missed the memorial of one of your closest friends. Kirishima isn't the only one that's worried about you Bakubro."

"Why is everyone acting like that was such a big deal? I had more important shit to be doing-"

"More important than facing and processing your feelings?"

"I don’t- I don’t need to process anything," he hissed. "I know what happened, I know how I feel, and I know what I need to do to fix it. But for some insane reason, everyone seems dead set on stopping me!"

Kaminari sighed beside him, lazily stirring his drink with the straw, carefully searching for his next words. "He thinks he's losing you, Kats."

"I'm not the one who fucking died."

"Not yet. But at the rate you're going..."

"He's already started to give up on me. What I can't figure out is why he's still around."

"You can't be serious."

"I am! I know I'm treating him like shit. I know I'm adding to his misery right now, why the hell hasn't he left yet?"

"Bakugou-"

"I mean it. I'm not going to stop until I bring this gang down. I don't care how many setbacks I face. If I can't do this, then how the fuck am I supposed to call myself a hero?"

"Bakugou."

"If you tell me Izuku's death wasn't my fault I swear to god."

"Bakugou! Shut up and listen to me, okay? Kiri hasn't left because he's fucking in love with you. He's terrified that you're going to get yourself killed- he wants to help you so bad but you're not even talking to him! Let him help you heal, tell him your plan and, fuck, let him join you! Kiri is a hero too, and right now he feels like he's trapped on the sidelines watching you kill yourself."

"No way in hell am I letting him help on this case."

"And why's that? You've let Camie help."

"Because-," he choked on his response. "I-"

"Let me guess. You don't want him to get hurt?"

"It's more than just that."

"You know I thought when you two officially started dating you'd get your head out of your ass but that doesn't seem to be the case."

"The fuck do you mean?"

"I cannot believe I am the one stuck psychoanalyzing you tonight. I swear literally anyone else would be better at this."

"What do you mean, Kaminari?" He growled.

"You are so stupidly in love with that bag of rocks, and you're letting your fear of him ending up in the same position as Izuku control every aspect of your life right now. You're pushing him away because you're terrified of losing him, and you're being reckless trying to neutralize the threat. Will you just stop for a second and think about what you're doing to him right now?"

"I know I'm hurting him."

"Then stop! All of your actions are motivated by this fucked up form of love, when you could have him on your side, supporting you through this! If you know what you're doing is wrong, then stop. I can't stand to see Kiri end up like Todoroki."

"Todoroki?"

"The guy's a mess- I won't have you do that to my best friend."

“That’s it- I need to talk to Todoroki,” he realized. “I’m following the script too closely.”

"What? Todoroki isn’t talking to anyone right now, were you not listening?"

"He'll talk to me. We're going through this... thing together."

"We're all going through this-"

"-no. Not fucking Deku. Just, I'm not going to explain myself. I need to go talk to Todoroki. Thanks for the chat." He stood up too fast from the barstool and his vision got splotchy, leaving him stuck in one place squeezing his eyes shut for longer than he would've liked.

"Bakugou-"

"What?"

"I don't know why you have it in your head that you need to talk to him, but I won't stop you. At least let me give you a ride."

"I don't need your help."

"Dude. I'm offering because I personally would feel better giving you a ride than having you walk across town by yourself with your current injuries. I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing it for me and my peace of mind. So let's just go. I heard he's been staying with Uraraka."

"Huh? After the memorial? No, he'll be at home."

"Why do you think-"

"Can you just stop doubting everything I say for half a second and take me to his fucking apartment."

"Okay, okay." He put his hands up. "I will take you to his apartment. And then I will wait for you outside his apartment because I am not letting you walk home- and you damn well better be going home after this."

"Fine! Let's just go."

***

Todoroki startled awake to a loud banging on his apartment door. He rolled over and pulled a handful of fabric over his head, attempting to block it out. The banging persisted, possibly accompanied by someone yelling his name, until he heard the high-pitched shriek of his neighbor telling off the 2 a.m. intruder. He thought that would be the end of it until he heard the sound of a key in the lock, and cursed Mrs. Omori for giving whoever was bothering him at this ungodly hour the spare key.

(He cursed himself for the way his heart skipped a beat at the door opening- as if the person who walked through would be the one who used to come home to him.)

"I know you're in here Half 'n' Half," he flinched when Bakugou turned on the light that cut harshly through the crack in his door. He could hear him banging around the apartment, making no effort to keep quiet, getting a glass from the cupboard and filling it with water. The bathroom door was opened, and he could hear the rattling of a pill bottle, the glass clinking down on the counter. Footsteps passed the room he was in, another door opened, a soft curse, and Bakugou's outline finally appeared in the doorway, looking down at him in confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't know. Wallowing?" He took a second to think about his position, not entirely sure how he ended up on the floor of Izuku's bedroom, lying in a pile of his clothes.

"God, Kaminari wasn't kidding- you are a mess."

"Thanks."

He scoffed. "Alright, well, scoot over."

"Huh?" He did as he was asked and managed to successfully keep the surprise off his face when Bakugou slid to the floor beside him, groaning as if his body was protesting every movement. "God, he really was such a fucking nerd." Todoroki's gaze shifted back to the ceiling, at the handful of glowing stars scattered across it. "How are you doing?"

"I don't even think I've put half a thought into that. This entire jump has been absolutely numbing."

"Yeah, that makes sense."

They laid there in silence for a beat, until Bakugou shifted, making another sound that Todoroki could only assume was well-hidden agony.

"What happened to you?"

"Funny you ask. According to Kaminari, sulfuric acid makes your skin melt."

"What the fuck, Bakugou?"

"Yeah. I’ve been trying to avenge that nerd’s death, but I guess I'm doing a pretty bad job at it."

"I thought it was odd I didn't see you earlier."

"I swear to God if you berate me for not going to that fucking memorial-"

"No, I get it," he interrupted. "I didn't want to be there either."

He sighed in response. Todoroki saw him lift his hand out of the corner of his eye, rotating it under the faint glow of the stars on the ceiling. "This might just be the worst alternate reality yet."

"Don't say that. She'll hear you and make the next one worse."

"Do you really think she can hear us?"

"No," he admitted.

"God. I've been too caught up in the mess of today to even think about her stupid quirk. Do you..." He trailed off.

"Do I what?"

He hesitated. "Do you ever think this is going to end?"

"At this point, it certainly doesn't feel like it."

"I don't know how much longer I can take this."

"I... I'm not sure either."

"There don't seem to be any consistent triggers to each new jump."

"Nope."

"Is it really all just random? What is the point of it all?"

"Maybe that is the point."

"Hm."

Maybe it was. That everything was random chance, yet he kept finding himself in parallel situations, always revolving around the same person.

"I've been self-sabotaging again," Bakugou said through the darkness.

"Doesn't every version of you kind of self-sabotage?"

"I don't know. I feel like the galactic smuggler one had something figured out."

"And what did he do differently?"

"Not much. I guess he just wasn't afraid to take what he wanted. Vampire king me too."

"It does seem like you hold yourself back a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"You never seem to let yourself choose happiness. You fight it every step of the way. And the rare moments you let yourself have a taste, that's all it is. A taste. And all it does is hurt you."

"You're one to talk."

He sighed. "Yeah. I know."

"You know?"

"I mean, I think I've known this entire time, before the attack even. But this mess has made it a lot more obvious."

"Made what more obvious?"

He considered his words, rolling on his side to face the blond on his back beside him. "I was wondering what would've happened if Izuku never left. It was this. This is what would've happened. I still wouldn't have ever said anything, and then he would die, and I would never have the chance."

"Ah. Would you say you learned something, Icyhot?"

He scoffed. "That I can't live without him? That I need to stop bitching out before I lose my chance in real life? What about you?"

He sighed. "That I'm doing this to myself."

"You know, you can still fix that here."

He shook his head. "Fighting this script has been hard. It's too similar to the real me. My motives are... too relatable."

"You're here, aren't you? I highly doubt this version of you would come here on his own accord."

"What's your point?"

"You're scared to fight the script but it's not impossible. Go save your relationship. I could use some more time to wallow by myself before whatever fucked up scenario we end up in tomorrow."

"Kami is waiting for me downstairs..." He mumbled.

"Go home Bakugou. I can't save my future here, but you can."

He let his head fall to face him, and Todoroki was hit by the pain in his eyes. "I'm sorry."

"Not your fault."

He sighed and blinked back up at the ceiling. "It feels like it is though."

"Stop it with that. Go set this you on the right track before it's too late."

"Yeah, okay."

He stood slowly, glancing back towards him when he got to the door.

"Hey Bakugou?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming here and reminding me that this isn't my real life. I had kind of fallen into this one.

He laughed bitterly. "So did I. The only reason I even thought to find you was because Dunce-face mentioned you were having a bad time."

"I wonder what these versions of us remember after we leave. Do they even know we were here?"

"I hope not. That would be kinda fucked up. It hasn't felt like we've been deviating too much from the script- other than like, talking about the whole mess when we don't really know each other."

"And I guess that's not too outrageous, assuming they don't keep any of our real memories. Oh well."

"See you at the funeral Half 'n' Half. Or the next universe I guess."

"Good luck with Kirishima."

"Thanks." He sighed and shut the door behind him.

***

He made it home. He was so tired he was delusional, but Kami kept his word and waited to drive him home. He parted with some words of encouragement, and a look in his eyes that showed he could tell the conversation with Todoroki had been impactful, even if he didn't understand why.

The living room light was still shining through the window, but when he opened the front door, it was empty. He hesitated when he got to the bedroom. He felt like he spent a lot of this universe staring at doors. But it wasn't locked. It wasn't even shut all the way, and there was the soft orange light of a salt lamp flowing through the gap. He took a deep breath and nudged it open, padding over to Ei's nightstand to turn it off.

That was the goal, but he made the mistake of looking at Eijirou's sleeping face. His expression wasn't nearly as distressed, but it wasn't quite calm either. Here he was, burdening Eijirou even in his sleep.

But he still left the door open.

He caught himself brushing a strand of bright red hair out of his face, dragging the tips of his fingers along his cheekbone, jawline. He was so beautiful, even just like this. Katsuki didn't deserve him. He never would.

He stirred under his touch, humming out, "Kats? You're back?"

"Hey, yeah, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." He retreated back to his original goal and plunged the room into darkness.

"It's okay- hey. It's okay. I missed you."

He noticed his breath shudder; he hadn't realized how close he was to crying.

"Come here." Ei shuffled over and held out his arms, eyes still half closed.

Part of Katsuki wanted to fight it, knew he didn't deserve to be welcomed back so easily. Part of him was certain he would just hurt him again, that he should just leave now before he made everything worse. But he knew that was the script talking- so instead he collapsed into the bed, let Eijirou pull him close, and completely shattered.

He must've spent a half hour crying into the crook of his neck, comforting hands gently tracing the undamaged parts of his skin. He was nothing but kind, even after everything Katsuki was putting him through, and that made him sob even harder. He had Ei here, and didn't even come close to deserving him- what right did he have to him in any other reality?

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Shh, it's okay."

"It's not okay, none of this is okay," he whined into his skin. "I'm not handling it well and I'm taking it all out on you and you don't deserve that."

"Just let me be here for you. We can get through this, together." He ran his hand softly through Katsuki's hair until his breathing fell even, and he could feel himself flickering in and out of consciousness.

He knew he had to say it. Before he fell asleep, before he jumped again.

"I love you. You know that, right?"

Eijirou’s arms tightened around him. "I love you so much Katsuki. You're my everything."

"I don't want to wake up without you again."

"You won't, I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere."

"That's not-" he sucked in a breath. He couldn't explain what he really meant. "Yeah, okay. Okay. I love you. Goodnight, Ei."

Chapter Text

Bakugou gained consciousness very slowly. First it was the voices- faint, fuzzy. Like they were coming through a wall. A light clink of glasses, a chair scraping across the floor. His eyes felt cemented shut, head pounding, but it wasn't until he tried to move that the panic started to set in. His hands were completely locked in place, and he felt restraints digging into his sides.

He recognized this. How could he not? The burn of his chaffed skin against leather bindings, more than a smidge too tight. The cold metal chair beneath him. The slight chill and creaking floorboards. The voices made their way through the static and he tried again- to move, to escape, to open his goddamn eyes- because this was his worst nightmare. This was the dream that haunted him since first year, the night terror that had Kiri breaking into his dorm to wake him up. Or his apartment bedroom, for the same reason.

Bakugou was in the bar. The League of Villains bar. He was fifteen years old and strapped in that god-forsaken chair, completely immobilized and unable to use his quirk, waking up from a concussion-induced blackout with no idea if anyone would ever find him.

And this universe would be different. Which meant, for all he knew, no one would.

"...saw him move! He's still out cold!"

Laughter ricocheted around the room, and he managed half a blink by the time a pair of heavy boots marched their way over to him. He caught a blurry figure, crouching down to be eye level, but his ears were ringing so loud he missed what they first said.

"-acchan~~ it's time to wake up," came a sing-songy voice that sounded so familiar, but just out of reach. He tried again to open his eyes and focus on the villain.

"I said wAKE UP!"

He was almost expecting the slap, but certainly not what came with it. His entire body jolted; ten times worse than when Sparky would accidentally hit him in training- all concentrated on his right cheek. If he wasn't awake before he certainly was now- heart racing, wide-eyed, and gasping for breath as the electricity passed through what felt like every cell in his body.

This was new, this was definitely fucking new. And as he finally was able to take a look around the room an unfamiliar fear sank into the pit of his stomach. Because the menacing green eyes in front of him? Those were absolutely new as well. And they didn't make any fucking sense- not to him here or to his real self.

"Fucking Deku?"

His maniacal grin fell into a glare. "You bitch." He pressed two fingers against his shoulder and zapped him again- hard enough to make him yell, to make his vision go fuzzy around the edges.

The villain turned around and started pacing. "Eight years, eight fucking years and that's what I get? Fucking Deku. I had hoped maybe you had learned some manners, but I guess not."

"What? But you're supposed to be-"

"Let me guess! Dead? Quirkless? Well, surprise, surprise- fucking Deku is still kicking, with a much better nickname I might add." He approached him again, crouching down to speak directly in his ear. "They call me Taser, do you wanna guess why?"

Bakugou felt an icy chill down his spine. This was so, so fucking wrong. And he was too panicked and injured to track down a single memory that would make any of this make sense. Because to this him, the one thing he could remember without a doubt was that Deku died at age seven when his apartment building collapsed. And he was quirkless. But if he was with the League, then...

"You let him give you a quirk."

The villain's eyes widened. He shouldn't have been able to guess that. He came at it with outside knowledge- those words were a mistake. The villain stood, crossing back in front of him, pausing with his head tilted. He just stared for a moment before replying, "Good guess," and flicking his nose like he was teasing him, before swiveling on his heel and walking back towards the others. But it wasn't a joke- it hurt just as badly as the other times Deku touched him. He could feel the electricity radiate out, numbing parts of his face in the worst way, setting his fucking eyes on fire. He heard himself yell again but it was entirely involuntary, he barely even felt that he was doing it.

A gravelly voice spoke up from across the room. "I thought we were trying to recruit this kid, you're going to fucking kill him, Tase."

"That was a cover," interrupted Shigaraki. "In case anyone was captured and decided to talk. It'd be a better headline, but- Little Brother has been eyeing this one for revenge for a while now. Let him have his fun."

Little brother, what the fuck? He was still twitching from the shock, but he attempted to look around the room again, to fully take in his surroundings- because this was much different than his nightmares and he needed to be prepared for every part of it. Much of the scene looked familiar; Toga and Kurogiri behind the bar, Shigaraki leaning against it- though Deku plopped himself down on the stool nearest Shigaraki, leaning back against the bar counter and looking far too relaxed.

Magne, Twice, Compress, and Spinner were scattered throughout the room. Dabi was standing a bit closer, looking unsure of the whole situation and half-blocking another new addition to the team. They were sitting backward on a rusty metal folding chair, leaning against the back of it like they were bored, resting their head on their arms. Bakugou shifted trying to get a better look and caught black hair and black face paint crudely smeared across half of their face. Dabi seemed to doubt Shigaraki's explanation and stepped back in thought, opening up his view.

He made eye contact with the stranger and his entire world shifted on its axis. In this universe, he had no idea who this person- who any of these villains, really- were. But at this point he would recognize this kid in any scenario, and this was another one that made no fucking sense.

Todoroki sat up straight and shook his head, not saying anything, and Bakugou swallowed back his rapidly escalating fear.

"You're telling me we went through all of that bullshit- lost Moonfish, Mustard, and Muscular- all so this fucking kid could get his revenge moment? How the fuck is this going to help us destroy hero society?"

"Calm down asshole. We'll interrogate him, get some information that'll make all this worthwhile. And then," Deku swiveled towards Bakugou and grinned. "Then, I'll kill him."

"Whoa man, don't you think that's a little harsh- make the hero brat bleed!"

"Let's start with something easy." He pulled a switchblade out of his boot and hopped off the barstool, walking towards him again. He twirled the knife in between his fingers. "What do you know about All Might?"

"About All Might? The Symbol of Peace- the UA equivalent of a fucking gym teacher All Might?-"

He screamed before he realized what had even happened. Looking down he could identify the knife embedded in his left thigh, but the sight was so absurd he almost couldn't believe it was real.

"I don't have time for you to be snarky with me Kacchan. You're only going to make this worse for yourself by not answering truthfully."

He responded through gritted teeth, "I don't know shit about All Might. I literally only see him in class like twice a week."

"Interesting," Deku said, pacing. "I wonder where he's spending the rest of his time. Other classes maybe? Kacchan," he walked back over and grabbed the hilt of the weapon, "I know you're observant, you should be able to answer this one. If he isn't spending his time with your class, then which one is he with more?"

"I don't kn-" he cut himself off with a scream again as Deku twisted the knife buried in his leg.

"Answer me!"

"I don't know," he choked out. "Maybe third year? I don't see them ever- it's a guess."

He hated when he realized that that was the truth- that All Might definitely spent more time with the third years. Specifically, a certain blond with a permeation quirk. And this version of him never thought anything of it. The memories were there for him to decode, but to this him it was just background noise.

Izuku had told him that Mirio was Nighteye's choice to inherit One For All. If Izuku was a villain, if he never received the quirk, then someone else would have. And it was horrifying to consider Mirio's fate with the knowledge that Izuku being born quirkless was probably the only reason One For All hadn't killed him.

"Third year, hm. I could see it. Shiggy- look into that. I am starting to think we've been focused on the wrong class."

"Izuku! Izuku! Can I have a turn? Pretty pleaseeeee, let me bloody him up a little!!" The blonde psychopath behind the bar was jumping up and down. Deku must've caught Bakugou flinch at the prospect since he grinned widely and gestured for her to come over.

"Sure thing, Toga. Just be sure to keep him conscious for me."

"Yayy!!" She cheered, hopping over the counter, brandishing another fucking pocketknife and he felt his entire body tense up- because being threatened by Toga was extremely familiar, but this time there was no one to keep her in check.

"Stay away from me, fucking bloodsucker!"

"That's rude! Izu-kun was right, you are a meanie. I'll just have to cover up that ugly attitude with something much prettier. Izuku! What else do we want to know?

"Hmm. I wanna hear more about these third-year students. Kacchan, what are the names of this year's big three?"

"Their names? Agh!" he shouted in pain as Toga's knife sliced a clean line over his right eyebrow.

"Sorry! I just couldn't help it," she jumped back and giggled, her gaze following the blood that was now dripping down his face. "If you tell us, maybe I'll stop."

"I don't fucking believe you," he grunted, and she laughed again.

"Aw see, even a grump like you can be cute under the right circumstances. Hmm, but I don't want all that pretty blood to go to waste."

She skipped towards him again, wrapping her arms around his neck, blade pressed to his throat, and hopping into his lap on the side that didn't have a knife sticking out of it. Her manic grin was terrifying, and he squirmed, trying his best to pull away from her as she leaned in and licked the trail of blood from his face. "Kacchan~ tell us their names or I'll just have to cut you up some more."

"I don't. fucking. know them," he lied through his teeth, and she reached out and grabbed him by the jaw to hold him still.

"Aw, bummer for you. Good news for me," she grinned, bringing the knife back up to the left side of his face. He tried to contain his yell as the blade sank into his skin but only had moderate success. She licked his blood off her weapon this time and leaned back, staring at him hungrily, like she was contemplating where to cut him next.

Before she had the chance, there was the clatter of a chair being knocked over, and footsteps traveling from where Todoroki had been sitting over to the hall door. Toga was blocking most of his view, but he saw Deku's expression shift, and he hopped off the barstool to intercept the other teen.

Toga didn't seem to care much about whatever was happening behind her, continuing to ramble and trace his skin with her knife. Their conversation was hushed, but Bakugou desperately tried to pick up as much of it as he could. For all he knew, Todoroki was his only way out of this- and it sure as hell seemed like he was leaving.

"-what's wrong, Sho?" Deku reached out to caress his face.

"Nothing’s wrong, I'm bored and tired and Toga's being gross, I want to go to bed."

"Aw, but don't you wanna be here when I kill him?"

"Sure, but is that even going to be tonight?-"

Bakugou felt the blade sink into his right bicep and involuntarily yelled again.

"Why do I feel like you aren't paying attention to me, hero? Are you zoning out to protect yourself from the pain? That's no fun, I want you to live in it." She pulled the knife down vertically through his bicep, likely only an inch but it felt like miles. He could feel it cutting through tendons and muscle and couldn't stop himself from yelling out expletives. He was sweating and shaking and there were tears in his eyes, and Todoroki -his only fucking hope in this fucked situation- just left the goddamn room.

"What did this kid even fucking do to you Tase?" He heard Dabi speak up.

"What didn't he fucking do to me? Abandoned me when he thought I was quirkless. Bullied me, hurt me, tried to get me to kill myself. Convinced his asshole friends to join in, convinced the teachers he was in the right."

His rant had Toga interested, and she finally got off of him to listen, pulling the knife out of his arm as she stepped away- he gasped.

"You know I almost did it too, Kacchan," Deku turned his attention back to him. "My mom barely protected me, but fuck, at least I could tell myself she was trying. When she died there was nothing for me. No final wall of defense. No one that would give half a shit what was happening to me at school. No one to help bandage up the fucking burns you would leave on my skin. There was no reason not to take a fucking swan dive off the roof."

"That quirkest bastard," Spinner appeared in front of him with rage in his eyes, one of his swords in hand, and the only thing Bakugou's borderline delusionally exhausted brain could come up with in return was, "enough with the fucking knives!"

"He doesn't even care!" Shouted Izuku. "He can hear me recap his bullshit and he doesn't even feel bad about it!"

"That's not true-"

"Is it, Kacchan? Have you spent any time at all trying to right your wrongs, trying to be a better fucking person? Coz it sure seems to me you're the same asshole that tried to kill me in gym class every day."

"I was fucking seven!"

"I've been watching you this whole time, Kacchan, I know you're not any better!"

"Let me at him, Taser," growled Spinner.

"Be my guest." He stepped back and let the other villain approach, deciding at the last minute to sheath his sword, rear back, and sock him directly in the face.

He could hear his nose crunch so loudly he gagged, and a high-pitched ringing that blocked out the villains' voices. There was blood gushing down his face, and he started coughing up some that made its way down the back of his throat. His vision went fuzzy at the edges, and a faint voice in the back of his head reminded him that they still had no idea what would happen if they died in one of these realities. He had a bad feeling they were about to find out. He felt himself slump in his chair as Deku continued to rant about his wrongdoings- everything he had apologized for in his reality yet somehow worse. If his first jump had shown him a kinder version of himself, this one certainly did the opposite.

"You're what's wrong with hero society! Why should an asshole like you get fame and glory when you're just as twisted as the rest of us?! Hm?? I'm going to kill you and write a biography in your fucking blood to make sure everyone knows what kind of person you really are. You'll be our first example, but you sure as hell won't be our last."

"I'm sorry, Izuku!" He gasped out, barely hanging on to consciousness. "I'm sorry."

He heard lazy footsteps dragging on the floor, approaching him. He was back at square one, fighting to open his eyes to see the villain in front of him.

"Well, it's a bit fucking late for that now, isn't it?" Izuku's voice was accompanied by a zap to the temple, and everything finally went dark.

***

Shouto used every remaining ounce of autonomy he had to fight the script and leave the room. The voice in his head was telling him to join in and he didn't want that- he knew he didn't want that, so he had to leave. It was the only option.

He ran up the stairs to the room he shared with his brother and collapsed face down on his futon, pulling a cheap pillow over his head in an attempt to block out the sounds of Bakugou screaming in the bar.

He deserves to be screaming in pain. It's payback for what he did to your Izuku.

He banged his fist against the floor. What the fuck? What the fuck was happening to him here? How did he end up on the side of The League? Who was he?

He didn't really want to know, but the memories came to him anyway. So much of his life was the same- the same abuse from his father, still abandoned by the rest of his family. There was one glaring difference though- not long after his mother permanently disfigured him, his brother came back for him. His dead brother showed up in his room one night and asked if he wanted to run away. And he said yes.

Heroes have never protected you. They've never cared. They can get away with anything because of their title- isn't Bakugou further evidence of that?

No. Not all heroes are like that. Even his father recognized his mistakes, attempted to atone. And Bakugou- Bakugou and Izuku became friends, they made up years ago- he was a good hero!

That will never happen in this world.

He pulled the pillow under him and screamed into it, begging his head to shut up, but he knew it wouldn't. Not here, no, he was too far gone. The choices he made to get him to this point, influenced by villains since childhood, there was no undoing them. This is what he had become, and the opposition to his nature had shattered something inside of him years ago.

He laid there, face down in silence, trying to block out the voices until his brother eventually returned.

"That boyfriend of yours is a piece of work," he shut the door behind him. "And here I thought I had gone a bit off the deep end."

"You have Touya. We all have." He rolled over onto his back to stare up at the villain Dabi. There was no fear in his heart at the image of him. If anything, there was comfort, knowledge that his brother was the only person who had ever tried to save him, the only person who ever gave a shit. He wanted to be shocked, appalled by that idea, but he wasn't. Not even a little bit. It made his head spin.

"Are they done with him? Did they kill him?"

"Not yet. At least, not on purpose. There's always the possibility he bleeds out. These fuckers like their knives too much."

"Izuku wouldn't want him to bleed out. He wants his death to be sensational- I should go cauterize the wounds."

"I'm surprised he didn't ask me to."

"Probably knew you would just incinerate him."

"Rude."

"Am I wrong?"

"Tch, no. Do you want me to go back down there with you?"

"I'm good then, I'll be right back."

He rolled off of the futon and pushed himself off the floor, Dabi collapsing in his place.

He had never actually been to the bar in his reality, only having seen it in pictures from the reports after the battle. He wondered if anyone even realized there were rooms upstairs. Four small, dusty rooms, with everyone doubled up. Surely, they must've investigated the whole building. But maybe since there was nothing of value, they didn't get mentioned in the reports.

"I thought you went to bed. What are you doing down here?" Jin spoke to him as soon as he entered the main room.

"I was tired, but Dabi made it sound like these wounds should be cauterized. Don't want Taser to lose his big moment because the bitch decided to bleed out."

"That's nasty, I'm out of here. Let me stay and watch!"

"Go for it. I'll grab you when I'm done." He tried to hide the relief from his voice when he realized he wouldn't have to fight with Twice to get Bakugou alone.

He turned his attention to the unconscious, bloody, restrained hero student the second Jin left, crossing the room with urgency before he could convince himself to turn around.

You should hurt him more, Izuku would be proud.

"I am going to hurt him more. Cauterizing hurts like a bitch," he said aloud to no one, but his voice had Bakugou stir.

His arm seemed the worst, though a knife was still embedded in his leg, and his face was bloodied up enough that his nose must've been broken. He grabbed a rag from behind the bar and shoved it in the hero's mouth to muffle his screams. Bakugou's eyes fought and failed to open, and Shouto wondered if what he was about to do would pull him away or shove him further toward unconsciousness.

He should've felt bad seeing his friend in pain, but he didn't. He should've been anxious over the idea of burning someone with direct contact, but he wasn't. He shoved his hand up the sleeve of Bakugou's black t-shirt and gripped the gash Toga had left on his arm, the blood squelching between his fingers. He didn't hesitate to call fire to the palm of his hand, but he was glad he shoved the rag in Bakugou's mouth when his eyes opened wide and he screamed. Tears ran down Bakugou's face, but he didn't feel any inclination to pull away until he knew the wound was sealed.

Yes, because of course he knew what he was doing. He had experience with this. He turned his attention to the knife that would need to be removed for him to cauterize his leg. He would have to be quick about it, so he tore the fabric apart more before wrenching the blade out, immediately pressing his hand against the wound and burning a handprint into his bloody skin.

Keep going. Scar him. Kill his nerve endings.

It took everything in him to pull back, to not damage him more than he had to. There was anger and fear in the prisoner's eyes, and he ripped the rag from his mouth before he lost the will to. Bakugou said nothing at first, eyes frantically scanning the room, breathing heavily until he managed to put half a thought together.

"What-" he spat out a mouthful of blood, "-the fuck. Todoroki."

Disrespectful asshole, daring to use your father's name.

"Don't call me that. You should be grateful I came to stop you from bleeding out."

"Grateful? What the fuck? Like they're not going to kill me in the morning? Let me go!" He struggled against his bindings and winced, squeezing his eyes shut.

Shouto sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he realized it was still covered in blood. Paint yourself with it. "You know I can't do that."

"Why not?" He demanded weakly, letting his head fall back against the chair.

"We aren't even supposed to be having this conversation! You know why."

"Say it," he grunted, hinting at the obvious, wanting Shouto to admit something that he had absolutely no control over.

He snapped. "Because I don't want to, Bakugou! I can't! This me fucking hates you for what you did to Izuku-"

This you wants to kill him.

He sat back up, furious. "I was a kid!"

"I know that. He doesn’t," he pointed aggressively at himself.

"This is bullshit, you know how fucked up this is, you're really just going to sit back and let it happen?"

"I've helped you as much as I can!"

"Helped me? You've contributed to the torture!"

"Bullshit! I left specifically so I wouldn't contribute. You've been whining about your emotional turmoil since the first day of this- have you ever stopped to think about what I'm going through!? How hard the fucking vampirism was for me? Izuku died in the last reality! And now I'm stuck here with all these thoughts in my head that are so close to how I actually feel but so much worse- I'm fucking insane here Bakugou! I'm literally fucking insane and I'm trying so hard to keep it under control but I can't-" he noticed the ice crackling up from his fingertips to his elbow and stopped, shaking it off and taking a few steps back, trying to get his breathing under control.

The hero could never understand.

"You were so fucked up over drinking a stranger’s blood but you're here fucking actively attempting to murder me and now it's fine."

"Goddammit Bakugou- that's the problem!" He yelled, anger instantly back at one hundred percent, grabbing a rogue glass from the bar top and throwing it at the wall in an attempt to take out his rage on anything other than the boy in front of him.

"What the fuck? Shut up before one of those fuckers come back down here!"

He rolled his eyes. "I don't know how to break it to you, but glass shattering against a wall here isn't out of the ordinary enough for someone to come running."

"Tch. I just don't understand-"

"-This me is in my head! That me didn't want to be a vampire, but this me wants to do this. This me despises hero society for all the reasons I never let myself in real life, has embraced all the pain I had made myself numb to. I can't let you go. I can't betray the only people that have ever done fucking anything for me-"

"-If you could make yourself leave before, then you can let me go now."

"Don't you get it? We can't change anything of significance! Any ounce of autonomy we thought we had was a lie- she made these emotions feel like our own emotions to the point that we can't even tell the difference! Didn't you see that yourself in the last jump? Didn't you admit that you knew what you were doing was wrong, but you couldn't stop it?"

"That's not the same," he glared. "That was a specific set of circumstances that resonated-"

"Jesus, fuck Bakugou- and you don't think this resonates?" He collapsed into his chair from earlier, pulling at his hair.

"You're the one who told me I wasn't trying hard enough. You're the one that convinced me to fight the script, and I did."

"No. You didn't. And I didn't get that until now. You can't fight it- it is you. Whatever you did then you would've done anyway, if not because of me then because of Kaminari."

"Bullshit."

"Bullshit? Think about it for half a second- have you had any real control over your decision-making over the past few, what, weeks?"

"Yes."

"Fucking what?" He glared. "Name one fucking thing you did that was so off-script it fundamentally changed your life in that universe."

"Well, there was... in the second jump I- I'm positive in the last..."

"Nothing! You've done nothing impactful enough. And this me would never let you go."

He glared, failing to come up with a valid retort before settling on, "You need to get your shit together, Icyhot."

"Oh my god," he let his head fall back on his shoulders. "You don't get it. Your stupid fucking teenage hero pea brain couldn't possibly fucking-"

"You're right! I don't get it! I'm fucking terrified, and thought I was supposed to be able to trust you but apparently I fucking can't because you've lost your goddamn mind in this reality and it's going to get me killed!" His voice sounded strained, almost like he was out of breath.

"You're acting like you don't know you're going to be rescued in, what, less than twelve hours??"

"How the fuck am I supposed to assume that will work out? You and Deku are both here!"

"You idiot! Izuku and I didn't fucking rescue you! Kirishima did!"

He tried to respond but fell into a coughing fit, choking on blood that had settled in the back of his throat. Shouto rolled his eyes, realizing the captive hadn't had any water since he arrived, and reluctantly made his way behind the bar. He grabbed a clean glass and filled it with the tap- by the time he turned around he had heard Bakugou stop coughing and spit more blood out on the floor.

"So there is a little humanity still in there," he mumbled after Shouto made his way back over, gesturing for him to tilt his head back.

"Don't change the subject," he glared down at him, holding up the glass for him to drink.

It's nice watching the hero beg for once.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Shouto knew he would feel horrible about all this as soon as they jumped again. But for now, he held the glass lazily, paying no mind to the water that didn't make it into his mouth.

"Tch," he shook his head, trying to wipe his face off on his shoulder when the glass was empty. "You're so full of shit."

"Are you kidding me right now? Do you honestly not believe me? Kirishima recruited me to save your ass. Not the other way around. Not Izuku."

He rolled his eyes. "How do I even know that Kiri gives half a shit about me in this universe-"

"God Bakugou, you’re so fucking dense. How at this point have you not realized that Kiri gives a shit about you in every universe?"

"I can't just expect him to get me out of this. I know this me certainly doesn't."

"Jesus fucking christ, you do this everywhere," he stepped away to pace in frustration. "You convince yourself not to go after him, that he doesn't want you- to not admit any of what I know you're feeling- and for what? Just to remain bitter and alone, filled with self-pity because he left you, or was never yours to begin with. Get over yourself."

He didn't say anything to that, and Shouto glanced over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't fallen unconscious again. He was still awake, alive, staring at him with a hurt expression, opening and closing his mouth like he was trying to respond but couldn't find the words. He almost felt bad, for being so blunt about something that was obviously putting Bakugou through the wringer. But part of him also felt like it had to be said, that he was never going to get there on his own.

He sighed. "I won't- I won't tell them anything about... the fight that's about to happen. I'll fall back into whatever this psyche wants me to do, and I won't act on any of my knowledge as to how this will play out."

"You don't even know it's going to play out the same."

"I'm sure it'll be pretty damn close. Besides, I bet my brother and I are going to zero in on our father the instant we realize he's here. I'll stay out of your way; it'll probably be best if you stay out of mine." He turned to walk away and was almost at the door when Bakugou spoke again.

"Half 'n' Half-"

"What?"

"After we leave... what's going to become of this version of you?"

"Honestly Bakugou," he sighed. "I'm a bit too scared to ask myself that. Nothing good, I imagine."

"And you're fine with that?"

He laughed bitterly. "I have Izuku here. That counts for something, right? Besides... I don't think I really have a choice."

***

Bakugou watched in disbelief as Todoroki abandoned him for the second time, and then laughed in defeat when he remembered them tempting the blue bitch with a reality worse than the last. Twice came back shortly after and didn't say much. He had brought some sort of handheld gaming device and spent his time lounging across three different barstools, playing the game and arguing with himself.

He closed his eyes, but the words Todoroki left him with kept him awake. He had been so certain that his actions were real, were his own, but now he was doubting all of it.

In the first jump, he had acknowledged that picking Tokyo would've happened regardless of any sort of interference. In retrospect, he could tell that he wanted something more than friendship with that Kirishima, but that version of him probably couldn’t.

In the second jump... he was an asshole. He had told himself he didn't want to deal with his emotions there, in a temporary universe. But he was just caving to the script, wasn't he? He knew that version of him was in denial about, well, just about everything, but he didn't really do anything to change that, did he?

In the third jump- where he was married, jesus christ- he made absolutely no effort to fight the script. He was consumed by his emotions, losing Kiri, the fear of what might happen to him. He had no reason to fight any of that, he wasn't doing anything he disagreed with.

Vampire him too. He had no reason to fight anything there. He wanted Kiri, so he took him. There was nothing else to it.

And in the last jump... Todoroki was right. He did acknowledge that his actions were hurting Kirishima, and he hated it- but he couldn't stop himself. Not until Kaminari talked some sense into him. Did visiting Todoroki off-script even change anything? Did he even really tell him anything Kami didn't?

So what the fuck was the point of it all? If he had no real control over the trajectory of his actions, if him being here didn't matter, then why the hell was he here?

He was losing himself in this stupid quirk.

There wasn't a point. He was attacked, and was currently still being attacked, in a potentially infinite number of ways. Nothing good was supposed to come of this. This villain's quirk was supposed to hurt him, and it was doing that successfully.

But then why did she say...?

'You're both at a crossroad. I've seen the endings. I really am here to help.'

What the fuck did that mean?

Time continued to pass but he had no gauge of it, drifting in and out of consciousness. Eventually, the villains began to trickle back into the room, maybe it was morning now. Or maybe it was morning before- the windows were blacked out, so it was hard to tell. Someone turned on the shitty TV in the corner and flicked to the news channel. He ignored the static voices, continuing to feign sleep, desperate to be ignored.

He hadn't thought about something more in this universe, not yet. He was too young- those feelings were too new to acknowledge. At least until now. Until he sat bloody, bruised, and alone in a villains’ hideaway, unsure if he would make it out alive. Unsure if he would ever see anyone important to him ever again. His parents crossed his mind, sure. His teachers, his friends. Would his heroes save him? Would anyone care enough to try? He was confident he could be a great hero, but was he even a good person? Would anyone think he was worth saving if he couldn't even save himself?

He was still restrained in this reality. The villains had an entirely different objective with him. If the heroes did come to save him... unless he was freed, he wouldn't be able to help.

"Hey, check this out Shiggy," said Spinner.

Bakugou's ears perked up at the sound of Aizawa's voice coming through the speaker.

"Sounds like your cover worked," Dabi grunted as a reporter harassed the teachers over failing to calm his violent nature.

Tch.

The door slammed open and Bakugou hazily blinked, catching a glimpse of Deku storming in with the Half 'n' Half bastard on his tail.

"That bitch, talking like he knows a single goddamn thing about Kacchan. Turn that shit off. Get the fucking camera Kurogiri."

"What is the camera for?" Asked Dabi, changing the channel to the empty static that Bakugou figured meant All For One was watching.

"We're going to expose Kacchan for who he really is. And then we're going to do the same for every hero we can catch after him. Your little birdie is next."

"Hawks is a spy, he's not actually-"

"We'll catch him doing something incriminating soon enough. They're all frauds, it won't be difficult. Stain was on the right track, but he failed with his lack of proof. This is how we justify our cause."

"You're fucking insane," Bakugou mumbled, not entirely on purpose, and regretted it as soon as the words left his tongue.

Deku laughed, but there was no smile on his face this time. "Kurogiri. Camera."

The villain warped a shitty camcorder directly into his hand. He pressed a couple of buttons before slowly approaching- Bakugou could feel his heart rate speed up.

"Citizens of Japan, feast your eyes on the alleged future of hero society. Bakugou Katsuki. The terror that haunted my nightmares for years-"

A knock at the door cut him off, and everyone glanced at the source of the noise.

"Pizza Delivery."

No fucking way.

His eyes snapped to Todoroki, who made the connection at the exact moment All Might burst through the wall. He dove behind the bar and Bakugou could hear Shigaraki yelling out to Kurogiri as a cloud of dust and rubble filled the room. Wooden limbs shot through it, just like in his memory, wrapping tightly around the villains' torsos.

Bakugou struggled against his restraints, still weak and dizzy from blood loss, and heard himself yell out for someone to remove them. He saw a bright burst of blue flames a second before a yellow blur flew onto the scene, knocking Dabi out with a swift kick to the temple.

Todoroki, the idiot- the only one not being actively strangled by Kamui Woods -chose that moment to scream out his brother's villain name and blast a sheet of ice at Gran Torino. The old man dodged, of course, and All Might himself leapt forward, wrapping his arms tightly around the young villain, snapping a pair of quirk suppressing cuffs around his wrists.

It was in this moment that Bakugou realized that even though he was reliving a more-fucked-up version of the worst day of his life, Todoroki wasn’t reliving anything. The real Todoroki wasn't here for this part- he had no idea what was to come before they teleported out again, and with how different this universe had been, who was to say the second half of this battle would even remotely line up with their memories of it?

Deku screamed something to Kurogiri that included the word 'nomu' right before Edgeshot appeared, piercing through the warp villain and knocking him unconscious. Bakugou started to panic amidst the chaos, but the hero appeared in front of him next- as a human lock pick -his restraints falling to the ground in seconds.

"We need to get out of here!" He urged, terrified of what was to come, but his voice was drowned out by All Might's raging demand for the location of All For One, and Shigaraki's subsequent refusal.

"Go away! Disappear! It's too late to stop us now!"

"This is all your fault!" Deku joined in. "The blood of our enemies is on your hands All Might! I hate you!"

Bakugou remembered what those words, originally from Shigaraki's mouth, triggered, and he spun to bolt towards the door, open to a fully armed swat team. He barely made a single stride before he was choking on a noxious black goo, a traumatic throwback to the sludge villain in middle school. It was suffocating him, filling his throat and mouth and sinuses, pushing out from behind his eyes. Consuming him from the inside out.

Before his vision went black, he saw the horrifying appearance of bulging eyes and exposed brains seeping through the other newly opened goo portals.

Out of all the ways to teleport, Bakugou was still dead set that this was the absolute worst. The active battle around him had transitioned to a demolished warehouse and as soon as he was fully present he collapsed to his knees, hacking out all the gunk that felt trapped in his lungs. He could hear the villains conversing around him and felt his mind race, desperate to come up with a way out. He glanced around him, taking in the destruction, the unconscious heroes around the perimeter. Maybe part of him was hoping to spot Kirishima, even though he knew he wouldn't.

Todoroki was a distance away, crouched over his unconscious brother, Spinner similarly protecting Kurogiri. He caught the young villain's eye right as he wiped tears from his face, smearing the black face paint even worse than before. His cuffs had been left behind at the bar. He glared at him but made no motion to leave his brother's side.

"We won't leave until I finish what I started!" Deku's yell shifted his attention and he watched, frozen, as a massive portal opened up behind Deku as he ran back towards Bakugou with a knife in hand. It felt like time had slowed, and he saw All For One's gaze shift to the sky.

"There you are."

All Might's sudden collision with the villain created a shockwave that blew everyone off their feet, Deku flying in the opposite direction of Bakugou. He felt the fear course through him, just like the first time he saw the villain holding his own against the Number One Hero. He sucked in a breath and pulled himself to his feet, very aware that the only logical move for the league was to recapture him as All For One held off All Might. In no time at all, he was surrounded.

It was just as bad as last time, but now he had the added concern of being so dizzy with blood loss he could barely see straight. He fought seven-on-one with everything he had, did everything in his power to push away the agony that accompanied the recoil when he used his quirk, to stay on his feet when his landing jolted through his entire body. He tried to sink into autopilot, but it was impossible to completely disregard the desperate anticipation, the frantic hope that any minute now he would hear his best friend yell at him from the sky. He didn't think too hard about how that could even be possible when two of the quirks that propelled them were fighting down below on the opposite side. He was still in All Might's way, even worse since he could barely hold his own. He wouldn't get out of this alive without outside intervention. This him wasn't quite convinced of that yet, but he knew.

Todoroki still hung back with his unconscious comrades, but the remainder came at him from all sides. Toga, Twice, Magne, and Spinner were easiest to dodge, but he knew if Compress, Shigaraki, or Deku laid a hand on him it would be over.

The sound of a wall exploding.

A gust of wind so strong it knocked Toga off her feet.

An icy chemical explosion. The smell of burning fuel.

"Come on!"

It was entirely instinctual. Not a single thought went into pushing himself to his absolute limit, launching higher into the sky than he ever had before, reaching for Kirishima.

Everything faded away the second he felt the warmth of Kirishima's hand in his own. He could hear Deku screaming in a rage below them, and anticipated their use of Magne's quirk to launch him into the sky in pursuit. But he wasn't scared anymore. This universe was close enough to his own that he wasn't surprised when Mount Lady blocked Deku’s attack. He saw the yellow flash of Gran Torino and knew they were in the home stretch. He propelled them forward with another blast and felt Kirishima's grip tighten as his own went slack from exhaustion.

They landed near the police station and immediately took off running to hide in the crowd, just like before. The difference was that Kiri had an arm around him supporting half his weight and pulled him over to the side of a building while Iida, Inasa, and Yaoyorozu stopped, captivated by the massive TV broadcast of the fight. He collapsed against the wall and Kiri's eyes welled with tears.

"Oh my god, Bakugou, holy shit, I can't-" he rambled as his hands inspected every inch of his skin, searching for every injury, any active source of blood. Bakugou knew he looked like a mess, the skin on his arm and leg were burnt crisp and cracked. He could feel the bruises forming across his face, under his eyes. He heard Kiri hiss when he noticed the burn, felt his fingertips delicately wipe away dried blood from his brow, comb his hair away from his face. His eyes were drowning in concern, an expression this Bakugou had yet to see on Kirishima. He was trapped in his gaze; in the same disbelief he felt the first time he realized his best friend had come to rescue him.

"Shitty Hair-"

"-I’m so sorry we took so long, I'm sorry we let them hurt you, I was so scared-"

"Shitty Hair-"

"-I felt so fucking useless in that classroom, I couldn't just sit back and do nothing-"

"-Kirishima!"

He stopped, wide-eyed, maybe shocked that he used his actual name, but Bakugou didn't care. He felt every emotion of this version of himself, he had this whole time. He had been so certain that he would never make it out of that bar that now he saw Kiri from a completely different angle than he ever could have in his universe. This universe's Izuku shoved a million and one regrets right in his face- he didn't want to live with another one.

Maybe Todoroki was right. Maybe he would always feel this way.

Maybe that was the point.

"You saved me," he heard himself say, bringing a shaky hand up to the side of his face. He wiped away tears that he was certain Kiri hadn't noticed, because as soon as he did, he apologized, twisting from his grasp and furiously wiping the tears from his own cheeks.

"Hey dumbass, stop that, are you listening to me?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what?" He turned back to him.

"I said you fucking saved me. You saved my fucking life just now. I wouldn't have made it out of there if it wasn't for you."

His face went red, and he stammered out a reply, "I-I'm sure the heroes... it was Inasa's idea, really..."

"It had to be you, Kirishima. In every universe, it's always you."

"What are you saying?"

Fuck it. Maybe it was the script, maybe it wasn't, he didn't care anymore. Bakugou swallowed the last of his pride, grabbed him by the collar, and kissed him with everything he had.

Kiri gasped against his lips, but when the shock wore off, he melted into it. He brought a hand up to weave through Bakugou's hair, the other to pull him closer by the small of his back. Bakugou lost himself, ignoring the taste of iron on his tongue, the sharp pain from the pressure against his broken nose, the noise from the crowd around them. None of that mattered in that moment.

Eventually Kirishima pulled away for a breath. "Wait, you-?"

"I'm so fucking obsessed with you Shitty Hair. I'm glad this time around it didn't take me so long to notice."

His vision started to twinkle, and he knew he wasn't blacking out this time. He pulled him back in, savoring the last few seconds he had of Kiri's chapped lips against his own before reality ripped him away. He smiled against sharp teeth when he realized that in this universe, if he played his cards right, he would get to have Eijirou for the rest of his life.

Chapter Text

He felt like he was floating.

The air was soft, like freshly pulled cotton, but he couldn't feel it, not really. "Where am I?" He asked silently, his voice consumed by the nothingness he was surrounded with.

Visions flickered behind his eyelids. Hiking to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro. Sliding carbonara off of a serving fork. Huddled for warmth in a poorly insulated bunker. Rolling a wheelchair through campus. Floating on his back in a remote oasis, looking up at the stars.

The stars blinked back at him.

"Don't you see? Don't you get it? You're everywhere, hero. So, where do you want to be?"

'Home' felt too obvious. He wouldn't be sent there, not yet. She wasn't quite done with him. 'At peace' was maybe closer. Something within reach. But that was too broad, he needed an answer that fell between the two.

"I guess it doesn't matter, as long as I'm with him."

Something shifted in the air. A cool breeze wove between his fingertips.

"Smart words. I'd dare say you're nearly ready." He couldn't hear her voice as much as feel it- echoing through the void, vibrating between his bones.

“I really am here to help.”

***

Bakugou came to slowly, with his dreams on the tip of his tongue, but they quickly faded into abstract nonsense. He was left with pastel sunsets, laughter, joy- none of the pain that the past few realities had brought. Only a feeling of contentment- a reality just out of reach. A feeling of this is where I am meant to be. It lingered as he gained consciousness, slowly becoming aware of a knocking on the door.

He heard a groan to the side of him as Kirishima rolled over and pulled a pillow over his head. Bakugou smiled to himself- there it was again, that contentment- but the knocking surged and he registered a pattern. Not one that was common around the castle, no, but the one he himself devised alongside Lady Yaoyorozu. The only person who knew that pattern was Lady Yaoyorozu- why the hell would she be knocking on his door?

The warmth in his blood was siphoned away and replaced with a pang of urgency, as he scrambled out of another obnoxious canopy bed. Unfortunately, he underestimated how truly tangled he was in his sheets, which resulted in a bit of a dramatic tumble to the floor and a light chuckle from the man beside him. He finally made it across the room, opening the door just a crack to hide the fact that he was standing in just his undergarments, wrapped up in his sheets, and definitely not alone.

Having company in this context was strictly forbidden.

His fear was affirmed when he caught Lady Yaoyorozu's panicked eyes in the soft gray light of dawn. "What's going on?" He asked in a low tone, highly aware that this was not a typical way for his day to start in this reality.

Her eyes screamed that something was wrong, but she just shook her head. "They're searching all the rooms," she replied, hushed. "You must ensure there is no one or nothing suspicious in your presence."

"Searching for what? What concern would there be in the knights' quarters?"

"I can't say. You'll find out soon enough- now hurry." Her eyes scanned the empty hallway before she hastily made her way down the corridor. Not in the direction of her residence, but outdoors. Perhaps to avoid attention.

Kirishima was sitting up in bed when he turned around and locked the door behind him. "What's going on?" His question echoed Bakugou's before him.

"She wouldn't tell me, but something's wrong." He ran a hand through his hair, distressed. "You need to get out of here. Not through the front door- I imagine the knights' passageways are off limits too. You'll have to go out the window."

“You want me to what? Someone could see me.”

“I want you to climb out the window–” he crossed the room to open the shutter, glancing out at the castle grounds. “Sir Shinsou is the only one in view at this hour. It’s your safest bet.”

Kirishima cocked his head to the side, listening. "They're already on their way. Alright, I'll see you tonight. Find out what you can."

He had pulled on his shirt and was halfway across the room when Bakugou intercepted him. He had put no thought behind the action, simply motivated by instinct that he did not want to see him go. He would much rather pull him close and keep him there, wrapped in the contentment he woke up to. He'd been so sick of losing Kirishima over and over- always pushing him away. He knew that's not what this was, that he was protecting him from something he didn't yet understand, but he still didn't want to do it.

He kissed him goodbye, and it nearly left him breathless. He was happy here- it felt so foreign. He was so bad at letting himself be happy, he didn't want to let it go, nearly couldn't. He felt Kirishima start to pull away, but he pushed forward one last time, capturing his lower lip between his teeth. Kirishima let out a muffled laugh and pulled away for real. For a brief instant the concern faded from the redhead's face, replaced with a soft smile that reflected that same contentment, the absolute confidence that this is where they were supposed to be.

"Everything okay, Kats?" He watched Kirishima's teeth dull behind his lips, as the inhuman red faded to black- not an unfamiliar sight worth questioning.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I'll see you tonight. With answers, hopefully."

And with that, he left out the window.

All of the warm fuzzy feelings aside, Bakugou knew this was not where he was supposed to be. As right as it might've felt, this was not his reality. He still needed to find a way home. He still had no idea how or when that would ever happen, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. He never did. Once again, he was immediately thrust into a situation that needed his full attention.

They're searching the knights' quarters? Who? There was only one group with more authority than himself- the elite conroi led by Prince Touya. That must be who's coming, but why? What was Yaoyorozu hiding? What did she know? And why did she know it?

He hurried about his room to hide any physical evidence of Kirishima's presence- then it hit him. The one piece of evidence he couldn't eliminate.

The footsteps Kirishima had heard from much further away now echoed down his hall.

As far as he knew, no one in the royal family could detect magic. It was simply not allowed. If you could detect magic, then you were predisposed to use it- and that was against the law.

There was another knock on his door- this one far more demanding. No secret code, no pattern. He scrambled to put on a loose shirt and made his way to the door. He opened it wide as if he had nothing to hide, to the golden eyes of someone he was absolutely certain was more than human. How he served the King directly without falling under suspicion was beyond him.

"Sir Takami, how can I help you this morning?" He asked the Prince's second in command, voice devoid of all suspicion. There was a glint in those golden eyes- whatever was happening, Takami was not happy about it.

"We're running a routine search, shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"Of course not," Bakugou replied. "What are you searching for?"

"Do not concern yourself with it. I'm sure all will be revealed soon enough."

Bakugou knew he had authority in this universe, but it was very clear that this was not the time to test it. The air was off, something happened that he was not yet privy to, and he needed to find out what before he could make a real move.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Two of Takami's subordinates pushed their way into the room to begin their search.

"Nothing at the moment." He replied distantly, golden eyes scanning the room. He knew that Takami could tell someone else was here- someone else not entirely human. But would he reveal that to the crown? Wouldn't it just endanger himself? There was no physical evidence, no incriminating items for him to report. Just the lingering aura of a dragon.

The private guards were respectful but did a decent job tearing up the room. They exited and Takami turned to follow but hesitated, locking eyes with Katsuki. Those dangerous, incriminating eyes. An understanding passed between them. He wouldn't reveal what he saw.

"Be careful."

The day went on. He followed his morning routine: tended to the horses, patrolled the castle grounds. There were whispers about whatever it was that must have happened the night prior, but nobody truly knew. Prince Shouto hadn't been seen all morning, which wasn’t too abnormal, but Bakugou was surprised that he'd made no effort to come find him. Then again, he was plenty familiar with the Prince's quarters, so maybe he was expecting Bakugou to go to him.

He continued on, patrolling the halls, the yard, the wall of the castle. He peered out on the small town encased by its even larger wall, and the mystical forest beyond. No one went there. It was overrun with dangerous, pure-blood magical beings. The wall was for their protection, the townsfolk were told, but on more than a few drunken evenings with his lance they'd speculated that the wall was less about keeping others out and more about keeping the populace in.

He made one attempt, after lunch, to seek out Shouto, but it went awry almost immediately. The entire royal wing was sealed off, with unfamiliar faces posted guard in the hallway, not allowing anyone to pass. He left without trying too hard. He didn't want to draw attention to himself- if not for his own safety, then for Kirishima's.

Though he knew his true investigation wouldn't begin until after dark, he hoped to glean some information from his lance in training. Other than a passing glance at Sir Kaminari in the halls, he hadn't seen any members of his lance all day- anyone he could trust. Though, to be fair, their morning rotations rarely overlapped.

One by one, in the light of the late afternoon sun, they gathered outside of the stables. There was some casual chatting and laughter, between those who seemed oblivious to the tension in the castle. Several faces he knew from his reality- Kaminari, Iida, Monoma- and a handful only familiar to this one. As he observed the group, a tangible unease began to grow- it took until everyone else had arrived to be sure, but someone important was missing.

"Where is Sir Midoriya?"

There were a few nervous glances side to side. Some expressions of confusion, and some with hidden knowledge. He locked eyes with Sir Iida, which gave the other man the confidence needed to reveal what he knew.

"It hasn't been announced to the public yet. Only Prince Touya's conroi knows the details and they won't talk. But, at some point in the night, for reasons I doubt anyone here knows, Sir Midoriya was banished."

***

Shouto knew he deserved this. Even after the string of miserable realities he faced, he still deserved to be punished for his actions in the last. Midoriya was good here, good like he was always meant to be. Honorable, chivalrous, loyal, and strong. A coustillier within Bakugou's lance- destined for greatness. Until Shouto ruined it for him.

Locked in his quarters he had little to do but reminisce, piece together the recent past of this reality's memories. He had known better, that first night Midoriya sought him out after dark. He knew his father's laws, but he hated them. Sometimes it felt like he had put them in place just to keep Shouto in line. For the first time within this mess of a quirk, Shouto found himself in a reality where any sort of future with Midoriya, with any man, was strictly forbidden. He knew better but he didn't care, desperate to rebel against his father but with so few outlets- so he followed his heart. He followed his heart, and Midoriya's life was ruined for it.

He closed his eyes and attempted to relive his first few moments in this reality. Before everything fell apart. The warmth of Izuku's body pressed against his own, the salty taste of skin on his neck, his jawline. He was so consumed by the sensations of the reality he jumped to that he had nearly forgotten it wasn't his own. This him was already breathless.

The fantasy dissolved so fast that he still wasn't quite sure what happened.

The door he was so certain he had locked slammed open. Armed guards he didn't recognize stormed the room and startled them apart. Midoriya must not have recognized them either, since he moved to a defensive stance to protect his Prince, as was his duty. But they weren't after him- and they came down on Midoriya so fast he hadn't had a choice. With a blinding flash of light, those who charged him collapsed. And in the moment immediately after, he received nothing more than half a second of terrified eye contact before Midoriya grabbed the rest of his clothes and bolted. He hadn't even had time to process what had happened before Touya and his men showed up, put him on lockdown, and found a way to wake the unconscious attackers.

The story was that Midoriya was banished for using magic. Magic that Shouto had no idea he had even possessed. The truth was that the King sent a private guard to have his son's lover killed. They weren't expecting him to escape, but the use of magic was an excellent cover for the truth. It was much more appealing to banish a magic user than to out a prince to the entire kingdom. So Midoriya was on the run, and Shouto was locked up. Unable to track down or help his lover, and unable to contact Bakugou- an idea that took way too long for him to even remember was an option.

He was weighing the merit of climbing out the window when he heard an overly polite argument occurring outside of his chamber door. As far as he knew, no one had approached him since the guard was posted, but the muffled female voice seemed insistent. He thought it might've been his sister, though it wasn't in her character to stand up to guards like that. But when the door was finally opened, the huff of disrespected annoyance came from the mouth of a friend.

"You have twenty minutes, Lady Yaoyorozu. Not a second longer."

The Yaoyorozu family were distant relatives, but had worked their way up to the importance and authority of Duke and Duchess. Being the youngest and therefore least important Todoroki prince, Shouto didn't grow up under quite the levels of isolation as his siblings- which his father certainly grew to regret later. Momo was a curious little girl, and they made a great team growing up, exploring the palace, befriending the kitchen staff.

As they got older she started building a mask, hiding her true character behind a shield of manners and etiquette. He supposed he did the same, but for that reason he much preferred her company alone. It's shocking the rumors that can grow from two young adults leaving an all but otherwise empty room together.

He took advantage of those rumors. So did she.

"Sometimes I think these men forget that two words from me to the King could be cause for their removal," she announced loudly as the door latched shut behind her. But the second she was out of their line of sight she dropped her bravado and rushed forward to pull him into a tight hug.

"I'm so sorry, Sho," she whispered into the crook of his neck, and he suddenly felt everything at once.

"Fuck- please tell me he's not dead," he choked out. He couldn't deal with him dying again, it just wouldn't be fair.

"No, no." She pulled away. "He's on the run, made it out of the castle for sure but they don't know if he is still in town or made it past the wall. With magic like that-"

"-So it was magic. I don't understand, why didn't he ever tell me?"

"You're the prince."

"I feel I've been quite clear how severely I disagree with the way my father rules this kingdom."

"In how much depth? That's a life-or-death kind of secret in this context, Shouto."

He groaned, exasperated, and let himself fall back on the bed. "He didn't trust me."

"That's not true."

"And now I'm stuck here and unless I can somehow find him there's nothing I can do to help!"

"That's... not entirely true either." He felt the mattress shift as she sat down on the edge.

He looked up at her inquisitively. She looked unsure of her next sentence, so he got up on his knees and closed the curtain on the far side of the bed, gesturing for her to do the same.

They both crawled towards the middle of the bed in the dark, sitting crisscross as they had many times before, Momo's gown puffed up around her, waiting for their eyes to adjust.

"I want to tell you a secret, Shouto," she whispered. "But it's a big one, there's no going back."

"You can trust me."

"Just tell me- if Midoriya had to run away, would you go with him?"

"In a heartbeat. Just help me find him."

He made out the outline of her smile in the dark and felt her take his hands, cupping them together between her own. "I understand why Midoriya didn't tell you. It's scary enough to have one forbidden identity out in the open. Before now, I couldn't imagine having two."

"What do you...?" He trailed off as she opened up their hands, revealing three pale glowing butterflies made of pure light. "...Momo. That's..."

"Horrifying? A crime? A sin?" She listed off as the butterflies took flight, twirling in the air up to the crown of the canopy.

"Incredible."

She smiled for real this time, and he saw it clearly under the glow of her magic lights. "That's why I like you Shouto. The way your eyes light up in wonder." One by one the butterflies burst like a micro-firework, leaving nothing but warm embers to rain down, vanishing as soon as they landed. Vanishing like every chance he'd ever had with Midoriya.

Not this time.

"You know where he is, don't you?"

There it was again. That hesitation. "It's dangerous, Sho. The more you know, the more your father can use against you."

"Not if I'm not here. Take me to him." There was always something that held him back. Something, or someone. Bakugou, Uraraka, Aizawa and his mission, vampirism, death, All For One. The Pacific Ocean. Here it was his father, wasn't that familiar? And the law- but they were one and the same.

"If someone notices, you'll lose your advantage of safety behind these walls."

He shook his head. "It's not an advantage if I am without him. I'm not doing this again; I'm not waiting until it's too late."

She stared into his eyes, unwavering, searching for an ounce of doubt, fear, but unable to find any. She took a deep breath. "I can take you to him. But I cannot guarantee it will end there."

"That's all aside. I don't care what happens next as long as I am with him."

"Very well."

"One more minute," yelled the guard, accompanied by a pounding on the door.

"I swear these fools can't even tell time. I have to go. Can you find a way out? Can you meet me at the gate just after sundown?"

"Nothing could stop me."

She smiled softly and moved to open the curtain, navigating her gown and the sheets for an elegant departure.

"Momo," he reached out and caught her hand. "Thank you."

She smiled back at him. "Of course."

***

He met Yaoyorozu at the front gates, as usual. The story was that he was accompanying her as a private guard throughout town. If anyone questioned why such a highly ranked knight would act as a bodyguard, she simply explained that she had her pick of the lot, and she chose him. No one ever questioned past that.

He wasn't expecting her to bring Prince Shouto.

Somewhere deep inside his psyche he flinched, felt a phantom pain in the shape of a hand on his arm. At the same time, Shouto's presence was a reminder that none of this was real. And if this universe wasn't real, the last one wasn't either. Without the heightened emotions that accompanied the last jump, he couldn't really justify holding him to blame. Between every reality they'd experienced, he'd fucked up plenty on his own. Shouto was his only ally in this, there was no point in staying angry.

Though they knew of each other in this reality, they didn't know each other. Due to that, his brief spiral upon their introduction, and the fact that in Bakugou's position, he was expected and trained on the proper way to interact with royalty, he couldn't think of a single genuine thing to say to the man before Lady Yaoyorozu ushered them on their way.

The night watch had been increased, but Bakugou had plenty of allies and connections within the castle through the order, so it was never hard to find a way out to town that wouldn't get reported. Tonight the chosen exit point was guarded by Sir Sero, so they shouldn't face any scrutiny. However, one look at the Prince's highly recognizable features (the vitiligo here was attributed to a sorcery attack in his youth) had him reach over and yank the hood of his cloak over his head right before they were in view.

Shouto startled. "Oh, thanks. I should've thought of that."

"No problem. It's not like you've ever had to go undercover before," he rolled his eyes. Shouto huffed with a slight smile and Bakugou felt whatever weird reality-specific tension there was between them vanish. Yaoyorozu paid them no mind at all and continued to lead them forward on a familiar route.

They made it past the castle gate with a few quick words to Sero, and he let her get a few steps ahead before asking quietly, "What happened?"

The prince furrowed his brow. "Midoriya was banished."

"No shit, dumbass. Why? How are you involved? None of the staff could tell me anything."

"I'm going to give you one chance to guess how I'm involved with Midoriya," he deadpanned.

"What? Ugh- you know what, I can't even judge. You know that's not what I meant. Give me a piece of information worth something."

The prince was silent for a moment. "I think my father tried to have him killed. I'm certain he hates me for it. I'm here to win him back, however that may be. I have no other agenda."

"Tch, that's rough."

"Yes? What do you mean?"

"Lady Yaoyorozu here- she's the type to have an agenda. And you wouldn't be here if you weren't on it."

When they reached the outskirts of the market district, she led them to a nondescript tavern. It was emptier than what would've seemed sustainable, but the streets had been rather sparse for the hour as well.

Yaoyorozu lightly knocked on the bar top, attracting the attention of someone he almost didn't recognize to be Jirou, who was serving one of the few real customers on the far end. It was Uraraka who greeted them in her place. Shouto chuckled beside him, presumably at Yaoyorozu's poor attempt at hiding her disappointment.

A few hushed words were enough for Bakugou to start leading Shouto to the hidden cellar door, before Uraraka placed a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Not him."

"Not him?"

"Why not?" Scoffed Shouto, even though she wasn't speaking to him.

"It's too soon. We'll watch him here and send him down when they're prepared."

"Tch. Fine. But make sure he keeps his hood up."

"What the hell, Bakugou?"

"It can be a volatile group down there, Your Highness. The bar maidens will keep you safe while we report our status."

Lady Yaoyorozu nodded in affirmation and Shouto frowned, sliding onto a barstool. "Fine, fine. Just get me when you're ready."

Bakugou turned to follow Lady Yaoyorozu down the hall. The door was soundproof- enchanted- but as soon as they crossed the threshold he could hear the trailing discourse below.

"Don't you see? This is the opportunity we've been waiting for!" Iida's voice echoed up the stairs.

"Won't be much of an opportunity if we're all in prison- or dead," argued Ashido.

"I can't deny the threat, but that's exactly why this has to happen now. If we wait too long, we won't have the numbers to pull it off."

"Ashido has a point." Bakugou's eyes snapped to Kirishima the instant he was aware of his presence. "Midoriya has been banished- the second he is spotted he will be killed. He has to leave, and it makes no sense to send him out alone. Those of us in the most danger inside the city right now are in the least on the other side of those walls. Us half-breeds should be the ones to leave, and we can come back to fight when someone actually has a plan."

"How are you supposed to pick and choose who is in danger at a time like this?" Asked Lady Yaoyorozu as she led him to the large circular table the others sat around, nestled in the back corner, surrounded by stacked beer barrels and shelves of liquor.

Bakugou had gone numb when he fully registered Kirishima's words, throwing him back to a conversation that already felt like it had happened years ago. One he had been burying so fucking well, especially since their space adventure.

"Hold on- you're leaving?"

Eijirou looked at him with an expression he didn't recognize, slowly twirling the teabag in his travel mug. "I was offered a position in Tokyo. With our lease ending soon, it's the perfect time for me to take that next step."

"What do you mean 'next step'?" You're a top fifteen hero, you're really going to risk that with a move?"

He sighed in such a way that Katsuki could tell there was no arguing him out of this one. He had already made his decision. His next words were a punch to the gut. "There's nothing more for me here, Kats. My life is stagnant. Nothing is ever going to change if I don't take the leap."

"But," he couldn't understand. "Why do you need anything to change?"

Eijirou gave him another unreadable look and Bakugou felt like his exterior was cracking. "Come on, Kats. It's not like you're never going to see me again. It's just... time for something new."

"But... I-"

"But  what, Bakugou?" His frustration was starting to show, with a hint of expectation. Like there was something he wanted him to respond with.

'But I don't want anything to change,' he thought. 'I don't want something new, I don't want you to leave, to leave me alone here.' But... but Kirishima had seemed off for a while now. Bored, unfulfilled. Absent. Maybe he was right. Maybe he did need a new challenge. A new lifestyle. And maybe... maybe for him to be happy, that life had to be without Katsuki.

Ei seemed to get sick of waiting for a counterpoint and stood up, tossing his teabag and throwing a lid on his mug. "Listen, I have to go to work. We can talk about this more later. I'm putting in my two weeks tomorrow, but I'll pay my portion of the rent for the last month."

Katsuki stood in shock, trying to keep the unjustified expression of hurt off his face. He had no right to be hurt by this. It didn't mean anything, not really. He could be a successful adult and hero without Kiri as a roommate, he was sure Kiri could too. Besides, he had talked about leaving Kyushu before- he shouldn't be taking this so personally, even if it hurt.

Ei turned back to face him one last time, halfway out the door. "You've been the only thing keeping me here for some time, Kats. I just... I need something more than this, okay?"

Katsuki didn't respond, couldn't respond, and found himself sinking into a dining table chair. Kirishima just sighed, and the quiet latch of the front door followed.

Something more.

He had left without another word.

"I don't have a choice! Had you seen what it was like in town today you would agree," Kirishima's words shook him back to this foreign reality.

"No!" Bakugou responded, appalled. The way he wished he had that last morning with his Kirishima.

"N-no?"

"No- I am not letting you give up like that. I refuse to watch you abandon ship. I refuse to let you go without fighting for you."

"Katsuki, I... This fight is too risky. We don't even have a real plan- just lofty goals. I'm not abandoning ship- it's just not safe here until we know what our next steps are going to be. The town is in chaos, this is no time to jump to action and make everything worse."

"This is the exact time to fight for what we believe in." He insisted, locking eyes with Kirishima.

"Tooru was arrested, Bakugou," whined Ashido.

He turned his attention back to the entire table. "The King's actions are upsetting his people- this is when he is most likely to lose his hold. There has to be a way."

"It's not safe-" argued Kirishima.

"Then I'll make it safe! I refuse to sit back and let you leave me again!"

"...again?"

It was too much for him, the pressure of this reality and the emotions of his real one. He shook his head. "Forget that. I refuse to give up before we have even attempted to find another solution."

"What are you going to do? Overthrow the whole government?"

"Can we please lay out the facts before making any drastic decisions here?" Midoriya called out over their arguing.

A tray of pints was slammed down in the middle of the table, sloshing over their brims and startling everyone to silence.

"Fact," announced Uraraka. "Seven shops known by the townsfolk to stock magical odds and ends were raided today. For all we know we could be next."

"That's ridiculous-"

"-Everyone who knows about this place is already here-"

"Fact! A bunch of knights that no one recognizes are spreading Midoriya's face and saying he used magic to attack the prince!"

"I did not-"

"-we know that Midoriya-"

"They're private guard-"

"Fact. Three of my friends were arrested today, on top of Midoriya getting banished. Komori, Hagakure, Tokoyami- all gone."

"Ochako..."

"You asked for the facts! That's what I've got. Who else?"

"They think he attacked a prince?" Interrupted Kuroiro, previously unnoticed in a dark corner. "Which one?"

A voice spoke up from the stairwell. "Probably the one upstairs begging to be let down to see his boyfriend."

In an instant, Kirishima had spun around to block the intruder from Bakugou's view. He was half transformed- claws raised, scales rippling across his skin. "Rumi," he growled. "What is he doing here?"

"He's an ally," responded the druid, appearing from behind the cloaked intruder, having led him to their spot.

"Bullshit-"

"Calm down or I will kick you out Kirishima Eijirou, don't test me."

He growled again, but reluctantly relaxed back into a more human form, the red fading from his hair, making no move to leave Bakugou's side.

"Who are you?" Asked Mina.

"A griffin," Kiri spat.

"So this is the dragon you've been sharing your bed with, Sir Bakugou," Takami removed his hood, gold eyes scanning the room as he descended the last few steps. "I can't say I'm impressed."

"What is he doing here? What the hell, Rumi?"

"Hey! My tavern, my rules. I've known Keigo since childhood, and he has valuable information for you lot. So shut up and listen." The room went silent under Rumi's command.

Kuroiro was the one to break it. "What are you here to tell us?"

He stepped forward and took his place at the table.

"I'd first be interested in a recount of what happened to you this morning, Sir Midoriya."

"You don't have to tell him shit, Izuku."

"Kiri, what is your problem with this guy?" Asked Ashido.

"It's not his fault," shrugged Sir Takami. "We're natural enemies."

"Why should we tell him anything before we know his intentions?" Demanded Kirishima.

"I will not allow myself to spread misinformation. There are a few loose ends I need tied before I am able to share my piece- all you need to know is that the situation is far more dire than you believe."

Bakugou knew this version of himself was always weary of Touya's inhuman Second. But there was this feeling in his gut, one that came from having experienced several different versions of Takami Keigo, that made him inclined to trust him. He placed a hand on Kirishima's shoulder. "Let's hear him out."

Kiri scoffed and shrugged off his hand. "Fine," he glared towards Midoriya.

"What was that you said about m-my boyfriend?"

"He came with Sir Bakugou," clarified Uraraka. "And he's been complaining to me and Jirou nonstop since we prevented him from accompanying his party."

"Why- what is he doing here? After I left, I thought... I thought he would never want to see me again."

Bakugou snorted.

"Hey! What do you know?" Frowned Midoriya.

"It's just hilarious. Anyone could spend five minutes with that guy and tell he's smitten. What, did you think he was scared of you? Did you think he would be frightened by power like yours?"

"Kacchan..."

"Can you just give the griffin your stupid recap so we can figure out what the fuck he’s doing here?"

"Damn, Kiri," mumbled Ashido.

"I'm going to agree with Kirishima," replied Kuroiro. "I'm not worried about the younger Prince, but I do want to know what the fuck is up with golden boy."

Takami nodded towards the man in the shadows. "Midoriya?"

He looked at Rumi hesitantly, and she tilted her head in encouragement. He took a deep breath. "We were ambushed. In the middle of the night. Over a dozen guards out of nowhere- men I had never seen before. It happened so fast, I had no choice, magic was the only defense I had."

"And they were after the prince?" Asked Iida.

"No," Bakugou interjected. "They were after Midoriya. They knew you were there." He turned to the green-eyed wizard. "Let me guess. It was the same men going around town raiding apothecaries and guarding the Todoroki wing?"

"As far as I am aware."

"But how did they know you were there?" asked Kuroiro. "Why weren't they prepared for magic?"

"Being a magic user isn't the only thing illegal in this kingdom. My guess is the King personally sent them to have Midoriya killed. Not because he's a wizard, but because he was fucking around with the prince."

"I can confirm that," interjected Lady Yaoyorozu.

Midoriya looked uneasy. "What do you know, Momo?"

"I spoke with Shouto this morning-"

"How'd you gain access to his quarters?" Inquired Bakugou.

"Being a Lady of the house comes with its privileges. Nonetheless, I was awoken by the commotion in the halls early this morning. As soon as I was able, I heard your same theory from the Prince himself. He is certain his father's true intentions were to kill off his lover. The magic was just a fun surprise the King has managed to take advantage of."

"And I can confirm that," said Takami.

"Can someone tell me why the hell we are talking about this in front of Prince Touya's second-in-command?" Urged Kirishima.

"Sir Takami," Bakugou continued, much to Kiri's chagrin. "You were leading this morning's search. Tell us more."

"That was truly just a search for the banished knight. Though I'm sure you knew I could sense your dragon's presence, the crown is not aware of that particular talent of mine. Though we searched the castle, the raids in town were not by Touya's men, but by the same private guard that intruded on Prince Shouto and Sir Midoriya last night. The King is trying to take advantage of the attack. You all know he has been implementing increasingly restrictive laws on magic users for the better part of a decade. Just as before, he is using a misguided attack as justification for eliminating those he sees as threats to the crown. But that should not be your greatest concern-"

"I have a question," interrupted Kuroiro. "Multiple questions, actually. How have you managed to stay undetected by the crown for so long in such close proximity? And regardless, you're Touya's second. How are we supposed to trust you? That man is-"

"-unhinged?"

"-delusional?"

"-insane?"

Sir Takami looked strained. "That's why I'm here," he admitted. "Just as the King has taken advantage of the opportunity to restrict magic users even further, Touya plans on using the unrest against his father."

"...are you saying?"

"Tomorrow at high noon, the prince plans on sacrificing his father to a dark wizard in exchange for the crown."

The energy at the table transformed in an instant. The mere mention of the threat had scales rippling across Kirishima's skin. The shadows surrounding Kuroiro's corner expanded, shrouding all edges of the room. Midoriya looked panicked, Uraraka resolute.

"How long have you known this?" Demanded Iida. "Every second since then, wasted-"

"Answer Kuroiro's first question," interrupted Ashido. "Why would you stay in the castle with that twisted man? Why wouldn't you just run, knowing your kind was hated by the crown?" As a Tiefling, she regularly received some of the harshest discrimination amongst the townsfolk.

"He couldn't leave," growled Kirishima. "Griffins mate for life."

"What?"

"I didn't know that," mumbled Iida.

"Most humans don't," replied the dragon.

"I was given to the eldest prince as an infant," Takami explained. "I had no choice in the matter. Back then a griffin gifted to the heir was an honor. But right before King Enji began his crackdown on magic users, I was sought out by someone who saw the warning signs. The Dutchess. She said she could protect me by making them all forget what I really was."

"Mom..." he heard Yaoyorozu mumble.

"I am forever in her debt. Without her intervention, I would have certainly been disposed of."

"Wait, wait, wait." Interrupted Kuroiro. "You're bonded with Prince Touya? How the hell do we know you're not just trying to infiltrate and sabotage us? How much do you know about our plan?"

Rumi returned to Takami's rescue. "I told him of your grand goals ages ago. He has always been a trustworthy source of inside information."

"Bullshit-" argued Kirishima. "He's been working with a dark wizard!"

"It sounds like he could've ratted us out at any time and chose not to," Midoriya gestured towards the knights around the table.

"He would've gotten in trouble too-"

"He is bound by the same laws as the rest of us. That is motivation enough for him to be on our side," pointed out Yaoyorozu.

"So you'd allow us to overthrow your King, and his heir whom you are soul-bonded to, all for what? Personal freedoms?" Questioned Kuroiro.

"As I said. Up to this point, I have had no control over my fate. Touya is... misguided. He hates his father, as do most of the oppressed in this kingdom. That's his whole angle, and without our intervention, after tomorrow many may consider him a savior."

"What is the crown's issue with magic anyway?" Lamented Ashido. "It couldn't have always been like this- or how the hell were so many half-breeds born in this godforsaken kingdom?"

"They say the queen was killed by a sorcerer," answered Iida. "The same one that maimed Prince Shouto."

"Well they lie," came a voice from the cellar door.

"Shouto!" Midoriya gasped. Iida stood abruptly, with instinctual respect. Ashido let out a startled squeak.

"Who lies?" Asked Kuroiro, eyes pointed suspiciously in the direction of the Prince's voice as he made his way down the stairs through the manifested darkness.

"The crown, of course," interjected Takami. "The queen wasn't killed by a sorcerer. The queen was the sorcerer. Until she went mad, assaulted her son, and killed herself."

There were a few concerned gasps and questioning glances in Shouto's direction. He shrugged as he approached the table. "It's true."

"Another fact for you, Sir Midoriya-" the green-eyed wizard gulped nervously at Takami's words. "Prince Touya takes after his mother."

"Sorry, sorry!" A panicked Jirou rushed down the stairs. "You guys left me alone up there, he snuck in when we got customers."

"It's fine," hummed Rumi. "It's time to lay out this plan for everyone involved. Who wants to explain to the young prince?"

***

Shouto had snuck in to eavesdrop shortly after Sir Takami had arrived. He had tried to be content waiting, but the arrival of his brother's second put a concerning spin on things. Though from what he overheard, he was tempted to trust him.

"Explain what?" He asked.

Midoriya looked nervous but was the first to speak up. "I-I, well, years ago I suggested that maybe the solution to our problems was... well, um. You."

"Me?"

"It was shortly after your Prince Natsuo was shipped off to marry that heiress in the Toshinori Kingdom," supplied Bakugou. "One less heir in the way. We've never trusted Touya, but Midoriya insisted you were, what was it? 'Pure of heart, sound of mind, and a man worthy of our following'," he mockingly swooned.

Shouto's eyes snapped towards Midoriya's bright red face. "Kacchannn, I didn't say it like thattt-"

"You totally did, and that's before you were even with him," Ashido snickered. Shouto felt his face heat up.

"Needless to say, we agreed," Iida redirected. "So we've been passively planning, for the past several years, the best route to get you on the throne."

"Wait, me? On the throne?" Shouto suddenly felt very overwhelmed and slid into the last remaining chair. "I never, I wasn't raised for that. I have no idea how to-"

"Yes you do, Sho." Momo reached out a comforting hand. "I've known you my whole life, and there is not a single person in the line of succession I would rather follow."

"We've been watching you for years, Prince Shouto," continued Iida. "At this point, we are absolutely confident that your ascension to the throne is the only salvation for this kingdom. The question has always been, and still remains- how do we get there?"

"And that's where I come in," said Takami. "I am Touya's closest confidant. I know his plan, and I know how to make it work in our favor. As long as we stop him before he completes the sacrifice-"

Ashido let out another dramatic gasp, and Jirou nibbled anxiously on her fingernails.

"I get it," said Bakugou. "We allow Touya to overthrow the king. Convince him he has the upper hand. That it'll be easy."

"And then snatch the crown from right under his fingers," finished Takami. "Between all of us, we have the support of nearly eighty percent of the castle staff, guards and knights included. If we can take out the key threats, and put our allies in the optimal position, then when Touya thinks he has won we can easily turn on him."

"My men are of no concern. They're already part of the order, many of the castle guards as well. They would listen to any of us at this table, even if it meant going against the crown," added Bakugou.

Kuroiro looked skeptical. "How do we know we can trust you? If you're bound to the elder Prince, why should we believe you would follow through to overthrow him?"

"There's nothing more I can say to convince you. But I'm the only chance you've got. Are you willing to risk everything to take advantage of this opportunity? Because this is me risking everything. Not for my own gain, but for the greater good."

The group looked back at him in stunned silence for that. Betraying his soulmate for the greater good. Part of Shouto wondered if that's how it always was, for Hawks and his brother.

"Well kids, you heard the plan." Said Rumi. "Jirou and Uraraka, get back upstairs. The rest of you- let's talk details."

The next two hours were a blur of plotting and assignments that kept Shouto's brain fixated on the conflicts of this reality. He was nervous about being thrown into an unexpected role of leadership, but the group's confidence was addictive. Though Izuku was still subtly avoiding eye contact, which concerned him. By the time the plan was outlined, checked, double-checked, and cross-referenced, he was worried he would have to move fast to catch him before he vanished within the group’s departure.

Bakugou stood and helped Momo with her cloak, making eye contact with him and nodding before he led her up the stairs, Kirishima in tow. Iida bowed and Ashido laughed, while Kuroiro vanished into the shadows. As the room emptied Shouto caught Izuku's eyes and he froze, looking far too nervous for how comfortable they had been with each other the night prior. Shouto hated that, the hint of fear, the distrust. It wasn't fair.

Eventually, they were alone.

Midoriya was the first to break the silence. "Shouto... I-"

He squeaked when Shouto cut him off with an embrace.

"I was so worried about you," his words were muffled as he buried his face in the other man’s shoulder, trying not to cry. "I was so scared they would find you before I could."

"I don't, I don't understand," Izuku choked out, allowing the tears to fall. "You're not scared of me? You don't hate me for hiding this part of myself from you?"

"Izuku," he pulled back and brushed a tear from his cheek with his thumb. "I could never hate you. I was upset you thought you couldn't trust me, but Momo helped explain the position you were in. I understand, I'm not mad at you, I love you."

The emotion in Izuku's eyes was palpable, and he was struck by the impact of those three words. Had he ever said them aloud before? He pulled him in for a kiss.

He could feel Izuku's tears transfer to his own cheeks, but that just encouraged him to hold him closer. He didn't deserve this man. Not here, not in any universe. Yet somehow he kept getting lucky enough to end up by his side. Romantic or not, his presence felt meant to be.

"I don't deserve you," Izuku's murmured words between kisses echoed his own thoughts. "Not before, not now, not after what's about to happen."

"You've got it all wrong, my love," he gently pulled away. "There isn’t a single universe I'm not dying to be with you. There is quite literally nothing you could do to make me stop wanting you Izuku. What I feel for you... It's so much more now than when I was younger and felt butterflies watching you train. It's more than when we were just friends and I longed to spend every moment of every day with you. I love you Izuku, and I refuse to give that up. Not this time. Not ever again."

Something in the air shifted. The darkness that had left with Kuroiro returned to the edges of his vision, but he was still there, looking into the eyes of the noble knight Midoriya Izuku, held captive by the depths of his very soul.

"Something about your words, they feel like a promise this world cannot even contain. I don't know how to match that."

The twinkling of a billion stars slowly overtook the scene, coating the outline of his lover, of the furniture in the room. It felt different this time, and part of him hoped it was finally over. That his promise was enough to break the curse.

"You don't have to. Really, you already have."

Chapter Text

There was a soft beeping in the background. His eyes felt heavy, and he inhaled straight oxygen. He slowly became more aware of his surroundings. Pressure from plastic on the ridge of his nose. Scratchy sheets. The tight pull of tape on the inside of his elbow.

A warm hand wrapped firmly around his own.

He struggled to open his eyes, blinking at the few harsh rays of sunlight streaming across the room. He was in a hospital this time, and he wondered how he got there. He tried to look through his memories for an answer but came back empty-handed.

He shifted in the bed, half upright, trying to get a better look around. Nothing about the room stood out. If anything it was suspiciously normal- nothing futuristic, apocalyptic, or cryptic about it. He glanced down and saw, well, the only person he could expect to see at this point. He was asleep, face down in the hospital sheets, resting his forehead against his own arm, red hair splayed out like a halo. His roots were coming in- Bakugou wondered how long it had been since he dyed it.

He rubbed the pads of his fingers over Kirishima's knuckles, not wanting to let go.

But there was an IV in the crook of his right elbow, so he pulled his left hand from Kiri's grip to tug the oxygen mask off his face. He rubbed his eyes as the other man stirred, unsettled that he was yet to recall what put him here. He saw a medical chart at the foot of his bed and debated the merits of reaching for it.

"Oh my god, you're awake," came a raspy voice beside him, and he turned to see Kirishima fully awake and upright, clutching tightly at the sheets and staring at him wide-eyed, as if he didn't believe it. He looked distressed, exhausted, but he looked... correct, for lack of a better term. With no other memories to disagree, this Kiri looked exactly like Bakugou thought he was supposed to. He smiled and leaned his head back against the elevated mattress. It was a relief.

"Mind sharing who put me in here this time?" In his reality, he had woken up in a hospital bed plenty of times before. Never like this though, with no memory of a fight, with Kiri holding onto him for dear life. Maybe it was really bad. He could feel his quirk again, maybe he was still a hero in this universe. Maybe a big mission went wrong. Maybe Ei was his here, and that's why he looked so shell-shocked. Then again, he didn't feel as though he had gone through a particularly harsh beating. He wasn't even wearing a hospital gown, just a familiar T-shirt and pair of sweats.

"You don’t-? Um, well..." he trailed off and stood, shaking his head to refocus. "She caught you both. It's been twenty-six days. Hawks set up a whole special task force to track her, and hopefully you, down. Uraraka led it. It took about a week after your disappearance for the first victim to reappear- in the exact same spot they vanished. None of what they said made any sense though, at least at first-"

Kiri kept talking but Bakugou didn't hear him anymore. His sporadic explanation was implying one very specific thing, and he felt his stomach drop just considering the possibility.

Twenty-six days. Twenty-six days- while he had been estimating, what? Twelve? Seven alternate realities and he was supposed to believe they were back? That what he was experiencing right now was real? That this was his Kirishima in front of him?

"-I was the one who caught her, actually. In Esuha. She didn't seem surprised in the slightest. Said her quirk wouldn't work on me, that I was already where I was supposed to be-"

"-Where's Todoroki?" He asked, heart pounding in his ears. Because if he was here, if he was safe too-

"In the room right next door. You both reappeared yesterday, in the alleyway where she took you-"

He lurched forward, yanking Kiri to his chest, hugging him tighter than he'd ever held anyone before. It took no time at all for the other man to react, arms wrapping around him in return. He ignored the pinch of the IV, the incessant beeping that matched his heart rate. He buried his face in Kirishima's shoulder, breathing him in- his Kirishima- and couldn't hold back the rapidly forming tears.

"Please," he mumbled into the fabric of Kiri's old Crimson Riot hoodie. "Please tell me this is real." No more alternate realities, no more missed chances. No more getting to Kirishima just to lose him again the next second.

"This is real," was Kiri's shaky reply, entirely unaware of the weight of his words.

Bakugou pulled back, bringing a hand up to caress Kiri's face, running his thumb across a pale scar along his cheekbone- one that he had witnessed form. There was confusion written in the other man's eyes, tears threatening to spill too, but he didn't pull away.

"I'm so, so sorry," said Bakugou. He was on his knees on the hospital mattress at this point, at eye level with the redhead, a desperation in his voice that he couldn't shake.

"What-" he brought his hand up on top of Bakugou's. "What could you possibly be apologizing for?"

"Everything," he laughed. "For every lifetime of wrong decisions I've put you through. For being completely unable to identify how I feel, how I've felt, for what feels like forever. For ignoring what was utterly inevitable-"

"-I don't understand. What are you saying?"

Bakugou pressed his forehead against the other's, and he let out a gentle gasp in response. He brought his other hand up and wove it through the hair at the nape of his neck. They were so close, Bakugou was shaking. He felt Kiri's other hand land hesitantly against his arm. He wanted to hold onto this moment forever.

"Please don't leave. Don't go to Tokyo. Or, if you do, take me with you. I can’t-"

"-okay."

"Okay?"

"I'll stay." His voice trembled. "I only ever needed you to ask."

That's all it took for him to finally close the distance between them.

It was everything he had so desperately longed for and more- he could've sworn fireworks went off behind his eyes the second he was enraptured by the warmth of Kirishima's lips. His entire universe narrowed down to hospital ginger ale and vanilla chapstick. A million times better than any kiss in any reality that wasn't his own.

If he had doubted it before, now he knew for sure- he was home. It was over. There were no new surprise memories for him to digest. There were no new versions of his friends to get to know. There was no more debating of 'will they' or 'won't they' or something more, because he was here now- all that mattered was his Kirishima, his Eijirou, in this moment.

Bakugou kissed him with a fervent desperation that Eijirou seemingly had no option but to return. He could taste the near decade-long heartache and it was addictive, he wanted it gone- needed Eijirou to feel every ounce of love he felt for him, to understand he couldn't live without him, refused to.

There was no reason to stop himself from pressing deeper, moving faster, catching his bottom lip between his teeth, and pulling him closer still. He tuned out the beeping of his many monitors in favor of the feeling of Ei's hands sliding down his arms, his sides, and sneaking under the hem of his shirt, one sliding up between his shoulder blades to pull him into an even tighter embrace.

His body and mind felt like static- numb but on fire- he almost didn't notice the wetness on his cheeks, couldn’t tell if the tears came from him or his love, wasn’t sure that it mattered. But it did help bring him back to earth, and the environment around him slowly came back into focus. He pulled away to catch his breath, resting his forehead back against Ei's, breathing in time with his exhales.

"Kirishima Eijirou, I am in love with you. I need to know you know that."

He chuckled under his breath and tilted his head down, hesitating with his response. "You know, there was a time when we were younger, where I would imagine you saying that. I had convinced myself I'd respond so cool, like Han Solo, with something stupid like 'I know'."

"Tch," Bakugou teased and sat back on his heels, keeping a hand on Ei's wrist.

Eijirou briefly caught his eye with a smile but quickly looked away. "Then some time passed, and I thought I had missed my chance. That maybe you would've loved me if I had said something first, but that the normalcy we had fallen into wasn't something you'd be willing to break."

"Ei..." He felt his own smile falter.

"The day you were taken, I was hoping you'd say it to stop me. But I guess I'm always giving up too soon," he laughed and sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I don't know why I couldn't have just said it first- that I love you. Maybe it was some form of denial. I was so certain that if I gave myself some space I'd be able to finally get over you. That I’d be able to see my life without you and realize I would be okay."

"Eijirou, I-"

"But God, Katsuki, I was so fucking wrong. Twenty-six days. I think I completely broke by day three," he looked up at the ceiling, blinking rapidly to clear the tears from his eyes. "God I was so scared you were dead-" he choked.

Bakugou pitched forward again, pulling Eijirou onto the bed and into his arms as the floodgates finally crashed.

"No, not dead, never dead," he mumbled into his hair as he rubbed his back reassuringly. "Close, a couple of times. And other people died- oh god there was that whole- you know what, never mind. Not important."

Ejirou giggled through his tears. "You know, it took a week and a half to get an explanation of her quirk out of her. The quirk registry has it listed as Prophecy. Turns out it's a bit more complicated than just seeing the future."

Bakugou groaned. "You're telling me."

"You must have quite the report to write."

Bakugou pulled away to look at him incredulously. "I am not writing the fucking report on this. You said Cheeks lead the task force? She can write that shit. I deserve at least a week off-"

Ei cut him off with laughter. "I caught her, Kats. I'm gonna write the report."

"You motherfu-" he was distracted by the sound of muffled yelling through the wall. "Did you say Half 'n' Half was in there?"

Kirishima looked equally confused. "Yeah?"

"Maybe I should go talk to-" a slammed door startled him to his feet. "What the fuck?"

"Here, let me a get a nurse to unhook-"

"I don't have time for this bullshit," without thought he yanked the power cord from the wall so he could roll the IV pole with him as he moved to storm into the hallway.

"-Katsuki!"

"He's gonna do something fucking stupid!" He called behind him as he swung open the door. His action was immediately vindicated by the sight of Todoroki in the hallway, clutching at his arm where he must've ripped out his IV, encircled by two doctors and his crying sister.

"Shouto-san, I am so sorry, but I can't let you-"

"You don't understand, I promised him I would-"

"Shouto I swear to God, he knows you're here, he's not expecting-"

"I don't care what he's expecting, I have to be there!"

"Please, Shouto-san, just let us-!

"Bastard, what the fuck are you doing?" Todoroki's eyes snapped up to his and he squinted suspiciously.

"It's June 3rd, I'm supposed to be somewhere," he raised his eyebrows as if he expected Katsuki to just know what he was talking about.

"It's over, dumbass. You don't have to be anywhere but here."

"Oh yeah? And what made you so sure it's over?"

That caught him off guard. It was over, right? It was more than just a feeling? He was so sure when Eijirou- "Ah shit," he realized. "Kirishima."

"Exactly," he insisted. "I have somewhere I need to be. I need closure too."

"Godammit." He bemoaned, turning to Fuyumi. "Let him go."

"What? Shouto you don't even have a car here- just let them check your vitals and I'll take you to the stupid airport!"

"I'm literally already so late- Fuyumi, just give me your keys."

"You are not driving right now!"

"Hey Shitty Hair!" Bakugou called into the room behind him. "Can you take Icyhot to the fucking airport before he kills his sister?"

"I don't need someone to drive me-"  Todoroki protested as Kirishima apprehensively joined them in the hall.

"I'm not sure that's a great idea, Kats. You guys like just woke up."

"Oh my god, fine, fuck, you're right!" He turned to storm back into his room. "This must be real because in every other goddamn universe we showed up and were expected to just do stuff-"

"Shouto!"

"Fuyumi, I love you, but you need to shut up," he snapped.

***

"Shouto!"

He spun around to face the new voice, ready to yell something mildly out of character about everyone needing to leave him alone, but the air left his lungs when he saw green eyes.

Izuku was there, gripping the door frame like he was holding himself back. He looked rumpled and was wearing a backpack on one shoulder- like he had come straight off the airplane. Shouto took a weak step back to lean against the bedframe.

"Izuku."

All the tension and anxiety melted from his frame. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bakugou lead his sister and the doctors away by the scruff of their sleeves, Kirishima pushing the IV pole in pursuit. Izuku let the door close gently behind him.

"I'm sorry I-" they spoke simultaneously and caught themselves. Izuku laughed and Shouto felt a small smile cross his face- the first since he woke up.

"You first."

"I'm sorry I stranded you at the airport." He had panicked when Fuyumi told him what day it was. He had figured it was over, that he had escaped that hellish quirk, the instant he jerked into consciousness, leaving behind a nightmare painted with familiar medieval faces. The hospital room had felt so... solid. No glittering edges, no oddities or anachronisms. But the mere mention of the date sent a pang of urgency through him as though the script was screaming- if he messed this up, he would lose him again here too. It would've all been for nothing. He couldn't let their first interaction be him letting Izuku down.

Izuku shook his head and walked over to his side. "Don't be ridiculous, Ochako got me. I-I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. The commission booked my flight and it was impossible to reschedule no matter how hard I tried, plus the states had this whole going away thing planned- really I think they'll just use anything as an excuse to put on a parade- I don't know, I had half a mind to sneak back to Kyushu to find you myself but then I realized I hadn't technically renewed my Japanese license even though the provisional ones never really expire and since I wasn't with an agency they could charge me with vigilantism so I tried to renew it but since I let it expire in the first place I had to go to the commission in person which goes back to the whole flight thing that I hadn't really figured out yet..."

Shouto studied him as he rambled. He looked different than when he had left, though Shouto expected that. Video calls never really did Izuku's freckles justice. Or the way his eyes lit up when he got excited, like they were now as he described the fireworks at his going away ceremony. He couldn't compare him to any Izuku from the past few weeks- none of them had the right combination of life experience to create the man in front of him.

Twenty-six days. Only seven realities but somehow that brought him to the exact date of Izuku’s return. That was another reason for him to be suspicious, though he figured it was intentional. The villain must've let them go with a purpose, something fitting to her delusional hero scheme.

"...it felt like a classic American goodbye," he laughed again and Shouto was mesmerized. That laugh- that was the one he fell for. Out of all the realities, all the Izuku’s, this was the one that belonged in his world, in his life.

Maybe he learned something after all.

"-Izuku?"

"Yeah?" He caught his breath.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too," his eyes welled up with tears and his hand twitched, but he hesitated.

"Now you're the one being ridiculous," Shouto scoffed before pulling him into an embrace.

He was fully prepared for the Midoriya waterworks- it wouldn't have felt real without it. In the same way he would’ve been sure he was an imposter if the tears weren't accompanied by unintelligible muttering, the occasional audible "icouldntimaginecominghometoyounotbeinghere" and "donteverscaremelikethatagainisweartogodiwillgetyourlicenserevoked." He just stood there and took it, absorbed in his scent and his warmth and everything that made this Izuku his Izuku. Shouto clutched the back of his hoodie tightly, running one hand into his hair at the nape of his neck, pulling Izuku deeper into the crook of his shoulder until he pulled away to breathe between muffled sobs.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here," he gasped. "I'm sorry I wasn't around to save you."

"That was never your responsibility," he hummed, toying with his messy green curls.

"Still, for weeks I couldn't stop myself from thinking how it could've been different, how I wasn't here for you but if I had been, if I had never-"

"No, Izuku." He caressed the side of his face and tilted his gaze up with his chin. He was nearly the cause of his own undoing, the way his heart stuttered when he looked into those glistening emerald eyes. He considered every possibility, every alternative- but he knew none of those moments belonged to him.

"It couldn't have been different. It had to be exactly like this."

Chapter Text

They had debated, albeit briefly, the best way to go about this. What happened to them was no secret, so they either had to tell the story themselves, or accept whatever rumors ran rampant in the hero circle. They were used to recapping missions, but this one felt a little more... personal. That's why he had originally intended for this to just be a squad hangout. But after talking it over, they agreed it made sense for Todoroki to say his part too. Besides, Cheeks had been insisting on getting a full run down anyway, so it was a time saver for her to be invited. Really he lucked out that more people didn't show up, but they couldn't expect everyone to have the night off. Even so- with Icyhot came Deku, with Earphones was Ponytail, and with Pikachu was Eye-bags. So, before he knew it, he found himself collapsing on the couch in his living room, absentmindedly swinging an arm over Kiri's shoulders, surrounded by nearly half of his high school class.

"She calls her quirk entropy," Midoriya explained while everyone was still getting settled.

Bakugou was obviously one of the first to be informed of the true nature of her quirk. It had been officially registered as Prophecy, which was now considered a gross oversimplification conjured by a child who couldn't have possibly comprehended the extent of her own quirk.

"Nowadays, when asked to describe it, she says it's as if she can see every possibility at the same time and pick between them. She used to think she was seeing the future, but now she chooses which future to attend. The word itself can be described as the mere concept of randomness and disorder. And that's what she claims she experiences: every possible random cumulation of events that could physically exist in this universe."

Ochako plopped down on the couch on the other side of Kirishima and Mina before adding on, "A few months ago, she figured out how to throw people between these realities. It started out as a simple frustration, an argument about fate that she got stuck on, desperate to find a way to show what only she could see- that some outcomes are certain. Then she got carried away."

"Is it true that practically no one pressed charges?" Asked Momo from the lone armchair that had been hastily pulled toward the center of the room.

"Well, we did," clarified Half 'n' Half from the floor beside her. "It was kind of our responsibility-"

"There wasn't much of a point though. She will just mentally hop over to some universe where she never got caught or never committed the crimes in the first place."

"I just don't understand how out of seven people none of them-"

"They're just normal people, Cheeks. For the most part, the other lives they saw weren't nearly as intense or dangerous as the ones we did. And one way or another, they decided that her little hero fantasy did help them."

"Speaking of intense and dangerous," Kaminari's eyes snapped to Bakugou with a grin.

"Alright extras, listen up. This is the one fucking time I give you free rein to ask about this shit, and after tonight you don't get to bring it up for a minimum of three months-"

"Three months! " Gasped Mina.

"Yes - I'm sick of it already. So shut the fuck up and pay attention."

"Rude," Kaminari threw a chip at his face.

"You motherfu-" he lunged forward but Kiri was too quick, wrapping his arms around Bakugou's waist and yanking him back to his side. "Todoroki! Why don't you kick us off," he laughed as Bakugou squirmed angrily in his hold.

Icyhot loudly cleared his throat and stood, grabbing the TV remote and holding it up to his mouth like a microphone. "It was a warm summer's day-" he was immediately cut off by the group's heckling and a chip to the face.

"Okay, okay!" Ochako smiled in attempt to quell everyone. "We've all seen the security footage from the alley. What happened next?"

"I didn't see it," mumbled Jirou sleepily from Momo's lap. She had just gotten off of a double but had insisted she still wanted to come.

"We woke up in high school -"

"-but like, not our actual high school-"

"I was friends with Deku, he was friends with you all-"

"It was two days before graduation-"

"It wasn't super interesting. Plus, we had no idea at that point we were going to keep jumping. It wasn't scary as much as it was just weird."

"What did that even feel like? The... what are you calling it? Jumping?" Asked Shinsou from his right. He, Sero, and Kaminari had dragged the three barstools over to the coffee table, taking up the space between him and Momo.

"Well I accidentally inhaled cold soba the first jump so that wasn't great."

"And here I thought nothing interesting happened," giggled Mina.

"It was kinda different every time," pondered Bakugou. "I think maybe I just got used to it, but essentially it felt like... gasping for breath? Or... choking on air."

"By the last jump I'm not sure I even noticed anymore. Honestly I still feel a bit on edge, waiting to blink and appear in a completely different reality."

Bakugou nodded. "The fade out was noticeable, but some of the arrivals were so abrupt."

"What do you mean the fade-out was noticeable?" Asked Midoriya from the floor next to Todoroki, notebook and pen in hand. Bakugou probably would've given him shit for it if he hadn't been so insanely helpful in keeping track of the minutiae of their case over the past week.

"It... sparkled."

Kaminari snorted.

"It did!" Icyhot defended him. "And like, tunnel vision- fade to black. The only times I didn't know it were when I was knocked out or asleep."

"Jesus, and how many times were you knocked out?" Scoffed Sero.

"Only once! And I let him do it so I wouldn't get accused of helping with the break-in."

"The break-in ?"

"You're skipping ahead again!" Interjected Ochako.

"Okay, okay. So, high school- boring. But the second jump was a murder mystery," Bakugou teased.

"That's one way to describe our two days as crime scene investigators."

"That's not too outrageous of a change. You investigate crime here," pointed out Sero.

"Trust me, Tape-Face. It was completely different. There were no quirks. All the science, the legal procedures that feel like background stuff to us now? That was the focus."

"That is kind of cool though. Who was there?" Asked Kaminari.

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Literally all of you."

"And we all had different roles at this agency?"

"The Musutafu Institute."

"Did you solve the crime?" Asked Shinsou.

"No! You had just gotten to the bar to tell us about Jin-Ae's testimony when it ended."

"Jin-Ae?" Mumbled Momo.

"But who do you think did it?"

"It was the son," interjected Midoriya. He flipped through his notebook. "Every time I hear this story I become more and more certain."

"I agree with the dumbass," said Bakugou. "I had drawn the same conclusion. Sucks that we'll never know the motive though."

"Wait okay as someone who hasn't heard the story can I get a bit more context?" Asked Sero.

Bakugou groaned obnoxiously as if he hadn't practically scripted what he was going to tell the fuckers. He launched into the tale with a detailed account of how it felt to suddenly wake up at a crime scene, tag teaming the whole story with Icyhot, occasionally interrupted by nonsensical or just plain stupid questions from the extras.

"Why did I speak Korean?"

"I don't know why the fuck you spoke Korean, why did you get a doctorate in psychology?"

Ochako gagged. "Deku and I were married?"

"Aww, we were childhood friends?" Beamed Mina.

And finally, a 'how old were you?' from Sero when the story ended.

"Like thirty-two?"

"How old were you as a vampire?" Interjected Midoriya. "Todoroki told me no one knew."

"Tch. I dunno, like fifteen hundred? Two thousand? Something in there."

"Jesus Christ, how did your brain not explode?" Asked Kaminari.

"I don't remember any of that shit, wasn't even aware of most of it when I was there. Memory works differently when you're like that. Honestly, I don't remember much of any of those lives except what happened to me, ya know? Right, Icyhot?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "I remember what I actually experienced, and maybe a bit of the context that I got when I was there for what I was doing to make sense. But I don't remember the past I wasn't conscious for."

"Exactly. Like, I know I was married in the Space jump, but I don't remember the wedding."

"Oh my god, you two are going to have the cutest wedding, I'm calling it now-"

"Okay, listen." Bakugou snapped at Mina. "I'm not going to tell you more shit about any of the jumps if you're just gonna be all gross about me and Kirishima."

"That's so unfairrr," she whined "You're finally dating now- after years - you can't tell me the romance wasn't important to the plot."

"The point is that I'm not talking about that shit. So if you wanna hear about our epic space adventure then you'll need to shut the fuck up."

"Fine, fine!"

"I was almost going to say that one was the most ridiculous start for me, but then I remembered being shot at by Midoriya," Todoroki gestured at the boy to his right.

"Wait, I shot you?"

"You never actually hit me. I had really good reflexes as a vampire."

"Being a vampire in a world without quirks sounds so cool!"

"Mina, I was the shittiest vampire. It was not cool. It was the opposite of cool."

"Stay on topic guys!" Chided Uraraka.

"Sorry, sorry." Bakugou let Todoroki take the lead on the third jump, having no real desire to recap how it felt to nearly lose the love of his life, regardless of where it took place.

"God, space me was awesome," murmured Kaminari after Todoroki explained his connection to Aizawa and their secret agency.

"I can't believe I was daft enough to be fooled by The League," Ochako shook her head shamefully.

"That really wasn't your fault, they had a ton of people fooled. And actually, out of any of them, I think you were the most likely to have been suspicious, seeing as we did watch them catch you spying."

"Speaking of," Bakugou whipped his head around to stare down Icyhot. "You never got around to telling me how you recruited Stain."

"Stain? Like, the Hero-Killer Stain?" Deadpanned Shinsou.

Todoroki groaned. "Yes, okay. So, Stain had escaped and was fucking with our shit, but that had nothing to do with Aizawa's mission."

"Damn, Blasty did rub off on you," winced Kaminari.

"-the whole reason Kirishima was kidnapped in the first place was because he stumbled into the middle of this ridiculous plot while robbing Hawks-

"Robbing Hawks!?" Exclaimed Momo.

Bakugou scoffed. "Well it was his own damn fault for sleeping with the enemy-"

" -he what? " said Ochako.

"-you know what Bakugou I don't think we need to go there. Anyway, Izuku and I were watching the League beat the shit out of Hawks from the rafters, and the Hero Killer just happened to be up there too."

"So you teamed up?" asked Shinsou.

"We might've had different motives, but we were both trying to screw over The League, so it worked out," he shrugged.

"Was the space one the best one? It sounds like it was the best one," said Kaminari.

"God no," objected Bakugou. "That shit was terrible. The whole quirk was terrible."

"Objectively, the space one was probably the best one."

"No fucking way."

"Then which would you pick? As the least miserable."

"Hm. Well when you put it that way, I guess the vampire."

"You're a psychopath," Todoroki deadpanned.

"Fuck off okay it's not my fault you were turned by a cult and traumatized by your first kill; it really wasn't that bad."

"I basically spent that entire day starving to death and borderline feral, it was awful. Please, tell the class what you were doing while I was getting dragged out of a blood bank by Tetsutestu."

"Oh shit, my boy Tetsu was there?" Kirishima redirected with a mischievous grin.

"So many people were there. Just about all of you were there. Well, except Jirou. She..."

"Are you blushing, babe?" Kirishima muttered softly just to him as Todoroki rambled about vampire clan dynamics. Kirishima, who had already been told every excruciating detail of Bakugou's ordeal, and very well knew exactly what Bakugou had spent his day as a vampire doing.

"Fuck off," he countered, turning back to the others.

He had been back for a week now and Kirishima had taken every possible opportunity to tease the shit out of him over each variation of their relationship he had experienced. Bakugou had pretended to be put off by the idea of having been intimate in any capacity with a fake Kirishima, but then Ei just turned it into a game of trying to catch up on all the things Bakugou had experienced that he missed out on.

After nearly a decade of sexual tension, it hadn't taken them long to pick up where Vampire-Bakugou left off.

"You know," started Midoriya. "Something I hadn't considered before... Shouto, what was the last thing to happen when you were a vampire?"

"I nearly blacked out feral in an alleyway and you offered me your blood."

"And when you arrived in the next reality?"

"I... You... Do we really need to revisit this one?"

"Wait, what happened next? This was what? The..." Jirou counted on her fingers. "The fifth jump?"

Todoroki looked decidedly uncomfortable, so Bakugou decided to take this one off his plate.

"In the fifth jump, Midoriya was dead."

The room went silent except for Midoriya himself, who continued with his theorizing. "Do you think it had anything to do with the fact that you drank my blood before leaving the fourth reality?"

"Are you insinuating that I killed you between realities ?" Todoroki looked appalled.

"No! No. Well... Yeah, okay I am. Just, were there any other connections? Between your various arrivals and departures?"

Bakugou took a second to think about it. "No? I don't think so. Unless you count like, me confessing to Kiri in six and waking up with him in seven? -Don't even start, Raccoon-Eyes! I don't want to hear it." She slouched back down onto the couch with a frown.

"Hmm, okay well I guess that theory can be nixed then."

Todoroki sighed with relief.

"Wait so... What, what else happened in five?" Ochako almost sounded scared to ask.

"I mostly dissociated so I'll leave this one to Bakugou."

It was a bizarre sensation attempting to recall everything that had happened to them. The more time that passed the more it felt like recollecting a dream. Even though Bakugou hadn't been responsible for the report, he still spent his first night back pacing in front of Kiri in their living room, holding a recording device and recounting every detail from his two weeks of hell, including all the emotional shit he had left out of his statement for the police. This instance almost felt more like he was reading off his case notes than really remembering what happened to him.

"Wait, why didn't we invite Camie then?" Interrupted Kaminari.

"Dumbass, I could not invite every single person we interacted with in that mess. That would be just about every hero we've ever met- somebody needs to be patrolling right now, okay?"

"Jeez, I'm just saying maybe she deserves to hear the story too-"

"I have already texted her about this, can we move on?"

"Fine, fine! Move on then. So you just went to bed that time? Where did you wake up in the sixth?"

Bakugou groaned and looked over towards Todoroki. He seemed to be in a side conversation with Midoriya, probably explaining some of his experience with the fifth jump if Midoriya's misty eyes were anything to go off of.

"Yo Icyhot," he interrupted whatever moment they were having. "I think you might have more to say about this one than me."

It took him a second to process his words, but then he hit the group with, "Ah, yes. The one where I was evil."

Gasps rang out around the room from those who hadn't already heard the general premise of their sixth jump. He looked tense as hell but didn't back down, beginning at the same time Bakugou had woken up, explaining the torture from the other side.

Bakugou zoned out of the retelling, just watching everyone's reactions in lieu of reliving his worst nightmare for a third time. He felt Kiri's arm tighten around his shoulders when Todoroki brought up Toga. Cheeks had known the premise, but none of the details, so her expression was understandably horrified. Shinsou and Kaminari were furiously whispering to each other. Jirou looked the most awake she had been all night, sitting up straight in Momo's lap, intently observing Icyhot's narrative.

Bakugou stared through the gap underneath the coffee table at Todoroki's fists clenching the carpet. This one wasn't fun for either of them, but Todoroki had volunteered to retell it. Even after he had insisted everything was fine, the punk still felt guilty about the whole ordeal.

"Wait- okay, I know you're getting there, but who rescued Bakugou?"

"He's getting there, Kaminari. Stop skipping ahead!" Said Ochako.

Bakugou gave Todoroki a look and shrugged. "It was Shitty Hair, Glasses, and Ponytail like in real life, with the fun addition of Inasa."

"Gale Force?" Asked Jirou.

"Oh, that makes sense," said Sero. "Coz wasn't 'Roki the whole reason he didn't go to UA in the first place?"

The group went off on a tangent comparing the two rescue ops, with Momo doing most of the talking considering she was there for the first one and also happened to work the most with Inasa out of anyone in the room. Bakugou relaxed into Kiri's side as Mina and Sero debated the benefits and disadvantages of having Inasa versus both Midoriya and Todoroki in that scenario. He glanced through the table again and noticed Icyhot's tense grip had gone slack, Izuku's fingers gently intertwined with his.

He hadn't gotten too many details on their reunion, not that he had asked. He knew their situation was a little less straightforward than his own, but he was fairly certain that whatever was happening between them was a good thing.

"Aww, Katsuki," Kirishima whispered teasingly, watching his expression.

"What?"

"It only took one traumatic quirk accident for you to admit he's actually your friend."

"Admit? Admit to who?" He hissed.

"To yourself," he smirked.

"Shut up." He elbowed him. Kiri raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously we were friends," he mumbled. "Same as the rest of the morons- stop making that face! "

Kirishima buried his face in Bakugou's shoulder to muffle his laughter. He said something unintelligible, prompting Bakugou to shake him off so he could hear him.

"Ochako is gonna be so happy," he giggled.

"Oh shut the fuck up," Bakugou rolled his eyes, settling deeper into the crook of his arm.

"So what about the last one? Jump number seven?" asked Shinsou.

Bakugou took the opportunity to get back into the conversation. "Seven was like, medieval. But with wizards and shit. Not too bad actually, I think we left right before things would've gotten crazy."

"Is that the one you said you woke up in Kirishima's arms?"

"Mina! "

"I can't just drop it, okay!?"

Todoroki snickered from across the room.

"Oh yeah, Icyhot? You wanna open with your start to the fantasy jump?" Todoroki blushed bright red. "That's what I thought, bitch. Anyways - I awoke to a secret code being knocked at my door..."

He did enjoy watching everyone's reactions, especially to their alternate selves. It was a fun game having everyone defend their actions or roles in the worlds he experienced, though no one seemed particularly bothered or surprised with what any of them did in context. Except maybe Ochako.

Eventually Todoroki took over, describing the group that had secretly assembled under the tavern. Bakugou snickered to himself, imagining everyone in his living room dressed up in their fantasy gear.

"Well it seems like we were quite the team," said Momo. "I hope it all worked out when you left."

"Of course it worked out. It always worked out eventually," said Icyhot.

"Maybe that was the point," he hummed introspectively.

"What was?" Asked Kiri.

"Just," he gestured at the group, "all of you guys."

"I'm not sure what you mean."

He rolled his eyes. "That even through all the chaos, some things are just meant to be."