Work Text:
“Get outta my way, Deku!”
As always, Izuku flinches and ducks away, an apology falling from his lips as easily as breathing. Never mind that he hadn’t even been in Kacchan’s way in the wide hall. “Sorry, Kacchan.”
His ex-best friend and bully just huffs. “Shut up, nerd.”
When Kacchan keeps walking, not bothering to give Izuku another glance, he sighs in relief. It seems like Kacchan’s just as eager as everyone else to get home after the last bell. Izuku gets moving, too, heart skipping a beat as he thinks about his after-school plans. Not even getting pushed around can dampen his mood, not when he has so much to look forward to these days.
A hastily scribbled note on the fridge lets him know that dinner is leftovers from last night, and his mom won’t be home until morning. Her job as a nurse usually has them on opposite schedules, so he’s not surprised. Being alone all the time used to bother him but not anymore. Izuku hums to himself while heating his dinner. The second it’s ready, he shovels it down his throat and races up the stairs to do his homework.
Once in his room, he strips off his clothes, changing into a pair of loose shorts and a baggy, vintage All Might t-shirt that used to belong to his dad and that he’d stolen from his closet before the bastard left them for good.
He plops onto the floor to finish up an English essay. He would have finished at school if Kacchan hadn’t stolen the notebook with all his English notes in it. Thirty minutes later, Izuku finishes his work on the floor to sit at his desk, booting up his computer with an excited noise.
He puts on his red, yellow, and blue All Might-themed over-ear headphones his mom got him for his last birthday and plays his favorite music—it’s the kind of music that has no words, only melodic synth beats and the barest hint of nonsensical vocals. It helps him relax and focus on the task at hand. Bobbing his head and muttering under his breath, he navigates to ChatterHub, going straight to the All Might fan club forum he’s been a part of ever since he got his computer.
The current discussion revolves around the kind of toothpaste All Might uses, and he rolls his eyes with a scoff. Everyone knows he uses SparkleMint.
But Izuku isn’t here to school them. Instead, he finds his favorites and clicks on the username that’s been in his head all day every day for weeks. The green dot marking his account as Active makes nerves jitter through him like little sparks of electricity and he can’t help jiggling his leg as he clicks on it to access their direct messages.
Their goodnight texts are the most recent and he grins, heat already rushing to his cheeks. He and his online boyfriend try to say good night to each other every night and anytime they miss it, Izuku has noticed he doesn’t sleep as well. Last night, he slept like a baby.
Izuku hesitates only a moment before typing.
MightiestFanboy1: Hi <3 <3 <3 How are you?
SmashMaster1000: Hey, fine. Hbu?
MightiestFanboy1: School sucked >_< but I feel better now that I’m talking to you :D <3
SmashMaster1000: Sap.
...
SmashMaster1000: If anyone is giving you a hard time, I’ll kick their asses.
Izuku laughs but keeps typing. He’s gathered that his boyfriend isn’t one for open affection, but he does show it in his way. When he does, Izuku’s heart flutters like a butterfly trapped in a cage.
MightiestFanboy1: You’re so sweet <3
SmashMaster1000: You gonna tell me why today sucked or what
Izuku sighs. He has not told him why he doesn’t like school...about Kacchan or any of it. And he doesn’t want to. He desperately wants to be the person his boyfriend believes him to be.
MightiestFanboy1: Well, I have to decide where I want to go for high school. I REALLY want to go to UA, but I don’t think I’ll get in :’(
SmashMaster1000: Why don’t you think you’ll get in?
They’re in dangerous territory. He doesn’t know why he even brought up UA. But he is concerned about it and not a day goes by when he doesn’t think about his future. All he wants is to be a hero but as the day gets closer when he’ll have to make a real decision, he can’t help but feel it’s an impossible dream. A pathetic, stupid dream that will never come true.
Kacchan is right. There’s no way a quirkless loser like him could ever be a hero.
With all this in his head, Izuku worries his bottom lip, chewing it to hell as he thinks about a good response.
MightiestFanboy1: It’s really competitive. I’m not sure if...I’m good enough?
SmashMaster1000: What’s your quirk?
Izuku squeaks at the question and pushes away from his computer. For some reason, their quirks (or lack thereof) never came up. There was so much else for them to talk about and their conversations always flowed so smoothly from one topic to the next. They’d discussed so many things and yet this one topic had never been broached by either of them. Until now.
His boyfriend wanted to know what his quirk was, probably to reassure him that he could still get into UA. Or tell him to give up. Izuku wants to kick himself for even bringing it up and he pulls on his hair hard enough to hurt. He doesn’t want to tell him he’s quirkless. But he can’t lie to him, either. Because what if they meet one day and he asks to see his quirk? That’s too big of a lie to keep up unless he plans on breaking up with him before they can ever meet in real life.
A whine leaves his throat and his heart pounds in his chest. The cowardly impulse to shut down his computer and walk away overwhelms him, but he scoots forward, hands poised above the black LED keyboard. The changing colors light up his skin and he let them soothe his anxiety before he responds.
MightiestFanboy1: I’ll tell you after you tell me yours. I’m shy >__<
SmashMaster1000: ...
...
...
...
His boyfriend types for so long, that Izuku is worried he made a mistake. What if that’s too pushy? What if he seems shady or immature for not answering his question? If he had a quirk, why wouldn’t he just say it? People with quirks weren’t shy about it, especially if it was powerful. Izuku drops his head at his tactical error but then jerks when he hears the notification sound.
SmashMaster1000: I’m quirkless.
Izuku blinks.
And blinks again.
Quirkless.
The word sits there like a bomb that forgot to go off. Izuku takes a small breath of air, realizing that he stopped breathing. Izuku has never met another quirkless person. Ever.
It’s so rare, sometimes Izuku imagines he’s the only quirkless person left on earth. But it’s not true. He has definitive proof now that he’s not alone. He’s not a freak.
His boyfriend—his lovely, amazing, funny, smart boyfriend—is quirkless, just like him.
MightiestFanboy1: Really?
SmashMaster1000: Yeah, you gotta problem with that?
MightiestFanboy1: No!!! No no no, not at all!! I’m sorry if I made it seem like I have a problem with it!! I really don’t
SmashMaster1000: Good. So, what’s your quirk?
Izuku takes a deep breath, a huge weight lifting from his shoulders.
MightiestFanboy1: I’m quirkless, too lol what are the chances?
SmashMaster1000: Really? You’re not fucking with me?
MightiestFanboy1: No! I would never make fun of someone for being quirkless. I know what that’s like. It’s not fun
SmashMaster1000: ...
...
...
...
SmashMaster1000: So, you’re quirkless but you wanna go to UA
MightiestFanboy1: Yeah...I want to be a hero but getting into the hero course with no quirk seems kind of impossible. Like...I’ve always been told that it is, you know? So why even try. Anyways, enough about me. What about you? What do you wanna do for high school?
SmashMaster1000: I don’t know yet...
...
...
...
but I think you should try being a hero.
MightiestFanboy1: Really????
SmashMaster1000: Hell yeah. Why the fuck not
MightiestFanboy1: You’re the first person who’s ever told me that
SmashMaster1000: Listen, who gives a fuck if you have a quirk or not? If you really want to be a hero, then do it.
MightiestFanboy1: You really think I can do it?
SmashMaster1000: Yes, I really do.
And Izuku doesn’t know what to make of that. No one, not even his mother, believes in him. He’s never had someone say these kinds of things to him before and he doesn’t know how to handle it other than to cry. The tears leak out of him in a steady drip as he rereads their conversation, and he mops his face with his t-shirt so he can keep typing.
MightiestFanboy1: That’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. You’re the best boyfriend, you know that? I’m so glad we met <3
SmashMaster1000: I’m not the best.
...
...
...
You are.
Before Izuku can ruin everything by saying the “L” word, he makes up an excuse about having more homework and needing to go.
MightiestFanboy1: Goodnight, S. I’ll miss you :3
SmashMaster1000: Night, M. Sweet dreams...and don’t forget what I said.
MightiestFanboy1: I won’t. I promise <3
SmashMaster1000: Good. Talk later.
The next day in school, Izuku is up in the clouds, dreaming about his online boyfriend, S. They still haven’t told each other their real names, instead going by the first letters of their usernames, but Izuku doesn’t mind. Names don’t matter when they know all the important parts of each other already.
Izuku still can’t believe S is quirkless like him. He wonders if S gets bullied for it, too, but it seems implausible. S is tough. He must be imposing enough without a quirk to make people respect him, unlike Izuku. Kacchan once told him he had a punchable face. S probably had a nicer face. One that people wouldn’t feel compelled to harm. In his head, S ascended to another level, to an unreachable pedestal. Not only was he quirkless, but he was also the most badass quirkless person to ever walk the earth, the kind of person Izuku aspires to be one day. Self-confident. Unshakeable self-esteem. Clever. Kind. Handsome.
Mindlessly, Izuku sketches what he imagines S to look like in the margins of his math notes. When he starts to resemble All Might in musculature, he giggles, accentuating his biceps just because he can. The hair is spiky and suddenly he’s wearing a hero costume, one that looks like the suit he designed for Kacchan years ago.
A hand smacks against the page of his open notebook, smashing through his daydream. Kacchan is in his face, a snarl curling his upper lip. “Will you keep it down, you damn nerd? I can’t concentrate with your stupid giggles.”
Izuku smiles at him, unaffected by his attitude. “Sorry, Kacchan.”
Instead of turning back around in his seat, Kacchan narrows his eyes. “Why do you have that goofy look on your face, nerd?”
Sensing danger, Izuku’s smile drops and he tries to close his notes. But Kacchan is faster, snatching it away to study what Izuku had been drawing. Fire courses in his veins and he fights the urge to bury his face in his arms. Oh, god. Kacchan is looking at his thirsty drawing of his boyfriend. He hadn’t left much to the imagination and anyone looking at it would know he was a flaming gay. Straight guys didn’t draw other men with buns like that. They probably didn’t draw other men. Period.
“What the fuck is this?” Kacchan growls, cheeks bright red as he throws the notebook back at Izuku. Luckily, it’s their free period, so their teacher is napping in his seat and doesn’t write them up for disrupting the class. “Is that me?”
Izuku stutters, opening the notebook to look at his sketch. His eyes widen in horror when he realizes how much it ended up looking like Kacchan—an older and much, much, much more muscular and sluttier Kacchan. He swallowed the panic building in his throat. “N-no, Kacchan! This isn’t you, this is my—”
He bit down on the word before he could say it and Kacchan homed in on his hesitation, setting his hands on either side of Izuku’s desk to cage him with his arms. “Who is it, Deku? Don’t lie to me!”
Izuku looked around for salvation but his classmates ignored them both, used to their squabbling. “U-um, it’s my uh..my uh...uhhh, my b-boyfriend! Please don’t hurt me!”
His face was officially on fire. Kacchan’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates and they stared at each other in embarrassed silence. After another minute, Kacchan, cheeks almost as red as Izuku’s felt, straightens.
He clears his throat. “I ain’t gonna hurt you for being gay, stupid nerd, so stop looking at me like that or I’ll kill you.”
Izuku remains tense but no longer fears for his life. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Kacchan’s face twists into one of utter disgust. “I have a boyfriend, too. So stop drawing me in your shitty notebooks. I’m taken.”
Izuku’s jaw drops to the floor as Kacchan shoves his hands in his pockets and stalks out of the classroom. His lackeys chase after him, having missed the altercation, thankfully. Izuku doesn’t need the entire class to know his sexual orientation or about the incriminating drawing in his notebook. Speaking of, he hastily erases it and scribbles out the parts that can still be seen.
The rest of the day, Izuku’s head spins with the revelation that Kacchan is gay (!!!) and that he has a boyfriend. One that he is very loyal to. Knowing it’ll never happen, Izuku wishes with all his heart that he could meet the poor soul Kacchan is dating and ask if they’re okay and need help. Or if they’ve lost their mind.
That night, when he’s online with S, he’s tempted to bring up what happened. Then, he decides against it. He’s gone this long without mentioning Kacchan, so there’s no reason to stop. S doesn’t need to know about his complicated relationship with his childhood best friend when not even his mother knows that Kacchan bullies him. He doesn’t want to cause anyone any unnecessary grief. What good would it do? They would just worry and Izuku would still be miserable. He would still be quirkless.
MightiestFanboy1: Hi, S <3 <3 <3
SmashMaster1000: Hey, babe
Izuku squeals, spinning in his chair in victory.
MightiestFanboy1: Gah! Stop, you’re making me blush
SmashMaster1000: How was your day, baby?
Now he’s messing with him, but Izuku doesn’t mind. Not at all.
MightiestFanboy1: It was okay. I couldn’t stop thinking about you...
SmashMaster1000: I was thinking about you, too
MightiestFanboy1: Really? Anything about me in particular?
SmashMaster1000: just about our convo yesterday. I’m glad you felt safe enough to tell me that you’re quirkless. It means you trust me, right?
MightiestFanboy1: Of course, I trust you! but also...it did help that you told me you’re quirkless first lol I never know how ppl will respond u know?
SmashMaster1000: Right, well I trust you, too
Izuku grins, affection tugging at his heart. He really likes him. So much. Izuku can’t remember a time in his life that he’s ever been this happy. It makes everything worth it. Everything he’s been through, if it means it brought him to S. He wouldn’t change a thing.
MightiestFanboy1: S, can I ask you something? Feel free to say no. I know we’ve only been talking for five months, so it’s probably too soon and I don’t want to rush you or make it seem like I don’t enjoy how things are right now, so definitely don’t feel pressured or anything
SmashMaster1000: just spit it out, M
MightiestFanboy1: Do you think we’ll ever meet?
SmashMaster1000: ...
...
...
....
....
SmashMaster1000: you mean, in real life
MightiestFanboy1: yeah
SmashMaster1000: sure
MightiestFanboy1: okay!! when do you think we’ll meet
SmashMaster1000: whenever you want
Izuku went still, not expecting him to agree to anything. With how long he’d taken to respond to the initial question, Izuku was almost sure S would refuse.
MightiestFanboy1: how about Friday? After school. Are you free?
SmashMaster1000: Sure
...
...
...
It’s about time I met my boyfriend
Friday comes sooner than he’s ready for.
S agrees to meet at a local park and Izuku is surprised to find out that he lives only five minutes from it, same as Izuku. S lives somewhere nearby, and it makes his heart race in anticipation. For the first time, Izuku wonders if he knows S. For some reason, maybe because they met online and the internet doesn’t feel real, he never thought S could already be a part of his life. If that were true, he would have realized it already, right?
What if S goes to his school? What if they’re classmates? The idea makes him dizzy and he spends the week watching every single boy in his class for signs. He didn’t know what signs to look for, but he still looked. Nothing stuck out to him, of course. Probably because he was letting his imagination run wild and S didn’t go to his school at all.
The only weird thing about that week was Kacchan. Not once did he push or scream at Izuku. The most was a harsh reprimand when Izuku was muttering during a lesson, but it was mild for Kacchan. He didn’t even let off any explosions. Not wanting to push his luck, Izuku didn’t question it. Instead, he let this unexpected reprieve from Kacchan’s wrath work as a sign from the universe telling him he was making the right choice to meet a stranger from the internet.
At the end of the day Friday, he checks his bag, making sure the carefully wrapped present is still there and intact. A few months ago, when he went to the mall with his mom to buy more clothes, he saw the perfect gift for his new boyfriend in the display window of a Pro Hero merch store. He’d held onto the gift for a long time, waiting for the day when they would meet in person. Izuku knew S would love it and he couldn’t wait to see his smile when he unwrapped it.
Everything is good to go, and Izuku makes his way to the park. He wants to get there early, just in case, so he takes a shortcut through a tunnel, humming to himself when suddenly his senses are alight with fear.
A monstrous thing forms in the shadows and he panics. “A villain?”
A horrible face looks out at him from a mountain of sludge. “You’ll make a perfect skin suit for me to hide in, kid.”
Izuku tries to run, dropping his notebook in his rush, and the villain attacks, entering his mouth and suffocating him. He tries to scream, but he can’t even breathe and his mind flashes to S. His boyfriend will be waiting for him. When Izuku doesn’t meet him, he’ll think Izuku ghosted him, that he changed his mind. He won’t think anything is wrong, he’ll just be mad or sad or...and his mom is at work until dawn, no one will even miss him until it’s too late.
Tears flood down his cheeks and he tries to fight the sludge villain, but nothing works. The villain talks but all he can hear is his blood rushing, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest from the lack of oxygen.
Izuku is going to die.
He sees his notebook on the ground. On one page is his hero costume and on the other is S, a better sketch than the doodle Kacchan had seen. No matter how he tried, it still ended up looking like Kacchan. It’s a good thing Kacchan never saw it, he would have killed Izuku.
But that didn’t matter now. Izuku was going to die, anyway. Maybe this is his fate, after all, to die at someone’s hand, unable to defend himself. If he’d had a quirk, he could do something, try for some kind of miraculous escape. As he is, though, he is powerless.
Izuku is going to die.
Air bursts into his lungs and he opens his eyes. For a moment, he thinks he must have died and gone to heaven because All Might is right there.
All Might is right there. Oh dear god!
“.... city’s sewer system is pretty hard to navigate,” All Might laughs. “Anyway, you were a big help. Thank you! I’ve captured the evildoer!”
The most amazing hero in the entire world, All Might. The real thing. In the flesh. Standing right in front of him! He looks so much cooler in person!
If only he could tell S about this, he would lose his mind right alongside Izuku, if he even believed him. Oh god, no one would believe him!
“Holy crap, I’ve gotta get an autograph. I’ve got a pen around here somewhere!” Izuku spots his notebook on the ground. “Please sign my notebook!”
When he opens it, he screams, seeing All Might’s genuine signature slapped across two whole pages. He’s only ever seen it online and on pre-signed merch, that’s way too expensive to justify asking his mom to buy it for him. He immediately jumps to his feet to bow and he knows he must make a fool of himself as he babbles his appreciation, but he can’t stop the words coming out of his mouth.
Finally, All Might says he needs to go and Izuku is stunned. He can’t leave, not before he asks all the questions he needs to ask first! Before Izuku can even think if this is a good idea or not, he’s flying through the air, attached to All Might’s muscular leg, and trying his best to persuade the hero for a moment of his time. They land on a roof and when All Might tries to leave again, Izuku only has one question, the one that has been eating away at him ever since he was told he was quirkless. When his mother cried and told him she was sorry he could never be a hero. When Kacchan called him useless and a loser and told him not to embarrass himself or their school any further by trying to be anything more than what he was.
When S, the only person who has ever believed in him, told him to do it. To become a hero despite the odds. He had to ask it, if not for himself, then for the one person who thought he could. He held S’s words and encouragement in his heart when he stepped forward and yelled after All Might.
“Is it possible to become a hero even if I don’t have a quirk?” He walks forward. “I’m a normal kid without any powers. Could I ever hope to be someone like you?”
He keeps going, explaining his dream, explaining that he wants to be a hero and give hope to the world just like All Might. But when he’s done, that’s when reality hits. All Might explains his injuries, the fight that happened five years ago, and the fact that some villains...
“Some villains just can’t be beaten without powers. So, can you be a hero? Not without a quirk.”
Once All Might left him on the roof, Izuku doesn’t know what to do.
He checks his phone. It’s already fifteen minutes past the time he’s supposed to meet with S at the park and now he’s even further from it than where he started. It’ll take him the better part of an hour to get there and that’s if he takes a bus. He’s lucky if S ever speaks to him again.
Still, he heads in that direction, all hope dwindling in his chest as he walks. Hope for his future. Hope for his love life. Hope for...anything. It all swirls down some cosmic drain, flushed by All Might.
Everything seems pointless now that All Might confirmed his worst fears. S may believe in him, but All Might is the best hero in the world. If he doesn’t think Izuku can do it, then that’s it.
It’s a death sentence for his dreams.
By the time he gets to the park, the sun is setting, and a chill has set in his bones. He shivers in the breeze but he’s on autopilot now. There’s no way S is still there, waiting for him. Izuku should just head home and...his face crumples. Usually, he would chat with S until it was time for bed. How could he sleep without saying goodnight? Without S telling him “sweet dreams”?”
The park is empty except for a group of teenagers sharing a cigarette. They’re too far away to pay him any attention and when he goes for the swing set, he pauses. Someone in a dark uniform is there, sitting on a swing and staring at their phone, shoes buried in the sand.
“Kacchan?” Izuku says without thinking, blinking away the tears.
Kacchan snaps his head up and scowls at Izuku and if Izuku didn’t know any better, he would have sworn Kacchan was...sad. “Nerd? What are you doing here?”
“I’m...I was supposed to meet someone here, but I’m late,” he said. “They’re long gone.”
Kacchan stares at him in silence before getting up from the swing and approaching Izuku. “Who were you supposed to meet?”
Oh, god. As if the day couldn’t get any worse, now he had to explain to Kacchan, of all people, the situation with his online boyfriend. He just kept giving Kacchan reasons to bully him, didn’t he? The words got stuck in his throat and he shook his head. “N-no one.”
“Don’t lie to me,” Kacchan growls. “I hate when you do that.”
“I’m not lying,” he lies. “I just...I’m gonna go. I’ll see you Monday, Kacchan.”
But Kacchan doesn’t let him go. A hand grasps his shoulder, keeping him in place and Kacchan says the last thing Izuku ever expected to come out of his mouth. “MightiestFanboy1?”
Izuku gasps. “SmashMaster1000?”
Everything stops.
Izuku sucks in a harsh breath and steps out of Kacchan’s hold. “Y-you? It’s you? You’re S?”
Kacchan’s face is a brewing storm and he swears. “Fuck!”
“You lied to me,” Izuku whimpers. The tears he had managed to keep back returned with a vengeance. For the second time that day, his life turned upside down and he didn’t know what to do, or what to say. It felt like everything was ending. All the good in his life had never existed. It’s all been a lie. “You said you were quirkless. You-you said I could be a hero! You pretended to like me, to be my--”
For the first time in his life, Izuku feels rage. He shoves Kacchan and to his surprise, the other boy doesn’t fight back or use his quirk. He just takes a step back, barely moved by Izuku’s weak push. “Deku—Izuku...”
“No,” Izuku breathes, glaring at him. “Was this your plan all along? To prank me. To make me think someone cared about me just to blow it all up?”
“Damn it, nerd, no!” Kacchan screams, holding his palms up to release some heated pops. “I’m just as surprised as you. I had no idea you were M, okay?”
Izuku doesn’t believe him, his inner world is too busy collapsing. “Why did you lie? Why did you say you were quirkless?”
“Shit, I don’t know,” Kacchan yells, still agitated. When Izuku continues to glare, he says “Goddamit. I don’t know. I just—I didn’t want M—you, I guess to think of me any different. Like I’m special just because I have a cool quirk. M liked me for me.” Kacchan lowers his hands and sneers at Izuku. “I didn’t want that to change, okay? Sue me.”
“Why did you tell me I could be a hero?” This time, Izuku’s voice is low and steady. Calm. “You obviously don’t believe that, so why give me hope?”
Kacchan rips a hand through his hair and swears some more. “I—I, that’s not true, okay? I think you can be one. A fuckin’ hero, okay? Is that what you want to hear, damn nerd.”
Izuku is speechless. He honestly has no words left to say and that’s saying a lot for him.
“Say something already,” Kacchan snaps.
He scoffs. “Excuse me if I find that hard to believe, Kacchan. You do bully me for being quirkless, you know. Or did you forget?”
“Not anymore. I don’t do that shit anymore.”
The gall. “But you—”
“When’s the last time I said anything about you being quirkless, hah?” Kacchan challenges, crossing his arms.
Izuku thinks. Kacchan had yelled at him just the other day, but...it had nothing to do with quirks. Izuku had been mumbling during class and Kacchan got mad because he couldn’t focus. It was a fair complaint considering Izuku sat right behind him and the material they’d been learning was supposed to prepare them for high school-level math. Kacchan had always taken his studies seriously. Izuku did, too, but he found that he didn’t have to study as hard as everyone else to get good grades and his mind tended to wander because of that.
Izuku thinks back to all the times Kacchan got mad at him recently and he hadn’t done anything more than snap at him or steal his notebook to get his attention. Still not very nice behavior but that could just be Kacchan being Kacchan. His temper was notorious. He slowly realized it’d been quite a while since Kacchan brought up anything about quirks with Izuku, about as long as Izuku had been speaking to S. It still didn’t excuse the years of abuse prior to that, but Kacchan wasn’t lying about not doing it anymore.
Izuku drops his shoulders in defeat. “I don’t get it.”
“Don’t get what?”
“What changed?” Izuku asks. “Why did you suddenly...”
Change. Become a good person. Get a heart.
Kacchan huffs. “I don’t know. I guess...”
“What?”
“This was before when I was talking to M. I just...” Kacchan sighs. “He reminded me of you. And I... started feeling...bad. I felt sorry.”
"Sorry?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry." Kacchan bows his head. "For everything. M made me realize that. I don't want to hurt you."
It's like Kacchan is speaking another language.
“M reminded you of me. And you still liked him—uh me?” Izuku tries to make sense of it. As far as he knew, Kacchan hated his guts. Why in the world would someone who reminded him of Izuku be attractive at all? Why would he keep talking and develop feelings for him? Why would ever feel sorry? Unless... “Do you like me, Kacchan?”
Kacchan’s face goes bright red. “Shut up, nerd! I like M.”
“M is me,” Izuku pushes back. “And you just said M reminded you of me. So, there must be a part of you that likes me. Otherwise, you would have never kept talking to M. Oh, my god.”
Kacchan grabs ahold of Izuku’s backpack straps, pulling him close. “I don’t like you! You’re just a stupid, dumb nerd who never knows when to shut up and—and—”
Kacchan kisses Izuku.
Just for a moment. Just long enough for Izuku to smell the burnt caramel of his sweat and study his poreless skin up close. When they part, Kacchan shoves him away with a growl.
“I’m leaving. Let’s just pretend this never happened!”
But Izuku isn’t done. Much like how he tackled All Might earlier, he jumps on Kacchan’s back and takes him down to the sand. Kacchan swears but Izuku manages to pin his wrists above his head.
“I like you, too!” Izuku shouts in his face, pressing down as hard as he can to keep Kacchan from leaving. “I’ve always liked you!”
Kacchan snaps at him with his teeth like a dog, nearly feral beneath him. “Shut up! It’s obvious you’ve always looked down on me, even when we were kids! You think you’re better than me, so don’t think I’ll believe you for one second, Deku!”
“Is that really what you believe?” Izuku is incredulous and his grip tightens. “If I looked down on you, I wouldn’t want anything to do with you anymore. But I’m still here. There are—were things I hated about you, sure. But I can clearly see how amazing you are! You have so much going for you that I don’t have. All Might is my hero, but you’re the one actually in my life!”
And the truth of that statement hit him like a bullet in the chest.
All Might had always been—would always be, even after today’s disappointment—his hero, but Kacchan, Kacchan was always there, a prime example, a shining beacon of what Izuku hoped to be someday. Even when Kacchan decided he didn’t like Izuku anymore and bullied him, Izuku never stopped thinking of him as a hero, as this amazing, victorious figure that he couldn’t help but want to imitate.
Even just being near him, following closely behind, Izuku never stopped loving him.
Izuku closes the gap between them, pressing his lips against Kacchan’s. Other than the aggressive kiss Kacchan gave him a minute ago, Izuku has never kissed anyone and he has no idea what to do beyond smashing their lips together. Astonishingly, Kacchan lets him. Not only lets him but returns the kiss, parting his lips so their tongues touch briefly, just for a second. Izuku gasps, leaning back to give him a startled look.
“What?” Kacchan asks. His cheeks are pink, and his hair is covered in sand but Izuku thinks he’s never looked better.
“I met All Might today,” he blurts instead of admitting his inexperience.
Kacchan blinks and then scoffs. “Yeah fucking right.”
“It’s true! I’ll show you the autograph I got from him,” he says. He dives into the story, describing his brush with death, and notes the way Kacchan tenses, eyes flashing with something close to fear. Izuku smiles as he talks about meeting All Might but then it dims as he thinks about what happened next. “He said...he said I couldn’t be a hero without a quirk.”
There’s a long silence before Kacchan nudges Izuku off of him and he sits up, putting his arms on his knees. “Y’know what? Fuck All Might.”
“Kacchan! He saved my life.”
“And crushed your dreams, rat bastard,” he says with his usual fire, palm sparking in irritation. It feels nice not to be on the end of it, for once. “Isn’t he supposed to be inspiring future generations? What the fuck?”
“He was being realistic,” Izuku mutters. “He’s a pro. He knows better than anyone what my chances would be. I mean, you would have agreed with him until recently.”
Kacchan scowls at Izuku and flicks his forehead.
“Hey!” Izuku rubs his skin. “It’s true.”
“Yeah, okay, maybe you being quirkless makes it harder to be a hero, but I don’t think it’s impossible.” Kacchan bumps Izuku’s side with his knee. “You’re smart. There’s a reason I call you nerd. You’ll figure out a way to do it. Nerd.”
Izuku laughs, shaking his head. He bites his lip and gives Kacchan a shy look. “I can’t believe S is Kacchan. I can’t believe Kacchan has a crush on me.”
Instantly, Kacchan goes red and Izuku realizes he likes making him blush. It’s powerful, that he can have that effect on someone like him. “Well, believe it.”
Emboldened, Izuku touches Kacchan’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
“What for?”
“Believing in me.” Izuku grins. “And...”
Kacchan narrows his eyes. “And what?”
“And for being such a loyal boyfriend to M when you saw my sketch.” Izuku laughs at the memory. “It really was a drawing of you. Every time I imagined S, it was just...you.”
Kacchan rolls his eyes. “Sap.”
Izuku laughs and Kacchan steals another kiss, making his heart take flight.
All the hope that he’d thought was gone returned in a rush.
Even though All Might had told him his dream was impossible, it didn’t feel that way sitting in the sand with Kacchan as the sunset deepened into twilight. The stars shone above and in Kacchan’s eyes and he saw a future there. What that future held, he had no idea, but as long as Kacchan believed in him—and Izuku believed in himself—he could do anything.
“This is why they say you should never meet your heroes,” Kacchan grumbles when they reach Izuku’s apartment. They’re at his front door and Izuku holds his keys in his hand, ready to go inside. “I kind of hate his guts now.”
“Kacchan,” Izuku scolds. “If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t be here now.”
“Tch.”
“We would have never met online, we would have never bonded over our mutual obsession—"
“—I ain’t obsessed, not like you—”
“—and we would have never met up in real life.” Izuku grins at his boyfriend. “Right?”
“Whatever,” Kacchan mutters, kissing Izuku’s cheek. “Just go already.”
“Goodnight, S,” Izuku says, hanging on Kacchan’s uniform sleeve. “Talk to you later?”
The look in his eyes says Kacchan knows exactly what Izuku wants. It’s their routine, after all. “Yeah, yeah. Talk later, M.”
“Kacchan...”
“Damn nerd....
...
...
...
“Sweet dreams.”