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Katsuki is still in rehab after graduation watching Izuku go be a hero, frantically trying to catch up, Izuku frantically watching.
Izuku and his embers fading 2-3 years later, relying on support items and strength, doing more desk and rescue, watching as Katsuki gets stronger and stronger, leaving him behind once again, and Izuku knows that he can’t catch up anymore. He can’t keep up on team missions, he analyzes behind the scenes more often than not. He’s always accepted his quirk would run out but -
But it would have been nice.
Nice to have been with the class again, been as fast as Kacchan again, instead of just getting in the way. Like All Might did after his embers disappeared. Izuku knows that it’s irrational of him to feel that way. All Might was never an inconvenience to anyone, but who would know better than him how it feels to be quirkless among the quirked.
So Izuku brushes this feeling off, stamps it down, contacts Aizawa-sensei, and decides to follow up on his back up plan to be a teacher. That’s what All Might did.
Katsuki tries to talk him out of it, tries to tell him that he doesn’t have to quit agency work but Izuku already has accepted the offer. And so Kacchan says nothing. What could he say when it’s been 5 years since graduation and he’s watching Izuku STILL putting others first instead of his own dreams. He sends a thumbs up in the group chat as Izuku thanks Shouto and Ojiro for gifting him a pair of shoes, and a tie. He watches as the rest of Class A congratulate him, telling him that he would be perfect for the job, trying to flatter him up preemptively to add them to the syllabus. He texts him the night before the job starts, telling him to not let the little brats drag him around by the nose, and declares that he will be the first hero guest teacher and not anyone else. He smiles, as Izuku says that he wouldn’t dream of inviting anyone other than Dynamight first, and quips back that it’s actually Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight. Izuku laughs at that, the knot of nervousness in his stomach loosening, replaced by the relief in knowing that at least Kacchan is on board, so he must have made the right choice.
Izuku starts at UA that April, 5 years after he graduated.
It’s familiar, but new. Kota was starting that year too, so he at least had a known face in his class. He had his old teachers of course (though it was surreal to be in the staff room now as their peer even though he didn’t feel like it), but he missed his classmates, missed training with them without OFA just to see if he could, missed hearing Kacchan’s tuts as he figures how to write with his left.
He’s still asked to consult on police cases to analyze quirks that are baffling. He helps Ochako and Shouji in trying to formulate game plans in helping children manage an unwieldy or painful quirk, or their parents/teachers in what they need to do too. He feels them looking at him with thinly veiled sense of pity for the loss of his own quirks, but he wishes he could tell them not to worry. He mastered 7 unknown quirks in a single year and he couldn’t have done that without every single person in his life lending him a hand anytime he needed it, and sometimes when he didn’t think he did too. Izuku knows the power of a good teacher. Ochako once in passing said that she was worried that it might be triggering to be back at school because that’s where the best and the worst happened to all of them but especially Izuku, backtracking after seeing his face.
But truthfully, Izuku would have been lying if he said he didn’t worry about the same thing. He had walked into his old classroom thinking he would feel those old burdens weigh on his shoulders again, but in reality he had felt so much hope for himself and his new students on that first day that he had had to turn and spend a concerning amount of time writing his name out on the board while he tried to hide his tears. It was Kota saying “Deku-sensei (him, a SENSEI now?), we know who you are! You’re one of the most famous people in the country” that broke the ice and had everyone, including him laughing.
Izuku had shook it off, he still met his old friends regularly after all. If he was fine doing that, then there was no reason to be nervous at UA. It was not the same as living together in the dorms though, so meeting in smaller groups even once a week wasn’t really enough. Kacchan, true to his word, dropped by UA in his second week as their first guest teacher, and then a lot to guest train, which Izuku thought was nice of him, oblivious to all the smirks and eyerolls and money exchanging hands in the school every time Katsuki Bakugou dropped by. He was happy that he could teach a new generation, and if that’s what being a hero with Kacchan was, then that was enough.
At least that’s what he tells himself as Tenko’s dream still echoes in his head, “make sure you do your damn best”. This is his best, this is where he’ll help the most people with what he can do. This is how he would honour all those who encouraged him that day. He was not Midoriya-sensei, he was DEKU-sensei. He was as much a hero as the rest of the pros at school were. That was at least progress, compared to how scared he felt that he would fail as All Might’s successor when he first attended UA.
Katsuki had tried to broach the topic re: Tenko, heroism and teaching multiple times, in fact come to think of it every single time he guest taught at UA. He’d would make sure he dropped by for the last class of the day too, so that he could corner Izuku and drag him to dinner. And each time Izuku would smile in the most infuriatingly sweet way, and say he wants to make sure people always reach out, that nurturing someone’s dreams is all he wants and bla bla bla. You’d think he never lost Blackwhip or OFA the way he was so masterful at dodging the elephant in the room that Katsuki kept trying to throw at him.
Pisses him the fuck off. Izuku didn’t even tell anyone when the embers faded.
Katsuki found out when he watched Izuku try a tricky maneuver once and Izuku landed face first into the ground. He’d demanded, “when” and Izuku just shrugged and said for a while now, it’s no issue, the support blackwhip coil glitched that’s all! Uh-huh. But Katsuki was only just regaining full strength, and knew that Izuku had not told him because he didn’t want to bum him out or whatever the fuck. Izuku had applied for UA a year after that moment. He would say that he tried to be a hero with support items, but he felt that he could have a greater impact somewhere else. But is this what YOU want? Or is this about how you can serve others again?
He’d been that way since that day they all went to that cliff, since Katsuki pulled him aside to ask him what happened really, and Izuku had told him about Himiko, leftover sympathy tears for Ochako spilling over as Izuku cried for that little boy he couldn’t save. He was babbling then, and all Katsuki could do was listen and put a hand on his shoulders, as Izuku talked about Tenko’s memories and how strong his will was, how he just kept getting repelled, and how nothing could stop AFO. He should have tried hard-
Katsuki had stopped him, telling him that AFO had to be beaten, and even Shigaraki knew that. Izuku had looked in horror at him then, remembering his injuries, apologizing for bringing it up.
“I made my own choice on what sort of hero I wanted to be, Izuku.”
“Can you tell me? I still don’t know how I -“
“You. You are the type of hero I want to be. You never gave up, how the hell could I just cuz my life was in danger?” Katsuki had responded instantly. He was done beating around the bush, he wanted to be honest, the urgency of how important it was for Izuku to listen to him colouring his voice.
“If I didn’t get separated-“ Izuku babbles on, fastidiously ignoring what Katsuki said.
“Then maybe something else would have gotten me. Maybe that AFO bastard.” Katsuki tries again, trying to keep the fervor out of his voice and failing. “I thought of you while he got me y’know, as cheesy as that fucking sounds, and it helped me awaken my quirk. I thought about what you’d do. You wouldn’t give up.”
“…. I’ve always looked up to you but I’m… not as strong as you. I gave up. I could have done more, moved more, saved him better, I should have-”
Katsuki had swatted him with his useless arm at that. Hurt him more than it did Izuku.
“Did you see the state of you? Who the hell would believe that YOU didn’t try hard enough? Your arms literally exploded didn’t they?” Katsuki was angry now. Well, angrier.
“He was so close to saving, Kacchan. And then AFO came in and I couldn’t save him. I couldn’t save anyone! What have I even achie-” Izuku had started up again, fresh tears spilling. Katsuki couldn’t take it. How could he even say that?
“I wouldn’t even be alive without you, y’know?” Katsuki had said, softer than he had intended because Izuku had paused, and gone “What?” He repeated it.
Izuku’s eyes went wide with incredulity at that. “You died TWICE what are you -”
“The sludge villain. Then at Kamino. I told you to stay back cuz I knew you’d come, you always do. You saved me twice without hesitation even when I was such a jerk to you! That’s screwed up on so many levels that I don’t even know where to start. And actually, I’ve only saved you once in comparison. So.” he had said, a smirk creeping into his face. A lifetime ago, Izuku had screamed at him asking him to just TALK to him instead of fighting, and look at him now.
“You died!” That’s all Izuku could muster up. Kacchan had never actually said all this before, he wasn’t actually sure what to do listening to all this.
“And you broke your bones 400 times and almost died even MORE before you ran away!”
“I only ran away because I didn’t want to hurt anyone!”
“We didn’t want YOU to be hurt!! That’s why we chased after you, that’s why we help you!!” Katsuki had said. He would have shouted, but it hurt him to. Which is a good thing, he thought, otherwise I probably would have made things worse.
Izuku had thought and thought and thought about Tenko until he worked himself into heart palpitations. He was so close to getting through to Tenko, until AFO swallowed him whole. But Tomura…
Tomura had lived on inside OFA, and chose to fight against AFO for himself. Izuku couldn’t save him. And all the words couldn’t stop him from feeling like he failed. He wished he knew what to do with that. He couldn’t honour him the way Ochako could Himiko, who was still one of the countless missing on the field.
Katsuki stays silent, watching Izuku’s shoulders tremble and giving him some time to wrestle with his thoughts. He knew, he obviously knew, the guilt of not doing more to save someone. All Might had lost everything because of him, and it had taken Katsuki months to accept that it was not HIS fault specifically. He knew that it would take Izuku time. Nobody self-flagellated as much as Izuku Midoriya did, he thinks, suppressing an eye-roll.
“Hey Izuku, what she said about kids.. do you remember that river?”
Izuku snaps out, “The one near our house?”
“Mm, do you remember when I fell into it?”
“Yeah… Kacchan, that was so long ago..” Izuku only remembers it because he had to walk home in wet shoes and couldn’t wear them to school the next day.
“You reached out to me back then. You jumped straight in for me, actually. I hated you for looking down on me, for thinking I was weak enough to need help. You had reached out, and I didn’t bother taking your hand. Took me 8 years but the second I let go of that crap and realized it’s not the other person being superior and idk, mentally took your hand, I felt relief that I could finally just be myself”
“Kacchan… I don’t understand” Izuku had said, but that was a lie. He knew what that relief felt like of course. He felt it himself, when Iida had reached out. Is that how Kacchan had awakened his quirk? That’s how he felt saved?
“You don’t have to do anything else, Izuku. Just be yourself, and others will feel relief from you eventually”.
Izuku had gone still at that.
Tenko was crying, he had reached out and tried to help him because he was in pain. He guessed Kacchan did have a point. The first thing he had done after all after his heart got stitched up was reach out to Izuku. He would never forget the sheer relief of knowing Kacchan was finally there, with the belief that Kacchan would fix everything overriding everything back then and giving him a deep sense of calm.
His lips had wobbled as he said “I don’t know if I can do this alone.”
“You won’t have to. I’m right here with you. Would you have let me blame myself if I didn’t save All Might in time?” Izuku had vehemently shook his head at that. Of course not, Kacchan always does his best. But why was that so difficult to apply to himself?
“And besides, I trust you. So trust me too, and let me handle the shit you can’t, Deku.
Izuku raised an eyebrow at that. Trust him, Kacchan had asked, as if it wasn’t trusting Kacchan that had driven him to follow his path their entire lives. His eyes were tearful and sparkling as he said “I thought you were switching to Izuku now?”
Katsuki had threatened to smack him. “Is that or is that not your hero name?”
Izuku chuckled at that, pointing to his injuries and saying he couldn’t be smacked. Katsuki immediately walks away, and Izuku follows him, both of them heading back to the dorms in an easy silence that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago. Kacchan trusts me, he thinks happily.
“Don’t go losing that ember too quick, I’ll catch up”, Katsuki had said before he headed up to his room.
“You’ll always catch up!! But so will I!” Izuku had reflexively countered, his heart considerably lighter, and his mind quieter than it had been for weeks. He’ll find a way to honour Tenko’s last words. How could he not, when Kacchan was right there to make sure he would?
Now though, 7 years after the war, Izuku knew he can’t always catch up physically but he CAN still always reach a hand out. The little plates kid had put a spring in his step and the idea that he could save with a smile, just like All Might, just like he wanted, could come true one day was mind-boggling to him.
“I was someone’s All Might today and that was enough.” Katsuki KNEW Izuku would be thinking some sappy ass crap like that, which is why the second he found out Izuku had interviewed for the UA job, he contacted All Might about that exosuit.
It wasn’t as astronomically expensive as 7 years ago though it still cost a pretty penny. It was the equivalent of a new rocket being discounted to the price of a sports car. Actually it was almost exactly like that - the suit was supposed to cost close to $250,000 even now with all the advancements in technology but Katsuki had prepared for this. Everyone, including Melissa and Hatsume, had known about Izuku’s ember giving out, and was already putting the pieces in motion to have an option ready for him when he finally couldn’t physically keep up.
Katsuki knew Izuku would take being gifted an exosuit as expensive as that as if he was in the way. He was mushy like that. But he also wouldn’t turn down a gift so he’d asked if people would pitch in. It wasn’t so astronomical that it couldn’t be affordable, especially if enough people were in on it. If not, he was gonna ask his parents if they had enough to spare and he would work to pay them back eventually, or see if the old pro heroes would contribute. Katsuki was already planning to put most of his savings into the suit - everyone else was investing in their futures but for him, there was no future without Izuku. They were supposed to be heroes together. They HAD to be.
But every single one of his old classmates had volunteered. Momo had offered to break her cardinal rule and create the more expensive materials, which immediately brought the price down (who knew how much gold was in electronics?).
Iida also pitched in generously - said his brother had wanted to help as well, to pay Izuku back for saving Tenya in that alley. Iida had apologized, he knew that this was Katsuki’s project and didn’t want to overshadow him financially but Tensei had received a lot of money in compensation from the hero commission and wanted to pay it forward. Katsuki waved it off, elated instead that this could actually be achievable.
Shouto was also doing well for himself and he’d just asked “how much do you need?” without even blinking.
In the end, Katsuki didn’t need to ask his parents or the pros. He had come very close to crying when he saw the outpouring of support from everyone in that class. He’d sent only a single email, determined to take what he got and not ask a second time. To think that 7 years ago, Katsuki had viewed them all as extras and stepping stones. He wasn’t sure what to do with all this gratitude that bubbled under his skin, not just because everyone had showed up, but because this crazy, unthinkable, once in a moonshot possibility was actually within reach.
Katsuki had lived at home ever since he graduated UA while the others got rooms closer to their agencies. Initially, it was more convenient just to stay what with all his arm rehab equipment already there, but after that, he purposefully began to save his rent. He’d picked up every extra shift, every late patrol, every call for overtime ever since he started working. Careful to not push himself too hard and reinjure himself though, that would defeat the whole purpose. $50,000 of the suit cost had come directly from him, and he was prepared to put in even more hours at the agency and do more ads despite hating them with his entire being, if his classmates hadn’t showed up so spectacularly.
Katsuki had known exactly what to ask Melissa and Hatsume to build for years. He and Izuku had discussed to death over the years on what kind of suit they would want if they could have one - Izuku had approached it like a thought exercise, thinking it was just the both of them being fanboys over All Might, but Katsuki had kept notes. They had brainstormed how a suit could recreate both their quirks, what modifications they would make, and Katsuki had watched as Izuku used that giant brain of his to come up with all these plans (theoretical and hypothetical and just for fun of course).
The data from the original fight was still intact, and with Melissa’s and Hatsume’s innovations over the last few years, prepping for this possibility, it shouldn’t be too hard work to recreate something for Izuku’s old quirk repertoire.
It had taken 8 painstaking months of back and forth between Katsuki and the two brilliant women. He had Izuku’s vision, and Katsuki was determined to translate that into a style that would be quintessentially Deku. Kaminari and Mina had tried to ask him a couple times how he knew whether Izuku would even want to come back, isn’t teaching safer - but had backed down at the glare he gave them.
Who would know better than him, having watched Izuku chase after him for 20 whole years, never giving up on wanting to be a hero? Not that being a teacher wasn’t heroic or anything, it was admirable and actually was a perfect career for Izuku IF the option of a suit didn’t exist. But it does, and how could he sit idle knowing that Izuku had wanted to be THIS kind of hero his whole life? How could he not do everything in his power to show Izuku the same faith that he had received from him their entire lives?
He’d expected it to take years to save up all that money and the fact that his dream can start this early made him so giddy that it would keep him up at night. Just a little under a year to get the suit ready, that’s all, but imbued in it was 7 years of quiet planning and dreaming for this eventuality.
When Izuku had gotten home, 2 weeks before the UA entrance exams, he’d not expected to see All Might there, not that exosuit case, nor hear the words “Bakugou-shonen was at the HEART of this project and invested into it alongside Class A”. He’d started crying then, 25 and grown, but he’d never been able to stop when it came to Kacchan.
He’d never once considered that all those talks, all those moments of them catching up on being best friends, chattering about All Might and heroism and quirks would manifest like this. How could he, when both he and Kacchan were pointedly ignoring the fact that his embers would disappear, and Katsuki was still not at full strength, so there was never REALLY a way to work together. It was all supposed to just be a fantasy. Izuku was just happy to indulge in it with Kacchan.
“Why…” he had asked All Might.
“Did you really think you can pretend that you’re frail and in the way, when I know you’re making sure to reach a hand out and run into the fray at the first shot?” Izuku could almost hear Kacchan’s voice say that. OFA had never felt like it was his. It was gone before he could master it long enough to say it was his. His undeserved dream-
“You earned this too. Just like you earned OFA back then. It’s not a gift, it’s yours”
Izuku breathes shakily. He’d just told a kid he can be a hero too. He’d wanted to be just like All Might, and he found how to in his own way. And yet, he’d walked away, thought he was done, that he had a path he could be on that could serve others better. That was the only way he knew how to make sure Tenko’s final words weren’t in vain.
His best impact was at UA - at least it WAS the best option to him before this very moment.
All Might has the suit, All Might gave him OFA, All Might is HERE. Again.
“Come, Deku”
But Kacchan knows his dream and gave him an option to do his best again, to do his best AND live his dream as a hero in the field too?
His smile reaches his eyes for the first time in a while. He wasn’t unhappy before, not at all! He had had a quirk, a path to be a hero, he was even a pro for a few years. He had a class full of awesome kids, with awesome quirks, and friends who always made time for him.
Izuku wasn’t unhappy, but he’d always known he’d have to give up his dream without a quirk, and to find a different way to help others. He had had a fulfilling life without one, unlike before UA. But what he’s always wanted, was to chase the person closest to him, brighter than All Might.
In the years after the war, he felt that burn brighter and brighter. He wanted to be a hero, save to win, and win to save. He wanted to do that next to Kacchan, next to his friends, and not get in their way. He knew he was a hero, but he didn’t want to be useless.
“You better not be thinking I think you’re useless because I gave you the suit” Katsuki had barked at him.
Izuku laughs, an easy open sound. “I’m not in high school, I don’t think that way anymore. Thank you, Kacchan, for doing so much for me.”
“I only gave you the chance, dumbass. It was your own hard work and ability that made so many people want to help pitch in for your dream.” Katsuki’s red eyes had softened as he said that. He would never forget the memory of Edgeshot saying this to him on the battlefield.
Maybe 10 years ago Izuku would have felt the burden of expectation, and would have faltered under the weight of having to prove himself. But he’s grown up now, what kind of teacher would he be if he couldn’t accept the help of those around him?
Izuku flexes the brace on his arm, the nano material of blackwhip responding well to his neural system. He tests it out, looks over at Kacchan, and springs away, leaving the other man with a familiar, childish expression of incredulity.
“Sensei told me you’re dropping in the rankings Kacchan! You’re gonna let a quirkless guy beat you so quickly on his first day?” Izuku smirks as he calls back.
“Don’t act like you’re weak as shit or something just cuz you don’t have a quirk. I’ve been training, you couldn’t even try keep up, Izuku!”
“It’s actually Deku, Kacchan! Or have you forgotten?” Izuku laughs, as he speeds away.
This was perfect. The wind in his hair, the power in his legs, this was exactly as he remembered. Izuku wasn’t unhappy before, but this right here? With Kacchan right behind him?
“This is our starting point, Kacchan!! Sorry for the delay” This was Izuku’s best version of himself. He won’t quit teaching, but now he can fight in missions, open up that agency with Kacchan. He smiles as he catches himself already making plans to lessen his teaching schedule to do more of this. To be more Deku , and less -sensei.
Katsuki holds his hand out, smiling. “Hold on tight” he says, ascending at Mach speeds, building up momentum for Izuku. Izuku activates the thrusters on his left leg. Their eyes catch as they spin, for the first time in 8 years, they’re on the same page again in the field. They let go at the same time, feeling the sudden loss of each other's presence. Izuku speeds through the air, arm outstretched to save a woman falling out a highrise clipped by a villain. He hears the familiar *pop* sounds of Katsuki’s explosion fast on his heels, catching the woman right as Katsuki takes care of the collapsing block of concrete.
Izuku loves the new suit. This was how it was meant to be. OFA might have been an unexpected dream, a temporary one, but being a hero was never one. He holds a hand out to high five Kacchan on their first victory as a team, but Katsuki clasps it firmly, beaming, pulling him into a quick hug, flying away just as quick.
This was his dream. To always reach out. And sometimes, if you’re very lucky, they reach right back out to you.