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The throbbing in his chest, pounding like a drum. Sometimes he wondered if it had ever really stopped, the beat heavier since the disaster of the training camp. The throb of it, when Muscular had shown up to take him. The ache when he was snatched away, that magician daring to suggest that Izuku had no claim on him.
He didn’t. It just wasn’t anyone else’s place to rub it in.
Maybe he was imagining it, but he swore that blackwhip buzzed in tune with that pulsing inside him. His blood roaring in his ears when Monoma dared to insult his—to insult Kacchan. The quirk seemed to echo the beating of his heart, or maybe it was leading. It was impossible to tell, so entwined were the two. Shigaraki had gravely injured Kacchan once before, and his alpha had roared to life and assumed complete control, fighting with everything at his disposal, pure instinct and rage.
And just now, only moments ago, he’d nearly given in again. Because Kacchan was—
He couldn’t afford to think about it. Some part of him was still not thinking clearly, not prioritizing the world over his m—not prioritizing the world like a hero should. It would have been better to keep Shigaraki contained to the coffin, where there was far less potential for damage.
But far more potential for him to hurt the person that mattered the most to Izuku.
“Poor All Might needs your help, Midoriya Izuku!” Shigaraki taunted, but Izuku couldn’t look away, couldn't lose focus, because—“In the meantime, I’ll go back to U.A. to kill everyone who hurt me!”
No one had really hurt him. Izuku only barely noticed the telltale starburst of an explosion over half his face when he’d arrived. Which meant that the first person that came to mind for Shigaraki would probably be—
It was worse to think about that possibility, his control slipping, and he looked to All Might instead. Every move at this point, every decision, it all felt like one fatal mistake after the other. He wanted to be the perfect successor, so the least he could do was force down the tears that threatened to rise at the sight before him.
A strange light surrounding All Might’s forearm vanished, his hero froze in place, a beam of energy shot through U.A. just as it had stabilized, and now it was plummeting again with Kacchan—focus. He kept Shigaraki in the air because it was all he could do.
A team of jets, swatted like flies, pilots plummeting to earth in balls of fire. He kept Shigaraki in the air, because it was all he could do.
All Might held aloft. Shigaraki in the air. All Might’s body, stretching thinner than thin. It was all he could do.
Throb.
U.A. plummeted, but Katsuki was there at the edge, on his feet somehow. The sight alone was enough of a miracle to Izuku. Katsuki, halo’d in bright light, unmistakable.
The dull roar of his blood quieted, their eyes meeting, and he knew that Katsuki would come to him instinctively. His head and his heart might have doubted, but something thrummed between them, quiet and alive and intentional. There was understanding as their eyes met, their feelings clear to each other, one and the same.
Katsuki leapt, and he felt the throb. Izuku began to swing himself through the air at a set speed, knowing that Katsuki would nail the timing regardless of pace. There was something on the wind, and he sensed when Katsuki was close, hand outstretched and the throb reverberating in Izuku’s teeth, in his chest.
He clasped Katsuki’s hand in his own, his grip firm and confident. They made the catch look effortless, like they’d practiced dozens of times. Tendrils of Blackwhip gathered and stabilized the hurt in Katsuki’s arm, a pain that their connection conveyed without words. Even through the fabric of their gloves, he could feel it between them, the link that neither had dared to grasp before. Too hurt, too proud, too scared. Until now.
A bond.
An alpha, firmly rejected by his fated mate before either of them had even presented. An omega, frightened by the freakishness of an alpha who never put himself first.
Rejected no longer, no longer afraid, the bond sang between them. Their combined will, their intent, their realignment of fate.
It was enough to do a little bending of fate in exchange.
The wind that had carried Katsuki’s scent to him blew in their favor, now. It buoyed Katsuki to where he needed to be, a touch of gearshift to send him on his way. He was Izuku’s symbol of victory, and the path was clear.
Katsuki was nearly dead on his feet, nothing left of All For One but a crawling baby. Surely, he’d done enough? It would be okay if he rested, just for a moment.
Enough? No, fuck that. That was loser talk. Their school motto wasn’t “Do Just Enough”. Feet planted, eyes up. He was ready for anything. The shrimp had one last move. Straightforward, slower than his reflexes. Done and dusted. He could finally rest, right after this pose…
Okay. He’d save the pose for next time.
Darkness.
A tug. The bond. Izuku. There was an oxygen mask on his face, he was moving on a stretcher out of the crater where he’d collapsed. He hadn’t been strapped down, and what remained of his arm hadn’t even been braced before they started to move him. He supposed that meant he was in pretty bad shape, huh? If it was this urgent to move him.
Another pull at his bond. There was loss there, immeasurable, overwhelming sadness and fear and pain. Izuku was in pain he was hurt his mate was in danger—
The low pitched yowling of an animal brought the stretcher to an abrupt stop, and he seized the opportunity to rip the mask off his face and clamber out of the stretcher.
“Young man, you lie back down right this insta—”
He hissed in her face, spittle flying, feral and beyond words as the information from his bond sent him into another frenzy, the last of the adrenaline in his body dumped all at once to get him moving. More complicated thought was difficult, he was all limbic system, all reptilian hindbrain and the need to get to Izuku over everything else. He couldn’t even feel his body, feel the pain. If he could he’d no doubt be curled up on the ground screaming for them to take him away on that stretcher.
The EMTs froze, or maybe they were just civilians, actually. He came to realize that low yowling was coming from him, warbling in the air. On his feet now, he checked that he was clear, and then he took off.
Nothing felt fast enough, but there was still ignition in his feet, steam pouring from his mouth. Dehydration would be a concern, more so even than the blood loss, but if he dropped now he’d be in the middle of nowhere, and his mate would still be in danger. He could sense him, the bond was pulling him in the right direction; all he had to do was trust it.
A black mass, visible as he squinted through his good eye. A pinpoint. Izuku. His Izuku. Shouto must have heard him coming in, low to the ground in case he blacked out. A ramp of ice rose in front of him, the perfect height, slope and arc to give him a boost over the mass of All For One. In his exhausted state, the help was welcome. His boots were hot enough as he made contact that he essentially hydroplaned, frictionless against the ice.
The moment he made contact with Izuku, he felt reinvigorated. Through the bond, he knew how his words and touch had renewed his alpha’s strength, and it gave him enough presence of mind to catch his own fall, even as he watched his mate do what no one else could. All For One was so alone in this world, he’d never understand this kind of feedback loop, like his heart was beating in two places. Just the sight of Izuku was enough to keep him going, to push through to the end. He could sense that Izuku felt it too.
Izuku was still high in the air when the remains of All For One had almost entirely dissolved. He launched himself up after him, single-minded in his effort to break the fall. Sero just barely managed to sneak a tether onto his waist—he could feel the drag as he pushed himself higher on an intercept course. It was probably for the best, because he wasn’t really thinking about how they’d both land safely.
He crashed into Izuku hard, good arm secure around him. Izuku practically crushed him in an embrace, easing off as a pang went through his chest. That adrenaline was at its limit, it seemed. Immediately, they were reeled in toward a crowd of people below, all gathered and utilizing a multitude of quicks to slow their descent and cushion the fall. A mix of their classmates, and extras he didn’t give a damn about.
And then Izuku was scenting him, right there in the dirt, and it was downright euphoric. He’d take this over being high on pain any day of the week. Aizawa lingered nearby, seemingly instructing people to give them a little space. It was probably because of all the growling Izuku was doing, though he didn’t mind it, personally.
There was no trepidation as he considered tomorrow. Whatever happened, they would be forever. Although, there was one thing he was curious about…
“Are you wearing the Men's Non-No Brand, Series Five, One-Size All Might T-Shirt?”