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Izuku Midoriya could not rest.
Would not rest.
As he stalked heavily in the rain, Izuku knew he couldn’t afford to because the country was ruined. Because citizens were hiding in terror. The League of Villains and their cohorts were roaming the streets.
And his friends, not to mention the hundreds of refugees, were back at UA, waiting for him to do something, to save the world.
Izuku had been trying to do just that for weeks now. Fighting day and night, patrolling the remains of the city. But Izuku still couldn’t say to the world or even the heroes he was working with that he’d even found a trace of where All for One and Shigaraki could be.
Some of the vestiges manifested in their unique colors behind him. One of them spoke to him directly.
“Ninth, you need to take a break. Your wounds haven’t had the chance to heal properly yet. They aren’t even anywhere close to healing completely either.” The fourth user, Hikage Shinomori, said quietly.
When taking a short look at himself, he had to admit, from the outside, he wasn’t looking great at all. His hero costume was ragged and worn, his mask and gauntlets basically falling apart at the seams.
His side stung in sharp pains. The bullet wound Izuku had gotten in his fight with the sniper hero, Lady Nagant, had not been faring so well. It didn’t affect his mobility enough for him to completely cease activity though. He was pretty sure one of his ribs and a bone in his forearm had cracked or broken somewhat. That pain was different, a dull, everlasting ache that resonated through him sometimes.
Izuku had also accumulated plenty of minor cuts and bruises enduring his struggles with some other hired guns and low level criminals.
Those injuries were certainly annoying, but he didn’t worry much about them.
Even so, Izuku always told all of the users that he was fine and that he could keep going, constantly waving all of their worried comments away.
Izuku wasn’t going to stop now. He’d never forgive himself if he stopped because he was too weak and All for One took advantage of that. Izuku had always been too weak to stop anything significant from happening to his classmates, Aizawa sensei, Kacchan even. The events at the USJ, Kamino, and finally the Paranormal Liberation War proved how useless he was, again, and again.
He remembered vividly the cry of his sensei ripping off his leg after getting shot by a quirk erasing bullet. But the worst part was watching Kacchan get impaled because of him. The way he fell limply towards the ground, like a man already dead.
Izuku promised himself that he would never let anything like that happen again.
“It’s not the time to push yourself yet,” The first user, Yoichi Shigaraki, pleaded.
So once again, Izuku firmly stood on his position and jumped back into the air, dispersing the vestiges.
Later, Izuku heard a gang of villains laughing and the fearful screams of others from around the block.
Diving down using blackwhip and smokescreen while disabling float, he crashed into the mob.
The laughing turned into confused yells. Izuku used his tendrils to send the villains flying into the large set of concrete stairs in front of him.
Charging up a Detroit smash, Izuku made sure the last two men joined their comrades. Turning around, he asked urgently, “Are you hurt?”
As the purple smoke cleared, a woman with reddish brown hair and a backpack and two dark haired men also carrying bags were revealed.
But instead of a hesitant thanks or a hopeful smile, he found a terrified face on the woman. She was trembling at the sight of him.
But what came out of her mouth was the worst thing. “You have multiple quirks? Do you belong to him? All for One?”
Stepping forward, Izuku replied quickly, “Of course not!”
He reached out, but they were already sprinting away, one of the men calling out, panicked, “Good to know! Thanks for the save!”
The woman added urgently, “We’re okay! No need to follow! We’ll just be on our way!”
Their tones betrayed that they believed that Izuku was in fact part of All for One’s cronies. Which was the last thing he was, believe him.
Izuku assumed the three were heading to shelter, based off of the way they had packed bags full of belongings.
Sighing, Izuku instantly pushed into the air one more.
This time though, all of his thoughts were racing through his head.
All for One. Where is he hiding?
That evil, faceless man had been taunting him this whole time. After Izuku had gotten the tip from Lady Nagant and entered the abandoned warehouse, All for One had somehow anticipated his arrival. The building violently exploded shortly after, turning the surrounding greenery into an orange, blazing inferno that the heroes had to put out.
But not before telling Izuku that it was his turn. That Izuku was the one with a target on his back now. That his presence would put everyone around him in danger.
Izuku knew that All for One would stop at nothing to get to what he wanted. Even more so when it came to One for All. When Izuku went into that warehouse, he knew that both All for One and Shigaraki were not prepared to steal the quirk from him through force just yet. As All for One’s “successor,” the twisted man would want his pawn to be in optimal state.
But as of now, he wasn’t so sure. There were no sources or leads on their development, even when interrogating hired guns that were sought out personally by All for One.
There’s no time. I have to stop Shigaraki and the League of Villains.
Being alone meant Izuku also often thought about all of the harm these villains had caused to the city, the whole of Japan, and the world might be next.
Izuku really wanted to be with his friends.
But more than that, he wanted to see them safe first. That was why he wanted to stay away from All Might and UA. Izuku had hated leaving his mentor in the rain, but it was for the better. No one would have to worry. Just Izuku.
He wanted to see them smile, even if was without him. Izuku would never consider fighting beside them now. Because he could only see the glee on Shigaraki’s face as they disintegrated into grey dust, and the smug, condescending smile of All for One as he told Izuku, “This is your own doing, hero.” while all of his classmates, while Kacchan, died around him.
I won’t let them hurt anyone else.
The phrase, “It’s your turn,” applied to Izuku with a large weight that he had to carry alone. Both All Might and All for One had said that exact statement to him.
The greatest hero and the strongest villain. Izuku almost wanted to laugh at that irony.
Every fight was a blur, fists flying, blackwhip working overtime, float always enabled. But no matter how tired he was, Izuku could only think that this was the only way for his friends to smile in peace, to live in peace, to be happy together.
Once again, Izuku was patrolling on the ground, blackwhip hanging out as it had been, feet dragging slowly across the wet pavement.
Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion throughout his body hit, and Izuku fell to the ground on his hands and knees, green lightning fizzling out. He was breathing heavily, and his costume was heavy from soaking in all of the rain.
His head drooped down, but he couldn’t find the strength to look up–until danger sense sent a sharp pain through his skull.
Izuku groaned. His limbs felt like they were dragging through syrup and every muscle in his body was hurting horribly. Struggling to get up onto his knees, Izuku glanced forward.
Before him, a large crowd was standing around a shorter, hunchbacked figure. The person had a black cloak that gave off a purplish sheen in some areas that covered his entire body, and a round mask or what could be a very white face. His teeth were very large and square, while his eyes had dark pupils with a black line across them. Surrounding the eye itself were more lines perpendicular to each other.
“It’s just as he said,” he chuckled. “So impatient. Alone and exhausted. Indeed, All for One was correct in his predictions. If I bring you in, he will surely reward me greatly.”
The person grinned widely. Scanning quickly, Izuku also noticed the thin, shiny strings attached to the crowd beside him. He recognized the figure.
Dictator… another who broke out of Tartarus.
Izuku was shaky as he stood up completely, blackwhip pushing him off the ground. Blackwhip raised again as he prepared for a fight, assuming a messy battle stance.
Another hired gun…
Voice growing dark and annoyed, Izuku said, “I hope you will finally tell me where All for One is.”
“Good, good, you will fight.” Dictator exclaimed. Controlling the people through his finger movements, he made some of the crowd walk in front of him. “Against these ignorant fools!”
Dictator cackled as the people rushed towards him.
Five years ago…I remember his case as the bloodless surrender case. The hero Crust defeated him and took him in.
His Quirk…ah, Despot. Can be removed with a strong hit to the user that knocks him out or the people being controlled would need to be hit too…
Izuku’s vision blurred. He could just barely see the outlines of the crowd running at him, some with... a pickaxe? Is that a shovel too?
Colors danced around his vision.
But… isn’t he using some people to shield him? Oh no, but that won’t work. I can’t use any… strong attacks, right?
Wait, I can use airforce then, right?
But I don’t have my gloves? Where are they?
Blackwhip!
The tendrils did not move.
“Our bodies are just moving on their own!” Some people cried out. “We can’t control them!”
As their hands grabbed for his equipment, his mask, his costume—Izuku only could think,
I know. I can save you, don’t worry. When… I can get my quirk to work… maybe.
The faces of worried citizens filled his vision, moving and flowing. Izuku just wanted to close his eyes, maybe sleep. No, but he couldn’t do that. His goal was…wait, what was the goal?
His eyelids were just so heavy though…just a minute wouldn’t hurt, right?
“I’m thinking…right now of a plan,” Izuku mumbled deliriously. “I got this.”
Izuku… thought he saw a pickaxe raise over his head. That was a pickaxe, right?
Right then, a woman’s voice cried out, “No!”
Another voice, Izuku thought was quite familiar, yelled, “Damn it!”
A weird pop noise echoed in his ears, and everything went black.
—---
As the bell rung, 14 year old Katsuki Bakugo stood up to pack his things away. His annoying nuisance of a group, his so called “friends,” rushed up to him, chattering on and on about things Katsuki never cared about.
Katsuki had a raging headache. He just wanted them to go away. Scanning the room, Kastuki looked for a familiar face that usually joined the back of the others. That green, bushy hair was nowhere to be seen.
His gaze fell on an empty desk. It was the odd one out of all of the tables there. Spider lilies were around the exterior, vulgar words scrawled onto every corner.
The nerd wasn’t here today. Katsuki hadn’t really had time to notice his absence since every student and teacher always took a chance to stick their noses in his space, trying to gain the favor of the glorious star student who would supposedly go to the prestigious UA high school in the future.
Walking out the door of Aldera, followed by Tsubasa and that group, Katsuki ignored every word that was coming out of their dumb mouths.
It was true, Katsuki wanted to be the very best, a hero known to everyone, famous for his great deeds. But sometimes he questioned his abilities and place when Deku was around. The nerd was a useless quirkless, bullied by everyone around him, a wimp. But his bright, innocent smile, his intelligence on heroes, and his selflessness even when he was the one suffering made Katsuki feel unsure.
And he hated it.
But sometimes he thought Deku was the only one truly worth talking to in this school of stupid extras. Even if it was only through cold insults sometimes.
The thing that was weird was that Deku almost never skipped school. So where was he?
That was the only thing Katsuki could think about on his way home.
When he finally opened the front door and called out roughly, “Hag, I’m home!”
“Oh, Katsuki!” Mitsuki replied from the kitchen. “Inko said that Izuku has a very high fever, and she stayed home to be with him, so I made this soup for the both of them. Can you deliver it to their house for me?”
An odd feeling of relief washed over him knowing that Deku was at home, safe. The blonde shook it off.
Katsuki dropped his backpack on the floor and mumbled something under his breath but grabbed the plastic bag of soup from the table anyway.
The walk wasn’t very far, just about 10 minutes.
But what if he doesn’t want to see me? No, I really don’t care. Katsuki tried to convince himself.
He reached the Midoriyas’ front porch and knocked on the door. A short, chubby woman with a green ponytail and a pink sweater opened it.
“Is that Katsuki?” Inko said in surprise. “Come on in!”
“Uh, my mom said to just drop this off.” Katsuki thrust the bag into her hands.
“Tell Mitsuki I said thank you!” Inko smiled. “Would you like to see Izuku? I’m sure he’d love to see you too!” She gestured for him to come inside the house.
Katsuki’s brain stopped working. “I, uhm, think I have to do my homework. I have a lot. Bye, Auntie Inko!” He gave a quick bow and began to walk away hurriedly.
“Alright then, just know you’re welcome anytime!” the woman declared from behind him.
He gave a loud hum of acknowledgement.
Why would Izuku want to see his tormentor? The person who’d done terrible things to him all this time?
Suddenly looking up, Katsuki saw the entrance to the forest they’d explored as kids. The two trees that had always been on either side of the dirt road stood there like an open gateway. Katsuki did not like the flow of thoughts he was having at the moment.
Katsuki would just go for a walk to clear his head, he figured.
He could recognize all of the places his group had been to. He used to march through these woods in the front of a line, pretending he was leading his agency. Agency Bakugo.
Now that Katsuki thought about it, the name was simple-minded and quite dumb.
He could see the rocks they climbed, pretending to save a person “falling off the cliff,” or the hollow log they crawled through, imagining a secret tunnel to a secret base.
“Kacchan, help!” Deku cried, his legs hanging off the rocks.
“I’ll save you, helpless Deku!” Kacchan declared back. Using his quirk, he flew up and caught Deku’s arm. Then they clumsily tumbled across the rough dirt, wincing.
“Kacchan, you’re supposed to land safely so the citizen doesn’t get hurt,” Deku complained.
Katsuki pouted. “Shut up, I’ll get it next time.”
The blonde hadn’t had the best control over his quirk yet. After all, they were four years old.
At the time, Bakugo had been the strongest by far with his unique and flexible quirk, but Deku didn’t develop a quirk yet, so he was the weakest. Deku was always used as the team handicap.
Tsubasa and the rest were acting as villains, while Kacchan and Deku were on the other team.
“Kacchan, what’s the plan?” Deku asked. “They have a hostage.”
Katsuki shrugged. “Dunno. We can figure it out.”
“You can’t do that in real life though. The person can get hurt.” Deku pointed out.
When they were almost done discussing, Tsubasa had called out, “Where are you, heroes?”
An explosion came from a bush on the other side of the clearing. Deku panicked, peeking out from the bush. Their cover was ruined.
“There they are, get them!” Tsubasa yelled. The others charged at the area. Deku yelped and scrambled away.
But when the villain team thought they had won, Katsuki had come from the opposite side, securing the large rock they were pretending was a person being held hostage.
“Hah, you guys lost!” Katsuki boasted loudly.
They were all confused, asking how they had done it. The fact was, Katsuki was never where Deku was in the first place. Deku had suggested that because his sweat was the key factor, and the blonde was the one who controlled when it exploded, they could use that to their advantage.
They’d put a large glob of his sweat on a pile of leaves, while Deku hid nearby. Then when the pile of leaves exploded according to plan, Izuku would act like they were compromised, acting as the bait. Katsuki would come from the other direction while the mob chased him, and the game would be over.
That was one of the first times that Katsuki realized Deku was actually quite smart. Stuck in fleeting memories, Katsuki barely registered much else around him. But then, Katsuki stumbled across something he disliked remembering, yet always managed to think about almost every day.
A wide log lay above a river, from one river bank to another. The water was actually quite shallow, the water burbling aside the reeds and rocks.
He’d fallen from the log.
“I’m okay! Just give me a second!” Katsuki shouted up.
Appearing suddenly in front of him, Deku asked softly, “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”
Deku reached out his hand to Katsuki.
Red hot embarrassment and anger rushed through his veins.
“I don’t need your help!”
Walking along the log, Katsuki grumbled loudly, “That damn nerd, always butting his head into my way.”
In the corner of his vision, a dark colored blur crossed the area between the bushes.
Whirling around, Katsuki yelled out, “Who the hell is there? Show yourself!”
His palms sparked dangerously.
“If you don’t come out, I’ll find you instead!” Katsuki warned, an aggressive tone to his voice. Katsuki was a middle schooler, but he wasn’t weak. He was very ready to jump at any attacker and explode their face off.
What came out of the greenery was like nothing he would ever expect.
A creature– no, a person, draped in green–was standing in front of him. But the clothes they were wearing were so worn down. It was like he’d gone through war.
They wore an equally worn mask resembling a rabbit of some sort. The ears were torn up, and the whole mask was ridden with holes. Their eyes were also an emerald green, showing through the mask, but their irises were so dull, it made Katsuki shudder just thinking of what the person had been through.
They had a yellow scarf, cape-thing and a red belt of equipment, though the shade of both items were dimmed because of all the dirt and grime. Rips and tears especially showed near their sleeves. Their black, claw-looking boots were also extremely used and crusted with dirt.
But another weird thing was that the person was dripping with water, like they’d dunked in a body of water or got drenched by the rain.
Did he dunk in the river? Why would he do that though? It’s so shallow?
The worst part by far was the overall state of the person. Not only were they extremely dirty, but they were bleeding heavily from a gash on their side. The red was spreading along the clothing due to the waterlogged fabric.
The figure was hunching, arm over their side, like they were exhausted or in a lot of pain. Honestly, Katsuki wouldn’t be surprised if it was both.
It was a costume of some sort. They looked like an absolute villain—or even a plagued hero.
Katsuki could see them breathe a gasp of surprise at the sight of him, a step back. Maybe even a glint of fear and was that…recognition?
Okay, Katsuki knew that his classmates thought he was intimidating, but a person who looked like an eldritch creature being scared of him?
Very weird.
Katsuki was admittedly intrigued, even if the prospect of going near an unknown thing was dangerous.
The person turned quickly to flee, but Katsuki used his explosions to catch up. As he did, he realized that the person really was not tall at all, about the same height as Katsuki was now, even.
He pinned them to the ground on their back. Katsuki was about to say, “Gotcha!”
But then, black vines or something along those lines erupted from their back, making Katsuki lunge backwards.
A quirk?
The person quickly stood up, albeit shakily. The vine things waved around wildly, making him look even more frightening than he did before.
“Who are you?! Why are you following me?” Katsuki forced out.
Then the tendrils suddenly went limp.
Katsuki, although a bit scared, took the opportunity to spring for the person’s face, to unmask them once and for all. Gripping the crusty fabric by one of the ears, Katsuki ripped the covering off of their head.
There was—
Katsuki stopped breathing for a second.
Green hair, matted with dirt. Those eyes, faint freckles–
“Deku?”
—--
Fuck, this wasn’t supposed to happen. Izuku thought frantically as he looked, exposed, to the angry, now extremely confused, blonde.
Izuku woke up on the riverbank. His head was pounding, throat dry, everything hurting. Using blackwhip as a crutch, Izuku groaned as he got up.
Isn’t this where we used to play as kids? Why am I even here?
Whatever, I should get out of the open. He hobbled slowly to the bush.
“--butting his head into my way.” a voice sounded from a couple of feet away.
Shit.
Izuku dashed into the bush, but it wasn’t in time.
“Who the hell is there? Show yourself!” The voice sounded angry.
Angry, like–wait, he recognized that voice. A rough voice like that–
Kacchan?
What is he doing here? Izuku began to panic. He was in no state to be fleeing from an aggravated Kacchan. Plans rushed through his head, but all of them flew right back out when he remembered his control over his quirks was extremely poor due to his exhaustion. Plus, Kacchan could fly using explosions. So using float to escape was hardly an option.
Calling out again, he yelled, “If you don’t come out, I’ll find you instead!”
Unfortunately, as horrible and suspicious as he looked at the moment, Izuku didn’t exactly have a choice. He’d rather not get dragged out aggressively by his neck by Kacchan.
Reluctantly, Izuku slowly stepped out of his hiding place. But to his surprise, it was Kacchan in his middle school uniform. His Aldera uniform.
What? But that doesn’t make sense. Why would he..?
Izuku’s heart dropped.
Am I… in the past?
Izuku racked his brain for the possibilities of what could have happened. The most likely being that it was a quirk accident. His foggy mind remembered the woman who screamed, “No!” It was probably her.
The more important thing was how to get back. The current prospect was to escape from past Kacchan, who was now looking like Izuku sprouted a third eye, which was honestly close enough to the circumstances. He looked like a villain.
Izuku tried to run, but the telltale sound of incoming explosions was prominent behind him. He was sort of getting deja vu from his middle school days. I mean, well, he was getting chased by middle school Kacchan.
Izuku was forced onto the ground, a wheeze escaping his lungs. On instinct, blackwhip flared out, allowing Izuku to get up and Kacchan to get out of range.
Turning around to face him quickly, Izuku was on the defensive. That was until Kacchan shouted, “Who are you?! Why are you following me?” This caused Izuku to drop blackwhip for a moment in alarm. Blackwhip, which was connected to Izuku’s emotions, was definitely also afraid of hurting Kacchan. Images of Kacchan getting impaled flashed before his eyes.
Unfortunately for Izuku, Kacchan was probably half-pretending, because he took that pause to grab Izuku’s mask, and now they were in a mess.
How would he explain this?
The shock on Kacchan’s face wore off quickly, replaced by his usual tense face.
“I thought you were sick.” Kacchan sneered.
Izuku laughed nervously, “Uh, yeah, I am. I’ve just been…adventuring?”
“Where’d you even get all of this stuff anyway? And why are you bleeding so bad? Why do you…look like this?” Kacchan knew something wasn’t right. He always did.
“No reason. And I ma-made it myself?” Izuku tried.
“No the fuck you didn’t,” Kacchan snapped.
“Also, what the hell is this black rope thing?” Kacchan stepped forward menacingly. “Have you been lying this whole time? Have you had a secret quirk all your life?”
“I-uh no—“
“I knew you were always hiding something from me, even while we were kids. You felt superior all this time, looking down on me,” Kacchan snarled at him, pointing an accusatory finger in his face.
“But you’re just a useless Deku, and that’s all you’ll ever be.”
Izuku didn’t know what to say.
He’d known Kacchan had felt like this because of their fight. But how would he tell this version of Kacchan that he never felt like that, that he really never did have a quirk? It could be catastrophic to reveal anything in the past.
He couldn’t say that he was from the future. That All Might personally had given him this quirk? That they were going through war? That civilization was collapsing?
“Kacchan, listen to me. I’ve always looked up to you, and I still do. That never changed. You’re amazing, with an amazing quirk, and you’ve always been so confident and daring and I’ve always wanted to be like you,” Izuku blurted out, rambling.
“And I don’t want you to get hurt ever again—“ He continued, taking a step towards a now unsure and astounded Kacchan.
But before he could say anything else, Izuku found his legs collapsing under him, and now he was falling.
“Shit!”
Kacchan lunged towards Izuku, catching him in his arms. He was struggling to stay conscious.
“Deku!” Kacchan called out urgently. Then Izuku blacked out.
—---
For the third time, Izuku woke up.
His eyes began to clear, and he realized he was laying on the ground on a soft patch of grass. Kacchan was sitting next to him, munching on a bag of chips.
Izuku tried to sit up quietly, but the crunchy undergrowth betrayed him. He grimaced as Kacchan glanced over.
“Eat something, dumb nerd. You look like you haven’t eaten in weeks.”
Izuku opened his mouth to protest, but stern ruby red eyes pierced through his soul.
Beside Kacchan were a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a plastic bottle of water. He threw them all at Izuku’s face.
Izuku supposed Kacchan wasn’t wrong. He’d eaten and drank minimally during that period of time, spending most of that time patrolling. He’d even refused that bento box from All Might.
Unwrapping the sandwich, Izuku realized it tasted amazing after weeks of eating a single protein bar everyday. He dug in, savoring each bit. Unscrewing the water cap, he chugged every drop.
When he was done, Kacchan said quietly, “What have you been doing to yourself, exactly? ”
Izuku looked down. “I…have been doing a lot of moving around,” he said, treading lightly. “Maybe got into a fight or two.”
“You’re lying.” Kacchan said abruptly. “You’ve been doing way more than what you’re letting me in on. Fighting a little doesn’t get you to this.” He gestured to all of him. “Doesn’t get you a large wound in your side. Why are you even here?”
“I could have gotten a little lost,” Izuku admitted.
“Has anyone even been helping you? With whatever you’re doing?”
“Well maybe they tried. But I can’t let them.”
“Why?”
That question resonated through Izuku’s mind.
“Because, they would get hurt. I need to keep them safe.”
“Who’s keeping your dumbass safe?” Kacchan mumbled, almost so that Izuku didn’t hear. But he did.
An awkward silence sat between the two.
Kacchan suddenly turned to him. “Where am I in your area, place, world, wherever the hell you are at?”
Izuku was shocked. “What?”
Kacchan jumped up. “I know damn well you aren’t from here. But what’s worse is that the people from where you are let you become like this. I don’t care that you want to shelter the entire world under your shoulders. To let yourself get hurt instead of everyone else.”
“But you need rest. Clearly. Your own body won’t even listen to you. Clearly the me in your place isn’t doing their job well.”
Izuku was confused. The Kacchan he knew in middle school was too indifferent to care about his quirkless self. Why did he change now?
He’d always looked up to Kacchan as the one with a powerful quirk. Back in childhood, middle school, when they first got into UA. Even when they had fought at the training grounds and the blonde expressed harshly that he didn’t like how Izuku had become so much stronger so fast, Izuku jumped at the idea for a rivalry together because he liked the idea of being a hero with Kacchan as a pair.
But it was odd. Middle school Kacchan was now telling him that he’d always cared. That he was supposed to make sure Izuku didn’t break himself, even if it was in an indirect, intense way.
Izuku realized he meant as much to Kacchan as Kacchan did to him.
—----
Katsuki had been thinking while Deku was out.
His tired, dirty, beat up face was something he’d never thought he would see. It was very weird. He knew that this Deku was not from here, this world even. The Deku he knew was timid, easily frightened, and laid-back. This one was a hardened Deku, one born from struggle and difficulty.
He seemed jumpy and alert too, even in his drowsiness.
How long had he been on his own? Fighting injured by himself? Especially with injuries that deep.
Katsuki just shuddered while thinking of it.
Even while the nerd was suffering, he was trying to reassure Katsuki that he was fine, though he was clearly not. He was still smiling sheepishly like he hadn’t just gone through hell.
How did he do it? How is he so strong when it comes to things like this?
Katsuki was still wondering how Deku had gotten a quirk, but he pushed it aside. That didn’t matter now. What mattered was that the quirk hadn’t changed him as a person. It only amplified his feelings and his ability to protect others.
But that was how Deku had ended up hurting himself in the long run.
And now that they’d talked about his situation more, Katsuki saw everything about Deku’s –no, Izuku’s true sentiments.
Even through all Katsuki had done, Izuku cared. Cared about him. Even through the exclusion, the bullying, the name-calling. The name, ‘Deku,’ Izuku had to carry all these years.
That smiling, green-haired still idiot didn’t regard him as anything less than amazing. There was no hatred when Izuku looked at Katsuki.
Interrupting his deep reflection, Izuku suddenly cleared his throat and declared, “Okay, yes, I am not the Izuku you know. But we do share the same goals. That’s all I will say.”
Katsuki grunted in response. When he looked over at Izuku, he jumped up in alarm.
“You’re… becoming translucent?” Katsuki asked incredulously.
Izuku looked down at himself. His body was indeed becoming a little see-through.
“Ah, well I kind of suspected that this was a quirk accident. It might be wearing off. Hopefully this means I can go back to where I came from.” Izuku replied, giving a soft smile while rubbing the back of his neck.
“Uh, also, kindly do not speak of this occurrence. It might mess up your timeline.” Izuku added.
Katsuki nodded in agreement. Then he reached a hand out.
“Will you continue the same thing you’ve been doing when you get back?” Katsuki blurted out.
Izuku was nearly transparent now.
“I…don’t really know.” Izuku said back. Then, quietly, “I will consider what you’ve said though.”
“And uhm, Kacchan, just–just trust me when I say you’re doing an amazing job, and that you’ll make a great hero. You might doubt yourself at times, I know, but just work hard, and you’ll reach your goal.” Izuku called out.
“Fine. But you need to learn to step back and work with your damn teammates, classmates, whatever, first.” Katsuki retorted.
Giving a final wave goodbye, one disappeared and the other stood still, thinking.
Maybe I will visit Izuku’s house, Katsuki thought.
Maybe Katsuki’s heart relaxed when he saw Izuku in bed, weak but still grinning at his arrival. He was waving like a little kid, and so excited to see him for no reason at all. Katsuki scoffed outwardly.
Dumb nerd, Katsuki thought somewhat fondly.
And when Izuku returned and fought his classmates, maybe he tried a little less. And when he finally fell into Kacchan’s arms for the second time, maybe he accepted that his friends would always be there. Even though he was afraid of what might come next, Izuku knew that Aizawa sensei, All Might, everyone from UA, and an angry blonde with an explosion quirk were there to back him up.
Thank you, Kacchan.