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Everything hurt. But that wasn’t unusual for Izuku. In fact, it was almost normal for the boy to be bruised to the point he couldn’t move.
Blinking against the sun shining down on him, he watched the clouds fade in and out of focus as the fight came rushing back to him.
Nine. The villain with multiple quirks, like All for One- was going to destroy the entire island to get Katsuma.
Katsuma’s cell regeneration quirk was the key to Nine becoming unstoppable.
Nine was going to destroy the island, destroy them, to get Katsuma. And then he would take over the world, building a new society.
Class 1-A had refused to let that happen. They had all split up to take down the group of villains. Todoroki, Iida, Kirishima, and Tsu fought against Chimera. Tokoyami and Ashido fought Slice in the caves beneath the island. And that had left Bakugou and himself to fight against Nine. But that was okay. Izuku didn’t want to make anyone else have to face him. Bakugou had refused to step down and Izuku was the smallest bit relieved that he wouldn’t be alone when fighting.
Speaking of the fight… new memories started flashing behind his eyes. Ones that brought tears to his eyes, tears that had nothing to do with the pain coursing through his body.
Being trapped against the mountainside by Nine’s quirk. Bakugou was only a few feet away, getting crushed alongside him.
Getting a crazy idea.
Bakugou agreed to his plan with no words having to be said between them. Because they knew there was no other choice.
“This is the end of your dream, Deku. You’re gonna be Quirkless again”
“But that’s fine. I have to do this.
Because if it’s you…
It’s okay…”
Izuku doesn’t remember if he said that last part out loud.
But it worked. Together, they had defeated Nine and saved everyone on the island. It didn’t matter that Izuku was Quirkless because they had won. He and Bakugou had worked together for the first time in their lives and won. And Bakugou… Bakugou had Izuku’s quirk now. He was the new holder of One For All. And that was okay, because it was him.
But what wasn’t okay was that Izuku didn’t know where Bakugou was and couldn’t hear any sign of his classmate. The ringing in his ears had gone down enough for him to hear his surroundings but he couldn’t pinpoint any sign of the blonde. No angry swearing, no popping explosions. He couldn’t even hear the rustle of clothing that comes from someone’s chest rising and falling.
Choosing to ignore the small voice in his head saying that Bakugou didn’t make it, Izuku held back a curse as he picked his torso up from the ground, slowly sitting up as new waves of pain flared across his entire body. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to breathe as he reopened his eyes, having shut them instinctively against the pain. Looking around as best he could with blurry vision, Izuku felt the panic and desperation take hold as he still couldn’t find the blonde.
Repeatedly looking around the area he could see from his position, Izuku’s breaths started coming faster, taking in less air every time.
“He has.. to be… fine.” Izuku muttered as he twisted around. He gasped for air again when new waves of pain washed over him. Putting a broken hand on the ground to steady himself, he had to wait several seconds before his senses came back to him. Looking up, he noted with annoyance that his vision had gotten even worse. His eyes weren’t able to focus anymore, leaving his surroundings to be fuzzy blotches of color.
Heart beating in his chest, Izuku nearly cried with relief when his eyes focused for only a second, but it was enough for him to see Bakugou. He was behind Izuku, several yards away laying on his back, both arms broken from what Izuku could tell but he didn’t see anything else clearly wrong with the boy.
Izuku felt the smallest of smiles on his face as he tried calling out to the blonde.
“Kacchan,”
There was no response.
“Kacchan, wake up.” Izuku tried again, forcing his voice to be louder than a hoarse whisper.
“We won Kacchan. C’mon, wake up and tell me that you won.”
The notoriously loud boy remained silent, not moving.
Izuku’s fear was back.
“Kacchan? Can you hear me?” His voice was starting to tremble and panic was rising in his chest.
Still calling out to Bakugou, Izuku managed to flip his body around and start making his way towards him on his hands and knees. His arms repeatedly gave out as he moved forward, earning him a faceful of dirt as his body hit the ground every time. Switching to pulling himself forward along his stomach, Izuku focused on watching Bakugou’s chest, hoping to catch the smallest amount of movement.
His vision was still hazy and one of Bakugou’s arms was across his chest but Izuku should still be able to see if he was breathing. Right?
Choking back a sob after what felt like hours of watching the blonde, Izuku forced himself forward again. Pushing himself to be close enough to touch Bakugou. His own spiraling thoughts only added to his panic as he moved towards his unconscious - because that’s all he was - friend.
It was fine if Bakugou was hurt, Izuku reasoned with himself. It wasn’t good, but it was fine. Because if he was only hurt, that meant he was alive. And if he was alive, the quirk that Izuku gave him- One For All - was still safe and protected.
Izuku tried to focus on those thoughts as black dots danced across his vision as he got closer to Bakugou. But each time he was able to get a semi-clear look at the blonde - it didn’t look like he was breathing.
And that scared Izuku.
He tried not to listen to the thoughts that said it would be his fault if Bakugou was gone. That giving One For All to him was too much and his body couldn’t handle it. That Izuku was the reason Bakugou wasn’t breathing right now.
Izuku dropped to the ground as a sob ripped through him, tears streaming down his face. He didn’t want to believe that his best friend was gone, and he was the reason. Bakugou was stronger than Izuku, there wasn’t any reason his body shouldn’t have been able to handle the quirk, and he knew that. That’s the reason he even allowed himself to think about transferring to Bakugou in the first place.
Blinking back his tears, he looked towards Bakugou again as the black dots started to form a ring around the edge of his vision - he was going to pass out soon. But Izuku wasn’t going to give up, not while he was still able to move. Gritting his teeth again, he reached his arm out to cover the last few feet between them, still hoping the blonde would wake up and respond to him.
“Wake up… Kacchan!”
He was so close now, inches away from reaching Bakugou with the edge of his fingertips when he felt a pulse go through his head. Izuku didn’t have much time left before he went unconscious again. Determination strong despite his failing body, Izuku covered the last few inches between them and wrapped his fingers around the burnt material of Bakugou’s suit.
He was practically on top of the blonde at this point and he still couldn’t tell if he was breathing or not. He could see that at least half of his suit had been torn or burned away by his chest but he couldn’t tell if he was breathing.
Izuku’s breathing turned erratic and unsteady as his panic fully caught up with him. He wasn’t able to do more than pull at the fabric of Bakugou’s tunic before he fell unconscious beside him, tears staining the ground from where they had repeatedly fallen.
‘Kacchan… please be okay’
All Might and Hawks were the first heroes to arrive on the island. They had split up once they got there, Hawks heading towards the caves while All Might went to what looked like the heart of the destruction.
The Symbol was worried about all the students, of course. But he was especially worried about young Midoriya. The boy had a way of throwing himself into danger whenever the older hero turned around it seemed.
Spotting a flash of green from the air, All Might steered his parachute towards it, hoping it was his successor.
Landing at the edge of a crater, his heart nearly stopped when he was able to understand what was before him. In the center of a blasted out section of earth, lay two of Class 1-A’s top students. Bakugou was laying flat on his back, arms broken with large sections of his suit missing. And Midoriya… Midoriya was collapsed next to him, one of his hands tangled in the mess of the blonde’s suit, as if he was trying to reach the other boy.
Running towards them, All Might took off his jacket and used it as a cushion for their heads. They were both unconscious but breathing with steady pulses. As he moved Midoriya to be laying next to Bakugou, he noticed dirt and gravel stuck to the boy’s chest. Looking back where he had been laying, All Might’s eyes went wide as he saw a path of smoothed dirt with drops of blood going back several yards. It looked as if… as if someone had crawled and fought through the dirt to be where Midoriya had been laying.
“My boy,” All Might said quietly, holding back his own tears at the sight of the broken boys, “what happened to you two?”
His arms hurt. Which wasn’t entirely unusual for Katsuki, but still something to note as he slowly came to his senses in a hospital bed.
He could hear the constant beeping of his heart monitor and the sounds of people shuffling around in his room. Feeling the bright lights pounding down on him, Katsuki turned his head to the side, still keeping his eyes firmly closed.
He heard a quiet laugh from the direction he was now facing. Opening one eye, he saw the tired face of his homeroom teacher giving him a small smile.
“Welcome back Bakugou”
The blonde only grunted in response. Opening his eyes fully, he looked around the room, spying a window on the opposite side of the room. He could see rolling hills and water, that meant they were still on the island.
“You came to the island?” Katsuki’s voice was rougher than he expected, scratchy, like he had overused it by shouting too much.
“A lot of heroes did,” Aizawa said, nodding his head as he sat farther forward in his chair. “When we figured out what you kids were facing, pro heroes and the military worked together to get here as fast as we could. Hawks and All Might were the first ones to arrive with the rest of us following closely after. All Might was the one who found you and Midoriya.”
Katsuki snapped his head up at the mention of his classmate, “Deku’s okay, right? Where is he?” He knew they had fought Nine together but it seemed like he was missing some of his memories… He couldn’t remember how the fight ended, or what had happened to his classmate- not that he was worried about him or anything
Aizawa nodded, noticing the concern in his student’s voice. “He’s alright. Two shattered arms, a bit worse than yours but the doctors don’t foresee any complications.”
The blonde felt himself nodding, mumbling something about that being good but his head was still reeling. Why couldn’t he remember what happened? Why couldn’t he remember how the fight had ended with Nine?
“Bakugou,”
His teacher was standing now, worry seeping through the man’s typical blank facade,
“What’s wrong? I need you to talk to me.”
Katsuki hated that he was doubting himself. But he couldn’t remember and he needed to know.
“Did… did we win, Mr. Aizawa?”
Aizawa knew he wasn’t hiding his concern anymore but he was past caring. “You did Bakugou. You and all your classmates defeated the villains and protected all the civilians.” He watched his student take in that information. Most of the worry faded from the boy’s expression but he still looked confused.
“Do you remember what happened, Bakugou?”
“I don’t-”
The pair’s conversation was cut off when a nurse rushed into the room, the sounds of shouts and yells slipping through the open door behind her. She came right to Aizawa, motioning for him to step to the side so they could speak.
Katsuki wasn’t able to make out what the two were saying but the nurse was clearly distressed, almost nervous from the way she was wringing her hands and… pointing at Katsuki. As quickly as the conversation started, it ended with an abrupt nod from Aizawa and the nurse went running back through the door. Looking back towards his teacher, Katsuki was about to ask what was going on when Aizawa interrupted him.
“Can you walk?”
“I think so- hey! What the hell?” Aizawa was already pulling him out of the bed and pushing him through the door, “what’s going on? Where are we going?”
“To see Midoriya”
“Deku? Wh-” Katsuki’s questions were cut off as more shouts rang through the hospital. It seemed that they were heading towards the shouts. Sparing a look at his homeroom teacher, he was surprised to see worry still present in the man’s eyes.
“Wha- What’s wrong with Deku?”
Aizawa didn’t slow down as he continued to help Bakugou down the hallway. “Problem child woke up and started panicking when he couldn’t see you. The staff is worried he’s going to become… unpredictable.”
‘They’re worried he’s going to use his quirk.’ Katsuki thought to himself as they continued to move closer to where the shouts were coming from. He could make out the other boy’s voice but it sounded different. It sounded angry, and desperate.
“What am I supposed to do?” Katsuki asked because it’s not like he knew how to comfort people.
“Hopefully just seeing you will be enough for him to calm down. If he gets worse, I’ll pull you out and we’ll have to use my quirk to get him back down.”
That sounded… more serious than Katsuki thought it would.
All too quickly, they reached the door that Katsuki assumed opened into Midoriya’s room. They could both hear what was being said from the other side.
“No! All Might- stop! Where is he?”
“Young Midoriya, please sit down!”
“NO! Where is Kacchan?”
Aizawa let out a curse as a green light started to glow behind the door and shouldered it open, pushing Bakugou in first.
Katsuki saw his classmate standing in the middle of the room. Midoriya’s hands were curled into fists despite being covered in bandages and his eyes… His eyes were angry, and he wore a scowl that made even Katsuki want to take a step back.
He watched as Midoriya, who was glaring at All Might, said the words he never thought he’d hear.
“ WHERE IS KATSUKI?!”
A few minutes earlier...
Izuku could tell that something wasn’t right.
He figured he was in a hospital, the sounds of the machines nearby and the feeling of a soft pillow and blankets around him. The pain in his arms had been brought down to a dull ache in a way that meant he was getting pain meds. Opening his eyes, he immediately turned the side, hissing as the lights stung his eyes.
“Young Midoriya, I see you’re awake”
Although it was soft, Izuku knew the deep voice could only belong to All Might.
Opening his eyes again, Izuku looked around the room, taking in the appearance of his mentor while scanning the room for something- he wasn’t sure what thought.
“All Might-” Izuku had to clear his throat before he was able to continue, “what happened? How are you here?”
“We came as fast as we could.” All Might said, regret and sorrow taking over his face. “Hawks was the one to figure out you kids were alone here with a villain. I’m so sorry we didn’t make it sooner. He and I were the first to make it to the island and I was the one that found you and young Bakugou together. Did you…”
All Might was still talking but Izuku didn’t hear a word he was saying. Because he finally remembered who he was looking for, and what they looked like last time he saw them.
“Where is he?”
All Might only blinked at him in response. Izuku’s demeanor had gone from confused to scared in less than a second.
There was a beat of silence between the two before All Might answered, “Where is who, my boy?”
“Kacchan. Where is he?” he said again, the fear of losing his best friend coming back to him in an instant. “Where is he, All Might?” Izuku was now looking frantically around the room, his hands gripping at the sheets as nerves overtook him.
“Young Bakugou is here, my boy. Please, calm down” the hero urged, standing up to push Izuku’s shoulders back against the pillows.
But Izuku still couldn’t hear All Might past all the thoughts swirling through his head and simply shook off his mentor’s hold.
“I need to see him,” Izuku pleaded, desperation seeping into his voice. “I- I couldn’t tell if he was breathing. And, and he has it All Might! I need to make sure he’s okay. I need to make sure I didn’t kill him.”
“Midoriya! Bakugou is just fine, please don’t-”
“He wasn’t BREATHING- I need to see him!”
Izuku’s shout startled the nurses around them. He could tell by their reactions that he was scaring them but it didn’t matter because he needed to see his friend. Several nurses came over to try and help All Might to bring him down but he just pushed them away, words coming out of his mouth faster than he could stop them.
“It was all my fault… I made him take it. I made him help me finish it and he wouldn’t wake up. I didn’t think about how it would affect him- ah! I was so stupid! He wasn’t breathing and it was my fault- ”
A pair of hands on his chest pushing him snapped him out of his daze.
“Stop!” he cried, managing to slip past all the nurses and All Might and throw himself off the bed, pulling out his IV in the process. Izuku didn’t even register the blood slowly dripping down his bandaged arm as he staggered towards the door, trying to fight his way out from the nurse who had grabbed him.
He was too distracted to see one nurse slip out the door and run down the hallway.
“Young Midoriya! Please stop this!”
All Might was standing behind him now, his eyebrows drawn together with concern from the glimpse Izuku had gotten of him.
He doesn’t understand! “I had to give it to Kacchan, All Might! An- and he got hurt because of me! I need to see him to make sure he’s okay, to make sure he can protect it!”
“Young Bakugou is fine, Midoriya!” his mentor pleaded, getting more worried by the minute by the boy’s behavior. Izuku just shook his head, either not noticing or not caring that tears had started to fall down his cheeks.
“No! He- he wasn’t breathing-”
Izuku was so caught up in needing to see Bakugou that he didn’t realize he had activated One For All purely out of instinct. He heard gasps around the room as multiple hands fell away but there was still one set moving towards him.
“No! All Might- stop! Where is he?”
“Young Midoriya, please sit down!”
All Might was reaching for Izuku now, his unease growing even more as he watched the boy activate his quirk unconsciously. Something was clearly wrong but Izuku wouldn’t stop and talk to him long enough for the hero to figure it out.
The boy shoved his hands away, moving towards the center of the room to get away from everyone.
“NO! Where is Kacchan?”
His hands were clenched into tight fists, green and red sparks dancing around his arms. And his eyes… his eyes looked almost feral All Might thought as he stepped back unconsciously from the panicking boy.
“ WHERE IS KATSUKI?!”
A gasp at the door had Izuku whipping his head around.
No one said anything as the two boys looked at each other. Not when the tension in the room was so high that everyone felt like they were suffocating.
The silence seemed to last forever. All Might’s heart was in his throat as he waited for either of the boys to move. Aizawa’s hand inched towards his capture weapon as he prepared himself for the possibility of stopping Midoriya.
But as quickly as Izuku’s quirk had come, it dissipated just as fast, leaving the boy lurching from its absence. Katsuki felt himself moving forward to steady Izuku before he realized what he was doing. Grabbing a hold of the smaller boy’s waist, Katsuki pulled him up until they were both standing.
He found himself unable to say anything as he watched green eyes flick across every piece of his face, tears still sitting on the edge of his lashes.
“Kacchan..?” Izuku said softly, his voice cracking despite only saying one word.
“Yeah nerd, it’s me.” Katsuki found himself answering just as quietly, softly squeezing Izuku’s sides from where his hands still were. He swore under his breath as tears started falling down Izuku’s cheeks. He didn’t make any move as Izuku brought shaking hands up to his shoulders.
“I thought… you maybe-” Katsuki didn’t interrupt as Izuku struggled to find the words to say.
“Kacchan, I didn’t know if you were breathing… an- and it was my fault-”
Izuku’s words ended with a choked sob as he pulled himself into the blonde’s arms and tucked his head against Katsuki’s neck.
Katsuki’s body went stiff as the green haired boy threw himself on him. He didn’t move at first, staring with wide eyes at All Might and Aizawa, who had joined the other hero. Aizawa only rolled his eyes, but he looked less frantic than when they had been going down the hallway and All Might gave him a relieved smile. He scowled at the pair of teachers because they had given him no hints as to what he was supposed to do with the crying boy in his arms.
He eventually just tried something - which was putting his arms loosely around Izuku’s back and drawing him closer. He couldn’t tell if that was the right thing to do or not when Izuku pushed himself closer to Katsuki, wrapping his arms tighter around the blonde’s neck.
Maybe Katsuki should say something?
“Deku, it’s-” No, that wasn’t right. Katsuki shouldn’t be calling him ‘Deku’ when the kid clearly worried himself to the point of hysteria over Katsuki’s wellbeing.
“Izuku-” He heard a poorly concealed hiccup from the other boy, Katsuki held back a smirk. “Everything’s alright. I’m here. I’m okay.”
“But you weren’t waking up-”
“I was probably unconscious Izuku.”
The boy just shook his head, refusing to move from his spot against Katsuki. The blonde sighed, accepting that he was stuck to the crying boy for the near future. They stood together for a few minutes. Katsuki never moved his arms from around Izuku and Izuku never moved from where he was wrapped around Katsuki.
When it seemed that Izuku’s tears were finally starting to stop, Katsuki caught Aizawa nodding his head towards the bed where Izuku was supposed to be resting. Nodding his head, Katsuki carefully reached behind him and unclasped Izuku’s arms from his neck.
Tearful green eyes met red eyes as the pair found each other’s gazes again.
Katsuki was slammed with the sudden urge to wipe the tears off Izuku’s cheeks but restrained himself because where the hell did that come from .
“C’mon, let’s get your sorry ass back in bed” he said, moving his hands down to Izuku’s waist to move him towards the bed.
Izuku immediately went rigid underneath his hands and Katsuki could practically hear his heart rate spiking. He watched as Izuku’s eyes quickly became panicked and his breaths started coming faster.
“No- I won’t leave you-”
“I’ll stay,” he quickly said, “It’s okay. I’ll stay, Izuku”
Katsuki watched his words wash over the other boy. As he felt his body relax in his hold, he gently steered Izuku back towards his hospital bed. Once they got there, he offered a hand to help him back into it.
Seeing Izuku back in bed, Katsuki went to pull his hand away only his heart to do a somersault when Izuku gripped it tighter.
“Don’t leave,” he pleaded, green eyes going wide at the thought of Katsuki going away.
Katsuki squeezed his hand back and gave him a small smile. He pulled up the chair All Might had been sitting in and brought it up to Izuku’s bedside.
“I won’t’” he promised.