Chapter Text
”All might, he’s doing it again.” Aizawa said with a knitted brow, once again being concerned for his problem child.
“He is…I fear i don’t know what else I can do to help young Midoriya”, He let out an exhausted sigh.
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It’s been three months since the war has ended. These three months have been incredibly hard for everyone, whether civilians or heroes, trying to reconstruct the city, catch loose criminals and focus on bringing everything in order again.
It has also been three months since Katsuki Bakugo died, proving his worth as a hero.
Hero Edgeshot did everything he could to pump Katsuki’s heart, though to no avail.
It had taken everyone by surprise, kind of shock that the great Bakugo Katsuki did not wake up in the end. Aizawa tried to deliver the news as softly as possible, even though he himself could not believe one of his problem children had been taken away, nor could he forgive himself for not doing more to save his life. The few people who fought alongside Bakugo or watched the fight being live streamed knew, others though…
Kirishima had been devasted hearing his best friend didn’t make it, so were the rest of Class 1-A, having to slowly accept the fact that they had lost a classmate. It was excruciating to help rebuilt the city, plan a funereal, while mourning their friend.
Slowly, things started getting a bit more normal, though Bakugo Katsuki was not forgotten, aside his brash personality and harsh temper, he was still kind at heart. His classmates still thought of him, included his name in every conversation, made sure to uphold his name in honor. Everyone was always present, well, except for Izuku Midoriya.
He had been acting really strange since everything happened, the teachers seemed to know why, but wouldn’t tell Midoriya’s fellow classmates what was going on. It was like he was never really present. He had always kind of been a mumbling mess, but since the war, everyone noticed that their friend that always chattered, had quieted down, it seemed like he was lost in his own head, and his friends didn’t know how else to handle it than to let him be, of course everyone has their own problems to deal with.
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Izuku knew Kacchan had been taken from him the second he received his “gift” from Tomura Shigaraki, he had gone batshit crazy, defeating the villain with a crying rage in his heart, feeling as if it had been pulverized. Hospitalized, Izuku found himself in the dark place that held the vestiges again, sure he’d lost his quirk, but the embers wouldn’t leave him so soon.
He walked around once again in the familiar place, getting to speak with the other holders of OFA again.
“Midoriya, how are you feeling?”, Yoichi asked hesitantly, not really sure what to say since all the tension was gone now, the final decision having been made.
Izuku stared for a moment, his head was busting with thoughts, his heart still filled with grief, he’d felt like he’d break the moment he opened his mouth.
He couldn’t do this.
He couldn’t dare speak, think or possibly do anything else knowing his childhood best friend, his rival, his hero wouldn’t be by his side anymore, wouldn’t be there to make snarky comments, tease him over stupid things, inspire him to be a better hero. He wouldn’t be here anymore, the one who had always been near him, whether as a childhood friend, as a bully, as a rival and as a friend. Kacchan was always there, an unwavering presence in his life, which had always made his heart race a little.
But now, He was gone.
Izuku wishes so badly that for once in his life, he wouldn’t have been too late.
Whether he should live or die, the hero debated. His quirk was gone, he wasn’t able to save the person he loved, let alone Tenko.
A warm hand fell upon his shoulder, drawing his eyes up to a pair of pained red eyes, filled with sympathy to the brim.
“Let it out, Midoriya.”, whispered Kudo’s soothing voice, the grip tightening on his shoulder, until Izuku finally gave in and crashed into his arms, it was too painful to look into red eyes that weren’t Kaccan’s.
As the boy’s pained sobs filled the place, the vestiges tried their best to comfort him, assuring him nothing had been his fault, that he had done amazing and finally defeated who they failed to.
Their words and touches kind of helped him calm down, although he still couldn’t stop crying, tugging at Kudo’s west.
“Urgh..” a loud groan resounded, catching the attention of everyone. “Goddamn that wrinkly bastard, that shit really hurt!”, the familiar voice yelled.
Izuku halted and snapped his head up to where the voice came from, eyes glued to the blonde on the far edge of the black floor.
For a second, he thought he was hallucinating, maybe he was actually in the afterlife…had he died too? Was he actually schizophrenic? There was surely something wrong with him.
“You gonna keep staring into my soul, nerd?” Katsuki huffed out softly, sounding amused, yet at the same time somber.
“Kacchan?”, he stared dumbfounded, not sure whether to believe his own eyes.
“The quirk!”, Nana explained quickly for all, seeming just as shocked coming to this realization.
“Back then, in the battle with nine, Midoriya, you passed your quirk to Bakugo!”.
“That means-“
“Kacchan, you’re…”, Izuku tried to speak, shocked, yet filled with so much relief, happiness, sadness all at once, his eyes brimmed up with tears again.
“Kacchan, you’re a….vestige?”, he wasn’t sure why he’d even asked, he leapt to Katsuki without thinking, embracing him in a lung crushing embrace, trying to show just how much he was feeling.
Katsuki let out a small grunt, being toppled by Izuku’s weight, but returned the shorter boy’s embrace with just as much passion, trying to convey just how much he still had to say to his best friend.
“You’re gonna get your snot all over me, Izuku.”, he huffed out amused, still having Izuku wrapped up in his arms.
Izuku could only mutter out a “shut up, Kacchan”, his grip not relenting a single bit for a long while.