Chapter Text
Izuku stood at the top of the building looking down. He heard nothing. He saw nothing. He felt nothing. He’d prepared for this day, he’d held out till this day. Everything was finally going to disappear. He turned around, his back facing the drop. He took a deep breath..the last breath he’d ever take.
“Goodbye,” he whispered as he fell backwards, the wind rushing past him, blowing his hair in his face. He braced himself for the impact of the concrete, shutting his eyes and holding his breath, but when he connected with something, it wasn’t the ground. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Katsuki ran towards the building where he’d been informed the person was. Katsuki was the closest hero, but backup was on the way. Katsuki ran with every bit of strength he had. He had to get there in time. This couldn’t end like last time. He reached the site, but there was a huge crowd around the building, so it was hard to get to the front. Everyone was releasing distress pheromones, and it was almost too much for Katsuki. He shook his head and tried to regain focus. As he made his way to the base of the building, he saw someone standing at the very top, their back to the drop. Before Katsuki could do or say anything, the person fell backwards, gathering speed, and falling to the ground way too quickly. Before Katsuki’s mind had time to understand the situation, his body activated his quirk and used his explosions to propel himself up to meet the person before they hit the ground. He reached out, grabbed the person and held them close. He started falling back down, bracing himself for when he hit the ground.
Izuku felt himself collide into something. It was warm and solid, the exact opposite of what he had anticipated. Suddenly Izuku tensed. He felt sick, like he was going to faint. He didn’t even have to open his eyes to know that scent. The one person he had never wanted to see again was here, holding him, saving him.
Izuku felt the shudder as Kacchan collided with the ground.
He heard Kacchan’s breath hitch, as he muttered, “fuck”. That fall must’ve hurt. Izuku felt himself struggling against Kacchan, using what was left of his strength to try get as far away as possible from this man. Kacchan let go of him, and Izuku scrambled to regain his balance. He finally built up enough courage to look at his saviour. He gasped in surprise. Even though he could recognise Kacchan anywhere, he’d changed so much. He still had his out of control hairstyle, and his eyes were still that deep, entrancing crimson. What surprised Izuku the most was how much Kacchan had filled out. He was also a lot taller than Izuku anticipated. Before, he’d only been a couple of centimetres taller than Izuku, but now he towered over him. He had to keep reminding himself that it had been 6 years since they’d last seen each other. He searched Kacchan’s eyes, looking for any sort of emotion, but found nothing.
“Does he not recognise me??” Izuku thought.
Kacchan walked up to him, and Izuku had to will himself not to flinch. Kacchan crouched down and placed a hand on Izuku’s shoulder.
“You okay?” Kacchan asked him. Izuku was bewildered. Kacchan was asking him if he was okay? What was going on?
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Kacchan asked, helping Izuku stand up while scanning his body for any obvious injuries. Was Kacchan showing concern?
“Not talking?” Kacchan said once again, this time looking into Izuku’s eyes. Izuku worried he was going to figure out who he was, and Izuku wasn’t prepared for that. Thankfully, Kacchan didn’t show any signs of recognition.
“I’m going to take you to the police station now, okay?” Kacchan said, slowly pulling Izuku into a waiting car, but Izuku held his ground, his eyes wide in fear, shaking his head. Then all of a sudden, as if they’d been snapped out of a trance, swarms of reporters started taking pictures and shouting questions.
“Ground Zero, how does it feel to save someone after last time?” one reporter asked. Izuku could tell that was a bad question to ask. He saw Kacchan flinch, and then a fire lit in his eyes. He forcibly pushed Izuku into the waiting car before getting in himself.
“Take us away from here,” he commanded the driver. The car started to pull away from the building, and Izuku felt himself start to panic. Kacchan was releasing intense pheromones, and Izuku was fighting to not blackout. Without realising it, Izuku had started to produce his own distress pheromones. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kacchan’s nose twitch, and before he knew it he was hit with a sweet musky scent. He cursed himself for not using scent blocker that morning. Kacchan now knew he was an omega, as he had released comforting pheromones, whether intentional or not. Despite himself, Izuku felt himself relaxing into the seat, and he slowly allowed himself to be dragged down.
Katsuki sat in the car, watching the man he’d just saved fall asleep, despite obviously trying to resist it. Katusi guessed the shock and adrenaline had finally worn off, and the man had given in. Katsuki took a sniff of the air and blushed a little realising he’d released calming pheromones without knowing. He looked out the window, wondering where to take the stranger. He knew he should take him to the police, or to his hero agency, but the man seemed so scared and opposed, Katsuki didn’t know if that was the right thing to do. He’d thought about taking him to the hospital, but that didn’t seem like such a good idea either. Finally, Katsuki settled on a location. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best he had.
As Katsuki picked the omega up, he realised he was surprisingly light, almost too light. He walked to the front door and opened it, struggling to keep the man up. He carefully took off the man’s shoes before his own. Katsuki walked over to the couch before deciding it would probably be better to put the omega in his room. He carefully placed the omega down on his bed, making sure not to wake him up. As Katsuki looked down on him, he realised he was really young. He looked about 21 years old, only a year younger than himself. He walked over to his closet and took out the smallest clothes he owned and placed them on the foot of the bed before closing the door behind him and walking into the kitchen. Katsuki scratched the back of his neck, a bad habit he had picked up a few months after Deku disappeared.
“The fuck??” Katsuki muttered to himself, “why am I thinking of that nerd now?”. Katsuki made his way into the kitchen where he started to make dinner. He was actually heading back home before he’d gotten the call. It was 6 pm, and Katsuki had forgotten to eat anything all day. Another bad habit he’d formed after Deku..
“STOP!” he shouted, slamming his fists on the kitchen counter. He could feel tears stinging in his eyes. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking about this, or crying. He had a much more important issue on his hands. He started chopping the vegetables and eventually found his rhythm, tuning everything else out.
Izuku awoke with a start. He sat up in the bed he was lying in, and the scent smacked him in the face. His heart started racing. Where was he? Why was he lying in a bed that smelt like Kacchan? He ran his hands over his body, making sure everything was still okay. He quietly slipped out of the bed, looking at the pile of neatly folded clothes. He tiptoed to the door, and quietly creaked it open, hoping whoever was in the house couldn’t hear him. He squeezed past the door and looked left and right down the hallway. To the right was a dead end, so Izuku made his way down the left, towards the sound. He stopped at the turn and silently looked around. His breath hitched when he saw Kacchan standing with his back to him, cutting what looked like potatoes in the kitchen. Izuku then looked the opposite way and saw the front door. He quickly made his way to the front door, ducking behind the sofa when Kacchan turned around and scanned the room Izuku breathed out when Kacchan went back to chopping. Izuku had finally made it to the front door. He slowly pulled down on the handle, opening it enough for his tiny body to slip past. He was just about to stand up when the door closed and he felt a presence behind him. He squeaked and ducked on, protecting his head with his arms.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Kacchan asked. When Izuku didn’t answer he could hear Kacchan huff in annoyance.
“Listen, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me,” Kacchan said, thankfully taking a step so he wasn’t towering over Izuku. Izuku stood up but didn’t face Kacchan.
“I can’t let you go, have you seen the state of yourself?” Kacchan said, as Izuku turned around, but kept his eyes trained on the floor. Izuku couldn’t answer that. He hadn’t looked in the mirror for months, there wasn’t one where he had been staying.
“Okay, so don’t reply,” Kacchan said, turning around to go back to the kitchen.
“At least go take a shower and clean yourself up. I left some clothes at the bottom of the bed and dinner’s almost ready.”
Izuku obeyed, as much as he didn’t want to. He knew he couldn’t escape, at least not now, and with an alpha telling him to do something it was hard to defy. Izuku made his way over to the room he’d left and picked up the clothes that were on the edge of the bed. He then made his way over to the bathroom which was connected to the bedroom. He closed the door and locked it behind him. He then sunk to the floor, the exhaustion and shock wearing him down. He didn’t know how long he’d been asleep for, but it only felt like a couple of minutes. He walked to the shower and turned it on. He stripped from his clothes and stood in the shower, letting the water run down his back. He wanted nothing more than to drown himself, but something was stopping him. He washed his hair and body before turning the shower off and stepping out. He looked around for a towel and saw one on the rack. He smelt it, his nose filling with Kacchan’s scent. He dried himself before changing into the clothes Kacchan had provided for him. He walked over to the sink and looked up. Although it was slightly fogged up, Izuku could see himself perfectly. He was slightly shocked. He didn’t look anything like he remembered. No wonder Kacchan hadn’t recognised him. He’d dyed his hair pure black and was wearing blue contacts. He’d covered his freckles so many times over the years Izuku wasn’t sure if they were still there or not. Izuku had done his best to make sure no one would recognise him. Scars littered his arms and there were numerous bite marks littering both sides of his neck. Izuku tried his best to use the shirt to cover them. Thankfully the shirt was big enough that the sleeves covered the top half of his arms. Izuku sighed and said, “I guess this is as good as it’s gonna get,” to himself before making his way out the bathroom. As he made his way sceptically back to the kitchen, he reminded himself to take the contacts out before bed. He stood just around the corner, collecting his thoughts before entering the room. Kacchan was sitting at the table with a big plate of steaming curry and rice in front of him. There was another plate of food sitting directly across from him, assumably for Izuku. Izuku slowly made his way to the table and took a seat.
“Thanks for the food,” Izuku muttered quietly before he took a small spoonful. The flavours exploded in their mouth. Izuku’s eyes widened as he took another bite. For the past few years, he’d been living off fast food. This was the first proper meal he’d had in who knows how long. However, after only 5 spoonfuls of the rich curry Izuku couldn’t eat anymore. He risked looking up at Kacchan, only to find him enthralled in his own food. Izuku placed his spoon down, and rested his hands in his lap.
“You done eating already?” Kacchan asked. Izuku noticed a slight hint of worry in his voice. Izuku was so confused. Why was Kacchan being so nice? His whole childhood Kacchan had bullied Izuku, telling him he was useless and worthless so many times Izuku had started to believe him. So why now was he showing him concern? Izuku nodded his head in answer to the question, staring at the hands in his lap.
“So..” Kacchan said, taking another mouthful of food, “what’s your name?”. Izuku froze, and he was sure Kacchan picked up on his movement. Izuku’s mind raced for an answer. He couldn’t tell him his real name, and his mind had completely stopped working to think of a new one. So Izuku shrugged, unsure of what to say.
“You don’t know your name or you don’t wanna tell me?” Kacchan asked, scraping his plate for the stray pieces of rice.
“I don’t really have a name,” Izuku answered, his voice sounding husky. Over the years people had called him so many different names he'd almost forgotten his given one.
“So you can speak,” Kacchan replied, getting up to take his plate to the sink. Izuku tensed, sensing Kacchan wasn’t happy with his answer.
“Of course I can speak,” Izuku muttered under his breath.
“So what should I call you?” Kacchan asked, running the water.
“I don’t really care,” Izuku said, getting up and scraping the remainder of his dinner into the trash.
“Well that’s not very helpful,” Kacchan replied as he started to wash the dishes.
“How about..” Kacchan said, pausing as he thought for an answer. Izuku carefully placed his plate next to the sink and walked away, going to sit on the sofa.
“How about..how about Izumi?” Izuku heard Kacchan say as the plates clinked against each other. Izuku’s breath hitched and he tensed up. Thankfully Kacchan couldn’t see him. Izumi..was it just him or did that sound similar to Izuku?
“Why..why Izumi?” Izuku asked, although he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“Because..because you remind me of someone I used to know..” Kacchan trailed off, and the two didn’t speak for the rest of the night.