Chapter Text
Face away
Deal with the pain
Your own way
How could they deal with the pain
I know
It was mine too
And you?
Is it really you?
Sleep Token - Is It Really You
“Dynamight, look out!!”
But the warning came a split second too late, and a chunk of wrought-iron laden cement struck him firmly in the back of the skull, sending Pro Hero Dynamight flying. Vision blurred and his stomach lurched as the tumbled head over feet down… down… down...
Until that moment, the latest crisis had been going about as smoothly as it could have, as far as Katsuki Bakugou was concerned anyway. A subway tunnel had collapsed beneath an apartment complex, and the building’s structure had been severely compromised. Several agencies had been dispatched to the scene for both crowd control and rescue. Lucky for Bakugou, his agency had a good mix of both rescue heroes and combatants on it, and they had been first on scene.
Bakugou himself had been working crowd control when the building’s foundation had started to give way. After that, he’d turned his attention to the rescue side of things. Civilians were still inside, and he had taken it upon himself to start blasting rubble out of the way to clear a path for their escape. And that had been going very well; he'd managed to lead three families to safety and had just moved on to another floor when he was struck.
He couldn’t focus, couldn’t figure out how to activate his quirk and slow his fall. That's it . He thought. Taken out on a fuckin' rescue mission. Wow.
But a set of arms caught him around the waist, a shoulder pressing into his hips. He slumped over his rescuer, and blacked out.
Whoever had caught him was strong. Bakugou wasn't the lightest guy, and they'd snatched him out of the air like he was a feather. The shoulder that had struck him in the hips was too sturdy and broad to be Uraraka, but nowhere near bulky enough to be Kirishima. Then again, his ex boyfriend probably wouldn't have tried to save his ass even if he was on scene.
Was he even on scene? Bakugou couldn't remember. No matter.
Regardless, his rescuer was gentle. Bakugou could tell he was being set down, and a hand was placed behind his head to support his neck. There was a male voice speaking to him, a voice he could almost place, but the words being spoken were still muffled. Katsuki’s ears were ringing too badly to hear them anyway. Crimson eyes tried to open, but rolled back again when the bright sunlight hit them and he groaned. That same gloved hand pushed his mask over his eyes and smoothed his hair back off his forehead.
But that voice. He could have sworn he recognized it. The timbre of it, the pitch, the way the constants and vowels were shaped… he knew it, he did… but how? Bakugou tried to open his eyes again to some success, but the world around him spun and his lids sagged shut again.
Tap tap tap . "Hey… hey open your eyes… stay with me…" tap tap tap. "Come on… theeeeere you go… look alive Kacchan…"
Kacchan????
When Bakugou finally came to enough to hear the words being said to him, the mention of his childhood nickname screamed loud in his mind. "De… Deku??" He murmured, finally able to let his eyes open. He'd been placed on a chunk of fallen debris, and a gloved hand was tapping him in the side of the face over and over and over. It grabbed his jaw and shook his face, helping him regain consciousness. Katsuki blinked, trying to clear the fogginess from his eyes. And when he did, the sight he saw pulled the air from his lungs.
Green eyes. Big, bright green eyes the color of emeralds, surrounded by long, thick, dark lashes. Eyes he had loathed and adored and admired for years . Then freckles; faded slightly with age and maturity, but still visible across high, sharp cheekbones and a slender, adorable nose. And the smile. God, that smile was brighter than the sun. All perfect white teeth and innocents.
"Hey Kacchan," Izuku Midoriya - his one-time childhood friend and biggest rival - said.
Katsuki blinked. And blinked. And shook his head and blinked more, staring up at the face above his. "How…" Was he dreaming? Was he dead ?! Was Deku his reaper, come to take his soul into the afterlife??
But Midoriya shook his head and helped him sit up. His stomach lurched and it took everything in him not to heave up his breakfast. "Later," he said. "Are you okay?" The green haired man reached for him, trying to check him for cuts or bruises.
Katsuki batted his hand away and shot him a glare. "Other than talking to a fuckin' ghost?" Bakugou said, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "Gimme a minute and I'll be fine,"
Deku had taken him a few blocks over where there was less of a crowd trying to swarm them, and part of Bakugou was thankful for that. The other man had placed him on top of some fallen rubble, just high enough so his feet hit the ground when he sat at the edge of the concrete slab. It was quiet there, and he was able to clear the cobwebs from his shaken brain.
"You need to get looked at by a doctor, Kacchan," Deku said. "The hit you took was nasty… you probably have a concussion,"
That or I'm fucking dead and your ghost is here to haunt me . Bakugou thought, as he reached a hand up to touch the tender spot on the back of his head where he'd been struck. His glove came away smeared with blood, and Bakugou sighed. "I've got a medic on staff at the agency. I'll get her to take a look when we get this mess sorted out," he grumbled, wiping his hand off in his black cargo pants. He got to his feet, wobbling somewhat unsteadily until the other man jumped to his feet and helped even him out. But again, he brushed off the help with a grunt and a glare and shuffled off down the sidewalk a few paces. "If you're actually here, you better fuckin' help," he said. With that, he activated his quirk and launched himself into the air and back towards the incident.
It took several hours before the last of the victims were found and pulled out. But luckily, there were no casualties in the collapse, hero or civilian. Lots of injuries, some more serious and some minor scrapes, but everyone made it out alive. And that in itself was a win in Bakugou’s book.
The biggest shock of the day, however, was most definitely Deku's return. And anyone who saw him on scene, stared after him with the same bewildered expression. One or two of their old classmates broke down into tears, hugging the tall green haired man, who just hugged back with a grin. But as the heroes began to step back to let the firefighters and clean up crews do their jobs, the look on everyone's face had been the same as Bakugou’s; shock.
Seven years.
Seven long years.
Nobody had seen Deku since Graduation. The day after the graduating classes had accepted their diplomas and partied the night away, Deku had been nowhere to be found. His dorm was empty, his belongings gone. Even Todoroki - who had been Deku’s boyfriend since first year - had no idea where he'd gone. There were no letters this time, no request not to be followed. Just… gone. Social media deleted, phone number disconnected… Gone . When he hadn't turned up within a few months, class 3A had begun to think the worst.
Bakugou had convinced himself after the first year that Deku was dead, and he'd lived with regret for a long time. He'd been awful to Midoriya for years, in some vain attempt to cover his own inferiority complex. He'd been a bully, and he knew it. And the fact he never got the chance to make it up to Midoriya had eaten him alive for a long time. Eventually - after the fight that effectively ended his and Kirishima’s relationship, and after more than a year in what was apparently some much needed therapy - Bakugou had found a way to forgive himself for the things he'd done… while making a few other realizations along the way.
Realizations that he'd made amends with, and had accepted some time ago. Realizations about why, exactly, he'd singled Midoriya out above the others. Why he'd been harder on his one-time friend. Why he'd taken all his anger and frustration out on him, instead of anyone else. These things he'd never told anyone aside from his therapist, who had helped him cope with Deku’s loss, helped him grieve.
But now, here he stood, looking very much alive and - as much as he hated to admit it - very, very attractive.
Deku had grown in the years he'd been away. He stood taller than Bakugou now, not by much, but still enough that Bakugou had to look up to see his face. Shoulders were broad and strong, his waist slender and lean. Midoriya’s face had lost the baby chub around his cheeks, and the ridges of his cheekbones were more pronounced now. Green eyes were unchanged, still as big and bright and innocent as ever. The mop of green hair that he had always kept a little long had been cropped close around the back and above the ears, while the curls still bounced wildly on top. But by far the most surprising thing about him was the modifications .
Rings and studs of silver lined his ears, a chain dangling from the lobe of the left one with a small metal spike attached. Two more rings looped through his lower lip on the right side, accentuating the fullness of his mouth. His hero costume was largely unchanged, but with the front zipper pulled down slightly like it was, Bakugou could see just a peek of a tattoo creeping up the side of his neck. And fuck , was he ever curious about how much more of Midoriya was covered in ink.
Bakugou had to shake his head to stop from staring as the other man walked through the crowd towards him.
"How's the head?" Deku asked.
"Fine," Bakugou lied. In reality, his skull was throbbing and he was sure that his hair was matted with dried blood.
"Good," Deku said. Green eyes looked around, flickering from face to face that lingered nearby. "Listen, Kacchan, can we talk… at some point?"
A dirty blond brow arched and Katsuki fixed the other with a look. "You've got a helluva lot of explaining to do, nerd. Come to my office later. We'll talk,"
The green haired man nodded. "Will do,"
Bakugou wanted to say more, wanted to ask a million and one question, but before he had the chance, a hoard of grateful civilians swarmed them in search of autographs and pictures with the #2 Pro Hero. So he did his best to put on a smile and appease the masses, while Deku turned and headed off again with nothing more than a smile and a wave.