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Katsuki was sitting in class, listening to Aizawa’s lecture and taking notes. Something that was not out of the ordinary. By all means, the day had been completely normal.
Then he heard the whisper.
Actually, it wasn’t really a whisper, it was a quiet voice. Unusual, since everyone in class knew better than to whisper while Aizawa was teaching, let alone talk, and the only time a voice could be heard was when Deku accidentally started one of his mutter storms. The voice was definitely not Deku’s, but it was coming from directly behind Katsuki.
He turned around, wondering who the hell was talking, and the sight he was greeted with was…a ghost. A purple ghost, to be exact, with dark hair and a jacket covering his mouth, who was muttering to Deku. Deku didn’t look confused at all, just nodding along to whatever the ghost was saying.
What the fuck.
Katsuki looked around the room, seeing if anyone else had noticed the glowing purple spirit, but no one else was even looking in Deku’s direction, not even Grape Face or the creator girl, who sat behind him. Katsuki would say that no one had noticed because they were all idiots, but he knew that they had at least some observation skills.
Deku, sensing someone’s eyes on him, looked up. He met Katsuki’s eyes, and so did the ghost. When all Katsuki did was stare at him, he cocked his head with furrowed brows. Like he was the confused one in this situation. The ghost just stared blankly at Katsuki.
Katsuki glared at Deku. Deku just sat there like an idiot. Katsuki looked pointedly at the ghost. Deku looked to the side, still confused. The ghost looked at Deku, amused, and finally spoke.
“I think he can see me, Izuku,” he said.
Deku looked blankly back at the spirit for a moment, uncomprehending. Then his head whipped to Katsuki, eyes wide. He opened his mouth, then looked around the room and closed it again. He turned back to Katsuki and shrugged helplessly. Katsuki glared even harder.
“Bakugou,” Aizawa’s voice said, and Katsuki turned back to the front of the room. “Is something wrong?”
Katsuki looked back one more time, and, yeah, the ghost was still there. Katsuki couldn’t see his mouth, but he could sense the smirk directed at him. Deku was looking at the front of the room like nothing was wrong. Bastard.
Katsuki turned back around. “Nope. Continue.” Aizawa rolled his eyes at his brazenness but continued his lecture.
The class went on, but Katsuki listened with one ear, wondering if all the trauma had finally gotten to him.
~~~
Katsuki was doing homework with his classmates (no, Kaminari, not the Bakusquad, that’s a stupid name) in the common room, but he wasn’t fully focused, looking up at the door every couple minutes.
“Hey, Bakubro, are you alright?” Kirishima asked. “In class you kept looking back at Midoriya, and you’ve been distracted ever since.”
“I’m fine, Shitty Hair, shut up,” Katsuki muttered, looking away from the door and back down to his worksheet. Then he heard the door open, and he looked up. Finally.
“Oi, nerd,” Katsuki called. Deku looked up, furrowing his brow when he saw Katsuki get up. His (alright, fine) friends started asking him questions, but Katsuki paid them no mind.
“Yes, Kacchan?” Deku replied.
“I need to talk to you,” was all Katsuki said before he grabbed Deku’s arm and started dragging him up the stairs. His friends’ protests and Deku’s questions fell on deaf ears as Katsuki brought them up the stairs and into Deku’s room.
“I didn’t even invite you in,” Deku muttered petulantly after giving up on asking questions. Katsuki ignored him and made Deku sit on his bed, then sat at his desk.
“In class today, there was a glowing purple ghosty-looking spirit talking to you,” Katsuki said. A look of realization crossed Deku’s face.
“Oh, right, I forgot about that,” Deku said. Katsuki raised an eyebrow.
“You forgot that you have a ghost haunting you?” he deadpanned.
“Okay, first of all, he’s not haunting me,” Deku said. “And second of all, no, of course I didn’t forget about that, I forgot that you saw him. Which brings up the question of why you saw him in the first place, I mean I’m pretty sure no one else saw him I wonder if it was a choice on En’s part? But no that doesn’t make sense why would he show himself to someone without telling me first and he especially wouldn’t show himself to you without saying something because he doesn’t really like you—”
“Deku, shut up, your mumbling’s giving me a migraine,” Katsuki sighed. “Do you have any theories that you can articulate properly—wait, did you say he doesn’t like me?! What?!”
Deku winced. “Oh, well…I mean, none of them really like you…”
“What do you mean none of them? Who’s none of them? I’ll beat their asses!” Katsuki stood up angrily, cracking his knuckles.
“No, Kacchan, stop,” Deku said, raising his hands in a placating gesture (that wasn’t at all placating). “Let me explain. I think I have a theory.”
Katsuki glared, ready to defend himself against some random spirits that Deku apparently knew, but after a moment he huffed and sat down.
“Uh…well…” Suddenly Deku looked sheepish.
“What? Spit it out already!” Katsuki said impatiently.
“Maybe you should give him a second,” a hard voice said.
Katsuki jumped, eyes locking on a figure that had materialized behind Deku. He froze, staring at a translucent blue figure that looked like…himself? But older?
“Kudou, it’s fine,” Deku said, smiling lightly. “I’m used to it.”
“You shouldn’t be,” Kudou, apparently, said firmly.
“Who the fuck are you?!”
“That’s Kudou, the second user of One for All,” Deku interjected before Kudou could say anything.
“The second user of One for All,” Katsuki repeated blankly.
“Yeah. Do you remember when our class went to Nabu Island, and we had to fight that Nine villain?” Deku asked.
The abrupt subject change threw Katsuki off even more than he already was, and the spirit standing there watching him wasn’t helping. It took him a second to respond. “Of course I do, but what does that extra have to do with anything?”
“I’m getting there. What was the last thing you remember?”
Katsuki thought back to that fight. “The last thing I remember was…” he trailed off, eyebrows drawn. “Getting picked up by one of those dragon things.” But that didn’t make sense, they obviously won, but why couldn’t he remember how?
Deku nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. We won because…” he winced, but kept going, “I transferred my quirk to you.”
Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Very funny, nerd. Tell me what actually happened before I blow your face off.”
Deku shook his head. “I’m telling the truth, Kacchan. I transferred my quirk to you, and we were both able to use it for long enough to beat the villain. Remember when you woke up with two broken arms? That was because your body wasn’t used to One for All, and even then, we were using it at a high enough power for it to break my arms, too.”
Katsuki stared at him in disbelief. “Then how the fuck do you still have it while I don’t?”
Deku scratched his head. “I’m not completely sure about that, but—”
“It’s because we wanted him to keep it.”
Katsuki whipped around to find yet another ghost, this one a woman with black hair and a pink glow.
“Another one?!”
“Nana,” Deku whined. “Can you guys stop scaring him? I’m trying to explain the situation!”
“But we’re helping you explain, Izuku,” the woman said with an amused smile.
“Yeah, sure, act all innocent,” Deku muttered. “You said you wanted me to keep One for All?”
“We sure did, kiddo,” said a new ghost, orange and bald with a pair of goggles on his head. “We didn’t want this brat to have it, especially not so soon after you got it.”
“What did you just call me, Baldy?” Katsuki asked furiously, jumping up.
“A brat? Come on, don’t tell me you don’t know what that means,” Baldy taunted.
“You—!”
“Guys!” Deku shouted. “Stop, okay, all of you stop. Let me finish explaining.” Katsuki let out a harsh breath and sat down again. “Apparently, I still have One for All because the vestiges wanted me to keep it, but that’s not the point. I think the reason you can see them is because you had One for All, even if it was for a short amount of time. I guess that means you can see the vestiges, just like I can.”
“The vestiges?” Katsuki asked. “Are these the past users of One for All?”
“Well, not all of them, but yeah,” Deku said. “Could you guys all come out here?”
Four more ghosts appeared: the purple one from earlier, a red one with a weird looking headband, a green one with a scar on his left eye, and a white one that had matching white hair.
“These are all of the past users of One for All,” Deku said, smiling. “There’s Yoichi, the first, Kudou, the second, Bruce, the Third, Hikage, the fourth, Banjou, the fifth, En, the sixth, and Nana, the seventh.” Each vestige gave some form of greeting at their name. Well, some of them did. Most of them just stood there in all their creepy-looking glory.
“So you’re saying I can see these people because you temporarily transferred your quirk to me, but you didn’t know it was temporary, so you were actually trying to give up your quirk to me?” Katsuki asked.
“Uh…yeah?” Deku responded.
“You’re an idiot,” Katsuki deadpanned. “That would mean giving up everything you’ve worked for.”
Deku gave him an unimpressed look. “Yeah, Kacchan, I know. But we needed to save all those people. Besides, I would’ve been fine with giving up my quirk as long as you were the one who ended up with it.”
A chorus of groans rang around the room, bringing Katsuki’s attention back to the vestiges.
“Girl, get up,” Nana said, shaking her head at Izuku.
“What did we say about saying cheesy shit like that?” Banjou said. “Especially to fuckface over there.”
“The fuck did you just call me?!”
Deku sighed.
“No, no, it’s a fitting name for you,” En said. “Did you know that we can see Izuku’s memories, Katsuki?”
“Yeah, which means we know how you treated Izuku for the majority of your childhood,” Nana continued. Katsuki froze as the implications of that hit him.
“We can make your life a living hell.” The white ghost, Yoichi, spoke up for the first time. Even with his passive appearance, Katsuki didn’t doubt the sincerity of his threat, and a chill ran down his spine (not that he showed it, of course). “However,” Yoichi said, sighing, “I don’t think Izuku would appreciate that, so we’re willing to give you a chance. From what we’ve seen, you have been trying to improve, so just keep doing that.”
Katsuki fumed, but didn’t answer, knowing he was in the wrong.
“I have a suggestion for you,” Yoichi continued. “How about you start calling him by, you know, his actual name?” he said, smiling. It didn’t reach his eyes.
“Whatever,” Katsuki muttered, but Yoichi recognized it as the agreement it was.
“I mean, my grandson is a war criminal, and I’m still willing to help Izuku save him,” Nana said, grimacing. “I think I can give you a second chance, too.”
There were varying degrees of agreement across the room, and Katsuki’s face flushed, but he let it happen. He couldn’t deny that he was trying to fix whatever was left of the relationship he had so viciously burned.
He looked over to De—Izuku. His face was flushed as well, and he looked like he was trying to sink into his bed. After a moment of no one speaking, he quietly said, “Thanks, guys.”
Banjou appeared next to him and ruffled his hair (which, how did that work, he was a literal ghost—?). “Of course, kid, anything for you.”
That just caused De—no, Izuku, damn it, to sink even further, face aflame.
The other vestiges went over to him and said similar things while Katsuki studied them. Honestly, they seemed closer to Izuku than pretty much anyone, minus his mom and All Might.
“I’m going to keep studying downstairs,” Katsuki said abruptly. “See you later, De—Izuku.” Katsuki caught a glimpse of the delight on Izuku’s face before he turned around and left the room.
~~~
Katsuki was listening to another one of Aizawa’s lectures the next day, sitting in his seat, taking notes, but with a slight difference.
There were seven ghosts that wouldn’t fucking leave him alone.
“Are you sure that’s what Aizawa said, Bakugou?” Banjou, the orange fucker, said for the millionth time that day. “You’re writing ‘put,’ but I’m pretty sure he said ‘soot.’”
“Why the fuck would he say soot when we’re talking about urban areas?” Katsuki whispered harshly. Banjou shrugged.
“Well, you see, when a fire happens, which, by the way, is totally possible in an urban area, it usually leaves behind this thing called soot—”
Katsuki’s pencil snapped.
“Bakugou, that was the third pencil you’ve snapped today,” Nana appeared next to Banjou, shaking her head disappointedly.
Well maybe I wouldn’t have if you idiots would shut the fuck up!
Katsuki took a deep breath. It was fine, everything was fine, they were trying to provoke him, and he refused to let them win.
“Izuku, you might want to take that sentence out of your notes, it’s extra information that might distract you from the useful stuff later.” Katsuki discreetly looked back and saw En hovering near Izuku, helping with his notes like he had done yesterday. Unfortunately, unlike yesterday, he was talking at a normal volume, which was really fucking distracting. Apparently, Izuku loved to torment Katsuki, because while he was taking En’s suggestions into account, he also had a smirk on his face. That motherfucker. Apparently, he was completely capable of listening to a loud fucking ghost and taking notes. Katsuki did not have that ability.
“Oh, yeah, sure,” Katsuki muttered. “Go ahead and help him with his work while you torment me. This is great. Everything’s great. What the fuck, is he used to these idiots being a nuisance all the time?”
“Guys, did you hear that? Bakugou called us a nuisance!” Banjou said in mock offense. Or, no, he yelled in mock offense. So. Damn. Loudly.
“Bakugou,” Yoichi’s voice said from very close to his ear.
“AGH!” Katsuki jumped up and spun to look at Yoichi’s head, which was poking out of the wall.
Yoichi said nothing for a few seconds, then smiled a bit. “I was going to tell you that your classmates are looking at you weirdly.”
Katsuki looked back to the class and noticed that Aizawa was silent and, oh, look at that, his classmates were looking at him weirdly. Good thing he was warned of that in advance.
He turned to look at Izuku. His head was down, but Katsuki clearly saw him trying to suppress a laugh.
“Bakugou, you’ve been acting weird since yesterday,” Aizawa said. “Do you need to go to Recovery Girl?”
“I’m fine,” he seethed. He sat back down stiffly. After a second of studying him, Aizawa slowly continued his lecture.
“Sorry for startling you,” Yoichi said (from where he was still in the wall).
“No, you’re not,” Katsuki mumbled.
“No, I’m not, but I might be. At some point.”
Katsuki shook his head and kept writing.
~~~
Katsuki walked away from where Izuku was practicing using Blackwhip with Uraraka, Sero, and Asui. Banjou was also helping Izuku get the hang of his old quirk, not that his classmates knew that. Now that he thought about it, when Izuku was practicing with Blackwhip before, Katsuki had seen him nodding when no one was talking to him. The vestiges’ existence explained what that was about.
All Might was sitting by the wall in his small form, which was normal after Kamino. Katsuki sat next to him, grabbing his water bottle and taking a sip.
“All Might,” Katsuki said. All Might hummed to show he was listening. “Can you see the vestiges?”
All Might looked over at Katsuki. “Did young Midoriya tell you about them?”
Katsuki shook his head. “I can see them.”
All Might’s eyebrows raised. After a second, he hummed. “Is it because he transferred the power to you on Nabu Island?”
Katsuki snorted. “You’re smarter than you look.”
All Might narrowed his eyes at him playfully. “You think I became number one just because of my power?”
“I guess not. So can you see them or what?”
All Might shook his head. “No. Young Midoriya told me about the vestiges, and he thinks I can’t see them because they weren’t able to physically show themselves until some time after he got One for All. You being able to see them might be because they were already able to show themselves by the time you got the quirk, so you can see them, but I can’t.”
Katsuki squinted at him. “Your theorizing makes it sound like he really is your secret love child.”
All Might’s head snapped toward him, startled. “What?!”
“Icy Hot’s conspiracies are idiotic, but you do sound like Dek—Izuku.”
All Might shook his head, regaining his composure. “Izuku? I thought you called him Deku?”
Katsuki looked away, taking another sip from his water bottle. Then he nodded toward where Banjou was, even though All Might couldn’t see him. “The ghosts told me that I should start calling him by his name, considering that Deku is…a not very nice nickname that I gave him.”
He turned back and saw All Might looking at him with a fond smile. “You’ve changed a lot, young Bakugou.”
Katsuki scoffed. “The hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked with less heat than intended.
“I’m just glad that you’re trying to get along with young Midoriya. Well, in your own way, I suppose.”
Katsuki looked back over to Izuku and the others. He narrowed his eyes at the sight of all of them chatting. “Oi, what do you think you’re doing?” he asked, standing up and stomping over. They turned to him. “Are you slacking off?”
Izuku smiled brightly. “Not at all, Kacchan!” Without warning, he shot his hand out at Katsuki, and Blackwhip wacked him in the face.
“OW! What the fuck?!”
Izuku plastered an innocent look on his face. Katsuki saw right through it. “Oops. Sorry, Kacchan, I guess I need more practice.” The idiot had a smirk pulling at his lips. Katsuki could hear the three extras snickering behind their hands. Banjou cackled loudly. Unfortunately, Katsuki could tell Izuku hadn’t been slacking because his aim was a lot better than it was at the start of the day.
“Oh, it is on, you little shit!” Katsuki charged at Izuku.
From the wall, All Might smiled while shaking his head. Yup, young Bakugou was definitely bonding in his own way.
~~~
“Kacchan, come join us,” Katsuki heard Izuku call. It was the weekend, so he was cooking dinner for all his classmates, and they all decided to go shop or sleep or whatever like fucking assholes instead of giving him company while he cooked their entire meal for the night. Then again, they knew that he hated people screwing with his cooking, so it makes sense that they’d want as far away from him and his knives as possible. Izuku was the only one who had stayed near the kitchen.
Katsuki looked at the rice he was cooking. He wouldn’t be able to do anything until it was done, so, with a sigh, Katsuki started on his way to the common room, deciding to check on the rice in twenty minutes.
As Katsuki walked, he wondered who was with Izuku, because he hadn’t heard anyone greet him or anything. He rolled his eyes when he made it to the common room, because of course he didn’t hear anything. The “us” was a bunch of weird spiritual douchebags.
Said weird spiritual douchebags (and Izuku) were currently sitting around the circular table in the common room. The table held…a teapot and teacups. They were having a fucking tea party. And for some reason, they were all staring silently at Katsuki. Including Izuku. Then, after a second, they all picked up the teacups in front of them, took a sip, and slowly put them back on the table. Completely in sync. Without breaking eye contact once.
“Okay, what the fuck,” Katsuki said.
Izuku brightened, like he was just now noticing Katsuki. “Kacchan! Come sit and take a cup.”
Katsuki stared at him. Izuku stared happily back.
“Are you guys seriously having a fucking tea party?” Katsuki asked, then turned to the ghosts. “How the fuck are you holding the tea?! You’re a ghost!” Katsuki might be going a little bit insane.
They all continued to look at him until Banjou spoke up. “Well, Bakugou, we’re not actually holding the tea, we’re holding the cups that have the tea inside them—”
“Motherfucker!” Katsuki yelled, lunging at Banjou. The goggle-wearing bastard laughed and dodged, leaving Katsuki to chase after him shouting profanities.
Izuku watched the scene with a smile on his face. “I’m glad they’re getting along,” he told Nana.
Nana looked at Izuku, then to where Kacchan was yelling, “Oh, so now you’re intangible, you insufferable son of a bitch—” after his failed attempt to hit Banjou in the face with his shoe, then back to Izuku. “Your definition of ‘getting along’ makes me wonder if your brain is fucked up.”
Izuku glanced at Nana, unimpressed. “If anything, the seven dead people living rent-free in my head are the ones who have fucked up my brain.”
Nana rolled her eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry for living here rent free. How would you like us to pay you? Maybe Hikage can teach you how to become a hermit? Or maybe you’d like to hear the porn-worthy moans of First and Second going at it like a couple of rabbits with a libido the size of All for One’s head—”
“Fuck you, Nana,” Kudou said while Izuku gagged dramatically.
“Can you deny it, though?” Nana asked with a smirk.
“You’re just mad that the only result of the action you got was an abusive son,” Yoichi said, sipping his tea.
“And then he had a son that started a war against hero society,” Izuku chimed in.
“Oh, you’re siding with Yoichi now?” Nana asked, offended.
“Of course not, Nana! Why would I ever do such a thing?” Izuku asked, blinking innocently.
“Frauds, the lot of you,” Nana said, drinking her tea in disdain. They all collectively ignored the shout of “That all you got?” and the incoherent screaming in the background.
“Manipulation is a useful tool if you're willing to use it,” Bruce said, nodding at Izuku. “Also, when there was only three of us, Yoichi and Kudou did go at it like rabbits until they realized I could hear them. Now they’re just quieter.”
“I did not need to know that! I’m too young for this!” Izuku whined while Nana cackled.
~~~
When Kaminari walked into the common room, he was expecting to see Midoriya chilling on the couch while Bakugou yelled at eggs in the kitchen. Instead, he saw a teapot and eight teacups on the table, Midoriya lamenting that he was too young for something, and Bakugou running around the common room like a maniac shouting that he was going to “murder you so dead that your miserable soul rips into a thousand different pieces and you can’t have any more fucking tea parties to celebrate your failure at killing a big bad potato!” Bakugou’s words, not Kaminari’s. The two didn’t seem to be talking to each other.
Contrary to what some people might believe, Kaminari was a very smart person. So, when he saw what might very well have been Class 1-A’s two problem children finally snapping under all the trauma, he did the smart thing and bolted the fuck out of there.
As he ran upstairs, he called Kirishima. “Kaminari? What’s up? Is dinner ready?”
“Kirishima, I think we might need to evacuate. Midoriya and Bakugou have gone insane, I repeat, Midoriya and Bakugou have gone insane.”
(Later, when the class barges into the common room, quirks at the ready to defend against whatever the hell they might find, Katsuki and Izuku finally look up. Everyone is frozen for a moment. And then…
“OH SHIT! THE RICE!”
They watch, mystified, as Bakugou runs into the kitchen. Midoriya starts laughing. He sounds kind of a like a serial killer.)
~~~
“You two have been acting weird,” Aizawa says. Midoriya raised his hand. Aizawa pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Midoriya, this is a meeting with three people. You don’t need to raise your hand.”
“Sensei, I haven’t been acting weird,” Midoriya says. He side-eyes Bakugou.
“Motherfucker,” Bakugou retorts to the silent accusation.
“Language,” Aizawa says, knowing it’s hopeless. “There’s really nothing going on?”
The problem children break their staring competition to nod simultaneously at Aizawa.
“I don’t get paid enough for this,” the teacher mutters. He walks out of the room.
~~~
The war they’ve all been anticipating happens.
Although, it’s not really a war.
Tomura Shigaraki sent a message to the heroes. “Meet our army at the ruins of Kamino on Saturday at noon. We’ll settle who’s worthy of ruling hero society once and for all.”
So here they are.
Endeavor is leading the army of heroes. Shigaraki is leading the army of villains. For a moment, there’s silence on the battlefield as the two leaders size each other up from a safe distance.
“You know,” Nana mutters from where she’d manifested beside Izuku. “Tenko’s probably like this because he accidentally killed his dog.”
The silence is broken.
“He what?!” Izuku shouts, horrified. Nana looks at him, eyes wide. Izuku freezes as he registers the even heavier silence around them. Ah, shit.
He slowly turns to look at Endeavor, who’s looking at him like he’s deciding whether or not Izuku should join Rei in the mental ward. Then he looks at Shigaraki, who’s looking at him like he’s a particularly confusing dog. But, like, speaking of dogs.
“Shigaraki!” Izuku calls, walking forward. He hears Kacchan ask, “What the actual fuck are you doing?!” but Izuku ignores him. He walks until he’s even with Endeavor, who tries to grab his arm, but Izuku dodges and keeps walking until he’s almost within dusting distance of Shigaraki.
“I propose a truce,” Izuku says.
“This child is going to get everyone killed. God help us,” Kudou prays. Izuku might even see him bring his hands together and look up. Huh. Izuku thought he was an atheist.
The League is standing right behind Shigaraki, and they all look at him incredulously. After a moment, Shigaraki huffs and says, “What is it, brat.”
“If I buy you a…” Oh shit, he doesn’t know what breed the dog was. “Nana!” he hisses.
“Crazy child,” Nana answers. Izuku ignores the stares he can feel from literally everyone on the battlefield. He knows the League can hear him talking to himself. They’re looking at him like he’s certifiably crazy, which, okay, traumatized band of misfits, you can’t be judging.
“What breed was Tenko’s dog?” he whispers. Shigaraki stiffens.
“Oh my fuck. You imbecile. You’re gonna buy him a dog? Really?”
“Your only son was abusive!” Izuku shoots back.
“Why is that your only comeback?”
“He was probably like Endeavor. Hate that fucker.” Izuku sees Dabi perk up. He ignores him.
“Oh hell no, comparing my son to Endeavor, you son of a bitch—”
“Don’t talk about my mother like that!”
“I was talking about your deadbeat dad.”
“Oh. That’s fine. Anyways! Tell me what breed the fucking dog was!”
“Corgi.”
“If I buy you a corgi,” Izuku continues loudly like nothing happened. “Will you chill? And, like, not kill a bunch of children who you’ve already traumatized? And adults? Please?” Izuku asks hopefully.
Shigaraki stares. And stares. And keeps staring. Somehow, no one speaks. Not until Shigaraki says, “Deal.”
Dead silence.
Then, “Tomura, what?”
Izuku knows that voice.
He turns slowly, ever so slowly, toward the man with a mask covering his face, which doesn’t distract Izuku from the fact that he has no eyes.
“Tomura, I hope you’re joking,” the man is saying, but Izuku isn’t hearing it, and the next thing he knows—
“SMASH!”
All for One’s mask breaks under the force of a single punch. Maybe if Izuku was anyone else, All for One would’ve been able to dodge. Unfortunately for him, Izuku has the rage of eight past users (because somehow, he can feel All Might's anger even though he’s not a vestige) coursing through him, plus his own. All for One never stood a chance.
He climbs onto villain where he’s still on the ground, and just starts punching.
“YOU—MOTHERFUCKING—PIECE OF SHIT! I’M GOING TO BASH YOUR POTATO-LOOKING ASS HEAD IN UNTIL THERE’S NOTHING BUT DUST AND YOU FEEL WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE A VICTIM OF THE QUIRK OF THE CHILD YOU GROOMED! MOTHERFUCKER!”
Everyone on the battlefield (?) watches as Izuku Midoriya throws punch after punch into the ruler of the underground’s head, screaming profanities all the while.
“And for the last hit,” Izuku says, breathing hard now. “I’ll make sure you never get to experience the pleasure that your brother experiences on a daily basis with the man you hate the most.” With that, he smashes his One-for-All-powered knee right into the crotch of the worst supervillain the world has ever known. All for One howls, then passes out.
Izuku pants. He hears someone walking over and looks up to see Shigaraki. He kneels down next to Izuku, but he’s looking at All for One.
“Have fun in hell, Sensei,” he says, then puts all five fingers on All for One’s throat. They both watch as he fades into nothing but dust.
After a solid five minutes, Shigaraki is the first one to move. He stands up, wipes his hands on his pants, then says, “So, about that corgi?”
Izuku looks up. Then he laughs. And laughs and laughs and laughs.
“Did you really have to bring my sex life into this?” Yoichi says. Izuku turns, tears of laughter in his eyes, to see Yoichi standing there, smile on his face. Izuku laughs harder.
Dabi makes his way over. “Kid, you sound like a serial killer. Also, did you say you hate Endeavor?”
“Oh, yeah,” Izuku breathes out. “Hate his guts. His fire moustache is stupid.”
Izuku hears a faint, “WHAT?!” from the number one hero. He takes great pleasure in ignoring him.
“IZUKU!” Izuku turns to see Kacchan exploding his way toward him. “YOU STUPID FUCKER!”
“Midoriya, did you say you were gonna buy Shigaraki a dog?” Todoroki is walking his way over in a much calmer manner than Bakugou. “You can use my dad’s credit card.”
Was that another enraged exclamation from Endeavor? Hm, seems like all those middle school explosions are catching up to him. Suddenly he can’t hear properly.
“Thanks, Todoroki, that’d be great,” Izuku says, grinning.
“Hey!” They all turn to see some random villain walking up to them. “You’re not going to fight them because of a dog, Shigaraki?” he demands, sneering. “Are you that scared?”
Shigaraki studies the villain. “The League’s not fighting anymore, and it looks like most of our recruits have the sense to not fight a bunch of heroes without our help. But if you want to try, be my guest,” he says, stepping aside and gesturing to the heroes. The man looks back at the rest of the villains, who have completely given up on the prospect of fighting, then back at the heroes. He wilts.
“Never mind,” he says, going back to the villains. Izuku hears sirens, and evidently so does everyone else, since the villains all start scrambling to run away. Shigaraki hands Izuku a piece of paper.
“Bar’s address. I’m expecting that corgi,” he says.
Izuku smiles. “I’ll get you a pair of artist gloves on top of it. You won’t accidentally dust stuff as often and your hands can go back to normal instead of them looking like you attend tea parties every week.” He mimes sipping a cup of tea, holding his pinky out with a grin.
“Very funny, you little shit. We’re going now.” The League waves, then Kurogiri appears and warps them out.
Izuku stretches. “Well, that was fun. You guys want to go to the pet store with me?” he asks Kacchan and Todoroki. Kacchan looks like he’s about to blow a fuse. Todoroki thinks for a second, then nods.
“I already have the credit card,” he says, holding it up. Izuku smiles.
“Great! Let’s go, then!” he says, and starts skipping in the direction of the pet store, Todoroki following.
~~~
Katsuki would wonder what the hell just happened, but honestly, he’s always known that Izuku is a crazy motherfucker. He’s also always had a weak spot for animals.
“Oi, Izuku, wait up!” he yells, running towards Izuku and Icy Hot. Before he reaches the two, En appears in front of him.
“I’m surprised you’ve survived the sheer insanity that is Izuku Midoriya all these years,” he says conversationally. “You do not want to know what’s written in his middle school diary.”
“Wait, what? What’s written?” En smiles and speeds ahead. “En! You son of a bitch! What does he have written in there? Tell me!” Katsuki demands, blasting his way forward.
~~~
Class 1-A watches as Midoriya and Todoroki chat while Bakugou yells at someone named En.
“You know,” Kaminari says after a moment. “Bakugou was yelling about some potato man before. I guess All for One was the potato.”
They all turn to look at him.
“What?” Kaminari says offendedly. “I’m coping.”
They turn to look at the trio.
As one, Class 1-A decides that they, too, are in dire need of a coping session. They chat about the Problem Duo all the way back to the dorms.