Chapter Text
Izuku sat quietly on the bench, staring up at the evening sky as it melted into soft shades of orange, amber, and fading crimson……. Crimson .
The last light of sunset spilled across the buildings of Aobayama, painting the quiet district in warm golds while the colder blue of night slowly crept in behind it. A deep sigh slipped from his lips, visible for only a second in the cool autumn air. His hands curled tighter around the convenience-store coffee he’d bought on the walk back from campus, the paper cup still warm against his fingers.
A cold breeze swept through the street, rustling through the trees lining the sidewalks and lifting the curls around his face. It made the pink dusting across his freckled cheeks turn even redder.
God… he loved this city.
Aobayama District felt softer than Musutafu somehow. It was much quieter. Gentler around the edges.
The autumn here was beautiful in a way that almost hurt. In a way that overwhelmed him with memories.
The roads curved through hills covered in maple trees, their leaves burning shades of red and orange beneath the streetlights. The sidewalks were wider, calmer, and less crowded than it was back home. There were little cafés tucked between bookstores and apartment buildings, quiet tram stops glowing gently at dusk, and narrow streets where fallen leaves gathered in golden piles near the drains. Even the air smelled different here, colder, cleaner, touched faintly with earth and rain. He had been here three years. And he enjoyed each autumn to the fullest, like it was his first time.
Izuku still missed home sometimes, too. Sometimes he missed it a lot.
He missed Musutafu. Missed the loudness of it. Missed the familiar train routes and convenience stores he’d memorized growing up. All the memories he made, his school days, parks, and sometimes he missed Ibara City even more, because that was where he’d spent six months interning… six months living with Kacchan….
But Sendai felt peaceful in a way he hadn’t realized he needed.
At night, the stars were visible here. Not perfectly, not the way Izukus would get the HD view, not like the countryside, but it was enough. Enough that he could sit on the roof of his apartment at the end of the day and look up to see constellations faintly scattered across the sky instead of buried beneath neon lights and pollution. Enough that the world felt bigger. The stars held a deep personal meaning to Izuku. The night up the hill.
And autumn here reminded him of Kacchan constantly.
The sharp, cold air. The orange - red leaves. The warmth of canned coffee against numb fingers. Hiking trails, climb through the smaller hills surrounding the city. Every time Izuku walked through the tree-lined streets, shedding its beauty to the ground, he found himself thinking: Kacchan would like this.
I’d wanted to invite him so many times.
Wanted to drag him up the mountain paths covered in red leaves that matched his eyes, furiously crunching beneath his feet, as he grunted and grumbled, and listen to him complain the whole way up, teasing Izuku or even playfully mocking him like his life depended on it, while secretly enjoying it.
He wanted to sit beside him under the clear autumn sky and share a juice box from vending machines after sunset. But every year when they planned their visits, Katsuki always ended up booking somewhere else instead. Kacchan loved traveling. Loved movement. Loved the discovery. Loved taking Izuku out to places. And honestly, Izuku never actively invited Kacchan, just casually asked for visits instead.
Izuku leaned back against the bench slowly, letting the cold bite at his nose while warmth spread softly through his chest from the coffee. Autumn really was beautiful here.
“Wazaaaaaaaaaap, Greenett!” The loud voice shattered the quiet instantly.
Izuku blinked before laughing softly under his breath. Honestly… he’d grown weirdly fond of it.
“Whatcha zoning out about this time?” the voice continued dramatically.
Izuku looked up. Warm. That was the first word anyone would think of when they saw Akiyama Haruto.
Warm, orangish-red hair fell messily across his forehead, catching gold beneath the sunset light in the most unique way. His skin was lightly tanned, full of colour, his sharp eyes a rich brown that shifted almost maroon under certain lighting. Long lashes softened features that otherwise looked unfairly handsome, a sharp jawline, a straight nose, a very tall build, and broad shoulders. The kind of face that made people expect someone cool and composed. Intimidating even.
Which was hilarious considering Akiyama was basically a human golden retriever. There was literally no way anyone could explain him better. Underneath all that attractiveness was the softest, sweetest person Izuku had ever met. Loud, affectionate, endlessly positive, and impossible to get rid of once he decided he liked someone. Impossibly generous and loyal.
And apparently, from day one at university, he had decided Izuku Midoriya was going to be his best friend. Clinged on to him and never let go since. Somehow it had worked. Izuku can't ever imagine his college without him now.
They connected frighteningly fast, especially over both of them growing up quirkless (and continuing to remain quirkless). Akiyama talked about it so casually, so openly, whenever the topic came up, that it slowly helped untangle something painful inside Izuku, too. His easy-going attitude, his refusal to treat being ‘quirkless’ like a tragedy, had influenced Izuku more than he realized. Helped him stop mourning himself all the time. Izuku hardly saw a bone of self-pity on the man's body, in complete contrast to Izuku. But the larger man's positivity always seemed to blanket and care for Izuku's insecurities.
“Oh, nothing, Aki,” Izuku said with a soft smile, lifting his coffee slightly, for him to see. “Just having coffee.”
Akiyama gaped dramatically like he’d been personally betrayed. Like a large fish outta-water.
“Without me? Bro, that’s actually evil.” Akiyama immediately dropped down onto the bench beside Izuku, close enough that their shoulders bumped. He leaned forward dramatically just to catch his expression better, grinning the second he spotted the pink across Izuku’s cheeks.
“Ohoooooo… autumn leaves got you blushing again. Who gotchu smiling like that?”
“No, they haven’t!” Izuku immediately hid half his face behind the coffee cup. “It’s just cold!”
“Bro-ho, nah nah nah,” Akiyama snorted, nudging his shoulder hard enough to make him sway a little. “You see red leaves and immediately start thinking about a certain explosive blonde.”
“Ughhhhh…” Izuku groaned into the cup. “What do you want?”
Akiyama’s grin somehow widened. “Admit it, Thinkin’ about Kacchan again, are ya?”
Izuku nearly inhaled his coffee wrong.
“N-no – um— y-yeah— well maybe—” he stuttered helplessly, face turning violently red.
Akiyama burst out laughing.
“Man, you are so in love with him,” he sighed dramatically, throwing his head back against the bench. “Seriously, Izuku. When are you gonna tell that dense idiot?”
“Never!” Izuku yelped instantly, voice going embarrassingly high-pitched. “Kacchan doesn’t see me like that!”
The expression on his face was so painfully earnest that Akiyama had to physically hold back another laugh. Instead, he shamelessly reached over, stole Izuku’s coffee straight out of his hands, and took a sip.
“Hey!” Izuku protested weakly. Akiyama only grinned harder around the rim of the cup.
“If you were planning on saving extra yen by not buying me coffee too, then I’m confiscating yours. Sorry not sorry”
“Oh come on!” Izuku huffed. “You disappeared right after class! I thought you’d show up late and the coffee would just get cold—”
“Excuses, excuses.”
“I’m not making excuses!”
Akiyama snickered before suddenly poking a finger right into Izuku’s chest.
“You know,” he announced proudly, “I’m a warm palette too. Maybe you should think about me instead of that grumpy idiot.”
Izuku laughed softly despite himself.
“Well… Kacchan is autumn,” he admitted quietly, looking toward the trees lining the streets again. Warm-toned leaves drifted slowly across the sidewalks beneath the glowing streetlights. “And you, my dear idiot, are definitely summer.”
Akiyama blinked. “Huh?”
“You’re bright,” Izuku explained, smiling into his scarf now. “Very golden retriever. Very, very warm. Unlike Kacchan, who can be…” he hesitated fondly, “…a tiny bit cold. Like autumn.”
“Hah!” Akiyama barked out a laugh. “Tiny is a fucking understatement.”
Then he dramatically swung his legs a little off the bench. Looking at Izuku once before throwing his head back.
“But you know what? I’m convinced. I love summer. Summer’s awesome. I’m good with being summer.”
Izuku smiled at him properly then. Akiyama’s orangish-red hair was completely ruffled from the wind like always, scarf messily wrapped around his neck in a way that looked more decorative than useful, never useful. He wore the same oversized ochre-yellow hoodie he always wore during colder months, despite Izuku constantly telling him to buy an actual coat.
Apparently, “The hoodie has emotional support properties.”
Which was stupid. Very stupid.…But also very Aki. because Aki was brilliantly stupid.
There was another reason Izuku thought he felt like summer. He smelled like mangoes.
Not artificial candy-mango either. Real mangoes. Sweet and warm and fresh, like the expensive ones sold during peak summer festivals. Akiyama apparently used some secret perfume as his signature scent, and after almost two years of university together, Izuku had grown ridiculously used to it lingering around him constantly.
“Guess what, zuku zuku zuku—”
Before Izuku could react, Akiyama suddenly grabbed his arm and started violently shaking him. Coffee sloshed dangerously over the lid.
“Wha— Aki!”
“Chihaya asked if she could team up with me for the adolescent psychology thesis!”
Izuku’s eyes widened instantly. “Wait, really?!”
“YES, REALLY!”
“Wow! Congratulations!” Izuku beamed immediately. “Aki, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you!”
Akiyama suddenly deflated in visible guilt.
“Ahhhhh… but I’m sorry, Zuku,” he groaned dramatically, dropping his forehead onto Izuku’s shoulder. “Is it okay if I say yes? I know you asked if we could do it together…”
Izuku blinked at him for a second before laughing softly.
“Aki, relax. We’ve already done like… half our papers together.” He nudged him gently. “And you’ve had a crush on Chihaya for forever. You should absolutely team up with her.”
Akiyama stared at him emotionally for a long second. Then dramatically clutched his chest.
“Zuku… you’re the best bro any man could ever have.”
“Hehe… I love you too.”
Akiyama immediately gasped loudly. “Oh my god. He said he loves me. Sorry Bakugo, I won.”
“Aki!”
The taller man cackled while Izuku hid his burning face behind his scarf again.
The evening air had grown colder now, wind rustling through the maple trees overhead as students slowly filtered out from the nearby university buildings. Izuku stood up first, adjusting the strap of his bag over his shoulder.
“Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s head home before you catch a cold.”
Akiyama grinned brightly before hopping up beside him. “Only if we stop for nikuman on the way.”
There they were again. Buying nikuman for dinner because both of those nerdy, lazy idiots hated cooking. Or cleaning. Or doing anything remotely productive after classes ended.
The little convenience store lady near campus had already started recognizing them. At this point, she just sighed the second they walked in together because she already knew:
Four nikuman, one canned coffee for Izuku, one weird sparkling peach soda for Akiyama, and at least one argument about ‘ cooking instead of buying the same shit’.
They walked all the way back through the autumn streets, rambling about classwork while cold wind chased leaves across the sidewalks. Mostly though? Akiyama spent the entire walk aggressively gushing about Chihaya.
“Her eyes, Zuku…” Akiyama sighed dreamily for what was probably the twentieth time on that walk. “Such pretty pretty blue eyes. Like— like sea glass. Or those fancy marbles rich kids had back when i was in first grade…..”
Izuku just patted his shoulder supportively while eating his nikuman. Aki was… a lot. Sometimes he felt like a little brother. Sometimes an overprotective uncle. Sometimes an affectionate golden retriever on crack. Sometimes a complete creep. And sometimes all four at once. Izuku genuinely never knew which version he was getting.
By the time they finally reached their apartment building, the night air had grown colder, cheeks and nose pink from the wind as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. The moment the apartment door opened, warmth hit them instantly. And mangoes. The apartment smelled heavily of mangoes. Though if you asked Akiyama, he would insist.
“It smells like apple pie and cinnamon, actually.” Which was objectively false.
Their apartment was a mess. They're kind of mess. The comforting kind.
The kind neither of them cleaned it because they both secretly liked it this way. Like two little hedgehogs building a burrow together out of blankets, notebooks, and unfinished assignments. There were blankets and pillows everywhere, especially around the TV area where they spent most nights half-dead on the floor studying. Papers covered almost every surface: notebooks, highlighted articles, printed journals, psychology textbooks, hero analysis report, sticky notes stuck onto other sticky notes on another set of sticky notes.
Disorganized? Absolutely not. They both knew exactly where everything was.
Mostly. Probably. Definitely.
Akiyama and Izuku had moved in together after literally the first week of university.The first week of knowing each other.Mainly because both their dorm roommates had been, in Aki’s words: “Chronically un-vibable.”
The apartment walls were covered in pieces of them. All Might memorabilia cluttered Izuku’s shelves while Mirko posters covered half of Aki’s wall. There were random anime figurines, Marvel merch, hoodies hanging off chairs, fairy lights tangled around curtain rods.
Pictures covered nearly every surface.
Izuku had framed photos of him and his mother, him and Kacchan, UA class pictures, old squad photos, blurry dorm selfies
Akiyama had photos with his older sister, Sakura, his four German Shepherds back home, family pictures, one suspiciously candid photo of Chihaya during the university art festival, a framed picture of him and Chihaya winning second place in a quiz competition, And then there were the pictures of them. So many pictures of them together. Polaroids taped onto walls.
A fridge magnet saying: “Happy Birthday Greenette, love you.”
A picture of Aki physically squishing a completely drunk Izuku into the couch cushions. The larger frame overwhelming the smaller one…
A selfie Izuku took of them, half asleep on the living room floor, surrounded by textbooks.
Izuku had never realized adult friendships could feel like this. So warm. So easy. Sometimes he forgot entirely about his hero days. And It was easy to forget here. Neither of them had quirks. Their apartment felt strangely pre-quirk. Human in the softest possible way.
The apartment had two bedrooms, technically. But half the time they ended up sleeping in the same room anyway after hours of gossiping, rambling, or falling asleep mid-assignment on the living room floor.
Izuku found comfort in loving Akiyama’s existence as much as he did. Aki was proof that someone could live brightly without a quirk. A soul without bitterness and without mourning a non existent version themselves forever. And in return, Aki used Izuku’s past experiences to fuel his own obsession with analysis and educational psychology. Both of them were analysis freaks in completely different ways. But they found their balance.
Aki especially got violently angry about Hero Society after hearing stories from UA.
“Bro, your school is SHIT,” Aki declared every time the war stories came up. “Why the fuck were literal sixteen-year-olds fighting in a war? Do you hear yourself when you say these stories out loud?” Then dramatically: “I think superhero society is bullshit. Quirks and sparkles can go to hell.”
Right now, both of them collapsed onto their tiny couch, shoulders pressed together automatically. Aki had already started eating his second nikuman aggressively.
“Mmmmmm—” he moaned dramatically, doing his stupid little happy food dance.
Izuku laughed quietly. Maybe they really were two halves of something. Even if Aki drove him insane sometimes. Brother from another mother or something, as people called it.
Aki swallowed dramatically before suddenly pointing his nikuman at Izuku, accusingly. “Okay, but hypothetically.”
Izuku sighed immediately. “That word has never led to anything good.”
“If Bakugo confessed to you tomorrow….”
Izuku nearly choked. “A-AKI!”
“ANSWER THE QUESTION!”
“I’m not answering that!”
Aki gasped dramatically. “You WOULD marry him immediately?”
“I would not!”
“You literally look at autumn leaves like they are banners that remind you of his existence.”
“They do not!”
“Midoriya Izuku, such a dumass liar!!! ” Aki said seriously, placing a hand over his heart, “you are one cold breeze away from writing Mrs. Bakugo in your notebooks and degree certificates.”
Izuku grabbed the nearest pillow and immediately threw it at his face. “Aki!”
Akiyama cackled loudly, nearly falling off the couch. Then, after a moment, quieter this time, still smiling around another bite of nikuman, His eyes drifted towards him. Brown met green.
“…Though honestly? I think someone loving you would be pretty lucky, Zuku.”
Izuku froze slightly. It was as if, in that moment, the apartment softened around them. The warm lights. Messy blankets. Cold outside the windows. And Aki smiling at him, genuinely……
Izuku smiled back before leaning against his shoulder tiredly.
“…You too, Aki, Chihaya is just one step away from being the luckiest girl .”
Izuku woke up to soft weight pressed against his chest and the feeling of hair tickling under his chin. He blinked slowly, still half asleep. His fingers scraped against something solid….Books.There were books everywhere again.
Papers scattered across the floor, highlighters uncapped somewhere near his elbow, causing accidental scribbles on his skin, and now possibly a vet dry pen, notebooks half-open around them like they’d both simply collapsed mid-study session. At some point during the night, the blanket had twisted around their legs, barely covering either of them. And of course, somehow, Akiyama Haruto had once again turned Izuku into a personal pillow.
They were sleeping in that weird position they always somehow ended up in:
Izuku sprawled vertically on the floor while Aki slept completely horizontal across him, perpendicular ( like he was an actual pillow), like the world’s most oversized cat.
If he weren’t so curled up, they’d literally form a perfect L-shape. Izuku stared down at him tiredly. Warm orange hair spilled against his chest, scarf half-tangled around his waist like a karate belt, and one arm lazily wrapped around Izuku’s stomach while he snored softly into his t-shirt.… Wait.
Izuku’s eye twitched. This idiot was drooling again. Slowly, Izuku slid his fingers through Aki’s messy hair, gently scratching against his scalp.
“You idiot,” he muttered sleepily. “You’re drooling on my shirt again.”
“Mhhmm?” Aki mumbled without opening his eyes. “Just imagine it’s your Kacchan instead…”
Izuku’s face instantly turned red. “Fuck you!”
“No,” Aki yawned dramatically, snuggling deeper against him. “Please. I have a future wife and kids waiting for me.”
Izuku shoved his face away immediately. “Aki!”
Aki only laughed sleepily into his chest before immediately falling half back asleep again. Honestly unbelievable. Eventually, they dragged themselves off the floor sometime closer to noon.
Izuku ended up in the kitchen making instant ramen while Aki wandered toward the balcony with a cigarette hanging loosely from his mouth, still wearing nothing but sweatpants and that same oversized ochre hoodie.
The apartment was quiet for exactly forty-three seconds.
Then “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO—”
Izuku nearly dropped the chopsticks. “Aki?!” he shouted, immediately rushing out of the kitchen. “Are you okay?!”
Aki stood on the balcony staring down at the row of tiny potted plants dramatically. Completely devastated. “My plants are dead again…”
Izuku stared. Then slowly facepalmed. “They wouldn’t be dead if you watered them!”
“But you know I forget shit!” Aki pointed accusingly at him. “You should’ve watered them!”
“Huh?!” Izuku sputtered. “Don’t put this on me! They’re supposed to be your babies!”
“But you were supposed to be daddy number two!”
Izuku groaned loudly. Cold autumn wind swept through the balcony, rustling the dead little leaves in the pots while the hills stretched softly beyond the apartment buildings. Trees below had already turned shades of orange and deep red, sunlight spilling gold across the quieter weekend streets. The dramatic ass plant funeral happening beside him almost ruined the view.
“Listen,” Izuku sighed, crossing his arms against the cold, shivering a little. “It’s autumn. They’ll grow back better in spring, okay? I’ll help you then.”
Aki sniffled dramatically.
“Hehe… yeah… I guess I can wait a few months before we become daddies again.” He stared wistfully at the pots. “Though I really wanted to build a huge-ass garden someday, you know?”
Izuku snorted. “Uh-huh. Someday, when you become rich and turn into an old professor, you can build a giant garden and hire people to take care of it because your ass isn’t doing shit.”
Aki gasped. “Zuku. You offend me.”
Izuku deadpanned at him.
Aki took another dramatic drag of his cigarette before suddenly grinning, “But I am gonna do exactly that.”
“Oh yeah?” Izuku leaned against the balcony doorframe. “Why?”
Aki looked at him, strangely softly then. “Because gardens remind me of you, Greenette.”
Izuku blinked. “…What?”
“I’m serious.” Aki shrugged one shoulder, smoke curling around him in the cold air. “Someday, when I build a house with Chihaya, I’m gonna make a huge garden. And every time I see it, it’ll remind me to text you and ask…” He grinned loudly again, throwing his arms wide. “WAZAAAAAAAAAP GREENETTE!”
Izuku laughed despite himself. “Bruh. You don’t even reply to active messages.”
“Why should I?” Aki said confidently. “We live together now.”
“…Good point.”
Izuku looked back out over the city. Then smirked slightly.
“In that case, I’ll just get a golden retriever someday.” He glanced sideways at him. “Pretty sure it’ll follow me around the house exactly like you do.”
Aki immediately lit up. “Heheheh. I like the sound of that.” Then after a pause: “…Can we name it Kacchan?”
“Aki, I’m pushing you off this balcony.” Izuku threatened as he dramatically walked to the kitchen to finish his cooking. “God, I regret the day I told you about Kacchan,” he groaned, rubbing a tired hand down his face while stirring the ramen pot.
From the balcony, Akiyama Haruto gasped dramatically like he’d just been deeply wounded. Again. “You didn’t tell me shit!” he yelled through the cracked balcony door. “I found out about your once-a-year little rendezvous all on my own.”
Izuku gripped his fist so hard he nearly broke the chopsticks. “We just hang out, okay?! He’s my best friend!”
“Nuh uh.” Aki immediately walked back inside, pointing accusingly with his cigarette. “I’m your best friend. He’s your boyfriend. He can get his own title.”
Izuku stared at him in disbelief. “Kacchan is NOT my boyfriend.”
“He’s emotionally your boyfriend.”
“He is not!”
“He absolutely is.”
Izuku groaned loudly. “Fine. Then both of you are my best friends.”
Aki looked personally offended. “Hah! No!” He threw his hands up dramatically. “Didn’t you just hear my speech? That’s unacceptable.”
“Well, I didn’t hear you,” Izuku sighed, turning back toward the stove.
Aki narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet you live with me.”
“Unfortunately.”
“You literally moved in after knowing me for one week.”
“Because you looked emotionally adoptable.”
Izuku snorted helplessly. That sounded exactly like something Aki would say.
Later that afternoon they ended up at the gym together like usual.
The university gym was quieter on weekends, only a handful of students scattered around the weight area while muted music echoed softly overhead. Outside the massive windows, autumn leaves drifted through the campus pathways.
Izuku, despite being smaller, was currently lifting way heavier than Aki again. Which Aki took as a personal attack every single time.
“This is bullshit,” Aki muttered dramatically from beside him. “Actual bullshit. You look like you should struggle opening pickle jars.”
Izuku laughed breathlessly while reracking the weights. “You say that every day.”
“Because every day you continue violating the laws of physics.”
Izuku rolled his eyes fondly. Beside him, Aki suddenly sat up straighter. Exhausted from his ab exercise.
“…Izuku…Hypothetically.”
“No.”
“You don’t even know what I’m gonna say.”
“It started with ‘hypothetically.’ That’s never good.”
“But hypothetically—”
“Aki.”
“Hypothetically,” he repeated stubbornly, “if Chihaya rejects my confession… and your nerdy gay ass never confesses to Explosion God…”
Izuku almost dropped the dumbbell. “I’m Bisexual!..... I think..”
“…Do you think we could just keep living together like this?”
Izuku blinked at him. Aki looked oddly serious now.
“Like… best friends and shit.”
“What kind of sappy playlist are you lifting to?” Izuku muttered while lying back onto the bench press.
“It’s not sappy.” Aki stared up at the ceiling quietly for a second. “I just…” He hesitated. “I get this weird feeling sometimes that I’ll be lonely one day.”
Izuku paused mid-motion.
“And I don’t feel that way with you,” Aki admitted softly. “I feel like I can do anything with you around.”
That hit something painfully familiar inside Izuku’s chest. He understood that fear and feeling better than anyone. The fear of instability. Of being left behind.Of losing people. Of needing somewhere safe enough to rest. Of never feeling enough. Aki really was an amazing roommate. Maybe if they both stayed bachelors forever……having Aki around honestly wouldn’t be such a bad future. It might be better than most things Izuku planned for himself for his future.
Izuku slowly sat back up after he reracked the weights, flexing his arms a little.
“Yeah?” he said quietly. “Then let’s just…” He smiled softly. “Go on road trips all the time. Visit each other constantly. There’s like… a million ways to stay close.”
Then he nudged Aki lightly. “And I’m definitely not planning on letting my best friend number two disappear from my life.”
Aki immediately looked offended again. “I’m best friend number one. Come on, Izuku. We talked about this.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Izuku started lifting again while Aki grumbled beside him, positioning himself for bicycle crunches.
After the gym and showering there, the two of them stopped by a bakery near campus and bought flavored buns before wandering toward one of the quieter hills near the university. They eventually collapsed beneath a huge maple tree, autumn grass cold beneath their backs while orange leaves drifted lazily overhead.
Clouds moved slowly across the evening sky.
Aki took a bite of his bun before suddenly pointing upward. “That one looks like Balerion.”
Izuku squinted at the clouds. “…The dragon?”
“My dog,” Aki corrected dramatically.
“Oh.”
Aki sighed loudly. “…I miss my doggos back home.”
Izuku shifted slightly closer beside him in the grass. “Maybe you should visit home sometime?”
“Yeah…” Aki’s voice softened immediately. “I miss Mom. Sakura-nee. Balerion. Frostbyte. Vhagar. Syrax…”
Izuku laughed softly. “You named all your dogs interestingly.”
“Those are from GOT and HOTD,” Aki said proudly. “Except Frostbyte. I named her myself because I found her abandoned in the snow.” His expression softened. “What were the chances she’d also be a German Shepherd?”
Izuku smiled quietly. “Maybe fate wanted all of you together.”
Aki turned his head slightly to look at him. “Yeah…” he murmured. “Like fate made us meet each other.”
Izuku blinked. “…Why are you being all emotional today, Aki? Is something wrong?”
Aki stared up at the clouds again. “I dunno.” His voice sounded strangely distant now. “I just keep feeling like… if I don’t say these things to you now, maybe someday I won’t get to say them again.”
Izuku frowned slightly. “Huh… that’s weird. Why would you think that?”
Aki shrugged weakly. “My gut?”
Izuku snorted. “You’re just hungry, idiot. I’ll make rice, eggs, and miso soup later.”
Aki laughed softly at that. “Though I really love the proposition…” he said after a moment, quieter now, “I really mean it.”
Wind rustled through the autumn leaves overhead. Like the weather was overhearing their conversation and decided they too had an opinion to share.
“When I’m with you…” Aki smiled faintly. “I feel the strongest I’ve ever been.”
Izuku stared at him for a second before immediately reaching over and pulling his cheek hard.
“OW— ZUKU!”
“I feel confident in myself when I’m with you too,” Izuku admitted softly. “That’s not really a feeling many people bring out in me.”
Aki looked at him for a long moment. Then slowly lifted his fist above them toward the sky.
“Promise me something?”
“Hm?”
“Best friends forever?”
Izuku smiled. Then bumped his fist gently against Aki’s.
“Best friends forever.”
They relaxed back into the grass afterward, shoulders touching lightly beneath the burning orange leaves while clouds drifted endlessly above them.
The day ended with both of them carrying bowls of miso soup, rice, and eggs up to the rooftop of their apartment building.
Which, in all honesty, was a terrible idea. The wind was freezing, balancing the bowls while climbing the stairs, while looking like a burrito was a nightmare, and the blanket situation made everything almost impossible. But the stars above were too beautiful tonight for Izuku to stay inside.
So naturally, both idiots suffered together. They spread a picnic mat across the rooftop floor, wrapped themselves in one huge blanket like pensioners escaping a nursing home, and immediately realized neither of them could properly move their arms anymore.
“This was your idea,” Akiyama complained while struggling to lift his chopsticks beneath the blanket.
Izuku snorted into his soup. “You literally said, and I quote ‘romantic rooftop dinner vibes.’”
“Okay but I imagined less suffering.”
Izuku kicked him weakly under the blanket. He tilted his head back slightly. The stars look beautiful. “…I think this might be my favorite season.”
Aki hummed beside him. “Because of Bakugo?”
Izuku sighed. “You really make everything about Kacchan.”.
Aki suddenly nudged him lightly. “Tell me another UA story.”
Izuku blinked. “Hm?”
“The hero school stories.” Aki curled deeper into the blanket beside him. “I like hearing them from you better than news articles.”
Izuku smiled faintly into his bowl. “…Okay.”
The cold air fogged softly around his mouth as he spoke. “There was this one time during first year…” he started quietly, “Kacchan and I got into a rescue exercise together.”
Aki immediately teased. “Already sounds violent.”
“It was violent.”
“No surprises there.”
Izuku laughed softly. “We were supposed to evacuate civilians from a collapsed training zone while villains attacked the area, played by actual pro hero teachers. And Kacchan got really angry because I kept prioritizing injured people instead of fighting.”
“Honestly, a valid crashout from him.”
“Aki!”
“I’m just saying if I was trying to beat villains up and you started carrying grandmas around, I’d be annoyed too.”
Izuku snorted helplessly. “He kept yelling that I was slowing us down. Then halfway through the exercise, one of the support beams collapsed.”
Aki sat up slightly now, fully invested, worry dancing over his features. “And?”
“And Kacchan blasted himself underneath it before it hit me.”
Aki blinked. “…Oh.”
Izuku smiled softly to himself. “He screamed at me for like ten straight minutes afterward, though.”
“That’s his love language, you have said it, your friends in your group calls have said it.”
“Aki.”
“What?!” he laughed. “Bro literally threw himself under debris for you, that's gotta mean something, plus it's not the first time I'm hearing stories of him protecting you...”
“It was teamwork!”
“Mhm.”
Izuku rolled his eyes fondly before continuing.“Afterward, All Might told us our coordination was terrifying.”
Aki barked out a laugh. “That sounds ominous.”
“He said we fought like we already knew where the other person would move before they moved.”
Aki looked at him knowingly. “You did.”
Izuku went quiet for a second after that. The stars above them shimmered faintly. “…Yeah,” he admitted softly. “I guess we did.”
For a while afterward, they simply stared upward again, shoulders pressed together beneath the blanket while cold wind rustled around them. At some point, Izuku noticed Aki’s responses getting slower. Then quieter, and before he fully had a grasp on the situation, the responses became nonexistent.
Izuku turned slightly. Aki was nodding off beside him mid-sentence, head drooping forward dangerously while still holding his spoon. Izuku laughed under his breath.
“You idiot…”
Eventually, he helped the taller man stand, Aki basically sleepwalking at this point while leaning nearly his entire body weight against him.
“Aki, walk properly.”
“M’walking…”
“You’re unconscious.”
“M’trying…”
By the time they reached the stairwell, Aki was practically asleep on top of him. Which, honestly, should’ve been impossible considering the size difference. But years of hero training had left Izuku way stronger than he looked. So he simply carried the larger man downstairs while Aki sleepily clung to him like a giant exhausted puppy.
The dishes could wait. This idiot took priority.
They collapsed onto Izuku’s bed the second they reached the apartment.Aki immediately face-planted into the mattress without even removing his hoodie.Izuku sighed tiredly before pulling the blanket over both of them.And just like that…They were asleep.
The next morning was chaos. Pure chaos. There was literally no other way to describe it. Neither of the idiots had set an alarm. Izuku woke up first, glancing up at the clock groggily, then immediately screamed. “Aki! We overslept!” Izuku kicked him to jolt him awake.
Aki fell out of bed, landing with a loud thud. “What year is it?!”
The next twenty minutes consisted entirely of panic as they brushed their teeth side-by-side while aggressively arguing.
“You take too long showering!”
“Because unlike you I believe in hygiene!”
“We don’t have time for hygiene!”
“THAT’S A HORRIBLE SENTENCE!”
Eventually, they mutually agreed No showers. Because they didnt have time, and if they were being disgusting, then they should be disgusting together. Izuku then discovered Aki reaching for the exact same hoodie he’d worn the last two days.
“…Aki.”
“What?”
“You cannot wear that hoodie three days in a row.”
“Yes I can.”
“You literally cannot.”
“It’s emotional anchor, can't survive the cold without it.”
“It smells like rotten mangoes and sweat.”
“Take that back, how dare you insult my comfort hoodie.”
“This is an important day!” Izuku shoved a clean button-up shirt into his arms. “You’re meeting actual children today!”
“Oh shit right.”
That immediately changed Aki’s priorities. Today’s assignment was serious. As a part of their course they had to constantly train themselves by being exposed to real life situations. And treat them like actual pro bono jobs. Subjects like child quirk crisis counselling, quirk analysis, support assessment, and emotional adaptation studies for children struggling with their quirks.
Out of all seventeen students in their course, Izuku and Aki had specifically been chosen to help lead the program thanks to their grades and analytical ability, and since the whole class will be there, Aki suddenly cared very much about looking perfect because Chihaya would be there aswell.
“ZUKU!” he yelled from his room. “MY TIE!”
Izuku sighed deeply. Aki had apparently decided to become a younger sibling today. When Izuku entered the room, Aki stood there completely hopeless with the tie half wrapped around his neck wrong, wrong like his aim was to strangulate himself.
“You’re twenty-three years old,” Izuku muttered while fixing it for him.
“I’m a baby.”
“You’re literally huge.”
“Then I'm a huge baby.”
Izuku adjusted the collar properly before running his fingers through Aki’s hair to fix the mess he'd made rushing around earlier. By the end of it Aki looked unfairly attractive. Tall. Broad shoulders. Sharp, handsome face. Warm brown eyes. A man who looked like he should be intimidating.
“You done staring?” Aki grinned smugly.
“Your ego is terrifying.”
“You love me.”
“Unfortunately.”
Then both idiots ran toward the train station in complete panic.
“Aki hurry up!”
“YOUR LEGS ARE TOO LONG!”
“YOU’RE TALLER THAN ME!”
“THAT DOESN’T MEAN I’M ATHLETIC!”
“THAT DOESN'T MAKE MY LEGS LONG. NOW COME ON.
By the time they finally reached the facility, they were twenty minutes late and half dying.The program was being held on the ninth floor of the Hero Regulatory Committee building.There were children everywhere. Most between five and nine years old.
The kids showed a range of emotions and reactions, some nervous, some shy, some overly energetic. But the moment Izuku started speaking, many of the children warmed up to him instantly. His soft voice and careful attention made them relax naturally.
Aki on the other hand? Initially got a terrifying response. several kids literally hid behind chairs after seeing his serious face.
“…Do I look evil?” he whispered to Izuku in horror.
“Unfortunately yes.”
Then Aki started talking properly, and suddenly every child in the room rushed toward him like wildfire. within minutes, children were climbing on him, asking him questions, dragging him around to their height, showing him drawings, demanding piggyback rides or being thrown up to the air and caught.
Aki laughed brightly in the middle of all of it, kneeling down to their level while listening to every single child with complete sincerity. The sight was unbearably adorable. Izuku quietly pulled out his phone.Then started taking photos. Videos too.
Aki holding a tiny girl while helping her understand her quirk.
A little boy asleep against his shoulder, grabbing onto him like a little monkey...even when Aki dramatically pretended to lose against children in rock-paper-scissors, the child stayed glued to his skin sleeping well.
Izuku smiled softly behind the camera. Yeah…..He was definitely framing these later.
The counselling session went on for almost two hours. Oddly enough, neither Izuku Midoriya nor Akiyama felt exhausted by the end of it. If anything…Izuku felt more alive.
The kids were loud, emotional, honest in ways adults often forgot how to be. Some struggled controlling their quirks. Some were scared of hurting people. Others hated standing out. A few wished their quirks were stronger. A few wished they didn’t have quirks at all, and Izuku loved helping them.
Loved sitting at eye-level with them, loved watching fear turn into curiosity, Loved helping them understand themselves instead of fearing themselves. somewhere during the second hour, while helping a little girl understand why her flame quirk reacted to emotional spikes, Izuku realized it quietly…I really would love becoming a teacher.
Across the room, Aki was kneeling beside three children at once while somehow making balloon animals and tiny planes out of sticky notes and counselling another child simultaneously.
The sight made Izuku laugh softly, and then he noticed something else. Chihaya kept staring at Akiyama. Not subtly either. Every single time Aki smiled at a child or crouched down to help one of them, Chihaya’s face turned pink before she immediately looked away again.
Izuku bit back a grin…..Cute…..Very cute.
Quietly, he pulled out his phone and snapped a picture - Aki laughing brightly while surrounded by children, and Chihaya standing blurry in the background staring at him like he’d personally hung the stars in the sky.
Yeah.That was definitely blackmail material and something Aki would cherish forever, everything was going perfectly.
Until a small boy with short dark hair wandered up to Aki crying. Big tears rolled down his cheeks while his little hands shook violently. Aki’s entire expression softened immediately.
“Aww… why’re you crying, little dude?”
The boy sniffled hard. “I-I-I hate my quirk…”
“Oh?” Aki crouched lower instantly. “Why’s that?”
“It makes my body feel weird…”
Aki’s voice gentled even more.“Can you show me what it does?”
The child shook his head hard. “But it’s bad…”
“A tiny bit?” Aki smiled warmly. “Just so we know what it looks like. Pretty please?”
The boy hesitated.Then slowly stretched both his hands outward. The second he activated it…The air vibrated violently. A low tremor shook through the floor beneath them. Several papers slid off nearby desks.
Aki’s eyes widened immediately. “Zuku!” he called across the room. “Check this out!” Izuku looked over instantly.
Aki kept one steady hand on the child’s shoulder. “That’s an amazing quirk, buddy,” he reassured gently despite the vibrations. “We just gotta find ways to make it safe, yeah?”
The boy nodded shakily. Izuku hurried over, notebook already halfway out because the quirk was fascinating. Before Izuku could even kneel beside them properly,….Aki suddenly got the worst possible idea.
“Oh my god wait.” He immediately grabbed his phone. “You know who this is?”
The boy blinked. Shaking his head.
Aki flipped the screen around dramatically. “This,” he announced proudly, “is Pro Hero Deku.”
Izuku froze. “Aki…”
“He was literally the Symbol of Hope!” Aki continued excitedly while scrolling aggressively through old saved clips. “He fought beside Dynamight and All Might!”
The kids gasped instantly.
“Oh my god!”
“THAT’S HIM?!”
“NO WAY!”
“THAT’S DEKU?!”
Within seconds children crowded around Izuku excitedly.
They wanted stories. They wanted his autographs. They wanted demonstrations of his quirk. They wanted him … his attention, his smile, his presence.
Especially the little boy with the vibration quirk. The moment the boy realized Izuku had come over specifically for him, something inside him ignited. Joy, pride, and overwhelming excitement surged violently through his small frame. He wanted to show off. He wanted to impress Izuku, and so did his quirk.
The next second, the world exploded.
A massive vibration shockwave tore through the floor. The entire building shuddered violently. Children screamed as glass shattered around them. The ninth floor lurched sideways with a sickening groan, walls cracking like brittle bones. Everything began collapsing at once.
Izuku moved instantly. “EVERYBODY GET DOWN!”
He lunged toward the boy first, desperate to stop the quirk before another pulse could erupt. But debris crashed down on him from above. A horrible crack echoed through the chaos as pain exploded through his legs. Somewhere nearby, a child screamed.
“Aki–senseiii !”
Izuku forced his head up just in time to see Aki sprinting toward a little girl teetering near the broken window. The floor beneath her gave way completely. Without hesitation, Aki threw himself forward and caught her.
But at that exact moment, another violent shockwave burst from the terrified boy who got anxious by witnessing everything.
The building split apart. For one terrible second, Aki looked back at him. Fear… real, raw fear… burned in those warm brown eyes.
Then he fell.
“Aki!!” Izuku screamed.
He tried to move, but pain tore through his body like fire. His legs were pinned beneath a slab of concrete.
No. No no no no—
Instinctively, his hand shot forward. Blackwhip—!
Nothing came out. His stomach dropped. Right… he was quirkless again.
The realization hit him one second too late.
If he had shoved the debris off first….If he had stopped trying to use a dead quirk….If he had moved faster….
Maybe…
But he didn’t. He lost. Aki disappeared beneath a crushing avalanche of steel and concrete. The last thing Izuku saw was the terror frozen in Aki’s eyes.Then darkness swallowed everything whole.
When Izuku woke up, the world smelled of sharp antiseptic and clean sheets. The ceiling above him was blinding white, the hospital lights felt harsh and unforgiving. His legs burned with a deep, throbbing fire, wrapped heavily in thick layers of bandages that felt like chains. For several long seconds, he simply stared upward, dazed and empty.
Then the memories crashed into him like a tidal wave.
Aki.
Izuku jerked upright with violent desperation. “Aki—!”
Pain exploded through his legs, white-hot and merciless, but he didn’t care. A nurse rushed to his side, her hands gentle yet firm as she tried to ease him back down.
“Please don’t move suddenly! You’re severely injured…”
Izuku grabbed her wrist with trembling fingers, his voice cracking into pieces. “The kids… the children… how many…?”
The nurse’s expression softened with painful sympathy. “Most of them survived.”
Most. The single word twisted like a knife in his gut. Izuku’s chest heaved.
“There were many injuries,” she continued quietly. “Several are severe. Three children are still in intensive care… but they’re stable now.”
His breathing grew shallow, frantic. “…Casualties?”
The nurse hesitated. Just for a second. But that second was enough.
“One,” she whispered.
The room went deathly silent. Izuku stopped breathing entirely.
“No…” The word slipped out, broken and small.
The nurse looked at him with heartbroken eyes. “ A young man who shielded A little girl during the collapse… He died protecting her according to witnesses, Akiyama Haruto .”
No.
No no no no…
The words ripped through Izuku’s soul like shattered glass. A sound tore from his throat …raw, guttural, barely human. His entire body folded forward as violent sobs ripped out of him, each one more painful than the last. They clawed their way up from the deepest parts of his chest, ugly and animalistic.
“No… no no no no… please…”
Aki was dead. Aki was gone.
The quiet apartment. The warm blankets they shared. The stupid oversized hoodie that always smelled like him. The rooftop nights. The plants they watered together. The promises they made.
All of it … gone. Forever.
The grief crushed him so completely that for one terrifying moment, Izuku wished he could stop existing. The pain in his chest was so unbearable that dying felt almost comforting. Maybe there was no point anymore. Maybe it would be easier to just disappear too.
His hands shook violently as he reached for his phone.
There was only one person he wanted. One person who might understand this kind of helplessness he is feeling. One person who knew what it felt like to fail saving someone.
The phone rang for a few unbearable seconds,
“…Deku?”
Katsuki Bakugo sounded confused. Sleep-roughened voice. Concerned immediately when he heard Izuku's trembling voice...
Izuku tried speaking, but instead, horrific sobs ripped out of him. Broken, painful, wretched sounds tore through his body, his vocal cords.
On the other side of the phone, Katsuki instantly panicked.
“Deku?!” “What happened?!” “ARE YOU HURT?”
“K-Kacchan…” Izuku choked violently. “A-Ak… Aki…”
The name alone made Katsuki’s voice sharpen dangerously.
“AKI?!” he snapped instantly. “WHAT DID THAT WRETCHED BAS—”
“NOOO!” Izuku screamed immediately.
Because he couldn’t tolerate hearing anything bad about Aki.
Not now. Especially not when he was gone.
“Kacchan…” Izuku’s voice shattered completely. “H-he’s dead…”
Silence.
“…What?”
“He died right in front of me…” Izuku sobbed so hard he could barely breathe. “And I couldn’t save him.”