Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The smell of charred wood, concrete dust and wet soil swirled in the air after a long four hour battle. Ambulance sirens screeched among shouts, cries of children and heavy breathing. Izuku, barely standing upright, bled from head to toe after dealing with a villain who brought back unhappy memories from a few years ago.

The villain himself didnt bring back the memories on purpose but rather who he reminded him of did.

Images of Tomura Shigaraki, the villain who he once sought to save but failed, were flashing and playing in his mind the whole time, like a broken record replaying the same part till you go insane. Mass destruction capable quirk, the desire to gain revenge on heroes who never came to help, the relation to All for One, everything was...too familiar.

The constant distraction and guilt which had filled the number two hero had caused him to make a fatal mistake, one that would change his life for the worse.

Now, in the present, Izuku feels the embers slipping away — the fire within him nearing its end. It was something that should have happened years ago. With the help of All Might, Class 1A and others, they'd managed to stop the embers of One for All from vanishing.

During the fight which now left him sore and bleeding with his hero costume in tatters scattered around the ground, he'd slipped up and didn't realize that the villain he was fighting could also take quirks like All for One.

Yes, he wasn't anywhere near as powerful, but he was powerful enough to take it. 

Take away all of Izukus hopes and dreams, what he'd worked for.

As other heroes lay on the ground exhausted from the battle or are getting treated by first responders, Izuku tries to reach the dying flame of One for All, and weak crackles of green electricity surge around him. He doesn't hear the group of heroes running towards him, shouting his name, he's lost in the fear that this is the end.

The end of his dream, the end of everything he ever wanted the end of everything he's worked for.

Finally, Uravity and Shoto drop down next to him, words unhearing as Izuku doesn't register them lifting him up and leading him to the ambulance.

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"He looked like he was pretty distraught when we arrived"

"We're not sure what's wrong but I hope Deku-kun is okay" 

"So you're telling me all the backup sent was just some extras who quit after a few minutes and left it all to Izuku? Why the hell wasnt I called or informed?!" 

"Bakugo you need to calm down-"

"Don't tell me what to do icy-hot" bakugo snapped, seething while his blood boiled beneath his skin. He'd just been called between his patrol, by Uraraka, and then immediately rushed to the Musutafu General Hospital, recklessly propelling himself with explosions above the city. 

Uraraka sighed and gave a look to Shoto of uncertainty, who frowned in return. The trio stood outside of the room where Izuku was drugged on anesthesia, after a 2 hour long surgery to seal open wounds, which added to the immense amount of scars littered all over his body, and his body was now drained after all the energy needed for the cell repair quirks which were used on him. 

Bakugo shoved Shoto aside and entered the room, though when he stepped in, the air inside him left. His shoulders slumped the slightest as something in eyes flicked but he caught himself before anyone would notice.

Tubes ran along the space between the bad and machines, going into Izukus arms and a ventilator helped him breathe. The other two trailed sliently behind him, with Shoto's near expressionless face and Uraraka's sad eyes. It was normal to see heros in hospital for the three but it didn't mean that it still didn't feel like shit seeing someone in that state.

Uraraka took a seat in the chair beside Izuku and Katsuki stood somewhat beside Shoto at the foot of the bed. "Damn nerd" Katsuki breathlessly whispers under his breath, scoffing at the sight while his heart ached, but he'd never let anyone know that.

Somehow, Izuku was always able to tell when Katsuki felt that way, no matter how much of nasty scowl Katsuki put on or how much of a poker face he tried to settle on his face. Sure, he'd gotten a lot softer than his years in high school, and he didn't really mind it as much anymore, but to anyone other than Izuku, showing his vulnerable side was a big no-no.

The door opened with a groan as a man in a typical white cloak entered in. "Good evening, my name is Doctor Akane, I'm Midoriya san's doctor. I've worked countless times on his injuries." He held out his hand and Shoto took the hand and firmly shook it then let go. Uraraka then spoke, "Good evening doctor, can we please know what's happened? Is there anything abnormal?"

The room went still. The doctor’s hand hovered over the clipboard, as if touching it might make the words more real.

The cool metal on the top making a tiny screeching sound as it dragged along the table.

"Well physically he should be fine within 3 days, especially with healing quirks, but we did notice something off."

He paused, and Katsuki's eyes batted towards Izuku's sleeping form for a quick second.

"His energy readings are off, the constant energy in his body which is there due to his quirks, is now fluctuating. It sometimes goes completely down or is just low. He isn't well enough to give a mission report so that we can analyze what's going on, nor is he awake to tell us what he feels, but I suspect that the villain he fought must have altered- or in a worse case scenario taken his quirks which is causing these readings."

His eyes remained on the clipboard for a few seconds before he lifted them to meet three shocked faces. Shoto seemed appalled, Uraraka was purely taken aback, and the blonde was horrified, though anyone would think he was just startled due the unpresedented news just by looking at his face.

"You have to be shitting me..." He muttered under his breath, his attention fully on Izuku now.

"If it is what you're saying it could be, is there any way to have the villain reverse his actions?" Uraraka questioned, knowing that if it was true, that if Deku did lose his quirks, he would be heartbroken, Japan would lose its number two hero and crime rates would rise.

The doctor grimly lowered his gaze "The villain is still on the loose, and until anyone catches him or until we gain more information necessary...im afraid I can't do much."

Chapter Text

The hallway outside Izuku's room was way too damn quiet. Katsuki leaned against the wall, his head hanging low as he internally muttered.

Hell, Izuku rubbed off on him so much that even he picked up on that stupid habit of his, huh?

His crimson eyes glared at the floor as if the boring white marble had personally picked a fight with him, his shoes bore into the floor which groaned beneath the pressure. His knuckles felt raw, he knew he'd hit something on the way out but didn't care to recall what.

He was supposed to make sure that Izuku was safe

That was the whole damn point, wasn't it?

Chase him. Beat him. Be equals just to argue again?

To silently love him?

But if he lost one for all, what the hell was left?

Izuku would lose his spark, the way his eyes shone when he got so save someone. Those emerald green eyes always lured him in, like a predator luring its prey into the vast forest. 

Everything he had worked for would be gone, all because of some extra villain. 

Gone.

Just like that.

Like it had never really mattered.

Katsuki dragged a hand down his face and hissed under his breath, as he stopped the muttering. The silent words burned on his tongue. He hated the sound of his own voice right now. Too weak. Way too damn weak.

He sat down hard on the bench opposite the door. His chest hurt, his heart panicking no matter how much he'd gaslight himself into thinking it wasn't. His hands were shaking.

He told himself it was adrenaline. It wasn’t.

All the years he’d spent trying to be better than him — and now, if the doctors were right, he’d won. The thought made him sick.

For a second, he thought about going back inside. Saying something. Anything. But he didn’t.

Instead, he sat there until the hallway lights dimmed and the machines inside the room kept their steady rhythm. The constant beeping of the machines made him want to rip his fucking hair off but the sounds grounded him. The told him that he was fine. 

Izuku would wake up, heal, still have his quirk and fight alongside Katsuki forever.

Right?

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The next time he blinked, it was dark outside the window. The window had turned into a mirror, throwing his tired face back at him in the lamplight.

The lamp beside Izukus bed hummed softly. The machines continued their song of constant beeps, which Katsuki eventually learned to tune out. 
The chair felt stiff as Katsuki let it carry his weight, but he hadn't moved. A few hours may have passed- maybe more.

His back ached, his eyes screamed at him to let them rest, but he still couldn' t bring himself to leave. Not when the rise and fall of Izuku’s chest was right there, proof that the idiot was still breathing.

He leaned back as the chair squeaked beneath him and the plastic further dug into his spine. His hand slid into the pocket of his jeans and he fished out his phone. He grabbed the silicone encased phone and turned it on, hoping it would keep him from passing out on the spot.

The screen burned against his eyes as he squinted and turned the brightness down while he mentally cursed at the screen.

Notifications cluttered the top of the screen — news alerts, social media updates, agency emails and other shit he didn’t care about.
He tapped on one article without thinking. A hero news site popped open, headlines flashing bright red across the screen.

“Number Two Hero ‘Deku’ Severely Injured in Battle — His Condition Unknown”

He stared at the headline until the words blurred.

‘Condition unknown.’

“Public Confidence in Musutafu Heroes Wavers After Pro Hero Deku's Incident”

“Incident,” huh. Like as if he tripped over his own damn feet.

He clicked on one of the links, titled:

“Hero Commission Silent After Deku’s Collapse — Public Questions Hero Reliability”

“Was Japan’s golden boy hiding weaknesses all along?” one anonymous source told HeroWatch. “If he can’t handle a single villain, what happens in another war?”

Katsuki sat straight in his chair now, his mind turning to anger. He scrolled down and read the comments  

   @allmightairhead:He probably tried to solo the villain, im pretty sure he told the backup to stand down. Lowkey acting like he’s All Might 2.0 

   @quirknerd: Can’t even efficiently use his own quirk. Well, it isnt really even his anyways. Weakest “Number Two” we’ve ever had.

   @kamimydaddyfr: Didn’t half his team like ditch him? That sure does say something.

Katsuki’s grip tightened around the phone, teeth grinding until his jaw ached. His thumb hovered over the screen, scrolling faster. Each word burned hotter than the last.

   @noimnotyohoe: Guess being all smiles wasn’t enough after all.

He set the phone face down - a bit more aggressively than he should have- on his knee. The sharp crack echoed in the room but he didnt fucking care.

The comment section still burned behind his eyelids. How dare they talk like that? Who even were these damn extras to act like they were actually there?

He pushed off the chair as gently as he could and stood. He exited the room with the quiet shut of the door.

The hallway felt smaller somehow, the air thicker with other people's opinions and gossip and the kind of cowardly cruelty that hides behind screens.The world outside could rot for all he cared.

Let them talk. If Izuku’s name was going to burn, he’d burn his too.

He couldnt care less if he fell from his number one rank, Izuku mattered more.