Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku was four years old when he met his best friend for the first time. At the front of the classroom, he and the rest of the little class had stared at the new kid in awe, surprised someone would move to their town in the middle of the summer and start school with them in June. In a way, it worked out. At least Bakugou Katsuki wouldn’t be so far behind in the lessons.

At the first break, the other students avoided Bakugou - like any young child, once you made your friends, you didn’t bother with introducing yourself. Midoriya, however, didn’t have any close friends yet. The girls in class liked to pull him aside and make him play with dolls, and since his mother had told him not to be mean to other students, he had fallen into playing with the girls and couldn’t seem to pull away to play games like he really wanted to.

Bakugou felt like a gift from fate.

“I never would’ve guessed that you two were best friends,” Uraraka says, fiddling with a charm she had put on her phone earlier that week. “Let alone childhood friends.”

“I asked him to eat lunch with me on his first day here, and the rest was history,” Midoriya says with a small shrug.

“Pretty weird history,” Uraraka mumbles. Midoriya doesn’t give her a reply; he just glares at her instead. “Look, I’m sorry, I really don’t see how you can still consider him a friend! He shoves you around, steals your lunch whenever he can and—”

“Kacchan doesn’t hurt me, and he doesn’t steal my lunch because I make an extra one for him,” Midoriya explains, holding back a sigh, “plus he’s my pitcher. We work well together. And…”

Midoriya trails off, remembering back to when his relationship with Kacchan was much simpler. There were nights when they had sleepovers, and instead of going to sleep, they would sprawl out and stare at the stars. Midoriya would point out all the constellations he could name. Bakugou didn’t know anything about the stars back then, and with Midoriya being absolutely obsessed with them, he took it upon himself to tell Bakugou everything he knew.

Bakugou never interrupted him, even when he went on and on until their parents yelled at them to go to bed. The awe in Bakugou’s eyes, then, was enough to capture Midoriya’s heart; he knew then that, no matter what, he and Bakugou would always be friends.

“Midoriya…?” Uraraka says, waving a hand in front of his face. It shocks him out of memory lane enough for Midoriya to give her an apologetic smile. “You were saying?” she prompts, and Midoriya nods.

“I used to love astronomy, but no one ever wanted to listen to me,” Midoriya explains. “Until Kacchan, that is, and he played along!”

“Played along?” Uraraka repeats, clearly amused. Midoriya opens his mouth to reply, but instead a heavy hand falls onto his head, the weight familiar and demanding.

“They were just stupid stories to make some idiot laugh,” Bakugou’s rough voice dismisses. Midoriya shivers, worried Bakugou will yank on his hair and toss him to the ground for ever bringing this up. Instead, he moves his hand around, shaking Midoriya’s head with the movements, before shoving him away lightly. Midoriya catches himself, looking back at his old friend in surprise. “Stupid little kid shit,” he says, “stop telling transfer kids things that don’t matter.”

“It does matter!” Midoriya says, not phased by Bakugou’s scowl. Momentarily, he wonders if he should stop speaking, but there’s something off with the way Bakugou looks at him. “Kacchan, your imagination was amazing!”

So amazing that he remembered the stories, even after so long. But Bakugou doesn’t need to know that…

“That way is Sakina, the largest plant in the Henshaw Galaxy,” a much younger Bakugou had once said, pointing to the sky in a random direction. “It’s similar to Earth, but most of the Syrd race live underground, now.”

Midoriya would bite his lip to keep from giggling at Bakugou’s stories. Bakugou had listened to him talk about the stars without interjecting, but those were facts! Listening to those stories had been much more entertaining.

“Oh?” Midoriya had replied. “Why do they live underground?”

“Because of—” Bakugou started, before tearing his eyes away from the stars and looking at Midoriya. His mouth was open in a little “O” in surprise.

“What?”

Bakugou had looked away from him then, shrugging. “It’s nothing.”

Midoriya pushed his shoulder and laughed. “You’re funny, Kacchan!”

Bakugou didn’t talk about the underground after that, or why this “Syrd race” would need to be hiding. Midoriya had imagined all sorts of different reasons - their planet was dying and the only resources were below the surface, or another alien race had come for them and they couldn’t survive being out in the open - but nothing seemed to compare to Bakugou’s fantasy world.

For all of the amazing stories he had told, the complexities he would invent, he denied them all now.

“They were stupid. I don’t wanna remember all the times I played up your stupid space obsession,” Bakugou says now, in present day, shaking his head. “I didn’t come here because I wanted to talk about the past,” he scoffs, before holding out his hand. “I need your literature textbook.”

“You forgot your textbook?” Midoriya says, a bit concerned as he rummages around for said textbook.

“That’s odd,” Uraraka says, frowning a bit. Midoriya silently agrees - why would Kacchan ask him for his literature textbook? “You’re at the top of our class, why would you—?”

Her question fizzles out just as Midoriya hands over his textbook, Bakugou snatching it away easily enough.

“Nobody asked you, Round Face!” Bakugou said, turning and making his way out of the classroom. He whirls around again once he gets to the door, pointing the textbook in Midoriya’s direction. “Don’t be late for practice, Deku!” He shouts, sounding just as menacing as always, before he finally takes his leave.

“I keep telling him,” Midoriya sighs, “I’m never late.”

“I’m just surprised that he didn’t deny all the, you know, storytelling stuff,” Uraraka says with a little wave of her hand. “And that you liked astronomy,” she adds, sounding a little intrigued.

Midoriya gives a little shrug at that. He moves to explain more, but their teacher walks back into the classroom and starts the next lesson. However, he hears none of it, his mind turning back to Bakugou and his imaginary world.

Sometimes, he wished Bakugou’s imagination didn’t die as they got older. He told stories of an entire galaxy, it sounded like. Stories about a planet called Pohl and the stone forests inhabited by Gurone, and about Garion and the eternal rain shower of acid, turning the whole planet uninhabitable despite there being delicious fruit in its soil. Midoriya loved the stories about the Beherees myth on the planet Bukuret, how they would eat everything in their path and then sleep all day, but their skin was impossible to cut open to retrieve anything you lost.

Sakina, though, was Midoriya’s favorite planet to hear about. The beautiful crystal trees that grew farther than the eye could see; the rivers inhabited by glowing specs; how the Syrd race were proud people, intelligent and working their way into the next level of technology that not even humans could comprehend.

“What do they look like?” Midoriya had asked once while lying in the grass, the stars twinkling above them. He thought maybe - if he looked hard enough - he could also see the planets Bakguou was talking about. But he knew they were just stories Bakugou was making up.

“Well,” Bakugou cleared his throat and took a deep breath, “I guess they look… almost like humans. But their skin glows once the sun goes down, and their eyes are one solid color, and their hair is less… like hair?”

Midoriya laughed as Bakugou’s face scrunched up in thought, trying to describe the aliens of his imagination just right. His laugh, though, made Bakugou’s face burn red before he punched Midoriya and ran inside. Midoriya thought the description was interesting, but no matter how much he prodded, he never heard about their appearance ever again.

Midoriya eventually tried to initiate a game with his best friend, set in these fantastical worlds. Despite inventing the worlds themselves, Bakugou wasn’t a huge fan of the games. Midoriya would set up adventures and stealth missions, all geared towards trying to save the Syrd from their underground lives, but all it did was make Bakugou stop short.

“What’s wrong, Kacchan?” Midoriya would ask once he noticed his best friend wasn’t playing along.

“I don’t want to risk my life for the Syrd.”

Midoriya stared down at his friend before clambering down the tree he was already halfway up. “Why not? The Syrd seem so cool!”

“Well,” Bakugou had kicked the dirt under his feet, avoiding Midoriya’s eyes and huffing out an annoyed sound, “I guess I just don’t want you to risk your life!”

Midoriya responded by playfully shoving at Bakugou’s arm, laughing a little. “It’s just a game, Kacchan!”

“Yeah, I guess…” Bakugou had replied, still looking down at his shoes.

“We could…” Midoriya suggested, “play some other alien game?”

That was all it took for Bakugou’s eyes to light up.

“We could play the explorer game where we try to get on Garion for the Zeppionate!”

“Where do you come up with this stuff?” Midoriya asked, laughing at how quickly Bakugou’s mood changed. He never got an answer, though, as Bakugou ran off, dragging Midoriya with him as they made preparations for imaginary space travel to the planet with acid rain.

They stopped playing games that involved the Syrd, and Bakugou would come up with all sorts of alien stories to distract Midoriya from suggesting it again. The alien games were their thing, they played together as much as they could… until they stopped playing altogether.

“Midoriya-kun, do you have a moment?” a voice calls, snapping Midoriya to attention. Class was already over, and Aoyama was standing in the doorway, fingers drumming almost delicately at its surface.

“Oh, hey Aoyama-kun… what’s up?” Midoriya asks. He stands up and starts packing away all his stuff.

“Have you heard anything from Tooru-chan about cheer practice tomorrow?” Aoyama asks.

“I haven’t,” Midoriya says, scratching his head. “Are you worried she doesn’t want to be on the cheer squad anymore?”

Aoyama shakes his head before striking a melancholic pose. “I am more concerned about Momo-chan, actually. She seems to stress out a bit too much for the reasons why Tooru-chan won’t come to practice.”

Midoriya lets out a sigh, dragging a hand over his face.

“Mineta’s still harassing the cheer squad?” he asks.

“Last time I saw him, he was peeking through the bleachers with a pair of binoculars,” Aoyama reports, sounding a bit grim. “Tooru-chan does not want to be subject to his… rather pervy eyes, and Momo-chan feels conflicted about going to practice and being spied on. Really, I understand both their positions, but… there is a game in a weeks’ time.”

Midoriya thinks for a moment, slinging his backpack across his shoulders before checking the time. Baseball practice was soon.

“Try asking the men’s volleyball team if you can practice in their gym for tomorrow,” Midoriya says. “They’ve let small groups share the gym before, and I don’t think they like Mineta either… and if they say no, then…” He gives Aoyama a frank look. “I guess, prepare for the worst.”

Aoyama nods, standing up straight and nodding at his, almost regally. “I shall try my best for them not to worry, Midoriya-kun,” he says.

“Thanks, Aoyama-kun,” Midoriya says.

They walk out of the classroom together and say their goodbyes as they make their way down the hall. Midoriya knew he should shake the memories that held him close all day, knowing it would only make him distracted during practice, but he couldn’t help it.

By the time they were in middle school, any mention of the Syrd race and the planet Sakina had come to an end, along with the easy-going friendship they maintained through elementary. Midoriya never knew why or how they grew distant, and while it bothered Midoriya slightly, they always had baseball to fall back on.

He actually wonders if their preoccupation spurred on Bakugou pushing away his childhood fantasies. They were older, a battery, taking on the responsibility of practice and teamwork and games… maybe Bakugou didn’t want that childishness to follow him.

Still, Midoriya never forgot about the stories, reveling in their details, even trying to doodle what the planets all looked like. He kept the doodles hidden, of course, because if Bakugou was denying they existed, what would he do with physical proof?

There were times, though, that Bakugou brought them up again. Once, they were at training camp with the baseball team. It was middle school, just a couple months after Midoriya’s dad left one night on an errand and didn’t come back. He couldn’t sleep, choosing to sit on the old, decrepit porch of the cabin they were all staying at, when Bakugou silently sat next to him.

It felt like hours upon hours of silence between them, before Bakugou bumped his shoulder and pointed up to the sky, murmuring, “There’s Sakina.”

Midoriya laughed just before he started crying. Bakugou slung a deft arm around his shoulders and held him close until he had no more tears to let out.

No matter what their relationship looked like to everyone else, Bakugou was always there for Midoriya, and Midoriya tried to be there for Bakugou, too. He started making lunches for Bakugou in middle school, when he realized that Bakugou didn’t have any of his own. He paired up with Bakugou and caught his pitches, no matter how hard they were thrown, because everyone else on the team didn’t dare. Midoriya appreciated every moment they spent together, even if now baseball was their only pretext to be around each other, these days.

He bumps into Kirishima on his way to the club room. They make small talk about how much homework they need to do before Kirishima stops short. “You alright, Midoriya?”

“What do you mean?”

“You seem like you’ve got a lot on your mind,” Kirishima says, raising his eyebrows at him. “You wanna talk about it?”

Midoriya shrugs, and Kirishima gives him a look. “Just reminiscing about my childhood, I guess.”

Kirishima huffs out a laugh. “Oh, yeah? What did you get up to when you were a kid?”

“I played aliens with Kacchan,” Midoriya says, as blunt as possible. “Even though he made everything up, it never seemed like he wanted to play.”

Kirishima hums, nodding a little. “He does draw some pretty weird stuff. It’s never really good but… I bet he has some interesting ideas in that crazy brain of his.”

“He’s not crazy,” Midoriya says, trying hard not to laugh as they walk into the club room.

Iida and Todoroki are already there to greet them as they step inside, along with some first years that Midoriya hasn’t learned the names of - well, not yet, at least. He waves cheerfully at them anyways as he makes his way to his locker, the two nodding back before leaving the locker room together. Last he heard, coach had given them special assignments for improving Todoroki’s pitching by working with other third years.

Once he opens his locker, Bakugou meanders into the room. He barely acknowledges those who greet him. Midoriya waits until Bakugou is at his side, in front of the locker next to Midoriya’s own, before he moves to pull on his practice uniform.

“You’re fuckin’ quiet,” Bakugou murmurs, his voice gruff as always, but low. His eyes don’t stray from his own locker as he starts to change, as well.

“You seemed mad when I brought up the stories, earlier,” Midoriya replies, just as low, with a shrug.

“They were dumb,” is all he gets in response before Bakugou turns his back on Midoriya.

Baseball practice goes as well as usual, Bakugou breaking away and helping the prospective first year pitchers… if you could call yelling and barely veiled insults as help. Still, he was the best pitcher they had, and he knew what he was talking about. He watches from the sidelines, standing next to Kirishima and Kaminari as their coach gives them their instructions. Instructions that Midoriya barely catches.

“Sound good, boys?” their coach says, gruffly. The other two answer affirmative, while Midoriya snaps back to attention. “Did ya hear me, Midoriya?”

Hesitating for a moment, Midoriya nods. “Yeah, sounds good, Coach.”

He gets narrowed eyes and a stiff nod before their coach turns away from the three of them.

“You didn’t hear a word he said, did ya, handler?” Kirishima says, smirking a bit as he rocks on his heels.

“Too busy staring at his - excuse me - our sexy ace,” Kaminari quips. The both of them laugh while Midoriya just rolls his eyes.

Midoriya’s been hearing their jokes since first year. Back then, the jokes made him blush and stutter, denying anything and everything, but now… Midoriya can hardly care what the rest of the team thinks of him and Bakugou, so long as Bakugou didn’t hear anything about it.

“Whatever,” Midoriya dismisses softly, “what did Coach say?”

“We’re supposed to stand in as batters for the two first years Bakugou’s taken under his wing,” Kaminari says, giving a little shrug. “Honestly, I don’t mind a couple three-at-bat challenges from practice but…”

“They need to get used to what it’s like pitching to some serious batters,” Midoriya says, nudging Kaminari with his elbow. “Don’t go easy on them just because they’re first years.”

“Go easy when Bakugou is right behind them?” Kirishima said, shuddering a bit. “I’d rather not.”

“Exactly,” Midoriya says, nodding.

“You okay?” Kaminari asks, out of the blue, stopping him right before he dipped into the dug out for his catching gear. “It’s not like you to miss Coach’s orders.”

Kirishima claps his shoulder before Midoriya can answer. “Off day. He’ll snap out of it behind a batter, ain’t that right, handler?”

Midoriya nods, smiling at the two of them. Really, it felt nice knowing his teammates cared about him, even when they used the silly nickname about him being the only catcher to handle Bakugou. He just hoped Kirishima was right; spacing out and missing a test fastball thrown by Bakugou himself would be the least of his worries if he wasn’t.

The pitching practice goes well. The first years have a long way to go before they’ll start, but it wasn’t like they would be taking Todoroki’s starting position anyways, or overpowering Bakguou as the ace.

Coach calls the team over just as the last pitch is thrown, Kaminari swinging and missing, distracted by the call. Bakugou smacks Kaminari over the head as they put away their gear for missing a decent pitch. Midoriya hears the way Bakugou said it loud enough that the first year who pitched last could hear it, and looked away to quietly grin as he saw the first year preen.

They jog their after-practice laps after a few words from the coach, everyone exhausted but still energetic enough to begin winding down. Bakugou and Kirishima are leagues ahead of everyone, racing as they almost always do. Kirishima’s laugh echoes across the pitch as Midoriya follows them with his eyes, keeping pace with the underclassmen and talking with them. They were a lot more out-of-breath than he was.

As the silence settles in as the team runs, the monotonous motions of running lulls Midoriya into his memories once more. This time, though, the memory was more recent. Last year, when their team was defeated once again on their way to the Koshien in particular. The game had run into extra innings, and they fought as hard as they could, but they weren’t good enough. The bus on the way home was silent, their teammates either asleep or too upset to make any noise as they head back to their city.

Midoriya, though, was up, sitting at the back of the bus, trying to stifle his tears. He knew it wasn’t his fault, that either a win or a loss was the team’s, not the individual’s, but he still felt like he could’ve done more.

He didn’t hear Bakguou make his way down the bus’s narrow aisle and plop into the seat next to him, but he felt the gentle push at his head. When he looked up, Bakguou looked just as pained as he did, his eyes red, but not in the way Midoriya’s were.

“Kacchan…” he sniffled, trying to mop his tears away with his wrists. It did nothing to help, then.

“There aren’t formal sports up there,” Bakugou said, his gaze moving from Midoriya’s face and out the window, to the dark barely-star-spotted sky outside. “But, if they saw our game, I think they would’ve called it an honorable defeat.”

“Wh-what…” Midoriya blinked, thinking Bakugou was crazy. Until Bakugou pointed to the sky, at a cluster of faint stars that looked familiar and foreign all at once.

“Sakina,” he said, giving Midoriya a weak smile.

That time, Midoriya laughed and laughed, a hand clamped over his mouth to keep the rest of the team in the dark about their chat, the other hand clutching at Bakugou’s.

Midoriya smiles at the memory now, lifting his water bottle and taking a huge gulp from it.

That day, after their lost, wasn’t the first time Midoriya was aware of his feelings for Bakugou, but it was the first instance where he decided that he had to play his feelings off a little better. At this point, he was certain he was in love with his childhood best friend, but it wasn’t like he was going to act on them.

Silent, he follows as the team files into the club room, the air in the tiny room tinged distinctly with sweat as he walks in. He catches sight of Bakugou’s usual necklace hanging against his chest as he changes, and Midoriya forces himself to look away. He’s just taking off his practice jersey as Kaminari jumps at him, grasping his shoulders and shaking him a bit. Midoriya can’t help the little yelp that comes out of him at the shock. Kaminari laughs it off and Bakugou rolls his eyes, before Kaminari lets him go.

“Midoriya, I’ve got a new riddle today!” He announces, standing tall and proud despite the sweat dripping down his forehead.

“What is it this time?” Midoriya asks, smiling.

“I am a mother and a father, but have never given birth. I’m rarely still, but I never wander. What am I?” Kaminari recites, his grin growing at Midoriya’s confusion.

“Uhm…”

“It’s a tree!” Kirishima announces after a moment of silence, slamming his locker as he turns around with a toothy grin on his face. “He told me this earlier,” he explains with a shrug as Midoriya gives him an awed expression.

Bakugou chuckles a little as he buttons up his school uniform shirt. “Tree, huh? I thought you fucked up repeating it or something.”

“Hey!” Kaminari says, obviously offended.

“I wasn’t sure about it, either,” Midoriya says with a shrug, sheepishly looking to Bakugou as he smiles. He smiles back, though it’s easy to miss if you don’t know what to look for.

Midoriya breathes easier, seeing that small smile and knowing today would end on a positive note with Bakugou for once.

It isn’t long until their teammates trickle out of the club room, saying their customary goodbyes as they head home for the day. Midoriya, Bakugou, Kirishima, and Kaminari are the last ones to leave, Bakugou locking the door behind them as they meander their way across the school’s campus and onto the streets surrounding it.

Their chatter is mostly lost on Midoriya, but he knows Bakugou reluctantly agrees to arm wrestle with Kirishima the next day. Kaminari ruffles Midoriya’s hair and Kirishima gives him a small, albeit sarcastic, salute as the two break off towards their homes. Alone with Bakugou, Midoriya starts to hum a broken sort of tune, just happy to know that the other seems as though he’s no longer annoyed with him.

“How was practice?” Bakugou says, glancing at him.

“It was fine,” Midoriya says, meeting his gaze with a smile. Bakugou only huffs, holding back a smile of his own as he nods. Something is off about him, really has been all day, and Midoriya hopes whatever oddities between them will end soon enough. “I’m… sorry about bringing up the alien stuff, by the way. I shouldn’t have been—”

“You said sorry already,” Bakugou dismisses.

“I didn’t!”

“It doesn’t matter, anyway,” Bakugou goes right on, like he didn’t even hear him. “We were kids, of course we were going to make up all kinds of stupid-ass stories. It’s just fuckin’ weird to admit that I was probably the reason your space obsession got out of hand.”

His voice turned gruff at the end, the most depressed Bakugou Katsuki ever let himself sound. It makes Midoriya shift his gaze to their shoes as they continue down the familiar roads.

They don’t talk about the time Midoriya fell out the tree in his backyard, during one of the space exploration games. They don’t talk about how his right arm, his throwing arm, was broken in several places. They don’t talk about how the doctors discouraged him from playing sports. They don’t talk about how that was practically the last time they played their space games.

It still sits over them, though, and while Midoriya wouldn’t have changed a thing, he knew Bakugou still felt somewhat guilty for the incident.

“It’s like you said,” Midoriya says, giving a little shug, “we were kids. And we had fun. It was so boring until you came into my life.”

“Then maybe you’re just boring,” Bakugou said with a shrug, dodging the lighthearted slap Midoriya tries to land on his upper arm. “And I’m not sorry about the aliens, then.”

“Good,” Midoriya says, bumping his shoulder to Bakugou’s as they walk. “Aliens are pretty cool. I just used to think the idea was weird but… we really can’t be alone in the universe here, can we?”

“Not again with your conspiracy theories,” Bakugou says, and Midoriya doesn’t need to look to know he’s rolling his eyes. “How much homework do you have?” he asks, awkwardly changing the subject.

Midoriya thinks, looking up to the sky as he hums a few long notes to his broken tune. “I think I just have English and math. You?”

“Same, except I’ve got to finish something for classical lit,” Bakugou says, grimacing at the admission. Midoriya stifles a laugh as Bakugou stretches his arms up, yawning a bit.

“You’ve always been behind on lit, what’s that about?”

“I’m never been a fast reader, you know this, Deku.”

Midoriya nods as they fall into silence once more. Bakugou was one of the smartest people Midoriya has ever known, it always seemed strange that he struggled with reading or other languages. Bakugou yawns again, and Midoriya wonders if he’s been sleeping enough.

“Do you…?” Midoriya starts, before the words catch in his throat. Bakugou is giving him a questioning look, pushing Midoriya to continue. “Do you want to spend the night? We could study together…”

Bakugou just stares at him for a while, until he turns his eyes back towards the road in front of them. “Sure, it might help.”

Midoriya fights the smile that threatens to take over his face. That has to be the first time in many years Bakugou agreed to come over, let alone sleep at his place. Things may have been strained, but recently, things were getting better between them. These last few days even seemed to be getting them back on track of where they once were, and sure, Bakugou was acting strange today, but… maybe Midoriya could find the courage to say something about the feelings that sit like a permanent weight in his chest tonight.

Bakugou’s house comes into view, and Midoriya gestures towards it. “Do you want to grab something from home?”

“Yeah,” Bakugou sighs, before clicking his tongue, “should probably tell the old hag I’m staying at your place.”

Midoriya gasps, “I should too! Ask, I mean. Not that my mom would have a problem with it, just that it’s kind of last minute and I don’t even know if the extra futon we have is clean and—”

He stops as he bumps into Bakguou’s back, stumbling back a couple steps. He blinks, looking around and wondering why Bakugou stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

Bakugou doesn’t answer, he just keeps staring at his house. Midoriya watches him for a moment, nervous.

“Kacchan…”

“Get down!” Bakugou shouts then, turning around and shoving himself into Midoriya, body slamming him into a small patch of grass. Midoriya loses his breath at the impact, and feels a small pain shoot into his back.

“Wha—”

An explosion comes from the house, so powerful it shakes the ground beneath them. Midoriya stares in horror over Bakugou’s shoulder until the heat radiating from the blast becomes too much. Bakugou’s body over his protects him from falling debris, but Midoriya feels a few things fall beside his head.

When the sound of things falling and the heat seem to subside, Midoriya tries to open his eyes. Smoke envelopes the two of them, burning his eyes as they strain to see beyond Bakugou’s worried expression over him.

“K-Kacchan…”

“Stay quiet, and don’t move,” Bakugou whispers, his eyes fierce with determination. It’s all Midoriya can do to nod and purse his lips shut.

Moments pass, before Bakugou pushes himself to his feet, looking around amidst the smoke. Midoriya briefly wonders what he’s doing before lasers are trained on him from all angles.

Something weird and unintelligible is yelled then, and in the distance Midoriya can hear sirens. Despite the unfamiliar voice and language, Bakugou seems to understand what was said.

“He’s not who you’re looking for!” Bakugou yells out, and Midoriya stares up at him in awe. “He’s just some Human, he’s useless!”

The response is some more jumbled words of confusion.

Bakugou hesitates, his eyes meeting Midoriya’s for a split second. Midoriya can almost see his throat bob as he swallows. “I am Kaetzuubi Baekeget,” Bakugou declares, before gulping thickly again, “of the planet Sakina!”

Midoriya’s ears ring when he hears the first shot.

Chapter Text

Things move far too quickly for Midoriya to keep up properly. Bakugou had shifted when the shots rang out, and dropped to lay on top of Midoriya. In a different situation, Midoriya would have been internally freaking out in a good way, but in this moment he’s freaking out in a bad way.

The smoke rolls out from the house, covering the street, and the immediate area around them has cleared enough for Midoriya to see. The gunshots - at least, Midoriya thinks those are guns - subside and he looks around from beneath Bakugou.

Creatures that look like trolls - the only way he can think to describe them - are standing around them, and Midoriya takes a moment to figure out how many there are. He counts five, but something tells him there are more out there. They stand equal distances from one another, clearly blocking any chance for escape. There’s something glowing on their backs, and the armor they’re clad in reminds Midoriya of the sci-fi shows he’d stay up late to watch with Bakugou back in elementary school.

Bakugou growls above him - literally growls, like some kind of animal (and it’s not hot, shut up body!) - baring his teeth to the creatures. Their hulking forms actually stumble back in surprise, and Midoriya watches on in awe as they look between one another, gibberish sounding from them, but Midoriya doesn’t see where their mouths could possibly be.

“Stay back!” Bakugou yells, his voice holding some kind of snarl. The reaction he gets is almost comical to Midoriya, these huge, intimidating creatures actually appear to be scared of him now. “He’s not the Hero!”

Midoriya can hear the sirens approaching, and he wonders what the emergency response team will think of these… well, Midoriya supposes they’re aliens.

“You need to get out of here!” Bakugou shouts, glancing in the direction of the sirens. One of the creatures steps forward, the object in his hands - probably a gun, though it looks nothing like a gun and much more like a barrel - dropping to its side. This one says something to Bakugou, and Bakugou scowls at him, a small growl making the creature flinch. “These Humans don’t know about your kind! They’ll take one look at you and shoot you with something worse than your pathetic lasers!”

These troll-like aliens seem to consider his words before they crouch down - with how short their legs appear, Midoriya is surprised they can even do that - before springing up, shooting off into the air. A light shines down on them, and Midoriya shields his eyes from how bright it is. Bakugou crowds him again, and Midoriya can feel something pulling him up into Bakugou’s braced body.

“Grab the ground,” Bakugou grunts, so Midoriya scrambles to dig his hand into the grass and dirt as best as he can. The pull grows stronger, and Midoriya realizes it’s a tractor beam, probably from some ship taking the trolls away before they fall to the ground again.

When the light fades, Midoriya feels his entire body collapse into the grass, and he gasps for air. The smoke is really thinning out now, but there is more beginning to pour out of the sizable hole in Bakugou’s home. Midoriya stares at it, his hands in the dirt shaking away any soil before grabbing onto Bakugou’s shirt. “I - Kacchan…?”

Bakugou stares down at him, eyes wide in worry. “You okay? Nothing hit you, right?”

“Wh…” Midoriya’s breathing is speeding up, and he’s pretty sure he’s panicking. “Wha—”

“Those were Creath,” Bakugou grunts, moving to stand, reaching out to pull Midoriya to his feet. “They’re space mercenaries, and from what I just heard, they’re looking for the prophesized Hero.”

Midoriya gets to his feet, but his knees feel weak. Actually, after being thrown to the ground, he’s pretty sure his arm is worse than it’s ever been. He grabs Bakugou’s arm, gasping for breath, the panic settling in.

Bakugou’s eyebrows are knitting together in worry, and Midoriya groans. “You okay? I mean, you’re obviously not, but—”

“What the heck!?” Midoriya shouts, and Bakugou flinches before he becomes alert, looking around the area. Midoriya’s about to start ranting, his panic skipping entirely over his usual mumbles when Bakugou grabs his good arm and starts pulling him somewhere. “Where are you—”

“We gotta move,” Bakugou says, pulling harder before he begins to run. Midoriya does his best to keep up, willing his legs to work. “We can talk once we’re safe.”

“Kacchan,” Midoriya calls, looking over his shoulder at the wreckage of his childhood friend’s home, “that’s a crime scene! We can’t leave!”

Bakugou doesn’t answer, he just keeps running and Midoriya can’t tell where they’re headed. He keeps up well enough, and he looks around himself at their neighbors. A lot of them are coming outside their homes, staring in horror down the road to the Bakugou household. A few of them glance at Midoriya and Bakugou, but so many of them were focused on the explosion that no one stopped them.

Midoriya nearly trips when Bakugou turns off the road into a clearing that leads to a small forest just outside their neighborhood, but he steadies himself to keep pace with him. Bakugou weaves through the trees smoothly, and Midoriya wonders how he can see.

Then it really hits him - Bakugou had called himself some weird nonsense that Midoriya wasn’t sure he could repeat if he wanted to, and said he was from the planet of Sakina. Midoriya’s eyes drill holes into the back of Bakugou’s head as they run, and he feels his heart rate pick up, knowing it’s not because of the running.

Bakugou slows to a stop, catching Midoriya when he nearly collapses. He clutches onto Bakugou, gasping for air and shaking terribly. “I only stopped because you were falling behind,” Bakugou says, moving down to help place Midoriya on the forest floor. “Take your time, I’m sure we’re safe now.”

“Safe?!” Midoriya snaps, his breathing shallow. “I don’t even know what just happened! You - you ran from a crime scene! Your house just exploded and - God, Kacchan your parents! They might be dead!” Midoriya coughs, gasping for air again. “A-and those things, what were those things?!”

“Deku, calm down,” Bakugou murmurs, holding Midoriya’s shoulders. “I’ll tell you what I can, but you need to calm down.”

Midoriya sucks in a deep breath, focusing on the dark soil in the forest. The trees are shaking above him from the wind, and the sound of leaves rustling help ground him to the forest. But the sounds of the sirens still arriving on scene are still there, only distant to him again. He breathes slowly, digging his fingers into the dirt once more as he closes his eyes.

Bakugou shifts next to him, and his hold on Midoriya’s shoulder grows soft. “You better?”

Nodding, Midoriya takes in a deep breath and looks up to Bakugou. “I think… I think I’m okay now…” Bakugou nods back, standing to survey the forest. “Kacchan… did you say you were from Sakina?”

Bakugou doesn’t look back at him. “I can’t explain here, Deku. We have to move again.”

“Why?” Midoriya scrambles to stand, reaching out to pull Bakugou towards him. “What’s not safe out there? What is going on?”

He shrugs Midoriya’s hand from his shoulder and Bakugou keeps his back to him. “Are you good to run again?”

Midoriya shakes his head, looking back the way they came. “Kacchan, I’m not leaving until you tell me what we’re running from.”

Bakugou’s shoulders hunch, and Midoriya waits for him to answer. Finally, he sighs, just as the sirens cut out. Midoriya wonders if the emergency vehicles have all arrived, and whether or not Bakugou’s parents were okay.

“I scared the Creath away, but it’s not going to last,” Bakugou grumbles, shifting to look over his shoulder at Midoriya. “Teeth baring and growling only keeps them at bay for so long. And yeah, their lasers aren’t strong, but it’s still fatal if you get hit directly by one.”

Midoriya’s jaw hangs open, and he feels the fear pool into his stomach. “Why did they destroy your house?”

Bakugou scratches at his head, turning fully towards Midoriya. “They were after you, Deku.”

“Why?!” Midoriya can’t take it, Bakugou is usually so straight forward, what was going on?! Staring at Bakugou in desperation, he rushes to ask, “What is going on?!”

“Because they think you’re the prophesized Hero,” Bakugou avoids his gaze, shaking his head. “We can’t stay here, we need to move.”

Midoriya can’t believe this. “I’m sorry, but what makes them think that I’m some hero? I may have played space aliens as a kid, but I’m just a human!”

Bakugou remains silent, eyes set to the forest around them. Midoriya feels his heart beat one too many times for him to be patient.

“Kacchan, say something!”

“I can’t, not until you’re safe,” Bakugou snaps, finally looking at Midoriya again. “Just - follow me, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Midoriya clenches his jaw. “How? Because you’re apparently an alien too?”

“Damn it, Deku, don’t do this right now—”

“I’m sorry if I’m offending you, Kacchan,” Midoriya snaps, the pressure building up behind his eyes. His nose is burning and the fear in his stomach is rising to bile. “I’m sorry if you think I’ll just follow after you when I have no idea what is happening!”

“I just told you,” Bakugou’s voice is firm, but it’s clear he’s getting agitated. “Creath are here and they’re hired to kill the Hero.”

Midoriya suddenly feels heavy. “Why attack your family then?”

“My parents were never here,” Bakugou mutters, his own jaw clenching to keep from yelling at Midoriya. “They were trying to attack me because I’m here to protect you.”

Midoriya’s body goes cold. “What…?”

“Now follow me, and I’ll keep you safe,” Bakugou glares at him, any other emotion he may be feeling hidden well behind his mask of anger.

He hesitates, looking back towards the neighborhood, though he can’t see anything beyond the trees. Midoriya bites his lip, swallowing the bile that is finally burning at his throat. He turns back to Bakugou, who’s waiting silently.

“Okay, where are we going?”

“They’re listening, Deku,” Bakugou answers, shaking his head. “I can’t tell you.”

He holds his hand out, and Midoriya just looks at it. Bakugou moves his hand a little, like as if motion would make Midoriya want to take it more.

Midoriya closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before he reaches out and takes Bakugou’s hand. He slowly opens them, and really looks at his old best friend.

“I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Bakugou whispers, his face softening to something much more calming. Midoriya squeezes his hand, and Bakugou squeezes back.

The tree behind Bakugou suddenly splinters, the shot of a laser creating a hole in the side of it. Bakugou jumps forward, grabbing hold of Midoriya and tucking him to his chest, making Midoriya bend awkwardly. Bakugou looks around, alert and appearing calm, but Midoriya can hear his heart racing.

If Bakugou is an alien, does he have a heart like Midoriya’s? Is it even in the same place? It sounds like there is one, but Midoriya can’t be sure.

The jumbled mess of the language Midoriya doesn’t understand comes from the other side of the tree, and Bakugou spins around, keeping Midoriya behind him. Midoriya peeks over his shoulder, looking at the Creath and the glowing form of the pack on his back. Or it’s a growth - Midoriya can’t really tell.

“I’m telling you, he’s not the Hero!” Bakugou snarls, but the Creath moves closer. Bakugou starts to step back, pushing Midoriya to do the same. “You touch him and I’ll kill you!” An odd noise comes from the Creath, sounding like a pig snorting, and Midoriya assumes the Creath is laughing. It goes on to say something, but again Midoriya can’t understand it. “Just because I was raised on Earth doesn’t mean I don’t know how to kill like any Syrd soldier,” Bakugou’s voice is still harsh, but Midoriya can hear a confidence behind it.

It’s frightening, hearing Bakugou talk about killing anything. It’s also extremely attractive, and Midoriya figures he’ll question why that is later.

The Creath seems to be hesitating, no longer moving towards them. Midoriya almost wishes he could so he could see the odd waddle it was doing with it’s short legs, but he knows now is not the time to be laughing about something that’s come to kill him.

If Bakugou doesn’t get them out of there, they’d both be dead by morning.

He gulps, tugging onto Bakugou’s shirt and staying behind him. The Creath stands there, breathing heavily, and Midoriya hears something odd in the way it huffs. Is it… having a hard time breathing here?

“Kacchan,” Midoriya whispers, and Bakugou stiffens, but he doesn’t look away from the Creath. “I don’t think it can breathe here…”

Bakugou muscles twitch, and Midoriya wonders if he just noticed too. The Creath seems to have noticed Midoriya saying something, and by the sound of its voice, it doesn’t understand Midoriya either. Bakugou clicks his tongue, standing a little taller. “He said you look scared,” Bakugou says, and the Creath squeals for a second, the tone sounding appalled. Midoriya snaps his gaze to Bakugou, wondering why he’s goading the Creath. “He knows these things - he strikes fear in all his opponents.” The Creath grumbles something, and from the way he’s leaning forward, Midoriya thinks he might be getting ready to charge.

“Kacchan, why are you—”

“Move!” Bakugou shouts, pushing at Midoriya to move him behind the tree just as the Creath charges forward. Midoriya stumbles, but he grabs hold of the tree and clambers to stand straight to watch what Bakugou will do.

Bakugou braces himself, jumping and grabbing the Creath’s shoulders when it’s close enough to vault over it, in the process pulling on something that looks to be going towards its head. Midoriya stares in awe at Bakugou, and realizes that as short as the Creath’s legs were, the rest of its body is twice the size of Bakugou himself.

“Hold your breath, Deku!” Bakugou shouts, landing to the ground just behind the Creath, and Midoriya moves to cover his mouth.

The Creath stumbles forward, the momentum of Bakugou pushing off it’s shoulders throwing it off balance, and Midoriya watches the cord he’d pulled off wave around like crazy, as though air is blowing out of it. His eyes widen when he realizes that something is coming out of it - it looks like a blue gas that glows.

Eventually, the Creath falls forward, and the pack on it’s back dims until there is nothing left. Midoriya waits for it to move, but it doesn’t and Bakugou grabs his arm and pulls him away. Once he hears Bakugou gasp for air, he does the same.

“What just happened?” He coughs, his lungs burning from holding his breath for so long.

Bakugou pants next to him, face strained as he gulps down fresh air. “You were right, the Creath can’t breathe oxygen. That pack held what they do breathe, and it’s toxic for us. Those trees might be dying now from the toxic gas mixing in the air…”

Midoriya takes in a few more gulps of air, looking behind himself. “Will it spread?”

“Probably not,” Bakugou stands straight, a cruel grin curling on his lips. “It looked like it suffocated in the air after a few minutes.”

Midoriya nods, but he feels uncertain. “The body - someone will find it.”

“And the Humans will realize there actually are aliens out there,” Bakugou shrugs. “With the way their technology is going, it will be years before they can even locate the Henshaw Galaxy.”

Midoriya stares at him, and he knows his face must be twisting into an expression of horror. “Kacchan, you just killed that thing,” he shivers, “and you - you don’t seem bothered by it!”

Bakugou shrugs. “It was us or him, Deku.” Midoriya isn’t sure he likes that mentality, but Bakugou reaches out to hold his face. “Deku, look at me! I’m not letting them hurt you. And if that means I have to kill them, I will.”

“I…”

“Just… wait until we’re safe,” Bakugou says, taking Midoriya’s hand as well. “I swear, I’ll explain once I know we’re safe.”

Midoriya nods, forcing himself to feel numb to the situation. “Okay, let’s go.”

Bakugou turns and starts to run, his hand falling from Midoriya’s. Midoriya’s hand remains out, reaching for Bakugou before he lets it fall and he sighs to himself. Quickly, he follows after Bakugou and keeps pace behind him.

How had it come to be like this? It’s hard to believe that Bakugou is actually an alien, he looks so human. And to top it off, he’d been telling Midoriya all about his race when they were children, and Midoriya had wanted to save them. The Syrd race were underground on Sakina if Midoriya remembers the stories right, but then… why was Bakugou here? On an alien planet, in a whole other galaxy?

They leave the forest, and Midoriya isn’t sure where they are now. There’s nothing but a field before him, and the forest surrounds it by a good distance. Midoriya takes it in, wonders how they could possibly be safe out in the open like this.

Bakugou is still running to the center though, so Midoriya follows him. He feels nervous following him to the middle of the field, and he starts to slow down. Bakugou slows as well, but he’s reached the center by now and is looking for something.

“Kacchan—”

He cuts him off with a hand, Bakugou turning to put a finger to his lips. He gestures for Midoriya to come closer, but Midoriya feels the back of his neck tingle. Bakugou drops his hand, giving Midoriya an exasperated look.

“I think—”

Bakugou’s eyes widen and he runs towards Midoriya, and he gets the feeling that Bakugou is about to tackle him to the ground again, so he drops into the grass. Bakugou dives to join him when a gunshot fires again.

“How are those lasers?!” Midoriya snaps at him, a few blades of grass obstructing his view of Bakugou.

He rolls his eyes, “I mean, they’re kind of like bullets, but they’re not!”

“What does that mean?!” Midoriya shouts over the gunfire.

Bakugou just shrugs and Midoriya groans. “Look, things translate funny into different languages, I can’t help it!”

“How are you doing that, anyway?!” Midoriya asks, but Bakugou just gives him an annoyed look. “Right, right, not until we’re safe!”

The gunfire stops and Bakugou shifts to stand again. “Are you finished?!” He shouts to the Creath, and Midoriya feels tempted to look, but he remains on the ground. A Creath answers him, and Bakugou groans. “Yeah, I killed him! What of it?!”

Midoriya swallows the bile that threatens to spill, hating the way Bakugou acts so casually about killing anything.

“Oh, you want revenge for your boss?!” Bakugou taunts, throwing his arms open. “Then come and get me!”

He can actually hear them all running out to try to murder Bakugou, and Midoriya starts to panic. Bakugou’s arms drop and he shakes his head, stepping forward to put his foot on top of something by Midoriya’s face. He presses down, and Midoriya shifts to see what it is.

A button sits amongst the grass, and he wonders what it does. He doesn’t wonder for long; the ground begins to shake under him and Midoriya tries to scramble away. Bakugou moves over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him to stand. Midoriya looks at him, then glances around to see the Creath running at them.

He counts at least fifteen of them from one side, and he starts to panic more, shaking in fear at the sight. Bakugou however doesn’t even blink, just pulls Midoriya to stand over the button, and the ground continues to shake.

Just as the Creath are about to close in on them, metal plates shoot out from the ground, encasing Midoriya and Bakugou in protective walls. Midoriya’s jaw drops, and he hears the Creath crash into the plates.

“What…?”

“Wait for it,” Bakugou mumbles, smirking at Midoriya.

The sheets of metal continue to rise up, and Midoriya watches in awe. They grow to be taller than the forest around them, and Midoriya has to strain his neck just to look up at the top. Once the metal frames stop, an odd sound comes from them before they begin to expand, shrinking back down and forming a shape. Midoriya feels the ground give under him, and he looks to see what is happening. Where the button was, the dirt has gone away to reveal another piece of metal, and it feels as if Midoriya is standing in an elevator, telling him that the metal under him is rising.

Panels begin to open in the sides of the metal as they take on a more proper shape, and two seats begin to spring to life out of one of the panels. What looks like computer screens are blinking to life and Midoriya does an entire spin around to take it all in.

“It’s…” Midoriya’s fear has been replaced with an anxious energy that screams at him to feel excited, but he isn’t sure he’s feeling it yet. “It’s a spaceship…”

“I bet you thought we were gonna die when I lead you to a clearing,” Bakugou huffs a laugh, shaking his head before moving to one of the seats that has fully formed. Midoriya stares at him. “Take a seat, and we’ll prepare for take off.”

Midoriya points to the wall, can hear the Creath banging around outside. “What about—”

“Their lasers won’t penetrate the hull of the ship,” Bakugou shrugs, “we’re safe now.”

He feels the floor has stopped, and the walls seem to have finished forming. The ship is just large enough that the two of them can fit comfortably but not have to be in each other’s general space. Midoriya slowly walks over, and he slumps down into the other chair.

Bakugou raises his brow and nods at him. “You comfortable?”

“I guess…” He watches him as Bakugou nods, turning away to start poking at some buttons on the wall and change things on the screen.

“The chair will change just a little to brace your body for the take off,” Bakugou says, and his voice sounds far too casual for Midoriya right now. If Bakugou has been on Earth this whole time - at least fourteen years - then how can he handle space flight or anything of the sort as though he does it all the time? “And obviously the g-force will be pretty heavy, so try to relax.”

Midoriya stares at him. “Kacchan, why are you acting like you’ve done this a million times?”

Bakugou pauses in his button pressing, and Midoriya’s chair begins to shift under him. He sees that Bakugou’s is as well, but Bakugou isn’t moving to lean back into it yet. “I’m actually really scared about messing this up since the last time I did this was fourteen years ago, and every time since was only a simulator.”

“Oh…”

“So give me a minute to get us out of Earth’s orbit and I’ll start explaining things,” Bakugou gulps, turning to look at Midoriya. His expression is stern, no trace of concern, but his eyes… his eyes are filled with worry.

“Okay,” Midoriya nods, moving to settle into his chair. “I trust you - and I believe in you.”

Bakugou nods back and returns to pressing buttons. When the chair suddenly produces a seat belt that holds Midoriya in place, he fully registers what Bakugou had said.

He did this when he was four? Are they actually the same age? And, wait, they’re leaving Earth? Midoriya agreed to go with Bakugou to safety, but did that really mean they needed to leave Earth?

He didn’t even get to call his mom, and he searches himself for his phone. Midoriya pauses when he realizes his phone was still in front of the wreckage of Bakugou’s house.

“Kacchan,” he starts to say, voice weak. Midoriya feels far too nervous to be there now, and he really just wants to go home.

Bakugou doesn’t seem to hear him, shifting back into his seat and pressing one last button. The ship rumbles and Midoriya sees black around the edges of his vision, his body shaking uncontrollably.

“Izuku,” Bakugou says, and Midoriya looks to him in surprise. Bakugou’s watching him, his eyes sad and apologetic. “I’m… I have to take you away, but the Creath are going to kill you if we don’t get out of here. They’ll go after your mother if we stay here.”

Midoriya thinks about her, worries that the Creath already tried to go after his mom. He gulps, tries to relax when he feels the shift in motion. “I understand.”

Bakugou shakes his head, “if we could stay here we would, but the Creath were hired to find you. I’m… I’m sorry.”

Midoriya doesn’t get a chance to answer, the shock of his apology almost as great as the situation itself, and he keeps his eyes on Bakugou when the pressure builds. Bakugou doesn’t look away either, and Midoriya figures that if he had to leave Earth and his family, at least he was going with his best friend.

The ship rocks as it rises and passes through different levels of the atmosphere, and Midoriya takes a deep breath to try to calm down.

Something beeps above them when the pressure ends, and Bakugou sits up slowly. He presses a few things on the panel, and suddenly the wall has changed to be like a window. Midoriya stares out into space, the moon and the earth hanging beneath them. He turns to look at Bakugou, and finds that he’s already staring at Midoriya, like as if he was watching for Midoriya’s reaction.

“Welcome to space, Deku,” Bakugou whispers, the ship silent around them.

Midoriya keeps his gaze on Bakugou, the light reflecting off of Earth casting an interesting glow on him. “Are we safe yet?”

He doesn’t get an answer from Bakugou, instead a giant spaceship suddenly looms before them, blocking the light coming from Earth. Midoriya jumps in his seat, and his attention is captured by the other ship.

Shapes appear at the top of their screen, and Bakugou growls. He reaches forward, hitting something to make the shapes disappear. Midoriya assumes they were words in Bakugou’s home language, but he doesn’t get a chance to ask when a Creath appears on the screen in place of the shapes.

Midoriya winces at the sight, finally getting a look at the Creath without the helmet. “Gross…”

The face of a Creath appears to be boiled, but rather than looking red and pus filled, they just looked green and hard. The eyes - at least he thinks those are eyes - remind Midoriya of flies and he gets the feeling the hole in what he thinks is its neck is its mouth. The possible mouth has strings of flesh covering it, and Midoriya just cannot look away.

Surrounding the Creath, the blue glowing gas hovers about it’s disgusting head. Midoriya thinks his upper lip might be twitching with the way his face is screwed up in revulsion, but he can’t bring himself to care right now.

It says something, and Midoriya really cannot understand a single word of the garbled mess. Bakugou growls in response, and Midoriya spares him a glance. Finally having taken his eyes from the creature to look at something much more appealing, Midoriya focuses on looking at Bakugou.

“He’s mine, I won, back off,” Bakugou snarls, and the disgusting Creath in Midoriya’s peripheral vision seems to cower. It says something, and Bakugou snorts in distaste. “I don’t care, whoever hired you can go die!”

Bakugou punches something and Midoriya isn’t sure what that panel does, but he feels the spaceship rock backwards and, from the view of the window, he sees the giant ship move away. However, from their own movement, he knows they’re the ones moving, and Midoriya wonders where they could possibly go in their little ship.

A light appears around the window’s edge, and Midoriya looks at it. “A wormhole?”

“Yep, we’re getting out of here,” Bakugou answers, and he pushes something to turn off the video call with the Creath. Before long, the window shows nothing but lights and colors until suddenly all Midoriya can see is space once more.

But there is no Earth, and he can’t recognise any of the planets within view. “Where are we?”

“Not sure,” Bakugou admits, falling back into his seat. “But they don’t know either. We’re finally safe…”

Midoriya turns to watch Bakugou, wondering if he’s right.

Chapter Text

Midoriya stares out the window, feeling like his body is a weight and his emotions are missing, watching the planets and the stars he’s never seen before. One of them appears like it might explode with the cracks in its surface, what looks like lava pooling around in the cracks and bubbling ominously. Another one in the distance looks like it might only be made of ice, and Midoriya cocks his head to the side to try to guess how far away it is from this solar system’s center star to be that cold.

“Maybe I should try to figure out where we are,” Bakugou mumbles, grunting as he sits up to mess with the panel.

Midoriya looks at him, the nervous energy in his stomach returning in full force as they settle in, staying wherever it is the wormhole took them. He tries to keep his breathing even, watching Bakugou click on things and focus on some weird program that he guesses is a star map that can tell them which solar system this is.

“Kacchan,” he starts, stopping Bakugou’s movements. Bakugou glances over to him, dropping his hands and fully turning when he sees the panicked expression on Midoriya’s face. “Can we ever go back to Earth?”

Bakugou hesitates. “I don’t know…”

Midoriya sucks in a deep, shaking breath. “Oh…” He tries not to let it hurt, but the pressure behind his eyes has returned suddenly and his nose is burning from the tears he’s holding back. He may never see his mom again, or his friends from school. He may not ever be able to see Kirishima or Kaminari, or play with the team again, or finish high school. He will never know if they would get to Koshien this year, or if he would have been able to help lead the way there. All those plans he’d been making may never come true now that he’s not on Earth, and his stomach is hurting from holding back his tears.

Bakugou is kneeling before him. “Izuku, you can cry,” he whispers, taking Midoriya’s hands into his own. He squeezes his hands, and Midoriya feels the pressure finally spill over. “I promise, I will keep you safe, and I’ll do everything I can to be able to take you back to Earth,” Bakugou continues, and Midoriya shakes with the force of his tears.

Midoriya hunches forward, the pain in his stomach getting to him. Bakugou holds onto his hands, and Midoriya rocks forward when he finally lets it all go. Tears are pooling down his cheeks, heavy with pain and fear, as though he’s accepting the loss of Earth and his home and he fully believes they’re never going back.

“I got you, Deku,” Bakugou murmurs into Midoriya’s ear, and Midoriya sobs when Bakugou lets go to pull Midoriya into a hug. “I won’t let anything happen to you, and I will try to get you home again.”

He doesn’t think about how Bakugou doesn’t say “us” or “we”, that he’s focusing only on Midoriya returning to Earth. Midoriya can only sob, and he reaches out to hold onto Bakugou for dear life. He slips from his chair with how much he leans forward, Bakugou falling back with him, and Midoriya crumbles against him on the floor of the ship.

“I don’t know what we can do,” Bakugou continues on, one of his hands beginning to rub Midoriya’s back. “But I swear I’ll find anything that helps.”

Midoriya doesn’t respond, and even if he weren’t beside himself with grief, he isn’t sure he’d know what to say to this unusually kind Bakugou. He just continues to cry against his chest. He wants to stop crying, but he figures now is the most opportune time to get it all out. He coughs when he sobs particularly hard, and Bakugou continues to rub at his back. Bakugou even begins to gently massage Midoriya’s bad shoulder, as though he knew it might be hurting. His fingers help soothe any pain Midoriya has been suppressing, and his hand on Midoriya’s back calms him from his sobbing.

Bakugou shifts a little, resting back into the wall and bringing Midoriya against him. Midoriya curls in on himself against his chest, Bakugou resting his chin on Midoriya’s curly head. He’s nearly enveloped in Bakugou’s entire body and Midoriya can feel his sobs subside.

The comfort Bakugou gives him is one of the many reasons Midoriya knows he feels something like love for his old friend, and his attractiveness is enough to make Midoriya consider that it’s probably romantic. But he can’t focus on his feelings, having left behind everything he ever knew and fearing for his life, making it difficult to think about anything else.

Bakugou is with him, and while he has a lot to explain and has made Midoriya question everything from their past, there is no denying that Midoriya feels calmer when Bakugou holds him.

Midoriya’s not sure when he stops sobbing completely, or when he feels his face dry from the tears. Bakugou doesn’t say anything, and he doesn’t move beyond rubbing at his back and shoulders. Midoriya’s body truly feels drained now, and he wonders if it’s even worth it to try to go back when his whole understanding of the universe has flipped in on itself since the explosion.

“Do you want to talk now?” Bakugou whispers, and Midoriya lightly jumps at the feel of his hair shifting from Bakugou’s breath. “I think you need to hear it...”

Midoriya sucks in as much air as he can to help ground him again, and he moves away to peek up at Bakugou properly. He doesn’t pull much more beyond that, and he rests his hand on Bakugou’s stomach, scrunching his shirt into his fist. He nods at Bakugou, sniffling when he feels some snot try to roll out of his nose.

Bakugou doesn’t shift forward, reclining against the wall. He moves his hand to rest against Midoriya’s lower back, and his other hand falls to rest on Midoriya’s knees. Bakugou sighs, closing his eyes and thunking his head against the wall. “I might need to pull some images up, unless you’d rather not have visuals.”

Midoriya shrugs. “Why don’t I ask questions and you just answer me?”

Bakugou’s eyebrows scrunch and he nods a little. “I can still show you if you need visuals.” Midoriya nods again so Bakugou shifts to sit a little straighter. He moves his legs, letting them rest curled against Midoriya’s hips. “Okay, what’s your first question?”

He pauses to think about it. Midoriya supposes he can start with what might be the easiest. “How can you understand all those aliens but still be speaking Japanese?”

It seems like a good place to start because Bakugou appears relieved. He takes his hand from Midoriya’s knee, reaching up to pull something from under his shirt. A necklace is produced, one that Midoriya has seen around his neck since forever - he doesn’t remember a moment in which Bakugou didn’t have it on - to a point that no one acknowledges it much anymore. It’s a simple thick thread with a square charm, not much of a design to it beyond a spiral in the center that spreads to the outside, though it’s hard to see the line because the shades of red are close in color.

“This is a translation device,” Bakugou says, and Midoriya stares at it. “The wearer can hear everything around them in their own language, and everything they say will project out in the language of whoever is listening.” He removes his other hand from Midoriya’s back, sending a chill up his spine with the warmth removed, in order to reach up and pull the necklace off. Midoriya watches, not sure what Bakugou is doing when he drops it. Bakugou gives him a look, silently telling Midoriya to pay attention, and Midoriya narrows his eyes in confusion. Bakugou opens his mouth, and the words that come out sound nothing like anything Midoriya has ever heard.

It’s a smooth language, one that sends a tingling sensation throughout his body just listening to Bakugou talk. There doesn’t seem to be a start or end to the words, spoken so fluently that Midoriya wonders if sentences are more like an entire word than individual sounds to mean something else. Something else happens when Bakugou briefly pauses between his sentences, like as if Bakugou is clicking in his throat to mark the end of a phrase. Midoriya’s pretty sure his eyes are wide and his jaw is hanging open like a fish, but he can’t believe what he’s hearing from Bakugou’s mouth.

He feels a small comfort to know his voice is the same sound otherwise, regardless of whether or not the words being spoken make sense to him. When Bakugou doesn’t make another sound, Midoriya shakes his head rapidly, as if he had fallen into a trance. “What...?”

Bakugou shifts forward, replacing the necklace around Midoriya’s neck. “I was just saying baseball phrases and stuff,” Bakugou mumbles, and it’s alarming how easily his language shifts. “I don’t know what you said, to be honest. Japanese… it’s always been hard. And trying to speak English with this necklace was hard too, since it will always sound like I’m speaking your native language.”

Midoriya gawks at him, trying to close his mouth, but he can’t seem to do so because he is so surprised. “I… you sounded beautiful.”

Bakugou’s face burns at that, and he grows tense when shifting to sit back against the wall. “Thanks…”

“What language is that?” Midoriya asks, feeling a little excited.

“Wym, but the dialect is more for the Underground,” Bakugou bites his lip, his shoulders relaxing a little. “It’s… it’s a difficult language to learn. The Overworld’s dialect is weirder though.”

Midoriya tilts his head to the side, considering it. “I’m not sure what the difference is, but maybe I’d notice if I heard it.”

Bakugou nods towards the necklace around Midoriya’s neck. “If you ever come across it, you wouldn’t hear it. It’ll sound like everyone who talks to you are speaking Japanese from now on.”

“So am I actually hearing you right?” Midoriya wonders aloud, eyebrows scrunching together. “Is it Wym? Or even Sakina? Do official words translate as they normally are?”

Bakugou shrugs, “I’m not sure. You could take it off and I can say the words for you.” Midoriya nods, letting go of Bakugou’s shirt to do so. Bakugou clears his throat and begins to speak again. “Wym, Sakina, Creath, Syrd, Pohl, Beherees…” He shrugs, gestures to Midoriya.

“It sounds the same, but…” Midoriya waves his hand, to say so-so, “there’s something there I can’t describe…”

There are sounds at the end of the familiar words, or even before them. Something changing the way the words sound without translation. He shrugs, throwing the necklace back around his neck.

“What were you saying?” Bakugou asks, his face curious.

“I think there are prefixes and suffixes I don’t hear,” Midoriya says, humming in thought. “I don’t know though…”

Bakugou reaches up to the necklace, “let me hear you say them,” and removes it from Midoriya’s neck. Midoriya recites the same words Bakugou does, and he watches Bakugou’s face shift in confusion. He puts the necklace back onto Midoriya and shakes his head. “Yeah, you’re missing parts of the words.”

Midoriya shrugs. “That’s what I hear when I understand you…”

Bakugou nods, relaxing against the wall again. “Okay, next question.”

He thinks about it, feeling more at ease with the simple and quick answer Bakugou had given him for the first question. “Why do you look Human if you said you’re from Sakina? Are you actually a Human?”

A sigh is all he gets at first. Midoriya licks his lips, wondering if Bakugou won’t answer this. It takes a moment, but Bakugou finally turns and shakes his head. “No, I’m… I’m not a Human, Deku.”

He almost sounds ashamed, and Midoriya can’t help but want to know why. “Then why do you look Human? What are you?”

“I…” Bakugou scratches at his head, his hands no longer coming to rest against Midoriya. Midoriya shifts a little, trying to remain comfortable sitting between Bakugou’s legs, but the floor is hard and made of metal. “I’m a Syrd, from the planet Sakina. And I only look Human because…” He doesn’t peer at Midoriya, eyes to the floor. “I have a device that changes my appearance to look like the race of whatever planet I’m on.”

Midoriya glances to his legs, bent over Bakugou’s. He wonders what makes any of that shameful, or why Bakugou doesn’t seem comfortable with the topic. “So you’ll change appearances?”

“No,” Bakugou gives out a long sigh, his head banging back into the wall when he shifts to look up at the ceiling. “I have it set to Human right now.”

“So what do you really look like?” Midoriya asks, glancing over to him. Bakugou doesn’t meet his eyes and he shakes his head. Midoriya bites his lip. “Kacchan, what do you—”

“I don’t want to show you,” Bakugou snaps, and he pulls his legs out from around Midoriya, pushing against the wall to stand. “It’s not what’s important right now. Ask your next question.” He steps over to the chair he’d been in, swinging it around to mess with the panel again.

Midoriya pulls himself up as well, plonking down into his own seat. He feels better now that he’s sitting in the squishy chair, but he misses the warmth of Bakugou’s body around him. He pouts a little, crossing his arms in a huff. “What are you so ashamed of? Your real appearance must be similar to this one - I mean, you weren’t very good at describing stuff when we were kids, but I remember you said the Syrd have similarities to Humans.”

Bakugou’s shoulders hunch and he pauses in his movements before quickly continuing. “I just don’t think that’s something to worry about right now.”

Midoriya glares at Bakugou, thinking to himself that Bakugou is being a little selfish in keeping this secret from him. As his best friend - strained history or not - Midoriya feels he should know what Bakugou’s true appearance looks like.

“Just ask your next question,” Bakugou grumbles, falling back into his chair. He doesn’t turn away from the panel, and Midoriya hates that he’s avoiding his eyes.

“Why did you come to Earth?” Midoriya asks, biting his inner cheek a little. “Who were those people if they weren’t your parents?”

Bakugou groans, pushing the palms of his hands into his eyes. “Deku—”

“No, Kacchan, explain this to me,” Midoriya snaps, and Bakugou drops his hands to look at him again.

“I… I was sent to Earth to find the prophesized Hero,” Bakugou says, his voice soft. “My parents… they never came to Earth, but I had a device with me that allows for anyone back on Sakina to project themselves to Earth as a Human.” He sighs, scratching at his jaw. “Only the projections are more… solid? I guess that’s a good way to put it…”

Midoriya feels like he’s burning a hole into Bakugou’s head with the staring he’s doing. “So… I did meet your real parents?”

“No, my dad isn’t… he’s not important,” Bakugou mumbles, and Midoriya recalls that the excuse he’d always use was that his dad was on a business trip. “But you did meet my hag of a mom, she was just busy running the Underground with my uncle, so she wasn’t around much either… if it ever felt like we were alone in my house, it’s because we really were.”

Midoriya’s jaw hangs open a little, immediately filled with so many questions - namely why his father wasn’t important somehow. Instead, he focuses on the other parent. “Your mom… is she the leader of the Underground?”

“Sorta, my uncle runs things usually,” Bakugou shrugs, “point is, there was no point in my family being on Earth for much more than to pass me off as a real Human for the mission.”

He jolts upright at this, making Bakugou jump a little in surprise. “Wait, you said you came for the prophesized hero… who is it?”

Bakugou’s eyes are wide, as though he was hoping Midoriya would have skipped over that. “Uh…”

“Kacchan,” Midoriya begins to shake, “what’s this prophecy you’ve been talking about?” Bakugou turns back to the panel and the information he has open on it. Midoriya scowls at him, “Katsuki, answer me!”

“You!” Bakugou sits up, turning back to Midoriya. “You’re the Hero I was looking for, okay?!” Midoriya thinks he might have stopped breathing. “‘A hero will cross from his own lagoon of milky white stars,’ it’s talking about you!”

Midoriya shakes his head. “What? How does that… what?”

“The prophecy - it says - fuck,” Bakugou smacks his hands onto his head, scratching and pulling at his hair. “I know it, but I can’t tell you it!”

“Why not?” Midoriya feels completely confused. “You just… you were just reciting it, right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not the one who’s supposed to tell it to you,” Bakugou drops his hands, resting his arms on his knees while hunching forward. “The one who told the prophecy has to tell it to you, since it involves you.”

Midoriya considers this, but he isn’t sure he likes what he’s hearing. “But… how do you know for sure it’s me and not some other Human?” Midoriya bites his lip, thinking about the little snippet of the prophecy that Bakugou had said. “You said the Hero comes from the milky white stars? That’s the Milky Way Galaxy, right?”

Bakugou shrugs, “that’s what we thought, too.”

“So how do you know it’s specifically me?”

“There’s more to it, a part that talks about you,” Bakugou peeks up at Midoriya through his lashes, the red of his eyes burning in a way Midoriya has never seen before. “Stuff about where you’re born and what timeframe your birthday is, also a suggestion on how you look,” Bakugou’s eyes drop then, “basically, I know it’s you. It’s always been you.”

Midoriya feels a huge weight settle into his stomach. When they first met, Bakugou had stared at him with wide eyes. Did he know then who Midoriya was - in accordance to this prophecy, that is. Those big red eyes that seemed to foreign… he should have known his friend was an alien all this time. “That’s why you were okay with being my friend?”

Bakugou jumps, sitting up straight. “What?”

“You were on Earth to find the Hero and you found me,” Midoriya murmurs, “and that’s why you let me be your friend…”

“Deku,” Bakugou mumbles before surging forward, grabbing his hands. “Deku, no! I - I knew who you were when I saw you, but I didn’t - I wasn’t just - I care about you! I always have!”

Midoriya glances to their entwined hands, but he feels numb to the touch. “You let me get attached to you so that I’d trust you when you were ready to take me off of Earth…”

“No!” Bakugou snaps, shaking his head. “De - Izuku, I…! I was set in my mission to find the Hero, but when I got to know you… I just - I stopped caring about the prophecy!”

Midoriya turns his eyes up to look at Bakugou’s. “What?”

“Izuku, I didn’t - I don’t want you to save the Syrd race,” Bakugou’s voice sounds choked off. “I needed to protect you, I was told to protect you from outside threats, but… listening to you talk about saving them, going on and on about being a hero for them, when you only thought they were imaginary… I couldn’t accept it…”

He watches Bakugou fall to his knees, and he feels Bakugou press his hands to his forehead. Midoriya waits, feeling the shaking Bakugou’s body has begun to do, and he wonders if he’s about to cry. “Kacchan…”

“I didn’t stop talking about the Syrd because I hated them,” Bakugou cries, “I stopped talking about them so you wouldn’t want to save them anymore!”

Bakugou is sobbing now, and Midoriya isn’t sure what to do. Bakugou hardly ever cries, and Midoriya thinks back to the last time Bakugou had cried. He thinks it might be when they had lost in junior high to their school’s heated rivals, having reached the finals only to be soundly defeated. Or maybe it was a year ago, when their team had a party and someone spiked the juice with something no one was prepared for, and Bakugou got so drunk that he started to ramble about the Syrd to Kirishima and how it had been hopeless.

He reaches forward, thinking about why the idea of Midoriya attempting to save anyone would make him this upset. Midoriya gets out of his chair, kneeling before Bakugou and hugging him close when an idea comes to him about what’s really bothering Bakugou.

The Syrd are his people - those of the Underground have been waiting for Midoriya to come and save them for fourteen years - maybe longer - and Bakugou refuses to take him. Midoriya gulps, squeezing Bakugou closer. Bakugou’s not only scared of Midoriya risking his life - he’s ashamed that he’s left his people to suffer; not only his people, but his family as well. They may have been on Earth as projections, talking to and checking up on Bakugou, but the reality is that Bakugou hasn’t seen his family for just over a decade.

And he’s chosen to not return in order to save Midoriya from risking his life.

Midoriya feels a pain in his chest. He’d been crying earlier about not seeing his family ever again. Bakugou hasn’t truly seen his family in fourteen years and had made the choice years ago to never return to them. It doesn’t sit well with Midoriya, so he takes a deep breath and closes his eyes.

“Kacchan,” Midoriya whispers, and Bakugou shivers in his hold. “We have to go to Sakina - if I’m the Hero—”

“N-n-no,” Bakugou moans, hiccuping on his sobs.

“If I’m the Hero, I have to save them,” Midoriya presses his head against Bakugou’s, rubbing his hand along Bakugou’s back. “You have to take us to Sakina so I can save them.”

Bakugou’s head is shaking back and forth, but Midoriya’s head is keeping him from making a full headshake. “I can’t l-let you…”

“You have to,” Midoriya hushes him, moving one hand up to pat at his ashy blonde hair. “You were sent to find me, and you’ve already taken me away from Earth. If one of us could see their family again, I’d rather it be you.”

Bakugou’s still shaking his head, but Midoriya can feel his body sag into Midoriya’s. “I’ll protect you,” Bakugou whispers, and Midoriya nods. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“And I’ll save your people,” Midoriya whispers back, earning a sob from Bakugou. “I will do whatever I can.”

“Don’t,” Bakugou hisses, his hands grabbing onto Midoriya’s back and pressing him closer to Bakugou. “Please don’t risk your life, I can’t lose you.”

Midoriya remains silent, looking ahead to the panel Bakugou had been messing with. He doesn’t understand the words, but he thinks Bakugou has found where they are. “I won’t risk my life,” Midoriya lies, voice soft. “I’ll save the Syrd race - for real this time.”

He’s not sure what he’s saving them from, but he knows if Bakugou agrees to let him do this, he’ll find out once they get to Sakina. Bakugou’s body shudders, and Midoriya closes his eyes again to bury his face in Bakugou’s neck. He waits for him to stop crying, to accept what Midoriya is saying.

Finally, Bakugou starts to pull away, and Midoriya moves to do the same, but Bakugou has pulled him forward again, pressing his forehead to Midoriya’s. His eyes are still wet, glistening from his tears, and Midoriya gazes into them. “Please, don’t leave me.”

“Never,” Midoriya agrees, squeezing at Bakugou’s shoulders. Bakugou’s eyes flutter closed, and Midoriya fights the urge to move forward and kiss him.

“Thank you,” Bakugou breathes, and Midoriya feels his chest ache for having to lie about risking his life. Despite knowing now that Bakugou would rather keep Midoriya safe than save his own people, Midoriya knows he could never leave an entire race to die if there’s something he could do about it.

They use one another to pull themselves up, and Midoriya doesn’t let go of Bakugou’s arms. Bakugou keeps his hands at Midoriya’s waist, looking between Midoriya’s eyes as though he’s searching for something.

“It really does look like Henshaw is in your eyes,” Bakugou mumbles, and Midoriya feels his face grow warm.

“What?” He sounds breathless too, and he wonders if Bakugou can tell what Midoriya feels for him.

Bakugou shakes his head, dropping his hold. “It’s nothing, don’t worry about it.” Midoriya removes his hands from Bakugou’s shoulders and watches him walk back to his seat, moving to drop back down into his own. “Alright, so if you’re sure you can do this—”

“Apparently I’m meant to do this,” Midoriya answers, trying to sound smug to lighten the mood.

It seems to work, because Bakugou shoots him an exasperated but amused expression. “Then, let’s get to the Henshaw Galaxy.”

Midoriya watches him press some buttons again, and the images on the screen change in response to him. The seat belt returns and Midoriya settles back into the chair. Bakugou eventually moves to do the same when he seems to have finished typing, and the wormhole opens up in front of them this time.

Midoriya gapes at the sight, and Bakugou grins at him. “Wormholes are pretty cool… this ship only has a few left though, so I try to make them count.”

He nods to Bakugou’s words, feeling the ship rock forward to begin moving towards the wormhole. “This will take us directly to Henshaw?”

“Yeah, definitely,” Bakugou’s smile falters, but Midoriya appreciates that he tries to look excited. “Sorry it’s not all ‘long distance, takes several years’ kind of space travel.”

“No, this is good,” Midoriya responds, waving his hand to disregard the apology. “I’d rather get there now than have to wait.”

Bakugou laughs, and the ship enters the wormhole. Midoriya shifts forward to peek around the window’s edge at the lights and colors, wondering what it’s all made of. Soon, they exit the wormhole and the vastness of space is all that’s left.

Midoriya looks around at the new solar system, trying to guess which one might be Sakina. “Is it… that one?” He points at a random planet, green like Earth with hardly any blue to suggest water.

Bakugou shakes his head, a frown on his face. “No, it’s that one,” he gets up from his seat, moving to point directly against the panel at a grey planet. “There’s Sakina…”

Midoriya gawks at it, and he feels the seat belt fall away as he stands to get a closer look. There’s some purple and pink-ish spots on the planet, but for the most part, it looks…

“Sad…”

“Yeah,” Bakugou whispers, taking his hand away. “Not many live with the Overworld.”

Midoriya glances to him, and a million questions zoom through his head about what this Overworld and Underground business is all about.

Chapter Text

Sakina rotates on its axis in the distance, unsuspecting of their ship and the intention to land there. Midoriya watches it slowly turn, feels as though he stares at it for a very long time while waiting for Bakugou to tell him to sit back down. He can’t imagine the differences between Sakina and Earth, wonders what exactly will make them distinctly their own planets. Will he be able to breathe when they land? Is there food he can eat, or water to keep hydrated? Is it safe enough to sleep now that he can feel the fatigue after running for so long?

Is anywhere truly safe now?

Midoriya turns to Bakugou, who’s slumped in his seat and staring at another panel, nothing reading out to him. “Kacchan, are you okay?”

“I haven’t been here in fourteen years…” Bakugou murmurs, and for a second Midoriya wonders if he’s actually answering Midoriya or if he’s in a trance. Midoriya takes a moment to think it over; the idea of leaving what was meant to be your home, only to return to it years later - especially when you never planned to come back.

“Is it… safe?” Midoriya asks, looking back out to the planet in question.

“My uncle keeps me updated on the paths to take,” Bakugou continues, a bit louder this time, and Midoriya hears him shift to touch his computer panel again. “But… he can only know so much from being underground.”

Midoriya takes a deep breath, feeling some panic start to settle into his exhausted body. “I meant can I actually breathe here? What about food or water - do Syrd have a need for these things?”

Bakugou doesn’t answer right away and Midoriya glances back at him. He’s staring up at Midoriya as though he can’t believe what he heard. He laughs suddenly, and Midoriya immediately feels stupid. “It may not look like Earth, but we have water and food, too - and of course there’s oxygen. Most planets with developed life forms have oxygen as the air supply.”

Midoriya’s face heats, “you don’t have to laugh at me…” He pouts and turns back to the galaxy before him.

“Right, yeah, didn’t mean to… to laugh,” Bakugou clears his throat, and Midoriya hears him type some information into the panel. “I just thought it would have been obvious. I couldn’t have been on Earth without air, though I have to admit Earth has a variety of foods compared to Sakina.”

“Does it… taste the same?”

“We’ll worry about that when we land,” Bakugou’s voice goes quiet, and Midoriya gulps down his anxiety. “Take a seat, I’m going to take us in.”

Midoriya avoids Bakugou’s eyes and returns to his chair, immediately enveloped in the seat belt. He watches the window and waits for movement to occur.

The ship lurches forward and Midoriya grabs hold of his seat, pushing down the nerves he feels as Sakina grows larger.

As they get closer, Midoriya can make out discernable shapes and focuses on the rock formations. It becomes clear that the pink and purple colors were meant to be like plant life on Earth, and there were areas between certain shapes that looked like it could be water. More colors become easier to see and Midoriya begins to see the similarities to his home.

And yet, Sakina is so distinctly alien with the colors and lack of noticeable grass that Midoriya knew he wouldn’t forget where he was.

Midoriya feels the pull on the ship as Bakugou moves into the atmosphere and he takes another shaky breath to ground himself. He trusts Bakugou to navigate them to safety, but he fears if he looks over at his best friend, he’d see the same anxious expression he’s sure he’s wearing - that’s not exactly something he wants to see from his pilot.

An alarm blares above them, and Midoriya jumps in his seat. “What is that?”

“Shit,” Bakugou hisses, and Midoriya’s body goes numb with fear. “Fuck, they changed routes,” and while that doesn’t sound like Bakugou messed up the landing, Midoriya still doesn’t like it.

“Who?” He feels the panic grow larger and he finally looks at Bakugou. The anxiety he’d thought he’d see isn’t there, instead Bakugou looks angry and is scrambling to push bubbles of words away from his view, trying to focus on landing. Midoriya glances to the window and sees they still have a ways to go before actually reaching the ground, but he’s not sure if they’ll make it.

Bakugou shifts his hands, and Midoriya watches the window from Bakugou’s end to see what he’s doing. While it still doesn’t make sense, it’s clear to Midoriya that by seeing Bakugou’s hands he can get an idea of what the ship is doing when it veers off. Bakugou is steering them away from the ground and remaining in the air, shifting their ship to coast above it all while trying to maintain a good dropping angle for the landing.

“Deku, brace yourself,” Bakugou’s grounds out behind clenched teeth, and Midoriya chooses to remain quiet, for fear of distracting him. “Looks like he’s hired Creath to shoot down anyone who enters Sakina’s atmosphere.”

“What?!” Midoriya shrieks, but he doesn’t get an answer when the ship rocks. He can tell Bakugou didn’t do that, but that doesn’t make him feel better.

“We’re being shot at!” Bakugou yells, briefly glancing to Midoriya before continuing to steer the ship. “Don’t panic, I won’t let them hit us again!”

Midoriya wants to answer back, but the ship suddenly turns and he grabs hold of his chair to keep from being thrown in the other direction. He doesn’t want to watch through the window, but it’s so large he’s not sure he can look away. Bakugou’s flown them off their straight course into a direct ninety degree angle, and Midoriya can feel the ship drop a little as his stomach tries to expel itself through his mouth. He can barely hear it, but it’s there - the sound of gunfire just outside their ship.

Were they followed all the way here or are Creath all over the known universe? Midoriya can’t ask yet, fearing he might actually throw up from their erratic movements. However, a glance to Bakugou informs Midoriya that he’s the one throwing them around, which helps him relax knowing they’re not getting hit again.

Bakugou steers them again into a sharp turn and again a descent, and Midoriya sees the lasers through the window shoot past them. In the distance, he can see small ships coming after them and he thinks Bakugou might have just steered them towards the Creath. But Bakugou doesn’t seem deterred so Midoriya squeezes his eyes shut from the panic.

The sound of the lasers firing is louder now that they’re moving towards it and Midoriya is compelled to open his eyes, but he wishes he hadn’t when he sees the Creath are flying towards them directly without sign of changing their speed and Bakugou’s doing the same. Midoriya can feel himself about to scream when Bakugou grunts, and the ship suddenly goes into a nosedive.

There’s water below them - Midoriya’s pretty sure that’s water at least, it’s reflective like an ocean on Earth - and he hears the sound of an explosion behind them. A panel pops up on Midoriya’s side of the window, and he gapes at it when he realizes Bakugou had thrown two ships into one another by flying like he did. The explosion is frightening, pieces of their ships scattering out and dropping from midair, smoke and flames expanding out from the center and Midoriya is reminded of the explosion at Bakugou’s house.

He doesn’t watch the screen for long, the feeling of his insides being compressed into the back of his body reminding him that Bakugou is flying them directly towards the water. “Ka - Kacchan!”

“Hang on!” Bakugou shouts back and Midoriya sees an alert from the explosion beeping, a third ship suddenly appearing around it and following them down. He isn’t sure he able to really breathe right now, the panic settling in and ramping his heartrate up to a point that his breaths come short and erratic, as he watches the ship zoom towards them at the same speed as their ship is, only they’re about to meet the surface of the water. He has no idea if a spaceship can go underwater, so Midoriya’s heart decides to lodge itself into his throat.

Bakugou grunts again and the ship levels itself, the water splitting from their speed around them while Bakugou glides them over it and in the alert window, Midoriya sees the Creath ship that had followed them down has crashed into the water behind them.

Midoriya feels his insides jiggle back into place for the most part and the exhaustion from the sudden adrenaline is enough to make him slump into the chair feeling boneless. “What the heck…?” He still can’t breathe right, and his voice comes out sounding far too winded.

“We’re fine now,” Bakugou says, and the alerts all disappear from the window. “I think we lost them all.”

He rolls his head along the headrest to face Bakugou, and Midoriya tries to take in air, but coughs instead when he chokes on it. “What the hell?” His voice is strained and Bakugou glances to him again. There’s worry in his eyes and Midoriya shakes his head. “I don’t feel so good…”

Bakugou’s eyes search the panels before him, still focusing on navigating the ship. “Hang on, I’ll find something for you to throw up into.”

“How did you do that?” Midoriya mumbles, the smooth flight over the water helping to soothe his body back to feeling relaxed. “I feel like my insides were going to spill over but you’re so… composed…”

He shrugs, checking on Midoriya quickly before focusing on what’s before them. “Our anatomy has it’s similarities, but I don’t have as many organs as you I guess… or least not as many squishy ones.”

Midoriya stares at him, the word anatomy reminding him that Bakugou is an alien. And on the topic of anatomy, does Bakugou possess the same… equipment as him in order for them to—

‘So not important right now, brain,’ Midoriya inwardly scolds himself, shaking his head. Bakugou’s calm is infectious, helping Midoriya regain control of his breathing, allowing him to take in as much air as he can as he moves to sit straighter in his seat.

Still, once the thought is there it’s hard for Midoriya to let go, and he gazes at Bakugou out of the corner of his eye, continuing to ponder the workings of a Syrd body - mainly whether they were compatible enough to a Human’s for Midoriya to even continue feeding into his hope of recreating his fantasies with Bakugou.

His face burns and he focuses on the window. He doesn’t even know what Bakugou really looks like and he’s still thinking about kissing him senseless (among other things). But he’s certain if it’s anything similar to what Bakugou’s cloaked Human face looks like, Midoriya wouldn’t mind either way.

Bakugou flies the ship over land, and Midoriya gapes at the foliage on Sakina. The plants are huge, and Midoriya wonders if there is anything like it on Earth. He’s sure there’s something similar, but the colors of the plants are nothing like what’s he’s seen.

There’s hues of purple and red in just about everything, with tints of green here and there. He speculates about the science behind the plant life, but in the moment of flying through the foliage, Midoriya can’t quite remember how biology in plants work. So he simply watches on, trying to figure out what the leaves equivalents are to the plants back on Earth.

“Kacchan,” he mumbles, and Bakugou grunts in answer. “I don’t know for sure, but didn’t you say there are crystal trees on Sakina?”

Bakugou hesitates before he sighs. “Yeah…”

“Where are they?”

“... the crystal trees were my people’s source of life,” Bakugou whispers, and Midoriya looks over to him. “They were everywhere, but since everyone has moved underground…”

Midoriya waits, fearing for an answer that won’t sit well with him.

The cover of the leaves suddenly vanished from their view through the window and Midoriya looks back out to Sakina, gasping.

They’ve reached a valley of rock formations, with some patches of what Midoriya guesses is grass yet it’s more yellow than green. But what has him gasping is the sight of stumps sticking out of the ground - stumps of what appears to be crystals.

“What happened…?”

Bakugou shakes his head. “With most everyone underground, there’s no one to light the crystals.”

“What do you mean?”

“Syrd absorb sunlight, and share that light with the crystal trees. For breathing, we get our oxygen from other plants, just like on Earth, but,” Bakugou scowls, “we have an additional requirement with Sakina’s nature in order to live and be healthy.”

Midoriya gazes over the small crystals, wishing he’d seen this forest when the crystals were high into the sky.

“The crystal trees shared the sun’s light with us, and we thrived off the energy exchanged. With everyone underground, no one is giving light back to the crystals,” Bakugou looks down, and Midoriya watches him now. “So the trees have fallen to stumps, and raiders have come to take the broken crystals. Only a few trees are left now.”

Midoriya’s chest aches at the explanation. “Sakina is dying…”

“And so are the Syrd,” Bakugou mumbles.

“But what about you?” Midoriya turns his chair to Bakugou, “you’ve been on Earth, you haven’t been able to exchange light with the crystals for fourteen years!”

Bakugou shakes his head. “Earth’s sun gave me enough energy to survive. It’s rays were strong enough to keep my energy up. Sakina’s sun is weaker, and a lot older than Earth’s, so the power of the crystals were how Syrd got the energy they couldn’t get before.”

Midoriya stares at him. “What do I do…? I can’t make the crystal trees grow!”

“No, that’s not why you’re here.” Bakugou looks up at him, and Midoriya sees the pain in his face. “You’re here to help bring the Syrd back to the surface.”

“How?”

“Deku, I can’t be the one to tell you,” Bakugou shakes his head, and Midoriya feels his impatience grow. “Look, just… just let the prophecy explain to you what happened.”

He huffs, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. “Then take me to whoever will explain to me!”

“Deku—” Bakugou stops, his expression hurt. “Okay,” he mumbles, returning to navigation.

Midoriya tries not to let the teary eyes of his best friend get to him - Bakugou’s been so secretive that Midoriya can’t take it anymore, he just wants to know what he can do to save the Syrd. And if saving them will also save Sakina, then Midoriya will follow through with everything.

He doesn’t focus on the scenery this time, though Sakina is beautiful despite losing the crystal trees, and he instead thinks about what he could possibly need to do. Bakugou had said something about a ‘he’ hiring the Creath to shoot anyone down.

Did someone take over Sakina?

Bakugou flies them to a mountain under the protection of the foliage and Midoriya feels the ship rock when it lands. Bakugou moves to stand, gesturing for Midoriya to do the same. He follows after, wondering where they were.

He’s pulled close to Bakugou in the center of the ship, and Midoriya blushes at their proximity, briefly considers making a suggestion to him when the floor moves under them, a panel shifting to drop them down. He watches his feet, flustered by his own thoughts, and sees the perimeter of the opening is too small for both of them to stand side by and side. Obviously that was why Bakugou pulled him close, disappointment settling in his chest that Bakugou hadn’t done it just because.

But when has Bakugou ever done something just because?

When the panel stops and they’re able to step off, Bakugou pulls away and moves towards the mountain. Midoriya fights the urge to sigh sadly, following after and glancing up to their ship.

It’s a very small ship, with no discernable front or backside. The window he’d been watching through isn’t visible outside, and the overall shape is oval. Midoriya wonders at how the ship had flown at all, tries to remember all that he ever learned about rocket science (which isn’t much since he was a kid when he tried to figure it out).

“Deku, over here,” Bakugou calls to him and Midoriya lightly jumps, twisting around to see Bakugou standing beside the rock formation. He hurries over, and shoots Bakugou a look. He understands Midoriya’s silent question and nods towards the mountain. “Just watch.”

He reaches up and touches a hole formed into the face of the rock, and Midoriya waits. Suddenly, a scarlet light shoots from Bakugou’s hand and moves out into four separate lines, moving about as if they’re tracing a pattern Midoriya can’t see. The lights swirl around, moving quickly and quietly and Midoriya gapes at the image.

There’s nothing identifiable to Midoriya about the image itself, but the scarlet light is enough to keep him entranced. Bakugou removes his hand when the lights stop, and suddenly the rock is crumbling before them.

“Whoa,” Midoriya whispers, and Bakugou gives a cocky grin. Midoriya rolls his eyes at the look and mumbles to himself, “show off,” which earns him a snicker. With the rock cleared, Bakugou moves forward and Midoriya goes after him.

“The rocks will replace themselves,” Bakugou says then, and Midoriya glances back to see if they would change now. “There are some old crystals in them to react to me like that. It was a protection spell made to keep the Overworld from finding us.”

Midoriya remains quiet, knows that if he asks anything Bakugou probably wouldn’t answer.

The cave they move through is silent, rocks skidding under Midoriya’s feet every now and then, and the light dims as everything becomes darker and darker. Midoriya feels himself move closer to Bakugou, unsure of where he’s stepping now. “Kacchan, how can you see?”

Bakugou makes a confused noise before clicking his tongue. Midoriya feels him shift, and suddenly the scarlet glow from before lights the cave up along the walls. Midoriya looks over to the source, and Bakugou is watching him from his place beside the wall. “Sorry, I forgot Human’s don’t have very good vision.”

Midoriya pouts, narrowing his eyes at him. “Well excuse me for not being able to see in the dark.”

“It’s more than that,” Bakugou mumbles, but Midoriya doesn’t get a chance to ask when he continues moving forward. “The light should stay the whole way, but we need to hurry.”

“Why?”

“In case someone followed us to the entrance,” Bakugou answers simply, and Midoriya hurries to Bakugou’s side without question.

The scarlet glow from the light helps him now, but Midoriya feels himself glancing to Bakugou as they walk through the tunnel. The light itself shines onto Bakugou as though it were attached to him and Midoriya’s eyes trace the shadows it creates over Bakugou’s face.

He’s more than certain if Bakugou’s real face looks anything like this one, Midoriya will still be completely attracted to him - and Hell, even if he doesn’t, there’s no way these feelings will just dissipate any time soon.

As they move through the tunnel, Midoriya feels the incline of their descent and he wonders how far down the Underground is. He fights the urge to ask, though he doesn’t think Bakugou would tell him to wait if he did ask. Either way, he chooses not to, and he continues to follow along next to Bakugou.

“Deku,” Bakugou starts, and Midoriya quickly peeks over to Bakugou before focusing on his footwork. He makes a gesture with his hand, telling Bakugou he’s listening. “You better keep your promise of not risking your life,” Bakugou whispers. “Whatever they tell you, if it sounds like you’ll be in danger…” Midoriya turns back to him, watches Bakugou struggle with the words. “Just don’t do anything where you’ll get hurt.”

For a second, he wants to ask why Bakugou cares so much, but something tells him that asking will result in his old friend denying it and yelling about how Midoriya can run off to his death for all he cares. Taking a deep breath, he considers the other side of it all. His promise was a lie, and he’s still surprised Bakugou didn’t pick up on it. Though, if he were in Bakugou’s position and he’d heard Bakugou give a boldface lie like that, he’d probably just pretend it was true instead, to keep his heart from breaking.

Gulping, Midoriya nods, returning his gaze to his feet as he steps down some rocks. “I promise.”

Bakugou grabs his arm, pulls him to look at him. “No, Izuku, I need you to swear—”

“I do!” Midoriya snaps, voice desperate. “Kacchan, I won’t do anything stupid.” He takes a shaking breath. “Besides, won’t you be there with me?”

Bakugou lets go, his mouth opening slightly in awe. “Do you want me there?”

Midoriya chokes out a laugh, flustered at the suggestion and moving forward to clasp Bakugou‘s shoulders. “Of course I do! I can’t just force myself to do this without you!”

Bakugou’s arms circle his waist, keeping him close. Midoriya’s heart is racing at the odd hug, trying to remind himself that this isn’t a dream… right? “Then… if you need me, I’ll be there.”

Midoriya pulls away and smiles at him, limbs heavy and awkward. “You’ll keep me safe, right?”

“Always,” Bakugou nods, his expression returning to one of confidence and Midoriya’s shy smile grows a little more.

“Good,” he breathes, moving away from Bakugou’s warmth and turning to continue down the path. He feels lightheaded and confused, but questioning anything now wouldn’t be good. “How much longer until we’re with your people?”

Bakugou hums to himself, thinking about it. “Not long now - we’ll be there soon, I think.”

Midoriya nods and watches his feet, taking careful steps down the rocks when the incline grows too large to walk down. Bakugou moves ahead of him, hopping down the rocks without care. When Midoriya hesitates on some of the steps, Bakugou returns to him and holds his hand out, helping Midoriya down until he’s standing secure on a flat surface. Bakugou continues the trek down, and Midoriya huffs a breath before following after.

Once he clambers down a few more steps, Midoriya groans and begins to hope they’re almost there. Bakugou looks back at him, his face concerned but amused. “Shut up, are we there yet?”

“Yeah, actually,” Bakugou chuckles, and Midoriya gapes at him. He glances around, seeing nothing but a giant wall. Bakugou laughs again and takes Midoriya’s hand, pulling him to the wall before them. “It’s just like outside, but it takes two.”

“I’m not a Syrd though,” Midoriya’s eyebrows scrunch together in confusion and Bakugou squeezes his hand.

“I’ll just push my energy into your hand, it should work,” Bakugou shrugs and pulls Midoriya’s hand up with his.

They press their palms to the rock’s surface and Bakugou places his other hand over Midoriya’s, and immediately there’s a tingling sensation moving through Midoriya’s nerves.

He gasps, wincing despite it not hurting. Bakugou watches him, frowning. “Does it hurt?”

“N-no, just… shocking,” Midoriya murmurs, shifting his hand under Bakugou’s. Bakugou’s palm is warm, warmer than it was when he’d held Midoriya’s hand and he wonders if this is the feel of Bakugou’s energy.

“Give it a minute, it should work,” Bakugou whispers, and Midoriya thinks he’s talking to himself as a way to convince himself he’s right.

Midoriya holds his breath and waits, watching their hands. Nothing happens right away, but soon eight lines of light shoots out from under their hands and Midoriya gapes at the sight, watching the swirls. The scarlet light coming from Bakugou is just like it was before, but the light coming from Midoriya’s hand has a yellow hue to it.

“Why aren’t they the same?” Midoriya breathes, letting the breath go.

Bakugou smiles at him. “That’s your energy mixing with mine, I think.”

Midoriya stares at the light. “My energy is yellow?”

“Probably not,” Bakugou laughs a little, “since mine is a red hue, your’s is probably green.”

“But red and green make an ugly brown color, definitely not yellow,” Midoriya frowns, glancing to Bakugou.

“Light mixes differently, Deku,” Bakugou mumbles back, a slight arrogance to his voice suggesting he should know this, and their lights shine across his face in interesting hues.

Midoriya watches him instead of the light, and before he knows it, Bakugou is stepping back from the wall, his hand removing itself from Midoriya’s. Midoriya steps back with him, feeling the warmth and the tingle begin to subside from his hand.

“So Human’s have energy like Syrd?”

“Not really,” Bakugou answers quickly. “Human’s don’t glow.”

Midoriya gapes at him, trying to picture Bakugou glowing red. “If I were a Syrd, I’d glow green?”

“Maybe,” Bakugou shrugs, avoiding his eyes. The rocks finish falling away and he steps forward. “Let's go, Deku.”

He hesitates, still trying to picture a red Bakugou. He’s not sure he can, and he frowns before hurrying after him.

Beyond the wall is a tunnel again but, this time, when the wall replaces itself, it’s lit up. Midoriya sees the end of the tunnel and figures that must be the Underground. Biting his lip, he keeps his eyes on Bakugou’s back and continues at a pace a few steps behind him.

When they reach the entrance, Bakugou waits for him and Midoriya comes to a stop. His gaze remains on Bakugou before he takes in a deep breath, turning to look out into the Underground.

From the ceiling, there are crystals spiraling down in various forms like chandeliers, and Midoriya thinks they might be the tree’s roots. They’re faintly glowing in different colors, but it’s not as bright as the glow that came from Bakugou. His eyes follow down from the crystal roots, moving along the walls of the cavern. There are different formations carved into the rocks, and Midoriya assumes they’re meant to be like homes for the Syrd. There are some lines of glowing light along the walls of the houses, but again they’re not as bright as Bakugou’s. Finally, standing before him are various people that almost look Human, and staring up at the two of them.

Midoriya sucks in air, finally focusing on the people. They’re not Human, it’s clear when he really looks, and their skin is similar to a light skinned Human’s when tanned. Some of them have darker skin though, but the linking appearances for them all is the faint glow coming from their skin bodies. It’s not bright enough to light further than a few feet around them, but it’s there and the colors range in various hues.

Their eyes strike Midoriya the most, the dark colors of them all staring directly at him. He looks between them, realizes that the entire eyeball is one color and there are no discernable irises. The bad lighting makes it hard to see the exact colors, but Midoriya focuses on the lack of white at the edges.

He notes their ears are longer than a Human’s, but not by much, and not like the fantasy characters of Elves. The shape is thin, and Midoriya wonders where the opening is exactly. As he focuses on their ears, he realizes no one has particularly long hair, and it’s perhaps because it looks like their hair is flowing up and around their heads in a wind Midoriya can’t feel.

One of them steps forward, female in appearance, and Midoriya feels he’s seen her before. “Is that you, Kaetzuubi?”

Midoriya stares at her, and the voice resonates with him. “Bakugou-san?” he whispers, and the second he says it he’s sure of it. The woman is Bakugou Mitsuki, his childhood friend’s mother. But she looks like everyone else, with a faint glow of red haloing her body, and Midoriya gawks at the woman’s true appearance.

Bakugou shifts next to him, and Midoriya’s gaze shoots to him in surprise. He’s lifting his shirt, fingers picking at a faint scar Midoriya had always wondered about. It was years old, and he'd never questioned it - catching glimpses of the scar on Bakugou’s lower rib cage and asking himself where it might have come from before ignoring it all together.

Now Bakugou is poking at it, and Midoriya sees it start to lift away, peeling like cords that run a few inches from the center around Bakugou’s abdomen. The cords are thin, barely noticeable until the illusion is broken, and suddenly as he rips it off, a light forms off of his skin.

Midoriya puts his hand up, shielding himself from the light, and the appearance of Bakugou as a Human shatters from that spot, the light spreading itself out and moving across his body.

When it seems to have stopped and Midoriya’s eyes have adjusted to the light, he drops his hand and gasps at the sight of Bakugou’s true form.

His usually spiky hair is slowly shifting about, like there’s a breeze moving through it, and his face has gained a few angles in his cheeks, but it’s not noticeable at first glance. His ears have thinned and stretched, and Midoriya sees the opening clearly like a Human's ear from Bakugou’s glow. His eyes are the same fierce red they’ve always been, but now the color has spread to the whites of his eyes. Above all, Bakugou is fully glowing, like his own personal sun, with a bright light containing hues of red, burning scarlet like a flame that could not be tamed within him.

Bakugou turns to Midoriya, looking into his eyes, and Midoriya notes he still has pupils at least. He knows he’s gaping in awe, wonders if it’s rude to stare, but Bakugou is glowing so beautifully he can’t look away.

He winces at Midoriya’s expression, a split second of a shift in his face, but Midoriya catches it before he looks out to the Syrd before them. He stands straighter, nodding to his mother.

“I’m home.”

Bakugou Mitsuki nods, a smile coming across her face. “Welcome home, Kaetzuubi.”

There is a beat of silence before the Syrd all cheer, but Midoriya’s unable to really hear them. His heartbeat is pounding and his eyes won’t shift away from his friend.

The Syrd are beautiful, but only Bakugou Katsuki can hold his attention in this moment.

Chapter Text

Bakugou’s mother steps closer to them, reaching out to Bakugou in welcome. Midoriya steps back and watches the two awkwardly embrace, Mitsuki patting at her son’s back before pulling away, her hands holding Bakugou in place. “It’s been far too long, you little brat.”

“I know,” Bakugou responds, his voice strained, and Midoriya can’t help but to compare the two.

In their Human appearances back on Earth, Bakugou was much like a younger and male version to his mother. Though Bakugou Mitsuki’s hair was slightly longer, it was as spiky as Katsuki’s, and just as blonde. Katsuki, still growing bit by bit, stands now at about the same height as her and while his mother had a toned and curved body, Katsuki’s body looked much leaner. He had grown so much in high school, especially with the bulging muscles in his arms being toned by hard work and playing baseball nearly everyday. His mother on the other hand had always looked as though she spent some of her days lifting weights and occasionally jogging despite being an extremely busy businesswoman.

Now, seeing their true appearances, these things clicked together much differently. Bakugou Mitsuki didn’t lift weights or go jogging, and she definitely didn’t work in an office building - she wore light armor and bore scars on her skin, suggesting her appearance came from being something like a warrior. Her hair moves just a bit more than Katsuki’s, and her skin’s glow isn’t even close to being like a bulb of personal light like her son’s. Mitsuki’s face is just as young as Midoriya remembers, but her eyes - burning red like her Human appearance - were duller in color than Midoriya can recall. Is it possible that Syrd eyes become duller in color as they age? Does that mean their eyesight is slipping?

He couldn’t say for sure, feeling himself grow tense as the woman looks over at him now, a faint smile on her lips. “Izuku, we’ve all been waiting for this moment.” Mitsuki holds a hand out to Midoriya, gesturing for him to come closer. Midoriya gulps and slowly steps closer before he’s pulled into an embrace, pressed close to Katsuki as his mother hugs them both.

They’re both insanely warm, and Midoriya hadn’t registered until now how cold it is in the Underground. Katsuki’s red light isn’t as difficult to look at now that he’s pressed close into his personal space, but it’s definitely brighter than Midoriya’s ever seen his skin. Amazingly, the glow of red isn’t as noticeable the closer he gets, and the tanned color Bakugou had as a Human appears to be what glows now. Or at least it looks as though the glow comes from just under his skin, and it’s bright enough to stretch out and light the general space around Bakugou.

Mitsuki lets them go and Midoriya shivers from losing their heat. “Come, Kai'spaetho is waiting for you both.”

Midoriya blinks up at her, “what - er - who?”

She laughs, “my brother - you never really knew him.” Midoriya blinks again, trying to remind himself that the names he knew for the Bakugou’s were false.

It doesn’t make it any easier to think of them that way. “Ah… Bakugou-san—”

“Allow me to reintroduce myself, Izuku,” she interrupts, her voice loud and controlling. Midoriya had forgotten how loud Bakugou-san could be. “I am Mizdoski Baekeg - but if you feel more comfortable calling me Bakugou Mitsuki, I will understand.”

Midoriya gives a small nod in understanding, not certain he could pronounce it anyway. He glances to the younger Bakugou and his head tilts to the side. Bakugou sighs, “my real name is Kaetzuubi Baekeget, but I’ll still answer to Bakugou, or… whatever you call me.”

The light on Bakugou’s face seems to get brighter and he avoids looking at Midoriya directly. Midoriya slowly nods again anyway, feeling at a loss for words. Mitsuki turns then and begins to walk through the crowd, and Midoriya looks to Bakugou for guidance. When Bakugou nods to his mother and begins to walk, Midoriya follows after and keeps pace alongside him. The Syrd they pass break away to give them a wide path, watching them walk and staring at Midoriya in awe, some beginning to whisper.

“He doesn’t glow, mama,” a little voice says through the murmuring.

“He’s not a Syrd, child - he’s a Human,” a woman answers.

“This is the Hero?” - “Kaetzuubi has grown, and look at that glow!” - “Kaetzuubi really found the Hero?” - “I always had faith in Mizdoski’s boy!” - “That ain’t no Hero, he’s scrawny.” - “How terrible to not glow, do Humans even have the energy for anything?” - “Humans are kind of ugly, huh?” - “I think he’s cute, but Kaetzuubi makes it hard to notice him.”

Midoriya focuses on his feet, watching where Bakugou stepped to ensure he wouldn’t go off track. The whispering continues, but the pounding in his ears makes it hard to recognise what they’re saying. He almost considers taking off the necklace so he wouldn't be able to understand anything, but then he might miss something Bakugou says and he’s pretty sure he doesn’t want to miss anything.

When the crowd is no longer around them and the chattering gets harder to hear, Midoriya looks back and sees that they’ve made it to the other side and are coming upon a large archway, faint glows from the hanging crystal roots lighting the path.

Bakugou bumps their hands together and Midoriya turns his gaze to him. He doesn’t meet Midoriya’s eyes and mutters lowly, “Humans aren’t ugly, Deku; don’t listen to any of them.”

“They have a point though,” Midoriya whispers back, “next to you, I must look terrible.”

He snaps his eyes to Midoriya’s, and the color seems to flash a little brighter. “Don’t play dumb, you’re good looking and you know it.”

Midoriya’s face heats at that and he refocuses on Bakugou’s mother a few feet ahead. “I stand by what I said - the Syrd are beautiful.”

“So are Humans,” Bakugou grumbles and Midoriya’s ears burn.

He knows this is all a matter of taste and societal preferences - Bakugou grew up on Earth, surrounded by Humans. If he ever felt attraction, it would be to the people around him and everyone on Earth is Human. That’s the only reason Bakugou thinks Humans are beautiful, it had nothing to do with Midoriya.

“Your name,” Midoriya moves on, deciding to change the subject before his face falls off from blushing anymore, “it had an extra syllable than your mom’s. I assume that’s your surname, but…”

Bakugou grunts, focusing on watching his mother. “The family name changes once you’re bound, and your children will take your combined names but to note they’re your children, it’s given an extra sound.”

“What?”

Bakugou hums, trying to think of how to explain it. “Your given name never changes, but the surname… when bound—”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like marriage - anyway,” Bakugou snaps, licking his lips as he thinks hard on how to explain it, “the old hag’s surname was Ekvopinte and my father’s was Bachitsaki. When they became bound, their names were combined and became Baekeg, Ba from him and Ek from her, and the -eg suffix is given as a way to announce their coming together as one.” Bakugou briefly glances to Midoriya before rolling his neck, reaching up to rub at it. “So when I was born, my name was announced as Baekeget, the -et indicating me as their son.” He shrugs, “by syllables in surnames, three means you’re bound and four means you’re just someone’s kid.”

Midoriya’s mouth is hanging open as he takes it all in, but he’s far too focused on understanding to care he looks like a fish. “So… what is this bound thing like?”

“I just said it’s like marriage,” Bakugou grumbles, rolling his eyes, “only there is no divorce. That’s impossible for Syrd when bound.”

“Oh…” Midoriya bites his lip, not willing to let himself continue on for fear of saying something stupid. Like “can we become bound?” because he’s sure that won’t go over well.

The Syrd didn’t seem to like his appearance, what would they say to Bakugou becoming bound to him - to a Human?

“Makes you wonder,” Bakugou continues on, voice quieter than before, as if he means for Midoriya to not hear him, “if a Human could become bound to a Syrd, huh?”

Midoriya’s face burns at that, and he chooses not to answer, pretending he couldn’t hear. Good thing too, because Mitsuki has stopped up ahead and is waiting for them to make their way over.

He looks around, seeing that they’ve come to a new network of a large cave like where they’d entered. Only now it looks like this is a neighborhood, with only a few large carvings of what might be buildings. This must be where the rich Syrd live.

Wait, is Bakugou’s family rich? Do they have that kind of classism here? He lived in a big house on Earth, and how exactly did they do that if no one was actually there with him anyway?

“This is our home, Izuku,” Mitsuki says, cutting off his thoughts and smiling at him as they approach. “It’s straight through the largest of the tunnels from the center town, if that helps.”

So they started in the center of town - Midoriya bobs his head up and down, wondering if his neck would hurt from all the nodding he’s been doing. Mitsuki chuckles, moving to push open the stone door. Midoriya doesn’t notice any hinges and wonders how they’d made the door.

Bakugou pushes him inside and Midoriya stops trying to worry about the structural architecture of their carved homes.

He’s immediately greeted by the sight of an unknown man in what looked to be something akin to a kitchen. His dark hair was close to his head, making the sweeping movements impossible to see. There’s something dark about him, something Midoriya can’t place. It could be the way their home is shrouded in darkness, or how the man barely glows. Even Mitsuki’s skin held some glow, and while no one was close to Bakugou, it seemed odd that this man would have nearly no glow at all.

The man sets down what Midoriya assumes is a glass and strides forward, his hand reaching out and looking like it was going to touch Midoriya’s shoulder. He stops before he touches him, though, drawing his hand back with a strained smile. The gesture, despite never touching, makes Midoriya shiver. “It’s good to meet you, Midoriya… we have waited for many years to see you return Mizdoski’s son.”

Midoriya gulps, the man’s voice soft and strange. “Re… return him? I thought I was supposed to be here?”

He laughs, pulling away from Midoriya with a smile. He turns and takes the odd object from the counter, shrugging as he moves away. “We all have places we need to be - let me fetch my daughter, and then we can see the prophet.”

Midoriya watches him leave the room, his dim glow hard to trace through the darkness of the home when he sees the odd looks Bakugou and his mother send him. “What… who was that?”

Mitsuki hums, looking to where the man went. “My brother… that was a bit odd, wasn’t it, Kaetzuubi?” Her son shrugs, focusing more on Midoriya, prompting the elder Bakugou to smack him lightly.

“Wait, that… that was your brother?” Midoriya asks, pointing to where the stranger went. “He doesn’t - well, I mean, he’s a little… different?”

For one, his faint glow wasn’t anywhere near the red of the Bakugou family. It was more golden rather than red. His hair was dark, his eyes much more muted and not as fiery despite the bright hue. Midoriya would never have thought that man was related to the two Syrd before him, radiating warmth and familiarity.

Mitsuki purses her lips. “Well, he’s not my brother. He’s… oh, what do Humans call it, Kaetzuubi?”

“In laws,” Bakugou grunts, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“Right,” Mitsuki says. “He’s my brother-in-law.”

“What a weird phrase,” the man from before comments, having returned. Midroiya jumps at his sudden presence, but he doesn’t seem to acknowledge Midoriya’s surprise. Instead, he simply stares at Midoriya with his dull eyes. “Humans really do have interesting ways of doing things.”

“Uhm… I would say the same about all of you,” Midoriya says, hesitant. There’s a span of silence, before the man finally smiles - more of a smirk, really - and nods to Midoriya.

“Aliens, that’s what your people would call us,” he continues, making Midoriya’s stomach twist. “Though I guess now you’re the Alien, hm?” Midoriya chuckles humorlessly, uncertain of what to say.

Mitsuki scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Stop trying to be weird, Kai'spaetho! The kid’s been on a long journey to get here!”

Kai'spaetho, though Midoriya is pretty sure he’ll never be able to say that, glances to his sister-in-law and hums. “Fine, fine… pleasure to finally meet you, Midoriya - my name is Kai'spaetho Bachitsaki, but you can call me Kai if it helps your… alien tongue.”

Midoriya forces his fake smile, wishing he could for real, but his mention of never having truly met him reminds him of the fourteen years Bakugou spent without his family. He bites his lip when Kai doesn’t say anything else, wondering if there’s something he needs to say in return when something catches his eye around Kai’s legs.

“That’s Eribelovadee,” Bakugou says in a tone that suggests he doesn't like saying it. “Just... just call her Eri.”

Eri - seeing as that’s so much easier than the long mess he just said - cowers behind Kai’s legs, but now that he sees her, he can’t look away. She’s a small, frail girl, her skin glowing much like Katsuki’s - in fact… it’s brighter than any Syrd he’s seen apart from his childhood friend. Eri’s hair is also long, unmoving - is she even Syrd? Midoriya waves to her, doing his best to smile for real now, making the small girl gasp and run from the room.

“I’m sorry about Eribelovadee,” Mitsuki says, sighing sadly, “she’s… she’s a little shy, and she’s not used to other people being here.”

Midoriya understands Eri, being in a completely different planet surrounded by things he didn’t understand. Why was a four year old sent to get him? Or, and the question returns, is Bakugou even the same age as him now?

“Kacchan,” Midoriya starts, turning to face him, “how old are you?”

Bakugou looks surprised by the question. “Same age as you, you know that.”

“Then,” Midoriya bites his lip, rounding to face his Bakugou’s mother, “why send a four year old to get me?”

Mitsuki frowns, avoiding his gaze. “He was the only one who could go.”

Midoriya bites his inner cheek to keep from snapping at her, breathing in deeply to calm down. “But he was only four.”

“Izuku,” Mitsuki shakes her head, sighing as though she didn’t expect Midoriya to understand. She’s not wrong, Midoriya can’t understand the logic of sending a child in a spaceship to an alien planet and collect their coveted Hero. “I think it’s best you meet the prophet soon - she’ll explain everything.”

Midoriya narrows his eyes, standing straighter. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea. Where is she?”

Mitsuki scowls, crossing her arms. “Personally, I think you should both rest. You’ve been traveling for so long, Izuku, I—”

“Mizdoski, the boy has a right to know,” Kai cuts in. “I’ll take him if you won’t.”

Mitsuki looks ready to fight when Midoriya interjects. “Kai-san is right, we can rest after I’ve learned why I’m here,” Midoriya says, trying his best to smile again, and for once it seems to work. Her shoulders slump and she nods, glaring at Kai when he begins to lead Midoriya back through the dark home.

“Oh no, I’m taking him. Take care of Eri.” She says, reaching out to stop him. Kai stops before she can touch him, narrowing his eyes.

They stare at one another before he finally turns and disappears into the darkness of the home.

Mitsuki steps forward, gesturing for Midoriya to follow through the doorway they came through. Midoriya begins to, but he stops when Bakugou doesn’t follow. He turns back, frowning in confusion. “Kacchan?”

“Kaetzuubi can’t join us, Izuku,” Mitsuki says, and Bakugou avoids Midoriya’s eyes. “I will take you to meet her.”

Midoriya pouts, staring at his best friend before shaking his head. Bakugou promised to stay by his side if Midoriya needed him, and even though he knows Bakugou’s mother, at this point on this alien planet the only one he trusts is Bakugou Katsuki. Even if that’s not his real name and he’s glowing brighter than anyone else here, he’s still Midoriya’s best friend.

It’s even stranger, seeing Bakugou agreeing to do what his mother tells him. It isn’t like his friend, and he wonders if the shock of being home, of being on Sakina, and being in her presence is changing the way he would normally act.

Guess someone else has to be stubborn for him, he takes a deep breath and turns back to Mitsuki.

“I want Kacchan to come,” Midoriya says, his voice firm but soft, knowing he’ll probably be denied. He doesn’t wait for her response, moving to stand in front of Bakugou. He slowly turns his gaze to Midoriya, and the flash of light is there in his eyes once more. His mother sighs, but Midoriya doesn’t glance back to her, watching Bakugou as his gaze goes between him and the older woman. Midoriya sees Bakugou stand straighter after a moment, and Midoriya bites back the grin when he turns to follow Mitsuki with Katsuki at his side.

Mitsuki leads the two back out into the large neighborhood-like cave and turns to head through a smaller archway than the first one directly across from their home. Midoriya glances around, focusing on the crystal roots and the way their light seems to sparkle in the ceiling. It’s almost like a star system, but the shine of the crystals gives away the truth, and the rock formations in the ceiling is enough to remind him they’re underground.

Midoriya notices the different shine of the crystals, and the ones that have been purposefully placed into the rock where there are no roots react to Bakugou’s bright red light. Midoriya peeks under his lashes to his friend, feeling the warmth radiating off of him and watches the light shift with his movements, the rays shimmering with different shades of red.

Red suits Bakugou, Midoriya thinks. While he looked good in the blue of their team’s jersey, it was too cold of a color to match the heated atmosphere Bakugou gave off - not that he was some kind of angry person, but rather that Bakugou is this warm being that did things to the fullest caliber. Bakugou (and this thought might be because he’s literally shining bright from his own skin) is like the sun to Midoriya, and his warm rays give Midoriya comfort in the dark Underground. Maybe that makes Midoriya some kind of orbital planet, or even the moon that reflects the light the sun sends to it.

Midoriya winces at the thought, his face burning at how cheesy his mind can be with these feelings he has. With every new development since the explosion, Midoriya can almost believe Bakugou returns his feelings, but the doubt resting in his chest surges up and reminds him of all the reasons he could be wrong - why he’s just reading too much into things.

From what he can understand, all Midoriya is to Bakugou - and the people of Sakina for that matter - is some prophesized Hero who’s come to save them all.

He frowns at that thought, willing himself to remember the last fourteen years of friendship he’s had with Bakugou. If Bakugou only ever saw him that way, he didn’t have to involve himself with Midoriya and his problems. Bakugou could have kept Midoriya at a distance, but he’d grown with Midoriya - he’s seen him cry and cried with him, and he’s shared his deepest fears. The most important fear however was bringing Midoriya to Sakina, and Midoriya forced him to face that fear.

Now they’re walking through the tunnel networks of the Underground’s cave system and Midoriya is to meet the prophet who will explain everything Bakugou won’t.

Mitsuki leads them to a smaller cave than the rest, the crystal roots hanging far lower and spiraling down the walls of the cave. Midoriya stares at them, the twinkling lights within slightly brighter than the rest of the roots he’d been seeing. He turns to the small rock shack looking structure in the center of the cave, and looks between the two Syrd with him.

“Chivayo Shuzenjikar is waiting for you,” Mitsuki says, her voice softer than before. “Chivayo will retell you the prophecy we all know, and should there be more, you will be the one to receive it.”

Midoriya gulps, shifting his gaze to the younger Bakugou. “Are you… coming with me?”

Bakugou hesitates, glancing to his mother and Midoriya watches her mouth twitch, fighting a frown. “I can’t, you have to go in alone.”

For a moment, he doesn’t move, shocked that Bakugou would continue to be so… obedient with his mother. Taking a deep breath, Midoriya turns back to the little hut, feeling as though his skin would jump off his body and make way for his heart to run. He slowly begins to step towards the building, uncertain he would understand any of the prophecy.

An old woman suddenly appears in the open doorway and Midoriya jumps in surprise. Her hair is a dull gray, long like Eri’s but shifting around her head like she’s submerged in water. The light she gives off is a faint blue, radiating only an inch from her skin, and her eyes look purely white. Her skin itself is old and wrinkled, like any elder Human Midoriya’s seen, with some of her skin sagging in odd places.

He watches her for a moment, her gaze focusing on him. Then her pupils, easy to see from this distance with the white that surrounds it, turn slightly to Midoriya’s right, where Bakugou stands. Her hand shakes when it begins to rise and Midoriya holds his breath once her finger points to them both.

Mitsuki huffs, turning to them. “Chivayo cannot speak unless it’s a prophecy,” she explains, “and judging by this motion, she’s allowing you to enter with Kaetzuubi.”

Chivayo’s head inclines once before she returns within her home and Midoriya releases the breath. Bakugou steps up to his side, nodding towards the house and nudging him to move. He hesitates, a shiver running down his spine when he finally does, and Bakugou brushes his hand with his own.

The warmth is enough to subside the shivers for a moment and Midoriya gives him a faint smile. The corner of Bakugou’s mouth twitches into a small smile, the two moving in sync as they approach the small home of the prophet, Chivayo.

He enters the small building, the light from Bakugou helping to see in the darkness. There are no crystals embedded into the home of Chivayo, and the only light outside of Bakugou’s glow comes from the makeshift windows and the crystal roots just outside. Midoriya glances around, unable to see beyond the few feet radiating from his best friend until he spots her dull, blue glow in the corner.

Midoriya moves towards her, watching his step from what he can see off of Bakugou’s light. Bakugou follows just behind him, but he stops when Chivayo holds up her hand. Midoriya pauses as well, turning back to him. He shakes his head, “I can’t come closer. Only you can.”

Gulping down the knot in his throat, Midoriya turns to face Chivayo once more, moving slowly through the darkness. His foot bumps something in front of him, and by feeling around it with his hands, he finds that it’s like a stone chair. Carefully, Midoriya moves around to seat himself before the old woman.

He waits, watching her and trying to meet her gaze. Chivayo’s eyes focus on the table between them and Midoriya looks down, unable to see anything on the surface in the darkness. Her faint glow doesn’t quite reach him, only illuminating her appearance for him to see her face. Bakugou’s standing too far back for his light to properly reach him, and the faint glow that does is barely enough for him to see his own hand in front of his face.

Midoriya takes a deep breath and sits up. “So um… hello?” He starts, watching her. Chivayo doesn’t answer (this whole only speaking in prophecies making it difficult to know if she’s listening) and Midoriya chews on his lip. “You’re supposed to tell me this prophecy right? What is it, exactly?” Chivayo’s eyes slowly shift to meet his, but other than that she says nothing. Midoriya licks the soreness from his lips now. “Are you sure I’m the Hero?”

Chivayo’s eyes widen and she shakily raises both hands, reaching for something on the table. Midoriya leans back, worried about whatever it might be. A crystal reacts to her touch and begins to glow, illuminating at least five feet around them, and Midoriya watches the rainbow of light shimmer from Chivayo’s touch.

“One meant for fame, who bears no defeat,” she begins in a ragged voice, and a faint image shines in the rays of light. Midoriya sees Sakina, or what he supposes is Sakina, and the Syrd milling about through beautiful crystal trees. The Syrd have no faces, and the night imagery gives them all a faint glow. The image focuses onto one in particular with a beautiful golden glow. “Will one day turn shame, and move towards deceit,” Chivayo continues smoothly, and the Syrd with the golden glow grows harsh and shadowed over with an evil appearance, “bringing terror that reigns, over cowards in despair,” the rest of the Syrd grew small compared to the golden Syrd, running in fear. Some turn to fight, but the purple glowing Syrd defeats them. “They fight despite pains, but no one will dare challenge the bringer of chaos.”

The image burns out on the sight of the evil Syrd laughing over the planet, and while Midoriya understands it was meant to give him an idea of what has come to pass, he wishes he could have seen the real images. The light from the crystal dies and they’re plunged into darkness again. He blinks, trying to will his eyes to see in the darkness.

“Is that it?” He asks uncertainly, returning his focus to Chivayo’s face. “If that’s the whole prophecy, why would anyone believe in me?”

Chivayo reaches for the crystal again, and Midoriya tries not to focus on it too much - he has a feeling it will glow bright again and his eyes can’t take this back and forth of light to dark and back again. When the glow returns, he slowly looks back to the rays of light to see what images will appear this time.

It begins with all the Syrd figures, hurrying to the Underground, huddling together in fear. “Even so we’ve kept heart,” one Syrd stands above them all, the glow around her red and the rest of the fearful Syrd watch the red one in awe, “despite the great loss, as one day soon,” and the image flashes to show a galaxy that looks familiar to Midoriya, “a hero will cross, from his own lagoon, of milky white stars.” He gulps, knowing for sure now that he was looking at the Milky Way Galaxy - his home.

Midoriya gapes at the sight before it disappears, and he shakes his head rapidly. “Just because I come from the Milky Way Galaxy doesn’t mean I’m the Hero though!”

Chivayo doesn’t give much pause when she reaches forward again and Midoriya sighs, knowing she’d answer his unasked question with the next part of the prophecy.

“Upon a planet of blue, and under a shrine, the hero will be born to, a crab star design,” she recites in her shaky voice, and the images shown give Midoriya a clear view of Earth, of his home in Japan near a small shrine. He bites his lip when the Zodiac sign for Cancer shines in the stars above, and he has to admit that’s pretty accurate to him - except he wasn’t the only Cancer zodiac born child in Japan. “Our hero’s eyes gleam, with our galaxy’s flare,” she continues and Midoriya gapes at the thought of his eyes gleaming like any star system, the image shifting to show what he assumes is the Henshaw Galaxy, radiant with green hues, “and he is all you’ll dream, until you shall pair.”

An image of Midoriya faintly shines in the light before it goes dim again and he gawks at it. “So… someone’s dreamt of me?”

Chivayo doesn’t respond, and the last two lines give Midoriya a headache. He honestly has no idea what that means - was that bit directed to someone? Or do all the Syrd dream of him? But then what about this pair?

His neck burns, and he stiffens, unable to turn around. Was… was that part about Kacchan?

He takes a deep breath and stares up at Chivayo. “I guess… there’s no way to deny I’m the Hero now. Wha… what do I do?”

Midoriya licks his lips, waiting for Chivayo to continue, but nothing comes. Had he heard the whole prophecy? That doesn’t make sense - don’t prophecies explain to you how you’ll defeat the great evil, even if it’s extremely confusing? That seemed pretty clear in every sci-fi or fantasy book he’s ever read.

Bakugou clears his throat and Midoriya jumps at the sound. “That’s all of the prophecy, Deku.”

He whips around to gawk at him, “but how am I supposed to defeat this ‘bringer of chaos’?! Don’t prophecies explain that?!”

A warm, shaky hand grabs his wrist then and he hears a raspy gasp come from Chivayo. Bakugou’s eyes widen and Midoriya shudders at the contact before turning back to her.

Her pupils are gone, and Midoriya feels dread shoot through him from her touch, his head swimming with images he can barely make sense of. Her voice envelopes him;

Chivayo’s eyes return to normal and her body relaxes, her hold on Midoriya’s arm loosening before she pulls her hand back into her own space. Midoriya gapes at her, the words spinning around in his head.

That’s how she told new prophecies, he didn’t need to be told this fact.

Silence screams at him from all sides and Midoriya gulps, shaking a little. He has to find something - something that will help him cut down the dictator who controls the Overworld. A cutlass… that was a sword of some kind! It would be his weapon, but first he has to find something that resides in the belly of something that can’t be cut open.

Midoriya brings his shaking gaze to Bakugou, who’s gaping back at him. “We… we need something…”

“Resides in the gut of one so weak…” Bakugou murmurs to himself, eyebrows scrunched together in thought. “Yet a difficult cut upon skin so unique…”

“What does that mean?” Midoriya asks him, feeling winded despite having done nothing, standing to join Bakugou at his side. “What kind of creature has thick skin and would eat whatever this… ‘equipoise’ is?”

Bakugou hums in thought, scratching at his head. Midoriya watches him, unable to answer his own question - this isn’t his territory of expertise, it’s Bakugou’s.

That same light from before flashes in Bakugou’s eyes and he snaps his gaze to Midoriya’s. “Bukuret!”

Midoriya blinks at him, racking his brain for what that means. “I don’t remember this exactly…”

“It’s a myth,” Bakugou continues, his face brightening - Midoriya fights the urge to wince at how bright he becomes, watching him smile at his own idea. “But all myths come from some kind of truth, right?”

Midoriya stare at him, his excitement infectious as he grins back. “It’s more than I got. So, where can we find Bukuret?”

Chapter Text

Midoriya stares into the darkness of the room he was lead to, laying on his side. Behind him on the second bed, the light emanating from Bakugou’s body keeps him from feeling like he’s being swallowed up by the shadows of the Underground.

“Kacchan…?” He whispers, slowly rolling to look at his glowing friend.

Bakugou’s back is to him, but Midoriya sees his body tense in response to hearing Midoriya. “Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep,” Midoriya admits, and Bakugou finally rolls to face him as well. His red glow is helpful through this darkness, but by how bright he is compared to the rest of the room, Midoriya feels unable to look at him directly. “I feel like we need to find Bukuret now…”

Bakugou shakes his head, sitting up in his bed. Midoriya moves to do the same, watching him as closely as he can. “Bukuret is a planet - the myth is what’s on Bukuret.”

Midoriya opens his mouth to respond, but he can’t seem to figure out what he wants to say first. Closing his mouth, Midoriya glances around the darkness of the room, Bakugou’s glow not reaching far enough to light it all up. “So… what is it we’re supposed to find on Bukuret?”

“I guess you wouldn’t remember, it was a long time ago,” Bakugou murmurs, and Midoriya returns his eyes to him. “Bukuret is an uninhabitable planet here in the Henshaw Galaxy. There’s this myth that creatures called the Beherees lives there, and they eat everything in their paths—”

“Ah!” Midoriya cuts him off, pointing to him in excitement. “And they have uncuttable skin!”

Bakugou blinks at him in surprise before he grins, “so you do remember.”

Midoriya grins right back, “of course, Kacchan’s stories were the best part of my childhood.”

The immediate light around Bakugou’s face grows a bit darker in red and he turns his face away, chuckling a little. Midoriya watches him, wondering if that means anything. Before he can ponder about the redness of Bakugou’s light, he turns back, the glow returning to normal. “Anyway, I think we need to train a little before even trying to go to Bukuret.”

“Why?”

“The Creath seem to be everywhere lately,” Bakugou sighs, scratching his head, effectively making the flowing hairs shift even more, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were on Bukuret trying to find Beherees themselves - especially if they turn out to be real.”

Midoriya hums in thought, looking down to the makeshift blanket Bakugou’s mother gave him. “What if they’re not real? Do we need a plan B?” He focuses back on Bakugou suddenly, eyebrows scrunched together in worry. “I mean, how do we plan to cut through their skin? The ‘equipoise’ thing is in the stomach of one of these creatures, and I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be eaten by one just to get it.”

Bakugou stares at him, and it’s clear he hadn’t considered this. “We’ll… we’ll worry about it tomorrow. For now, get some rest - I’m going to be training you to fight as soon as you’re awake.”

Midoriya sighs, watching Bakugou turn away to lie down again. He doesn’t move right away, watching Bakugou shift in his bed about two feet away, trying to get comfortable. His light hasn’t dimmed even a little since they entered the Underground, and Midoriya wonders how long it will take before Bakugou’s beautiful glow becomes dim like all the other Syrd’s.

He lays down, not turning away from the warmth coming from Bakugou. Briefly, he wonders how long the Syrd of the Underground have before their lights completely die out, and what happens to them when it does. Midoriya squeezes his eyes shut, forcing that train of thought from his mind, and willing himself to sleep.

———

Midoriya feels like he’s falling when something hard catches him. He groans, wondering why he’s having that horrible dream when he realizes he’s not dreaming anymore - he’s awake and in a heap on the rock floor.

“Ow...” he groans, sitting up to rub at his sore body.

“I told you to wake up,” Bakugou scoffs, and Midoriya looks up to see him standing over him. Midoriya quickly puts two and two together and realizes Bakugou had shoved him out of bed, so he glares up at him. “Hey, I told you we have training to do today.”

Midoriya blinks and suddenly the intense red glow coming off of Bakugou catches his attention, the dim crystals in the ceiling remind him of where he is.

He had almost hoped he was just having a crazy intense dream, but Midoriya knows he’s not dreaming. As good looking as Bakugou always has been to him, Midoriya’s not sure his dreams could ever enhance that attractiveness with a glowing aura like this. In some ways, he can admit the Syrd are odd looking to him, a Human, but Bakugou…

Bakugou makes it work - that or Midoriya’s got some kind of filter that just makes Bakugou look even better than he actually is. He supposes that’s what having a crush on someone for several years does to you.

Bakugou sighs, reaching down to help Midoriya stand. “Get dressed and let’s go, the hag has something for us to eat and then we’re going to go find some place so I can train you.” Bakugou hands him clothes that remind him of home, along with the team jacket he’d been wearing prior to leaving Earth. Midoriya hurries to change his sweats out for the shorts, feeling the cold of the Underground lick at his bare skin.

Shivering, Midoriya zips his jacket up before Bakugou grabs hold of his arm again. Midoriya allows Bakugou to drag him, certain he wouldn’t be able to follow on his own as everything comes crashing back to him.

The explosion, the Creath, the wormholes - Hell, even arriving at Sakina and going to the Underground. Midoriya’s head feels heavy when he recalls the prophecy, and that’s barely coming back to him as it is. He knows he can’t recall all of it just from hearing it once, but the important pieces - the fact that he’s some Hero and there’s some dictator in the Overworld that he has to defeat - stand out to him, causing his body to feel drenched in ice at the very thought.

“Good morning ‘Zuubil and Izuku, I have fresh ivimansi for you,” Bakugou’s mother calls, grinning cheerfully at him as they enter the dimly lit kitchen. Eri doesn’t turn to greet them, but Midoriya does his best to not focus on the odd child with a bright glow and smile to the older woman. She’s setting something down on the table Bakugou pulls him to, and Midoriya stares at it in confusion. “Oh, it’s a fruit, Izuku - best of the Underground right now.”

Bakugou sits without complaint, gesturing for Midoriya to do the same. “It tastes like mandarins if that helps.”

His mother gives him an odd look, but Midoriya nods to him and joins him at the table. Eri seems to hesitate before stuffing the last of her fruit into her mouth, standing from her seat and scurrying away. Midoriya watches her leave, frowning sadly.

“Don’t worry about Eri,” Bakugou murmurs, shoving the fruit into his mouth. Midoriya nods slowly, moves to do the same and hesitates for only a second.

It does taste like mandarins, yet there was a slight difference in that this fruit has a much more sweet flavor to it than the fruit of Earth.

Bakugou nods when Midoriya continues to eat the food, quickly eating his own portion. Midoriya almost wishes they could have something else to eat, but he squashes that down soon after thinking it - it’s possible the Underground doesn’t actually have any food to grow or stock up on, and they have certain members who go to the surface for more when they run low. Or perhaps it's grown here and the lack of sunlight causes the fruit to grow slowly. The agriculture here could be a number of different things, but in the end, none of that should matter anyway.

He savors his portion, willing himself to not feel too hungry. While he did have a snack after practice last night on the way home, he and Bakugou didn’t actually have a real dinner. Midoriya hadn’t really noticed even when trying to sleep, but now that he thinks about it, he does feel the after effects of going to sleep on an empty stomach.

When the last of the fruit is gone, Bakugou stands and gestures for Midoriya to follow after him. He glances back to Bakugou’s mother, who smiles encouragingly to him. He smiles back, but he knows it must look fake - at least Bakugou would have been able to tell the difference, just like during their games back home when they faced a particularly difficult batter. Midoriya turns and quickens his pace to make sure he doesn’t lose Bakugou.

Midoriya sweeps his gaze over the cave system when they walk outside of Bakugou’s home, and a few Syrd turn to watch them make their way back towards the center of the Underground. Midoriya avoids their eyes, hopeful he won’t hear their whispers again. None of them say anything, continuing on their own way or returning to their conversations with neighbors. The tunnel has a few Syrd walking through and they pass by without a glance in Midoriya’s direction. He relaxes, happy to not be stared at today.

Bakugou hurries through the town, and while there are more Syrd, Midoriya notes that most will look to Bakugou before avoiding Midoriya completely. He frowns, watching the Syrd closely. None of them will meet his eyes, but they all do glance at Bakugou before averting their eyes. Midoriya focuses on his best friend and clicks his tongue, moving to walk beside him instead.

“Are you… glaring at everyone?” He asks, and Bakugou jumps, slowing down when he turns to Midoriya. The general area around them grows quiet, and the Syrd nearby hurry away.

“I,” Bakugou coughs, “I am, sort of glaring at them…”

“Why?” Midoriya is getting sick of asking why all the time, but he knows if he doesn’t, he’ll never fully understand what’s going on.

“Because they keep giving you weird looks,” Bakugou mutters, avoiding Midoriya’s eyes. “It was annoying yesterday.”

Midoriya feels his neck prickling as though someone is staring at him, but he licks his lips and stands a little taller. “That’s nice of you, Kacchan, but I don’t mind - I’m the alien here, they can gape at me all they want.”

Bakugou meets his eyes before his gaze shifts beyond Midoriya and immediately he scowls. The sensation of being stared at dissipates and Midoriya takes a deep breath, his stomach starting to twist anxiously. “Sorry, I won’t do it anymore.”

“If you really think you need to, then I won’t stop you,” Midoriya shakes his head, “but please don’t isolate yourself from your own people for me.”

Bakugou looks down to his feet, and the little bit of light coming from his head seems to dim in color - the intensity is still there, but it just… isn’t as red as it was before. “The Humans are my people, Deku. I don’t know these people anymore.”

Midoriya’s heart speeds up as Bakugou turns to continue heading in some direction, and he swallows the lump in his throat. While it makes sense, and Midoriya still can’t think of Bakugou as alien to himself, it still is hard to hear Bakugou admit it out loud. His home is on Earth, where he grew up with Midoriya - the Syrd may as well be as foreign to Bakugou as it is to Midoriya, if a little less so.

Hurrying to catch up to Bakugou, Midoriya keeps his eyes down, knowing the Syrd would begin to stare again now that Bakugou isn’t (or rather hopefully isn’t) glaring at them. He keeps pace behind him, and they make their way through several tunnels until Bakugou stops him.

“This should be good enough, there isn’t really anything here,” Bakugou says to him, and Midoriya looks around at the cave they’ve stopped in.

It’s about as small as the cave the prophet lives in, only it’s like Bakugou said - nothing is there. There’s some growths that remind Midoriya of glowing mushrooms in a few places, and the crystals in the walls aren’t as bright as the rest of the Underground’s lighting system. Midoriya glances up to see the roots of crystals hanging overhead, coming down to hang maybe six or so feet above him. They’re dim as well, and Midoriya wonders if they belong to dead crystal trees up on the surface.

Bakugou takes off his jacket and Midoriya turns to watch him. The glow coming from Bakugou seems to intensify when the clothing comes away, as though it’d been trapped within and was ready to shine as brightly as possible now that the skin is exposed. Midoriya stares at Bakugou’s exposed arms, watches the light glimmer from his skin and the rays of light shift through hues of red with every movement of his body.

He gulps, trying to focus on Bakugou’s face. He nods towards Midoriya with a raised brow, “you should probably take off your jacket, too. It’s cold, but we’ll be moving enough that you should warm up soon.”

Midoriya reaches up and unzips his jacket, peeking up to Bakugou through his lashes to see if he’s watching. His face warms when Bakugou’s eyes follow the movement of the zipper coming undone, and Midoriya gulps again when he begins to remove the jacket from his arms. Bakugou looks away when he looks up further and Midoriya frowns, throwing the jacket to the side.

“Okay, so what are we going to do?” Midoriya asks, crossing his arms from the cold. Bakugou rolls his neck, cracking it a bit before he begins to stretch out his arms. Midoriya heaves a sigh, shifting to stretch as well.

“I’m going to come at you and you’re going to defend yourself,” Bakugou grunts, bending to stretch out his legs. Midoriya pauses, narrowing his eyes.

“And that teaches me… what?”

“Just trust your instincts and fight,” Bakugou shrugs, smirking up at him. Midoriya stands straight, sending him an unamused expression that causes Bakugou to laugh. “We used to play fight all the time - treat it like that and you’ll figure it out.”

Midoriya rolls his eyes, “yeah but—”

Bakugou sprints towards him and Midoriya gasps, stepping away quickly to dodge the tackle. He glares at him, ready to tell him off about how he should warn someone when Bakugou twists around, kicking out at him. Midoriya ducks, but Bakugou finishes his turn about by slamming his forearm against Midoriya’s shoulder, knocking him over.

“Ow, what the heck?!”

“I said defend, not dodge!”

Midoriya scowls, standing up to see Bakugou shifting toward him, and Midoriya lifts his arms up to block the punch he sees coming. “How is this training?!”

“All Syrd learn to fight by doing it!” Bakugou grunts, switching hands and punching again. “I know you can fight, just use your instincts!”

“I’m a Human, Kacchan!” He snaps, dropping down to avoid a third punch and kicking Bakugou’s legs out from under him. He jumps over Midoriya’s kick though, and twists to send his own leg out, trying to kick Midoriya in midair.

Midoriya grabs his leg and with as much strength as he can bring forth, he throws Bakugou to the side. Bakugou flips his body, landing on his hands and feet and springing back up to run back to Midoriya, getting ready to punch once more.

Midoriya prepares himself, grabbing Bakugou’s wrist to redirect it away, moving forward to jam his hand into the middle of Bakugou’s chest, forcing him to stumble back. Bakugou catches himself though, so Midoriya rears back to punch his gut as hard as he can.

While they have play fought before, Midoriya had never really thrown a real punch before, and he knows from the way his hand stings that he must have done it wrong. However, he can’t dwell on that fact, because even though Bakugou is beginning to double over, he’s reaching up to pull Midoriya’s head down to meet his knee.

Midoriya pulls out of Bakugou’s hold, quickly moving around him to jab an elbow into Bakugou’s back and send him to the ground. Panting, Midoriya stands over him, rubbing at his sore wrist with his other hand. It doesn’t seem broken, but he probably needs to ask Bakugou how to throw a real punch.

He feels the fall before he registers the pain of his calves being kicked and Midoriya throws out his arms to catch himself, ensuring his head doesn’t hit the rock hard ground too hard. A weight comes down over his waist before he can figure out what happened, and his right hand is held against the ground.

“Don’t ever assume your opponent is down for good,” Bakugou pants, smirking above him. Midoriya stares up at him, the light creating a heavenly look around Bakugou’s head.

Midoriya quickly runs through what must have happened - just because he knocked Bakugou down didn’t mean he was finished with Midoriya, and Bakugou had kicked him down before pinning him there.

Which meant that Bakugou is sitting on him, and the way he hovers over Midoriya is far too familiar from Midoriya’s dreams for him to remain calm. Midoriya’s face burns and he tries to think of a way to get out of this without alerting other parts of himself to the position they’re in.

However, Bakugou is extremely warm - despite how cold and, ugh, damp the ground feels, the heat radiating from Bakugou is keeping Midoriya from shivering. He gulps, not sure if he is willing to move out from under Bakugou.

His hesitation to move earns him a raised brow from Bakugou. “What? You’re not even going to try to get out?”

Midoriya takes a deep breath, and that nervous energy from having a crush on someone he usually keeps at bay around Bakugou bubbles up in his throat. He thinks about saying something about trying to figure it out, but instead of anything like that, Midoriya word vomits. “Oh no, I really just like being under you,” he whispers, and his voice sounds far more breathless and flirty rather than nervous like he expected. Shit...

He doesn’t even get a chance to be mortified by what he’s said; the red shine coming off of Bakugou burns even hotter, and the red grows darker. Midoriya’s eyes widen at the feeling and the sight of it, but just when he is about to ask what that’s about, Bakugou propels himself back and coughs into his hand. Midoriya blinks up at him and decides that they will never speak of this again - if only so he doesn’t embarrass himself more than he already has.

“What—That—I-I didn’t hurt you, right?” Bakugou stutters through, holding out his hand for Midoriya to grab hold of. Midoriya gulps down any mortification he feels, shaking his head.

“Kacchan, you’ve given me nosebleeds before,” Midoriya deadpans, taking his hand and pulling himself up. He’s too shocked by the concern to really think of any questions to his friend’s behavior. “A few punches aren’t going to hurt me…”

“Yeah, but the ground is pretty hard,” Bakugou shrugs, taking his hand away quickly to rub at his neck. “And I don’t care if I’ve made you bleed, the goal is to teach you to fight, not bruise you into a coma.”

Midoriya snorts, shaking his head to loosen himself up. “Oh come on, I’m tough enough to handle a few scrapes. I’m not some delicate flower.”

Bakugou’s glow doesn’t seem to die down much, but his shoulders become less tense at his words. “Yeah, no… you’re not delicate at all.”

“So, is that it for today?” Midoriya asks, watching Bakugou scuff his foot a little. “Shouldn’t we… keep… going?”

It’s awkward, Midoriya can feel it, but he doesn’t want to give into that thought. He can’t let things get awkward just because he suddenly blurted out something flirtatious instead of - well, instead of something normal and platonic like he always has.

Bakugou clears his throat, nodding a bit. “Yeah, no, we’re done for now. You can… explore the Underground if you want.”

Midoriya’s jaw goes slack and he watches Bakugou shuffle slowly before he basically sprints away. The area around him goes dim, but the light doesn’t die out completely. His mouth goes dry and before he knows it, he’s fallen back onto his butt, staring dumbly at the tunnel Bakugou just ran down.

Does this mean he’s completely ruined things between them? Midoriya sure hopes not, seeing as Bakugou is the only person here he trusts. He pulls his knees to his chest, and Midoriya takes a few deep breaths to keep from succumbing to his embarrassment - or allowing himself to feel the rejection Bakugou blatantly just threw at him.

“A Syrd’s glow tells you their feelings,” a little voice calls behind him and Midoriya jumps, turning around to see who it might be. The intense purple glow from a crack in the wall moves closer, and Midoriya blinks to try adjusting his eyes better to the little light.

He’s pretty sure that it’s Eri, hiding in a hidden crack. “Eri? Is that you?” He calls out, shifting to pull himself up.

“He… he was embarrassed by what you said,” Eri softly replies, and Midoriya can clearly see her now that she’s moved a little closer. “Not in a bad way though, he seemed… pleased?”

Midoriya scrunches his brows together, “wait, what do you mean?”

Eri hesitates, hiding herself behind the crack a little before finally pushing forward. “Kaetzuubi… he likes you. At least… I think so?”

Midoriya’s heart skips. “How do you know?”

“His light is more red when you’re with him…”

He stares, trying to understand. Looking at the halo of light coming from the shy girl, Midoriya notices it’s dimming itself the more nervous she seems to become. Sitting a little straighter, he thinks he might understand. “Eri… does your glow change with your emotions?”

Slowly, Eri nods, moving a little closer. That’s when he sees it, the crystal embedded into her forehead. It looks like a little horn, the source of her light more intense from there and dulling out the further it gets.

Why does she have a crystal in her skull? Is it the crystals Bakugou was talking about from the trees the Syrd needed to survive? Is that why she’s brighter than the other members of the Underground?

Was she born with this crystal…?

“Eri,” he whispers, shifting closer to her, “are you… okay?”

She freezes, eyes widening. The purple hues of her glow become darker, her dull light growing colder before she pushes back into the hole she’d come from.

Midoriya doesn’t stop her, his small worry for the odd girl fading to think about what she meant as he glances up to look at the crystal roots above him.

They’re glowing slightly more than he remembered them doing, and he wonders if Bakugou’s intense glow - apparently a blush if he read it correctly - had given them energy.

———

Bakugou drags his feet as he walks into the makeshift house, trying to calm the heat coming off of him. Midoriya’s flushed face hasn’t left his inner eye’s sight and he groans to himself, smacking his forehead. The way he sounded also didn’t help matters, and he takes a deep breath before falling back into a chair.

“What has you so flustered, Kaetzuubi?” He jumps, twisting to find his uncle on the other side of the room.

“Uh…” He looks around for something to help him, but Bakugou comes up short. “It’s… it’s nothing.”

Kai huffs a laugh before he stands, moving closer to him. “Now now, I was young once. That light of yours is too intense to just be nothing. Did one of the girls get too close to you?”

Bakugou gulps, avoiding Kai’s eyes. “You could say that…”

He laughs fully now, and Bakugou’s intense scarlet light recedes to its usual levels before falling flat. He’s embarrassed still, but the way his uncle looks at him as though knowing something happened seems to be taking control of his light.

“Kaetzuubi,” he winces at the stern tone, “it was Izuku, wasn’t it?”

Bakugou gulps, knowing his light is giving him away. “I’m sorry.”

Kai sighs, heavy with dread. “Kaetzuubi, you have a duty to these people - don’t ruin it by falling for an alien.”

“I don’t feel anything for Izuku but friendship, Kai'spaetho.” Bakugou’s proud his light doesn’t flicker on the lie - he’s practiced his lying since he was a child, after all.

“It must remain that way,” his uncle answers, and Bakugou avoids his eyes. “The Prince of Sakina should bind himself to a good woman, and give the Syrd plenty of heirs for the future.”

Bakugou holds back a shudder at the reminder. “I know.”

“Izuku is the Hero and nothing more,” Kai continues on, “don’t forget your place in this world, the place your mother fought to keep. We’ll have our kingdom back soon, Kaetzuubi.”

He sighs, turning to meet his uncle’s face. The smile on his face feels forced, but his light shifts with him, returning to its default form. “Of course, your majesty.”

Chapter Text

It’s difficult to see much without Bakugou’s intense glow next to him, but Midoriya makes due. He squints in the dim lighting, watching his steps as he moves through the tunnel and comes out into another open cave of stone buildings he doesn’t recognise. Sighing, he looks around trying to figure out which way to go.

The Underground might as well be a maze seeing as Midoriya’s very lost now. Part of him is annoyed that Bakugou ran from him when he did, but on the other hand he’s happy for the time alone. Eri’s words are still bothering him, more in the way that it’s really getting his hopes up. Frowning, Midoriya moves forward in the better lit area, but he still watches where he steps with narrowed eyes. The Syrd here are ignoring him too, which both relaxes and frustrates him somehow. Surely one of them realizes he’s lost?

Midoriya huffs, stopping to glance around. Maybe he could just ask one of them to help him - or even give him answers he can’t get from Bakugou. He flushes, dropping his gaze before he can make eye contact with any of them. He’s not exactly sure what he would ask anyway (anatomy - bodily structure - reproductive organs) and shakes his head of any strange thoughts.

Okay, so Midoriya has many questions and no answers about how a relationship between him and Bakugou would work now - his fantasies and research satiated those desires when Bakugou was a Human, but now... not so much. His face is burning and he really hopes Syrd can’t read minds or something.

He knows he has so much more to be worrying about right now - the prophecy being the biggest, glaring problem of his life at this moment - but Midoriya’s mind can only focus on the idea of being with Bakugou. Maybe it’s because he’s alone with his thoughts and he has nothing familiar to focus on right now so his mind has decided to zero in on his feelings for Bakugou - both the physical and emotional sides, but with heavy attention on the physical since it’s currently just a giant question mark of “can we even?”

At this point he’s considered asking so many times about how their bodies work but decided against it a thousand times over simply because he thinks they’ll treat him like some kind of… pervert, he supposes. Midoriya actually doesn’t know for sure that they would, but his own culture is telling him that’s not very civil or natural. Sighing, he looks around again before moving towards a building that looks too big to be a home.

Maybe he could just ask a Syrd that might be working or something for help getting back to Bakugou’s home - except he also has no idea how to pronounce their real names.

Midoriya steps into the building and finds it much quieter than outside on the makeshift streets. The door closes behind him heavily and he gapes at the massive building’s contents. It’s like a library, but the shelves aren’t lined with books, they’re housing crystals.

“Can I help you?” A peppy voice asks and Midoriya jumps, spinning around. He hadn’t even noticed he was walking as he surveyed the space, but he’d almost run into what might be a desk. A tiny Syrd woman sits on the other side, her soft glow a pale pink and her bob of curls gently flows around her head.

“Uh…” He starts so eloquently, “what is this place?”

She doesn’t seem annoyed and simply gestures to the shelves. “Underground Hall of Records - any information we of the Underground were able to gather before the official Hall of Records burned in the Overworld have been housed here.”

Midoriya’s eyes widen and they quickly scan the immediate area. “So… could I look at the information?”

“Probably not, Hero of Prophecy,” she replies and Midoriya winces at the title, “the crystals need a Syrd to activate them, and then the information is heard like a thought.”

His shoulders slump, “which means I have no chance in finding what I’m looking for…”

“I could help with that, Hero,” a voice from behind him says and Midoriya jumps, the little woman looking excited about whoever has joined them. He turns around to find another Syrd. His glow is a heavy crimson, though there is a dull grey to it - probably only grey due to his lack of energy - but his hair and clothes catch Midoriya by surprise. There’s no movement to his spiked hair unlike every Syrd he’s seen and his clothes look more like the armor Bakugou’s mother wore. His straight hair and general features almost remind him of someone, but Midoriya can’t place who. “I’m Zjiorvou, a member of the royal guard.”

Midoriya’s mouth falls open a little and he gapes at the man. He gulps, unsure of how to introduce himself. “Hello… Zjiorvou?” He thinks he said it right, and Zjiorvou doesn’t cringe so he continues, “I’m Izuku, the… Hero, I guess.”

Zjiorvou nods, “the queen has told us about you, Hero.”

“You can help me?”

Zjiorvou gives him a toothy grin, and there’s something about it that makes Midoriya feel as though he’s seen it before. “What information are you looking for?”

Midoriya shifts his weight, looking away from the guard. “I… well, I’m very curious about something with the Syrd,” he sees Zjiorvou gesture for him to continue on, “but… you know what, it doesn’t matter, I just need to return to Kay… Kayzoobee’s house?”

Zjiorvou laughs and Midoriya’s face burns, “Kayzoobee, that’s funny. I guess it would be hard if it’s not your language - Kaetzuubi is how you say it.”

“Kay… et… zoo… bee?” Midoriya tries, frowning to himself before saying it again, “Kaetzuubi?”

“Yes, there you go,” Zjiorvou’s smiling even more now, and there’s that itch at the back of Midoriya’s head again. “But don’t feel ashamed - we must be interesting to you as a Human, so if there is anything I can help you understand, I’ll be glad to show you.”

Midoriya looks back at the little woman behind the desk and she looks bored out of her mind, pouting to herself even. He turns back to Zjiorvou and sighs, “I just… our species look really similar, right?”

“I like to think I’m pretty, thank you,” the woman mutters and Midoriya frowns at the subtle dig.

“Well, I mean—”

“I know, you’re fine, Hero,” Zjiorvou raises a hand in a calming gesture, and he sends a short glare to the woman.

Midoriya takes a deep breath and tries again. “I guess I just want to know… how similar we are under the skin?”

Zjiorvou considers his words and turns to the woman, “do we have records of Syrd anatomy?”

“Of course, it’s in the back next to the history of Sakina,” the woman waves her hand in the direction of a darkened area of the building, looking as excited and peppy when Zjiorvou first came in.

“Thank you, Mina,” Zjiorvou says kindly, turning away as her face falls back to being bored with a mixture of a pout. Zjirovou smiles at Midroiya, and once again his it reminds Midoriya of something yet he can’t place what. “Come on, handler, I’ll show it to you.”

Midoriya perks up and follows after Zjiorvou, glad to have found a kind Syrd who doesn’t look at him in a nasty way.

His words register when they’ve made it beyond the desk however and Midoriya freezes. Zjiorvou had said it so… casually, with a hint of familiarity that only the team has ever carried.

Midoriya narrows his eyes, hurrying to catch up with Zjiorvou before he notices. Maybe Midoriya imagined it, but something about this Syrd is far too familiar for Midoriya to relax now. If he does anything else like it, Midoriya will be ready.

They come to the back wall and Zjiorvou scans the crystals. Midoriya openly gapes at them, seeing that they’re all about the size of his head. He’s not sure if he’ll get his answer, but he hopes he does before Zjiorvou acts suspiciously again - at least that way Midoriya’s curiosity will subside.

“Ah, here it is,” Zjiorvou points to an orange crystal, the symbols under it complicated and confusing to Midoriya’s eyes. Zjiorvou picks up the crystal and focuses on it until it glows, “here, it should be able to transfer the information to you. If it doesn’t, I can just tell you what I see and you ask for exactly what you want.”

Midoriya feels his face grow warm again, hoping he won’t have to ask. He places his hand on the crystal and waits for the warmth to take over his hand. When nothing happens a second later, he frowns and prepares to tell Zjiorvou it didn’t work, only to feel energy shoot through his arm up to his head.

He feels dizzy, but suddenly Midoriya sees something when he blinks. Closing his eyes, he concentrates until the image returns. Midoriya gasps, the information a jumbled mess in front of him.

“Focus on what you’re looking for,” a distant voice says and Midoriya barely recognizes Zjiorvou’s voice behind the whispers coming from the jumbled mess - it really sounds like one he’s heard before, but… he just can’t place where, especially with all the whispering.

Shaking that thought aside, Midoriya thinks about what he wants to know, furrowing his brow when it doesn’t come right away. Once it does, he relaxes again and looks at the image before him, feeling another blush intensify on his cheeks at the sight of a naked Syrd man.

It’s at least not entirely realistic, and half of him is cut away to show his internal organs. But the words still don’t make sense to Midoriya and he tries to pull it closer to determine if Humans and Syrd are compatible. He considers pulling up a female Syrd to double check there, but as soon as he does the whispers become clear.

“The anatomy of a male Syrd...” Midoriya listens intently, trying to focus on the areas that light up as the voice talks. He mostly ignores the upper internal organs, finding some similarities and few differences to what he knows of Human anatomy. Once it reaches the information of the reproductive organs, Midoriya stands a little straighter and listens to the information.

“The male reproductive organs include a sack that contains the cell of half of the DNA for a future Syrd child, which…” Midoriya gapes at the image, knowing full well that it’s basically the same diagram of a Human male’s. He drops his hands and pulls away, the sensation slipping through him and coming away as if a sleeve was ripped from within his arm.

Midoriya opens his eyes and looks up at Zjiorvou. “Thank you, that’s exactly what I was looking for.”

“Which was…?” Zjiorvou raises a brow, “what, are you trying to figure out if you can mate a female here?”

Midoriya’s face burns - something like that… “Well, not really…”

Zjiorvou chuckles, his grin twisting into something far too familiar, “ah, so what the Syrd are saying is true about you and Bakugou, huh Midoriya?”

Midoriya becomes rigid at that, and immediately he knocks the crystal from Zjiorvou’s hands before shoving his back into the shelf, other crystals shaking and a few falling forward to the ground. He doesn’t hear them shatter, but he does catch a smaller one with an intense point at it’s tip, using it as a weapon at Zjiorvou’s throat.

Zjiorvou’s eyes are wide and he’s staring at Midoriya with worry. “W-what?”

“Who are you?” Midoriya snaps, “I didn’t tell you that name and last I checked you Syrd don’t use Kacchan’s Human name.”

Zjiorvou’s face relaxes and he raises his hands in a form of surrender, “calm down, handler, it’s not like I’m threatening you.”

“Why are you talking like him?” Midoriya growls, pushing harder against the chestplate. “I only know of a few people in the known universe who call me ‘handler,’ two of which use it more than my own name, and they’re both…” He hesitates, feeling his mouth shake as it tries to finish forming his sentence. The hair is spiked, not down, and it’s blazing red instead of black. But he sees it now - that innocuous scar over his right eye, and even without the iris he recognizes this person.

“Both what?” Zjiorvou asks with an honest look in his eyes, “both… Human?”

Midoriya’s trying to keep from shaking and he’s glad the hand that holds the pointed crystal isn’t shaking too badly. “... you can’t be…”

“I think you know exactly who I am, Midoriya,” Zjiorvou whispers and Midoriya’s legs begin to shake.

“... Kirishima?”

Kirishima’s face - and it’s clearly him, his skin is just slightly darker and his eyes are more red than brown - twists into a grin, but it’s genuine happiness is there. Midoriya looks around his features, shocked he couldn’t tell before. It really is Kirishima, somehow, in the form of a Syrd.

“In the flesh,” Kirishima says, and Midoriya’s grip loosens until he lets Kirishima go. “Well, in the flesh for the first time - it’s good to see you for real, Midoriya.”

Midoriya gapes at him, feeling at a loss for what exactly was happening. “But… what? How are you - when did you…?”

Kirishima shrugs, prompting Midoriya to hit him in the shoulder. “Ouch, okay okay, I’ll explain!”

“You better…!”

Sighing, Kirishima glances away to contemplate where he should begin. “Alright, so I’m a soldier under the rightful King of Sakina, and my training started early because most Syrd have been dying young being in the Underground.”

Midoriya frowns, “that’s terrible… how young were you?”

“Pretty young,” Kirishima answers, and Midoriya gets the feeling he doesn’t want to talk about it. “Anyway, my first assignment upon being officially recognized as a soldier was to project myself onto Earth and ensure the prince followed through with his mission.”

“You were sent to watch over the prince?” Midoriya asks, narrowing his eyes, “what prince?”

Kirishima raises a brow, “what do you mean ‘what prince?’ Bakugou didn’t tell you his lineage?”

Midoriya gapes at him, “wait… Kacchan is a prince?”

Kirishima actually looks surprised, “oh wow, he really didn’t tell you…”

Midoriya’s mouth falls open further, and he knows he probably looks silly but this information is too much. “He… he’s a prince? Of an alien planet?”

“Are you gonna be okay…?”

“Kacchan - rude, loud, angry Kacchan - is a prince?” Midoriya stares at the ground, the glinting crystals at their feet seemingly mocking his shock. He always thought Bakugou was so much more than what everyone first perceived him to be, but to find out his childhood friend is actually the next in line to lead an entire planet...?

“Um… Midoriya?”

This changes everything - forget having sex with Bakugou, Midoriya probably would never get to kiss him! Hell, he probably won’t get to hug him, Bakugou is the Prince! People with titles like those have to marry, make babies, and last Midoriya checked, he’s not exactly able to give birth!

He pulls at his hair in frustration. “This can’t be happening,” he mumbles, looking to the ceiling and tries to focus on the twinkling of the crystal tree roots coming into the building. “Kacchan is… he’s always been better than me but now…?”

“Being a prince isn’t a big deal, is it?” Kirishima asks, bringing Midoriya’s attention back to him.

“I…”

“So like, I get that you like him,” Kirishima chuckles, avoiding his eyes, “if uh… if what you were just mumbling is anything to go by, that is.”

Damn, he really needs to work on that…

“But, I mean… he’s still Bakugou, right?” Midoriya stares at him. Kirishima sighs and scratches his head. “He’s not exactly the prince type, ya know?”

Midoriya slowly nods, “Todoroki always seemed more like a prince… Kacchan… he’s more like a knight.”

“Exactly!” Kirishima nods, his usual encouraging grin back in place. “Bakugou might be the prince but, like, he could always throw that away! I mean, it’s his by birthright, at least since King Kai'spaetho made an agreement with Queen Mizdoski - he only got to be King because of what happened before the Underground, and Bakugou was too young to take the title and Mizdoski—“

Midoriya can’t keep up, and Kirishima seems to notice when he stops and shakes his head.

“Anyway, the point is that Bakugou… he’s never really seemed to want this life.” Kirishima stares at their feet, shifting his weight as he gently kicks at one of the crystals. “He could always, ya know, go back to Earth if the right person convinces him…”

Midoriya’s face burns, the look Kirishima sends him all too clear. The idea of Bakugou letting go of his birthright to be with him is both thrilling and all too good to be true. “Do you… do you really think he’d do that f-for me…?”

Kirishima chuckles and Midoriya’s heart starts to sink. “Sorry, sorry, I’m not laughing at the idea of it! I’m pretty sure he likes you,” Midoriya’s heart immediately flips, “but I knew it, you do like him! Kaminari will be bummed out - he owes me money now.”

“Wait,” Midoriya snaps his attention back to Kirishima, “is Kaminari a Syrd too?”

“What? No,” Kirishima shakes his head, “Kaminari is a Human and he has no idea about any of this.”

“Does… Kacchan know?” Midoriya narrows his eyes when Kirishima doesn’t answer right away. “It’s just, I never could tell you weren’t Human, obviously. But… did Kacchan?”

“No,” Kirishima murmurs, turning his eyes to the floor again and letting his shoulders fall. “I… I never told him. His uncle told me not to tell him unless he seemed like he was going to abandon the mission, and to then convince him to bring you home to Sakina, but… I couldn’t do it.”

Midoriya’s head tilts to the side as he tries to get a better look at Kirishima’s face. “Why not…?”

“Because I got to know him,” Kirishima says, finally looking back to Midoriya, “and then I got to know you and Kaminari as well…” He sighs, his gaze appearing distant. “The amount of times I forgot I wasn’t actually Human is insane, and then the need I had to find my own way to Earth for real,” he shakes his head with an even deeper sigh, “I can’t even begin to describe how badly I wanted to join you three. I didn’t blame the prince if he didn’t want to return, because there were days where I stayed in the projected state even when I didn’t have to.”

“Why would you want to be Human?” Midoriya questions, voice soft. He’s not sure what exactly would be appealing about becoming Human, aside from maybe getting out of the Underground, but Kirishima’s words feel far too sincere to be anything but the truth.

“The Syrd are dying,” Kirishima whispers back, and his face seems to grow pale as his glow shifts to a whiter color. Midoriya’s eyes widen at the sight, wonders if all the Syrd with as little glow as Kirishima can still show their emotions in their light. “Sakina itself is dying, and it’s all because of the King of the Overworld.”

Midoriya shifts on his feet, trying to think of something to say. “Well… I’m here now.”

“But it took so long, how do we know you’ll succeed?” Kirishima asks sadly and Midoriya flinches at the question. “Hell, on Earth the reports of Bakugou’s home blowing up were all over the news, and then no one knew where you two were and Kaminari had jokingly bet me you two went off to elope and didn’t know about his family,” Kirishima chuckles, but there’s no humor in his voice, “except, surprise! His family isn’t dead like they presumed because no one has ever actually been on Earth!”

Midoriya bites his lip, “well, it’s only been a day, right?” He pauses in confusion when Kirishima stares at him incredulously. “What? Does… does time move differently here than Earth? I mean, I’m sure it does a little but—”

“Midoriya,” Kirishima cuts him off, his face shifting to pity, “it’s been two months…”

His heart speeds and Midoriya shakes his head slowly. “What…? But the wormhole…”

“It takes one month from your life to jump through a wormhole,” Kirishima says, “meaning that it feels like a second has passed but it’s actually a whole month.”

Midoriya gapes at him, feeling his legs begin to shake. There’s no way… if it’s been two months, then…

“I thought for sure you’d only take a month when I first heard you both disappeared and Bakugou’s house was destroyed,” Kirishima continues on, “and I thought I could call it a mission completed and continued projecting myself to Earth for Kaminari’s sake, but then… you just didn’t show up here after the first month.”

Midoriya isn’t really registering what Kirishima’s saying. It was May 14th yesterday, wasn’t it?

“And because you didn’t, everyone here started to lose hope - they thought their prince had abandoned the mission and ran away with the Hero. I was even looking for ways to really get to Earth so at least one of us didn’t abandon Kaminari.”

If two months have passed, then that means that today isn’t May 15th, but instead…

“Kirishima,” Midoriya cuts him off before he can continue on and Kirishima jumps a little, blinking to refocus on Midoriya, “what day is it on Earth…?”

Kirishima frowns in confusion for a second before his face crumbles a little in recognition. “It’s… it’s July 15th, Midoriya… Happy birthday.”

Midoriya’s lip trembles at that and he can no longer stand, falling to the floor beside the crystals there. “My… my birthday…?” He shakes his head, “my mom… everyone back on Earth… they’re…” Midoriya takes a deep breath, trying to remain calm, “they’re all probably wondering where I am and how I could possibly leave them without a notice and I - I can’t…”

“Deku?!” A voice echos to them as Kirishima kneels down next to him. Midoriya takes in a shaking breath, trying to focus his eyes on Kirishima. “Deku, are you still here?!”

He knows that’s Bakugou’s voice, but he doesn’t know if he can respond. Kirishima nods his head in the direction of Bakugou’s voice, quietly asking if Midoriya wants him to call him over. Midoriya, not knowing what else to say or do, bobs his head, shifting to pull his legs to his chest.

“He’s over here, your majesty!” Kirishima calls, standing up, “he’s asking for you to hurry!”

Midoriya registers the sounds of Bakugou’s feet running over, and he takes a few deep breaths as he waits. When the light of Bakugou’s glow begins to illuminate the aisle they’re in, Midoriya senses the warmth and almost feels himself begin to relax.

“Izuku!” Bakugou hurries over, kneeling at his side. “Soldier, what happened?!”

“Chill, Bakugou,” Kirishima mutters, squatting down next to him, “he’s just in shock that today is his birthday - didn’t even know going through a wormhole makes a month go by in a second.”

Midoriya keeps his gaze on the blue crystal by his foot, taking slow, deep breaths, but he listens as Bakugou turns to look up at Kirishima, clearly taking a moment to recognize him. “... Kirishima…?”

“Sorry for lying to you, man,” Kirishima answers sheepishly and Midoriya closes his eyes for one last deep breath.

“Wait, how long,” Bakugou stops, sighing, “it doesn’t matter - what were you saying? A month?” Bakugou twists back to Midoriya and he opens his eyes, finally meeting Bakugou’s worried stare. “It’s… it’s your birthday?”

Midoriya smiles and it feels like the most pitiful thing he’s ever pulled, choking on a broken laugh. “Apparently so…!”

Bakugou’s brow furrows and he looks devastated. “Deku, I… I didn’t know wormholes did that…”

“It’s okay,” Midoriya mumbles, though he doesn’t sound like himself, “we had to come. Your people are dying, and what kind of prince would you be if you didn’t help them?”

Bakugou’s face shifts and it’s by far the blankest expression he’s ever seen from him. The light around him also shifts, from a light red teetering on pink into a stark white with the barest hint of red shining through. “Right, my… people are dying. And you want to save them.”

Midoriya’s smile pushes at his cheeks and it’s almost painful how much he’s trying - he knows it’s not convincing Bakugou - but it could make him feel better if he keeps trying. “Just like it’s always been! So, Prince Kaetzuubi, are we going to continue my training for Bukuret?”

The red in Bakugou’s light sparks, almost threateningly, and it nearly makes Midoriya jump in surprise. “Yeah… I guess we probably should.”

Chapter Text

Kirishima follows them back to the cave Bakugou had decided to train Midoriya in. Instead of trying to figure out where they’re going, Midoriya focuses his attention on the ground they walk on.

Two whole months have passed and he didn’t even get to experience it. Did the cheer squad ever figure out what to do about their resident pervert? How did the team handle putting Todoroki and Iida in as their new battery after he and Bakugou disappeared? Has Todoroki’s pitching gotten better or do they still fumble from time to time? Kirishima said he goes back to check on Kaminari, how was he handling things now? What about his classes? Did he miss anything important? He would have to take remedial classes if he ever got back! And Uraraka, how was she doing adjusting to their school? She’d mentioned before not feeling like she had fit in yet, but maybe she’s met some nice people after Midoriya disappeared.

He doesn’t even want to begin to think about his mother - she’s probably worried herself sick, calling everyone she can think of and getting nowhere. Did their neighbors try to help? Has anyone been over to check on her recently? Is she eating? Sleeping? Has she gotten herself so sick she’s been hospitalized?

Shaking his head, Midoriya tries to force himself not to think about it. Not to think about his mom, who is undoubtedly worried, or about the team, who might have struggled for a moment but he’s sure they figured themselves out. Maybe they did great in recent games without them - maybe without Midoriya around, they did so well they never needed him. Maybe… maybe everyone was actually glad he was gone.

Midoriya bites his lip, focusing on Bakugou’s back as he follows him through the dark tunnel, the scarlet glow coming from his body helping him find his footing over the uneven ground. He knows not to think like that - the team does need him, and he can only hope someone’s been watching out for his mom. He feels more homesick than he’s ever felt, and it’s made worse knowing that everyone he left behind might be feeling something similar because they’d spent a longer time without him than he has without them.

They make their way into the cave and Midoriya tries to shake away the thoughts before Bakugou can attack him. He knows he will, and now he has to worry about Kirishima as well. Midoriya doesn’t have time to think about other things, he has to focus if he doesn’t want to be attacked and brought down mercilessly by two of the strongest guys on their team.

Throwing his jacket to the side, he keeps his gaze on Bakugou, moving so he can see Kirishima from his peripherals as well. Bakugou has done the same, and Kirishima seems to be removing one of the bulkier pieces of his armor. The two are watching him as well, quietly waiting for the right moment to strike. Midoriya stops in the center, taking a firm stance and looking between them.

Midoriya tries to breathe evenly, waiting for something to happen, but the anticipation seems to accelerate his heart rate and he gulps, uncertain who will attack first. He knows he can’t ask, and he definitely won’t receive a warning. If Bakugou was taught to fight through action, then Kirishima was too.

Blinking once to take the sting from his eyes, Midoriya immediately shifts, seeing Bakugou suddenly come closer and he blocks the punch thrown his way, holding his fist. With a quick glance, he sees Kirishima close in on him as well and drops down, pulling Bakugou in the direction of Kirishima’s own fist and he hears them collide as he tucks and rolls out from under them.

Bakugou stumbles back, glaring at Kirishima who’s got a cheesy grin on his face. “My apologies, your majesty.”

“Fuck off,” Bakugou grunts before turning to Midoriya, “not bad, but you can’t just keep dodging.”

Midoriya grits his teeth before kicking himself forward, tackling Bakugou as he moves to kick out Kirishima’s legs. Bakugou grabs his shoulders however, pushing down to get Midoriya away but luckily the kick didn’t seem to register in time for Kirishima, who collapses to the ground. With Kirishima down, Midoriya spins out of Bakugou’s grip to try a different approach.

He tries to keep Kirishima in sight as he punches at Bakugou, but his wrist is caught and Midoriya struggles to pull away from him. Bakugou’s holding his gaze and Midoriya’s grunting as he tries pulling his arm when he’s suddenly being grabbed into a hold from behind. Midoriya’s body goes with the motion of being lifted up and he kicks his feet out, nailing Bakugou in the head and kicking at Kirishima from behind.

Unfortunately, the kicks he lands on Kirishima don’t seem to bother him and Midoriya tries his best to break from the hold before he’s crashing into the ground. He only manages to free his arms as he falls, allowing him to catch himself before he can receive serious damage from the the rocky surface.

“Careful Shitty Hair, he’s still Human,” he hears Bakugou grunt, and Midoriya scowls. He pushes himself up as quickly as he can while Kirishima grumbles about the new nickname, and just as he’s back on his feet he can feel Kirishima’s light on his skin - it’s not as intense as Bakugou’s, but it’s warmer than the air of the damp cave.

Midoriya doesn’t hesitate for a second, bringing his elbow back into Kirishima’s gut and making the other double over with a hefty grunt. Spinning around, Midoriya brings his knee up, knocking into Kirishima’s jaw and sending him to the ground.

He smirks to himself, but he can’t spend time patting himself on the back when he sees Bakugou leap over Kirishima to kick at Midoriya. As quickly as he can, Midoriya steps back and reaches up, intending to block Bakugou’s kicks with his arms and hopeful that he can catch his ankle and force Bakugou to the ground. He seems to anticipate this though when Bakugou shifts mid air, spinning his legs around to kick around Midoriya’s block.

It sends Midoriya jerking off balance and his head spins from the kick. He’s play fought with Bakugou before, but never to the extent of becoming so rattled. Catching himself before he can fall to the ground, Midoriya clutches his head and focuses on Bakugou.

Bakugou lands just inches from Kirishima’s form, who has yet to move again. Bakugou turns and leans forward, spreading his stance to prepare himself for another attack. Midoriya spits, thinking his tooth might have cut his inner cheek or something from the slight coppery taste he has in his mouth. He shifts as well, uncertain of whether Bakugou would attack him head on again.

Instead, his feet seem to come up from under him and he can’t quite figure out what happened, trying to catch himself before he slams into the ground. Kirishima suddenly comes into his vision, slamming his elbow into Midoriya’s chest to force him down faster.

Midoriya grunts as he’s taken to the ground once more, and he coughs from the pain. Kirishima stands over him, a smirk on his face. “And I thought you were stronger than this, handler.”

He glares up at his friend, smacking the offered hand away. “Well, I wasn’t trained to be a warrior or whatever the heck it is you are.”

Kirishima laughs, but he stops when Bakugou comes closer. “Deku, you need to be able to protect yourself,” Bakugou says, “Kirishima and I are going easy on you, but the Creath won’t on Bukuret.”

“Bukuret?” Kirishima asks, sending a questioning look to Bakugou. Midoriya looks between them, pulling himself back up to his feet. “Why would you want to go to that wasteland?”

Bakugou gestures to Midoriya, “the newest part of the prophecy said he’d find what he needs in the stomach of something with skin impossible to cut or whatever, so I thought of Beherees.”

Scoffing, Kirishima shakes his head. “You were on Earth too long - Beherees aren’t real.”

“You don’t actually know that,” Bakugou points at him, sounding ready for an argument. “Just because no one has ever confirmed it doesn’t mean Beherees are just some crazy myth.”

“So, what? You think they are real and that Creath are there trying to collect on the lost treasures that Beherees supposedly eat?” Kirishima rolls his eyes, crossing his arms. “And even if they are, how do you plan on getting the thing out of the Beheree?”

Bakugou opens his mouth, but he hesitates and Midoriya sees his face shift to a familiar expression of thoughtfulness. Midoriya waits before glancing back to Kirishima, who’s watching Bakugou with an amused expression.

“I take your silence to mean you didn’t think about that - that’s unlike you, your majesty.”

Bakugou narrows his eyes, “shut up.”

Midoriya shifts his attention between the two, waiting for their staring match to end. Growing impatient and a bit frustrated, he feels his shoulders slump and he turns to grab his jacket before moving to the only exit of the cave they were in. He felt sore and his body felt exhausted, but Midoriya wasn’t ready to fall asleep just yet.

As he moves back to the tunnel, his thoughts catch back up with him and he’s reminded of what Kirishima told him between the shelves of Syrd records.

His own birthday, and he didn’t even know it. Just yesterday it was May. Just yesterday he was on Earth and had the biggest crush on his best friend who, until yesterday, was as Human as he is. Now he’s standing in the underground cave networks of an alien planet he only ever thought was fictional and it’s apparently July. Midoriya’s head hurts from thinking about it, and if today really is his birthday, he’d rather not spend it trying to fight off two guys who regularly arm wrestle to assert dominance.

“Midoriya, where are you going?” Kirishima calls to him, and he stops before the tunnel begins to turn.

“To wallow in self pity over my crap-tactic birthday!” Midoriya yells back, spinning on his heels to glare through the dark tunnel at them. They’re walking towards him, and it’s clear by their faces they’re concerned. “Apparently, I’m officially eighteen and I’m not going to celebrate by getting knocked on my ass all day!”

Kirishima frowns and Bakugou avoids eye contact with him. “Midoriya… I’m sorry, we should have done something for your birthday.”

Midoriya huffs, crossing his arms, “well, to me it feels like my birthday isn’t for another two months, but those two months were taken from me!” Kirishima flinches, the two stopping in front of him. Bakugou’s warm light sends a warmth over Midoriya’s cold skin, making him shiver. “I just… I’m tired, and my back hurts, and my head is pounding… I wanna go to sleep…”

“Okay,” Bakugou says, his brows furrowed upwards in concern. “I’m s… I just - I never meant to take you away from Earth, to lose two months of your life, and—”

“Kacchan!” Midoriya punches his shoulder, stopping Bakugou from continuing. “It’s fine, I just… I’m done for right now. I need to sleep…”

Bakugou nods, glancing to Kirishima before reaching for Midoriya, putting a hand to his shoulder. “Let’s get back to the old hag’s house.”

Kirishima steps forward, “if you don’t mind, I’ll come with - we can convince Bakugou’s mom to make something for your birthday maybe.”

Midoriya frowns, shaking his head. “I don’t know - I don’t think I want to celebrate my birthday.”

“Deku,” Bakugou starts, stopping himself from whatever he was going to say next. Signing, he frowns to himself. “Look, he’s right; after everything, you deserve something simple and nice.”

He feels too exhausted to fight back, so he nods and turns to continue out the tunnel. Bakugou directs him to where they need to go in order to return to his parents’ home, and Kirishima subtly helps when Bakugou seems lost as well.

For as long as he can remember, Midoriya’s never had a simple birthday. His mother doted on him and tried to do her best to spoil him, and his birthday was the one day of the year she always planned to go all out. He never had something too big or crazy, but the parties with friends were always themed and decorated to match his interests over the years. His mother always spent hours making the snacks and food and her cake decorating skills were getting to be more on par with a professional’s every year.

He doesn’t want to celebrate his birthday, not on an alien planet and especially not without his mother, but if it means getting to relax and maybe go lie down early, then he’ll take it. Midoriya’s back is sore from hitting the ground after Kirishima shoved him down, and he’s afraid Bakugou’s kick might have done more damage than he meant to his brain.

Midoriya rubs his temple, glancing to Bakugou as they move through another tunnel, Kirishima telling them it should lead back to the queen’s home. He’d almost forgotten Bakugou is meant to be a prince, but even with the subtle reminders, he still can’t quite see it.

Bakugou is handsome - obviously he already knew that - but that doesn’t automatically make him the prince-type. He is not exactly gentlemanly, and Midoriya’s not sure about the culture of Sakina, but he can easily say that takes points away from being princely. He’s also pretty brash, to the point of being rude, and he can get pretty rough around the edges when you push the right buttons. But Midoriya also knows the side to him many doesn’t see, one that is quiet and thoughtful, and he’s seen the gentle nature underneath the explosive and loud reactions he’s had before.

In some ways, he can see why Bakugou could be considered a prince - though sometimes that might just be his rose colored glasses messing with his perception. Midoriya’s watched a few romance movies before and, in the ones about royalty, the prince of the main couple in those movies almost always made Midoriya think of Bakugou. But he could never exactly put himself in the role of the maiden who the prince is in love with - Midoriya wasn’t some fair maiden who needed to be whisked away by a handsome prince.

He’s an average teenager with average looks and a bit too masculine of a frame to be wearing cute dresses or be swept up into Bakugou’s arms. Sure, Bakugou probably could pick him up, but Midoriya’s certain that being held like that wouldn’t be comfortable for either of them (though that never stopped him from dreaming about it).

So when Midoriya sees Bakugou in the role of a prince, he will never be able to place himself as the romantic interest - as the maiden who captures the prince’s heart. Instead, he winds up seeing himself as the prince’s best friend, or his sidekick, or even the rival for the maiden’s heart that ultimately fails because the prince only ever saw him as an actual rival.

Though sometimes he’s the prince instead, when he has the time to be imagining these things. Except, once again, Bakugou doesn’t fit the role of a maiden - as funny as it would be to see him in a dress, he’s just too… Bakugou. Well, maidens didn’t have to be spineless, he supposes but that’s just how those movies always seemed to go for whatever reason.

Either way, Midoriya doesn’t like those movies anyway and usually ends up falling asleep, unable to see himself being with Bakugou if either of them were to ever be a prince.

Now that Bakugou’s heritage has been revealed, Midoriya still can’t bring himself to accept it so easily. Bakugou being a prince probably means he needs to marry a woman - or… become bound to them? He’s pretty sure that’s what Bakugou said before. Midoriya’s not a woman, not a maiden to be swept up into the arms of a handsome prince.

No, this time Midoriya’s role is to be the Hero who will save Bakugou’s people and once they return to Sakina’s Overworld and Bakugou’s mother regains her proper title (or is it his uncle? That part had been a bit vague), Bakugou will never be his. Midoriya will have to return to Earth, and Bakugou will remain on Sakina, living his true life as a prince and waiting for the right female Syrd to bind himself to.

This entire trip to the amazing planet he used to only dream about has become an all around disaster, and Midoriya can feel his heart ache to return to Earth. He wishes he could wake up and all of this just be a dream where he never left his family or friends, that Bakugou wasn’t an alien prince of another planet and that his hopes of ever finding his feelings reciprocated didn’t feel as hopeless as they do now.

The home they were staying in comes into view and Bakugou leads the way in, Kirishima gesturing for Midoriya to follow after. Midoriya doesn’t meet his eyes and walks through the stone doorway with his head hung low.

“Oh good, you’re back!” Bakugou’s mother says, cheerful despite the way her son glares and scoffs at her. They all move towards the kitchen, a sweet smell filling the air. “I was hoping you’d be back soon, I’ve made you something for your birthday, Izuku!”

Midoriya stares at her, surprised she already knew. On what he supposes is the counter is a platter filled with something that reminds him of pastries.

She gestures to the platter, “it’s not exactly cake like on Earth, but we don’t have ingredients like that here.”

Kirishima bumps him, and Midoriya looks to him now. “They’re ummeataya; they’re kind of like… cream puffs? I think.”

“Yeah, only less sweet and maybe less… soft?” Bakugou hums in thought and Midoriya turns to him now. “Well? Dig in, nerd.”

Midoriya moves further into the kitchen, reaching for one of the pastries. It’s not as squishy as he’d been expecting, but he bites into it anyway. Bakugou is right, they’re not sugary sweet like cream puffs, but they have a similar flavor. They’re not exactly bitter or sour, but Midoriya can definitely feel the desire for something more sweet as he eats the little pastry.

“Happy birthday, Izuku,” Mitsuki says, her smile sad. “I’m sorry you couldn’t be with your mom for this - I understand that eighteen is a special year for Humans in most countries.”

He nods, reaching for another pastry to avoid having to speak. Eri comes into the room, and they all turn to look at the younger girl. She makes eye contact with Midoriya, looking a bit nervous before she hurries over, hugging him quick and running from the room. Midoriya pauses in his chewing, blinking once in the direction she ran off to. Bakugou’s mother chuckles, murmuring something about silly children.

Bakugou comes to stand by him, grabbing one of the not-sweets as well. Kirishima appears on his other side, patting his back before taking two and stuffing them into his mouth. Midoriya wonders if Kirishima’s Human projection is able to allow him to taste things, and if so, whether the cream puffs he enjoys back on Earth remind him of these… ummeataya.

“Oh, Zjiorvou! I didn’t see you there,” Mitsuki says, nodding politely to Kirishima. “Kai'spaetho said he had sent you on an important mission.”

Kirishima nods, swallowing down the food he’d stuffed into his mouth with little struggle. “Yes ma’am, it was to ensure Kaetzuubi returned to Sakina.”

She looks puzzled, “but you were sent on the mission four years ago.”

“It took some time to find him,” Kirishima says, shrugging, “and even then, his majesty had requested I only push Kaetzuubi into returning once I’d become sure your son was ready to return with the Hero.”

Mitsuki nods, glancing to Midoriya and her son. “I see… so you’ve been on Earth?”

Kirishima shakes his head, reaching for another pastry. “Only as a projection, ma’am - the king didn’t have another ship.”

Midroiya frowns, glancing to who he understood was the queen. What role does Mitsuki have in the royalty exactly? Is Kai the king or is Mitsuki?

Bakugou huffs, leaning forward on the counter to look around Midoriya at Kirishima. “So wait, you were sent to watch over me? I can protect myself, I don’t need—”

“You’ve got it all wrong,” Kirishima defends, pointing the pastry in his hand at Bakugou. Midoriya goes cross eyed looking at the pastry in front of his face before turning back to Kirishima. “I wasn’t sent to protect you or the Hero, just… watch over you, and stop you if you suddenly decided to abandon your mission.”

“So why not tell me?” Bakugou asks, brow furrowing. Kirishima shrugs, popping the little pastry into his mouth. Midoriya turns his attention to the platter, grabbing another pastry and turning it in his hands. “Why couldn’t I know another Syrd was among us and - and checking on me to make sure I brought Deku back?”

Kirishima grunts, swallowing the pastry. “I have no idea, your uncle asked me not to say anything.”

Bakugou narrows his eyes, focusing on the countertop now. “But why…?” Midoriya’s wondering that as well, especially if Kai is the one running things around here.

Mitsuki reaches over, patting her son’s shoulder, “all that matters now is that you’re here and Izuku will be able to save us. Right?” She smiles at Midoriya now, who shoves the pastry in his mouth and nods, humming his agreement and her smile grows just a little bit. Bakugou scowls at her and swipes her hand away, earning a light smack on his head as she pulls back.

Midoriya glances to Bakugou and sees the way he frowns at Midoriya’s answer. Bakugou had made him promise to never do anything that could hurt himself, to do what he can without falling into danger. Eri’s words of Bakugou liking him comes back soon after, and he watches Bakugou closely.

If she’s right, and Bakugou’s concern is out of some kind of romantic interest, then maybe Midoriya does have a chance. Sure, Bakugou is a prince, but it sounds as though the Syrd almost believe that Bakugou will abandon them for something. He couldn’t quite place what it is, but now he’s starting to believe Bakugou is willing to abandon his people for Midoriya.

It feels wrong to hope for that - Midoriya doesn’t want to separate Bakugou from his family or his true home, but Bakugou had basically told him he doesn’t feel at home here. Bakugou has said that the Syrd aren’t his people, and from the sounds of things he really did almost abandon Sakina in order to save Midoriya from the prophecy. While Midoriya wants to save Sakina and he’s here now, he’s gaining a small hope that once the Syrd are returned to the Overworld that Bakugou will run away with him. Maybe they can take their ship back to Earth with Kirishima in tow and they will never have to worry about Bakugou binding himself to a woman - Midoriya could be with him instead.

Frowning, Midoriya returns his gaze to the platter. Even if he has hope for this potential future, Midoriya knows it will simply remain a small hope and never become real unless he does something. Taking a deep breath, he reaches for another pastry and sighs before popping it into his mouth.

If Bakugou has any feelings for him, Midoriya needs to get his answer tonight. If they have any hope of being together, Midoriya wants to start planning for their exit once the planet is saved - or an escape if he fails to save the people of Sakina. Midoriya’s not going to let his best friend go, not now when they could become more. He just needs an answer.

He peeks over through his lashes to Bakugou again, who’s grinding his teeth in frustration as his mother and Kirishima continue discussing the mission he had. Midoriya will get his answer tonight when everyone has gone to bed, and he’s not about to give Bakugou a chance to avoid this question.

Chapter Text

He feels a weight on his chest in the middle of the night that startles him awake. By the light of his skin, Bakugou finds Midoriya’s illuminated face staring down at him.

“What—”

“I don’t think I can keep doing this, Kacchan,” Midoriya huffs, and Bakugou sees the light on Midoriya’s face changing to a brighter red, an unfortunate curse to being a literal glow stick of emotions.

“What are you…?” Bakugou can feel Midoriya shifting on top of him, can feel the press of his body through the blanket - the light is burning an even darker red now. “I…”

Midoriya pulls himself up over Bakugou’s face and despite the determination on his features, Bakugou sees the hesitation in his eyes, the green appearing darker with the red shining over him. “Kacchan, please tell me you feel the same…”

Bakugou’s heart is pounding in his chest, and it’s thrumming up into his ears in a way that makes it difficult to properly hear. “F-feel what, Deku?”

The narrowed eyes he receives are humorous, but Bakugou knows he can’t play dumb like this for long. “Don’t be stupid, I know you know what I mean!”

“I don’t think I—” Bakugou isn’t able to feign his confusion for long; Midoriya’s kissing him, and there’s no denying what he means now.

For a brief moment, Bakugou believes he’s dreaming. He closes his eyes, sighs against the lips pressing against his, letting the feel of Midoriya’s own warmth mingle with his own.

It’s interesting, the way Humans feel. Their skin is slightly colder, not as charged with energy, but there’s a hidden warmth just underneath. Pressing closer allows Bakugou to feel that warmth, to chase after it, the light of Midoriya’s inner energy charging against his.

Their mouths shift, and Midoriya slips his tongue past Bakugou’s lips and - oh.

There it is.

There’s the heat of it, burning heavy in their mouths, moulding into a single form, intertwining like the light that came from their hands back when they first got there.

He can see that light, within his mind. A golden light shines brightly, beautifully, happily. Made of red hues and green shades.

Bakugou shifts closer, digging his hand into Midoriya’s curls. He pulls him closer, desperate, seeking, hungry. Midoriya moans, the sound loud to Bakugou’s ears, echoing in his mind, giving sound to the light.

Their tongue graze one another and it ignites a spark within him. Bakugou takes a deep breath once he’s able to, but he knows he’d rather suffocate than pull away properly.

Their mouths twist, pulling and sucking at the others lips, trying to work a friction between themselves.

Midoriya arches into his body, making Bakugou buck up against him, groaning at the friction between their groins. It’s hot, everything feels on fire - he’s pretty sure he’s about to set off some explosions with how his skin burns, the light within him turning to molten that shoots down to his dick.

Bakugou gasps, grabbing Midoriya as securely as he can - which only succeeds in making the other boy moan with pleasure because he’s grabbed his ass - and he flips them to give him leverage.

Immediately he pins Midoriya’s arms above his head and sits upon his thighs, keeping him from rutting up against Bakugou’s warmth anymore. Midoriya pants, trying to wiggle out from his hold and pouting.

“Kacchan…!”

“What are you doing?” He rasps, his voice heavy with the desire he feels for his childhood friend.

Midoriya looks very displeased. “Isn't it obvious…? What’s happening here?”

Bakugou knows exactly what it is, but he’s not going to say it.

Midoriya whines, wiggling his hips again to brush his growing erection against Bakugou’s again - or at least try to. “Kacchan, please!”

He’s never seen Midoriya acting so desperate and for a brief moment, Bakugou wonders if there was something on Sakina that could make someone into, what is essentially, a horny mess.

“Did you eat something weird?” Bakugou asks, genuinely uncertain. He can’t remember all the foliage of Sakina, so accustomed to Earth and the plant life there.

Getting into something strange would explain this better than Bakugou’s own hopes and dreams coming to life at least…

Midoriya stops squirming, gaping up at him. “What?”

“Did you come across some weird plant or something?” Bakugou asks again, leaning closer to inspect Midoriya’s face in the light of his glow. “This isn’t like you, Deku—“

“No!” Midoriya shouts, sitting up so suddenly it knocks Bakugou back. He’s shaking his head and pulling at his hair. “No, I didn’t get into - are you serious - I just…!” Midoriya groans, and it’s not in the sexy way that sets Bakugou’s light ablaze.

“You just…?”

Midoriya glares at him. “Stop playing dumb - admit it! You know what’s going on here!”

Bakugou blinks. He can’t. He won’t say it.

Midoriya is breathing heavily now, face in a grimace as he shakes his head. He can see it, the red light so bright it’s hard to miss - Midoriya has tears in his eyes.

“Why…?” Midoriya sobs, shaking his head some more. “Why can’t you just say it…?”

Bakugou doesn’t move.

“Why can’t you admit you know how I feel?” Midoriya murmurs, head hanging and bangs covering his teary eyes. “Why won’t you say it…?”

He wishes he could.

“Kacchan…”

He wants to hold him.

“I love you,” Midoriya cries, slowly looking back up to him. “Y-you know that… I know you know that…!”

“I do,” Bakugou says, voice rough and strange. “I know…”

“So why…?” Midoriya’s cries have turned to sniffles, and he’s rubbing at his face. “Why aren’t you acknowledging it? Kacchan, you… you feel the same, don’t you?”

He does.

But he can’t.

“Kacchan…?”

“Deku,” Bakugou starts, uncertain of what he’ll say, but unable to stop himself, “you’re the most important person in my life.”

Midoriya stares at him, eyes much redder in the darkened glow of his light. He doesn’t reply, sniffling a little more as he waits for Bakugou to continue.

Bakugou feels himself scooting closer on the bed. “If I ever lost you, I’m not really sure what I’d do,” he murmurs, taking Midoriya’s hands into his. Midoriya’s gaze shifts to their hands, focusing there instead as his fingers curl around Bakugou’s. They’re warm, and Bakugou feels the thrum of energy between them - the light of his hands almost looks golden.

“Kacchan, I—”

“We’re in the middle of a civil war here,” Bakugou cuts in, looking up to meet Midoriya’s eyes. “There’s… there’s too much going on, and too many things on the line that I - that we can’t risk getting distracted.”

Midoriya looks pained. “Distracted…?”

Bakugou sucks in a deep breath, hating the way this is coming out. “Izuku, if… if we do this, I would never want to let you go,” Bakugou breathes, his voice barely there. “I would lay down my life for yours - I’d trade this whole planet to make sure you were safe.”

Midoriya’s eyes widen.

“Izuku, I love you more than anything,” Bakugou hurriedly says, pushing in closer but not quite letting his face touch Midoriya’s. “If I have you now, I’d give up on the Underground, on my people, if it meant I could spend the rest of my life holding you.”

His lips are trembling, and there’s fresh tears pooling in his green eyes. The red glow Bakugou’s skin reflects back with a golden sheen, blending beautifully in his beautiful eyes, and Bakugou wants nothing more than to kiss Midoriya Izuku right now.

“But you’ve made a promise,” Bakugou shakily says, pulling back and letting go. His hands are cold despite how brightly his skin still burns. “If you intend to keep that promise to the people of Sakina, then I won’t do anything to keep you from carrying this out.”

Midoriya is breathing strangely, clearly at odds with himself on what to do. Bakugou waits, knowing his friend would do the right thing - even if it’s the last thing he wants.

“Kacchan, I can’t,” Midoriya shakes his head, voice cracking with his cries. “You… you can’t be serious! Please, w-we can…! We’re stronger together, aren’t we?” Midoriya goes to reach for him, but Bakugou pulls away again. Midoriya recoils, almost as though he’s been burned. “We can do this and save Sakina - save your people…! I don’t… I don’t see the issue here.”

Bakugou turns and stands from his bed, rubbing at his hair and shivering at the touch. “The issue here is that I can’t keep my feelings in check, Deku!” He stops in the middle of his room, glancing at the meaningless decor that he never placed here. The room was his but it felt forgeign, like the planet, like the people. His place was on Earth, with Midoriya - he would never quite feel right in this place…

He turns back to Midoriya, who’s pulled his knees to his face and curled into the fetal position. His shoulders are shaking, and Bakugou hates the very sight of it all.

“Deku—”

“Don’t,” Midoriya sobs, uncurling from his knees and hurrying from the bed to return to the second one brought in for him. “You’ve made your point, I get it! We can’t be together right now, I can deal with that!”

Bakugou frowns. “You promised me you wouldn’t risk your life,” he says, making Midoriya freeze before he can climb into his bed again. “Why are you acting like we have to do this now? We have our whole lives ahead of us, this… this whole thing is temporary, we’ll go back to Earth and—”

“Will we?” Midoriya mutters, facing him now. “You’re the prince of this planet, what makes you think you get a choice in leaving?” Midoriya steps towards him, pointing to himself now. “I’m the prophesized ‘Hero’ they’ve all been waiting for, but no one is going to give up their prince, Kacchan!”

“I’m my own person,” Bakugou scoffs, “like Hell they’re going to keep me here! We’re leaving this place once this is all over!”

“And if it’s too late by then?” Midoriya asks, standing before him. “What if it all goes wrong, that the prophecy was nothing more than some story an old woman spewed? I’m going to die, and then what? Will you regret it then?”

Bakugou narrows his eyes. “You aren’t going to die, Deku.”

Midoriya purses his lips and glares right back. “I can’t keep every promise I make, Kacchan.”

He steps back, moving to turn towards his bed again when Bakugou grabs his wrist and yanks him back.

“You break that promise and I’ll never forgive you,” Bakugou snarls, the red of the room low and crimson with his threat. Midoriya sneers, preparing to say something, but Bakugou doesn’t let him.

He bites down on Midoriya’s bottom lip, crashing their mouths together and kissing him harshly. Midoriya nearly falls back from the impact, but Bakugou winds his arm around his waist and pulls him even closer. He can barely breathe, but Midoriya’s sighing against him and pushing back, so he lets his lungs suffer a bit longer to savor the feeling of their tongues coming together yet again.

Their energies mingle together once more, Bakugou’s hands pressing against Midoriya’s back. He can feel the heat of his glow merging together into a golden hue that Bakugou can see in his mind's eye. The sensation tingles along Bakugou’s skin, electrifying his touch as he presses in closer to Midoriya, their bodies slotting together perfectly.

Midoriya wimpers, his knees shaking and Bakugou finally lets go, watching him sink to the floor, touching his lips gingerly. There’s a golden hue to the room now, emanating from the two of them, and Bakugou watches the light flicker from Midoriya’s skin.

It fades slowly, turning into a bright green that quickly turns to nothing. At the same time, Bakugou can see his red hue shift back into place, and their mingled energies part ways.

“We will be together, Izuku,” Bakugou says, his voice soft with melancholy. The red hues of his glow shift to grey tones, and he sits back down on the edge of his bed. “Some way, somehow, I will be with you… but right now, this cannot be.”

Midoriya doesn’t look at him, and Bakugou wishes he would.

Neither of them moved for some time, and if he had to guess, morning had come for the underground as they sat in silence. Eri comes and knocks on their door, a quiet mumble about breakfast coming from her before she hurries away. Bakugou stands from his bed, pulling his gaze away from Midoriya, uncertain of what to say or do.

It takes a while, but eventually Midoriya slowly walks through their stone hallways to seat himself in the kitchen, eyes downcast. Bakugou finishes his own small portions of food that his mother laid before him, and luckily it didn’t seem that Kai'spaetho or his mother would be joining them for breakfast. Briefly, he wondered about Eri, but figured she was with Kai'spaetho, wherever that might be.

The silence between the two of them stretches for several minutes, and Bakugou knows they’ll have to talk about it again, but he isn’t sure he’s ready for that. Midoriya barely eats anything. Bakugou tries not to focus on that fact.

Kirishima enters the home noisily, stopping in the entrance to the kitchen when he realizes no one else is there. “Uh… you two ready for training?”

Midoriya is the first to stand, marching out of the room without a word. Kirishima watches him go, turning back to Bakugou with confusion.

“Everything okay…?”

“No,” Bakugou grunts, standing to follow after Midoriya. “But that’s not important right now.”

He knocks into Kirishima’s shoulder as he goes, reminded of the slight betrayal he feels from having been lied to. Midoriya isn’t too far along the path by the time Bakugou catches up to him, and he can hear Kirishima rushing to keep up. Bakugou doesn’t hurry to keep pace with Midoriya, and it’s clear from the way he moves that Midoriya doesn’t want him to.

Gritting his teeth, Bakugou glares ahead to the green haired figure and wishes they were back in his bed, before reality settled in and he hadn’t pushed him away.

Kirishima slows once he catches up to Bakugou, matching his steps to his. “You sure you don’t wanna talk about—”

“Let’s talk about you.”

Bakugou stops, turning to his friend - or who he thought had been his friend. Kirishima stops too, glancing down the path to where Midoriya turns out of sight, looking a little worried.

“What about me?”

Shrugging, Bakugou gestures to the redhead. “You lied to me.”

“Dude, I—”

“You lied for four years,” Bakugou continues, holding his hands out beside himself. “I don’t know who you are—”

“—I wasn’t lying about—”

“—I don’t know what you actually meant and what was all just part of… whatever story you made up to be there,” Bakugou drops his hands, both of them hitting against his hips as they fall. “What is there to know about you? Everything? Nothing? Who even are you?”

Kirishima looks ashamed, his eyes downcast as the glow of his crimson color flickers. “I’m sorry… I never meant for any of it to hurt, and I really was you friend - am your friend. Believe me, it wasn’t necessary for me to—”

“So why?” He shakes his head. “Why become my friend if you didn’t need to?”

“Because…” Kirishima shrugs, rubbing at the back of his neck. “You’re a good person, Bakugou… lots of people wanna be your friend.”

Bakugou rolls his eyes. “Plenty of people told me I was a dick, Kirishima. Stop lying to me.”

“No, no,” he laughs, holding up his hands, “you’re definitely a dick! But, even though you are a dick, people could still tell you were a good guy and it’s like… you have this air about you…”

“Air?”

“Like, you’re charismatic, I think?” Kirishima chuckles, a little embarrassed. “You inspired others, especially on the baseball team. And it meant a lot to get your approval.”

Bakugou frowns, considering his words. He didn’t think he was all that great, and it wasn’t like he needed anyone’s approval himself. But somehow, Kirishima’s words made him feel a sense of pride.

“You know, when you… you started to push people away in high school,” Kirishima begins to say, and it’s surprising to Bakugou how sad he sounds. He scuffs his foot along the cave floor, unwilling to meet Bakugou’s eyes. “It was almost enough for me to tell you the truth. I was told not to tell you unless it seemed like you abandoned your mission, so I thought ‘oh no, he’s not spending time with the Hero, let alone anyone! He might give up on Sakina!’ And so I was preparing myself for that conversation when you got drunk at that party with the team…”

Bakugou remembered that party - or at least, parts of it. Mostly he remembered getting so drunk he had passed out after sobbing about the loss of his home planet, and the feelings of hopelessness he had at the time because he wanted nothing more than to keep Midoriya away from his destiny.

Kirishima smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “You told me about Sakina that night, and everyone thought you were just drunk rambling, but I knew what you were talking about. I still remember how you confessed to me that you’d failed in your mission, and that you were unable to do anything about the prophecy ‘cause you messed it all up falling for the Hero.”

Bakugou feels his face burn at this, his glow becoming bright and blindingly pink. He hates that this happened, or that he’d even let himself get to that point.

He keeps going. “When I asked you if you were willing to give up your home for him, you told me you didn’t know. From the sounds of things, you wanted to have both - and I told you that maybe you could have both if you really committed to it all.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Kirishima groans, “I meant that if you just let Midoriya do what he needed to, and helped him along the way, you could have both. You could save Sakina, and still be with the one you love.”

Bakugou stares, trying to remember this conversation from last year. He barely remembers anything, let alone that he’d actually talked to someone about Sakina at that party.

But these words sound familiar the more he thinks about it, and for a moment, he feels a sense of calm come over him.

“Kirishima, Deku kissed me this morning.”

Kirishima’s mouth falls open before he grins. “W-well…! Hey, you got one of the two!”

Bakugou’s jaw clenches, and he shakes his head. “No.”

“No…?”

“I told him we couldn’t be together.”

Kirishima seems to deflate at this. “Dude...”

“We can’t.”

“And why not?”

“Because Kai'spaetho won’t let it happen!”

Kirishima frowns, his nose scrunching with distaste. “He’s your uncle, not your keeper, Bakugou…”

Bakugou wants to pull his hair out. “You don’t…!” He groans, shoving his face into his hands. “Forget it, I can’t do this!”

He turns, and Kirishima flails. “W-where are you—”

“Doesn’t matter!” Bakugou shouts, stomping away. “Train Deku, I - I just…!” He yells, unable to form actual words or explain the situation he’s in properly.

Kai'spaetho may not be his father, but he is the king in place of his dishonorable father - and as the rightful prince of Sakina, Bakugou had to obey the king’s command.

No matter how much he didn’t want to.

———

Midoriya stretches, his shoulder feeling tight as he does so. Hopefully that wouldn’t be too much of an issue when they begin their training this morning. He bends, stretching out his legs as he waits for Bakugou and Kirishima to catch up. Glancing to the entrance of their cave, he wonders what’s taking them so long.

A sniffle catches his attention, making Midoriya stand up quickly from his stretch. He looks around, trying to find the source when he sees the grey-ish purple glow from the crack in the wall.

He moves slowly, hearing the sniffling and whimpering the closer he gets. Midoriya is almost certain it’s Eri again, and his heart breaks hearing her soft sobs.

“Eri…?”

The sounds stop almost instantly, the color of the glow turning dark and dull for a brief moment. Slowly, the hue returns to the lighter shade from before, albeit less grey and more soft, like a lavender. Midoriya bends down to peak into the crack when Eri scoots closer to the edge.

“Wh-where’s Kaetzuubi…?” Eri murmurs, looking up at Midoriya with teary red eyes.

He smiles as warmly as he can, shifting to sit beside the wall. Eri pulls back, so Midoriya stops moving to allow her to adjust. Slowly, she returns back to peaking just barely out of the crack in the wall.

“He’s on his way - we’re going to train again.”

“The Creath…”

Midoriya nods. “Yeah, to fight the Creath when we go to Bukuret.”

Eri slowly nods back, sniffling again. “Does it… hurt?”

“Training?” She nods again. “Not always, but the Creath won’t hold back, so I need to get stronger.”

“Stronger,” Eri repeats, looking down at her hands. They’re bandaged, and Midoriya wonders what might have happened. “Can I get stronger…?”

“Of course, if you want to!”

She reaches up, touching the crystal in her forehead. Midoriya stares at it, a glow pulsating with the rock. “It hurts…”

Midoriya frowns. “Were you born with it?”

Eri shakes her head but stops, her lips shaking. “I don’t… I don’t remember…”

“It’s okay,” Midoriya whispers, shifting his hand along the ground towards her. She stares at it, looking at him with confusion in her eyes. “What happened, Eri? You’re all bandaged…”

She holds her hands again, pulling them close to herself. “It’s okay, I will get stronger…”

Midoriya doesn’t like the way that sounds. “Eri, what—”

“I have to go now,” Eri says, her eyes looking distant. The halo of color surrounding her dims as she pulls away again, turning dull and grey, and Izuku wants nothing more than to pull her back.

She’s gone before he can think of how to stop her, and the worry he’s felt for the odd girl settles in deeper again. He frowns, turning back to lean against the wall.

He’s there to save the planet, but something tells him he’ll need to save that little girl, too.