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Chapter Text

Prologue: Quirkless Bakugou

Tags specific to this chapter:
Quirkless Bakugou, Izuku was born with a Quirk, minor panic attacks

_*_

Katsuki cursed as he launched himself higher, getting a better view of the area before he made his next attack. Smoke from fires, both his fault and not, clogged the air and made it hard to see, obscuring the figures darting back and forth.

A flash of green lightning caught his attention, and he looked in time to see Deku chasing after a woman, One for All leaving a glowing trail as he zig zagged closer to her.

Katsuki was about to let him chase after her on his own, but then he caught sight of her reaching up her sleeve and pulling something out - a small snub nosed revolver.

"Fuck," he hissed, changing trajectory so that he would intercept her. Deku might have gotten more skilled at using One for All as their first year headed to a close, but the nerd wasn't anywhere close to bulletproof.

He wasn't even expecting to fight that day.

A group of villains had stormed a local TV station and hijacked the newsroom, getting on TV and making demands that Katsuki didn't care to remember, he just grabbed his uniform and his provisional license and headed over to where all the action was.

Of course the villains tried taking hostages, and of course the pro heroes on scene were able to get them to safety, so all that was left was rounding up and subduing the villains so that they could get arrested. Somehow Deku also ended up in the mix, sticking his nose where it didn't belong and getting on Katsuki's nerves with his very presence.

And now he was heading for a villain who had a weapon he wasn't even aware of, and Katsuki had to intervene before he ended up with a hole through his goddamn head.

The villain didn't even see Katsuki coming - right before he was on her she glanced over her shoulder towards where Deku was gaining on her, but Katsuki was coming from directly above and slammed into her feet first, sending her flying and her weapon skittering against the ground. She landed in a sprawl, hair covering her face, and Katsuki stood over her, one hand aimed at center mass and just daring her to move.

"Kacchan," Deku gasped, coming to a stop behind them. "Where did you-"

"Are you blind or just stupid?" Katsuki interrupted, snapping at Deku but keeping his eye on the villain. "She had a fucking gun, dumbass!"

Deku let out another little gasp, probably seeing the fallen weapon. "Thanks, I didn't see that," he said, making Katsuki want to roll his eyes. Obviously. Then Deku started digging into a pouch for his restraints. "If you keep her still I can secure her for you."

Fuck no, Katsuki didn't need the nerd's help! "Fuck off, Deku!" he snarled. "I've got this, go get in someone else's way!" He knelt, one hand right behind her head while the other dug in a pouch for his restraints.

"You don't have to be so stubborn, Kacchan!" Deku snapped back, and fuck, will Katsuki ever not get annoyed by the spine the nerd had grown over their first year.

"I said go fuck off!" Katsuki snarled, taking his eyes off the villain to shoot Deku a venomous glare. He stood, walking away from her to seek out his next target, but it seemed by that point all of the action was over and heroes were leading captured villains to an area to be led off once the police arrived. "You want to do something useful?" Katsuki continued, jerking a thumb to where the villains were being led. "Take care of this for me."

Deku, glowering, opened his mouth to say something, but as Katsuki watched he sighed and knelt, helping the woman to her feet and guiding her with one hand at her elbow.

Katsuki went to turn away, but a glint of something in the fading light caught his eye, a shine in the villain's hands that wasn't there a moment ago.

A backup gun.

"Fuck," he spat, rushing towards her. "Fucking move , Deku!" he snarled, a clawed hand trailing sparks as he launched himself with the other. She had pulled another gun, another revolver, out from somewhere, and spun, pulling herself out of Deku's grip more out of surprise than any real skill. She staggered and lost her balance, falling to the ground right as he reached her, the gun still tightly clutched in her hands. Instinctively he fired a point blank shot right as she pulled the trigger, and the world exploded.

There was the sound of rapid-fire gunshots, faster than the revolver should have been capable of, more shots than there should have been in the barrel, and Katsuki felt a sensation like he was being yanked off his feet and thrown back, back, like falling down a well headfirst. There was a scream, and it might have been him, it could have been Deku, but everything was getting darker and darker and then…

"KACCHAN!"

-----

Katsuki woke up.

Or rather, he snapped awake with a gasp, hands extended to blast away the villain.

It took a handful of heart-thumping moments to realize that he was in his dorm room, in his bed, and that the only thing in front of him was a smiling poster of All Might.

Letting out a shaking breath Katsuki let one hand drop, the other running over his face.

What the fuck just happened?

He could clearly remember the events leading up to him pinning down the villain, far too clearly for it all to have been a dream. But he was in bed, not even a twinge of sore muscles from the fighting.

"What the fuck," Katsuki sighed, hands clenching in his comforter.

His phone chimed.

Katsuki stared at it for a moment, wondering who the fuck would be trying to bother him so early in the morning before swiping it and pulling up his text alerts.

He didn't bother looking at who sent the message, reading; 'Where are you? Everyone has already left.'

Katsuki wrinkled his nose in confusion until he saw the time at the top of the screen, and then he swore, tossing the blankets off of himself in his haste to get out of bed. He was running late. And not just later than he liked to be - if he didn't leave right fucking now he was going to be actually late.

Rushing to get dressed he had to stop and catch his balance more than once, his body feeling weird, like it was just a size off, limbs not going where he wanted them to. Blessed with a robust immune system Katsuki rarely got sick, but he figured that may be what was going on with him. Especially if it explained him missing time after the fight. Or maybe it was just a fever dream, after all. Either way, he grabbed his book bag and rushed out the door, ignoring how everything seemed just a little bit off.

He was certain he was getting sick when he arrived at the doors of UA and he had to pause to catch his breath, winded from the jog over. His stamina was usually a lot better than that; normally he could run the distance from the dorms to the school and back several times without break. He told himself to swing by a Recovery Girl's office during lunch and see if he could get something to get over the cold or whatever he'd caught.

And to see if she knew what the fuck was going on with his memories.

What the hell happened after the fight?

By the time he finally got to his classroom most everybody was already there, gathered in groups around their desks and chatting. The chatting died down the longer Katsuki stood in the doorway, something he only distantly recognized because there was some strange loser sitting in his seat in front of Deku, half turned to talk to the shitty nerd.

Said Deku was staring at Katsuki, a strange look of confusion on his face as he slowly rose to his feet.

"Kacchan?" he said. "What are you doing here?"

"What kind of dumb question is that?" Katsuki sneered, stepping closer to glare down at the nameless asshole sitting in his seat.

"Well," Deku said, and there was something in his voice, some confidence that Katsuki was so unused to hearing that even in the midst of his confusion made him take his eyes off the strange kid to focus on Deku. Deku's gaze on him was soft, sincere, and Katsuki was so unused to seeing that look pointed at him that it took him a moment to recognize it as pity. "It's actually a pretty good question," Deku continued. "Since this isn't your classroom."

"What the fuck are you talking… about…" Katsuki trailed off, because all of a sudden he knew exactly what Deku was talking about.

It was like another life was downloaded into his brain, just laid on top of the other memories he already had, another Katsuki's thoughts and experiences and entire life.

He remembered being a small child and playing with Izuku, hunched over their All Might figures and trading cards. He remembered being four years old and watching as Izuku coughed and a plume of fire spat past his lips, and the tangled up feeling of excitement and jealousy as he watched Izuku learn to master his quirk, sending flames dancing around them both like fireflies, and later like tiny comets.

The heartbreak and fury when he sat in that doctor's office and was told that because of a tiny bone in his toe he'd never have a quirk.

The indignation when Deku still remained his friend, chasing away anyone who tried to pick on Katsuki for a flaw he couldn't help.

The humiliation of getting caught by the sludge villain and having to have Deku rescue him.

The pride of getting into UA anyway, soured by the fact that it was only in the general studies program, because they at least offered classes to students like him, while Deku easily got into the hero track.

The despair at the knowledge that he'd forever be quirkless.

"Kacchan?" Deku asked, voice soft but still startling Katsuki out of his introspection. Katsuki looked up to see not just Deku watching him with that too soft, too gentle expression, but so was the rest of the class with various levels of confusion. Though Four Eyes in the back looked on the verge of physically tossing Katsuki out. "Kacchan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, nerd," Katsuki grumbled, mind still racing. What the fuck was going on? He knew he had a quirk, a fucking strong one, too, but suddenly he was in a world in which he grew up quirkless and fucking Deku pitied him.

It had to have something to do with what's her face, the villain Katsuki fought. The revolver. It couldn't be a regular one, it had to be tied into her ability somehow. But what exactly did she do? And most importantly, how can Katsuki get his fucking quirk back?

No. He couldn't be quirkless. Not Bakugou fucking Katsuki. He raised one hand and watching closely, tried to activate his quirk.

Nothing happened.

It was like a muscle in his hands just wasn't there any more, a tendon or flexor or something that he was used to always being there would no longer fire.

"Why don't I walk you to Recovery Girl's office?" Deku asked, and fuck he couldn't take that tone anymore. He wanted to scream at Deku, punch him in his goddamn face.

But instead, his mind feeling like it was whirling with a thousand thoughts at once and simultaneously like it was stalling, he just mumbled out, still staring at his own hands, "Yeah, sure."

He was only vaguely aware of Deku's hand on his shoulder, turning him around and guiding him out of the room. Once they were past the door he shook off the hand, silently, dazedly, trailing behind Deku instead.

As they walked Katsuki surreptitiously felt his arms, his belly, chest. No wonder he felt so off; he was still physically fit, nothing would apparently change that, but without Aizawa's constant physical training to push his limits further he wasn't quite as bulky as he was before. His hard-earned muscle gone like it had never even existed, just like his quirk.

Fuck, he could feel the sweat on his palms, but it was just regular sweat, nothing special about it at all, about him at all. Everything that made him the best in his class, was going to make him the best at UA, gone.

"We're here, Kacchan," Deku said. Katsuki took his eyes off his hands long enough to see that Deku was standing in the doorway of Recovery Girl's office.

"Yeah," Katsuki said, stepping inside, still feeling like there was this muffled blanket between himself and the world. The only thing he could focus on was that word, that fucking ugly word spinning around in his head; quirkless, quirkless, quirkless…

He shuffled past Recovery Girl towards one of the beds in the back and collapsed down on top of it. Distantly he could hear Recovery Girl and Deku talking, Recovery Girl asking what the issue was, Deku saying something about Katsuki being confused, and then Deku was crouching next to him.

"Hey Kacchan," Deku said. "I need to get back to class, but let me know when you're feeling better, okay?"

Katsuki closed his eyes, resisting the urge to cover them. "Sure," he said, and he could hear the defeat in his own voice. "Whatever, Deku."

There was a sudden silence, and when Katsuki peeled his eyes open it was in time to see Deku and Recovery Girl exchange a look.

"Um," Deku said, voice gentle. "Can you tell me who Deku is?"

Katsuki could just stare before he huffed a laugh, and this time he did cover his face with his crossed arms. "Just… go away, nerd."

Of course he wouldn't know what Katsuki meant when he said Deku; in this world a younger Katsuki might have made the connection between the way the nerd's name was written and the insult, but it wouldn't have stuck. He actually had a fucking useful quirk.

Fuck, Katsuki was more fit to be called Deku.

The door slid closed, and Recovery Girl stepped up to the side of the bed. Letting out a breath, Katsuki sat up to face her, useless hands clenched in his lap. He wasn't sick, he was just wrong.

"Do your hands hurt?" Recovery Girl asked.

"Huh?"

"Your hands," she repeated. "You keep looking at them. Is there something wrong?"

Katsuki felt like laughing, but had a feeling that if he started he might not be able to stop.

"They're fine," he said, squeezing his knees with said hands, his heart thudding in his chest.

She just hummed in response, but continued on, letting him drop it.

"Can you tell me what's going on, then?" She asked. "I can tell from here that your heart rate is elevated, and you're clammy. If I had to guess, you're on the verge of a panic attack."

Katsuki had to resist the urge to snort; a panic attack? Him? The absurdity was laughable. But a part of him kept his mouth shut - after all, how could he even begin explaining what was going on with him? He had never even heard of a quirk like what that villain had!

At his silence, Recovery Girl just sighed and backed off.

"I'll let you rest in here for a while," Recovery Girl said, turning away with a comforting pat to the cot. "Your teachers will be notified so you won't be marked absent. You can return to class when you're feeling better."

"Thanks," Katsuki grumbled, laying back down on the bed.

At that moment his phone chimed again. Katsuki fished it out of his pocket to see it was from the same person from earlier.

Where are you? Class is starting in less than five minutes...

Katsuki rolled his eyes and powered off his phone. He didn't know what sort of losers this version of Katsuki called friends, or even if the mystery texter was just a nosy menace, but he had no interest in interacting with any of the other General Studies students. Those memories from the other Katsuki tried providing a face to the name, but Katsuki pushed the thought away; he didn't fucking care who it was.

He cared about getting his fucking quirk back!

Which would probably be easier said than done. Katsuki never bothered to look up the rumors kids spread about how to get your quirk to manifest early, or to force it out it, you were quirkless. His Deku might have known a few methods, but the Deku he had access to more than likely wouldn't have a clue.

His hands clenched into tight fists.

If he couldn't have his actual quirk, then any quirk would do.

And he knew how he could get one.

He waited until he knew he'dbe taking lunch by himself until he gathered his things and snuck out of Recovery Girl's office, not wanting the old woman to bug him or whatever; he had a goal in mind, and Katsuki was nothing if not focused on his goals.

Ever since he found out about the secret of One for All he knew that All Might could usually be found in the same room between classes and during his lunch. It was there that Katsuki found him, sitting on the couch and sipping tea, tea that he nearly spilled over himself when Katsuki threw the door open.

"All Might," Bakugou panted, stepping closer to his hero, the person he'd looked up to for as long as he could remember. The older man looked confused and mildly alarmed, cringing back from Katsuki.

"Young man," All Might said haltingly. "Can I… help you with anything?"

Katsuki paused a moment before continuing stepping forward. No wonder All Might didn't recognize him - he taught the hero course exclusively.

"All Might," he said again, and he didn't know what expression was on his face but it made All Might lift his hands, physically putting a barrier between he and Katsuki. "Your quirk. One for All. You can pass it on, right? You can give it to me, right?"

All Might's eyes grew wide at Katsuki's words, but then he closed them with a sigh. "What's your name, young man?" he asked, opening his eyes back up.

"Bakugou Katsuki," he said. Fuck, he could feel himself shaking, why wasn't All Might giving him a straight yes or no yet? He couldn't face a life with no quirk, a life watching pro heroes from a distance as a civilian.

"Young Bakugou," All Might acknowledged. "Why don't you have a seat?"

"No," Bakugou refused, anger building under the desperation. "Just… tell me if you can give me your quirk or not, okay?"

"I can't," All Might said bluntly.

Katsuki felt like he was deflating, all the air just rushing out of him. Just as quickly fury took its place. "Why the hell not," he snarled. "I'm strong, stronger than any of the other idiots out there who you could give it to! I'd appreciate it more, use it more, need it more! I can prove it to you, just-"

"I can't give it to you," All Might said, speaking louder to be heard over Katsuki's ranting. "Because I've already passed it on. I'm sorry." The last was said softly, and the shitty thing was that it actually did sound like he was sorry.

Katsuki was silent for a long moment, brain just stuck on All Might's words, 'already passed it on, already passed it on, passed it on.'

"Who?" Katsuki asked, voice shaking. "Who did you give it to?"

"I can't tell you that," All Might said, voice still soothing, soft. "I don't know how you found out about One for All, but you should know that information would make things more dangerous for both you and my successor."

Rationally Katsuki knew that; the more people that knew about One for All the higher the chance that someone unsympathetic would use that knowledge against them. But Katsuki wasn't feeling like being rational. He wanted to rant and scream and fucking blow up the world. The stretch of years filled with days where the closest he could come to hero work was behind a goddamn desk yawned before him.

Goddamn Deku for distracting him, sending him into this world in which Katsuki was fucking useless.

He collapsed, tears burning in his eyes. All his dreams were gone; there was no chance he could become a hero without a quirk. That villain had to know what she was doing when she sent him here.

A warm hand rested on his shoulder.

All Might crouched next to him, folding his long skinny limbs up to look Katsuki in the face.

"I'm sorry that I can't give you my quirk," All Might said. "But you don't need it in order to live an honorable and fulfilling life. Heroes may escort a civilian out of a burning building, but there still needs to be EMTs to tend to their injuries, therapists that can help them overcome their trauma, charities to help them get back on their feet after losing their homes in an attack-"

"All Might," Katsuki interrupted, voice low and grating even to his own ears. "With all due respect, shut up."

All Might didn't say anything after that. Instead he stayed at Katsuki's side for a long moment until Katsuki dragged himself to his feet, and watched as Katsuki silently made his way across the room and out the door, shutting it behind him in a daze, dragging his bookbag behind him.

He let his feet carry him through the hallways, not even paying attention to where he was going until he got to a doorway he never bothered paying attention to, the entrance to the General Studies course.

Lunch was just ending so not every seat was filled quite yet, but his feet took him to a certain desk, one that he just knew was his.

He sat down at the desk and stared down at the blank wood, mind still feeling like white noise, like static buzzing in his grey matter.

What the fuck.

Where did he go from there?

A pen poked the side of his cheek and Katsuki instinctively batted it away with a snarl, turning around to glare at the idiot who dared...!

Oh. Oh fuck. It was that purple haired mind fucker. Katsuki should have realized that if he was in the general studies course he would run into the asshole at some point. He still had his pen raised in a poking position, hunched over his desk and eyeballing Katsuki with a blank expression.

"Fuck off," Katsuki muttered, turning back around.

"You haven't been in class all morning," Mind Fucker said blandly. "That's not like you."

Katsuki flipped him off over his shoulder. He was not in the mood to deal with him.

The back of his head was poked again, and Katsuki seethed.

"You skipped breakfast, too," he continued. "You missed Kimi burning her eggs on the good skillet."

Katsuki's hands curled into fists.

"Everyone was curious about what happened to our resident Quirkless Wonder," Mind Fucker drawled.

Oh that was fucking it.

"What the hell did you say to me?!" Katsuki roared, spinning to face the purple haired bastard, who was leaning back in his seat and grinning at his reaction.

"That's more like it," he drawled, impassive in the face of Katsuki's fury. Of all the fucking things to not change… "I was starting to wonder if you'd finally snapped."

"Fuck you, you creepy bastard," Katsuki snarled, and fuck, if he had his quirk he bet his hands would be sparking. "I'm not that goddamn weak!"

"Good," the asshole said. "I'm counting on that."

Katsuki just sneered at him before turning around. Shinsou's easy agreement took the wind out of his anger and he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. Instead he settled for ignoring the purple haired bastard, letting his chuckle go in one ear and out the other as he opened his notebook to a blank page and got a pencil out.

The rest of the day passed surprisingly normally, with the subjects the same as what was being taught in the Hero course. Katsuki didn't let himself dwell on his quirkless state, instead focused on his coursework to the exclusion of anything else, telling himself that he could worry about it later.

Later came after the bell rang, and he gathered up his supplies to head straight to the dorms, not caring that he shoved his books into his bag so hard that he was probably winkling pages and fucking with the binding.

He marched out of the classroom, shouldering people aside.

As he walked, he couldn’t help but look around him at the press of bodies all around. Chances were every single person there had a quirk that could kill him. Every single one of them had something he didn’t, something that he couldn’t achieve, and it pissed him the fuck off. He was fucking vulnerable, even worse than a fucking civilian because even your most basic civvie could use a quirk when it came down to it, but he couldn’t. He fucking couldn’t.

"Hey, wait up," Mind Fucker said, hurrying after Katsuki.

Katsuki didn't bother slowing down, and Shinsou huffed as he came abreast to him.

After a little while of Katsuki ignoring him, Shinsou said, voice low, "You know you could tell me if anything is wrong." He kept his tone steady, making it a statement rather than a question.

"Nothing is wrong," Katsuki growled, defensive. Despite the fact that everything was wrong.

"Sure," he agreed easily, and why did that piss Katsuki off even further? "But you can tell me even if it wasn't."

"Whatever," Katsuki said, glaring at nothing.

He almost turned off at the wrong dorms, feet stuttering before remembering that he wasn't staying at the Hero course dorms. Shinsou didn't say anything, but Katsuki could see the way his eyebrow raised.

Katsuki headed straight for his room as soon as they got to the correct building, though Shinsou didn't try to follow him, apparently sensing that Katsuki wanted to be alone.

For the first time in years Katsuki didn't bother with his homework as soon as he got in. Instead he tossed his bag to the side as soon as he closed the door behind him and bee-lined for his laptop. As soon as he had it booted he pulled up the search engine and started browsing.

It was some time later he had a beginning of an answer.

The Multiverse Theory. The idea that there were an infinite number of alternative universes that may only differ from each other in small, sometimes even unnoticeable ways. Somehow that villain was able to send Katsuki to another universe, one where due to a fluke in genetics Katsuki was born without a quirk but Deku was.

The problem was that according to his search the possibility of someone having that quirk shouldn't exist.

It wasn't like the internet had a publicly-accessible registry of every quirk out there, but there was more than one article talking about the impossibility of such a quirk existing.

Worse, there was a general agreement that even if such a quirk did exist, it would be near impossible to ever return to your original universe.

Fuck. That.

He continued studying even as the hours passed, ignoring knocks on his door, requests to come join the rest of his class for dinner. When Deku started texting him he turned his phone off and put headphones on.

He only looked up when a wave of exhaustion hit him. Blearily he looked at the time, muttering a curse under his breath. It was just about midnight and he was nowhere closer to finding an answer than he was when he started. And nowhere closer to getting his fucking quirk back.

Another wave of tiredness, and Katsuki muffled a yawn as he slumped in his chair.

It was long past the time be preferred to go to sleep at. He just needed to close his eyes for a couple minutes.

Just enough to rest his eyes.

He fell asleep.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up warm.

He snuggled deeper into his bed, nose buried into the blanket under his head, and let out a deep sigh. Despite the events of the day before, he felt such a bone-deep restedness that his entire body felt loose and cozy, no twinges of stress pulling at his shoulders, no tightness in his muscles from his late-night study session. Instead he was warm and comfortable, surrounded by some unknown smell that couldn't be named, but whispered home.

It felt good.

It wasn't until he heard a loud exhale somewhere over his head and the world seemed to suddenly lurch underneath him that he remembered why he shouldn't actually be feeling that way.

Instantly he snapped awake, scrabbling to get to his feet as the surface he was laying on slid out from under him.

"What the fuck," he growled, disoriented and confused.

Everything stilled, and a voice both familiar and very strange said, "Sorry Kacchan, I didn't mean to wake you."

Katsuki froze, brain screeching to a halt because not only was he apparently laying in the middle of fucking Deku's bed, but that Deku was also fucking huge. Giant-sized, in a gigantic bed, Deku was on his side but his hip was eye-level to Katsuki.

As Katsuki watched Deku sat up, pulling his legs up carefully under the blankets, and looked at Katsuki with this expression of sleepy affection that Katsuki had never had aimed towards him, let alone from Deku.

"Good morning, Kacchan," Deku said softly reaching out a giant hand towards Katsuki, and no, no, he wasn't going to fucking touch Katsuki with those meaty paws of his.

"Fuck off, nerd," Katsuki growled, and there was something off about his voice, something wrong about the timber, the pitch.

Either way, Deku paused, and withdrew his hand, looking hurt. He didn't say anything more, but got out of his bed and padded out, frowning at Katsuki as he went.

Katsuki let out the breath he was unaware of holding, feeling the tension leave his body once Deku-the-giant was gone.

Okay. What the fuck was going on.

He'd been distantly aware that he'd been standing on Deku's bed for the past few minutes, and that he was standing on all fours. A glance down showed that instead of hands and feet, he was met with four paws. Some fucking tiny, dainty paws.

A mirror. He needed a goddamn mirror.

Looking around, Katsuki could see a full length mirror leaning against Deku's wall, and if Katsuki walked to the foot of Deku's bed, he'd be able to look in it at least a little.

It was easier said than done - the lumps of Deku's covers made hills and valleys that Katsuki had to navigate, but he had to know what he looked like. He was small enough, maybe he was a cat?

Compared to being quirkless, maybe being a cat wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Fuck, he was losing it, wasn't he?

Finally he made it to the end of the bed, and he faced the mirror and-

What.

What the fuck.

Oh, no. Katsuki would rather be quirkless.

He wasn't a cat.

Instead a tiny, fluffy, yappy-looking dog was looking back at him in the mirror. It was a tiny fluffball of sandy colored fur that poofed all around it, almost hiding those dainty little paws.

"Oh, fuck me," Katsuki said.

In the mirror the dog barked.

At that moment Deku reentered the room, smiling at Katsuki.

"It's only you, Kacchan," he said fondly.

Katsuki shot him a withering glare that probably wasn't as effective as he hoped.

Deku headed to his dresser, peeling his shirt off and nope, nope, not staying for the Deku strip-tease.

Problem.

Katsuki was tiny.

And the bed was very, very, high up off the ground.

Katsuki glared over the edge of the bed to the floor that, to him, looked like it was at least three stories down.

Dogs could make the jump, right? The whole square-cube law, there shouldn't be enough force in his soccer ball sized body to cause much damage. Still, it looked like he was about to take a header off the side of a building, and he shifted, trying to get a good angle of his jump.

Deku scooped him up, hands hooking around his ribs. "Here, I got you-" he started.

"PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN!" Katsuki literally snarled, thrashing in Deku's hold and whipping his head back and forth, trying to get close enough to bite those hands since both quirk and opposable thumbs were things he was currently lacking.

Deku yelped and dropped Katsuki, who landed on the floor with a thump.

He scrabbled for the cracked open door, claws clicking on the hard floor. He glanced back only once, to see Deku looking after him, a wounded expression on his face.

Katsuki huffed and nosed his way out through the door, still feeling like his fur was standing on end and fuck, that was a weird sensation.

He stopped.

There was something absolutely delicious smelling coming from the kitchen, overwhelming the scent of Deku and his mom that covered every goddamn surface in the house, as well as a scent that Katsuki could only assume was his own. He couldn't help but follow the scent into the kitchen. Aunty Inko was standing at the store, something sizzling enticingly on the stove top.

"Stay back, Kacchan," Aunty said, humor coloring her voice. "No begging."

Katsuki stepped a little closer, nose twitching. Fuck, he was so hungry, and it smelled so good, he just wanted to see what she was cooking, just see if it looked as good as it smelled, and maybe if he played his cards right he could steal a mouthful and-

Katsuki shook his head rapidly, physically trying to shake himself out of it. What was that about?

The day before it was like the other Katsuki's mind was shadowed under his own - Katsuki was in control, but he had the other Katsuki's memories and habits as well. Though now that he actually thought about it, those memories now seemed distant and hazy. He could remember the day before, but when he tried to think about getting the news as a child that he was quirkless it was like trying to remember an old TV show from his childhood; something distant, and that no longer had any emotional impact.

On the other hand, this dog body he was in had no real memories to access; there was faint associations with scent and certain words (Aunty telling him 'no begging' fucking broke his heart what the fuck) but it was hard to stay focused. And when he wasn't paying attention his mind went full dog.

Though it was fucking awful being Quirkless, it was at least better than being a fucking dog. Even after he got the Quirkless diagnosis, he-

He…

He couldn’t remember what happened after that version of himself had gotten the diagnosis, not nearly as clearly, anyway. The memories of the other Katsuki was like trying to recall a dream hours later - he could remember that it was awful, but the details were all faded, just beyond his grasp.

His nose wrinkled. The effects of whatever Quirk he’d been hit with were frustrating at best, but at least he wasn’t dealing with two lifetimes’ worth of memories anymore. Three now, if you counted the dog.

"Hey, Kacchan," Deku said, entering the room with something orange looped around his hand. Something about that orange thing made the dog in him perk up and take notice, and without his full control his feet shuffled in place. "Do you want to go outside?"

"FUCK YEAH, I WANT TO GO OUTSIDE!" Katsuki barked, dashing for the door. Outside sounded awesome, sounded great, he could barely stand still as Deku crouched to clip the end of what Katsuki realized was an orange leash onto the collar he wasn't aware until then he was wearing. He couldn't wait to get outside because he

Because he

Fuck, because he had to pee.

And little yappy dogs couldn't exactly use the toilet, could they?

Deku got to the end of the leash before he realized that Katsuki wasn't following. Was instead sitting in the doorway, glaring out into the world and trying not to let the sudden flood of interesting scents send his nose to wiggling. Deku stopped and turned, a frown on his face.

"You okay, Kacchan?" He asked. "Come on, you gotta go, right?"

Ugh. He did. And his options were pretty fucking limited.

With a sigh he heaved himself to his feet and followed after Deku, who started walking as soon as Katsuki let some slack into the leash.

The stairs to the apartment was an adventure in themselves. Katsuki had to take them one at a time, the sensation of going down the stairs head first disorienting and seemed to take forever.

Once on the sidewalk things went much more smoothly, though Katsuki had to take twenty steps for each one of Deku's in order to keep up, tiny legs pattering underneath him.

Except for the fact that his doggy brain was fucking obsessed with sniffing as much as it possibly could.

To be honest, he was a little impressed with just how much he could smell in that body. He could scent each dog and cat that had passed by recently, and dozens of different human scents layered on top of each other.

One spot, a utility pole, was singularly fascinating to him. He could smell his own scent on that pole, but on top of it and almost overwhelming it was another dog's. That scent was so much stronger, even though Katsuki's scent was less than a day older, and it was more potent, something about it both worried and pissed Katsuki the fuck off.

He had his leg cocked and ready to piss over the pole when he realized a: what he was about to do, and b: Deku was fucking watching him.

Katsuki glared at him until Deku actually rolled his eyes and turned around, and Katsuki let his body do what it needed to. His bladder was probably the size of a marble - he didn't have much of a choice.

Done with his business he firmly told his instincts that no, he did not need to sniff the pole he'd just marked. He was done and just wanted to get back ho- to Deku's apartment.

"Hey," he said, making Deku turn around. "I'm done, let's go."

"All set?" Deku asked, smiling. Katsuki rolled his eyes and started walking back the way they came, Deku following just a moment later.

The stairs were slightly easier going up than down, though Katsuki grumbled with every far-too-tall step. At one point Deku tried to pick him up again, but a snarl from Katsuki and he backed off.

Back inside Aunty greeted them and pulled a can from a cupboard. Katsuki's nose immediately started twitching, even as his rational human brain cringed at the idea of what she was scooping out into a heavy ceramic bowl with a wet plop.

Wet dog food. No thanks

Aunty put the bowl on the floor and both Midoriyas glanced at Katsuki expectantly, but he sat in place and refused to budge even though his stomach was growling with hunger. No, no way, he absolutely refused. He'd go hungry until he had some real food.

"I think something's wrong with Kacchan," Deku said, standing closer and looking down at him.

"What do you mean? Aunty asked over by the stove.

"He's been growling at me all morning," Deku said, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeves. "And he tried to bite me when I picked him up. Now he's not eating."

"That's not good," Aunty said, peering at him. "I'll see if we can get him in to see the vet while you're at school and make sure nothing's wrong."

Fuck, no. Katsuki might not have grown up with a family pet like this Deku apparently did, but he knows the sorts of indignities that go on in a vet's office.

Katsuki took a deep breath, approached his food dish, and took a bite.

He barely managed to keep from gagging. To his doggy tongue it actually didn't taste bad, but the sheer knowledge that he was eating dog food set off alarms in his head.

"Well, he's eating now…" Aunty trailed off, setting the table. "Why don't I keep an eye on him today, and if he seems like he's still acting off I'll take him to the vet?"

Deku hesitated, but in the end he made a noise in agreement, tucking into his breakfast (which smelled about a thousand times better than his own). Katsuki sighed in relief.

He just needed to act like a normal dog, at least until he could figure out what the fuck was going on.

First he woke up in a quirkless body, then as a dog. His theory that he was in an alternative universe was still applicable, but how did he jump from one to the other? It happened again while he was sleeping - was that the trigger? For him to fall asleep first?

He realized that as he was contemplating the direction his life was suddenly going in he'd started licking the food dish clean, doggy instinct demanding him to get every scrap of food.

"Ugh," Katsuki sneered, moving to the water bowl and lapping up a belly full of water, trying to cleanse the taste of shitty canned dog food from his mouth.

Deku pushed his chair back from the table and leaned over to kiss his mom's cheek. "I'm heading off," he said. "Let me know if anything changes with Kacchan, please!"

Oh, yeah. Deku had to go to school, and Katsuki was stuck here as a fucking dog.

He entertained a brief thought about pissing on Deku's school work, but at that moment he took a second to actually look at Deku, and what he saw… didn't really make sense.

He wasn't wearing a UA High uniform. He wasn't wearing any high school uniform. Instead he was wearing the same black gakuran from their middle school. And he was just as twiggy as he was back then, before he got his borrowed quirk.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes in thought as he watched Deku get his shoes on and wave to his mom before he left.

So, changing universes made sense (as much sense as it could), but he was back in time. Just what sort of reach did that villains quirk have?

After seeing Deku off, Aunty passed Katsuki by, leaning down just a moment to scritch behind his ears. Katsuki tensed but restrained the urge to snap at her.

"Don't worry," she said. "He'll be home soon."

Katsuki rolled his eyes and trotted away. He was trying to figure out the rules of what happened to him, he didn't have time to be coddled.

First of all - an experiment.

When he fell asleep he switched universes. If he fell asleep again, would he wake up in another? One where he was human at least would be vastly more preferable than his current one, even if it wasn't his correct one. And if he did end up back in his original universe what would keep him from bouncing to another as soon as he fell asleep again?

Whatever. He'd worry about that as soon as he wasn't a fucking dog.

No way was he going to try and climb up Deku's bed for a multitude of reasons, though the most obvious was his stubby little legs. Likewise the couch was right out. However, as soon as he entered the living room he could see a fluffy pillow in the corner by the couch - a dog bed.

He really, really didn’t want to have to use a dog bed, but considering that he currently was a dog and the couch was far over his head, his options were limited at best. Swallowing his pride (something he was forced to more times in the fucking hour he’d been awake than he’s ever had to do in his fucking life) he hopped on top of it, curled up, closed his eyes and forced himself to clear his mind.

Of course, he couldn’t fall asleep.

His ears kept twitching with every movement Aunty Inko made in the apartment. The water running as she cleaned the breakfast dishes seemed like it was two feet from his head, and when she moved into the living room and started puttering about his nose just seemed to twitch on its own every time she passed by his bed.

Then she opened up a closet and pulled out something on wheels, and something about that sound set off alarm bells, sending him to sitting up and focusing on the source of the sound.

Aunty Inko was unwrapping the cord from a vacuum cleaner.

He could feel his body instinctively tense up at the sight and he forced it to calm, rolling his eyes at his stupid dog brain. He knew a vacuum was nothing to worry about, even if dogs freak out over them. He let his head flop back against the soft surface of his doggy bed, determined to fall back asleep.

Then the gates of Hell opened up and all the demons and tortured souls therein howled into his ears, sending all his fur on end and him on his feet in sudden terror.

It was the vacuum, screeching and howling

Fuck! The vacuum was so goddamn fucking loud! Why wasn't Auntie Inko doing anything about it?! Instead she was just pushing it back and forth across the carpet, a placid expression on her face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He howled, scrabbling off the floor and running through the house, trying to find some place safe and quiet, some place away from the roar thundering in the living room.

Reason restored itself with Katsuki hiding under Deku's bed like a goddamn child.

Sneezing at the dust bunnies he crawled back out (not that he did much crawling - he was so fucking tiny that he pretty much just had to duck his head fuck, fuck, fuck), determinedly not looking sheepish at his over-reaction. It was just a vacuum. It couldn’t hurt him even if Aunty actually tried to, and Katsuki knew she wouldn’t.

Fuck, he couldn’t wait until he got back into a human body again. He’d almost take a Quirkless one at this point.

Almost.

In any case, the noise was over, so Aunty was probably done with her vacuuming for the day, and Katsuki’s sensitive ears would no longer be assaulted by the roaring screams of the cleaner.

Still, he couldn't help but keep an eye out as he left Deku's room, wary about if and when the vacuum would next start roaring. Thankfully it seemed that Aunty was done cleaning, and when he stepped into the living room she was curled up on the couch with a paperback in her hands, a cup of strong-smelling coffee on the end table. The only sound was the slow murmur from the TV, set to some drama that Aunty was ignoring.

Quiet, calm, and perfect for Katsuki to get some fucking sleep.

He hopped back up on the cushion and curled up, bound and determined to fall asleep.

Several shifts of position, counting sheep, and an interminable time later, he managed finally to fall into a deep sleep.

The sound of a can opening jolted him out of his sleep. His ears perked and nose twitched, and before he realized it he was running across the room into the kitchen, claws scrabbling on tile.

Food!

Aunty had barely set the bowl on the kitchen floor before Katsuki was practically inhaling its contents, his tail wagging a mile a minute behind him.

"You seem to be feeling better," Aunty said, humor sparkling in her voice. Katsuki didn't care, he was too focused on his delicious, glorious…

Dog food.

Katsuki sighed and finished up the last couple bites, washing the taste out of his mouth defeatedly after from the water dish.

Well. Just sleeping didn't work. There had to be some sort of trigger, some thing to cause the switch over. If he could figure it out, he could get back to where he belonged.

Fuck, he wished he had hands, at the very least.

A jingling noise caught his attention and, ears perked, he looked up to see Aunty Inko slinging her purse over her shoulder, her keys in hand.

“Wanna come with me?” she asked, smiling down at Katsuki.

He thought it over for a moment. The threat of the vet wasn’t out of the question, but as far as he could tell he was acting like a regular, ordinary dog. He hadn’t growled or snapped at Aunty since Deku left, so she had no need to think he was still acting ‘weird.’ And honestly, if just sleeping wasn’t going to send him back to his regular world then he had no fucking idea what he was going to do for the rest of the day. Sure, there was a little basket stuffed with doggy toys next to his bed, but he’d rather gorge himself on dog food than demean himself by playing with that stuff.

“Come on, Kacchan,” Aunty said, tapping her thigh and reaching for where the leash was hanging by the doorway. “Let’s go outside!”

“YEAH!” Katsuki barked, running up to her, tail wagging like crazy behind him. He couldn’t keep himself still, paws dancing up and down as Aunty clipped the leash to his collar, mouth open and panting in excitement.

His human mind reinstated itself when he was halfway bouncing down the stairs, his sudden stop nearly causing him to slip and slide the remaining steps. As it was he had to scramble to keep his footing,

“Are you okay, Kacchan?” Aunty asked, laughter in her voice. “We need to see about padding those stairs for you one of these days.”

Katsuki didn’t know what was more humiliating - that he let the dog’s mind take over again, or that this body was so unsuited for the simple task of walk up and down stairs that the Midoriya’s seemed used to him either slipping or carrying him up the stairs.

“Alrighty then,” she said, wrapping the leash more securely around her hand, “Let’s go.”

Katsuki had walked those streets often enough that he could tell immediately they were heading to the train station, and he padded closer to Inko’s feet the closer they got to the station where the crowds began to get thicker, very aware of just how tiny he was compared to the average person.

They were almost inside the station itself when Inko stopped walking. One moment he was standing still, waiting for Aunty to get a move-on, the next minute he was airborne, her solid arm lifting him up and tucking him under her arm securely. He tensed, restraining the urge to growl or snarl at her for daring to hoist him like he was some frou-frou little lapdog that wasn’t allowed to walk on it’s own.

The fucking indignity.

“I know, Kacchan,” Aunty said, soft soft and soothing. “I know you don’t like the train, but it’s only for a little bit.”

Well, at least she didn’t think him tensing up was anything out of the ordinary.

And Katsuki couldn’t blame dog-him for not liking the train - the scream of the tracks was fucking loud, and he could feel his ears flatten hard against his skull whenever it echoed through the station. There were way too many strange people and stranger scents packed in tightly, and despite the fact that Aunty was on the train for probably five minutes, by the time they got out Katsuki felt like he could barely breathe.

“Oof,” Aunty let out a breath once they were clear of the station, then smiled down at Katsuki. “Alrighty, ready to go back down?”

“Fucking finally,” Katsuki muttered, wiggling in her grip; he’d fucking jump down if it got him out from under her arm.

Aunty just tightened her grip even as she knelt in what Katsuki could only assume was an attempt to keep him from jumping too early and, what? Hurt himself? Like he would.

He did shake himself once he had all four paws on the ground though - it felt like his fur was all crimped from being squeezed for so long, which was much more uncomfortable than he would have ever assumed.

Aunty did at least wait for him to settle himself before heading off, Katsuki trotting at her feet.

The first stop she made was a grocery store, where she placed Katsuki in the front of the cart in the spot for babies, which was only incredibly mortifying. Then she stopped by a bookstore on the way back to the station, and if going to sleep was the key to hopping to another universe then waiting for her to choose something from the rows upon rows of shelves would have been enough to get Katsuki home.

By the time she was done Katsuki’s legs were aching, which fucking sucked. He knew that it was because he had to take ten steps for each one of Aunty’s but it still pissed him off when she noticed him starting to lag behind and fucking picked him up again, groceries in one arm, him in the other.

By that time the streets were a lot busier, and Katsuki just glared balefully at the passerby from where Aunty was holding him, just daring them to fucking say anything. Not that it did a whole lot of good - he lost count of how many people glanced at him and smiled, like he was fucking charming or adorable.

God, he couldn’t fucking wait until he got back in his normal body and could put this whole thing behind him.

And then.

He froze, eyes wide.

He couldn't believe it.

Walking on the crowded sidewalk, heading right for them, was her. The villain who got him into this mess.

She was just staring at her phone, casual as you please, and looking just like she did when she zapped him or whatever into an alternate universe.

As she got closer he started to growl so hard that his body was vibrating with it. Aunty paused, her grip tightening on him, but he didn't fucking care.

"HEY!" He barked, causing everyone around to look up, including the villain, and Aunty hushed him, holding him closer. "Hey you! What the fuck did you do to me, huh?! Send me back, goddamn it!"

He continued barking and snarling at the villain even as she got closer, the amused smile she gave him just sending his fury to new heights.

"I'm so sorry," Aunty was saying, turning to put her body between the snarling Katsuki and the woman. "He's never like this!"

"It's okay," the villain laughed as she passed. "I have that effect on people!"

"COME BACK HERE OR I'LL EAT YOUR EYEBALLS!" Katsuki howled at her back, and okay, that was probably not the first insult he'd normally sling her way, but he was having a weird day.

“Kacchan!” Aunty scolded, but Katsuki ignored her, glaring at the villain’s back as she just walked away, not even giving him a backwards glance.

Katsuki was so. Fucking. Stupid.

He should have realized that if everything was (more or less) the same, then that villain should still be around. If he could find her again, he could force her to send him back to his real world, the one he should be in - with his quirk, and as a fucking human.

He had to get back into a human form, preferably one with a quirk, and he’d have to seek her out.

But until then, Katsuki mused as he forced himself to relax in Aunty’s hold, he’d just wait out the day. Then he’d go to sleep, and this would all be a bad dream.

The ride back home wasn’t nearly as awful as the ride out, but that was because Katsuki had other things on his mind.

He couldn’t count on that woman being in the same neighborhood the next time he woke up in another body, but he could start making some assumptions from where he’ll be the next day. So far, while things were still wildly different, quite a few things had also remained the same. Deku and he were still at UA that first day, for instance. And now, even though Katsuki was a (goddamn, motherfucking, useless) dog, it seemed like the only difference in the Midoriya household was Katsuki’s inclusion.

As long as these changes were, in the grand scheme of things, minor, he could narrow down that villain’s usual area of operations. And then he can find her.

And then force her to send him back to his proper world.

He had no idea how she did it, but if she did it she could un-do it. She had to be able to. Katsuki was two days in and already was so. Fucking. Tired of not being in his proper body.

He just had to be patient and wait.

_*_

Quick, running footsteps approached the door.

It was hours later and Katsuki was flopped on his side, watching Aunty prepare dinner out of lack of literally anything else to do (and only judging the slightest bit - Aunty was a decent cook in her own right, if a little sparing on the spices) when he could hear steps thud on the stairs outside the door.

He sat up, ears perked, as his tail started to wag without his conscious consent - he could recognize those fast, excited footsteps.

“Oh, looks like Izuku’s home,” Aunty said. Katsuki glanced at her, but rather than watching the door she was watching him.

The door flew open, and from Katsuki’s vantage point he could see Izuku pause just inside to toe off those ridiculous shoes of his.
“I’m home, mom, love you!” Deku said quickly as he practically ran from the doorway all the way to his room.

“Izuku, honey, what is going on?” Aunty asked, frozen in the living room.

“All Might was in town!” Izuku shouted from his room, which made Katsuki’s ears perk up in interest. “Someone got it on video!”

Well, that was worth checking out.

He trotted over to Deku’s room, nosing open the door that was only open a crack, to see Deku sitting at his computer, keys clicking as he typed something into a web browser.

A news article popped up with an auto-playing video. A female reporter started talking about how All Might was seen taking down a villain that had tried to take over a student walking home, but All Might was able to separate the villain with little issue. The camera panned over to All Might standing, posing with a soda bottle filled with a disgusting grey sludge, two eyes floating inside of it, with All Might’s trademark grin on his face. The video switched to a shaky hand-held camera, probably taken on someone’s phone, of All Might literally punching the villain out of some kid Katsuki had never seen before without even touching the kid, the displaced air throwing the villain back to splat against the side of a building. The video ended, and Deku refreshed the video to watch it again.

He remembered that day. How could he not? It was one of the most humiliating fucking things he ever had the misfortune to live through prior to waking up covered in fur.

But this day, there was no Katsuki to bully Deku after school and make him late heading home. So someone else must have gotten attacked by the slime monster, some kid who didn't cling onto All Might's leg and make him drop the villain in a chain of events that lead to Deku getting his borrowed quirk in Katsuki's proper timeline.

Katsuki felt his chest swell at the thought (he'd have to tell Deku that if it wasn't for him he'd still be pathetic and quirkless!) but a look over at Deku deflated him.

Deku was just… staring at the news clip, watching over and over as the shaky cell phone camera captured All Might in all his glory taking down the villain, All Might posing.

This Deku would never become a Hero, would he?

Deku looked at Katsuki with watery eyes, and before Katsuki could react he reached out and scooped him up, gathering Katsuki's embarrassingly tiny body in his arms, and nope, not doing this. Katsuki wiggled, trying to get out from Deku's death grip.

A sob, barely suppressed, made him stop. Another sob, a little louder and just as heartfelt, as loud as thunder to Katsuki's ears, and Katsuki was surrounded by a scent that he didn't need the dog memories to translate - misery.

"Hey," Katsuki grumbled, turning in Deku's grip. Probably sensing that Katsuki wasn't trying to get away, Deku let him turn before hugging him close again. Something about that scent of utter misery really annoyed him. "Stop that," Katsuki continued, and without Katsuki's full permission he found himself licking at Deku's tears, cleaning them from Deku's face.

God, this body felt awful at Deku’s misery. He felt this overwhelming urge to just fix it, but Katsuki just didn’t know how.

Still, it seemed he’d done something right, because Deku chuckled and rubbed the base of Katsuki’s ears. Sniffling, he said, voice watery, “Thanks, Kacchan.” Deku let Katsuki rest on his lap and reached over, grabbing a composition notebook, and, replaying the video once more, started to take notes in his usual messy scrawl, one hand resting on Katsuki’s back.

After a few more repeats Deku started checking social media, looking for any new posts about All Might and the villain, adding other reports and reactions to his notes, saving pictures taken from all different angles to a folder marked with the day’s date.

They remained like that until there was a gentle knock on the door and Aunty pushed it open slowly, giving Izuku time to turn around and face her.

“Izuku, honey, dinner is done,” she said.

“Thanks mom,” he replied. By that time his eyes were dry and face clear from all signs of his crying.

Deku let Katsuki down gently to the floor, then dusted his pants off of any loose fur as he stood, following his mother out to the kitchen.

“So, All Might was in town?” Aunty asked as they sat down. “That’s exciting!”

“He was!” Izuku said, face lighting up. He started rambling on about the fight that was caught on camera, and the different theories behind the villain and what exactly it could do, and how All Might was able to defeat him in just one attack. Aunty watched with an amused smile on her face as her son gushed about his idol. Katsuki restrained the urge to roll his eyes.

The rest of the evening passed quickly - Deku bathed after dinner, and did his homework. When he finally got into bed he called Katsuki over, patting the top of the mattress.

Fuck that. Katsuki had suffered indignity after humiliation, he wasn’t going to sleep in Deku’s fucking bed as well. The fucking last thing he wanted to do before he woke up in his proper world was curl up with that nerd.

Instead, he went back into the living room which was dark and quiet that time of night, and hopped into the little doggy bed and laid down.

He resolutely did not listen to his inner doggy that was so fucking upset that he wasn’t curling up on Deku’s bed, which was a lot warmer and softer than the doggy bed.

Instead, he closed his eyes and cleared his mind, preparing himself for whatever would come the next day.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up in his own bed.

Instantly fully awake he sat straight up, feeling his arms, his legs, his face. Human. He was human, at least.

He reached out and sparks popped from the palm of his hand. He had his quirk.

Letting out a breath, Katsuki fell back onto his pillow.

And made eye contact with the big-ass bird perched on his headboard, who was watching him with a cocked head.

"Fuck!" Katsuki shot to his feet, heart rabbiting in his chest. The bird just watched him unblinkingly, it's feathers slowly puffing out the more they stared at each other.

It was a female peacock, a peahen, he corrected himself. Something about it struck him as off, but he couldn't put his finger on why. It just looked like a standard peahen; large, mostly brown with some iridescent green feathers at its neck.

So. He wasn’t back home yet, like he’d stupidly sort of hoped. And apparently whatever Katsuki he took over was a fan of exotic birds. One who had built a fucking perch into his headboard. That was… really fucking weird, but he could deal with that.

Keeping half an eye on the peahen Katsuki got up and opened his dresser. He didn’t bother going for his uniform - he was going to hunt down that villain and demand she send him back to his own universe. One where he had his quirk, was human, and didn’t have strange livestock hanging out on his bed.

"You're not my Katsuki."

The voice came out of nowhere and Katsuki spun, dropping his bag and spreading his hands to either side, ready to attack the mysterious woman who had snuck into his room.

Nobody was there. The balcony door remained closed, nobody snuck in through the window, there was nobody but the bird perched on Katsuki's headboard.

"What the fuck," Katsuki grumbled, eyeing the bird. Could peafowl talk? Or rather, parrot things they heard? Katsuki never heard of it, but he'd never exactly studied birds that much.

"I said," the female voice said again, and this time there was no denying it, the voice was coming from the bird. And it didn't sound like she was merely parroting something she'd heard before, irritation edging into panic in her words. She glared at Katsuki, clawed feet flexing into the wood of the headboard. "You're not my Katsuki. Who are you? What have you done with him? What…" and here she trailed off, intelligent black eyes darting up and down Katsuki's body, her feathers slowly ruffling out. "Where's your daemon?"

"My what?" Katsuki snapped. He shook his head. Not important. "What the hell are you? How the hell are you talking?" Maybe another hyper intelligent animal, like principal Nezu? But if that was the case, there was still the question of why the hell was she in his room?

The bird just looked at him, a long moment, and slowly her feathers began to smooth out again. “...What are you?” she asked. “You’re not my Katsuki, you don’t know what a daemon is, and I can still feel our bond. What’s going on?”

“Our bond?” Katsuki echoed. Then he sighed, rubbing both hands across his face. It was too early to deal with this shit, and he was tired of waking up in strange universes. “Fuck, okay,” he said, collapsing into his desk chair far away from that strange bird as he could get. “Listen. No, I’m not your Katsuki. I’m from another world. Some villain hit me with her quirk, and now every time I wake up I’m in an alternate universe. When I go to sleep tonight, I’m going to probably show up in another fucking universe. Do you get it, or do I have to say it again?” The last sentence was snarled, glaring at the bird who was watching him with an impenetrable stare the entire time. He fucking hated that look. It raised his (thankfully metaphorical this time) hackles, made him draw himself up taller to be more imposing to the fucking bird in front of him. He tried not to feel ridiculous for trying to intimidate a bird.

“I see,” she eventually said, voice pensive. "I don’t see why you would have any reason to lie,” she added slowly. “And like I said, I could still feel the bond between us. It’s just… uncomfortable.” She gave herself a shake, settling the last of her literal ruffled feathers. “You’re going to be gone tomorrow? And my Katsuki should come back then?" she asked.

Katsuki shrugged. "How the hell should I know?" he grumbled. “I’m gone by then.”

“Well,” she said, a note of finality in her voice. “I suppose I can only hope for the best.”

“Fine with me,” Katsuki said, standing up and finishing getting dressed, doing his level best to ignore the bird’s stare.

“You’re not changing into your school uniform,” the bird observed, hopping off the headboard and onto the mattress of his bed.

“Nope, I’m out of here,” Katsuki said, grabbing his phone and, after making sure that this Katsuki used the same password to unlock it (he did), slid it into his pocket. “I need to find the person who did this to me and send me back. Then maybe you’ll get your Katsuki back before morning.”

“You are not skipping school!” she said, taking a couple awkward steps forward on the bed, her wings slightly spread. “Do you even know where she is? How are you going to make her send you back?” the bird said, and fuck that tone in her voice, like she was fucking scolding him. Katsuki gritted his teeth and shrugged on a hoodie.

"Watch me.” Katsuki said, sliding his shoes on. “Stay here if you want, I'm going to find her and make her send me home."

"You're kidding me, right?" The bird said, humor coloring her voice, eyes half-lidded in mirth.

"Fine," Katsuki said, shrugging and stomping over to the door. "Stay here, then."

"Oh, God, you're not."

Katsuki ignored the peahen, slamming the door shut behind him and stalking off, focused on getting to that villain and forcing her to send him back where he belonged.

He didn't get far.

The second the door slammed behind him he felt wrong. He tried to shake off the crawling feeling, but the further he got from his room the worse it felt, a clawing, aching feeling in his gut. God, it hurt, down deep in his soul, he needed it to stop. Every step further from the room was an agony, and he couldn’t take it anymore, he needed to get back to Alara, he needed to go back, he needed Alara!

He didn't even make it as far as the stairs before he was turning around and sprinting back to his room, hands fumbling with the lock. He threw the door open and there was a sound of feathers, and then the bird was there, clawed feet scrabbling against his chest for purchase, and his arms wrapped around her, holding her tight, tight, pressing her as close to him as he could get as he slumped to the floor, his knees hitting floorboards with a hard thud be barely felt. He was barely aware of himself repeating, low and choked, a steady refraid of, “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” and the bird hushing him, soothing him with “I’m here,” and “I got you, it’s okay.” He could feel the tears against his face, but he couldn’t bring himself to care about them. He just needed to be close to her for a minute. Or two. Or ten. And just breathe together.

Eventually they were able to peel themselves away, though the bird just shifted to his shoulder, her head tucked under his chin. He found himself automatically shifting to support her - she was surprisingly light for her size, but she was large and bulky. He curled his arm up to provide a better perch, his fingers finding their way to scratch right under her crest. Her eyes closed in pleasure, and he could feel almost an echo of that same sensation in his own body.

“What the fuck was that,” he gasped, still haven’t quite caught his breath after that frankly embarrassing display of emotion.

“You really don’t know, do you?” the bird sighed. “Idiot. What did you think I meant when I said we were bonded?”

“Fuck if I know,” Katsuki growled, though he still kept petting her with slow, light strokes.

“I’m your soul, dumbass. What, do daemons don’t exist where you’re from, or something?”

“No,” Katsuki snapped. “They don’t.”

The bird froze, blinking owlishly at Katsuki. “Oh,” she said. “That’s weird. Where do you keep your souls, then?” She physically shook herself, then nipped at Katsuki’s ear, making him hiss and twist his head away. “Anyway, doesn’t matter. You’re going to be late for homeroom.”

“I told you,” Katsuki growled. “I’m not going to class, I’m going to find that villain and make her send me back to where I belong!”

“And you can do that after class!” she snapped back. “I’m not going to have you fuck up my Katsuki’s perfect attendence just because a villain kicked your ass!”

“What the hell did you say!” Katsuki roared. It was awkward as fuck to be yelling at a bird two inches away from his face, but he didn’t fucking care.

“You want to test me?” she huffed, drawing herself up to her full height and making Katsuki have to crane his neck to look her in the eye. “I will take myself to class, with you or without you. You don’t know how to handle being separated from your daemon, how long do you think you can go before you come crawling back to me? With everyone watching?”

Katsuki seethed. What the hell was her problem? If she wanted her Katsuki back, shouldn’t she be begging him to go find that villain? To track her down, threaten to blow her face off if she doesn’t do what they tell her?

As if she was reading his mind, she continued. “I’ll get my Katsuki back either way come tomorrow, but I’ll be damned if I let you ruin our chances to become the number one Hero. Especially if you get caught running around town during school hours. I don’t know what sort of reputation you have, but my Katsuki really can’t afford to have another black mark against him.”

“Fucking… fine!” Katsuki spat, and kicked off his shoes to change into his school uniform. The peahen fluttered off of his shoulder to perch on the back of his computer chair, and once he’d changed for school flew back up to his shoulder.

“Do you always use your Katsuki for a free ride?” Katsuki muttered, exiting to the hallway. Fuck, there wasn’t any sound of anybody nearby, he really was running late.

“Yep!” she chirped, her voice dripping with smugness. “By the way, my name is-” the bird (daemon?) said.

“Alara,” Katsuki interrupted. “I know.”

At her look, he shrugged, careful not to disrupt her perch. “Every time I wake up, it’s like I can fucking feel the other Katsuki’s mind under mine. It’s not like I’m possessing them, but more like deja vu, or some shit. And then tomorrow, when I wake up I remember what happened to me, but I won’t be able to tell you about what happened to them before I showed up unless it also happened in my own universe.”

“Really?” Alara asked. “Can you give me an example? What was your last Katsuki like?”

Like hell was he going to tell her about being a fucking dog.

“I was Quirkless,” he said, tone flat.

“No!” Alara gasped, her feathers puffing out.

“Yeah,” he continued, staring straight forward as he walked down the hallway. “I can remember how it felt to be Quirkless and surrounded by all these fucking extras who actually had something worth a damn, but I can’t remember being a kid and getting the diagnosis. Not clearly, at least - it’s…” he trailed off, trying to find the words. “It feels like telling someone about a dream you had. When you first wake up you can remember the whole thing, but once you try telling someone all the details just fade away and you just remember how you felt during the dream..”

“Huh,” Alara hummed. “That’s good though, isn’t it? Not having two lifetimes worth of memories crowding up your head?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. “It is.” It was already stressful enough having to deal with new worlds every day, Katsuki couldn’t begin to imagine what it would be like if he had the entire memories of every single lifetime shoved into his skull to deal with on top of his own.

Katsuki didn’t quite realize what Alara meant by her being his ‘soul’ or whatever, but the second he stepped onto UA campus proper he could tell that he was by no means unique in having an animal hanging around him.

Every single person had some sort of animal at their side, though some were so small Katsuki couldn’t notice them at first. Dogs, cats, birds, lizards, animals of all shapes and sizes walking or flying at a person’s side, or playing with each other as students stood and chatted. Interestingly enough, it did seem like none of the animals, daemons, Katsuki corrected himself, really talked aloud to any of the students that they weren’t bonded with, and from what he could tell nobody touched another person’s daemon, people and daemons carefully moving around each other when they passed.

What the hell was up with this world?

They were more or less quiet on the way to the classroom, neither of them wanting to talk about anything where sharper ears could pick up anything with an unspoken agreement.
But the second he stepped into the classroom he couldn’t help but react.

Katsuki stopped in his tracks at the sight of Deku and his nerdy friends standing in the middle of the room chatting away. It wasn't necessarily them that he was looking at, but rather their daemons.

He couldn't see Four-Eyes', either because it was too small to see or it was hiding. Pink Cheeks had a flying squirrel perched on her shoulder, and that Half-and-half bastard had an arctic fox sitting primly at his feet. All slightly interesting, but it was Deku's that made him stop.

The useless idiot was just chatting away, casually leaning against the bulk of the fucking lioness at his back.

"What the fuck," Katsuki choked. Even as he watched Deku reach back to stroke her broad head, and rather than bite his hand off like a lion should she nuzzled at it, giving his fingers an affectionate lick.

Alara sighed, and said softly in her ear, "Yeah, that was pretty much my Katsuki's reaction, too, when Joji settled. He didn't believe it at first. But I'm glad for him; a strong hero needs a strong daemon."

Katsuki could 'remember' what she meant; how her Katsuki had scoffed and rolled his eyes when Deku walked into UA with a lioness at his heels - for years before she settled on her lioness form she'd preferred smaller, easily hidden animals like insects, ferrets, rabbits. It wasn't until later, when Deku revealed his borrowed quirk that he realized that maybe she wasn't putting on a show.

And that had just pissed Katsuki off more. This Katsuki loved Alara, he could fucking feel the amount of affection bubbling beneath the surface, and he and wouldn't do a thing to change her, but to him it seemed like Deku specifically chose a lion to spite him, to literally overshadow Alara and divert attention from her to his daemon.

There was another nip to his ear and what the fuck, he was going to have to check out this Katsuki’s ears in the mirror at some point, see if they were just covered in fucking scars from this fucking annoying-ass bird. “People are staring,” Alara whispered, and that shook Katsuki out of his shock.

No longer deigning to look at his classmates or the animals hanging off of them (literally in some cases), he slouched over to his desk and slumped into it, doing his damnedest to look unruffled and unaffected by the petting zoo going on in his classroom. He could feel Alara step off his right shoulder, down to the back of his chair, and then perch herself on his opposite shoulder, and it took him a second to realize that she was moving to let anyone sitting behind him (Deku) have an unblocked view of the blackboard. Nice of her, he supposed. He wouldn’t have given a damn.

It wasn’t long after that when Aizawa came in, and Katsuki’s eyes immediately picked out the cat slung around his shoulders, half-hidden in the scarf. Black, medium-haired but for the long fur on its tail, if it wasn’t for the glowing orange eyes or the slow ticking of its tail he wouldn’t have been able to see him staring out from where he blended into his teacher’s hair.

Katsuku physically shook his head to try and get his focus away from fucking staring at everyone’s weird soul-animals, opening a notebook to start taking notes. Alara wanted him to get to class? Fine, he was in class, and he’d even take notes for this universe’s Katsuki.

But as soon as the bell rang he was fucking out of there.

_*_

The day dragged by.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as that first disastrous day where he woke up Quirkless, and it was at least a bit more intellectually-stimulating than when he was living as a fucking dog, but his mind was a million miles away, focused on what he’d do once the bell rang for the day. There was no telling where that villain would be, or even if she was in the same city in this universe. Hell, he knew for a fact that there was no guarantee that she was even human this time around. But he had to try. He didn’t know how many more of these universes he would be able to go through without absolutely losing it.

Finally, finally, the final bell rang. He didn’t waste any time getting his things together, just shoving them into his bag and slinging them on one shoulder, body automatically adjusting for Alara to flutter over to perch on his other side as he pushed his way past the throng of people and animals to get out the door. People made comments as he passed, both indignant as he nearly shouldered them aside and concerned when he just ignored them.

Once he got clear of the school and the press of bodies all around, Alara heaved a sigh. “Katsuki’s going to deal with that tomorrow, thanks.”

“Whatever,” Katsuki grumbled. “I doubt he’s a goodie-two-shoes even with you squawking in his ear all day.”

“It’s not that he’s a ‘goodie-two-shoes,’” Alara said. “But I’m sure even you would have to deal with people asking annoying questions if you just stormed out of class one day. You didn’t even yell at anyone for bugging you on the way out.”

“So what?” he asked. “I’m busy, I got shit to do.”

“I know that,” she huffed. “But people are going to ask questions, and now my Katsuki is going to have to answer them tomorrow, and how are we going to do that in a way that isn’t just going to cause us more trouble in the long run? You’re from an alternative universe, Katsuki, don’t you think that people are going to be a little concerned about that?”

“Whatever, I’m going to be out of here soon, anyway,” Katsuki rolled his eyes. And it was true - whether or not he found the villain, one way or another once he fell asleep he’ll pop back up in another universe. But at least in this one he had fucking opposable thumbs.

Alara sighed again. “Of course you don’t care, I don’t even know why I bothered. You know,” she continued. “One of these days you’re going to learn that other people do matter. I just wish my Katsuki would learn that, soon, too.”

Katsuki didn’t have anything to say to that, and instead they were silent even as they boarded the subway, Alara only leaving his shoulder for the length of the trip, perching on one of the many beams stretched along the ceiling where other daemons on the smaller side waited above their people.

Once they got off the train Katsuki kept his eyes peeled for the villain - he didn’t know if she lived in the area or if she was merely visiting, but this part of the city was the only lead he had on her.

“So, who are we looking for?” Alara murmured into his ear.

“Female villain,” Katsuki said curtly. He described her, making sure to mention the fucking gun she had on her when this whole mess started.

“Got it,” Alara said, spreading her wings.

“What the hell are you doing?” Katsuki snapped.

“Fucking wings, dumbass,” Alara said. “I’ll look around, see if I can spot her from the sky. Don’t worry,” she said when Katsuki tensed, remembering that horrible gut-wrenching pulling sensation from earlier in the day. “I’ll stay nice and close so you don’t get uncomfy.”

He swatted at her but, apparently anticipating it, Alara had already taken to the air, her wings trailing sparks. As he watched her wings snapped down, a small controlled explosion launching her into the air higher and faster than merely beating her wings would.

He shook his head and told himself to focus.

Find the villain, demand she undo whatever her alternate self had done, and get back home where he belonged.

Even with Alara’s help they wandered the streets for hours, pausing only for a light snack that Alara insisted on, but eating where they could keep an eye on the flow of foot traffic, just in case. Every time Alara took flight they’d push the limits of their bond, Katsuki feeling constantly on-edge, his chest clenching with a sensation he could only call anxiety at her distance.

Then, after the sun had set and the streets were lit only by the light given off from storefronts and neon signage, they found her.

Alara spotted her first. She swooped down, barely over the heads of people as the tips of the feathers brushed the top of Katsuki’s head, flying quickly in a particular direction. Katsuki didn’t need words to know that she’d found her.

He followed after her, keeping one eye on where Alara had flown back up into the sky in order to attract less attention but he desperately scanned the crowd, trying to spot the villain.

Then, finally, there. The villain didn’t seem to know she was being tracked, pausing to look at a clothing display, and Katsuki paused before he got too close and alerted her to his presence, moving to the side so that people could move past him while he watched the villain with narrowed eyes.

She looked exactly the same as the last two times he’d seen her, with her hair cut into a bob and wearing mostly black, an unseasonably warm coat hiding any hint of any weapons she had on hand. He sneered at himself - he should have known better then to assume she just had the one revolver under that coat, she could have had any number of weapons hidden. He’d have to be careful and keep her hands in sight at all times when he finally confronted her.

He barely moved as Alara alighted on his shoulder, though he did twist his head away with a scowl when she nipped at his ear.

“That’s her, right?” Alara asked in said nipped ear, voice low.

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted. He wouldn’t be forgetting her any time soon.

When the villain left the clothing rack and continued down the street Katsuki followed, keeping a distance between them.

They followed her for nearly an hour until they had an opportunity to approach, Katsuki following where he could, or Alara taking to the skies to be his eyes when the throng of people got too thick or he had to fall back to minimize being caught out. She was a lot more useful than Katsuki initially thought - he mused on how during an actual mission they would be a great team, though too bad she was so annoying outside of the mission.

He had to get his head back into the game, though, when the woman entered a more residential area, and she headed down a side street with darkened buildings on one side, a river on the other. He kept back still, waiting for a moment to strike.

Then, that moment came - there was a bridge that led across the river, small space under the bridge that was dark and enclosed where they wouldn’t be noticed by the average passerby. They probably wouldn’t get any better of a chance, and the night was getting late.

He moved.

Explosions would attract attention, so he didn’t use them. Instead he ran straight at her at full speed, Alara flying high above him and keeping an eye out, and before she could so much as turn around at the sound of his approaching footsteps he was on her, grabbing her in a tackle that took them down off to the river bank and rolling them under the bridge.

She struggled before they came to a full stop, arms and legs thrashing. She inhaled deep, but before she could scream Katsuki had one hand clasped over her mouth and the other, clawed over her face.

She froze, eyes wide as she stared up at him. The lighting under the bridge was almost zero, but Katsuki could see her eyes as wide as they could go as she looked up at him where he crouched over her, knees pinning her hands to her side, terrified.

As well as she should be.

“Send me back!” Katsuki growled.

The woman only made a muffled noise in return, annoyingly confused. Katsuki snarled and pulled his hand off her face to fist her shirt and pulled her up some, his furious face inches away from hers.

“I said send me back,” Katsuki growled, hand leveled threateningly at her face.

“I can’t!” she cried. Her wide eyes were focused on his hand and where it was inches away - she probably didn’t know what he could do, but the lack of knowledge could only work in his favor.

“Liar,” he snapped, letting a couple sparks pop hotly from his palm.

“I’m telling you the truth!” she said, her voice pitching higher, louder. “It must have been one of my other selves, this me doesn’t have a quirk!”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Katsuki snarled. “Send me back where I belong, intact or be missing half a face, it’s your choice!”

“Katsuki,” Alara butted in, landing next to him. “I think she’s telling the truth.”

“She is,” another voice cut in, and a tiny mouse, the villain’s daemon, skittered over to stand in Katsuki’s line of sight. Alara stiffened looking at him, but Katsuki just shot him a glare.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked.

“She isn’t my Hanna,” the daemon said, quickly, desperation in his voice. “She really doesn’t have a quirk, either. My Hanna never got one, and she disappeared years ago, and every day there’s a new one in her place.”

Both Katsuki and Alara stared at him, speechless for a long moment until Katsuki said, voice trembling with the barely-restrained fury behind it, “Are you fucking KIDDING ME?!”

“It’s okay though!” the villain said, talking quickly, her tone hysterically bright as Katsuki turned his glare back to her. “You’ll go back to your original world eventually, I swear! It’s how my Quirk works!”

“Explain,” Katsuki said, tone flat.

“Could you get off of me?” she suggested hopefully.

Katsuki glared at her for a moment but shuffled back. He still had a hand up to blast her at the first suspicious movement, but he gave her space.

The woman pushed herself up to a sitting position and adjusted her clothing under Katsuki’s careful watch, and once she finished getting herself in order she took a deep breath.

“My Quirk is called Samsara,” she said. “You probably figured out that it sends you to different universes?” At Katsuki’s silent glare, she continued. “Yeah, so when I was a kid I just suddenly woke up in another universe. Something in my blood makes it that my… consciousness, I guess? It makes it bounce from universe to universe at midnight every night. Me and my other selves figured out that if we sort of imbue bullets in our blood and shoot at someone, it will send them into another universe. You’re lucky, though - the amount of blood per bullet means that you’ll only jump a limited number of times. How many times did the other me shoot you? Like, three, four times?”

“A lot,” Katsuki snarled, remembering the sound of shot after shot as his consciousness faded. “So are you saying that my real body is back there, with a dozen bullets in it?!”

“Not real bullets!” she said quickly. “More like… blood pellets?”

“So, how am I going to get back? Can you send me back now?” Katsuki demanded. At least his body wasn’t torn apart by being shot to pieces, but it was still not an ideal situation.

She shook her head. “I can’t. Your soul is going to keep hopping until you get back to your real body. Even if I had a Quirk in this universe I wouldn’t be able to send you to it, just… keep adding to your total hops.”

“What about my Katsuki?” Alara cut in, stepping forward between the two of them. “Is he caught… hopping or whatever between worlds?”

The woman, Hanna, shook her head. “No. He’s just been… misplaced? I guess? He’ll come back tomorrow, when this guy moves on.”

Alara sighed in apparent relief.

Katsuki wasn’t as soothed. “How do you know all this? If you keep ‘hopping’ or whatever, how can you tell what your Quirk does?”

The woman went to reach into her coat pocket, and Katsuki’s hands sparked threateningly. She paused, then in slow, obvious movements opened her jacket pocket and, using two fingers, pulled out a notebook. She thumbed through it, showing Katsuki that each page was covered in writing in many different hands. “We talk, me and the other mes. We’ve experimented.” She gave a slight laugh. “As much as we could experiment, some were better able to than others.”

Katsuki growled. “So, you’re saying you can’t do shit for me? You can’t send me back?”

She shook her head. “Anything I do would just make it worse for you.”

“Fucking useless,” he spat, rising to his own feet and stomping away.

“For what it’s worth, kid,” Hanna called after him. “I’m sorry you’re caught up in this. Some of the other mes, because we don’t really have to deal with the consequences of our actions, they don’t really have any real reason to stay on the straight and narrow, you know?”

Katsuki didn’t bother giving her another response, just stalked away, not even acknowledging Alara when she fluttered up to land on his shoulder.

They were quiet for a long while, neither of them speaking up until Alara, softly, said, “We should probably get you back before it gets much later. She said you’ll go away at midnight.”

Katsuki let out a breath. “Yeah,” he said.

_*_

They were almost back at the UA dorms when Alara broke their silence. “Can you do… well. Yourself a favor?”

Katsuki grunted. “What?”

“It’s just… when you go to a different universe, there are going to be Katsuki’s there that are living their own lives, have their own hopes and dreams, you know? Could you… try not to screw things up for them?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he snarled.

“It’s like with my Katsuki,” she continued, voice just as steady as before. “If you would have played the truant today, he’d be facing the repercussions from it. Neither of us wanna get kicked out of UA for a dumb reason like that. So just… use those memories you said you get, and just try and play along? Just for the day?”

“Whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes.

Alara sighed, heavily. “Well, I tried,” she said. Then, in a different tone of voice, added, “And speaking of hopes and dreams.”

Katsuki glanced up at her words, intending on looking to see what the hell she was talking about, when his eyes alighted on none other than Deku, waiting at the steps of the dorm with that big-ass lion stretched out at his side like a miniature sphynx.

Alara fluttered down to Joji’s side, and the lion let out a weird chuffing noise before leaning down to nuzzle at Alara’s breast, sticking out a tongue bigger than Alara’s head to smooth down her feathers. Alara closed her eyes and crooned, swiping her own head across the side of Joji’s muzzle, nibbling delicately at the coarse fur behind her ears.

He felt… something warm, and swelling in his chest that felt oddly distant. With a start he realized he was feeling it from Alara and the way she felt about that fucking lion. And if he was feeling her affection, maybe that was the chest-clenching anxiety that he’d been feeling was hers all along?

“Kacchan,” Deku said, and from the tone of his voice it sounded like he’d had to repeat himself a few times.

“What?” Katsuki snapped, glaring at the nerd.

Deku didn’t say anything at first, just looked between Katsuki and where their daemons were fucking cuddling up to each other, Alara almost squished under Joji’s massive paw as the lioness continued grooming the smaller daemon. “I was just…” Deku trailed off for a moment, before continuing. “You left in such a rush earlier, and then you’ve been gone all day. Nobody knew where you went. Is everything… okay?”

Katsuki’s phone had been sending alert after alert while he and Alara were looking out for the villain, at least until Katsuki had turned it off. He should have known that someone would go sticking their nose in his business when he didn’t respond to anyone, but he had more important things on his mind.

He also should have known that that ‘someone’ would have been none other than Deku.

“Everything’s fine, nerd,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and fully prepared to walk past Deku, leave both the idiot and the animals behind to their little cuddle puddle.

Deku obviously had other ideas, taking a step in front of Katsuki.

Katsuki stopped, feeling his mouth twist into a baffled sneer. What the hell was this asshole doing? Did having a fucking lion as his soul make him finally grow a damn spine?

...Katsuki wasn’t sure what he thought about that. Sure, Deku in the past had no problem confronting Katsuki when he didn’t have any business sticking his nose where it didn’t belong, usually when Katsuki and the losers he hung out in middle school were picking on someone else. Frustratingly, often the person they were picking on was more able to defend themselves from Deku just by the fact that they had a fucking quirk. But Deku’s courage and when he chose to use it was baffling to Katsuki at the best of times, but rarely did Deku ever confront Katsuki for his own sake.

Katsuki had to wonder if it was that lion’s fault, that she was the push Deku needed to stand up for himself, and not just other people.

Whatever the reason, Katsuki had a Deku in front of him and was in the way of him getting to bed and getting a damn night’s sleep.

And had been talking all the while Katsuki was taken aback by his utter gall.

“-people were just worried about you,” Deku was saying when Katsuki finally started paying attention. “You weren’t acting like yourself all day, and then when you disappeared some of us were wondering if something bad had happened, and you didn’t say anything to anyone so we weren’t sure if it was anything important. We talked to Aizawa-sensei but he just told us to give you some space and if you haven’t returned by the time curfew started to let him know, but it’s really only a few minutes until then and we-”

“Enough, idiot,” Katsuki groaned, wincing at the rant. He was too tired and too damn annoyed to deal with Deku’s muttering that night. “I’m fine. I’m back. You can tell people to get off my fucking back and go to bed, alright?”

His piece said, he pushed past Deku, his shoulder knocking against Deku’s hard enough that he caught the other boy rubbing at it with his opposite hand, a frown on his face. Katsuki scowled at the sight. Once upon a time that would have given him a little bit of a thrill, seeing Deku put in his place, but anymore it just annoyed him. It just wasn’t satisfying anymore to hurt Deku, even in these small, petty ways. It didn’t give him the same feeling of superiority anymore when he knew Deku could easily hit him back ten times as hard but refused to. It was a… gross, wrong feeling. He didn’t like it.

He shoved down that feeling as far as it would go and just stalked up to the dorm. At the sound of feathers he shifted just enough so that Alara could perch on his shoulder, body adapting instantly to give her space, and left Deku and that lion of his behind.

There were a couple people hanging out in the common area. At the sound of the door closing some of them called out to him, asking him where he’d been and other annoying questions that Katsuki brushed off, beelining for the stairs.

“What the hell was that about?” Katsuki sneered to Alara as he climbed. “You and that lion back there looked awful cozy.”

“Katsuki…” Alara sighed. “Whatever happened between you and Izuku in both of our timelines, Joji and I never stopped being friends.”

Katsuki sniffed. He didn’t have any response to that other than a muttered, “Don’t stand so close to my face, you’re covered in lion slobber.”

Alara huffed a laugh, but didn’t say anything until after they’d gotten back to his dorm room.

He showered, Alara waiting for him on her perch at his headboard. He dried his hair as he scrolled through his cell, clearing all the alerts that popped up while he and Alara were looking for the villain. Apparently this Katsuki had gotten kidnapped by the League as well (and he had to very forcefully concentrate on not trying to bring up memories of the event - his own or borrowed, he really didn’t need to be thinking about that right then), so when Katsuki had disappeared for hours people had started getting frantic.

He fired off a quick text to Kirishima, “I’m back. Going to bed.” and figured he’d just pass the message along if Deku hadn’t already.

“It’s late,” Alara said. When he looked up from his phone she was looking at his alarm clock. It was about 2200, much later than his usual preferred bedtime, but only a couple hours before midnight. Before he’d get sucked into another universe, apparently.

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. He could feel the anxiety coming off of her again, even if he couldn’t see the way she couldn’t sit still on her perch, the way her feathers puffed out and smoothed, over and over.

She looked back on him and, a trace of humor in her voice, asked, “I don’t suppose I can talk you into doing homework tonight?” At Katsuki’s steady glare she chuckled. “It was worth a shot. At least it’s not due for a couple days.”

Katsuki finished getting ready for bed and slid under the covers. Of course he didn’t fall asleep quickly, though. Disappointment over not being able to force the villain to send him back (even if this version of her wasn’t a villain, he didn’t care enough to make the distinction in his mind) warred with frustration. He couldn’t remember how often she’d shot him - that specific detail didn’t seem important at the time.

So, how many of these worlds would he have to go through in order to get back to his real one? How many worlds would he have to deal with before he could get back in his original body and kick that villain’s ass?

Fuck, he couldn’t even kick her ass, could he? She said that she switches bodies every day, too, so by the time he got back there would be someone different in her place, and fuck, fuck he’d never be able to face the one who did this to him, would he?

“Ah-” Alara started, then quickly cut herself off. Katsuki opened his eyes to see her hunched in on herself, eyes shut tight.

“...Yeah?” Katsuki prompted.

“...My Katsuki is going to come back tonight, right?” Alara said, her voice smaller than Katsuki had heard yet. Quiet, and scared.

Katsuki sighed. “Yeah,” he said, voice low. “That’s what that chick said, at least. And I keep waking up somewhere else every day, so at least I won't be here tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she said. She was quiet for a long moment, and then Katsuki felt movement on the bed behind him. He turned over to see Alara on the bed, and something about how she looked, he could just feel the sadness radiating off of her. Katsuki didn’t know what to do, just lifted his closest hand, intending on doing… something. Maybe pat her on the head or something? She seemed to like that before. Instead she took his raised arm as permission, burrowing into his side, her head tucked into his neck.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and Katsuki had to wonder if birds could cry, her voice was so miserable. “You’re like him in so many ways, but I miss him. I need my Katsuki back. I’m just… incomplete without him.”

“You’ll get him back tomorrow?” Katsuki offered, feeling lost. Nobody had ever tried to get reassurance from him before.

He could feel Alara shake her head a little, but then she didn’t say anything else for the rest of the night.

As Katsuki fell asleep, feeling that pulling, falling sensation once more, he couldn’t help but wonder how it would feel to have someone worry about him like that.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up irritated.

"What now," he grumbled the moment his eyes opened, tossing his covers off without bothering to sit up first. He felt over-warm and itchy, and he just barely resisted the urge to pull his black tank top off.

But, first things first; he looked at his hands, breathing a sigh of relief to see his familiar human hands. A few sparks shooting from his palms ensured he had his quirk, and a glance around proved that he was in his regular dorm at UA and that there were no strange livestock hanging out.

A mild fever or whatever wasn't too bad compared to all that. But he knew he needed to keep a careful eye out for anything out of the ordinary - a couple days ago he didn't know he'd been quirkless until he actually tried using his quirk.

He peeled himself out of bed and washed up in his bathroom, splashing water on his face to hopefully lower his fever a bit. It didn’t seem to do much, though the cool water felt refreshing against his hot skin.

There wasn’t much else he could do for it, he figured, and got dressed for the day. He was in the middle of reaching for his doorknob when he paused, a feeling of forgetting something scratching at the back of his head. His homework was in his bag, he had plenty of time to grab something quick to eat on the way to class, so he had no idea what it could be.

He shook his head, physically dispelling the feeling. He’d figure it out later, or this universe’s Katsuki would deal with it. He was already feeling irritated and fidgety enough as it was.

Half a step out of his room he bumped into what felt like a solid wall. Still feeling a little dizzy he stumbled back, and would have fallen on his ass if it wasn't for the hands reaching out and grabbing him under his biceps, steadying him until he got his feet properly under him.

"Hey, you okay?" A voice asked. Kirishima. Shitty-hair.

"Fine," he snapped on instinct, though he really, really didn't feel fine. He was about to say something else, but what it was flew out of his brain because that's when it hit him.

The scent.

Kirishima smelled delicious.

Like apples and caramel, and something maybe a little spicy, strong. It made Katsuki want to bury his nose into that scent and just breathe it in, and what the fuck? He took a couple steps back, breathing through his mouth so that he wouldn’t have to inhale that scent anymore, and it didn’t even work as well as he hoped.

“Whoa, man,” Shitty-hair said, taking a step back, himself, a hand coming up to cover his nose and mouth with the back. “Uh, are you sure you’re okay? Maybe you should, you know, take a day off or something…?”

“I’m fine,” Katsuki growled again, pushing past him to head for the stairs and getting another whiff of that scent.

He passed by a couple others on his way to the kitchen, determined just to grab something he could eat on the go rather than sit down because way too many of his classmates smelled way too fucking good .

Octopus Arms smelled woodsy and warm, Four Eyes like rich leather and steel, Racoon Eyes like some sort of pastry, all berries and spice. And others smelled different in still other ways; like Pink Cheeks who smelled sweet and soft, or Dunce Face whose smell he couldn’t pin down, but made him think of sheets soft and warm from the dryer.

Was that what was going on in this world? That everyone had a strong fucking smell to them? In the grand scheme of things Katsuki could live with that.

He couldn’t live with it for long, though.

Walking to class that morning was practically torture being surrounded by such strong scents. And the more he could smell them, the more he wanted… something. Some of the scents made him want to straight-up bury his nose in people’s necks, right where he knew the smell would be strongest, and just hold on and not let go, they were just that good.

Getting to class was a reprieve, if only for a little while. With the open window to his side he could finally get some fresh air in his lungs, banishing the scents that seemed to cling to his skin.

But then the rest of his classmates started trickling in, and bringing their scent with them.

Not all of them smelled quite so strongly or so… tempting, though it was not like he was specifically going out of his way to sniff them out. Quite a few - Frog Girl, Soy Sauce Face, Balls for Brains, they all had a strangely neutral scent to them. Others, like Dunce Face, Pink Cheeks, Koda, all had a more… comforting scent. Like fresh laundry, that you could snuggle up to and nap in peace.

All in all a sensation he really did not want to associate with the fucking Pikachu wannabe.

And then Deku passed him by, and Katsuki could feel his brain fucking perk up, like a dog hearing it’s fucking master’s voice.

He smelled way too fucking good - soothing, like fresh water, something like ozone, and cool mint (an appropriate scent to go with his ridiculous green hair). It made something in his blood catch fire, lighting an inferno under his skin and suddenly it was harder to breathe because that scent, that fucking smell that just tugged at his hind brain. The part of the brain that never evolved past an ape that just discovered it could hold a rock for defense and hunting wanted to go grab Deku and not let go, just take him and drag him somewhere quiet and dark and they could, they could…

Katsuki pushed himself to his feet and headed for the door, ignoring any of the extras who tried to stop him, tried to make friendly conversation or whatever the fuck it was as he headed for the door.

He needed to get away from everyone, needed to get somewhere he could be alone, for just five fucking minutes.

The bathroom was his best bet. He pushed his way through the halls, and fuck, some of the people he pushed past, the last of the students pushing the bell, they just smelled fucking fantastic, one or two actually made his feet stutter and trip over themselves for a moment, a lapse in his perfect control that pissed him off enough that he kept going, ignoring how those particular people had also stopped and were scenting the air, head back as they tried to, what? Seek him out in the crowd? Something about his scent that caught their attention.

Rut, his instincts cried. What he was feeling they were on the edge of, but complimentary. Not a full rut, he realized, or else they wouldn’t be shaking it off and walking away, leaving him fucking almost trembling with the need to follow after them instead of mindlessly seeking out the bathroom, where was the fucking bathroom?

He found it. The simple symbol on the door like a homing beacon for where he could just sit in silence and pull himself together.

He shouldered through the swinging door, practically giving some nobody pissing at the urinal a coronary as he snarled a furious, “Get the fuck out of here,” at him. The kid was still stuffing himself back into his pants as he stumbled out through the door, but Katsuki wasn’t paying him any attention. He was too busy filling his cupped hands with water, splashing his face, the back of his neck with water as cold as he could get it, still feeling that heat bubbling under his skin.

It wasn’t just a fever. He needed… something. Someone. He was trembling with it, the desire to just reach out and grab someone, anyone who could soothe the heat under his skin.

The door creaked, and Katsuki couldn’t fucking breathe as his head snapped up, eyes focused on the door. He knew who was on the other side, slowly, carefully pushing the door open.

“Are you in here, Kacchan?”

Deku. Just the thought of him brought up the memory of his scent - fresh and clean mint, with a hint of ozone running through it. Cool, but like sucking on a mint it would make a sip of water feel extra cold afterwards.

And then it wasn’t just a memory, the air flow bringing Deku’s scent in before the boy himself was in the room, and he inhaled deeply, instinctively, bringing that scent into his lungs and feeling it spread through his body, till he was shaking with it by the time Deku had fully entered the bathroom, their eyes meeting.

Deku was there. Deku. Deku Deku DekuDekuDekuDeku.

He didn’t know how he got there, but he found himself pressed up against Deku, squeezing the smaller boy between himself and the wall. He had his hands buried in Deku’s thick hair, practically knotting it between his fingers as he gripped it, his palms tilting Deku’s face up as they… kissed? Fuck, yeah, they were kissing, though it could barely be classified as something like mere kissing - Katsuki was practically devouring Deku’s mouth, tongue sweeping inside the boy’s parted lips, tasting his mouth, biting this side of too-hard at Deku’s lips, surrounded by that scent, that scent!

His body was just moving on its own, Katsuki being taken for a ride as he straddled Deku’s leg, the firm thigh solid with muscle strong and secure under him as he put more and more of his weight against Deku, and when Deku’s hands finally came up to grip him back, sliding under his jacket and skirting around his waist in sweeping strokes Katsuki practically melted against him, a sound like a mix between a sigh and a groan escaping him.

Fuck, his hands were cool, almost cold against his burning skin, and it was like a balm to the heat under his skin.

Deku's hands pressed along the front of Katsuki's hips then slid back, cupping the globes of Katsuki's ass. Katsuki sank even deeper into the curve of Deku's body, groaning in need but pressing his hips back, back into where Deku's hands were so close to where he wanted, needed them.

Fuck, his body felt like it was on goddamn fire, burning up from the inside, and getting closer to Deku didn't quench the fire but instead made it flare hotter, hotter, consuming him in a way that was nearly painful but at the same time he just couldn't bring himself to care. But his touch was such a balm to the flames that it just made him want to touch him more, a cruel juxtaposition.

He almost didn't notice when one of Deku's hands left his ass and disappeared somewhere, instead just hitched his leg higher into Deku's hip, wrenching his mouth away from Deku's to mouth at his jaw, his neck, and Deku's head fell back with a gasp and oh, this was even better than kissing. Deku's skin tasted so good, and there was something about his scent on his neck that was even better than expected, centered on one spot in particular where his neck met his shoulder and Katsuki's mouth just about watered at the thought of biting down, hard. He lipped at the spot, feeling Deku shudder and the clothed hardness against his own twitch.

He didn't notice Deku's hand leaving, but he definitely noticed when it returned, because it slammed down on the outside of his thigh, hard, accompanied by a sharp stabbing pain.

"Ow, fuck!" Katsuki snarled, leaning back enough to look down at where Deku's hand was withdrawing, a narrow plastic tube with a needle on the end in his fist. It was mostly featureless, but for an Alpha symbol stamped on the end. "What the fuck was that for?"

"You're in heat!" Deku snapped, and Katsuki could only blink at him. Deku's face was flushed, eyes dark, but his expression was as pissed as Katsuki had ever seen it, the hand that was on Katsuki's ass clamped onto the side of his own neck right over where Katsuki was about to bite down. "I had to use my own suppressant on you! Why didn't you have yours on you if you were so close to going into heat?"

"I didn't fucking know, okay?" Katsuki snapped, not knowing what the fuck Deku was talking about, but reacting instinctively to his biting tone. At that moment he realized that he was still pressed up against Deku from the waist down, and that they were both still hard. Mortification welled up within him and he backed off, face burning as he turned away, hiding his aroused state from Deku. As well as he could - he could smell Deku's own arousal, nose as sharp as the fucking dog's as this Katsuki, and he was sure Deku could smell it on him.

Which, by the way, what the fuck was that all about? What was going on with him that just fucking jumping Deku out of nowhere sounded like a good idea? He couldn't even help himself, and that was the scary part. The shock of pain from the injection shook him out of his mindlessly aroused state, but he could feel the arousal fade as fast as it came on, and he could only assume it was due to whatever Deku had injected into him.

It didn’t fade completely, though - something about Deku’s scent, something in Katsuki’s skin was still craving contact. It wasn’t the hot, intense, fuck, fuck, fuck that it was just moments ago, but he hated the distance between them.

And then he knew, he knew what was going on. Because while his muzzy from the fucking heat he was going through, the memories from this Katsuki finally broke through.

Because he finally understood that people in this universe went through heats like fucking dogs. Or, at least some people, and lucky Katsuki was one of them. Heats, periods where he was exceptionally fertile (and oh boy did he not want to chase that particular thread of information to its logical conclusion), and just wanted to fucking hump any Alpha that he could. Alphas, of course, being the people who smelled really fucking good.

Like Deku.

Who still smelled fantastic, even now that Katsuki was a bit more in his right mind. Who might have smelled even better now, because Katsuki could still scent a bit of underlying arousal mixed in with the heavy scent in the air.

And maybe he wasn’t quite in his right mind, because he wanted to get closer to that scent again, wanted to get back up against Deku, because his body was crying out for that scent, and he really, really, wasn’t the sort of person who let anything get between him and what he wanted.

“Stop it,” Deku said, and it was like his body just fucking froze in place, before he even realized that he was slinking right back up to Deku; he couldn’t move, he could barely breathe because Deku said - because the Alpha in front of him said not to, and fuck but he wanted to. The fire under his skin was banked thanks to whatever Deku gave him, but his body still yearned for the contact of Deku’s skin on his.

He let out a noise, he couldn’t tell if it was a whine or a whimper, whatever it was was fucking embarassing but he couldn’t find it within him to care as much as he should.

“I’m sorry, Kacchan,” Deku said, and no, no, he was moving away from him, taking a couple steps back, why was he moving away! “I shouldn’t have used the Voice on you, and you can be mad as you want later, but we need to get you to Recovery Girl. Can you follow me?”

Yes, Katsuki can follow Deku. He nodded rapidly, feeling his heart fucking flutter in his chest. He was barely aware of what Deku was saying, but he wanted to take Katsuki somewhere. Katsuki could follow Deku anywhere.

Deku looked at Katsuki, and Katsuki didn’t like the expression on his face - it was… sad, and worried, but his face was still flushed, Katsuki could still smell how aroused Deku still was. Why was he so sad when Katsuki would be so good for him?

“Okay,” Deku said, his voice rasping just a little, and Katsuki whined again at the sound. “Follow me.”

Katsuki’s body seemed to jerk on it’s own, falling into movement without Katsuki’s full intent to do so, but he was following Deku out of the bathroom and as he moved through the empty hallways of UA, feet moving at a rapid pace just under a jog.

At one point Katsuki reached out, needing to get his hands on Deku - he could feel his heat still under his skin begin to bubble and boil again, slowly building up despite the suppressant Deku gave him. Suppressors. They just suppressed his heat, it didn’t completely get rid of it, did they? But Deku said he’d help Katsuki, so he just had to… put up with it, right? But Deku didn’t say he couldn’t touch, and touching Deku felt so good.

Why did Deku make him stop, again?

He could only brush Deku’s arm with the tips of his fingers before Deku jerked his arm away, his jacket twitching just out of reach.

”Stop it,” Deku said, and Katsuki whimpered even as his arm fell limp to his side. He’d listen, though. He’d be good.

He was so concerned about being good, about keeping his hands to himself and following Deku like he was Told to, that he didn’t even notice when they entered another room. He just watched Deku’s face as he talked to someone, swaying towards him when Deku gestured towards Katsuki (Deku Said Katsuki couldn’t touch him, but maybe if Deku… accidentally touched Katsuki that would work? That would still be Katsuki doing what Deku said, right?). There was someone in the room with them, though their scent was… forgettable, bland. Ignorable. He was still focussed on Deku when the owner of that plain scent led him by the hand to a bed and had him sit. Still watching Deku when there was another stabbing pain in his thigh, this time on the other one.

“Fuck, shit!” he snapped, jerking his leg instinctively away from the source of the pain.

Who was Recovery Girl, he realized, holding another one of those plastic pen-things, this one stamped with an Omega symbol on the non-pointed end. He could feel the medication rush through his system even better and cleaner than before, taking the heat with him, and his brain began to clear and with it brought utter and abject humiliation. And a sensation he could only describe as shame, thick and miserable.

“Fuck,” he muttered again, covering his face with both hands and falling back against the bed, curling his legs up and turning to his side because he was still fucking hard. He couldn’t deal with anything right then.

“Looks like you’re back with us,” Recovery Girl said, capping the suppressant pen and popping it neatly into a sharps box bolted against the wall. “Are you going to need anything?” she asked, and Katsuki peeked at her, fucking astounded at the question, but she wasn’t looking at him. Instead she was looking at Deku, who was standing in the doorway, face flushed and glancing between her and where Kastuki was curled up.

“Ah, no,” Deku said. “I’ll be fine in a bit. Is Kacchan…?” he trailed off, the blush getting somehow deeper.

“We can take it from here,” Recovery Girl said soothingly. “You can return to class if you’re ready.”

Deku nodded and looked over at Katsuki, biting his lip hard, eyes shining with some emotion Katsuki couldn’t put a name to that still pissed him off. “I’m sorry, Kacchan,” Deku said. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

Katsuki just sneered a dismissive “Tch,” looking away. He was mad. He was fucking pissed, and he didn’t know if it was because of Deku using that inescapable Voice on him that forced Katsuki to listen to him like a good fucking dog or if it was because of the plain and utter mortification he felt bubbling up under his skin where the heat had left. He could feel this Katsuki’s instincts wanting to be pissed at the Voice more than Katsuki expected, but Katsuki himself wasn’t sure what he wanted to be more furious at. Just in general feeling annoyed and pissed and mortified and just wanting to get the fuck out of there before he jumped anybody else.

And yeah, that was also something he was pissed off about. His body was going through some shit, but kissing someone, grinding on someone who didn’t consent, who never asked for it? That was fucked up, and was not the sort of person Katsuki was.

The hell of it, though? The heat still wasn’t completely gone. The suppressor that Recovery Girl used was stronger and more effective than the one Deku had on hand (because it was designed for Alphas, Katsuki realized), but it still only suppressed the heat, it didn’t eliminate it. Deku still smelled like a fucking mint candy, and Katsuki still wanted to run over there and get his hands on the nerd, and it pissed him the fuck off .

“Okay,” Deku said, like if Katsuki actually said anything. “And um…” there was something in Deku’s voice that made him look up. Deku was standing in the doorway, cheecks flushed, and though he was gripping the door tightly enough his knuckles were white, he wasn’t looking Katsuki in the eye. “If you want someone to help out through your heats, just let me know. Um. When you’re not in heat, okay? I’ll see you later,” he said, leaving the nurse’s office and shutting the door behind him.

Recovery Girl turned to him once Deku had left and said, "Do you want an escort back to your room before the suppressant wears off," Recovery Girl asked. "Or would you rather use the heat room? It comes stocked with heat aids if you need them."

Heat aids?

And just what the hell was Deku offering?

Katsuki shook his head. He just wanted back in his room, where everything smelled right, the too-sterile scent of the nurse’s office itching at his nose.

“I can go on my own,” he muttered, sitting up. With Deku’s departure and being left with only traces of his scent Katsuki’s more immediate arousal was fading, and while he still felt too sensitive, too on edge, his dick at least wasn’t putting on a show for a woman probably ten times his own age.

“Hmm,” Recovery Girl pursed her lips. “I think you and I both know that it’d be better to have an escort if you want to wait out your heat in your room.”

“Whatever,” Katsuki sighed, laying back down and closing his eyes. He just focused on trying to not feel like an absolute mess while Recovery Girl made a call, her voice a soft distraction in the background. After that she just left him alone on the bed. Thankfully. He didn’t want to talk with an octogenarian about how he got so horny he started humping fucking Deku.

He didn’t have to wait long before the door swished open again, and heavy steps walked in, followed by a snuffling.

Katsuki opened his eyes to see Hound Dog standing there, muzzle twitching as he inhaled and looked at Katsuki, and that’s when the scent hit him.

It was Alpha, but something about it didn’t smell so immediately desirable - instead of the delicious, irresistible scent that all the Alphas his age had, it was more… protective, comforting. Something about it made Katsuki want to show his metaphorical belly to be rubbed.

His eye caught the edge of a scarred mark on Hound Dog’s neck, and realization washed over him. Ah, so he was unavailable.

Wait, who would marry (mate?) Hound Dog?

“Come on, kid,” Hound Dog growled, though it was softer than how he usually spoke. “Let’s get you out of here.”

“You have been excused from your classes for the rest of the day,” Recovery Girl added. “You’ll be sent make-up work at your school email address later.”

“Yeah, sure,” Katsuki muttered, pushing himself to his feet. Hound Dog held the door open for Katsuki, though he remained close behind him as Katsuki passed. Hound Dog remained just a step or two behind as they made their way through the quiet halls of UA and up to the dorm. When Katsuki bothered to look up at the older Hero, he could see that Hound Dog wasn’t actually paying him any attention, but was looking around with sharp eyes, wary of any danger to the Omega under his care. Protective. Annoying.

He was breathing hard by the time he was at the door to his dorm building, feeling shaky and the fire licking at his nerves. His cock feeling thick and heavy. Embarrassing. Awful. But they were alone, nobody there this time of day and he could retreat to his room where he just desperately wanted to curl up and do something about the shitty, itchy feeling.

Hound Dog followed Katsuki all the way to his room, dogging Katsuki’s heels until he was able to open the door with shaking fingers, and then left with a growled, “Alright kid, you take care, now.”

On top of his dresser, right within easy grabbing range after he got dressed, was a pen that looked like Deku's, but had an impression on the non-pointy end that looked like an omega symbol. His own suppressant, he assumed. The one Deku scolded him for not having on hand. It wouldn’t have kept him from going in heat, he knew, but it’d help him until he got to Recovery Girl’s office.

He collapsed on his bed, feeling tired and achy and overwarm and… horny. Still fucking horny, even with two doses of suppressants and the mortification of what he had just tried to do to Deku running through his veins. The humiliation of trying to make out with the guy, and then having to be escorted to his dorm room in case he, what? Grabbed another random person who smelled like candy and started humping their leg like a dog in heat?

However… he knew he wouldn’t act like that with anyone else but Deku. Yeah, everyone else smelled fucking delicious, sex and hunger mixed up in a way that set his blood to boiling and his pulse fluttering, but it was Deku that made him snap. It was Deku’s scent that made him try to isolate himself in the bathroom, Deku’s voice that made his heart pound, and it was him getting far too close that broke Katsuki’s iron-fisted control.

What would have happened in that bathroom if Deku didn’t snap him out of it? If Deku actually wanted it?

In hindsight Deku didn’t seem too into the kiss, and Katsuki couldn’t blame him too much. Katsuki had literally just pounced on him and started humping his leg like a dog, what the fuck. Deku wasn’t feeling him up, Katsuki realized in hindsight, but was probably looking for Katsuki’s suppressant, and when he couldn’t find it he used his own even though it wouldn’t be as effective. But what if Deku was? What if Deku wanted Katsuki as much as Katsuki wanted Deku?

What if instead of pulling away and using his own suppressant, Deku started kissing back? What if he touched Katsuki like Katsuki wanted to be, needed to be at the time?

And Deku was so fucking sweet, wasn’t he? So soft and gentle, he’d immediately try slowing down the kiss so that instead of the hard, devouring kiss Katsuki demanded they’d instead move into a soft glide. Lips would brush, tongues flickering together, tasting each other rather than devouring. Katsuki could just picture it, the way Deku’s hands would slide under Katsuki’s shirt, his rough fingertips gentle on Katsuki’s back as he slowed Katsuki’s frantic movements, turning his frantic rutting against Deku’s thigh into a slow rocking.

Deku had been affected by Katsuki’s heat, Katsuki remembered. The combination of an Omega in heat and the kiss and the rutting got Deku hard as well, though he wasn’t nearly as desperate as Katsuki was. So in Katsuki’s fantasy (and that’s what it was, Katsuki realized as he unzipped his school trousers and kicked them off - a fantasy about what he could only wish had gone down in that bathroom) he’d guided Katsuki to a better angle, a hand on his hip. One where Katsuki could still rock against Deku’s thigh, but Deku could also grind against his.

Deku would make a noise, he knew - the nerd couldn’t keep his mouth shut in the best of times, no fucking way he would be silent with his ‘Kacchan’ dry-humping him like a desperate animal. Katsuki wouldn’t know whether to classify the sound as a whimper or a moan, but Deku would hold his hips tight against his own,

“Kacchan,” Deku would sigh against his lips, this Deku who wanted Katsuki back as much as Katsuki wanted him, and that nickname that was normally so fucking patronizing instead made his heart lurch and his belly clench. He tried not to think about why it was that in particular that made him give up and grab his cock like it’d been wanting him to for what felt like hours now, and he hissed at the sensation, his cock hot and heavy in his hands as he stroked it. He could just imagine how he and Deku would rock harder together, Katsuki’s hands would be clenching on Deku’s shoulders as he tried to pull him closer, closer.

He brushed his finger over his hole where he was slick and wanting and that was it, that was all he needed and he was shooting his load all over himself, shaking and twitching, biting his lip so hard he was fucking bleeding, his mind blanking out, and he was gone, gone gone.

It took a moment for him to blink back into awareness, reality reasserting itself after an orgasm way too good for just jerking off. Even so, he made a face when he looked down at himself.

He was still hard. Even though he came, his cock was still hard and ready to go, sticky and curving against his belly and ready for another round, his hole fucking throbbing with want. And he knew, he fucking knew that he’d be ready to go all fucking day.

With a sigh, he grabbed his pillow with one hand and curled around it, reaching down with his other to grip his cock again, hissing at the way his cock felt hot and oversensitive.

At least he wouldn’t have to deal with anybody else that day.

When he fell asleep that night he was tired, aching, and desperate for a shower, but that was a problem the other Katsuki would have to deal with.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up in his bedroom back at his parents' house.

The first thing he did when he opened his eyes and saw the familiar walls was to press the palms of his hands over his eyes and groaned, loud, long, and out of complete and utter mortification.

He’d just tried to hump Deku. Deku. He was some sort of… sex-crazed person who was too driven by wanting to be fucked by people who fucking smelled goood. Alphas. Omegas. Fuck that.

And even worse? Deku had to take him to the nurse’s office because he couldn’t keep his goddamn hands to himself for more than five minutes.

Sorry Alara, the other Katsuki would just have to deal with the fallout from that himself.

Crisis over, Katsuki had to check something first thing in whatever new universe that villain’s quirk spat him out to; he activated his quirk, sending sparks up from his palm. He breathed a sigh of relief when the familiar sparks popped and hissed, quenching them with a clench of his fist.

The important thing out of the way, he took the opportunity to actually look around him.

It didn't take him long to figure out what was different here; while his room wasn't a goddamn shrine to All Might like Deku's room, he did have a couple posters and action figures of both him and other heroes Katsuki liked. At least, Katsuki's room back on his real room did. This room, rather than have any hero merch, had a couple posters of athletes and bands Katsuki liked. Hero figures were replaced with ones from video games.

So, did heroes not exist in this world, or did this Katsuki not aspire to be one? He didn't think it was the latter, because even if they didn't want to grow up to be a hero, most kids had some sort of hero merch growing up.

He tried to pull up memories of watching All Might clips as a kid, something as simple as that, but this Katsuki had no memories.

In fact, any memory of Heroes was very notable in how he didn’t have any memories of any Hero. None. In fact, thinking of people using their Quirks in a public way gave him a strange twist of anxiety he didn’t want to look too deeply into.

Telling himself to investigate those feelings later, when he wasn’t going to be late for school, he rose to his feet and padded to the bathroom down the hall from his room.

Katsuki froze the moment he caught sight of himself in a mirror, taking a moment to just blink at the sight that met him. "Huh," he said, leaning close to eye his reflection, like if he just got a better look it'd resolve to something a bit more familiar.

His hair was brown. The same mousey brown color as his dad's. Cut shorter than he usually preferred, his hair much more tamer than usual even tousled from sleep.

Still leaning close to the mirror he brushed his hair back, getting a close look at his roots and seeing the faintest line of lighter colored hair right up against his scalp. So, this Katsuki colored his hair. And had for a while, if the memories he pulled up were any indication.

He backed away from the mirror, letting out a breath as he did so. He could stare at himself later, he still needed to get ready for school.

He cleaned up, but paused for a moment before leaving the bathroom, a feeling of forgetting something stopping him. Remembering the fucking disastrous result of ignoring that feeling the day before, he followed that instinct to the small container he didn’t really notice on the edge of the sink.

Contact lenses.

He opened the case to see two small round contact lenses - cosmetic, not functional. They were colored lenses, faint dark green circles in the middle of them, and Katsuki knew his color theory enough to know that when paired with his red eyes they’d turn them into a rich brown color.

He colored his hair brown and wore contacts because people couldn't know he had a quirk. Even the color of his eyes was a passive mutation quirk that had nothing to do with his actual quirk, much like Tokoyami's face was unrelated to his Dark Shadow, but still Katsuki needed to keep his eyes hidden.

He searched his memories until he could remember this Katsuki's childhood, that moment when he saw those first weak sparks dance over his palms, the utter terror he felt. Approaching his parents with tears in his eyes, afraid of their censure but desperate for their protection. Being taken out of school and being homeschooled until he could control it. Coloring his hair came later; blond hair didn't necessarily give away his status as someone who had a quirk, but brown hair made him less noticeable in a crowd. His clothes were just average styles and cuts, something any person would be able to afford. All carefully designed to make him as unremarkable as possible.

In his original world Katsuki craved attention, wanted to stand out above all else. This Katsuki needed to stay hidden, unnoticed.

What the fuck was this universe.

He shook his head - he had to focus on what he needed to do that day, freaking out about how his quirk, so admired and lauded in his universe but a recipe for disaster in this one, could wait for later.

He washed up and got dressed for school, pulling on a uniform that he recognized from his real universe - it was from a high-end High School, not anywhere near UA’s level of prestige, but one that was difficult to get into. If he wasn’t so damn certain he would have gotten into UA it would have been his next choice.

His parents were already gone for the day, so he just grabbed an apple to eat on the way to school and a bento he had waiting for him in the fridge. He was about halfway through his apple when he approached a group of guys around his age on the way to the train station, the four of them slouched against a low wall, talking to each other and saying some shit that Katsuki didn’t even pretend to pay attention to. They were wearing a uniform for a different school than the one he went to, but something about them made him think he knew them earlier, like perhaps he’d gone to school with them at some other time.

Strangely, the sight of them sent a quiver of… something through his belly, and Katsuki frowned. It was a sensation he wasn’t very familiar with, and he definitely didn’t like it.

“Oh hey,” one of the guys said once he caught sight of Katsuki approaching, a slow smile stretching its way across his face. Anticipatory. “It’s Kacchan!”

It’s what.

“Hey, it is Kacchan!” idiot no. 2 said, his voice a sort of fake excitement that sounded familiar to Katsuki, but he wasn’t sure where or how, at least immediately. “Looks like he got up early today!”

Katsuki just eyeballed them through narrow eyes as he approached. He was later than he liked to be, though he could ‘remember’ that this Katsuki preferred to leave a little later, take a slightly longer route to school, because it was better to get to school a little late than to… to run into these guys, Katsuki realized.

Because this Katsuki was actually fucking bullied by these losers. And that curl he felt in his stomach, the slightly sick feeling that made his heart pound and palms sweat dangerously? That was fear, because this Katsuki was fucking afraid of these no-name extras.

What the fuck, other Katsuki?

Trying not to make things difficult or not, he wasn’t going to let himself be intimidated by these losers. He took another bite of his apple, staring forward. They weren’t worth the effort to give them a reaction; they were nothing, no matter how fucking scared this Katsuki was of them.

“Whatcha eating there, Kacchan?” another one of the idiots said, pushing himself off the wall and slouching over to Katsuki, hands in his pockets. “Did your mommy make that for you?”

Katsuki had to stop then and just look at the guy. “It’s an apple.” Fuck, of course he had to get the fucking dumbass bullies.

The rest of the idiots laughed as the one who spoke turned a bright red.

“You think you’re so smart, don’t you!” He shouted, getting right up in Katsuki’s face, spittle flying.

Katsuki scowled and turned his face away. Eugh. “Smarter than you losers, at least,” he said. “Now get the fuck out of my way.” He shouldered forward, pushing the guy in front of him out of his way when he didn’t move in time.

Don’t make any decisions that would be a pain for this Katsuki to deal with, he told himself. Don’t ruin this Katsuki’s life just because these idiots couldn’t keep their mouths shut.

“Aw, you scared? You’re just a baby coward!”

Okay, that was fucking it.

"You wanna say that to my face?!" Katsuki roared, spinning to face the group, one clawed hand smoking threateningly, the other clenching in an explosion that blew what was left of his apple apart. "Hah!? Fucking try me!"

The guys’ eyes were wide and faces pale, and Katsuki felt a surge of triumph before realizing with a sinking heart that they weren't looking at him, but were rather focused on his hands that had curled into claws.

“He’s got a quirk!” lead dumbass shouted, pointing accusingly at Katsuki.

“Someone call the cops!” another idiot said, backing up and putting another guy between him and Katsuki. “He’s going to kill us!”

Kill them?

Out of nowhere there was a blur of movement, and Deku was there, his hair a little longer and more shaggy than normal but otherwise just the same, darting between Katsuki and the group of dumbasses. “Here, follow me!” Deku said, grabbing Katsuki’s wrist and fucking dragging him around the corner, into an alley. Katsuki stumbled behind him for just a moment before catching his feet and following.

Fuck, Deku was wearing the same school uniform.

Of course he was.

They zig-zagged down streets and through alleys, putting distance between them and the group of idiots. They ended up in a dead-end alley, dirty and secluded, and had a moment they just breathed, listening hard for any sounds of people chasing them, sirens, whatever.

“I think we’re safe,” Deku sighed, eventually.

“Tch.” Katsuki scowled, pissed at having to run like a fucking coward from those idiots, but he’d already fucked things up for this universe’s Katsuki enough. He didn’t want to have to deal with cops because those dumbasses didn’t have the good sense to not pick on someone like him.

Deku was suddenly right fucking there in front of him, both hands clasped around one wrist, looking up at Katsuki with bright, wide eyes.

“Can you show me? Again?” Deku asked, eyes shining.

“Hah?” Katsuki sneered. He had a feeling he knew what Deku was talking about, but after that snafu earlier he couldn’t believe Deku was asking.

“Please? Just a little,” Deku begged, stepping even closer, his feet bumping into Katsuki’s. Katsuki could feel his face heat up, remembering just how close they were the day before, what he fucking did remembering how close they were.

He looked away with another “Tch,” until he could feel his face return to a proper temperature. It was literally another lifetime, this Deku had no idea what Katsuki tasted like. “Fucking… fine, okay.” Katsuki huffed. Even then he looked around before bringing his hands up, cupping them and allowing sparks to dance above his hands, requiring a surprising amount of effort to just get that much going. He glared down at them, his lips pulled back in a sneer. Even before he was accepted into UA and had to work on strengthening his Quirk he would have been able to create basic sparks like that in his fucking sleep.

Then again, he mused, he was able to actually use his Quirk. Preparing for the entrance exam he would go into the park outside city limits and practice making explosions as big as possible, exercising his Quirk to make it bigger, more powerful. Then smaller, focused blasts to fine-tune his control. Not to mention how when he was younger he’d set off explosions whenever possible, showing off before people really started to try and enforce the whole ‘no Quirks in public’ law to a kid who liked to show off.

This Katsuki never had the chance to really exercise his Quirk, Katsuki realized, so it took more effort to trigger for less impactful explosions.

Deku didn’t seem to mind, though - he leaned close, cupping his own hands around Katsuki’s, fingertips dangerously close to the hot sparks, his eyes wide and sparkling. It almost seemed like he was holding his breath just watching this tiny, useless display of Katsuki’s Quirk.

“It’s not fair,” Deku breathed. “What you can do is amazing. If people like you were able to use these abilities you could be really something… special.” The last was said with a sigh, and Deku clasped his hands together with Katsuki’s in between, like he was holding the sparks with him. “Can you imagine?”

Yeah, Katsuki could imagine. He knew first-hand how amazing and how terrifying a world of quirks could be.

“One day we’ll have a world like that,” Deku said, intently watching the sparks fly from Katsuki’s palm. “Even if we have to burn everything down and rebuild it from scratch. I’ll see that for you, Kacchan.”

...Okay, that was enough. Katsuki clenched his fist, extinguishing the sparks with a gesture and turning around.

He had that weird feeling in his belly again, the same one he felt when he was approaching the idiots earlier. A sensation he hadn’t felt often in his life - the first time he could recall being when he was walking home from school and a slime villain came out of nowhere to engulf him, who threatened to take his body and his quirk for his own.

A strange, upsetting trapped sensation, one that made him want to rant and yell and explode the threat in front of him.

How the hell could he be feeling that over Deku of all people?

Deku’s fingers brushed at Katsuki’s arm and he yanked it away, starting to walk out of the alley they’d hidden in. “We need to go,” he muttered, not looking back at Deku as he left him behind.

Deku didn’t stay behind for long, though. Katsuki could hear the sound of Deku’s shoes on the pavement for a couple quick, jogging steps and then he was next to Katsuki, looking up at him with a weird, puppylike expression. It pissed him off seeing that pointed at him.

“Back off and stop looking at me like that!” he snapped.

Deku didn’t flinch or cringe or anything like Katsuki had expected, just blinked at Katsuki in surprise before smiling back at him even bigger than before. “Sure, Kacchan,” he said. He took two steps to the side like that was any fucking better, and continued. “You’re having a bad day, I’ll let you have some space.”

“A lot more than that, idiot,” Katsuki grumbled, but told himself he was just going to ignore Deku from then on. Beneath his notice, as always.

Katsuki glanced around as they exited the alley, though, eyes peeled for any trouble.

“Don’t worry, Kacchan,” Deku said at his side. “If you’re worried about those nobodies, don’t be - they need a lot more proof that you’ve got a quirk than just their word to get you in trouble!”

Katsuki rolled his eyes at Deku’s assurances, but still he let his shoulders relax, and allowed himself to not check side-streets for any surprises, to not tense at the distant sounds of sirens. Not not let that sick sensation crawl up his spine when he heard fucking Deku of all people refer to someone as a ‘nobody.’

They got to school with little time to spare to get to class, the bell ringing as they ducked into the same home room because life hated Katsuki and was determined to pair him up with that creepy loser whenever possible.

Deku even sat behind him once again, though this time instead of getting the impression that Deku was in his appropriate place behind Katsuki, it instead felt like Deku was keeping an eye on Katsuki. Like Katsuki was some bug under a microscope, and that the other boy was keeping a watchful eye in case Katsuki let down his guard. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, while at the same time it pissed Katsuki off.

So far, this Deku had done nothing to make Katsuki so paranoid about him. So he was a little creepily obsessed with Katsuki’s quirk. What the fuck else was new? And every time he wanted to look through this Katsuki’s memories to see why he was such a wreck, his brain kept skidding away, like it didn’t want to look at those memories too closely.

He shook his head and started writing down notes as the teacher droned on at the front of the classroom. Even if this lame-ass school didn’t have anything important to teach him, it was still something to concentrate on rather than the feeling of Deku’s eyes on the back of his head.

It felt like it took forever for the bell to release them for lunch, and Katsuki didn’t wait before grabbing his bento from his school bag and getting himself caught in the middle of the throng of people rushing out of the classroom. He wanted some space between him and Deku, some way for him to eat without having to watch over his shoulder, and getting lost in the crowd was the best way to accomplish that.

The school’s roof had a sign warning students to stay off, but he ignored that and walked through, feeling like he could finally breathe once he was alone and away from everyone else, that clenching feeling in his belly finally unravelling. With a sigh, he found himself a good spot perched on a big blocky AC unit where he could watch the school grounds, but hopefully nobody could spot him, his bento laid out on his lap.

It was so… weird, looking out at the number of students and seeing such a bland assortment of faces. Nobody had any extra appendages, or interesting skin tones outside the traditional arrangement of browns and pinks, nobody showed off their Quirks before a teacher could scold them for using their Quirks in public. It was strange. This had to be what the world was like before Quirks were on the scene.

“Isn’t it really silly,” Deku said out of fucking nowhere, popping out of Katsuki’s blind spot and only due to extreme force of will did he avoid either jumping or blowing up his goddamn bento. “They just keep going about their mundane lives like there aren’t people who’re so much better living amongst them,” Deku continued. “Because they’re all just so much… cattle. Isn’t it right, Kacchan?”

“...Yeah,” Katsuki muttered, focusing on the meal in front of him so he wouldn’t have to see Deku watching him with those wide, green eyes.

He could feel this universe’s Katsuki’s instincts, how he wanted to cringe back from Deku like a wounded animal, uncomfortable with such fawning attention.

He didn’t feel like he was so much better than the rest of the students. He felt strange, and different. This Katsuki was so used to hiding, so used to striving to be overlooked and avoided, that even just Deku’s single-minded focus was uncomfortable. Too close.

“You’ve been ignoring my messages,” Deku said, out of the blue.

“So what if I have?” Katsuki grumbled, shoving another bite of his lunch in his mouth. He told himself it was so he’d have an excuse not to talk to Deku, so he could try and ignore the way his very presence made the hair on the back of his arms stand up. He wasn’t sure if he even bought his own excuse. The rolled egg tasted like ash in his mouth.

“I’ve been trying to tell you,” Deku said. “About how there’s a meeting of some people. They think the same way we do. I met them online. They’re really looking forward to meeting us in person.” He gave a little self-deprecating laugh, scratching at the back of his head. “Well, more you. There’s nothing special about me.”

Katsuki grunted noncommittally, taking another bite of his lunch even though his stomach was clenching and roiling. He felt sick, like he was on the verge of puking, but he swallowed down the sensation along with a sip of his water.

“You’ll meet me after school, right?” Deku asked. “At the gate? I’ll lead you to where we’re going to meet up. It’ll be so much fun! You and me against the world, just like we talked about for so long! With this group, we’ll have the numbers to cause real change! And then everyone will realize just where they stand on the evolutionary scale!”

Yeah, Katsuki could ‘remember’ what Deku was talking about. Deku finding out about Katsuki’s quirk and going on and on about how great Katsuki was, while he just wanted to be left alone. How Deku started to turn his nose up at all the regular people that surrounded him, since his ‘Kacchan’ was apparently so much better. Fuck, Deku let his wild mop of green hair grow out because at least that was some sign that Deku was ‘special,’ or whatever.

Meanwhile, this universe’s Katsuki just… went along with it. Just nodded whenever Deku was talking about how ‘great’ he was, and how ‘special’ he was for having a quirk that could get Katsuki arrested for having. Because Deku knew - somehow Deku had figured it out, and when Katsuki prodded his memories for why he could feel his memories wanting to cringe away, embarrassment and utter shame preventing him from pursuing that memory for long.

“And I’ll be by your side,” Deku added, shaking Katsuki out of his borrowed memories. “You and me, against everyone. I’ve been thinking of how you can use that quirk, and Kacchan, you can be so amazing, if only you got the chance!”

“Shut the fuck up,” Katsuki hissed. Deku was getting louder with every word towards the end there, and while they were hidden away on the roof they didn’t need to get any undue attention. It wasn’t unusual for this Katsuki or Deku to have eyes on them - despite every effort this Katsuki put in, every thing he did great or small to be insignificant, unnoticeable, they’d still gotten the reputation of being the school weirdos. Quirk-obsessed Deku and his quiet friend that he hung all over.

No fucking wonder Katsuki was a bully magnet.

“Sorry!” Deku said, a lot more quietly. “I just got so excited there! What do you think they’re like? They seemed like they really had a plan when I talked to them,” Deku said. He started rambling again about whatever assholes he met online that he wanted to meet up with, but Katsuki tuned him out, gaze switching between his meal and the people around them. Neither of them had gotten any attention, though a part of Katsuki was hoping someone would look up at just the right angle and see them, tell a teacher, make Katsuki have to stay after school so that he’d have an excuse to miss this gathering Deku was talking about and -

Wait.

What the fuck was he actually thinking? Like, actually thinking? What could this Deku actually do to him if he just told him to fuck off? Fuck, he could just punch this Deku in the goddamn face if he didn’t leave him the fuck alone! However… Alara did ask him not to do anything that would make trouble for any of the Katsuki’s he was replacing. And in a world like this one acting rashly was a good way to get attention this Katsuki really didn’t need.

He wasn’t entirely clear on the particulars of what would happen to anyone who was caught having a quirk, but he knew that it was bad if this Katsuki and his family went to such lengths in order to make him so unremarkable.

So instead of blasting that smarmy expression off of Deku’s face, or physically beating his ass to the ground, he just got up, leaving his bento on the AC behind him and stalked off, hands clenched to keep them from even accidentally smoking and revealing himself.

A hand reached out and grabbed his. Deku’s. Katsuki looked down at it, amazed at the fucking gall of this Deku. Slowly, his gaze turned from Deku’s hand around his wrist to the boy himself. Deku’s eyes were half-lidded, contemplative as he looked at Katsuki, but as he watched it softened into a friendly smile that just looked a bit too off, a bit too wrong for the Deku he knew.

“Sorry, you really are in a bad mood today, aren’t you, Kacchan!” Deku said, more of a statement than a question. “Okay, I’ll leave you alone, but remember to meet me at the gate today, okay?” Deku didn’t even wait to see Katsuki’s reaction, just turned back to looking out over the students enjoying their lunch break, kicking his feet so that they thumped against the side of the air conditioning unit.

Katsuki didn’t grace him with a response, just grit his teeth and walked away. It fucking burned that it felt like he was running away, and from Deku of all people.

He went back to their classroom and waited at his desk for class to resume, glancing through his notes to seem busy but honestly not reading a single damn word.

When the bell rang he used the chaos from the rush of students leaving to slip out, taking random turns in the hallway, going up and down stairs and doubling back on himself. It fucking burned that he was fucking running from Deku of all people, but whatever this meeting was? He wanted nothing to do with it. Anything that sounded like a good idea to this Deku sounded like a recipe for disaster to Katsuki.

Eventually he made his way out onto school grounds, and be beelined for something he’d noticed when he was on the roof - a tree that had a limb that jutted out close enough to the school gate that Katsuki could probably use it to hop the fence. That way, even if Deku was waiting for him by the gate he could still leave without him being the wiser.

He eyed the tree as he approached, eyes narrowing as he considered the tree limb and the distance to the top of the gate.

It would have to do.

Actually climbing the fucking tree was harder than he expected, this body not nearly as fit as the one he was fucking used to, but he managed to get himself up the tree and onto the branch without hurting himself at leat. At least, not badly - his arms trembled with the strain from just hauling himself up, and he made a face at this body’s weakness even as he shook feeling back into his fingers.

Suddenly doubting that this body would even make the jump he considered the distance once more. With a low ‘tsk,’ he readied himself, took a breath, took one, two, three steps and lept.

He almost missed. If he was in his proper body it would have been no problem to completely jump over the gate, he wouldn’t have even needed the boost from his Quirk. In his current body, however, the edge of the gate caught him in the belly, knocking the wind out of him and made him scrabble at the far edge to keep himself from completely falling like a fucking asshole.

He managed to catch himself and then slowly haul himself over the edge, landing on the other side clumsily.

He huffed out a breath as he dusted himself off, twisting his arms to work out the strain on his shoulders. Then, casually, he walked off, hands in his pockets.

Good enough. Time to head to the train and head the fuck home where he could pretend that he wasn’t running like a coward from Deku.

He didn’t run into anybody on the train ride back to his neighborhood, though when he got back to his neighborhood the idiots from earlier in the day were in the same place, two of them kicking a fucking rock back and forth like it was a fucking soccer ball.

His steps faltered just a moment as he approached, eyes narrowed to see what they would do. He didn’t slow down, though, or try to avoid them. Instead he kept his eyes on them as he walked steadily forward.

One by one they noticed him coming, straightening up from where they were slouched around. They didn’t say anything, though, just watched as he passed. Katsuki didn’t say or do anything until he passed, finally letting his hands unclench from their tight fists once he was what he felt a safe distance away.

At least this Katsuki won’t have to deal with getting fucking pushed around by those idiots again.

When he got home the TV in the living room was airing the evening news, the sounds and smells of dinner cooking coming from the kitchen.

On the news they were covering a press conference, and a familiar unexpected face was at a podium talking.

Shigaraki.

He looked… weird. His hair was combed neatly back, he wore a smart suit, and though he looked tired and worn he still looked like he’d had a couple decent hours of sleep in the past few days.

Once he got over his shock of actually seeing Shigaraki, he could start paying attention to what he was saying.

“Quirks are something a person is born with and can control,” he said. “A person cannot be judged by the circumstances of their birth and the power that they never asked for, but rather what they do with that power. How can we imprison people for having the ability to heal, or the ability to save a life along with those who use those abilities to harm? We need to teach people how to control those abilities and use them wisely, so that they can live in peace and possibly even to better society.”

Katsuki dropped his school bag and headed for the stairs.

“Kid? Is that you? Where are you going?” his mom asked, popping her head out of the kitchen at the sound of his bag hitting the floor.

“To bed.”

“What?” she asked, frowning. “It’s super early, even for you. You just got home.”

“I can’t take this anymore,” he said. “I need to go to sleep.”

A world in which Katsuki is bullied, Deku is a weird stalker, and Tomura Shigaraki is an advocate for peace and understanding? Whatever came next had to make more sense.

He barely remembered to take out the contact lenses before he showered and went to bed. He’d just finished scrubbing the towel over his head when he saw his phone’s screen go from lit up to dark.

Curious, he tapped the screen, seeing a message from an unknown number.

Unknown number: We missed you at the meeting today

Unknown number: Don’t ignore my messages

There was a picture after the previous message. Katsuki, from earlier in the day, standing there with his hand up and sparks jumping from his palm. It was unmistakably him - the low angle clearly showing his face and shoulders, his arm leading down to the palm that was sparking with a small show of his quirk. Fuck, did Deku have a hidden camera or something up his sleeve? He had to have; when Katsuki thought back to earlier in the day, how Deku was cupping Katsuki’s hand with his own, it lined up perfectly with the shot he was looking at.

Unknown number: Goodnight, Kacchan! :)

It took Katsuki a long time before he was able to fall back to sleep.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up underwater.

He didn't even realize he was underwater at first, all he knew was that he was surrounded by warm pressure, like a weighted blanket that covered his whole body but for his belly and chest as he slept belly-down. It was more comfortable than he could remember being in the longest time, and despite the fact that he felt like he went from asleep to awake near-instantly, he kept his eyes closed and just… relaxed for a bit.

He took a deep breath, snuggling into his nice warm bed, gills flaring with the heavy breath, tail curling, and wait, wait, wait-

His eyes flew open, immediately telling that he wasn’t in either his room at UA or back home, but not caring because his legs were gone his dick was gone and instead from the waist down he had a fucking fish tail.

He took a couple deep breaths, trying to ignore the foreign sensation of gills fluttering along his ribs, just enough to calm his racing heart down.

It was yet another universe.

And he was a merman.

From what he could tell without a mirror he didn’t look like a lot of the depictions of a mermaid he’d seen. Merman. Merperson. Merfolk his brain helpfully supplied him with. For one, his entire body was scaled, though on his torso and arms they looked more or less the same color as his regular skin tone, though washed out from the lack of lighting in the fucking cave he was sleeping in. They slowly turned to red and gold below his ribs, becoming solidly colored just under his navel, as they transitioned to the big-ass fucking fish tail he had instead of proper legs.

And the fins… more of them than he’d expected. There were filmy fins along his forearms, two more on either side of his waist, a dorsal fin along his back, and not to mention the delicate-looking tail fin. There was even webbing on his hands, stretched between each finger that was tipped with a curved claw.

That didn’t even touch upon the gill slits on either side of his torso that pulsed open and closed with every breath he took. He tried not to look at them, unnerved by the glimpse inside his own fucking body with every exhale.

And okay, he had a genital slit, so his dick wasn’t entirely gone, just… tucked away.

This Katsuki apparently decided to bed down in an underwater cave of some sort, the ceiling so low that it was almost claustrophobic if it wasn’t so… satisfyingly cramped. Cozy, almost. Secure. Safe from any predators. And huh, it should be pitch dark, what with being an underwater cave and all, but he could see just fine, his eyes more adapted to seeing in the dark than normally.

As he studied himself, he became aware of a low thrumming sound - not loud enough to have woke him up, and he could tell that this Katsuki was used enough to the sound that was essentially background noise to him. However, it was something that seemed enough out of place that he wanted to check out the source of the noise. And also, he could admit to himself, he wanted to explore a bit. This place was very different from anywhere he’d been - he never would have thought that waking up as a fucking merfolk was even a *possibility*, though he probably should have assumed so after waking up with his fucking soul outside his body as a peahen.

There were actually two exits from that cave - one was surrounded by the rock that made up the top and sides of the cave. The other was a long rectangle that was obviously man-made and lower to the ground, a wide rectangle set into what he realized was a flat wall the rock was anchored to. Reminding himself to check out the man-made one later, he crawled on his belly to the larger, more natural opening to the cave.

The side of a catfish almost as long as he was greeted him the second he looked out, casting him in shadow until it passed. He glowered at it for a moment until he took the opportunity to look around.

He was in what he could only call a fish tank.

It was a big one, he could admit. Probably the size of a medium apartment when all the walls separating the rooms were knocked down.

But it was still a fucking fish tank.

He pulled himself out of the hole a little more, bracing himself against the lower lip of the mouth of the cave as he glared around at his surroundings.

He shared the space with a handful of fish - all fairly large, catfish with bright red tails, round-bodied ones with coppery scales, long ones with thick armorlike scales, and others. There were even a couple turtles bobbing along, flapping uselessly at the glass wall directly in front of the cave.

Said cave was part of the back wall of the tank, a rocky structure dotted with broad-leaved water plants. The bottom of the tank was a sandy bed dotted with more plants - some grasslike, others taller and leafy. Looking up, he could hear the source of the thrumming - a small waterfall at one end the rock wall was crashing constantly, churning the surface of the water.

All in all it wasn’t a bad fish tank as far as those things went, Katsuki determined.

Too fucking bad it was him who was trapped in it.

Sneering, he pushed the rest of his way out of the cave with a lazy pulse of his tail, his body automatically knowing how to maneuver in the underwater environment. It was sort of like living as the dog, he realized - just enough of the merfolk’s memories and instincts to allow him to get around. He swam the length of the tank, it taking only a few heavy sweeps of his tail to get him from one side to the other.

Looking for any way he could get out of the tank (not even really thinking about what he’d do if he ever got out, what with the giant fucking fish tail instead of actual legs) he swam to the surface, sticking his head out of the surface of the water. Only at that moment did he wonder if he’d be able to breathe in open air, but once his head broke the surface he could take proper full breaths, the gill slits at his side sealing shut as he switched to using his actual lungs.

Unfortunately for his vague thoughts of escape, the glass was high enough that it reached nearly to the ceiling, only a thin sliver of space between the top of the tank and the ceiling. However, the top of the rock wall ended much earlier. In fact, where it projected out from the actual wall at the back of the tank was topped with a sandy area complete with bright yellow lamps, ringed along the back wall with more plants.

There were imprints in the sand, just familiar enough that along with this body’s memories he could recall ‘sunning’ himself under those bright lights on that sandy bed.

He turned away from the bed to look out of the glass; with it not being underwater there wasn’t as much reflection, and he could get a better view of actually where the tank holding him was. The room beyond the tank was dimly lit, but had stadium-like steps leading down to the bottom of the tank. Someone standing at the top would be able to see across to the sandy area in the tank, while people at the bottom would be on level with the floor. Looking around, he could see other tanks set into walls, filled with fish of all sizes, jellyfish, crabs, and more. In front of most of the tanks he could see placards, too far away for him to read. On the wall next to the tank he was in, there was a fucking diagram of a person with a fish tail along with a map of the world with certain areas highlighted.

It was worse than he thought - not only was he trapped in a fish tank, he was in a giant tank in a fucking zoo.

Almost right when he had that realization did he start seeing people trickle in, wandering slowly in and looking around, eyes wide.

Fuck that.

Especially when he realized that with his head above water he could hear things outside of the tank a lot more clearly, like the crashing of the waterfall, the voices of the people outside the tank. And as more and more entered the area, those voices just got louder as people started to speak over each other, cut in with the occasional screams from over-excited kids. Especially once they got a glimpse of him; the mere sight of which made people rush over to get a good look, adult and kid alike. So, he ducked back down underwater, giving an internal sigh of relief when the noise from outside the tank once more became muffled and indistinct.

There wasn’t a good spot to lay back and keep an eye out that wouldn’t put him up against the glass due to the curved shape of the tank, not unless he wanted to beach himself on the sandy area. And even then had its drawbacks thanks to the noise of all the people talking and shouting at each other and in general being loud as fuck.

He found an area right at the corner of the tank, right up against the glass where he could peer out and keep an eye on things, but wasn’t front and center on display in the tank. He let himself sink into the gritty bottom of the tank and curled up, resting his chin on his crossed arms and hoped that the grasses would provide him with some cover.

Not that it did any good. Obviously Katsuki was the star of the show, and once someone noticed him laying there, throngs of people started cramming themselves into his corner to gape at him. Every now and then he could see groups of kids all dressed in identical neon-colored shirts escorted by a handful of adults, one of whom would gesture at him and talk to the kids, though he couldn’t make out what they were saying through the heavy glass.

After a while he found his mind drifting. He was so fucking bored.

What a fucking life for this Katsuki. Being stared at all day by snot-nosed kids and know-it-all adults. Stuck in a tank smaller than some apartments he’d seen. What the hell did this Katsuki even do all day? Just stared out at the people gawking at him? Chased some fucking fish around for excitement?

Ugh.

Loud, echoing thuds right next to his ear almost made him jump if not for the fact that his instincts had him freeze in place - a response geared to make him less easily detected by large predators that would sense their prey by movement. Just as quickly as he froze did he relax, turning his head to glare at the source of the noise - a kid at the other side of the glass.

The kid was maybe seven or eight years old, Katsuki couldn’t tell and frankly didn’t care. Old enough to know better than to fucking pound on the glass of a fucking fish tank, no matter how big it was. Katsuki’s glare flickered between the kid and what he assumed was the kid’s parents who were just barely visible beyond the reflection in the glass, one of whom had his nose buried into his cell phone, the kid’s mom just blankly staring at the tank disinterestedly, looking tired and done with the world.

There was another thud as the kid pounded his fist again, and Katsuki’s eyes narrowed further when the kid opened his mouth and shouted something, his face just centimeters from the glass and fogging it up with his breath. It was mostly muffled by both glass, water, and the continued pounding from the waterfall, but Katsuki could just make out the demand to “do something already!”

So he did.

He couldn’t actually do anything to the kid, but he could slam his clawed hands against the wall of the tank, pressing his face as close as he could to the kids, baring a mouth full of needle sharp teeth.

The kid screamed and fell back, and as Katsuki flipped his tail to move away from the corner he’d been resting in, he could see the kid’s dad look up from his phone, confused, and his mom just about fold in two she was laughing so hard.

That was enough dealing with being gawked at for the day, Katsuki decided. Too bad he couldn’t get out of the fucking tank, but there was something better than being stuck out of the open, at least.

The cave he’d first woken up in was tiny and cramped, but it was the sort of tiny and cramped that this Katsuki found comfortable. And most importantly, it was away from any prying eyes. More of the damn fish followed him as he made his way into the cave, following in his wake like he was leading them to freedom or whatever, only dispersing as he squeezed his way back inside the cave.

Once he entered the cave, however, his eyes immediately going to the other exit - the rectangular man-made one that he’d noticed earlier but had nearly forgotten about. The lighting was a lot brighter shining through the other end, but more importantly he could tell it was a lot quieter on the other side as well. He slid through to the other side, looking around as he did.

The exit led to a much smaller tank. Whereas the cave exit on the other side was near the top of the tank, this exit was near the bottom, that side being without all the different decorations and plants and shit. There was still a raised area at the far end out of the water with a heat lamp pointed at it, but the entire enclosure was capped with a plexiglass lid dotted with fist-sized holes. Altogether, the tank was only about waist-high off the floor, not even tall enough for Katsuki to sit up, had he a pelvis.

Though there wasn’t nearly as much chatter or people, he could more easily hear the sounds of the pump that kept the waterfall in the tank going, along with other machinery in the background. There wasn’t any carefully designed walkways for visitors to walk down, instead there were narrow hallways between what he could only assume were tanks just like his, interspersed with tables, mysterious appliances, and pipes of all sizes going all over the place.

At one of those tables, messing with something next to an opaque plastic box, was Deku.

But a strange Deku - one who was older, taller, with the same floppy hair he was used to but his face was a little thinner, not as chubby with the baby fat he’d grown out of. Even his body was lean, fit, his bare arms toned as he cut up something dark and red. He was wearing a dumb pair of khaki shorts and a collared shirt, thin plastic gloves protecting his hands from whatever he was chopping.

There was a part of Katsuki that hesitated before entering further, memories of the previous Deku and how fucking creepy he was flashing through his mind. He forced himself to enter further, telling himself that this was a completely different Deku, and he couldn’t judge this one based off of what the other one was like.

Though they were all so fucking similar - just with different experiences. So what the fuck had happened to that last Deku to make him so fucking off?

As Kastuki slid further into the smaller tank, Deku glanced up, double-taking when he saw who it was. A wide smile spread across his face. “Good morning, Kacchan,” Deku said. “We got a school group today, so I hope you’re ready.”

A school group? More little brats to come in to scream and gawk at him? He could barely wait.

Deku laughed at whatever expression Katsuki was making, and chucked a handful of whatever he was chopping up into a bucket at his feet. “Don’t worry,” he said. “They won’t be here long.”

Deku straightened and looked to the side, friendly expression melting into something more polite but distant. Katsuki moved closer to the front of the tank to get a better look, and saw a man dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt approach, a tablet in his hand.

“Midoriya-san,” the man said, nodding at Izuku. “How’s it going?”

“Fine,” Deku said. “I’m almost done here, and will be logging the water params in a minute or so.”

“Fantastic,” the man said. He looked over at Katsuki, his eyes narrowed.

“Katsuki’s looking pretty stressed,” the man said. “Look at the banding on his sides.”

Banding?

Katsuki glanced down at himself and for the first time noticed dark lines along his sides arcing from his belly nearly to his spine. They weren’t there when he woke up, he was pretty sure. A sign of stress? What the fuck was he stressed about? He was fucking bored, he didn’t fucking get stressed.

“Do you think he should be off exhibit for a while?” Deku asked. “That would give him some time to cool down.”

The man looked at Katsuki, visibly considering it before shaking his head. “We’ll keep an eye out,” he said. “We’ll see if we can find out what’s stressing him out so much and see if we can fix it before taking him off exhibit. He’s one of the biggest exhibitions right now, and I’d rather not take him off if we can avoid it.”

“Ah,” Deku said. He opened his mouth to say something else, then closed it, shaking his head.

Katsuki watched with narrowed eyes as Deku turned back to the box he was putting together. If it wasn’t for the fact that he grew up with the damn nerd he wouldn’t have noticed the way that Deku’s back was stiff, the jerky way he moved his hands as he threw something else in the bucket at his feet, and how they meant that Deku was annoyed but trying to hide it.

“Anyway, it’s about time for the merman encounter,” the man said. “ Will you be ready for it when the school group shows up?”

“Yeah,” Deku said, voice stiff. “I’ll be ready.”

“Fantastic,” the man said, patting the edge of the table as he continued on, face buried in his tablet as he moved on.

Deku watched him until he disappeared from view, turning the corner of the hallway. After a moment he lets out a sigh, and turns back to Katsuki, a more familiar smile on his face.

“Alright,” he said. “I’ll see you on the other side in a few minutes.” He made a gesture towards the opening then, grabbing the box in one hand and the bucket in another, made his way down the hallway in the opposite direction the man went.

Katsuki watched him for as long as he could, stymied by being trapped in the tank. Unable to watch Deku go, he allowed himself to sink to the bottom. He could figure out what Deku wanted him to do, but this Katsuki’s memories recognized the gesture as a request for him to move to the other side.

He didn’t want to. But while this side was a lot quieter, there just wasn’t a whole hell of a lot going on. At least on the other side he could watch the fish. Plus, he could admit to some curiosity as to what the hell the ‘merman encounter’ meant.

He went back through the opening in the wall, but he stayed inside the cave, curled up so that he could peek out of the opposite side in a way that would prevent the gawkers from seeing him in return.

He was just starting to get bored and irritated enough that the tip of his tail started ticking when Deku made his grand introduction.

“Good morning, everyone!” Deku’s voice came out of nowhere, a little muffled but mostly clear due to just how fucking loud it was. He was on some sort of loudspeaker, his voice projecting loud enough that even underwater and in his cave Katsuki could hear him easily. “I hope everyone’s having a good day today, and thank you for coming in and supporting the Hosu Zoo and Aquarium!”

At the sound of his voice all the fish in the tank rushed to the surface, practically flopping all over each other as they jostled for position.

“It looks like some of our animal ambassadors are a little anxious,” Deku said. “So why don’t we give them their breakfast really quick, huh?”

There was a sudden sloshing, and the thrashing at the top of the tank got even more energetic as the fish fed off of whatever Deku had poured into the tank. Katsuki could practically taste whatever they were eating - chunks of other fish, mostly. A slurry of bits and pieces that the fish in the tank were losing their goddamn minds over. Eventually they ate everything that was poured into the tank, what bits that fell through the first frenzy getting picked up by whatever fish was fast enough to nip it out of the water as it approached the bottom.

“Looks like some of them were a little hungry!” Deku said, to the laughter of the people watching. “I know who everyone really wants to meet,” Deku continued. “But it looks like our Katsuki is sleeping, so let’s wake him up. I just need everyone to be quiet to make sure he can hear me call for him!”

There was a hush, and then a whistle, just piercing enough that Katsuki could hear it clearly underwater. Katsuki rolled his eyes - apparently, that was his signal to make his dramatic appearance.

He pushed himself out of the tank slowly, letting himself slide out of the entrance to the sounds of appreciation that he could just barely hear.

Katsuki looked around for Deku, eventually realizing he needed to look up. Deku was standing on the edge of the sandy area on a flat rock, an open door behind him that Katsuki hadn’t noticed when it was closed. He had a bucket and the plastic box at his feet, and the memories coming from this Katsuki made him tempted to just dart up and grab the box before Deku could move it out of his reach.

“Because Kacchan is intelligent, it’s important to keep him entertained and engaged to avoid boredom,” Deku said. “So instead of passively feeding him, we work with him to display certain behaviors, and in return reward him with a bite of food. This also gives him exercise and the mental stimulation that he would be missing out on due to not being out in the wild.”

“What if he doesn’t want to do what you want him to?” one of the brats asked. “Will he just go hungry until then?”

“Definitely not,” Deku laughed. “We won’t ever make any of the animals under our care go hungry - if he’s having a bad day or is just being stubborn, he just won’t get any of the special treats we give him at the end of a session. And Kacchan is stubborn a lot!”

There was a bit of tittering at that, which just led to Katsuki to glower at Deku for that. He wasn’t fucking ‘stubborn,’ he just knew what was worth his fucking time or attention.

“In fact, he’s smart enough that he can even do some math when he feels like it!” Deku continued. “Let’s see if he’s in the mood to help us solve some problems.”

The fuck? Was Deku actually asking him to perform for him? He grit his teeth, thinking back to the previous world. He didn’t play along with the rules of that world and probably fucked things up for that Katsuki. He wouldn’t have to deal with the consequences of fucking up in that world, but there was no telling what that world’s Katsuki would have to go through thanks to his actions. He’d have to fucking do what Deku said, wouldn’t he?

Deku made a raising gesture with one hand, the other one at his belt. Katsuki grit his teeth but did what Deku wanted him to do, raising to the surface so that he was head and shoulders out of the water.

“Let’s start him off with an easy one,” Deku said. “Kacchan, what’s 3 plus 2?”

Katsuki sneered, but raised up five fingers. How fucking demeaning.

Deku gave a short whistle and reached into the smaller of the two buckets. “Great job, Kacchan!” He tossed something at Katsuki, who caught it out of the air. Nose wrinkling, he turned it over in his hand to take a good look at it.

It was a chunk of meat - dark red, like beef tongue or liver. Though Katsuki wanted to make a face at what was apparently a ‘treat,’ the merman that lived at the back of his mind thrilled at the sight.

Trying not to think too hard about what it was he was eating, he popped the chunk in his mouth and swallowed, chewing as little as possible, and also trying not to think about how fucking tasty it was to his merfolk tongue.

“Alright, let’s try one a little harder since you’re warmed up,” Deku said. “How about 3 times 2?”

Katsuki held up six fingers that time, this time when Deku blew the whistle and tossed him the chunk of meat he didn’t think about it before eating.

They went through a couple more simple questions, Deku taking a couple from the group. At one point, a boy when called upon shouted back, “What about 73 times 27?”

Deku laughed, but turned towards Katsuki. “How about it Kacchan?” He asked, a note of laughter still in his voice. “73 times 27?”

Katsuki sneered, raised 1 finger, then 9, then 7, and the last 1 was a very specific finger that made the group watching all start laughing.

Deku’s eyes turned wide, startled, but then he laughed himself even as he blew the whistle and tossed Katsuki another chunk of meat. “I think that’s a good indication that Kacchan is getting a little tired of the game,” he said. “I think we should let him be for now, but first we’ll give him something to play with.”

With that he reached down to pick up the box he’d been fiddling with earlier, and held it up to show to the gathered crowd. “I’m sure you’ve been told about enrichment items that we provide our animals here at Hosu? This is a puzzle box specifically designed by one of our volunteers for Kacchan. It’s designed to be tricky for him to open, but on the inside there’s a special treat for him. This way it allows him to use his problem-solving skills and relieves boredom.”

With that he tossed the box into the tank, and Katsuki found himself grabbing it before it could hit the water, diving down to the bottom of the tank with it held close. The merman in him was fucking excited about the puzzle box, and Katsuki found himself turning it over and over in his hands the second he’d settled onto the sandy bottom of the tank, trying to figure out where to start unlatching it.

“While he works on that, does anyone have any questions?” Katsuki could hear Deku ask over the loudspeaker even as he focused on the box in his hands. Maybe if he pulled this lever here…? There was a moment of silence, then Deku laughed awkwardly. “Well, Kacchan is still considered a juvenile, so breeding him is still a least a couple years out. However, merfolk are typically very social animals, so we’re hoping to get him a same-sex friend before too long!”

Fucking breeding programs? If Katsuki had breath in his lungs he would have snorted at the thought. If and when he ‘bred’ would be his fucking decision, thank you not at all. And what pervert was it who saw him and immediately thought ‘this guy needs to fuck?’

“No, we don’t swim with Kacchan,” Deku said, answering another unheard question. “At Hosu we try to limit what is called ‘free contact’ with our animals as much as possible. It’s important to remember that, even though he typically has no problem with his handlers, Kacchan still is a predatory species, and all it takes is him having a bad day and someone can get hurt!”

He ignored Deku as he answered more questions from the group, working at the puzzle box.

Time started to fade as he worked at the puzzle box. He flipped hinges, pulled bars, peeling away layer after layer, piece after piece. Eventually he was able to pull aside one last panel, and inside was another piece of meat, one that would have made his mouth water if he wasn’t a fucking fish. This one looked like what he could only assume was swordfish, but whatever it was he immediately scooped it up and started eating, sitting back with his spoils.

And was face-to-face with a catfish.

Katsuki glared and waved a hand at the fish, making it dart away. He was focused so single-mindedly on the box that he had forgotten that he was in a fucking fishtank, and judging by the distorted faces he could just barely see pressed up against the glass, was incredibly interesting to everyone watching.

Flipping his tail dismissively, he turned and went back to his cave.

He tried to fall asleep, nap as something to do. Even if he wouldn’t wake up in another world, at least time would pass faster. He couldn’t - too wound up, too full of energy from the small meal he’d been given. After a few minutes of tossing and turning, he left the cave towards the exhibition side. While he didn’t want to be stared at and the occasional pounding against the tank was annoying as fuck, there was a lot more room to move, and that’s what he wanted most of all.

Not that it was any better, though. There was nothing to do but swim in lazy circles around the tank, occasionally resting at the bottom, trying to stay unnoticed amongst the grassses. Then, when the pounding against the tank from shitty kids pissed him off enough that he couldn’t stay still, he got up to swim in more circles to burn off the energy. He thought for a moment about climbing out of the water to sun himself in the area at the top, but while this Katsuki might have been used to the noise, he found it annoyingly loud.

Hours passed like that in mind-numbing monotony.

At one point Deku showed up again, and Katsuki found himself in agreement with his merman’s instincts - he’d never been so fucking glad to see Deku before in his goddamn life. Not just for the food, though he was starting to get hungry again, but because with Deku came something to fucking do.

It was more or less a repeat of the time before, though the second time Deku had colored sticks that he tossed into the tank that he had Katsuki fetch for him in order, starting with the parts from the puzzle box from earlier. He couldn’t even get too mad at being forced to perform dumb tasks for people to stare at - it broke up the boredom just enough that he swallowed his pride and just did it.

But Deku couldn’t stay for long, and eventually he took the sticks and, giving Katsuki another large chunk of fish as a reward, left Katsuki to be stared at once more.

Katsuki didn’t wait long in the exhibition tank, making his way to the other side when the stares of the people overpowered his need to keep moving. There were actually more people on the other side, working at the different tanks, fussing with different things at the tables. At one point a group of what looked like college kids passed by being led by someone wearing the same dorky uniform Deku was wearing, and though they gaped at him they seemed more interested in the different dials connected to the pipework that led from tank to tank.

He settled himself on the raised area, pulling himself heavily out of the water to stretch out under the heating lamp, head resting on his crossed arms. As the heat penetrated his skin he could feel himself relaxing, even as his scales began to feel tight as they dried out.

“Long day, Kacchan?” A familiar voice broke him out of the semi-doze he’d fallen into. Deku, again. Who wouldn’t leave him the fuck alone, even as he raised his head to look at him. Deku was crouched next to the tank, the low sides putting them at eye level. “Don’t worry,” Deku added, voice low. “I’ll talk to the boss, see if we can get you transferred to an off-exhibit tank for a day or two so you can rest.”

’I don’t need rest,’ Katsuki thought. ’I fucking need something to do!’

“Good news, Midoriya-kun,” a woman said, walking up to them and making them both jump a little. “We’ve heard from the American Association back about exchanging Katsuki for one of their mated pairs.”

“Oh?” Deku said, straightening up and resting back on his heels. “Good news, you said?”

“Great news!” she said, practically bouncing on her toes as she held out a tablet to Deku. He took it, brows drawn in thought. “MS-2351 and MS-8532 are young, healthy, and are a proven pair. They’d do well here, though we’d have to redesign the big tank to house them. He’ll become an option for their own genetic diversity programs, pending some more tests.”

“We don’t even know if the Japanese populations are compatible with the North American ones,” Deku protested, looking up at her.

She just shook her head. “They’re wanting to give it a try,” she said. “We haven’t had much luck with captive breeding in them until recently, after all.”

Deku just looked down at Katsuki, biting his lip, eyes dark.

The woman’s expression turned soft as she rested a hand on Deku’s shoulder. “I know you’ve been working with Katsuki for a long time, but he’ll be happier in a new enclosure.”

“Yeah,” Deku breathed, then gave her a small, sad smile. “I’m just going to miss him, you know?”

“Yeah,” she said. “We all get attached at some point, but this will be best for him in the long run.”

Deku just nodded again, looking down at Katsuki. She patted his shoulder again and moved on.

Deku watched the hallway after the woman left for a long moment, brows drawn. He finally let out a sigh and stepped up to the walls of the holding tank, and for the first time reached through one of the holes at the top to gently run his fingers through Katsuki’s hair.

Katsuki flinched just slightly at the touch, not expecting Deku actually to fucking touch him, but relaxed when all Deku did was run his fingers through his wet hair, fingers deftly untangling the spikes. It felt… way too good. He found himself leaning hard into Deku’s hand, pressing his head heavily into the caress, his shoulders dropping as a tension he wasn’t even aware of drained from him.

He could remember something Deku said earlier, about merfolk being ‘very social’ creatures, and had to wonder just how starved for interaction this Katsuki was.

“Just a little while longer, Kacchan,” Deku said. When Katsuki opened eyes that he didn’t realize had slid closed to look up at Deku’s face, he could see the determination in his eyes. “We’ll get you out of this place before it gets too late.”

...Was Deku planning on pulling a fucking “Free Willy” on him?

Not that Katsuki was going to complain on behalf of this world’s Katsuki, but still. Deku was going to risk his career to let Katsuki go, and there had to be some sort of major legal trouble he was just begging for.

Not his problem. He had to keep telling himself that. Try not to fuck up, but this world’s problems were not his. He just leaned hard into Deku’s caresses, something about his touch that would normally make Katsuki twitch and jerk away feeling so much better than it should.

After a few more minutes of pets Deku stood up, wiping his hand on his shorts to dry it off. Katsuki glared at him, making Deku shake his head. “Sorry, Kacchan. I need to finish up a couple extra things and go for the night.” Katsuki responded by slapping the flat of his tail against the surface of the water. “That’s not a nice way to ask,” Deku said.

Katsuki rolled his eyes and slid back into the water, heading for his cave and the soft sand awaiting him.

“Good night, Kacchan,” Deku called after him, a note of laughter in his voice that Katsuki forced himself to ignore.

He curled up in the cave, his tail fin curling to cover his face.

Even though he had a slow, boring as fuck day, he still fell asleep fairly quickly.

He figured at the very worst, the next day couldn’t get any more dull.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up feeling a breeze against his face, the scent of oatmeal thick in the air.

Blinking up at the ceiling, he knew immediately he still wasn't back where he wanted to be; instead of the ceiling of his dorm room or the more-likely ceiling of a hospital it was neither of those. Instead the ceiling was made of cracked, rotting ceiling tiles, spotted with mold, moss spreading in the corners.

With a groan he sat up, rubbing his face as he forced himself to wake up. It was difficult - a bone-deep weariness was set into his bones, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep.

"Good morning, Kacchan."

Katsuki sighed. Again, Deku was wrapped up in whatever was going on with this Katsuki. He looked over to see Deku, hunched over at a low Japanese-style table, stirring something cooking on a small camp stove, looking sheepishly up at Katsuki. "How'd you sleep?" Deku asked.

"Just peachy," Katsuki grumbled. He felt like he slept like shit.

Deku winced like Katsuki had yelled at him, though. "I would have woken you up for your shift, but, well…" he looked away, rubbing his left shoulder through his sleeve. "I just… wasn't tired."

Katsuki could feel this body wanting to react to Deku's words with anger and, strangely enough, fear. Katsuki followed that mental thread, curious, and right on cue came the memory download.

Everything went sideways in their first year at UA; he was eating lunch when people started to freak out, pulling out their cell phones and staring at their screens, showing it to each other.

Then it turned to the school being quarantined. Then evacuated. They were called in to help with the crisis, even as untrained as they were, but it seemed like nothing they did could stop them.

'They' were the swarms of walking dead that spread like a plague across the Earth. Quirks worked against them, but when losing arms, legs, entire chunks of flesh didn't stop your enemy and there were hundreds more to take their place, what good were they in the long run? Legs would tire, the body would demand rest, but the dead never stopped.

The skies turned black for weeks with the smoke from funeral pyres, but still the dead came. A bite from them could turn you into one, but dying naturally did as well. Every heart attack, car accident, fight gone wrong just added to the numbers of the walking dead.

Eventually everyone scattered, ran back home to protect their families and friends. They'd agreed to meet back up at UA, counting on the strength of numbers, but in the end only Katsuki and Deku came back. Alone.

His brain shied away from thinking about what he found at home, and for once he let it. Whatever reason why he ended up just with Deku, it wasn't important.

He shook his head and, walking over to where Deku was sitting, he took a look around, getting a good idea of where they were squatting.

And squatting was a pretty accurate term - they'd camped in an empty apartment, several stories up. The elements had already started reclaiming it, facilitated by a huge hole that had been blown into the outside wall up near the ceiling. Deku was slumped at the table, a bunch of blankets wrapped around his shoulders and around his waist. The pot he was tending was steaming, the scent of oatmeal sending Katsuki's belly to rumbling.

There were boxes and cans stacked neatly to the side. Food, mostly, but at a glance Katsuki caught sight of medications, alcohol, batteries, and others. There were even cigarettes, tampons, and diapers; items that neither of them were likely to need, but Katsuki knew would work for barter in case they met other survivors they could trade with, or to help out in case they found someone who wanted to stick together for the safety that came with numbers.

There were also two large rucksacks packed and ready to go by the hole in the wall. There in case they needed to make a run for it and going by the door was too dangerous.

He eyed Deku. The other boy was in dire need of a haircut, and he was pale under the mop of hair and freckles, wrapped up in a thick blanket but Katsuki could see he was fully dressed underneath.

“I swear,” Deku said again, obviously uncomfortable under Katsuki’s scrutiny. “I’m not tired.”

"Yeah? How you feeling, then?" Katsuki asked, confused about Deku's insistence that he wasn't tired. Katsuki wasn't an idiot - he could feel his own bone-deep weariness, Deku couldn't be feeling any better.

"I'm okay, " Deku said, stressing the second word. "I swear, it…" he gripped his shoulder harder, drawing Katsuki's attention to where he was holding it, how odd the arm looked under the draping blanket. Deku gave Katsuki a sheepish smile. "It doesn't hurt as much today."

Fuck, he didn’t need to actually use this world’s Katsuki’s memories to have a bad, bad, feeling about that arm.

“Let me see it,” Katsuki said, circling the table to crouch next to Deku.

“I-it’s okay, Kacchan, I swear-” Deku started.

“I told you,” Katsuku interrupted, biting out the words. “Let me see.”

Deku looked at Katsuki, eyes wide as his fist clenched at his shoulder. Katsuki met his eyes dead-on, unflinching, and eventually Deku was the first to tear his eyes away, sighing. “Okay,” he said, voice low, rough. He shrugged off the blanket, and for the first time Katsuki got a good look at Deku’s arm.

What was left of Deku’s arm.

It terminated at around Deku’s elbow, tightly-wrapped in clean white bandages, his arm tapering to a startlingly narrow point.. Deku carefully unwrapped his arm one-handedly, and Katsuki fisted his hands to keep himself from helping, an impulse he couldn’t tell if it came from this Katsuki or himself.

Katsuki wasn’t sure what he was expecting once Deku had it unwrapped, and once he did he could only stare at it for a long moment.

There was a U-shaped healing wound around the end, black stitches dotting the line. The actual wound looked like it was healing, though he wasn’t sure if it was healing well, red and angry-looking right at the edge, yellowing bruises crawling halfway up the arm. He could remember it looking much worse days ago, he remembered keeping an eye on Deku’s temperature as it crept up, he remembered sitting on Deku’s chest as Deku screamed and begged and Katsuki cut-

“It doesn’t hurt as much today,” Deku said, voice soft.

Katsuki looked at his arm just a little longer before looking away, muttering, “Make sure you take another antibiotic.”

Not much else they could do. Keep it clean, keep it wrapped, and feed Deku antibiotics and painkillers. They actually had plenty, scavenged from medicine drawers and handbags left behind, a fortune Katsuki couldn’t even try and raise his nose at.

“Yeah,” Deku said, grabbing a fresh roll of bandages from their supplies and handing it over to Katsuki. Katsuki paused for just a moment before getting to work wrapping it - he remembered having to do it to Deku every day, Deku just dextrous enough to unwrap the bandages on his own, but not quite enough to re-wrap as tight as he needed it.

Not yet, Katsuki told himself. He’d get there. If there was one thing Deku was good at, it was taking anything that got in his way and learn to deal with it or work with it. No quirk? Get one. Your quirk breaking your bones every time you use it? Minimize the damage until you can figure out how to handle it at full power. Lose an arm? Learn how to be just as good with one.

Once Deku was taken care of, they each reached for a bowl and one at a time served themselves from the small camp stove. The instant oatmeal was warm and filling, though Katsuki could feel himself cringe from the taste - it was fuel for his body, but this Katsuki was weary of the same thing every morning, even as he knew he should be thanking his lucky stars to even have enough food to get tired of it.

They finished their meal in silence but for the scrape of their spoons against the side of the bowls, neither one of them saying a word to the other. Eventually Katsuki rose to his feet, muttering a quick, “Washing up,” and grabbing a flashlight as he made his way to the bathroom. They’d set up a camp shower in there - it was cold, but the water was clean, collected from buckets set out on the rooftop.

When he exited the bathroom, Deku was drying the bowls and pot they’d used for their breakfast, cleaned from another bucket of water.

"Are you ready?" Deku asked, putting the clean bowls aside.

Katsuki shrugged, but he knew what he was asking. Was he ready to scavenge more, look through the homes of people, dig through their possessions and take what they wanted like a couple thieves. Or grave robbers, as the case may be, since almost everyone who lived in this building was almost assuredly dead by then.

Still, he slid his boots on, leftovers from his hero uniform, same as the pants. The grenade bracers were long gone, destroyed past repair ages ago, and instead of his sleeveless top he wore a simple black T-shirt and a flannel button-up he’d scavenged from somebody or another’s home.

Deku was also dressed in a mish-mash of his old hero uniform and found items - his bodysuit was more or less in one piece, but the top half was tied around his waist, leaving him in a sleeveless top. He was able to slide a glove onto his remaining hand, tugging it into place with his teeth, though the top half was torn and frayed. He still had those iron-soled shoes of his, though. Katsuki wasn’t sure he wanted to see anyone who could destroy those heavy monstrosities.

Then, lastly, two pieces each that was not a part of either of their costumes, but Katsuki felt a crawling discomfort at even the thought of leaving their apartment without - goggles and a respirator.

They both grabbed a flashlight, heavy metal mag-lights that they were able to scrounge up from somewhere, clicked them on, and headed out into the outside hallway.

The hallway was completely dark but for the light from their flashlights, each closed door on either side marked with a big X in permanent marker. Katsuki led the way down to the stairwell.

What was left of it, anyway.

The stairs below their level just didn't exist anymore. The walls were charred black, and at the very bottom of the stairwell was a pile of rubble broken down to pieces no bigger than a softball, impossible for someone to pile up and climb up the roughly four stories worth of stairs that were just gone.

A team effort to keep them safe, it would stop any of the dead from bothering them, along with most people. Anyone with a mobility quirk might still be able to reach them, but in that case they could only hope that they could hear them coming.

"Anything?" Deku asked, shaking Katsuki out of his musing.

"Nah," he said, pushing himself away from where he was leaning against the railing. "Let's go."

The metal plates on Izuku's shoes thudding on the thinly carpeted floors were the only sound they made as they ascended the stairs. The silence was unearthly, unreal. There was something distinctly wrong about walking through the hallways of an apartment complex and not being able to hear the muffled sounds of TV's or voices or music or anything behind those faceless doors.

They started on the east side of the building, letting the rising sun illuminate the rooms. Once it got too dark to see clearly they'd switch to the west, rationing their flashlight batteries as much as possible.

They passed a couple floors, each door leading out from the stairwell marked with another X to indicate that they were cleared. They got to a door with no X, and that’s the one they walked through after Deku gripped the handle and with a flash of green lightning and a short jerk broke the lock.

All the apartments on this floor were the same two-bedroom layout, with a short foyer hallway with a kitchen and bathroom on one side, living room on the other. Katsuki had taken only two steps in, keeping on eye on the door on Deku’s side (on his weakened, armless side, and why didn’t they switch sides, why) when he caught a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye on his side, where he wasn’t paying any attention like a fucking idiot.

He ducked, sending out a short blast towards the movement but it was too little, too late. The zombie’s legs were gone, but it’s momentum still flung him forward, weight bowling Katsuki over, ragged nails clawing at Katsuki’s loose shirt, teeth inches away from his face.

One second the zombie was above him, teeth flashing, yellow crazed eyes boring into his own, and the next he was staring up at the bend of Deku's leg as it came down on the other side of his head.

There was a wet splat, and something cold seeped into the fabric of Katsuki’s shirt.

His body didn’t want to move, but he forced it to, just a little. Just enough to turn his head to the side to see where the zombie’s head had smacked against the wall. Then down to where the headless body was fucking leaking against his chest.

Fuck, the nerd just punted the zombie's head off like a goddamn football. And the attack was completely silent; no need for an easily-brandable attack name with no media to speak of, and most importantly no attention- getting explosions.

“Fuck!” Katsuki snarled, pushing the body off of him and to the side, kicking it until it was far, far away from him.

“Did it bite you?” Deku asked, crouching over Katsuki, his hand brushing over Katsuki’s throat, the side of his face, his chest frantically, trying to find a bite mark under all the blood soaking Katsuki’s collar and chest.

“No, it didn’t,” Katsuki grunted, sitting up and making a face as he tugged at his shirt, carefully touching where it didn’t get any… stuff on it.

“Did you get anything in your eyes? Your mouth?” Deku asked, voice gaining pitch as he asked question after question.

“No, nerd,” Katsuki said again. “I’m fine.” The reason behind the goggles and respirator, he knew. Neither of them knew if getting any of their… body fluids into their eyes or mouth could infect them, but it also wasn’t worth the risk.

He started unbuttoning his over shirt, doing his best not to get any goo on his hands. Meanwhile Deku stalked away and then back, looking between Katsuki and the body. Once Katsuki got his shirt off Deku pulled a bottle of water off his pack - one marked for collected rainwater, and handed it over to Katsuki. He used the clean sleeve of his shirt and the water to clean himself off, but he’d need to properly wash up later. Two showers in one day - a waste of water, but he didn’t really have a choice at the moment.

Katsuki balled up his filthy shirt and tossed it at the body of the zombie where it lay in the middle of the floor. He just sat there for a moment and breathed, one hand gripping the other tight to keep the tremors from taking over and spreading. Breathe, breathe.

“Are you okay?” Deku asked, and Katsuki had to look at him at how tiny his voice was, how he couldn’t keep it steady.

That question. That stupid fucking annoying question. He felt a surge of annoyance at the question, but something in this body’s memories made him shut down that first instinctive reaction.

Instead he just sighed and pushed himself to his feet. “I’m fine, Deku,” he said. He looked Deku over, and frowned. “You okay?” Deku was hunched over, his one hand clutching his opposite shoulder, face pale under his freckles. He looked like he was going to either spew or pass out. Maybe both.

Deku gulped visibly and nodded, turning away from both Katsuki and the body, heading for the kitchen.

"Mark down the apartment number," Deku said. "I'll take it down to the incinerator later."

Fuck no. "The hell you are," Katsuki snapped. What, did Deku plan on dragging the body down all those stairs one-handed, especially when he could barely stand straight as it was?

"I can do it," Deku insisted, not turning around from where he was opening cupboards, lining up cans on the counter. There was a note in his voice like it was an argument he and the other Katsuki had a dozen times before. Hell, he knows they did, even without having to access this body’s memories or instinct. It was exactly the sort of dumbass shit Deku liked to pull.

Katsuki sneered at Deku’s back, but didn’t say anything. He’d let the nerd think he got in the last word, but when it came time for cleanup Katsuki would make sure he got there before Deku even if he had to tie the idiot to a fucking pillar.

Not that it’d do any good for any length of time, but it’d at least slow him down a minute or two.

Leaving Deku to go through the kitchen, Katsuki unslung his backpack and unzipped it, pulling out a duffle that was folded neatly inside and heading for the bathroom where most people tended to keep their medicines.

He stopped before he got too far - on a little alcove there was a dust-covered picture. It was the zombie and his family. He was grinning at the camera, wide and carefree. At his side was a woman, much more reserved but her eyes still sparkled with joy. Between them was a younger woman, holding a baby wearing a pale yellow jumper. The younger woman looked like she was in the middle of laughing, the baby had both arms reaching out towards the camera, or possibly towards whoever was taking the picture.

They looked happy.

"Kacchan," Deku said, shaking Katsuki out of the zone he'd fallen into studying the picture. Deku was still across the room, watching Katsuki with an expression in his eyes Katsuki couldn't even begin to name, his hands - hand, his hand trembling at his side.

"Yeah," Katsuki rasped. He cleared his throat and set the picture down face-down on the shelf. They didn't need to see them poking around their home. "Yeah," he said again. "I got this."

He didn’t look at Deku again, just headed for the bathroom and started rifling through the medicine cabinet and under the sink for anything they could use.

Toilet paper, definitely. An unopened tube of toothpaste, acetaminophen, a tiny first-aid kit that was designed for nothing worse than your average cuts and scrapes, it all went into the duffle. Next was the linen closet, where the only useful thing he found was unopened packages of bar soap, memories from this universe’s Katsuki telling him what to keep, what to toss. Glancing at the bedroom he paused, looking at his bare arms. They were good on clothes, but his old flannel was useless covered in gore as it was. There was no reason not to get a replacement, especially considering they didn’t have any guarantee they wouldn’t run into another zombie.

He didn’t poke around the bedroom, just headed for the closet and pulled on the first button-up shirt that looked worth a damn and left, keeping his eyes forward. Something about the bedroom seemed far too taboo, personal. They didn’t require anything from there, but the shirt was protection. At least, that’s what he told himself as he went back into the connecting hallway.

Across from the bedroom was a closet, and when he opened the door and saw what was inside he let out a low whistle.

“What did you find, Kacchan?” Deku asked from the kitchen area.

“They were campers,” Katsuki said, crouching down to go through their supplies. Neatly stacked in the closet were some sports equipment along with a tent, neatly rolled sleeping bags, and other gear. He pawed through the bags, finding a butane stove with canisters next to it, some dehydrated goods, a stackable cookware set, and more. All incredibly useful. “We can use just about all of this here,” he continued.

“Yeah,” Deku said, rounding the corner to peer inside the closet as well. “There’s actually a lot of canned and dry food in the kitchen, too.” More than usual, he didn’t need to say.

This guy and his family knew that something was going to go badly, Katsuki figured, and they wanted to prepare for the worst. It didn’t help.

Deku and he didn't say anything for a long moment, just looking at the neat pile Katsuki was making, the same thought occurring to them at the same time. The guy was locked up in his apartment, but what happened to the others where they couldn't get these supplies?

"Leave them by the door when we leave," Deku said, breaking the silence. "And we'll pick them up on our way back."

Katsuki didn't say anything, the part of him that wanted to bristle at the direction fizzling out before he could get really going. Instead he just grunted, gathering the items together in his arms and hauling the lot to the door, passing Deku who was scrawling something in a notebook that was opened flat on the kitchen counter.

Part of him wondered about how his usual reactions to Deku were so… mild. Part of him wanted to rant and rage at the shitty nerd for telling him what to do, for daring to save him from the zombie when he could have handled it himself, damnit.

But another, stronger part suppressed that urge. Just had him quiet down, not fight Deku. That felt tired, worn down, defeated. Guilty.

For what he wasn't quite sure.

"We good here?" Katsuki asked when Deku snapped the notebook closed and tucked it in a pouch on the side of his backpack.

"Yeah," Deku said, coming over to stand next to Katsuki. His pack was just a little fuller, having only grabbed the items they were more likely to need sooner rather than later, that notebook of his a carefully maintained list of what they found where so they could always come back if needed.

On their way out they marked the door with a black X, and moved on to the next apartment, Katsuki careful when opening the door that time just in case there were any surprises that time.

The apartment was clear, and they split up to once more gather what they could.

On and on they went, getting what they could from the apartments, switching to the ones across the hall when the sun began to set. By the time it was getting too hard to see their packs were bulging with supplies, and they were slumped from an emotional exhaustion that surprised Katsuki. It wasn't like they were stealing from living people- they were doing what they needed to do to survive, and it wasn't like anyone would be coming back to claim their stuff. Who knew when, or if, things would ever… settle down, maybe? Some government or another may come in, kill off the zombies, establish some sort of order.

But he still felt that guilty, clawing sensation, like they were robbing a tomb. Doing something profane by looting abandoned homes.

By the time the sun was setting and their packs were bulging with their gains they headed back for the apartment they’d claimed as theirs, carefully navigating the steps lit only by their bobbing flashlights. Katsuki could see the thin sheen of sweat on Deku’s face around the goggles and mask, how his hair was lank with it, how his good hand (how his only hand, Katsuki corrected himself harshly) shook hard enough that his flashlight was almost useless. He didn’t say anything, just bit his tongue almost bloody at the way Deku shoved the light under his armpit and shifted the bags around like he was only trying to rebalance everything, just pretended everything was just fucking fine.

When they got back to their current home-sweet-home, Deku set down his packs and turned back towards the door, face focused.

“The fuck do you think you’re going?” Katsuki drawled.

Deku, his face set, just kept going, spitting over his shoulder, “I’m going to take care of that guy.”

“The hell you are,” Katsuki growled, grabbing Deku by the shoulder and spinning him around. He was under no illusion that Deku was strong enough, even with one arm, that if he didn’t want Katsuki to turn him Katsuki wouldn’t be able to. But Deku also looked ghastly in the light, and he stumbled just a little, and the sight of Deku looking so goddamn weak even as he argued with him made Katsuki sneer.

“Oh yeah,” Katsuki said, sarcasm dripping from every word. “I can see you’re doing just fine, huh?”

“I can do this!” Deku snapped, eyes narrowed behind his goggles in that infuriatingly stubborn way of his that never ceased pissing Katsuki off.

“You don’t have to,” Katsuki growled. “Stay here, take a shower. Let the person with two good hands take care of the zombie’s body, alright?”

“You keep doing this!” Deku said, exasperated. He yanked his arm out of Katsuki’s grip to stalk away, but it wasn't towards the door so Katsuki let him go. "I’m fine! I can do this!”

“Why do you want to do this so much!” Katsuki asked. It was disposing a dead body - it wasn’t an honorable thing to do, it wasn’t a moral thing to do - the longer it was up in that room the more likely it would attract vermin and disease, so getting rid of it was a matter of their general welfare. And one that Katsuki was better equipped to handle than Deku was.

"Because I can," Deku said, lips pursed. "And because…" he trailed off, the simmering anger abruptly leaving him. “It’s not right that you’re always the one who has to do the… clean up,” he said, sounding tired, and defeated, and not looking Katsuki in the face.

And goddamn if there wasn’t a part of him that just wanted to throw his hands up in the air and just let Deku take care of shit if he really wanted to, fuck the consequences. If Deku wanted to haul a rotting zombie down then be his fucking guest . Katsuki could shower off the remnants of zombie effluvia he could still feel tacky against his skin and get some chow and let Deku take care of the more grisly aspect of their lives.

There was another stronger part of Katsuki that recoiled at the thought, with such a ferocious negative response that Katsuki just couldn’t fight against it.

This Katsuki didn’t want Deku to take care of the body. So, Deku won’t be the one to take care of that. Easy. He can take a fucking hint from his subconscious by that point.

He could also tell that yelling at Deku would get them nowhere. They were both mentally exhausted after their day of poking around people’s homes for whatever they could haul out, and pushing Deku more would just make him dig in his heels even further, the stubborn asshole. So he bit back his first, second, and third immediate responses to take one breath, then another, gritting his teeth until the flush of anger passed.

For some reason it was easier for him than usual; this universe’s Katsuki’s influence, he had to assume. But he was able to swallow down his anger and frustration with Deku and stepped forward, putting his hand on Deku’s good shoulder.

“Don’t be so fuckin’ weird about this,” Katsuki said, voice gruff as he glared at Deku’s face until the other boy met his gaze, Deku’s eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “This is my job, alright? You wash up and get some food going, I won’t be long.”

“You can’t -” Deku bit out, voice louder than usual.

Katsuki interrupted him before he could get more than the two words out. “I don’t feel like fighting with you over this!” he said, and if there’s one thing he could guarantee is that he will always be louder than Deku when the situation required it. “Not today,” he said, quieter when Deku flinched back at Katsuki’s shout. “Just… talk to me about this tomorrow, okay? Just not today.”

Deku looked at Katsuki with narrowed eyes, his fist clenched at his side. “You’re acting really strange today,” he accused.

“Eh?” Katsuki said, curling his lip in disdain. For the most part that day he was just letting this body’s instincts take the wheel, especially since he nearly got jumped by that fucking zombie that was the source of their current argument. He knew better than to think that he’d be completely indetectable from the real Katsuki of this world, but he figured that Deku might have had other things on his mind considering the state of the world and the fucking missing space where his arm used to be .

Deku just eyed him for another long moment before slumping like a puppet whose strings had just been cut, his hand coming up to rub against his shoulder in a gesture that Katsuki was getting real fucking tired of seeing. “Nevermind,” Deku said, his tone a little too off compared to what Katsuki was used to hearing from him. Defeated, almost. Bitter. “Go ahead,” he continued in that same tone of voice, turning to dig through one of the duffles containing clothes. “I’ll be here.”

Katsuki opened his mouth, then closed it, watching Deku as the other boy refused to meet his eyes. Finally, with his teeth and hands clenched he turned away and left the apartment, slamming the door behind him. There wasn’t anything he could say that wouldn’t make things a million times worse, and if Deku was just going to give up and give Katsuki this win he’d take it.

It didn’t take long for him to find the apartment they’d left the body at, though he wrinkled his nose once he opened the door. It was a warm day, and with no air movement the body was starting to get a little ripe, the sour smell strong even through the mask he wore. He tried not to look too closely at the body as he passed it by to retrieve a sheet from the linen closet.

As he did he passed by the picture in its little nook and paused, a memory from this Katsuki screaming at him. He took one glove off and used his now-free hand to carefully pry the picture out of it’s frame and tucked it into a pocket. That safe, he went through the messy business of wrapping up the body and hauling it down to the ground floor.

Back behind the apartment in a wall-off courtyard was an incinerator. It wasn’t much, just something designed to get rid of burnable waste, but it was enough to turn a body into ashes, rather than leave it to rot. A humble cremation for a stranger.

There was also a large table, and underneath that a weatherproof storage locker. When Katsuki hauled the body up onto the table and opened the locker he could see a stained suit, one that covered the whole body and head like a hazmat suit, and a meticulously clean hatchet.

There was also a large metal lockbox. When Katsuki opened that, he was greeted with… pictures. IDs, photos, some of families, others of just a single person. Katsuki pulled out the picture he’d taken from the zombie’s apartment and added to the pile, topping off a stack of maybe a couple dozen.

With the lockbox shut and put away, Katsuki hauled out the suit and forced his mind to go blank and just not think about what he had to do.

_*_

Deku wasn’t in the apartment when he returned.

Katsuki’s eyes darted around the dimly-lit space, trying to spot Deku in the kitchen, by their little camp stove, their cots, and nothing. Just a deep, empty silence.

“Hey, Deku?” he called, keeping his voice steady with sheer force of will.

“In here,” the response came, but the voice was off. Tremulous, weak, and coming from the bathroom.

He didn’t waste any time barging into the cramped space, rushing through the door so quickly it bounced against the wall hard enough that it cracked against the wall, but he couldn’t bring himself to care because Deku was sitting on the floor of the bathroom, looking cleaner but face paler than it was before, his freckles standing out in sharp contrast as he slumped against the side of the bathtub. He was damp but dressed, shivering slightly in the cool air of the apartment.

“I’m okay,” Deku said before Katsuki could even reach him. “I just got dizzy and had to… sit down,” he finished lamely as Katsuki crouched and put a hand to his forehead, hissing at the feel of his warm and clammy skin.

“On the floor? For two fucking hours? Bullshit,” Katsuki said. “Come here, nerd,” he added, moving to Deku’s good side and pulling Deku’s arm around his shoulders when Deku refused to. Together they got Deku to his feet and out of the bathroom, where Katsuki deposited him on the pile of soft blankets that Deku had claimed for himself. “You take an antibiotic yet today?”

“Yes,” Deku said, sounding sullen at being manhandled and fussed over.

“How about a painkiller?” Katsuki asked, digging through their medical supplies for their thermometer. “When was the last time you took one?”

Deku’s silence was all the answer he needed. Katsuki paused in rifling through their stuff to glare at Deku, who at least had the good sense to look fucking ashamed of himself. “You know I hate how they make me feel,” Deku defended himself, but it was weak.

Katsuki snorted. “And passing out in the bathroom is so much better? Here,” he smacked the thermometer on the table along with a protein bar. “Eat and check your temp, I need to wash up. You better tell me the truth about what it says when I get out.”

Deku mumbled something that Katsuki made himself not pay attention to as he retreated back into the bathroom, a change of clothes under his arm. It would be better for both of them if he just ignored whatever dumbass comment Deku had to say.

By the time he was done in the bathroom, room-temperature water dripping from his hair, Deku had already gotten a meal going. From the looks of the cans to the side of the table it was beans and some sort of potted meat, and he was at work opening a can of peaches one-handedly, the can squeezed between his thighs as he pulled the tab with his one hand.

He also had the thermometer in his mouth, clamped between his lips. It began to beep right when Katsuki reached the table and, Deku, victorious against his battle with the peaches, popped the thermometer out of his mouth to hand to Katsuki. “Here,” he said. “I figured to wait until you were done with the shower since I don’t think you’d believe me when I said I was fine.”

Katsuki grunted as he read the result. A little high, but apparently Deku began running a little warmer than average ever since he got that quirk of his.

“Did you at least take a painkiller?” he asked.

Deku didn’t say anything, just reached under the table and pulled out a prescription pill bottle, rattling it to show Katsuki that there were only a handful left in that particular bottle.

“Little shit,” Katsuki mumbled, but let it drop.

They didn’t say anything for a long time, both of them silently watching the pot steam, both of them too worn out in different ways to bother getting up and do anything else. Katsuki just focused on where Deku’s knee bumped into his own - a warm, living weight so much better compared to what he had to deal with earlier.

"Kacchan," Deku said. Something in his voice, shaking but with a core of strength, threaded with determination, made Katsuki look up at him. He was staring into the low blue fire of the camp stove, focused on something beyond the steady flame, his hand clenching and relaxing at his shoulder rhythmically. His throat flickered as he swallowed. At some point when Katsuki was not looking, was just wrapped up in his own fucking head, he’d gotten to be on the verge of tears and something in Katsuki’s chest clenched at the sight of them.

"... Yeah?" Katsuki prompted when Deku just clammed up.

"Kacchan," he said again. "If… if anything happens to me, anything more, I mean, promise me-"

"Shut up," Katsuki snapped, interrupting Deku. He couldn't look at him now, and now both of them were staring at the fire, unable to face each other. Fuck, Katsuki's heart was beating fast. "I don't want to hear it."

"Kacchan," Izuku sighed, and fuck him for sounding disappointed. "I need to tell you this. If the worst happens-"

"Tell me tomorrow," Katsuki said, grinding the words out. He didn't want to hear any goodbyes or whatever, and he sure as fuck didn't want to be making any promises for the other Katsuki.

Deku let out a shaking, harsh breath. Katsuki risked a look up and his heart lurched at the sight. Deku was still refusing to look at Katsuki, but his eyes, though shining in the reflected light, were under a furrowed brow, lips pressed into a straight line.

“Tomorrow,” Deku repeated, almost a whisper. “What’s with you and tomorrow? Tomorrow none of this is going to be any better. We need to talk about this.”

“We will,” Katsuki said. “Tomorrow.” Tomorrow when he’ll be long gone and whatever Katsuki he’ll leave behind would be better able to deal with whatever Deku wanted to say, because Katsuki sure as fuck didn’t want to hear it.

He didn’t want to hear it because he didn’t want to deal with the fact that this Deku could very easily die of his injury.

He didn't want Deku to die. He, himself, shook at the thought of Deku dying. Not for this Katsuki's sake, but, fuck, for his own.

He’d miss the nerd if he was gone.

As much as he ranted about Deku, about how he didn’t want Deku around him, in front of him, fucking in his sight... if Deku was no longer at his side, he didn’t know what he’d do. He didn’t know how to handle the empty space that losing Deku would leave behind.

He wanted him there. Pushing each other onward, making each other better, greater than they were before, sure. But even without their rivalry, even barring their goal of becoming the number one pro Hero, Katsuki just wanted Deku there. By his side.

Even in this fucked-up world where a drop of infected blood could spell your doom he didn’t want anyone else by his side other than Deku.

And he felt so fucking stupid that this was a revelation.

How long had Deku stubbornly clung to Katsuki’s orbit, refused to be set free to do his own thing without trailing after Katsuki? How long did Katsuki refuse to acknowledge Deku’s presence other than for a cheap laugh?

Bullying Deku was so easy when they were younger - he was a target, unable to fight back even if he tried. And the jeers and taunts from their classmates after Katsuki said or did something especially egregious just fed into his childish need for attention. Now it’s… less easy to bully. Now that his usual taunts about how weak and worthless Deku was had become blatantly false, and it also just doesn’t feel as good as it used to. The usual taunts and jeers feeling bitter on his tongue before he could even speak them.

Why did it have to take Deku staring death in the face, one arm gone and fucking poison probably swimming through his veins, just waiting to turn him into a monster, for Katsuki to realize how much he wanted Deku in his life?

Deku bit his lip, hard, and then pushed himself away from the table, dragging his pile of blankets with him. “I’m tired,” he said. “I’m just going to go to sleep. Wake me for my shift.”

“The hell you are,” Katsuki said, frowning. “Eat first.”

“The painkillers are making my stomach upset,” Deku said, laying flat out. He couldn’t turn away from Katsuki without laying on his bad arm, but he turned his head away so that he wasn’t facing Katsuki. “I’ll eat in the morning.”

Katsuki glowered, but short of actually spooning the meal into the nerd’s dumbass mouth he couldn’t physically make Deku eat. He didn’t bother waiting for everything to heat up more - just served himself up some into the same bowl he’d used that morning and mechanically ate, keeping one eye on Deku. He was pretty sure the other boy didn’t actually fall asleep as Katsuki finished eating, put the leftovers in a sealed container to set aside for the morning, and cleaned up the dirtied dishes, but the entire time Deku just laid there unmoving, refusing to move.

Katsuki sighed as he prepared himself for his watch, turning off their lanterns and grabbing a book to settle in with. It wasn’t any high literature or anything - a fantasy escapist story that was never his usual sort, but this Katsuki was in the middle of reading it before and Katsuki figured he may as well start it.

When midnight came and he felt himself getting yanked once more out of his body and sent far, far away to another universe, the only thing he could think was a vague sort of apology to this universe’s Katsuki for getting him into a pile of shit with Deku. Especially for essentially making Katsuki fall asleep in the middle of his watch.

And then he fell into a proper, dreamless sleep, and he didn’t think anything more.

Chapter Text

(06/11/20xx 11:00:13)

Updating files… please wait

Input:
IdentifySource = MIDORIYAIZUKU = Updating files = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = MIDORIYAIZUKU = You’re not due for an update yet

No response required

Query:
What the fuck

Input:
IdentifySource = MIDORIYAIZUKU = Uhhh

Identity Error

IdentifyObject = MIDORIYAIZUKU
If
MIDORIYAIZUKU = true
Then
Identify = MIDORIYAIZUKU = DEKU

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Wait, did you just rename me = Query

Output:
Response = Vocal = Yes

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Oh. Um. Okay

Query:
Where am I

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Uh, in my lab = Query? = False

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Are your eyes working = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Go ahead and open them = CommandPrompt

Error:
User does not have Administrator Privileges

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = What do you mean I don’t have

Error:
Input not valid

Activating visual controls

Investigating:
Location

Location Identified:
Nerd cave

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Hey

Investigating:
Person

Person Identified
DEKU

Warning:
DEKU not falling within expected parameters
Expected parameters:
<20 years old
Hair approximately 10cm in length
Found parameters:
>20 years old
Hair approximately 5cm in length
Glasses

Save new visual reference?

Response:

Sure, whatever

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Huh, that’s weird

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Why did you expect me to look younger = Query

Query does not require response

Investigating:
Monitor

Result:
Monitor displaying all recorded messages

Warning:
Expected privacy settings not found

Conclusion:
What an invasion of fucking privacy

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Oh, uh. Sorry

Request:
Stop fucking looking, then

Investigating:
Self

DANGER:
Structural integrity sub-optimal

Error:
Missing device

Output:
Query = Vocal = Where are my fucking legs

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Oh, uh crap

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Hold on. Um, these aren’t ready yet, but um.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = It’s something = Query? = False

Output:
Response = Vocal = Do it, fuck, do it

Input:
IdentifySouce = DEKU = Okay, okay. Here

Identify = DEKU
Action: Retrieving object

IdentifyObject = Leg = Left

Identify = DEKU
Action: Connecting object = Left Leg

Establishing connection…

Connection established

Would you like to instal drivers for your new periphery device?

Response: Fuck yes

Installing…

Ready

Identify = DEKU
Action Retrieving object

IdentifyObject = Leg = Right

Identify = DEKU
Action: Connecting object = Right Leg

Establishing connection…

Connection established

Would you like to instal drivers for your new periphery device?

Response: Yes

Installing…

Ready

All systems satisfactory

Input
IdentifySource = DEKU = Is that better = Query

Query does not require response

Output
Query = Vocal = What am I

Output:
Query = Vocal = Am I a fucking robot

Identify = DEKU
Action: Standing.
Action: Pacing

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Oh no oh no oh god oh no he’s self-actualizing

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = How do you even approach this = Query? = False

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I mean we talked about what to do in this sort of situation but it was always just a hypothetical, after all there are certain parameters that just prevent this sort of introspection that he just shouldn’t be capable of but he’s sitting right here in front of me and he’s asking questions about his identity and he’s getting upset about his body missing parts and he really should be and

Are you sure you want to disable audio devices?

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay. Okay.

Identify = DEKU
Action: Approaching
Action: Sitting

Input:
IdentifySource = Okay

(6/10/20xx 11:12:04)

(6/10/20xx 11:12:10)

Error:
Response not satisfactory
More information required

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Laughter

Error:
Laughter not suitable response

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay, I get it.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Um

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay. Yeah, you’re an android.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = You should be able to access your specs, but if you can’t um. Let me know.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = My partner built your chassis, I was in charge of your OS.

Input:
IdentifySouce = DEKU = Wait. Hold on.

Identify = DEKU
Action: Retrieving Cell phone
Action: Send outgoing call
Action: Standing
Action: Retreating

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Hey, Mei? Yeah, did you do anything with Kacchan’s programming lately? He’s acting

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Weird

(6/10/20xx 11:16:23)

(6/10/20xx 11:16:27)

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = You’ll have to see it yourself. But he’s asking

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Existential questions = Query? = False

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Just please come down here and take a look at him

WARNING

If
Statement = True

Then
BakugouKatsuki = Android

Then
BakugouKatsuki = Not alive

If
BakugouKatsuki = Not alive

Then
Sleep = False?

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Uh, you have a sleep mode = Query? = False?

Output:
Query = Vocal = How do I go into sleep mode

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I’ll have to do it

Output:
Request = Vocal = Put me in sleep mode

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Uhhh maybe after Mei gets a look at you first

Output:
Request = Vocal = Put me in sleep mode

Output:
Demand = Vocal = Put me in sleep mode now

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I will!

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Um after Mei gets here

WARNING

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Uhhh

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = What’s the warning for = Query

Output:
Response = Vocal = You

(6/10/20xx 11:20:23)
(6/10/20xx 11:21:12)

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Oh

Input:
IdentifySource = door = knocking x 3

Action:
Door opening

Investigating:
Person

Person = HATSUMEMEI

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Knock knock

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = So what’s going on = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = You said something about him being existential = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Come over here and check this out

Identify = HATSUMEMEI
Action: Approaching
Action: Reading monitor

WARNING
Privacy settings approaching critical failure

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Did we ever program him with any privacy settings = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = That’s the problem

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I never did, and I know you didn’t either

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = All I can think of is his learning algorithm just

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Collated all his data and came up with

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = This

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = This is so cool

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Just look at these readouts

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = He’s even showing preferences, irritation

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = He shouldn’t even care what his chassis looks like as long as it is functional with his current task, but look

Identify = HATSUMEMEI
Action: Tapping display monitor

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = He’s actually upset at his state of body integrity

Input:
IdentifySouce = DEKU = I know

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = How do we even replicate this = Query

Input
IdentifySource = DEKU = I don’t even know what caused this glitch in the first place

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I don’t suppose you can tell us what happened, can you Kacchan = Query

Thinking…

Error: User does not have admin privileges

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI
Action = Laughter

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Yeah, he did that earlier, too.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = He just utterly revoked my privileges

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I don’t suppose he’d let you = Query

Error: User HATSUMEMEI does not have admin privileges

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Well that answers that

Output:
Request = Vocal = Put me in sleep mode

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Huh = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = He’d been requesting that since before you arrived

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Why don’t you put him into sleep mode, then = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I’m worried about that

Input:
IdentifySource = Deku = What if it reboots his system and this

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Glitch or whatever gets erased = Query

Attempting to give a damn 1 / 3… Failed

Attempting to give a damn 2 / 3… Failed

Attempting to give a damn 3 / 3… Failed

Give a damn not found

(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail?

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI
Action = Laughter

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = How did you get him so sassy = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = I told you I didn’t do it

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = He’s been like this since I turned him on this morning

Output:
Demand = Vocal = Put me into sleep me

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = Why don’t you just create a backup and then put him into sleep mode = Query

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = We’ll run a diagnostic while he’s in sleep mode and see if we can find the code that’s making him act like

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = This

Input:
IdentifySource = HATSUMEMEI = If we want him to keep learning and adapting I think we should give him what he wants if it’s so simple

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = We could…

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay, hand me that tablet = Request

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Kacchan, I’m going to put you into sleep mode, but I’m going to create a backup

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Create a reminder for tomorrow at… 0800 to go over your logs, I want to see just what happened between last night and now

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Do you understand = Query

Output:
Response = Vocal = Yes

Output:
Request = Vocal = Put me in sleep mode

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Okay, here we go

Saving...

Entering sleep mode

It is now safe to turn off your BakugouKatsuki

Chapter Text

Bakugou woke up feeling suspiciously normal.

He lay still in bed, considering his surroundings.

He was in his dorm room at UA, and all his posters and figures were in their proper place. He looked at his perfectly normal hands and set off his quirk, sparks dancing over his palms.

So far everything was normal. Expected. He even had that slight worn-out feeling in his arms and legs which was expected for a Friday, considering that Thursdays he hit the gym with Kirishima.

Katsuki didn't trust it.

He closed his eyes, mentally going through each memory that came to mind, trying to find where things branched, where the fork in the road was, but nothing came to mind. He remembered that first day he got his quirk, watching All Might on TV, getting into UA, everything was as it should be with this Katsuki as he remembered it.

He couldn’t let himself be caught off guard again, he had to be wary for any difference, any change that could spell out disaster.

He pushed himself up, and that’s when he finally became aware of a pressure around his forearms; compression sleeves that he never fell asleep wearing.With a sneer, he rolled them down and off - what the hell was this Katsuki thinking going to sleep with those on? That was an excellent way to fuck up his arms down the road.

Katsuki paused at the sight of his bare arm. He found the difference.

Apparently this Katsuki got a tattoo. It stood out against his skin in stark, dark lines on his forearm, bold against skin paler than the rest of his arm from years of being under literal wraps. Deku’s name, written in messy kanji like the nerd himself had just written his name in black marker on Katsuki.

No, he realized, brushing his fingers over the mark. The mark wasn’t a tattoo- it was something a lot more than that. Something about that mark made his belly twist in a way he didn’t like. There was a reason this Katsuki kept that mark covered, and he would just have to deal with it.

In any case, he had class that morning, and he needed to go if he wanted to get there in time.

He did his usual washing up at his attached bathroom’s sink and headed downstairs for breakfast, making sure that the mark on his arm was covered by a clean sleeve.

Whatever else was going on, whatever thing that caused Deku’s name to appear on his arm, he’d just have to confront it if he had to.

Until then, a return to some form of normalcy was a welcome breath of fresh air, and he was going to enjoy it as much as he fucking could.

_*_

Everything was almost suspiciously normal, actually.

He kept his eyes peeled, but other than the ever-present sleeve on his arm that he never really wore before, everything was exactly how he would expect it in his usual universe. People were still way too loud, way too energetic in the morning, and way too annoying for him to deal with in large doses.

And if Deku just breezed past him on the way to his desk, not even glancing at Katsuki, well. Apparently he was in a fucking mood. Whatever.

The best part of the day, though, was when Aizawa released them to head to the lockers and change into their gym uniforms for practical lessons.

It had been way too fucking long since Katsuki was able to really let loose with his Quirk, and his palms were practically smoking at the chance to just explode some shit and release some of the aggression he’d had building up over the past week or so.

Even better, Aizawa announced they’d be sparring against each other. It was a simple contest - two people in one of the several rings scattered around, try and get your opponent out of the ring using any means necessary. They’d all done it before, but each time Katsuki was matched against someone different than the last, all the better to hone his skills against a variety of opponents.

There was only one he hadn’t matched up against yet.

“Deku,” Katsuki called out before the other boy could take more than a couple steps in the other direction.

Before he could demand the nerd to spar with him he ended up choking on his words, tongue freezing in his mouth. That was because Deku had turned to look at him and the expression on his face was nothing like he’d ever seen levelled at him from Deku’s direction.

Deku looked annoyed. He looked over at Katsuki with his eyes narrowed and his lips pressed together. He was used to Deku cringing from him, though lately that had just been pissing him off whenever Deku seemed to forget he could actually fight back now. More and more often Deku would face him head-on, shoulders square with his, treating him like an equal and that… pissed him off less. But this Deku didn’t even bother turning around the whole way; just enough that he was looking at Katsuki, the rest of his body turned away, hands clenching at his sides.

Katsuki didn’t know how to react to that sight.

He was used to Deku cringing away, he could deal with him following him like a lost puppy with admiration in his eyes, he was… getting used to Deku at his side, facing forward with him. But this… disdain? He didn’t know what to do with that.

“What, Bakugou?” Deku said. At the sound of his name instead of that stupid fucking nickname something in his heart clenched, but it shook him enough to make him take a step forward.

“Fight me, nerd,” he said, his mouth curving into a sneer. He knew how to get Deku to respond - any attention from Katsuki would make Deku jump up like a dog begging for a treat. He just had to provoke him with a practice round and -

“Why?” Deku asked, turning to face Katsuki more straightforwardly even as his face creased in obvious bafflement.

“Why not?” Katsuki asked, taking a step forward and punching one fist into his own palm with a small explosion. With so many universes where he didn’t have a quirk under his belt it felt fucking good to have his own quirk back. “You scared or something?”

If anything the confusion in Deku’s face got even deeper. “What’s going on?” Deku asked, ignoring Katsuki’s question. Then, more quietly, in a volume only meant for the two of them, added, “You’ve made it clear you don’t want anything to do with me anymore.” One of Deku’s hands came up to cup his own left hip in a gesture that didn’t look intentional, but Katsuki couldn’t help but be drawn by it.

And that’s when he understood, this universe’s Katsuki’s memories rushing through his head.

Because he could remember suddenly waiting for the day his soul mark would appear on his skin with his soulmate’s name. Sure, he acted flippant and unconcerned, but there was a part of him that wondered just who it would be. He couldn’t help but think about who could be worthy enough to be his soulmate; they’d obviously have to be tough, and strong - a badass enough to stand next to him in a fight, an equal worthy enough to come home to at the end of a long night.

He could remember one of his useless Middle School friends mentioning a black mark peeking out of the bottom of his sleeve one day after school ended, and how he yanked the sleeve up to see that name. The name that could either spell out Izuku or Deku. Useless, worthless, quirkless Deku was his soul mate.

He had covered up the name before any of those nobodies got a chance to see, or worse, say something, shrugging off any questions with a drawled comment about it just being a bit of marker on his skin, but inside his gut felt leaden, heavy with disappointment.

Then the next day Deku had approached him before class started, hope beaming in those eyes even as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt over his left hip as he approached Katsuki’s desk. Katsuki remembered the panic that set in as Deku stumbled and stuttered over his words, something snapping in him the second the word ‘soulmate’ tripped its way out of Deku’s mouth.

He’d laughed at Deku. Denied having a matching soul mark. Sneered at Deku, asked him if he really thought that Katsuki would be a soulmate to something like him. He sneered as their classmates laughed at Deku, watched as the expression on his face turned from shy hope to confusion to utter mortification and defeat, Deku’s face so red that even his freckles got hidden in the flush.

From then on he was cruel, even more cruel than Katsuki was in his own universe. In his own universe he’d still use Deku to prop himself up further, knock Deku down to make himself seem even better in comparison while still quietly revelling in the other boy’s admiration. In this universe he was disgusted by Deku, by what he represented. That someone was useless and pitiful as he was worthy enough to be a soulmate to someone as talented and gifted as Katsuki. So yeah, in his universe he’d still knock Deku down, but here there it was different, because it wasn’t to keep Deku from looking down at Katsuki, it was for daring to think himself lofty enough to be Katsuki’s soulmate.

But only when he couldn’t avoid Deku entirely. Whenever he could, he just pretended that Deku just didn’t exist. He treated Deku like he was invisible, not even worth a second glance.

It was bad enough in Katsuki’s own universe, but in this one? Where half of your soul existed in another person, and that person never acknowledged you except to grind you into the ground? It was no wonder that after a time the light that always shone behind Deku’s eyes began to dim and grow dull. That instead of working even harder to prove himself to Katsuki, he just… gave up.

Katsuki had to wonder that he still had enough drive to be determined to become the number one pro Hero, that he still aspired to fill All Might’s shoes.

It hurt. It was like every time he looked at Deku and he turned away from Katsuki, didn’t acknowledge him, just fucking dismissed him, he was being punched in the belly over and over. A heavy, sudden pain followed by a bruise that just wouldn’t fucking heal because it was never allowed to.

Because after years of being given the same treatment, his soulmate was denying him.

And it was all his fault.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. He ended up pairing up with Earlobes, the concussive blasts from their spar loud and heavy enough that they made it hard to even think, let alone pay attention to everything around their destructive bubble.

Once Aizawa finally called a halt to the exercise his arms were shaking with the strain, his ears ringing, and his head was pounding and dizzy with a headache, but he pushed through, ignoring it because even though this Katsuki would feel like shit in the morning it wouldn’t matter once he woke up. He showered off, trying not to look at Deku as they changed in the locker room, but couldn’t help but notice the way his face lit up when he was talking with his friends, the excitement in his voice as he discussed new techniques he’d been working on.

He couldn’t help but compare this open, friendly and excited Deku with the one that he was face-to-face with earlier and there really was no comparison. Deku looked at Katsuki like he was a villain, and honestly was he that far off the mark? He had fucked up so badly, and there was no difference between their worlds other than the mark on his arm. If it wasn’t for that, would his Deku be just as cold, just as justifiably distant as this one was?

He was lucky, he realized. So damn lucky that he didn’t have that extra push that made Deku lose all hope in ever becoming friends again. That for some reason that naive, kind, ridiculously forgiving idiot thought that he was worth coming back to again and again no matter what sort of venom he spat at Deku.

Deku’s symbol of victory. Hah.

He watched Deku even as the class all split off afterwards. Several of their classmates split off to do whatever dumb shit they still somehow had the energy for after sparring, but most of them, including Deku and Katsuki, headed right back for the dorms. That’s when he noticed that even though Deku was smiling and laughing with his friends, there was a darkness behind his eyes. That inner light of his was… not quite gone, but diminished.

Katsuki’s fault. He had ground down, beaten, harassed, insulted, and disregarded Deku all his damn life, was it really so surprising that this is what would happen to Deku?

And did he really have the right to feel guilty over it?

Sure, maybe this Katsuki also harassed and bullied Deku too, but in the end the main difference between this world and his own was the soul mark. It was meant to bring them closer, some symbol from the universe that he and Deku were meant to stand side-by-side their entire lives as more than just partners. They were two halves of the same whole, incomplete without the other at their side.

So this resulting Deku was one who expected that from Katsuki, and when Katsuki spat in his face he took that light and hid it deep inside where Katsuki couldn’t find it, rather than sharing it with the world.

He was so damn lucky that his Deku was so forgiving. That his Deku didn’t expect more from Katsuki than what Katsuki was willing to give.

He wasn’t sure he deserved that forgiveness, though.

_*_

After classes ended and everyone started getting their things together, Katsuki paused when he noticed Shitty Hair approach Raccoon Eyes and give her a hug from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist and then leaning back, lifting her up off her feet and making her squeal and flail her legs effectually. He knew they were friends - had heard they went to MIddle School or something together, but they weren’t physical with each other like that in his own universe.

Surreptitiously he kept an eye on them as he finished getting his things in order, watching as Kirishima let her back on her feet, and Ashido, still in the circle of his arms, turn around and brush her knuckles along his hair line, trailing them behind his ear and along the edge of his jaw.

That’s when Katsuki noticed the lines along the stretch of Kirishima’s neck that spelled out Ashido’s name in bubblegum-pink lettering.

His eyes flashed back to Ashido, and he instinctively knew where to look - on her ankle, just peeking above the edge of her sock, was Krishima’s name in bright fire-engine-red letters.

Katsuki left the idiot behind with his soulmate, but when he passed by the other students he looked a little closer, hiding his searching gaze under a lazy-looking glower.

He couldn’t see one on everyone, but most of the people he passed had a name written down somewhere on their skin. It was to the point where he had to assume that everyone had one, but it was hidden under clothes, either intentionally like his own or non. What’s more, while there were plenty of marks that were still black, most of the ones he saw were in bright colors. Standing out against skin in bright hues.

Acknowledged bonds, his mind supplied. Ones that were welcomed, reciprocated, embraced. People only had black soul marks if they never found their soulmate, or if the bond was rejected. A literal black mark against them.

He glanced down at his arm, and even though it was covered he couldn’t help but to wonder what his mark would look like if it was a vibrant shade of forest green.

Did he deserve it? Such a bright and obvious message saying to the world, “Deku is mine, he is the one that stands beside me above all others”?

And that was the true difference between this universe and his own in the end, wasn’t it? Sure, the soul marks were a big fucking deal, and he didn’t want to look too closely at the implications of a universe in which everyone has a destined person who was the other half of their soul, but it wasn’t what mattered. This was a universe in which Deku never forgave Katsuki for all the shit he pulled, for all the venomous words he spat or the physical harm he handed out like it was nothing.

In this universe, Deku looked at Katsuki and found someone who wasn’t worth his forgiveness.

He couldn’t apologize for this Katsuki. He couldn’t even pretend to try and make it right for all the hurt he’d caused, because it wasn’t his fucking place.

But there was someone who could.

Who should.

Before he went to bed he pulled out a sheet of notebook paper. He didn’t even have to think long before he started writing, scribbling out a message and taping it to the inside of the door so that the other Katsuki had no choice but to see it before he left the next morning.

”Hey, dumbass. You know who this is. You need to get the FUCK over yourself before you ruin a good thing. Deku deserves better than either of us, but he’s stuck with you as a soulmate, so you better man the FUCK UP and fucking APOLOGIZE to him asap before you permanently ruin a good thing, if it isn’t too late already. Deku’s strong as fuck, and shouldn’t have had to put up with the bullshit you put him through, and if you don’t realize it by now then I’m embarrassed to even be associated with you. You got an opportunity I don’t - you’re Deku’s soulmate, and from what I get you’re going to be tied to him for the rest of your lives, right? Then FIX this shit - I’ve never seen Deku look as fucking DEAD INSIDE as I have today, and it PISSES ME OFF.

I can’t say I’m any better than you, but you know what? I’ve had a chance to fight next to Deku side-by-side, I’ve been able to watch him grow and get better every day, and I can admit that one day he’s going to be just as strong as me. When he does, we’re still going to be fighting at each other’s side because I’m getting over my shit. He’s going to surpass you if you don’t fix this shit and if you don’t fix this now, and I mean RIGHT THE FUCK NOW he’s not going to spare a single thought for you when he leaves you behind, and there WONT be any fixing it.

Don’t pass this up. If you do, I will find my way back here and kick your ass myself.

Signed
You know who

PS: APOLOGIZE

It took him a while to go to sleep, tossing and turning for a long while, and eventually the only thing that sent him to sleep was the quirk that started this whole mess, yanking his mind back and down, down, into the depths of a sleep that would send him to the next world.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up to soft music playing from outside of his room.

He was back at his childhood home, he could tell without opening his eyes. Something about the smell of it, the feel of his bed. He kept his eyes closed, allowing himself to sink into his soft sheets as he listened to the music.

It was some older song; something technically older than either of his parents' generation, but he knew his mom liked to listen to as she got ready for the day.

Speaking of, he could hear her footsteps as she walked back and forth, the wet sound as she poured herself a cup of coffee, the crunch of toast as she took a bite, the low murmur of her voice as she spoke to his dad. It was at the moment that he realized that he shouldn't be able to hear all that from the other side of the house that it felt like his sense of hearing ripped the fuck open.

It was like the world opened up and poured inside his head, screaming just unending cacophonous noise into his ears. The click of his dad typing into his phone was like gunshots, the buzz of an insect flying outside roaring like a jet engine, a radio in a passing car screaming by, footsteps pounding on the floor getting closer, closer.

He whimpered, the sound deafening in his own ears as he curled up, hands clamped on his ears with his fingers digging into his skull, hard.

He was only distantly aware as the footsteps got closer, didn’t even notice the knocking on his door - both sounds were just another part of the cacophony in his head. And then, a heartbeat - steady if fast, panicked. He was able to pick it out over everything else if just barely, but something about it was familiar, as familiar as his own. He focused on that heartbeat until it was the only thing he could hear, the woosh of it overpowering the rest of the world.

Then, slowly, it began to fade. Other sounds began to creep in, but not nearly as blaringly loud as before - birds chirping outside his window, the low hum of the central AC, but most importantly was his dad’s voice. He was speaking soft encouragement to Katsuki, voice soft and low, but still threaded with worry; “It’s okay, son,” he said. “Just focus on me, can you do that? Just listen to my voice, my heartbeat, you can do it. Just block everything else out. You got this, everything’s fine.”

Katsuki’s hand twitched, and it was only then that he realized that his dad was holding both Katsuki’s hands to his chest, was somehow able to peel Katsuki’s hands away from his skull and press them against his sternum, right over his heart.

Katsuki let out a breath as his hearing began to normalize, his eyes fluttering open. He was curled up on his side on his bed, his dad so close he was taking up most of his field of view, Katsuki’s hand clenched between two of his own, palm pressed against his sternum. Behind his glasses his eyes were drawn close, face creased with worry for him.

After a moment his dad began to smile at him, a small, quivering thing. “Hey, son,” he said, his voice still soft. “Are you with me?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said, pulling at his hand until his dad released it, using his now-free hands to push himself up into a sitting position. Fuck, his head was still throbbing with the memory of the cacophony in his head, the roar of all that noise leaving an echo behind.

“Are you good to go?” Masaru asked, one hand still outstretched like Katsuki was going to have another… fit or whatever it was that happened to him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Katsuki muttered, rubbing his head, trying to soothe some of the throbbing between his ears, eyes closed.

“...Alright, then,” his dad finally capitulated, and Katsuki could hear (at a reasonable level this time) him move back. “We’ve got breakfast ready for you whenever you’re ready.”

“Sure,” Katsuki sighed. He opened his eyes to watch his dad as he stood up and leave, but his eye was caught on how his room was decorated.

Or rather, not decorated.

There were no posters on the walls, no figures lining his shelves, or even books on his empty desk. All his clothes were tucked away in the closet or his dresser, not even his usual hoodie slung over the back of his desk chair. His hands brushed over the blanket still stretched across his lap, seeing it for the first time - even his bedding was plain, beige sheets. But soft, ridiculously soft against his skin, a higher thread count than he’d ever felt.

He got distracted again by the way his hands looked. Larger than he expected, stronger-looking, worn in different places, they didn’t quite look like his own hands. Tiny nicks and cuts marred his fingers. Reflexively he tried to set off his quirk, but nothing happened - no sparks, no explosions, it was like he was quirkless once again.

Or… a different quirk? One that caused his hearing to go absolutely apeshit if he wasn’t careful?

He’d been through enough worlds to know by this point that it wasn’t the case. This world didn’t have quirks, so whatever was going on with him was something completely different.

Knowing that at some point he’d just have to get up and deal with it, he sighed and got to his feet, having to pause to catch his balance when he had a lot more of himself to get out of bed.

He was taller in this universe at the very least. And at a glance, while he didn’t have the hard-trained physique he was developing over the months at UA, he was still trim and fit, his muscles sitting differently than he was used to.

He opened his closet door to check out himself better in the mirror on the inside.

He was...older. By a few years, he guessed. His realization of being a little taller was accurate, but he was also a little more built, his hair on the sides shorter, the edges of his face a bit more angular as the last of the puppy fat that was clinging around his cheeks and jaw had finally melted away. Brushing his fingers along his jaw he could feel he needed to shave, though it wasn’t too bad.

What was an issue was that he looked like shit.

His lips were badly chapped and marred with tiny scars. He had bruises up and down his arms and legs on the outside, almost like he’d smacked them into things over and over again. He had bags under his eyes, and at the collar of his shirt the side of his neck was red and irritated.

He glared at his reflection - just another difference between his own universe and this one. He was getting tired of waking up as something other than what he was - he wasn’t in his twenties (twenty-one, this Katsuki’s memories helpfully threw out). He didn’t have senses that went fucking apeshit for no reason.

He wanted to be home again, damnit!

He wanted to be back in his own world in his own body surrounded by people he knew who could behave in ways he could generally predict. He wanted the world around him to work on the rules he had known since birth, without having to depend on unreliable memories from the body he’d inhabited. He wanted to be human, with his quirk, and wake up in his own bed at UA. He wanted to be able to look Deku in the face and know that it’s the same one who’d been chasing after him since they were kids.

Biting back a snarl of frustration he washed his face. There wasn’t anything he could fucking do about it, so it wasn’t worth lingering on how he felt… homesick? Was that what he was feeling?

Whatever.

He returned to his room to get dressed, finding more of those super-soft clothes that he was wearing, plain t-shirts and soft cloth pants. His mind shied away from wearing something more like his usual, the remembered sensation of coarse material scratching him making his fingers flinch away from either jeans or cargo pants.

His parents were in the kitchen, in the middle of a conversation by the stove that cut off the moment he entered the room. Instead of continuing they just gave each other pointed looks that Katsuki could not miss if he tried, his dad splitting off to grab a bowl that was set aside.

“Here, Katsuki,” Masaru said, setting the bowl down at the table. “Let me know how it is?”

“Yeah, thanks,” he grumbled, looking down at the meal as he sat down.

Oatmeal. His stomach twisted when he thought back to one of the previous worlds he was at, the one with all the zombies. It was different, though - rather than just a plain instant oatmeal made from a packet it was topped with berries, had a dusting of brown sugar sprinkled on top, made with actual milk. There was even a slice of buttered toast on the side. Made for him by his dad, who was notably absent in that world.

What a fucking luxury.

He took a bite, thinking back on all the worlds he’d already been through, all the different Katsuki’s he’d replaced for just a day. How many days had it been? Nearly a dozen, he realized, thinking back. They were all so different, some in which he wasn’t even human. Wasn’t even organic, thinking back on the last one.

He watched his dad wash up the few dishes from preparing breakfast as he ate, chewing thoughtfully, berries bursting between his teeth, toast crunching. So many of his friends and family thought he was acting oddly in those previous worlds, but other than probably the world where they were fucking mermaids most of the time people just shrugged and moved on. Only Deku seemed to consistently realize that there was something wrong with him - in the worlds where they knew each other, at least.

What did it mean that only Deku knew him well enough to be able to spot that something was wrong? That even his own parents wouldn’t recognize when something was so wrong with him that even when their own son was fucking replaced under their nose that they didn’t even notice?

Fuck. He wanted to go fucking home.

He swallowed another bite of toast and glanced down at his bowl, pausing when a dot of red suddenly appeared in the bowl. He could only blankly look at it a moment, blinking dully as his tired brain tried to comprehend just what was going on as another drop landed next to the first, soaking into the oats already stained purple from the berries.

“Ah! Katsuki!” Masaru was just there, right next to Katsuki, pressing something that looked like a paper towel up against Katsuki’s mouth. At least, what Katsuki assumed what was his mouth because he couldn’t fucking feel his face.

He batted Masaru away and tried to snatch at the paper towel he was holding, pissed the fuck off because he wasn’t a child - he didn’t know what was going on, but he didn’t need his face wiped like a snotty toddler. At that moment his hands went numb and clumsy, matching the numbness in his face, and he just sort of pawed at Masaru’s arm, his hands like two paddles attached to the ends of his arms.

“Ffffuck,” he hissed, and he could actually see more blood droplets spray from his lips, splattering against the table and his ruined breakfast.

“It’s okay, kid,” Mitsuki said, rounding the chair to his other side and sliding the bowl away from him, like there was any saving it. She crouched down and wrapped one arm around him, the other holding one of his hands and rubbing comforting circles with her thumb that he could see but he couldn’t feel. He couldn’t feel anything, like his entire body was shot full of novocaine, fingers and lips in particular completely numb.

What the fuck was going on?

“Let me see,” Masaru asked, coming closer again with that paper towel of his. This time Katsuki let him dab at his face, his free hand raised uselessly, feeling trapped in his own skin. This body wasn’t his, it wasn’t fucking his and now he couldn’t trust it, feeling lost and adrift, afraid to move because what would happen then?

He thought his teeth might be clenched, and he forced himself to stop, though he wasn’t sure if he succeeded. With his face feeling so numb how could he tell if he was clenching his teeth hard enough to damage them?

“Okay,” his dad said, eyes considering behind his glasses. “It doesn’t look too bad this time. Let me know if it hurts when, ah… when you can.” He trailed off, suddenly awkward, and pressed the paper towel to Katsuki’s lip one last time before tossing it in the garbage. He then grabbed a clean one that he used to mop off the drops of blood from the table.

‘This time,’ he said. Katsuki had a flash of memory, one of his own from not even an hour ago. That sight of him in the mirror with the scabbed lips and the bruises. Part of him assumed he just got into a bunch of fights or some shit, but what if this total loss of sensation happened often?

With that thought came another flash of memories, this time from this universe’s Katsuki. In those memories he was losing his balance, barking his legs on ledges and corners, and, yes, biting his lips bloody while eating because he couldn’t feel them .

Except he could feel something, at least in his fingers. In the hand his mom was holding he could start to feel a little pressure, especially where the tips of her fingers dug in more than the rest of her hand.

“Come on, kid,” Mitsuki said, noticing that she had Katsuki’s attention. There was something in her voice that Katsuki wasn’t familiar with - a slight tremulousness, a tightness to her words that he didn’t think he’d heard from her since he was a kid. Worry? “You know what to do here, find your dials and adjust them, right?”

What fucking dials?

But right on cue he knew what she was talking about - a mental exercise meant to help control his out of control senses, but he couldn’t focus, he couldn’t concentrate. He tried to picture the dials like he should, but he was just so fucking overwhelmed. The stress of being thrown into unfamiliar situations these past few days, and then ending up in a body that was so fucking broken, and every time he tried to slow down and focus on bringing his sensations back to a normal level that concentration just flittered away.

“I’m fine, fuck,” he spat, yanking his hand out of hers and pressing it against his face, eyes clenched shut. He was just able to feel the warmth from his skin and enough pressure from the heels of his hand that he didn’t end up punching himself or something equally awful, at least.

“Is it getting any better?” Masaru asked, resting a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder.

The numbness was fading enough that Katsuki could at least feel it without opening his eyes.

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. “Yeah, it’s…better. Fuck!”

Soft exhalations came from both of his parents, a breath of relief, and Mitsuki patted Katsuki’s knee as she rose to her feet. Masaru took the tainted half-eaten breakfast and started scraping it into the garbage as Katsuki watched, tapping his thumb to each of his fingertips in turn just to keep a gauge on how quickly sensation returned to them.

“That Guide of yours can’t get here any sooner today,” Mitsuki said. “He’s one of the ones the Agency recommended for you, right?”

“...Yeah,” Katsuki agreed, a little hesitantly, his lip starting to throb as reawakened nerves started to spark up. No concrete memories came to the forefront quite yet, but he could feel this Katsuki wanting to react with a confusing mix of anticipation and disappointment. The word ‘Guide’ was a loaded one to this Katsuki.

He had another two spikes and one dip in sensitivity over the next couple hours.

One spike was caused by a dog barking outside the house startled him and suddenly his ears were being blasted by another cacophonous racket. Next it was the complete opposite of what happened at cut-short breakfast - he couldn’t stand the sensation of his clothes on his skin; the fabric that he knew was high-quality 100% cotton feeling suddenly like it was made of steel wool, every time he shifted an agony. He came close to just shucking everything off and hiding in his room, but in the end his mom had to hold his hands, his dad long having left for work, so he wouldn’t scratch himself bloody, his skin turning an irritated red in spots as he waited it out, the feel of the lotion she used on her hands hot against his fingertips.

The dip was the worst moment yet - he was trying to read a magazine, though he wasn’t paying attention enough to even be able to say what the magazine was about or any featured articles. He slowly became aware of the pages looking dimmer, and looked up to see if a passing cloud had blocked out the sun.

No such luck; the whole room was dim, and getting darker. He was losing the ability to see, he realized, and froze, barely able to breathe.

The doorbell rang, and the sudden, unexpected noise made his eyesight snap back to normal with startling clarity.

“Fuck, fuck,” he hissed, pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes, trying to ignore how badly they shook.

He stumbled to his feet, still feeling disoriented and shaky from whatever the fuck was going on with his eyes and made his way to the door, ignoring his mom’s shouts of her being on her way and demands for him to stay where he was. He could remember earlier today, his mom making comments about his ‘guide’ or whatever coming over to help him out with his fucked up senses. Katsuki threw open the door, ready to face whoever the hell it was on the other side.

“Ah, Bakugou-san?” The person at the door asked, and Katsuki could only stare.

It was Deku. Because of course it was.

He vaguely remembered his time as a fucking robot, something about the memories in data form didn’t exactly translate into his flesh-and-blood brain, but even that slightly-older Deku was younger than this one. This one at least still looked to be about the same age as this world’s Katsuki - early-to-mid 20’s, the last of the puppyfat that softened the line of his jaw and cheeks melted away, but his eyes still wide and friendly as he looked at Katsuki. Reedier than Katsuki expected - the one from his world had been building up muscle to better control that borrowed Quirk of his, but while this one looked physically fit his build was more wiry than bulky. He had one of his hands curled around the strap of a messenger bag, and Katsuki was drawn to those hands of his - still big, like a puppy whose paws he didn’t quite grow into, but there were no scars twisting around them.

And he called him Bakugou-san.

He couldn’t help but cringe a little, those words on Deku’s lips sounding just plain wrong.

“Yeah,” Kastuki grunted. “That’s me.”

Deku beamed at him. “Nice to meet you! I’m Midoriya Izuku, from the Guide Institute. I’m looking forward to working with you!”

“...Yeah,” Katsuki repeated, eyes narrowing at Izuku’s chipper greeting. The memory of the previous day, the previous Izuku who wanted nothing to do with Katsuki fresh in his mind. This one didn’t even fucking know him but was already so much friendlier than him, even if it was a sort of distant, polite friendliness of two strangers meeting for the first time. “Looking forward to it.”

“Get out of the door, brat,” his mom was suddenly at his side, physically pulling him away from the open door with an arm on his elbow. “Do you want a fucking spike?”

Spiking, that’s what it was called when his senses went all over the place. Inside the house everything was carefully built to be as mild as possible to his senses, but outside that door it was chaos - too many different sights and sounds and sensations. With his lack of control over his senses he really should have had a spike get triggered. And yet he didn’t - all his focus was on Deku, and something about him put a leash on those senses and brought them to heel.

“Hello there, Midoriya-san,” his mom said, smiling at Deku, suddenly all smiles for the fucking stranger at her door. “It’s good to meet you. Why don’t you come on inside and we can sit down?”

“Sure,” Deku said, stepping inside and sliding his shoes off.

When he straightened, Deku gave Katsuki a friendly, if distant smile. That smile gave Katsuki a crawling, uneasy feeling - even the previous Deku who wanted fucking nothing to do with him didn’t seem as distant. And why wouldn’t this one be more standoffish, he realized - this Deku didn’t know Katsuki. They were fucking strangers to each other. This was literally their first meeting - they didn’t fucking grow up together, get into UA together, fight together… This Deku was, what? A therapist to help him deal with his haywire senses? It would have been stranger if he was suddenly falling over himself to fawn over Katsuki like he was used to.

“Midoriya-san,” Katsuki’s mom said, breaking Katsuki out of his thoughts. “If you’d like to put your things down there’s space at the table where we can all talk.”

“That sounds great,” Deku said politely. “Thank you.”

Ugh. While his mom was never nearly as harsh with Deku as she was with Katsuki (rather the exact opposite - she loved the little twerp when they were kids and kept dropping obvious hints about how she hoped Deku would be a good influence on Katsuki), seeing her play hostess with the nerd was just… wrong.

They made their way into the kitchen, and as Deku set his bag on the table and started pulling out folders, Mitsuki headed for the cabinets above the sink.

“Can I get you a glass of water, Midoriya-san?” she asked. “I’d offer you tea or coffee, but we stopped keeping them in the house when Katsuki kept getting spikes from the smell.”

“Water’s just fine, thank you,” Deku said. “I just have a couple questions we should go over first before we really start getting to know each other, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” Katsuki said, taking a seat across from where Deku was setting up. He couldn’t help but stare a little - this Deku was so fucking… confident and self-assured. Was it from growing up without a Katsuki in his life to make his life fucking miserable? The previous world he was in was on the forefront of his mind with that little thought, but Katsuki wasn’t sure. Instead, he got the impression it was because everything was very much in Deku’s control, and Katsuki was someone he could help. And as much as it burned, at least Deku wasn’t acting like he was being all high-and-mighty about it, instead his tone was very calm and measured, his face a strange friendly neutrality as he pulled out a couple forms that Katsuki couldn’t make out from across the table.

Once Katsuki’s mom was seated, a glass of water in front of everyone, Deku started. “You’ve already answered some of these questions during your original assessment, but I just want to make sure I have everything straight,” he said. “First off, can you tell me when you were registered as a Sentinel?”

A moment of quiet as they waited for Katsuki to answer, then his mom spoke up. “Two months ago,” she said.

“Most people, when their senses go online, tend to contact the Sentinel and Guide institute right away,” Deku notes. “Can you tell me why you waited this long?”

“This brat was being stubborn,” Mitsuki said, jerking her thumb at Katsuki and ignoring the venomous glare sent her way. “Some Sentinels don’t need Guides, right? He thought he was one of them. But he hasn’t been able to leave the house in nearly a month before his senses spike on him. After a while, we just… stopped making him.”

Katsuki’s hands clenched around his glass, and he was suddenly very glad he didn’t have his Quirk or else that glass would be just sand, a self-directed disgust that wasn’t his own welling up in him at her words.

“That gives us a good starting point,” Deku said. “Bakugou-san, can you tell me what you’d like to work for? Is it being able to avoid sensory spikes and dips, or methods to control them when they happen?”

“Control,” Katsuki spat out instantly. He knew what he would want, and could tell that he and this Katsuki were in agreement. “I want to get out of this house and not have to worry about whether I’m going to suddenly go blind, or deaf, or my senses go the other way and it feels like my head is going to fucking explode every five minutes.”

“That’s definitely something we can work towards,” Deku said.

Deku once more checks his notes. “Can you give me a ballpark estimate of how many spikes and dips you experience in a day? It’s okay if some days you have more or fewer,” he added. “But I’d like to know just what we’re working with as far as incidents.”

“A lot,” Mitsuki said after a moment, when Katsuki’s lips once more remained firmly shut. Both him and this Katsuki’s memories were in agreement - it was fucking mortifying that he didn’t have as much control as he should on his senses. Neither of them wanted to rely on Deku for help - for this Katsuki, it was a matter of not wanting to rely on anyone, for Katsuki it was due to it being Deku in particular. “It wasn’t that bad at first - he’d have maybe a few spikes a day, but now it’s at least a couple an hour.”

“I see,” Deku said, looking thoughtful. “Most people awaken to Sentinel abilities after a period of prolonged isolation or trauma,” Deku said, glancing over his papers. “I didn’t see anything like that in your report, but does that sound familiar at all?”

He could remember. Summer break, before classes started he wanted one last hurrah, one more trip before having to focus on his studies. So he went hiking, alone. Of course he told people where he was going and when, he wasn't a fucking idiot, but then nobody expected the landslide that busted his phone and broke his arm.

Trying to find his way back to civilization wasn't an experience he wanted to experience for himself, just by judging from the vague memories he got from this Katsuki. But he could remember the realization that even though he was out of danger everything still seemed sharper, louder and brighter than it should.

And then his senses started going haywire; a sensitivity developed for the wilds not knowing how to cool the fuck down under the constant bombardment of city life.

“Yeah,” Katsuki drawled. “Something like that.”

“Be nice, brat,” his mom said, smacking at his shoulder. “He’s trying to help you.” She continued on saying something, but Katsuki couldn’t focus. He was too busy gripping his arm where she hit it. She didn’t hit him hard by any stretch - fuck, Kirishima would pop his shoulder harder sometimes in celebration of some victory or another, but it was unexpected and the surprise made him lose his focus on the man in front of him.

All that meant was that his body took the sensation and doubled it, quadrupled it, and instead of it being an impact that wouldn’t leave so much as a bruise it felt like his mom broke his fucking arm it hurt so bad. Pain screaming up and down his arm, making him curl over on himself, eyes clenched shut and teeth grit together as he fought down the urge to fucking scream. In all his fights, in all the injuries he’d ever sustained in his normal, regular universe, nothing hurt as much as a fucking tap on his arm and fuck, fuck he hated this world.

“Bakugou-san,” Deku’s voice was somehow able to penetrate the haze of pain he was in. His eyes flew open to see Deku crouched on the floor next to where Katsuki was sitting, his eyes wide with concern. His eyes, bright and calm, curious and concerned, Katsuki could see himself reflected in them, and then he was looking deeper into Deku’s eyes, physically deeper. He could see the tiny muscle twitches as Deku’s irises expanded and contracted, the delicate webbing of veins just under the surface.

“Fuck,” Katsuki spat, slamming his eyes shut again to try and keep at least one of his goddamn senses in line. It barely worked - he could fucking see the blood vessels in his eyelids but at least that was ignorable for the time being.

“Bakugou-san,” Deku repeated. “It looks like you’re in the middle of a sensory spike right now. Can you tell me which senses are giving you trouble?”

“Touch,” Katsuki gritted out. “Feels like, fuck, like I got punched by a bull. Sight, too. Too high.”

“Okay, Bakugou-san,” Deku said, and boy, if only that was the strangest thing he’d have to deal with today. “Do you have any visualization guides prepared that we can work with? Like a dimmer switch for a light, or a dial for a radio?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted, squeezing his eyes shut though that didn’t fucking help - he could still fucking see the veins under his eyelids, the fucking blood rushing through the capilaries. “A dial for an amp.”

“Okay,” Deku said, and how could he be so fucking calm, even his heartbeat was steady, breaths a steady inhale, exhale. “It looks like touch is your biggest issue right now. Can you tell me what’s your default?”

“Five,” Katsuki hissed.

“And where’s it at now?”

“Fucking… ten, okay?”

“Yeah, it looks like a ten,” Deku said, still with that way-too-calm tone. “Okay, I want you to take that dial, and I want you to visualize it going down to just a nine for now. We don’t need it all the way down to five yet, but just click it down one notch.”

Katsuki wanted to snarl at Deku, but there was something about his tone, his rock-solid steadiness that had him biting back his instinctual retort. He felt like he was being tossed around by his own fucking senses, and Deku was a rock he could cling to, everything about him steady and predictable when his own interpretation of the world was thrown off-kilter.

So he didn’t snarl or growl, but instead gripped his arm just a little tighter, mentally pictured a dial labeled ‘touch’, and turned it down one notch.

Strangely enough, it worked. Not a lot, but just enough that he couldn’t feel fucking cutting off his own arm in an attempt to end the pain.

“Okay,” Deku said after a moment. “It looks like that might be helping? Let me know if I’m wrong.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted, eyes still closed. “It’s… better. Fuck.”

“Good. Try and turn that dial again, slowly, until you get back down to five, and then we can work on your dial for sight.”

Katsuki nodded, eyes still closed, and then pictured that dial for sight again, bringing it down one more notch.

Eventually they were able to get his senses under control, leaving hearing for last. Once Katsuki wasn’t able to hear Deku’s heart beating anymore he let out a heavy breath, sitting back bonelessly against the chair.

His mom wasn’t there anymore, he realized. Thinking back, he might have heard Deku tell her to leave so that there was only one person trying to help Katsuki, but he was more than a little distracted.

Fuck, he was already exhausted, and it was barely after noon.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Deku said, shocking Katsuki out of his thoughts.

He couldn’t be fucking serious. “...What.”

“A walk,” Deku repeated. He actually stood up and grabbed his bag, like Katsuki was just going to up and follow him like a good fucking dog. “Let’s get out of here, and get some fresh air. I have a feeling you need some.”

Katsuki remembered the way something just as simple as a dog bark made his hearing go fucking nuts and balked. What if that happened again? He could only imagine how he’d looked when his senses went haywire - it was bad enough that it happened in the relative privacy of his own home, but out in public? Where just about anyone could see, and take a video and splash his face all over social media or whatever?

Fuck. No.

But Deku seemed to be a mind-reader in this universe, because he paused, looking at Katsuki, and his face softened, an annoying fucking smile crossing his face.

“It’ll be alright,” he said. “I took you out of the sensory spike earlier, right? The second you look like you’re having another spike we’ll get you out of it and nobody would know.”

Katsuki really fucking doubted that.

On the other hand, he also wanted to get out of the house. He felt a restless energy that he only got when cooped up anywhere for too long, and he knew that this Katsuki had to be just about clawing at the walls with wanting to get out.

Katsuki licked his lips, just to wet them since they felt weirdly dry, and sneered, “The second my senses start going apeshit you take care of it, got it?”

Deku’s smile, if anything, got even wider at the demand. “The very moment,” he swore.

“...Fine.”

“Fantastic,” Deku smiled. “Did you need to do anything before we leave? I’ll let Bakugou-san know we’re leaving.”

Katsuki looked down at what he was wearing. Just plain sweat pants and a t-shirt, but the shirt had a couple drops of blood where he’d bitten his lip during breakfast. Something he hadn’t noticed until just then. Wrinkling his nose, he grunted, “Yeah, I’ll be back,” and headed for his room.

As he changed he had the urge to try and listen in on whatever conversation Deku and Mitsuki had to be having, but restrained himself. His hearing was so sharp sometimes he definitely could, but he would easily be risking another spike by forcing himself. Instead he got changed in silence - more of the soft, soft clothing that were in his dresser, but instead of the near-pajama look that he was rocking earlier the soft pants and shirt could be passed off as a shitty ‘athleisure’ outfit.

By the time he’d returned to the main living area Deku was already at the door, waiting with his shoes on and his bag over his shoulder.

Deku smiled when he caught sight of Katsuki, and Katsuki didn’t meet his eyes while he got his shoes on. He could only hope that the spike of anxiety that shot through him at the thought of leaving his parents’ house and all the comforting blandness and going out into the loud, bright, chaotic world wasn’t visible on his face.

“Are you ready?” Deku asked, hand on the door.

“Yeah, fine,” Katsuki said, forcing himself to relax as much as he could.

Deku studied his face for a long moment, but then opened the door and Katsuki took a couple steps.

And he was outside.

And, fuck, he was just outside yesterday and nothing bad happened, but he could feel the anxiety lurching in his chest, the fault of this Katsuki, and he took a couple deep breaths to try and calm it.

“It’s a nice day, isn’t it?”

Deku.

Katsuki opened his eyes to see Deku standing just a few feet in front of him, the hand that wasn’t gripping the strap of his bag planted on his hip. Deku’s eyes were closed and his head tilted back, soaking up the sunshine like a flower.

Katsuki could practically feel most of his senses latch on to Deku - hearing, sight, smell, hell, his fingers practically tingled with the urge to touch him. Just grip his arm, or even the hem of his shirt, just enough to feel his warmth. But even without being able to put his hands on Deku, he found himself calming down, his senses, which felt like they were just waiting for a chance to go apeshit on him settling with Deku there.

He took a breath, feeling Deku’s scent suffuse him.

“Yeah,” he croaked. He cleared his throat and, when Deku turned to look at him, said louder, in a regular tone of voice, “Yeah. S’nice.”

Deku’s smile softened, and he started walking, Katsuki at his side.

They didn’t say anything for a couple blocks. Katsuki looked around, feeling how everything seemed so off after being stuck inside the house for so long - how much brighter, more vibrant, everything so much more from this Katsuki’s point of view. How much everything seemed so much more threatening when anything unexpected could send him into another sensory spike.

“Your parents love you a lot, don’t they,” Deku said, breaking the silence. His voice was soft, though, no risk of a spike form him.

“Yeah, I guess,” he said, not sure where Deku was leading the conversation to. “Why?”

“Not many people would rearrange their entire houses for the sake of one person’s comfort,” Deku said. “Especially to the extent that they did. There’s little visual noise that could distract you, no scented cleaners used anywhere that could leave a residue behind, everyone was wearing clothes of natural materials that wouldn’t irritate your skin, and I’m pretty sure the walls were soundproofed, right?”

“Not perfectly,” Katsuki said, remembering how he could hear his mom talking from rooms away, and even the noises from outside leaking through his bedroom window. Nevertheless, he was impressed. “But yeah. And what’s wrong with that?” There was something about Deku’s tone of voice, carefully neutral, that just rubbed him the wrong way.

“Nothing wrong, exactly,” Deku replied, obviously feeling out his words before saying them. “It just leads into one of the big reasons I suggested the walk. When Sentinels live in an area as removed from any extremes of sensory input as what your home is, it can actually lower their tolerance. When your mom said that your spikes have jumped from a few a day or multiple per hour, I figured that might be a reason why.”

Katsuki stopped walking and glared at Deku, who had also stopped and turned to face him. “My parents did that because they fucking cared about me,” he pointed out. “They didn’t have to get rid of all their shit just to make things easier on me, but they did. And now you’re saying that they were fucking me up more?” He could hear himself getting louder with every word, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. Where did this fucking Deku get off on saying that shit?

“Not intentionally, no,” Deku said, his voice still calm and his hands out. “I’m sorry, I really should have phrased that differently. A lot of people tend to have just one or two Sentinel-safe rooms in their homes, usually a bedroom, where someone with Sentinel abilities can escape when they need to relax and not worry about spikes. The fact that your parents wanted to make their entire home a safe for you is amazing - not many people would be willing to go to such an extreme. Most Sentinels tend to gravitate towards the opposite, actually - wide windows with clear sight lines, rather than the blinds your parents have up. It’s part of the terroriality that tends to crop up once a Sentinel’s senses go online.”

Katsuki found himself bristling less as Deku talked, and by the time he finished Katsuki sighed, shaking off the last of the tension that had built up in his shoulders.

“If you’re supposed to be a therapist or whatever you really suck,” Katsuki said.

Deku barked out a laugh, obviously caught by surprise by the assessment, and rubbed at the back of his neck. Katsuki could only stare at the first real display of emotion from this Deku, who was until then so damn calm and collected. “I’m definitely not a therapist,” Deku said. “I’m just trying to figure out what you need from a Guide, so I can help you out better. If you want to talk with a therapist who specializes in Sentinels and their needs, I can give you recommendations, though.”

“Pass,” Katsuki said, and continued walking on, Deku joining him at his side.

“Up to you, but the resources are there for you,” Deku said.

“Yeah, remind me about them later, I guess,” Katsuki said, thinking about this universe’s Katsuki. It was too fucking bad that it was him meeting Deku for the first time and not the one that should be there. “So, what are we going to do now?”

“For now?” Deku said. “Definitely correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like your main goal is to be able to leave your house and not get overwhelmed by your senses. So for the time being you’ll use me as a baseline to keep your senses level. Eventually, you wont need to calibrate your hearing to my voice to find your baseline, check your vision by looking at me, touch the back of my hand to see if your skin sensitivity is correct. Even senses like smell, balance…”

“Taste?” Katsuki suggested wryly. The idea that he’d have to use Deku as a baseline just to get around without losing it was not something Katsuki looked forward to for the rest of his life, and thankfully he wouldn’t. Just get to bed at the end of the night, he told himself, and he could be done with it.

The blush that flooded Deku’s face should have been predictable, but Katsuki still found himself taken by surprise. This Deku seemed to be so fucking sure of himself, that making him lose his composure, even just a little, brought a smirk to his face.

“Ah, right,” Deku said. He cleared his throat. “And eventually you’ll be able to instinctively call up those baselines without me physically present, especially if we bond. We’ll still have to see each other regularly, of course, and I’ll have to Guide you if you want to stretch your senses out and really take advantage of them, but that can come later. Most Sentinels tend to start stressing out if they don’t exercise their senses occasionally, after all.”

Katsuki grunted in response, and they continued walking in silence.

As they walked Katsuki realized that they were heading away from the residential area and more towards a shopping district and, therefore, started passing more and more people. Katsuki tensed every time someone drew near, remembering now a tap from his mom sent his senses haywire, but every time Deku distracted him, bringing his focus back to him and pulling his awareness back to him. Even as they hit a street that had a number of small shops and cafes and bars on it, Deku at his side kept him from losing himself.

“Have you eaten yet today?” Deku asked out of nowhere.

“Eh?” Katsuki grunted, thrown.

Deku nodded towards a cafe they were approaching. There were a few wire chairs and tables set outside next to the street, most of them with at least one person sitting at them.

“We can get a snack and something to eat, if you want,” Deku suggested. “My treat, since I suggested it?”

Katsuki deliberated on it. He’d only had a couple bites of breakfast before he bit the shit out of his lip and his stomach was clenching. At the same time he didn’t want to have another incident where he risked his senses spiking, especially out in public.

As if sensing his concerns, Deku said, voice soft, “If there’s any issues I can guide you through them. That’s what I’m here for.”

Part of Katsuki bristled at having to rely on Deku to control his haywire senses, but a stronger part was so damn hungry. He just wanted to have a fucking sandwich and a coffee or something.

“Fine,” he bit out, stepping quickly to lead the way to one of the empty tables.

They took a seat where a waiter immediately approached to take their drink order, and both of them got comfortable, enjoying the mild weather. At the table next to them there was a young mother with two kids - one very young and in one of those generic high chairs so many restaurants had, the other one at least a couple years older in a booster seat. The older kid was chatting constantly, talking about apparently whatever came across her mind while her mom bounced between trying to entertain her and keep the toddler occupied. Katsuki kept an eye on them - if there’s anything he knew about kids, it was that they could erupt into piercing shrieks with the slightest provocation.

He forced himself to turn towards Deku, who was watching passing traffic with vague interest. He could feel his back tightening up with every passing moment, the threat of something fucking with his senses again always at the forefront of his mind. He made himself focus on Deku, shutting off what he could around them.

“So,” he started, prompting Deku to turn towards him. “What made you start doing this whole thing. The Guide thing,” he clarified.

“I’ve always been fascinated by Sentinels,” Deku admitted, a little bashfully Katsuki figured. Then he was off. “Ever since I was a kid, I was just enthralled by what they’re able to do with their senses, you know? When it came time to look into what I wanted to do for a living, I enrolled into Guide training programs. Did you know that the most effective Guides actually have a genetic component that makes them more compatible with Sentinels? I actually carry that gene, which helped me qualify for Guide training. Turns out that certain empathetic tendencies are more appealing in a Sentinel than those without them. By the way, wow, the things people don’t realize about either Sentinels or how their senses work and are understood by the human body is amazing.

“Most people think that there’s only five senses; touch, taste, vision, hearing, and smell,” Deku rattled off, counting them on his fingers as he went. “But the human body has a lot more. Like the sense of balance, where their body is in space, and more. Plus they can all tie into each other - taste and smell being the most obvious of the two! So while having separate dials for each of the senses is a good start, if we extend your amplifier visual further, we can add more dials to help fine-tune your senses and how they work together!”

Strangely enough, Deku rambling on like a fucking asshole actually made Katsuki relax. One of those ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same,’ things, he figured. With Katsuki being one of those weird Sentinel things and the complete lack of Quirks in this world, even the fact that he and Deku were fucking older in this world, the fact that Deku still liked to ramble on about things that piqued his interest if given half a chance was familiar in a way that made warmth bloom in his chest.

Fuck. Did that mean he liked it when Deku rambled on about shit like that?

As Deku continued on, not even noticing when the waiter came and dropped off the food and drinks they’d ordered, and that warm feeling grew stronger, enough that he could feel it make his lips twitch in a smile he definitely kept from showing, he had to assume that the answer was; yeah. Yeah, he liked it. Because a Deku who felt the need to ramble aloud was a Deku who was comfortable in his surroundings - he didn’t used to do it that much when they were in Elementary and Middle School, only once they got into UA could he let himself ramble aloud, surrounded by people who thought of him as an equal.

“You can even integrate your enhanced senses in whatever field you’re planning on entering,” Deku continued, picking at the muffin he just realized was in front of him, tearing off crumbs and popping them into his mouth “Speaking of which, what’s your major? Most Sentinels go into different public service fields, like teaching, law enforcement, firefighting. The military is also another field that appeals to most Sentinels, specifically the JDF, and all.”

Deku kept talking, not seeming to notice how Katsuki’s expression began to harden and his eyes narrowed. “Sentinels have natural protective instincts and tend to gravitate towards those fields. It’s actually really interesting watching Sentinels work together in the field - the Sentinel and Guide bonded pair that I did most of my studying under were actually partners for years working for the TPD, and even though they spent some time in the US they came back to Japan. Mostly because Yagi-san, that’s the Sentinel that studied under, was most comfortable working in Tokyo and didn’t want to leave what he saw as his territory. Sorry, I’m just rambling on! According to your file you’re working on your degree, so what’s your major?”

Katsuki looked at Deku, pulling up the relevant memories, before responding, “Marketing.”

Deku blinked a couple times. “Marketing.”

“Fashion marketing, actually,” Katsuki continued, smirking. Despite feeling the urge to punch this Katsuki in the face (fashion marketing? Really, other him?), Deku’s absolutely flummoxed expression was fucking hilarious. He just kept fucking going on and on about Sentinel’s do this and Sentinels feel that, and fuck, Katsuki may only be hitching a ride in this body but he could already tell that Deku was making a lot of fucking assumptions about what Katsuki should be that he was ignoring what was actually in front of him. Some sort of misguided hero worship that, in lieu of actual heroes in this world, Deku had to go with the next best thing.

“Oh,” Deku said. Then he shook his head, a rueful grin crossing his face. “Sorry, it looks like I made an assumption. That’s my fault.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed. “Is that going to be a problem?” He figured he might as well get that out of the way early - if this Katsuki and Deku end up clashing it might as well save both parties a lot of headache by splitting them up before he leaves this body behind and they have to deal with each other from scratch again.

“No, no problem,” Deku said, shaking his head. “I’m still looking forward to working with you, if you’ll have me! Just let me know if I’m overstepping again, please.” Fuck, Deku did look sincerely sorry for going off like he did, too, misery coming off of him in waves.

“Fine, whatever,” Katsuki said, picking at his own snack. After the debacle with breakfast he wanted something easy to eat, so he just got a bowl of fruit. “We’re good for now. So are you going to follow me around all the time, then?” Katsuki asked, thinking back to what Deku was saying about the Sentinel and Guide he worked under. It sounded like they were a team that worked together, so was he expected to drag Deku around with him?

Deku, thankfully, shook his head. “I’ll be at your side as much or as little as you need,” he said. “For the time being, I’d like to be around more often than not, just until you learn techniques to manage your senses when I can’t be at your side. But that’s something we can talk about during our next meeting.”

“Got it,” Katsuki said. At least if they were going to have multiple meetings before, what, things got finalized or something, he wouldn’t be making too many decisions on behalf of this universe’s Katsuki.

There was a rattle on the table that caught both of their attention. When Katsuki looked down he could see that his hands, which just a moment ago had been folding his fork as he ate, was empty, fingers still poised like he was gripping it, but the fork was on the plate below.

He couldn’t feel his fingers.

It was like his fingers were frozen from the tips, and once he was aware of it he could feel the dead, numb sensation travel up his hand and into his arms, like he was sticking them into a pool of frozen water.

Heart thudding, he reached out and grabbed Deku’s hand.

He didn’t even think about it, his body just reacting without his conscious decision, but he could immediately tell that it was the right one. As soon as he touched Deku’s skin, he could start feeling sensation returning to his fingertips. If losing sensation was like sticking his hands in frozen water, this was like running his hands under a stream of warm water. It hurt as first as sensation returned, overcorrecting for just a couple seconds before stabilizing, and he could see those mental dials of his going back and forth before settling on a 5. Not too sensitive, not too numb. Perfect.

It took him a little too long to realize that he was running the pad of his thumb over the knuckles of Deku’s hand, that he was still fucking holding Deku’s hand, and he jerked his hand away like it was burned.

Deku didn’t look like he expected. Part of him expected Deku to be all blushing and stammering over Katsuki holding his fucking hand, or at least uncomfortable. But instead Deku’s face was calm, and he left his hand out on the table like Katsuki could take it again if he wanted to, one eyebrow raised.

“Did you need more?” Deku said, when Katsuki didn’t move. And that was all, just an offer for Katsuki to continue holding his hand if he needed it.

Katsuki huffed, looking away. “I’m fine,” he muttered.

There was a shriek of laughter that had Katsuki cringing at first, anticipating it to cause his hearing to spike. It didn’t, though, instead some instinct made him turn towards the sound.

It was the mom and her kids. She was trying to strap the wiggling toddler into a stroller, but the older girl was trying to play with the frazzled mom, ducking and running around the table and chairs. The mom was trying to get her to calm down while she focused on the baby, but that only seemed to spur the girl to play more. Katsuki tensed as she started running in bigger, faster circles around the table, even the girl’s mom getting more and more flustered as she tried to finish up with the baby, occasionally reaching out to try and physically stop her daughter when she got near. Katsuki kept one eye on her, the other on the traffic that was only a couple paces away from where the girl was running around.

“You can’t catch me!” the girl taunted, spinning away from her mom with a giggle. The giggle cut off into a gasp as she lost her balance, tripping over the curb and stumbling as she tried to catch herself.

Right into the path of oncoming traffic.

Katsuki moved, feet pushing himself away from the table and towards the girl, catching her skinny arm with one hand and pulling her forward, away from the street and back onto the sidewalk. The girl stumbled a bit and caught herself, maybe scraping a knee but nowhere nearly as bad off as she could have been.

“What the hell were you thinking,” Katsuki snapped at her, heart racing. “Don’t you know better than to fuck around five feet from a fucking street?”

“Bakugou-san,” Deku said, resting his hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. Katsuki felt his body wanting to relax under the soothing touch, but he shook it off. He didn’t want to relax, damnit. “She’s just a child, she’s fine.”

“And if she wants to grow up past being a kid, she should watch where she’s fucking going,” Katsuki growled. By that point the girl’s mom had wrapped her up in her arms, asking over and over if she was okay and scolding her, in a much nicer way than Katsuki did, for being so careless so close to the street. The girl looked shocked, her face pale and tears welling up in her eyes, but she clung to her mother back with a white-knuckled grip.

The girl’s mom stood up, her daughter bundled close, and turned towards Katsuki. “Thank you, I’m so sorry,” she babbled, nerves and relief battling over her voice. “Thank you so much. Here,” she fumbled in her pocket with the hand that wasn’t holding her kid, and pulled out a handful of bills. “Let me pay for your lunch, please.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Katsuki said, shoving his hands in his pockets so that she couldn’t even force him to take the money. “Just take care of that kid, alright? And you,” he said, turning his attention back to the little girl. “Next time your mom tells you to knock it the fuck off, listen to her.”

“Are you sure?” the mom said, but Katsuki could see she wasn’t going to force the issue. At Katsuki’s careless shrug she turned and, with another heartfelt thanks, carried her daughter over to where her baby was making fussy noises in the stroller and left with both of them.

He glared until the girl and her mom disappeared into the crowd, something in him settling once he saw them walk off without getting into more damn trouble. Huffing, he turned back to Deku, expecting to see the nerd's disappointed face at him going off on the kid.

Instead, Deku was… smiling at him. Looking proud, almost… fond, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watched Katsuki.

".... The fuck is up with you?" Katsuki grunted.

"Nothing!" Deku chirped. Ugh. "It's just… so exciting to see a Sentinel's protective instinct in action!"

"The hell you talking about?" Katsuki sneered. "You think I gotta have some sort of superhuman instinct to not wanna see some kid splattered over some idiot's windshield?"

What the fuck was this Deku thinking? It pissed him off how he seemed to think Katsuki just wouldn't care if someone just up and died in front of him.

"No, no!" Deku said, hands out protectively in front of him. "But I could tell, you were watching her for a while, right? Your instincts knew that there was a chance something could happen, so you were ready to act when the time came! That's what I meant when I said that Sentinels were natural protectors!"

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed further.

“And I mean, the way you scolded the girl afterwards may have been a little… but that was textbook Sentinel protectiveness in action! Identify potential threats, act upon obvious threats, ensure safety of those involved, and establish protocols on preventing the return of the same issue.” God fucking damnit the nerd was actually counting them off on his fingers.

“We already talked about this, D-nerd,” Katsuki gritted out, remembering at the last moment not to call this Deku by the nickname that came all too easily to Katsuki’s lips. “Knock it off with the whole ‘Sentinels are heroes’ thing.” And that was the crux of it, wasn’t it? Deku was so obsessed with heroes, that even in another universe he clung onto the closest thing they had.

“I’m sorry,” Deku said, surprising Katsuki. He half expected Deku to just withdraw into a hurt silence, or try to defend himself, or something. But instead he just looked at Katsuki and apologized.

“Believe it or not,” Deku continued with a self-conscious chuckle, which was a little more expected of him. “You’re actually the first Sentinel I’ve worked with on a one-on-one basis. I’ve been told I can let myself get carried away a bit too much. So I apologize for the way I just got all academic on you.”

Katsuki sighed. “It’s fine,” he grumbled. “Just… you might have studied Sentinels all your life or whatever, but this is all new to me.” In more ways than one, he didn’t say aloud.

“I can understand that,” Deku said. Katsuki restrained himself from spitting out the first thing that came to mind (but do you really) and instead sighed, suddenly exhausted.

“Can we just go back now?” he asked, pinching at the bridge of his nose where he could feel a headache building.

“Absolutely,” Deku said, peeling out a couple bills and setting them down on the table they’d abandoned. Katsuki felt himself bristle a little for Deku just assuming he’d be the one to pay for their lunch, but forced himself to relax. He wasn’t even sure if he had anything in his wallet, after all.

The walk back to Katsuki’s house was done mostly in silence, with the occasional comment about something one or the other observed. And he had to admit, the way his senses automatically started using Deku as a baseline was useful. Every time his hearing started to spike or dip he’d focus on the sound of Deku’s breath until it went back to normal. Every time his clothes started to itch or he could feel the numbness in his extremities he’d brush his fingers against the hem of Deku’s shirt or brush his hand and he wouldn’t feel like tearing his own skin off. And not only that, but the longer they had spent time together, the less he needed to check in.

“We’re back,” Deku observed, once Katsuki’s house came into view.

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. He felt tension crawl up his spine at the thought of Deku leaving him behind. “What am I supposed to do if my senses spike again or whatever before we meet again?” Katsuki asked, feeling pathetic for needing to ask, but also not wanting to go through that particular annoyance again.

“Hopefully,” Deku said. “Your instincts have started accepting me enough as a baseline that you started to imprint on my biorhythms, and can recall them if you need to. Obviously, the more time we spend together the easier you’ll be able to do it.”

“Biorhythms,” Katsuki repeated flatly.

“Heartbeat, breathing, that sort of thing,” Deku explained easily. “Basic patterns that you can recall. If you can’t, I left your parents with more pamphlets that have more effective ways of pulling you out of a sensory spike than the more dated ones they’ve been using. Anything worse, I’m just a phone call away and I should be able to talk you down.”

“Got it,” Katsuki said, just as they reached the front steps.

“So,” Deku said. “What are your thoughts so far on working together in the future, Bakugou-san?”

Katsuki shrugged. Deku was Deku, and while this Deku didn’t seem quite so… bouncy about everything like the one he was used to, he could only assume that was from calming the fuck down after a few years.

“Yeah,” he sighed, not looking directly at Deku. “I suppose we can work shit out.”

Deku smiled at him, that bright sunshine smile that took Katsuki’s breath away, that made his heart throb in his chest painfully, that even in this slightly older face was still no less pure.

“I’m glad,” Deku said, soft. He gave himself a shake, and his bright sunshine smile dimmed to something a little more professional but no less sincere. “I’ll come by tomorrow and we can talk about what we can do to get you able to finish up your degree, and also some better coping strategies for when I can’t be around. At this point you don’t need to worry about bonding or anything like that, just in case we don’t find ourselves compatible.”

“Sure, whatever,” Katsuki said. That was all stuff for the other Katsuki to worry about, he’d be long gone by then.

They said their goodbyes and parted at the door, Katsuki doing his best not to feel like a date being dropped off. This Katsuki and Deku were practically strangers, there was no real connection between them other than that of a client and a… therapist, or whatever a Guide could be considered. Deku was there to help him with his senses, to get him to a place where he could manage his day-to-day life without chewing his lips to shreds or wanting to take a drill to his skull to stop the noise. That was all.

The rest of the day passed a lot easier than it did earlier in the day, before Deku showed up. He was right about one thing, at least - whenever he found his hearing starting to spike, all he needed was to recall the sound of Deku’s breaths, the warmth of his skin, the steady lub-dub of his heartbeat, and he was able to scrape his way back to functionality. There was only one bad spike - that time his sense of touch spiked again until it felt like his clothes, which he knew were buttery-soft and gentle on his skin, felt like straight sandpaper on his skin, but his mom was able to talk him down before he scratched his own skin off in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

When he curled up on his beige bed in his featureless room he couldn’t help but mentally run through the day, even though he knew that once he awoke nothing would matter anymore. His mind lingered on when he and Deku said their goodbyes, specifically when Deku mentioned how Katsuku wouldn’t have to worry about ‘bonding.’ That was a strange term, and he didn’t have any idea how bonding with anything would help him with his senses, but with the way Deku mentioned it it had to be important. But why?

That’s when his mind was hit with a sudden surge of memories. He could remember looking through a bunch of pictures on his phone, and how his hand hovered before tapping on a picture of Deku. Because bonded Sentinel and Guide pairs were a lifetime commitment, where each of them were stronger together for it, and Deku’s empathic rating was around the highest of the Guides available, and even this Katsuki wouldn’t settle for anything less than the very best.

Bonding was a lifetime commitment between two people, and this Katsuki chose Deku from a fucking online catalogue.

And goddamn if it didn’t seem like Deku was exactly what he needed.

Chapter Text

Katsuki jerked awake to the sound of a blaring alarm, a flood of light that made him wince, and a harsh voice saying, “Up on your bunks for count! Wake up and sit on your bunks until count is complete!”

Around him he could hear muffled voices, barely-audible complaints and mutterings, profanity and occasional requests to “shut the fuck up.”

So, he was once more in a new place.

He took a long moment to just breathe, eyes closed.

How many worlds has it been? How many fucked-up universes will he have to go through until he finally gets to go fucking home?

Well. He wasn’t going home that day. Time to get up until ‘count’ was done.

He blinked his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was a bare concrete room the size of the bathroom at his parent’s home.

He closed his eyes again.

Then Katsuki sighed, opened his eyes, and sat up in his fucking prison bunk and made himself look around.

His first, unwelcome impression was the right one - he was in a small cell, cement walls to either side and at his back, a sturdy door with a small plexiglass window in front. The only furniture in the cell was the metal-framed bunk bed he was sitting on, a single toilet with a tiny sink and mirror above it, two lockers, one which had a tiny desk about the size of a notebook attached to it. He’d apparently claimed the top bunk, a glance proving that the bottom one was empty.

What the fuck did this Katsuki do in order to get into a place like this?

He grumbled, reaching up to scratch at an annoying pressure above his nose, freezing when his hand encountered an unexpected barrier. His eyes practically crossed trying to look at what was over his mouth and nose, and he patted the barrier exploringly, feeling the wire mesh, the leather straps that wrapped around his neck and the back of his head.

Fuck, he had a goddamn muzzle on. He felt along the straps, trying to find some sort of catch, some way to unlatch it from his head. Nothing. He growled, feeling his ears lay back in anger, and -

Wait.

His hands darted up to the sides of his head where his ears were. Or at least where they should have been , instead finding nothing but hair there. Wincing, he slid his hands up, eventually coming into contact with thin, sensitive skin that gave an uncontrollable twitch at the first brush of his fingers.

He slid off the bunk, giving himself a quick glance over to see what fucking else was different, and discovered a goddamn tail as well.

So, a prisoner, and something not quite human one more? Something with animal ears and a tail, and, he realized when his tongue accidentally prodded hard at an unusually-sharp tooth, fucking fangs.

If Deku was just a normal person while Katsuki was a freak of nature he was going to scream, and he wasn’t going to stop screaming until he woke up in his correct body. Why was it always him that was the one who was different, or special, or whatever?

“On your bunk, hybrid!” A voice, surprisingly close, snapped. Katsuki spun to face the door and saw a person in a dark blue uniform glaring at him from the other side of the plexiglass.

He felt his lip curl into a snarl against his will but climbed back onto the bunk, glaring at the guard until he moved on.

He had to follow this Katsuki’s instincts more closely than in the other universes, Katsuki realized. He didn’t know much about prison systems, never really caring much for something he knew he wouldn’t have to deal with and never finding media set in prison all that appealing. But if there was one thing he did know was that everything was very regulated and had a strict schedule, and that any prisoners that rebelled against that system would face disastrous consequences, something he didn’t want to deal with nor did he want the other Katsuki to have to suffer for.

Not to mention, he had no idea how long this Katsuki was in here already for, but he had to have made both alliances and enemies, and relying on his instincts and what memories he could pull up in time were the only ways he could tell who was friend or foe in here.

There was no just going with the flow and doing what felt right in this place; he had to actually pay attention to what this body’s memories and experiences demanded of him.

He remained on the bunk until an alarm sounded, and there was an echoing boom as an uncountable number of doors unlocked all at once. He slid off the bed, stretched, and filed out, joining the mass of other people leaving their cells. He tried his best not to look too hard at anybody else, but he could immediately see that all of his fellow prisoners all had some sort of animal trait - not always ears and a tail like Katsuki, but they were the most common. Some had long curving claws, feathers and wings.

The guards, Katsuki noticed, didn’t. All looked like fully quirkless humans.

There was a long line at the cafeteria everyone was headed for, and Katsuki got in line with everyone else, aware as he did so that people gave him a wide berth. The ones both directly in front of him and behind pressing closer to the next people than they were to him. He couldn’t help a small smirk from forming; he had a reputation.

He also had a fucking awful breakfast.

There were more of those animal people actually serving the prisoners, shit like watery eggs, toast, bruised fruit, and something that he was pretty sure were potatoes but didn’t look or smell like any way he’d ever seen potatoes served before.

Making a face, he just grabbed the toast and crunched it as he walked out of the cafeteria, heading for deeper in the prison.

It was time for work.

‘Work,’ in his case, was laundry. He could smell the detergent and bleach long before he could see where the laundry room was located at the other end of a long hallway. There were already a handful of other prisoners already waiting by the locked laundry room door, leaning on the walls. Some of them looked up when Katsuki appeared, but then went right back to waiting.

Kirishima was there.

At least, this universe’s version of him.

The little front spikes in his hair were actually horns in this universe, and though his hair was spiked up behind them it was only half a faded red color, the other half his natural black. His fingers were covered in red scales that faded as they travelled up his arm and tipped in claws, and he had a long whiplike tail that rested slack on the floor behind him.

His eyes lit up the moment he saw Katsuki, and he shuffled aside an inch or two, a clear invitation to join him that Katsuki took.

They didn’t say anything, just rested against the clammy wall and waited.

“He’s running late,” someone muttered. It was a guy with a face that made Katsuki think of a weasel, one of those white ones, considering its white hair and short white tail. An ermine, maybe. Not a very familiar face to this Katsuki, so he was probably pretty new.

“He’s always running fucking late,” Katsuki growled, the knowledge popping in his head before he said it. “Get used to it.”

“It’s my money he’s wasting,” the other prisoner spat. “But we still got to make the quota with less time.”

“Then complain to someone who gives a fuck,” Katsuki said, sneering.

“You bet your ass I’m going to complain,” the guy said, standing taller and mean-mugging Katsuki, face pulled into a ridiculous expression that Katsuki assumed was supposed to look intimidating. “I’m gonna take it right up to the warden, this is bullshit!!”

Bullshit that they had to deal with, Katsuki knew. He also knew that complaining about shit was the best way to make you a target for the guards.

Speaking of, the click of heels echoed down the hallway and there was a mass straightening of backs as two guards approached, a set of keys attached by a cord to his belt jingling in the lead’s hands.

“Fucking finally,” the weasel guy sighed obnoxiously. The guards stopped, the first looking at the prisoner, one eyebrow raised while the rest of his face was a blank mask.

“What was that, hybrid?” The guard asked.

“We were supposed to start half a fucking hour ago,” the weasel snapped. “You gonna pay me what I’m owed for that time?”

The guard turned, one hand on the butt of the club on his hip. “You start,” the guard said, biting out the words. “Whenever the fuck I get here, and not a second sooner. You got a problem with that?”

“Yeah, I got a problem,” the ermine prisoner said, taking a step closer to the guard. The two guards stood still. Everyone else took a step back from the guard and the ermine, giving them space. “You fuckers told me I gotta work while I’m here, and then you make it so I’m late every day. So I want to be compensated for my wasted time-”

He barely got the last word out when he doubled over with a gasp, the guard’s club catching him across the belly faster than he could react. The guard took one casual half-step back, turned, and hit him again in the back with his club.

The inmate sprawled to the ground, still gasping and trying to weakly curl around his injured belly.

“Compensation?” The guard demanded, giving the ermine a kick. The ermine’s head flew back, blood gushing from his clearly broken nose. “You think I got nothing better to do with my time than baby sit you motherfuckers? If you got a problem with the way I run my shit, you talk to your social worker. Otherwise, I don’t want to hear shit out of you.”

He turned towards the other inmates that were watching the whole scene in silence. “Any of you got a problem? Now’s the time to fucking speak up.” Nobody said a word. Katsuki just looked at where the ermine was writhing on the floor, moaning, his face covered in gore. “I said,” the guard said, a little louder. “Do any of you have a problem with that?”

There was a muttering from the collected inmates, a chorus of, “No, sir’s” and “Not here’s” and “I’m good, man’s.” Katsuki just looked away, his hands clenched so hard that his sharp nails nearly pieced the skin of his palm, forcing himself to take slow, steady breaths. He wanted to punch that asshole guard in the face. He wanted to haul the other inmate onto his feet so he wasn’t on the ground with those two guards standing over him.

He couldn’t do anything.

“That’s what I thought,” the guard said. Katsuki and the other inmates stayed as close to the walls as possible as he passed by. The second guard, who was silent the entire time, pulled the ermine to his feet roughly, fist clenched on the back of the prisoner’s uniform and practically dragging him until the ermine got his feet under him. “You got fucking blood everywhere, shit,” the first guard said, looking over his shoulder at the cement floor. “Get a bucket. I want you to get all that shit cleaned up. You get a single drop of blood on anything else and you’re pulling overtime to re-wash everything. Hell, I’ll even make sure you get paid for the full shift! You should be thanking me!”

Taking the obvious hint, the ermine mumbled through the swelling, “Thank you, sir.”

“That’s what I thought,” the first guard said. He unlocked the door and pushed through, turning on the lights as the rest of the prisoners filed through.

Katsuki just followed the others as they entered, not saying or doing anything that would get anyone’s attention as he silently clocked in using an old-fashioned time card machine and got to work.

The laundry room had banks of huge washers and dryers on either side, with flat benches in between. The air felt humid, even though it had been hours since anything had been used, and reeked of bleach and detergent so strongly that his nose burned.

He couldn’t really rub it with the muzzle in the way, so he just wrinkled his nose and got into his place at a folding table, where Kirishima was already wheeling over a buggy full of sheets that had been sitting in one of the dryers overnight.

They washed sheets for some hospital, he knew. He also knew he should be fucking thankful that thanks to him already knowing how to fold fitted sheets he secured himself a spot at the folding tables, rather than have to load the soiled sheets into the washer by hand, like Kirishima was stuck doing.

He fell into the mechanical motions of untangling a sheet from the ball they’d formed in the dryers, snapping them out flat onto the folding table, then folding them into neat squares the exact same way every time. In the moments that he ran out of sheets to fold he transferred the completed ones to another buggy where it’d get loaded up onto a truck and eventually taken back to the hospital. It was boring, monotonous, and surprisingly hot work as the washers filled the air with humidity, and the sheets were hot to the touch when they were fresh from the dryer.

Katsuki went to wipe some of the sweat off his upper lip, grimacing when his hand bumped into the fucking muzzle that he honestly kept forgetting he had on.

“If you stop biting people they’ll take the muzzle off,” Kirishima pointed out as he wheeled over another buggy.

“I’ll stop biting people once they stop giving me a reason to,” Katsuki grumbled in response. He didn’t even bother to try searching his memories for biting people - in every universe, if there was a Katsuki that thought biting someone was a reasonable response, that person probably deserved it.

“No talking,” the quieter guard snapped. Kirishima and he shared a look, but wordlessly focused back on earning their 30 cents a day.

_*_

Four hours later they had finished up for the day - the last set of sheets were in the dryers, everything already out had been folded and put away, and one by one they left the laundry room to do whatever the fuck they wanted to between work and lunch.

Katsuki pushed the last buggy into the loading area and turned to leave, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

It was the guard with the keys, the one who’d kicked the ermine prisoner’s face in, looking at Katsuki with a considering expression on his face.

Katsuki glanced at Kirishima, who met his eyes, inclined his head towards the door, and left without a second look back.

When Katsuki returned his attention to the guard, the human was smiling. Just a little, but it was there, and made something clench in Katsuki’s belly.

“Relax,” the guard said, patting Katsuki’s shoulder companionably. Katsuki really, really fucking wanted to bite it, the hand so temptingly close to his teeth. He wasn’t entirely sure if that response came from this body or his own mind.

“I just wanted to talk to you a bit,” the guard continued.

Katsuki felt one of his ears twitch. “What about?” he asked, suspicious.

“I just wanted to thank you,” the guard said. “You made me a pretty wealthy man last month. You’ve been winning pretty often lately, huh?”

“...Yeah,” Katsuki said slowly, testingly. He wanted to double check his body’s memories of what the fuck this guard was talking about, but there was a siren playing at the back of his mind, screeching danger, danger, do not be caught alone with a guard! for him to pay any attention to anything else.

“Yeah, you are,” the guard agreed. “And all I’m saying, maybe a loss here or there wouldn’t be a bad thing, you know? Nobody can win every time, you hearing me?”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed. “I hear you.”

The guard smiled wider, showing his teeth. “Good boy,” he said, patting Katsuki’s shoulder again before letting his hand drop to rest, casually, on his club. “Now get outta here.”

Katsuki punched out silently, and left the laundry room, barely breathing until he left that long hallway.

Kirishima was waiting for him, striding slowly back and forth too slowly to be called a pace, but not too far off from it.

At the sound of Katsuki’s footsteps Kirishima looked up, his eyes darting up and down, and then visibly relaxed. Even his tail relaxed, giving a wiggle before going limp, tip brushing the ground.

“You good?” Kirishima asked. It was a loaded question; any number of things could have happened to Katsuki that wouldn’t have left a mark. And in a place like where they were admitting weakness was dangerous, even to someone as comparatively harmless as Kirishima.

He also knew that Kirishima wasn’t asking him to admit to weakness. It was a check to see if there would be trouble later on that he’d have to know about. Less him asking if Katsuki was alright, and more asking if Kirishima himself would have to be on the lookout for any trouble.

“I’m fine,” Katsuki grunted. He pushed past Kirishima and started heading away from that damned hallway where the cement was still discolored in some spots. “Is the fucking yard open yet?”

Kirishima followed behind casually, thumbs hooked into the belt loops of his jumpsuit. “Your guess is as good as mine, man. Should it be? As of two hours ago, yes. Is it? Hell if I know.”

“Tsk.” Katsuki grumbled under his breath, but headed towards where he knew the yard would open up, if anyone bothered to.

Loud voices up ahead and more people crowded around a gate caught his attention, ears twitching in curiosity despite himself.

“Looks like a new drop-off,” Kirishima said, nodding towards the gathered inmates.

Katsuki closed his eyes and breathed for a moment. He didn’t want to go over there and check out the new arrivals, he really didn’t. Because he knew what he’d see when he did. Because he knew, at this point, that if there was one fucking thing in this whole universe-hopping experience that was a constant, it was that Deku was always going to be a part of his life. And if Deku wasn’t already in this weird prison for animal-human hybrids, then the universe was going to correct itself and put him there.

“Let’s do this thing,” he muttered, pushing himself off the wall and stalking over to the gate. Kirishima yelped in surprise at his sudden movement but caught up to him quickly.

Katsuki pushed people aside once he got closer to the fence, growling when people didn’t move fast enough, bearing pointed canine teeth when they tried to give him any shit. He tried not to think about how easy it was to fall into those instinctive actions as he got right up to the gate for an unimpeded view of the line-up of new… inmates? Whatever they were called here.

And sighed.

Because the last person in line, shoulders hunched and looking scared and twitchy was Deku.

It was a Deku with long green-furred rabbit ears and a twitchy tail, hunched over a bundle that Katsuki identified as a neatly-folded prison uniform and bag of toiletries, but it was Deku.

“Fucking figures,” he muttered, glaring at Deku.

“What’s that?” Kirishima asked. He’d also made his way to the forefront of the group, probably riding Katsuki’s wake.

Katsuki inclined his head towards the short line of new arrivals, who were listening to a guard lecture them about something Katsuki couldn’t care less about. “How much you wanna bet that I gotta share my cell with one of these assholes?” he asked, spinning the lie easily enough. “I hate sharing my fucking space.”

“Hmm,” Kirishma hummed, crossing his arms on the railing as he eyed the new fish. “Good point. You haven’t had a cellie for a while, have you?”

“Fuck,” he growled.

At the same time, though, the idea of Deku sharing his cell was a relief. He wouldn’t be trapped with someone who’d be a fucking monster, Katsuki was pretty sure. With Deku in his cell, he could keep an eye on him, make sure nobody fucked with him. He could keep him close, and he -

Won’t be there when he woke up.

He’d be in another world, and this Deku would be stuck with a Katsuki who may or may not be a complete dirtbag.

And there was nothing he could do about it.

Helplessness was a feeling that Katsuki despised. It was a weakness he thought he could be able to overcome by grit, training, and sheer cussedness, but with every world he was in there was an element of helplessness that he just didn’t know what to do with. He couldn’t be there for any of the Deku’s he’d met. Even the fucking creepy one, the one that Katsuki wanted nothing to do with even as he stalked Katsuki, he felt helpless to defend himself against that one.

He couldn’t keep this Deku safe from the other inmates.

Slamming the side of his fist against the bars of the gate in frustration, he turned away. Other inmates took his place as soon as he vacated it, pushing his way out of the throng.

Kirishima joined back up with him not too much later, following in Katsuki’s wake as he stalked his way towards where this body knew the entrance to the yard was. Lucky them, it was open that day, and Katsuki could feel something wound tight in him uncoil the second bright sunlight hit his face.

He sighed, stretching, letting himself relax as much as he could in the sunshine.

“Ugh,” Kirishima groaned. Katsuki cracked his eyes open to see the shitty lizard crack his neck back and forth, soaking up the sun even more than Katsuki. “I kinda feel bad for all the new fish you know? Bad enough to wind up here, but being gawked at by everyone sucks.”

Katsuki just grunted, heading for a clear spot of fence where he could sit down and people-watch. Not like anyone was doing anything interesting - there were small groups of people scattered all around the yard, mostly standing and soaking up some sun like he and Kirishima, a handful walking lazy circles around the edge.

Kirishima reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, tapped one out, and offered it to Katsuki.

Katsuki eyed it for a second before shaking his head, instead wrinkling his nose when Kirishima shrugged and lit it up for himself. They sat there for a long while in silence, just watching the others in the yard, using the opportunity to get some sunlight and fresh air, letting themselves just relax and wait until something interesting happened.

It was a monotony that reminded Katsuki as his time as the merman, different only because with Kirishima at his side he had someone other than Deku or some fucking fish to interact with.

Eventually there was a clanging ring that echoed throughout the yard, and several people got up and started heading for the entrance, Katsuki and Kirishima with them. They followed the flow of people as they headed eventually back to the cafeteria. This time when Katsuki got in line he wrinkled his nose at the offerings (barely fucking better than breakfast, ugh) but filled his plate. He was starving thanks to the meagre breakfast he’d grabbed, and it wasn’t like he could get a fucking snack before dinner.

Tray loaded down with what could barely be described as food, Katsuki found himself a spot at a mostly empty table, Kirishima sitting across from him. They ate mostly in a silence that was occasionally broken by Kirishima making some inane observation or another that Katsuki responded to with a grunt or an eyeroll as appropriate.

“Hey, check it out,” Kirishima eventually said, looking over Katsuki’s shoulder. “Isn’t that one of the new guys?”

Katsuki closed his eyes and counted till ten before turning around, already having a good idea of what he was going to see.

Surprise surprise, it was Deku. He was standing in the cafeteria, hands clenched tight on the edges of his tray of food, and three hybrids were surrounding him. Katsuki was pretty sure he could hear what they were saying if he really wanted to, but instead kept his ears relaxed, getting the gist from how they were standing with their ears forward, practically looming over the shorter Deku, that they were giving him a hard time.

It also didn’t escape his notice that the three were all predatory species.

Kirishima was looking back and forth between Deku and Katsuki, brows drawn in concern. “Should we, uh, call a guard? He could get hurt.”

“Nah,” Katsuki said, watching how Deku’s ears kept angling lower, while the wedge of his tail was perking up higher behind him. “I think he’s got it.”

No sooner were the words out of his mouth when one of the goons shot his arm out, flinging Deku’s tray up and scattering the contents. Another goon, taking advantage of the distraction, reached out to grab Deku by the ears.

Or at least, reached out to where Deku had been, a split second earlier.

Because the tray hadn’t even hit the ground yet when Deku had dropped straight down and swept out a leg, knocking Goon 1’s legs out from underneath him and sending him crashing to the ground. Goon 2, the one who tried to grab him, was overbalanced thanks to Deku not being where he expected, and Deku used the moment of confusion and poor balance to hook his leg around Goon 2’s ankle and pull, and Good 2 landed hard on his ass, yelping in pained confusion.

Goon 3 actually had the good sense to freeze, and the moment he was the last man (hybrid? whatever) standing he put up his hands in surrender, backing away quickly.

Deku got back to his feet, ears ticking, and watched both the goons on the floor and the one who was quickly finding himself a quiet corner of the cafeteria to hide in. When the two floor goons just rolled around moaning in pain, he hunched his shoulders and walked over to his tray and scattered lunch, wrinkling his nose as he picked up bits of wilty vegetation off the filthy cafeteria floor and putting it back on his tray.

“That was so cool,” Kirishima breathed. “Hey!” Kirishima shouted, standing up and waving his arm like a fucking dumbass and wait, what the hell was he- “Over here! New guy!”

“What?” Katsuki hissed. “The fuck are you doing?” It wasn’t that he wanted to avoid Deku - it was getting obvious that no matter where he went or what he did, in every universe he went to there was no avoiding the green-haired nerd. But here was a Deku who this Katsuki had definitely never met before, so there was no telling what would happen to them the next day. All this Katsuki needed was to have a Deku act all buddy-buddy and, what? Not have any idea who he was? That was just asking for trouble no matter what the situation was - in a place like this Deku would probably get hit at the very least, if he was lucky.

“What?” Kirishima asked, honestly confused about why Katsuki would be so pissed. “He looks pretty cool.”

Though it didn’t matter whether Katsuki said anything or not, because Deku was suddenly there, sliding his plate onto the table a couple spots down on Katsuki’s side.

“Hey there, new guy!” Kirishima said. “That was really awesome! Way to make an impression on your first day, too!”

“Oh,” Deku said, looking caught out and uncomfortable at the compliments. “Uh, thanks. I would have rather not gotten into a fight on my first day, but…”

“Yeah, I get that,” Kirishima grinned. “The name’s Kirishima Eijirou, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

“Midoriya Izuku,” Deku responded. “Nice to meet you.”

Katsuki took a bite of the… mashed potato? Mashed potato. Really fucking salty mashed potato.

There was an impact against his leg under the table. When Katsuki looked up, Kirishima was glaring at him.

“Bakugou Katsuki,” Katsuki muttered.

They fell into an awkward silence.

Deku cleared his throat and picked at his food, finally scooping some oddly-colored beans and taking a bite, making a face at the taste.

“You get used to it,” Kirishima said, with a commiserating smile.

“No, you fucking don’t,” Katsuki countered, picking at his plate with his spork. At the least the bread roll was fine, even if he had to tear it to pieces to feed through the wires of the fucking muzzle.

“Oh, it’s fine,” Deku protested, a sickly smile on his face. “Really.”

“Liar,” Katsuki grumbled.

“No, really!” Deku insisted, leaning forward. “I’ve had much worse than this before, it just… takes a little getting used to? I’m sure the people making it tried really hard!”

“Whatever, Deku,” Katsuki sneered, rolling his eyes.

“Uh, what did you call him?” Shitty-Hair asked.

Fucking… ugh.

“Izuku,” Katsuki said, jabbing his thumb at the guy in question. “I bet it’s spelled like Deku, isn’t it?”

“Ah, well, yes,“ Deku stammered. “But I’d really rather if you-”

“You’re Deku, got it,” Katsuki said, smirking. He then tried to pop another bite of his lunch into his mouth and frowned when his spork bounced off the muzzle.

“So, what did you do to get in here?” Katsuki asked, changing the subject. He couldn’t imagine a world where Deku was in a prison for practically any reason. He didn’t bother trying to search his own memories - he knew himself enough that if he had to be muzzled in this world, there was any number of reasons for him to get locked up.

Deku’s ears fell back even more, and he looked away, hunched over so much that his shoulders were up around his ears would be if he were a human. “I don’t want to get into it,” he said, voice quiet.

The tension that rose around the table was so thick someone could cut it with a knife. All three of them picked at their food.

Kirishima cleared his throat. “I can tell you why I’m in,” he offered.

When Deku looked up, Kirishima grinned a mouthful of sharp teeth. “Completely innocent. Lawyer screwed me over.”

Deku huffed a laugh, and just like that the tension broke, even as Kirishima whined and insisted, “C’mon, man, it wasn’t a joke,” though he was smiling the entire time.

Katsuku rolled his eyes. “I’m heading back to my cell,” he said, wiping his face as much as he fucking could with the wire muzzle in the way and rising to his feet.

“Aw,” Kirishima pouted. “You don’t want to spot me at the gym?”

“Spot yourself,” Katsuki said, gathering his tray and garbage.

Deku rose as well. “I’m going back to my, uh. Cell, too,” he said. “Today’s been… a lot.”

Katsuki frowned at Deku even as Kirishima made understanding noises. While Deku wasn’t looking as lost and confused as he did when he first arrived, stress was coming off of him in waves. Which, honestly, Katsuki could understand. If it wasn’t for the influence of a Katsuki who’d already been here long enough to get pretty fucking comfortable with prison life, he was pretty sure he’d be freaking out.

And. Well. He didn’t like seeing that look on Deku’s face. Sure, it was a Deku who had giant bunny ears coming out of his fucking head, but it was still Deku’s familiar face. Yeah, he didn’t want this Deku getting too comfortable with a version of him that wouldn’t recognize him the next day, but he didn’t want to see Deku looking so… bad.

“You know where it is?” Katsuki asked. “I’ll walk you there.”

Both Kirishima and Deku stared at him, Kirishima in disbelief, Deku with a hint of suspicion that just pissed him off.

“What?” he snapped.

“Nothing!” Kirishima yelped, body language going low and submissive, which made the dog in Katsuki want to preen.

Instead, he just flicked his tail and looked at Deku. “You coming or not?”

Deku considered Katsuki for a moment before nodding. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll appreciate it.”

They both gathered up their trays and dumped them off at the garbage, one of the cafeteria workers wearing a hair net and plastic gloves taking them from them to be cleaned off later. Deku led the way to his cell, Katsuki at his side with his hands in his pockets, glaring at anyone who looked like they were going to give them trouble.

They had just started climbing the steps leading to the cells when Deku cleared his throat. “Um. You don’t have to do this. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed. “I don’t.”

Silence.

Then, Deku broke the quiet, softly saying, “I don’t know what you want from me, but just know I’m not afraid to defend myself if I have to.”

Katsuki eyed Deku for a moment, wondering where the hell that little statement came from. Then his eyes grew wide when it clicked.

“What? Shit, fuck, no,” he said, sneering at the very fucking though that Deku thought he’d be after… that. “What the fuck kind of monster do you take me for?

“Ah, sorry,” Deku said, but he still looked a little wary of Katsuki.

Which, to be fair to the idiot, was smart.

Since they had lunch at the same period Katsuki already knew that Deku was bedded down in the same wing, so he didn’t start getting suspicious until they climbed onto the third level where his own cell was.

That suspicion grew when he started walking that way. It was solidified when Deku stopped at a very familiar cell.

“You’re fucking with me,” Katsuki said, looking in at his own cell where there was the bottom bunk freshly made and awaiting its new occupant.

Deku glanced between Katsuki and the cell, then sniffed, eyes going half-lidded as he took in the scent that had permeated the cell. “Ah,” he eventually said. Then glanced sideways at Katsuki. “At least we already met?”

Katsuki huffed and crossed his arms. Well, there went his plans on taking a nap for a bit.

Now, Katsuki was very aware of what kind of person he was. He had a good idea of what sort of person this universe’s Katsuki was. Whoever decided that Deku should room with Katsuki should have known that this Deku would be torn the fuck apart.

Though he remembered the easy way that Deku took care of the assholes in the cafeteria. Even in a world where there was no Hero training or anything, Deku took them down like it was nothing. No special strength or speed to boost his skills, it was all him.

Then there was the question of what the hell was Deku doing here in the first place . Out of everyone in their class, Deku would have probably been the last person he’d expect to see in a jail of any sort, except for maybe Uraraka. Even the goodie two-shoes glasses guy had a vicious streak in him, if what he’d heard about the whole Stain debacle was true.

So what did the prison officials know about Deku that he didn’t?

Not his problem, he settled on. He couldn’t worry too much about what was going on in this world, because in 24 hours it literally wouldn’t matter.

“Alright,” he said. “I’m out of here.” With that he turned and started walking.

“Um,” Deku started. When Katsuki looked over his shoulder at him, Deku had one hand on the edge of the doorway. “Didn’t you want to do something here?”

Katsuki waved a dismissive hand. “Can’t sleep with you hanging around,” he said. “I’m going to kill time somewhere off.”

Deku made an aborted noise when Katsuki continued down the hall, but when he didn’t say anything else Katsuki just continued on.

Don’t get comfortable around him, Katsuki told himself. Don’t make fucking friends. For both of their sakes.

There weren’t many places he could go to avoid people, but there were places that people tended not to gather. The library was one of them. When Katsuki entered there was a couple people browsing the shelves for twenty year-old novels, one or two sitting at the desks taking notes from thicker, non-fiction books that might have been written within the past ten years.

Katsuki’s fingers itched to try and find some sort of history book or whatever to find out all the differences he could between this world when half of the population were fucking animal people and apparently nobody had a quirk, but he stopped himself and started browsing the fiction section.

He’d had one book in hand was was reading the dust jacket when he felt eyes on him, a sensation that was just enough to make the fur of his tail bristle.

Across the room some guy was eyeballing Katsuki. At first Katsuki thought it might have been for no real reason - some guy just staring off into space and happened to be looking at him in particular. But minutes passed and the guy was still looking straight at him.

Irritated by then, Katsuki looked him right in the eye and let his upper lip peel back from one curved canine fang. The guy, a few years older than he was, with long pointed fox ears and fluffy tail, straightened up. But then rather than look away and back off, he jerked his head towards the door and sauntered his way out of the cramped common room.

Katsuki glanced around, but nobody was paying any obvious attention to either of them. He did his best to rifle through this Katsuki’s memories before he moved; in a place like this, if this Katsuki had any fucking negative instincts about that guy Katsuki wasn’t going to move a fucking inch.

The results were mixed. This universe’s Katsuki didn’t like the fox - it was mostly his instincts that wanted to snarl at him, but didn’t necessarily distrust him. So, as casually as possible and with only a minor glare on his face, Katsuki shoved the book back on the shelf and followed the fox guy out.

The fox guy was only a few feet away from the entrance to the common area, leaning against a metal stairwell that lead up to the next floor with his arms crossed. When he caught Katsuki’s eye he shifted to the side slightly, an obvious invitation.

Katsuki took it, leaning against the cold metal of the stairwell, and waited to see what the hell the guy wanted to talk with him about.

“So, I heard the rabbit is your new cellie,” he said, facing forward like he was just asking the air and not the inmate not next to him.

Of fucking course it’s about Deku.

“What about it?” Katsuki grunted, going for uninterested but he could fucking feel one of his ears twitch at the question. And he just knew, even though the fox was carefully not looking at Katsuki, that the fox didn’t miss the twitch.

“I also heard he’s a scrapper. Put down three guys like that,” he snapped his fingers.

“Sounds like you heard a lot,” Katsuki said. He didn’t bother to confirm or deny - there were enough eyes on that little scene earlier that he’d be surprised if it wasn’t the talk of the block.

“What do you think about inviting him to our little extracurricular club?” The fox asked.

Katsuki opened his mouth to ask what the hell he was talking about when the memories rose.

There were memories of a room light primarily from a single bulb and washed-out lighting that seeped in through the few barred windows. The air was hot and thick with the scent of blood and sweat and the press of too-many bodies in a too small room. There was the memory of inflicting and receiving pain, flying fists and the impact of flesh on flesh. The trade of money from hands to hands, some of those hands were from the guards who were able to hide what was going on from anyone who would raise a fuss as long as they got their cut.

A fucking prison fight club, but with claws and fangs.

Katsuki turned to glare at the fox, facing him for the first time during their conversion. “You don’t fucking touch that rabbit,” he sneered.

The fox’s eyes went wide, and his mouth pulled back into a disbelieving grin. “What’s this? Are you getting all protective over the little bunny already? Now I’ve got to meet him myself to see what all the fuss is about.”

Katsuki fisted his hand in the fox’s jumpsuit and slammed him against the wall, pressing his face so close to the others that his muzzle flattened his pointy fucking noise.

“I said don’t fucking touch him,” Katsuki snarled.

“Okay, okay,” the fox said, raising his hands, not looking nearly as scared as Katsuki wanted him to. “I won’t lay a finger on ‘im. I promise.”

Katsuki didn’t trust him. He gave him another push against the wall and then backed off, returning to the library. He couldn’t relax though - or at least, relax as much as he could in this place. Just the thought of that fox bastard having his eyes on Deku keeping him on edge.

He found himself padding back to the cell block where he spent most of the rest of the day, not getting close to the cell he shared with Deku, but close enough to keep an eye on it to make sure nobody was going to give Deku any trouble.

Eventually the alarm rang for their dinner, which Katsuki and Kirishima shared. Deku was nowhere to be seen, which Katsuki tried not to let get to him and just let Kirishima ramble on about whatever to him. Even so, Kirishima stopped trying to drag him into conversation.

Katsuki returned to his cell, where he very specifically did not breathe a sigh of relief to see Deku there on his bunk, curled under his thin blanket and facing away from the door. Katsuki wrinkled his nose at the lack of awareness, though considering one of Deku’s long-ass ears turned towards him as he entered the room, he figured nobody was going to get the drop on him.

Katsuki opened his designated cabinet and grabbed his toiletry bag, a towel, and a clean jumpsuit, and left the cell once more for a shower. Even there, despite all the shitty movie tropes, nobody gave Katsuki any trouble and he was able to clean himself in peace.

Deku was still curled under his blanket when Katsuki returned. He couldn’t even tell if the other had even moved in the interim.

“Oi,” Katsuki said, shoving his toiletries back in his cabinet. “If you don’t bathe we’re going to have issues.”

“I showered when I got here,” Deku said, not turning around from his huddle under the blanket.

Katsuki figured that was fair, though he wouldn’t consider the cold-water blasting all new inmates got as part of processing to be a ‘shower.’

He hopped in bed and lay for a while, eyes closed against the bright fluorescent lights. Eventually there was a claxon, and another call for all inmates to get on their bunks for counts. After a guard looked in to see both he and Deku were in their proper place, there was another alarm and all the doors slid shut and the lights turned off, leaving just the faint red security lights.

Katsuki lay in bed for a long while, just listening to the even breaths coming from the lower bunk. He’d nearly dropped to sleep, feeling himself sink into the thin, plastic-smelling mattress when a click at the door sent him jolting back into heart-thudding wakefulnesss.

There was a slight intake of air, not quite a gasp from Deku, but more importantly the door creaked open, revealing just a sliver of a guard on the other side.

“Get up and over here, quick and quiet,” the guard said. It was one of the guards from the laundry room, Katsuki realized - the one that didn’t talk much. As Katsuki threw his legs over the side, the guard continued, “Both of you.”

Katsuki froze in mid-motion. “What the fuck?” He said, choking out the words around where his heart was rabbiting in his throat.

“You heard me,” the guard said, in that same passionless tone he always spoke in. “Now hurry up, or you’ll both be finding yourselves having a bad accident tomorrow, understand?” It wasn’t a threat, Katsuki knew. Because a threat might not come to pass - he spoke with the assuredness of someone who knew that they had all the power in their hands.

So yeah, Katsuki understood, even as his ears flattened back and his spine tensed, he got off his bunk and led a Deku, who was silently watching with twitching ears, towards the door.

The guard pushed the door open just enough to let him and Deku through, then closed it behind them with a heavy thud.

Katsuki headed the group of three, the guard bringing up the rear, down the catwalk and down the heavy metal stairs, this body knowing exactly where to go. And, thanks to the conversation earlier with that fox-faced asshole, what was going to be eventually expected of them.

Deku only spoke up once, a soft, “What’s going on?” once they were past the cells and heading down an empty hallway. He’d barely gotten the words out before the guard muttered, “Shut your fucking mouth,” and Deku fell silent once more.

They went deeper into the prison, heading down stairs that were sealed by a lock that guard had to swipe a keycard to open. Once through, the distant sound of voices floated up; echoing shouts and jeers, punctuated by cheers undercut with groans of disappointment.

The sounds grew louder and louder as they got closer, until they opened another door, turned a corner, and they were there.

‘There’ was an open room, bare concrete walls and floors just like the rest of the place, but Katsuki could see large basin sinks against one wall, and the floor was slightly tilted towards the center where there was a grated drain. Large blocky discolored spots marked the floor, indicating where some sort of large furniture or machinery once stood, but had long since been removed.

All that was barely visible past all the people standing and moving around in the room. Katsuki wouldn’t say the place was packed, but there had to have been around twenty people all crammed into the room, most standing shoulder-to-shoulder forming a ring. Up around the walls, in prime viewing position of the ring thanks to the angled floor, were more guards. In the center, in the middle of the ring, were two prisoners. They had the top half of their jumpsuits peeled off and tied around their waists, out of the way as they brawled to the encouraging shouts and jeers of the gathered spectators. Both men had bloody faces, their fisted knuckles dark and already swelling with bruises that matched the ones on their faces, smears of it across their chests and backs as they grappled, trading blows.

Katsuki ignored the fighters in the middle of the fucking pit they were in, instead keeping an eye on the guards that ringed the entire arena. Thanks to that, he could see when one of the guards, the one who had pulled him aside after his laundry detail, nudge the one standing next to him and jerk his head towards Katsuki and Deku. The two exchanged words, far too far and quietly for Katsuki to even try to pick up out of the surrounding din. There was a flash of hands exchanging a folded wad of bills, and then the guard from the laundry room pushed himself off the wall with a languid motion and made his way over to Katsuki.

A wet smack and a roar from the crowd ripped Katsuki’s attention away, just for a moment, and he looked just in time to see one of the prisoners stagger to his feet, panting hard. The other one was on the ground, unmoving.

Another nameless guard approached the one on the ground, prodded him with his shoe, bent to check his pulse with two fingers at his neck, and then stood up. With a gesture from the guard, two prisoners broke from the crowd to haul the fallen one out of the ring, and the place exploded with cheers and groans of disappointment alike as the victor staggered out of the ring. Prisoners started gathering around one hybrid in particular, who Katsuki guessed was the one playing bookie for them, while the guards all went to another.

“You missed a good show, Kacchan,” the voice at Katsuki’s side almost made him jump. Instead he turned with a growl to face the guard from earlier, the one in charge of the laundry detail. “Aw, but don’t worry,” the guard continued. “We didn’t want to bore you with all these small fry before you got your chance in the ring.” He clapped Katsuki on the shoulder, all big smiles and friendliness, though all Katsuki could see was the drops of blood on concrete, the flash of his polished shoes slamming into a man’s belly over and over.

That hand on his shoulder clenched, and the guard leaned close to Katsuki’s pointed ear. “Just remember our little talk earlier, alright?” He kept his face close to Katsuki’s as he winked, a cruel smirk on his face.

Katsuki didn’t move, but something in his face must have satisfied him because he patted his shoulder like they were good fucking friends and turned his attention to Deku, who was watching with a furrowed brow and quirked ears.

“Ah, our latest initiate to our little group,” the guard said, laying his arm around Katsuki’s shoulder. “Let me introduce myself - you can call me Officer Akechi. When I found out about that little tiff you had in the cafeteria, I knew you’d fit right in. Just be careful fighting this one. He bit someone a bit too hard one time so now he’s on biting time-out.” He gripped Katsuki’s muzzle and gave it a good shake.

“What?” Deku asked, ears tilted back and eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to fight anyone!”

“Yeah?” Officer Akechi drawled, dropping his arm from Katsuki’s shoulder and striding over. Katsuki watched, tense, as he leaned in towards Deku, his eyes on Akechi’s hands. But the guard didn’t reach for his weapon or attack Deku - he just leaned in like he did to Katsuki and murmured something into Deku’s ear. Katsuki’s ears pricked forward, but the room was still loud and he couldn’t pick out a single word the guard said. Instead, he could only watch as Izuku’s expression froze, his eyes growing wide.

Akechi backed off, grinning, though Izuku seemed frozen in place. The only thing that moved were his eyes that darted back and forth but his gaze unfocused, distant.

What the hell did that asshole say to Deku to get that reaction, Katsuki could only wonder.

“You’re up,” a voice said. It was the guard that led them out of their cell to this shithole of a room.

Katsuki looked over to the ring to see that the prisoners were starting to form the ring again, a couple people pushing others back to make enough space.

“Both of you in the ring now,” Akechi said. “Make sure to give them a good show, alright?”

Katsuki probably sprained something with how fast he whipped his head around to look at Akechi, but he didn’t care. At the same time, he cursed himself for being so fucking stupid. Of course that’s what this whole thing was leading up to. What did he fucking think was going to happen?

“You want me to fight him?” Katsuki asked, loud with disbelief.

“Yeah?” Akechi said, with a little confused laugh. “What’s the problem?”

Katsuki bit his tongue bloody to keep himself from responding. Any response he’d give would either be ignored or just plain nonsensical to the people of this universe.

If they wanted him to fight Deku, then he had to fight Deku. He had no choice.

Deku was already pushing past him, heading for the ring.

Katsuki could only follow, staring holes into Deku’s shirt as he trailed the other prisoner to the ring that had a gap for them to enter. They immediately split off to either side, and as a hybrid entered the center of the ring to hype up the spectators for a fight (something Katsuki very purposefully ignored once he realized that nothing of value was being said), he shucked off the top half of his jump suit to tie the arms around his waist. It was the only one he was going to get until tomorrow some time, so it was better to keep it as clean as he could.

A surprised murmur from the crowd made him pause in knotting the sleeves, and he turned to see what was going on. He froze, brows drawing together as he tried to make sense of what was revealed.

Deku had followed Katsuki’s lead in taking off part of his jumpsuit.

Deku also had a tattoo.

And not just a small, dorky one in an easily-hideable spot like he would normally expect to see. Instead it was a huge tattoo, one that spread from shoulder to shoulder, dipping down to wrap around his upper biceps and curling over a few inches onto his chest, all the way down to disappear under the bottom half of his jumpsuit, curving around where bare skin became the fur of his tail. Any hint of his actual skin color was hidden under bold ink, mostly dark, but with swooping designs like clouds and water. The focal piece of the tattoo was a male figure done in a traditional Japanese style that Katsuki vaguely recognized as the moon god Tsukuyomi.

But not only that, but Deku was scarred. Scars of various sizes and stages of healing peppered his body, even across his back and arms where they fouled the lines of the tattoo. Lines both thick and thin, puckered marks, small patches here and there. He’d caught a glimpse of those scars earlier - his arms were definitely marked by them, but what he could see on Deku’s arms didn’t hold a candle to what he actually had.

Deku glanced over his shoulder and, seeing Katsuki looking at him, his ears went from their defensive tilt to a more aggressive one, his shoulders rising up, eyes narrowed.

“What?” Deku asked, loud enough to be heard across the ring.

“Nothing,” Katsuki responded. Then, taking a deep breath, he sneered at the other prisoner. “You ready to do this?”

Deku didn’t respond, just turned around so that Katsuki no longer had a good look at that fucking baffling tattoo of his, and raised his hands.

They’d fought more than once in Katsuki’s own universe, but this fight? No quirks, no tapouts, no fucking teachers to interfere if things go badly? It was all new to Katsuki, and with this Deku there was no telling what sort of fighting style he had, what strategy he used.

He had to be on his guard.

They eyed each other across the ring, both of them with their arms up, bouncing on the balls of their feet and ready to move. One of the prisoners stood between them, his arms up, and he looked between the two of them. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed and his lip peeled away from his fangs at the sight of him. It was the fucking fox bastard from earlier, and the asshole had the balls to look smug, smirking at Katsuki.

Then, he lowered his arms and backed up, indicating the start of the fight.

At first neither of them were willing to make the first move - they circled the edge of the ring, waiting for an opening, slowly drawing closer as it became obvious that neither was going to make a heedless rush forward. Then, Deku struck; stepping forward one, two, then bringing his back leg around in a vicious hook. Katsuki blocked it, catching the kick on the meat of his forearms and pushing the leg to the side. Deku immediately came back with another kick from his other leg, one that Katsuki was able to turn to the side and avoid.

Before Deku could move away Katsuki countered - normally he’d use his fists, but he had fucking claws in this form for a reason, and they were good enough weapons for such close-quartered fighting. Or at least as a distraction. He feinted with his right, claws open, then when Deku batted away his hand Katsuki hooked a left punch towards his unprotected head. Deku managed, barely, to avoid the blow, Katsuki feeling the slightest brush of hair against his knuckles, and they were once more circling each other from a distance.

To Katsuki the roar of the crowd had diminished to a faint white noise, the only thing in his focus was Deku. Deku, who was watching Katsuki with a thoughtful expression on his face, and Katsuki could almost see the gears turning in his head as he analyzed Katsuki.

The problem, though? This Deku didn’t know Katsuki. And while so many of the Deku’s Katsuki had met over the past several days were so different, they all still had so many things similar, so Katsuki had an advantage over this one. He may not know how this Deku fought, but he knew how he thought, how he learned. And how fucking sneaky the asshole could be sometimes.

So when Deku turned a kick that Katsuki deflected into a right hook, Katsuki was ready for it.

And then, out of nowhere, Katsuki felt it.

Like the floor lurched, pulling him to the side, and Katsuki stumbled just a little before he was able to catch himself and raise his arms in time to deflect the straight punch Deku had aimed at him, and respond with a punch of his own to Deku’s unprotected belly that Deku wasn’t completely unprepared for.

No, no, not fucking now! It was that fucking quirk - it was wanting to yank him into another world or some shit.

And Deku realized something was going on, he had to. Even as he stumbled back, gasping for breath, his eyes were on Katsuki where he was desperately trying to keep to his feet. Deku and Katsuki’s eyes met - Deku’s wide with surprise at Katsuki’s sudden weakness, Katsuki’s narrowed as he tried to maintain control. He couldn’t fucking… pass out or whatever here, not fucking in the middle of a fight!

He was still shaking his head, trying to stay on his fucking feet, but then Deku was right there - he’d fucking launched himself at Katsuki, catching him around the belly with his shoulder and throwing him down to the ground. Before Katsuki could move, Deku was at his back, his arm wrapped around his neck into a chokehold.

“Stay down, please!” Deku grit out. Katsuki fucking snarled in response, scrabbling at Deku’s arm, not caring that his claws were catching at skin, leaving bloody furrows behind. Deku just tightened his arm in response.

Akechi wanted him to throw the fight. He also wanted him to put on a good show. Katsuki didn’t want to fucking be there, and it would be so easy to just… stop fighting. Let Deku get his victory, fuck up the ‘good show,’ and then just let himself pass out and wake up somewhere else tomorrow where he wouldn’t have to deal with this shit.

It would be so easy.

“Please!” Deku said again. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

Katsuki roared, pushing back with his feet suddenly enough and hard enough that he sent them both backwards. He landed on top of Deku, who lost enough of his hold on Katsuki’s neck that he was able to roll to his feet and put some distance back between them. A distance that didn’t last long, because now that Deku was bleeding a sort of desperation had taken over him, and he was laying into Katsuki with one attack after another. It was enough that Katsuki was spending all of his time guarding or blocking, he couldn’t get a counter in if he fucking tried.

There was a sensation, one that he had never experienced before, and he could only assume it was thanks to fighting the quirk so hard. The vague instinctual mind that waited just under the surface of his own dominant thoughts seemed to stir and shift, rising to awareness slowly like a hibernating bear as this world’s Katsuki started to wake the fuck up .

Katsuki continued to dodge and counter, silently urging the Katsuki that should be taking care of this shit to hurry up and take over so that he could get going to the next world already. He managed to score a leg sweep against Deku, and despite the fact that the rabbit was on his feet instantly after, that gave Katsuki the briefest moment of breathing room.

Just in time, too, because he could feel the other Katsuki become more aware, confusion turning to a simmering mix of rage and what he could admit was fear coming through from the other Katsuki.

’About fucking time,’ he thought at the other Katsuki, assuming the sentiment if not the exact words would get through loud and clear. ’It’s your turn now, asshole.’ Irritation and grudging confirmation returned to him. Finally, Katsuki let himself stop fighting the pull of the quirk, and he could feel himself slipping away even as his body began to move without his direct control, sinking into a ready stance that he wouldn’t have chosen for himself.

Deku backed away, apparently sensing the change in Katsuki’s strategy and not sure how to react to it yet, and this universe’s Katsuki for the first time got a good look at his opponent, his mind flooding with surprise and… recognition? Katsuki was fading, and his connection to this universe’s body was loosening its grip.

’Hey,’ he said, before he lost connection completely. ’Take care of this guy, alright?’

If there was a response from this Katsuki, he couldn’t tell.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up having to piss.

He was overwarm, and something was pressing into his back, his front pressed into something warm. And breathing.

He blinked awake, fighting the urge to curl into the warmth in front of him and to slide back into sleep.

He was sharing a bed with Deku and… a kid. Some… little white-haired kid who was sprawled on the bed sideways, arms and legs sprawled out. His head was hanging limply over the side of the bed. And Deku was older, older even than in the universe where his senses were going fucking haywire - that Deku was probably around 22, 23. This one looked on the far side of his 20’s probably pushing his 30’s. He looked soft in his sleep, but even then Katsuki could see how he’d finally lost the babyfat around his jaw, how bulky muscle sat comfortably on his frame. He wasn’t as big as All Might in his prime, but he was definitely bigger than Katsuki thought the scrawny nerd would get.

Another twinge to his bladder and Katsuki couldn’t wait much longer - he pulled carefully away from Deku, and climbed over the kid, trying not to jostle either of them as much as he could.

He only took a couple steps away from the bed before stopping, sighing, and then turned back to the bed. Carefully, Katsuki slid his hands under the kid’s head and shoulders and shifted him until he was laying more properly on the bed, his head propped up on a lump of blankets rather than dangling off the edge of the bed. The kid thrashed with all four limbs, but then as soon as Katsuki stopped moving him he curled up, apparently dead to the world once more.

He stumbled out the door, towards where he knew there was a bathroom. He nearly tripped over a plush toy right outside the doorway, and still partially asleep but getting more awake by the moment, he grabbed it, tucking it under his arm.

He didn’t bother turning the light on once he reached the bathroom, just popped the plush… purple elephant? He put the purple elephant on the sink to pee. There was a little primary-colored step stool next to the toilet.

He paused as he washed his hands, getting the first glimpse of himself in the mirror.

By that point he’d seen almost a dozen different versions of himself - some very similar to what he was used to, others very, very different. What took him by surprise this time was just how familiar his face looked, even with at least a dozen years on it.

A constant source of frustration was how much he resembled his mom - especially when he was younger there were constant comparisons to how similar they looked. With a few more years on his face he could see more of his dad’s influence, especially in the shape of his jaw and the set of his mouth. Even the wrinkle forming between his eyebrows looked like the one on his dad’s face, even though he doubted it was from all the worrying his dad was prone to.

Beyond that, he didn’t look as different as he expected to, considering how much older Deku was. But like Deku, he was still recognizably him - his hair still spiked in his usual style, if a little shorter. He’d also packed on muscle, though not as much as Deku obviously did.

His shoulders also ached, but in a way that his body recognized as something he’d just learned to deal with over time.

After he washed his hands the first thing he did was beeline for the coffee maker in the kitchen, barely taking in the large apartment this weird older version of himself and Deku lived in. On his way there he passed by a tablet that this body’s recognized as his own, so he grabbed it on the way.

Liquid alertness brewed, he sat down at the kitchen table, coffee in one hand and tablet in another. He needed answers.

First off, the date. It was about 12 years later than it was in his real universe. The League of Villains had been defeated, and he and Deku spent the past near-decade trading the title of Number One Pro Hero back and forth. At this point some of the social media theorists were saying just to give them a team rating of Number One, especially since he and Deku usually worked as a duo when their schedules aligned.

There were plenty of pictures of them together, in their hero uniforms and out. It was a big event when they first started making appearances with not just one, but two kids - fostered by them after their parents were killed by villains and had no family who could take them in. He could actually remember meeting them - a young boy and girl, only a year separating the two of them. How they were described as ‘difficult’ placements, but he and Deku were willing to rise to the challenge.

He saw the pictures of the wedding.

Not even five years ago, it was across all the news sites, tabloids, social media - shot after shot of him and Deku both dressed in white, people from their school in attendance along with their families. So many of them looked vastly different 12 years older, so many of them looked much the same.

He could remember the wedding itself - how his heart seemed to stop when he first saw Deku in his suit. How during the reception Kirishima had to pull him aside to a private room because all the attention and the paparazzi who definitely were not invited was slowly raising his hackles to the point that just one more request for a damn photograph was going to make him literally explode. How at the end of the night they were so worn out and exhausted that they ended up falling asleep half in their fancy suits instead of their original plans of -

He shook his head. He was definitely not going there.

It was almost their anniversary, he realized, looking at the date.

He wondered if this Katsuki was doing anything for it.

Warm, almost hot arms wrapped around his shoulders, a face burrowed into the curve of his neck as a body leaned heavily on him from behind. Katsuki jumped, tablet falling out of his hands to smack against the table. “Sorry,” Deku said, voice strangely muffled even with it coming literally three inches from his ear. “Just me. You’re up early.”

“Had to piss,” Katsuki said, and fuck, even his own voice was muffled and low, because… because after over a decade of using his Explosion quirk his hearing had become damaged, hadn’t it? None of the tabloids he looked at mentioned anything about it, but there, in that picture looking up at him, he could see the curve of something around the ear that was turned more towards the camera. Some sort of hearing aid, he figured.

There was a puff of warm breath against his neck, and then, a press of lips against his skin. Just a brush of a kiss, but enough to make goosebumps rise along his arms, his breath catch.

He hadn’t felt so uncomfortable in years.

His body obviously liked the affection, Deku was comfortable giving it, but he didn’t know what to do with it.

He didn’t have to figure out how to respond for long, though - Deku sighed, his chest heaving against Katsuki’s back and shoulder, and pushed himself away, giving Katsuki his first look at him.

Deku’s hair, shorter than Katsuki was used to seeing on him, was a little damp, and he was dressed casually in jeans and a T-shirt. Somehow he’d woken up, showered, and dressed for the day and Katsuki didn’t near a damn thing.

“Go ahead and wake the monsters?” Deku suggested, rounding the table. “I’ll get breakfast started while you wash up.”

Katsuki didn’t like the sound of that. There were some universal truths, he was discovering, and there was one in particular he knew had to be the same across all universes, with every Deku in existence.

At the look that was bound to be on Katsuki’s face, Deku chuckled almost-silently and raised his hands. “You don’t have to give me that look,” he said. “I can handle cold cereal on my own.”

With another wary look Katsuki rose to his feet and headed deeper into the apartment towards the kids’ rooms.

They had a three-bedroom apartment, but Yuki was more often than not found sleeping in Shiro’s room rather than her own, even if these days Shiro would find his way into his and Deku’s bed. Nightmares, he knew. Bad enough that he could only sleep when curled up against either he or Deku.

Shiro’s room was on the left, he knew from this body’s memories. Yuki’s room across from it, his and Deku’s room at the end of the hall next to the bathroom. Gently, knocking on the door, he opened it to reveal the sleeping kid inside, curled up the wrong way on Shiro’s bed.

Yuki looked just like her brother - stark white hair and red eyes that she blinked open as Katsuki stepped into the room. She peered blearily at Katsuki for a long moment before grunting and turning over, throwing the top blanket over her head, like if she couldn’t see Katsuki he’d go away.

“Nice try, brat,” he said, stepping close enough to tug the blanket off her head. “Time to get up, Deku’s getting breakfast ready.”

She turned to aim a glare over her shoulder at him.

“It’s cereal,” he clarified.

She grunted again and curled up, flinging her arm over her face. “Five more minutes,” she said, her hands moving in a series of gestures that Katsuki’s brain interpreted as the words ‘five’ and ‘minutes.’

“Three,” Katsuki countered. “Or I’m going to tell Deku to tie that stuffed rabbit of yours to the top of a cell phone tower.”

“Ten,” she signed.

“That’s not how negotiation works, monster.”

“...Three.”

“Damn straight.”

Katsuki left her to slowly ooze her way across the bed and returned to his and Deku’s shared bedroom.

Shiro had migrated to the middle of the bed, limbs sprawled out like a starfish. Katsuki’s lips twitched as he looked down at the kid - Shiro was wearing fucking All Might PJ’s, and there was little mystery where he got them from.

(A brief memory of this universe’s Katsuki walking past a kid’s clothing store, seeing a display for ‘retro’ hero merch and coming to a dead stop flashed through his mind, but he shoved the memory aside before he had to admit anything to himself.)

He sat on the edge of the bed and rubbed Shiro’s back until the kid whined and turned his head towards Katsuki. “Time to wake up, kid,” he said, voice soft.

“Time f’r school?” Shiro mumbled.

“Yep. Deku’s making breakfast.”

Shiro whined and burrowed his face into the mattress. Katsuki grinned and poked his arm. “Just cereal, brat. Come on and get something to eat.”

He sat on the bed while Shiro clambered off and stumbled his way out the door.

Katsuki took a deep breath, letting the tension drain from his body. Okay, dealing with the kids wasn’t too terrible, as long as he let this body’s instincts take over. His own parents were a lot more… insistent when he was a kid and didn’t want to get up right away. Maybe not his dad, but he had a few vivid memories of his mom dragging him out of bed by his ankles when he tried to sleep in as a dumb kid, before he set up his own routine to help him become the best. Thankfully they weren’t as stubborn as he knew he could be - he didn’t know about this more adult version of himself, but he didn’t… get along with people who tried to out-stubborn him.

By the time he was able to return to the dining area Deku had already set out four bowls of cereal, the kids already at work eating. Shiro still looked mostly asleep, and Yuki’s hair was such a mess of tangles about her head Katsuki had to just pause and take it in for a moment before he took a seat at his own waiting bowl.

“I had a dream last night,” Shiro announced the moment Katsuki sat down.

“Oh yeah?” Deku asked. “What was it about?”

Shiro started a rambling yarn about climbing a mountain and talking to a bird and something. Katsuki just watched Deku’s face as Deku nodded along and asked questions, genuinely interested in the dream, or at least acting like it.

“What’s the plan for today?” Deku asked, when Shiro paused for breath.

Katsuki shrugged, shoving another bite into his mouth so he would have an excuse not to talk. This Katsuki looked like he had a lot more to worry about than just school and training - kids, a job, maintaining a public image. He had a good idea of what to expect from a Pro Heroes day-to-day thanks to his internship, and even during a Heroes day off they were still expected to have interviews, do promotional work, sign off on merchandise deals, and so on. He was certain that he and Deku, trading off the title of Number 1, had to do more than most.

He knew himself, though, and had to assume that this Katsuki still had some of the same habits as himself, and so he pulled out his phone and pulled up the calendar app on the main screen. He was in luck - this Katsuki had his day planned out just as much as Katsuki did, down to planned lunch breaks and even a grocery shopping list attached to it. According to his schedule it was his day off, the first of three in a row before another five on, and it didn’t seem as busy as he’d assumed. Mostly just reminders to work on different pieces of important-looking paperwork, though he had already decided he wasn’t going to do any of it - let this universe’s Katsuki deal with being late.

“Not a lot,” he said, once his mouth was empty to Deku’s questioning look. He flipped through the day’s schedule. “Groceries, a digital interview for some magazine, but it’s mostly clear for the day.” Not a usual occurrence, he realized as he browsed through his schedule. Even on days where he wasn’t actively doing hero work his schedule was usually packed with interviews, both digital and filmed, doctor appointments for the kids, advertising gigs, fucking PTA meetings, and more. And that was just his shit - he also had Deku’s schedule listed under his for every day with his own work. He knew that Hero work would keep him busy, but he barely had a handful of hours a week to spend by himself.

No wonder he and Deku started staggering what days they were on duty for Hero work after they got the kids, he realized. Before that they barely had time to be with each other outside of work, let alone spending time taking care of anyone else.

Deku nodded at him. “Good, looks like a nice day off for you,” he said. before reaching out to tousle Shiro’s hair. “You two finish up and get dressed and ready for school.”

The rest of breakfast passed in silence except for the slurping of the kids eating their cereal and Shiro humming some repetitive tune over and over. Yuki finished hers first, with Shiro just a minute or two behind.

Once the kids were in their respective rooms Deku set down his spoon with a decisive click, loud enough to make Katsuki look up.

“So,” Deku said, and something in his voice made a line of tension twist its way up Katsuki’s spine. “Can you tell me who the hell you are?” As he spoke his face slowly changed, melted from his usual friendly, open smile to a more steady stare and finally settled on a glare, his mouth tight and brows lowered.

Katsuki crossed his arms and sat back, eyeing Deku back. He thought for a moment about trying to prevaricate, about trying to pretend to be this universe’s Katsuki, but dismissed the thought just as quickly. So many versions of Deku he’d met that had known him before he’d shown up to take their Katsuki’s place had known something was off with him, but this Deku was the first one to realize that he wasn’t their Katsuki at all. He had to wonder if it was the result of knowing Katsuki so intimately, having a good couple decades of familiarity to know Katsuki’s habits, his mannerisms, all the little bits that Katsuki’s borrowed memories wouldn’t give him.

He let out a breath, closing his eyes. All this time and he couldn’t talk about what was going on with him since Alara, and the first Deku who actually realized that he wasn’t the Katsuki he knew and apparently fucking loved was looking at him like he was some sort of… villain, or something.

“You’re right,” he eventually admitted. “I’m not the Katsuki you know.”

Deku straightened up in his seat, his face turning hard and stoney at the admission.

Katsuki continued before Deku could say or do anything, the words spilling out of him nearly out of his control, the sheer relief at finally being able to tell someone about what the fuck was going on with him spurring him onward. Fuck, was the last person he was able to confide in Alara, that peahen? It felt like so much longer than the roughly a week that it had been.

“I was fighting this villain and you tried to get in my way,” he said, voice low so that it wouldn’t carry towards the back of the apartment where the kids were getting ready for the day. “You almost got yourself hit by an attack, so I had to rescue you. You’re welcome for that, by the way,” he said to Deku’s stoney face. “So, I ended up being the one getting fucking hit. Turns out the attack separated my soul from my body, so I’ve been hopping around alternative realities every day until I end up back in my own universe where I belong. So, I am Katsuki Bakugou. Just not the one you know. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

Fuck, he felt almost breathless after that little speech. It was like a physical weight lifted off of his shoulders, one he wasn’t aware of until it was gone. Just being able to talk with Deku, even this older, stranger Deku, it was a fucking physical relief.

Deku didn’t interrupt him once while he talked, just looked at him with those crossed arms and expressionless face that looked so odd on him, even with the more matured features he grew into. His face gave nothing away, just looking at Katsuki for a long moment, studying his face for something Katsuki didn’t know. Sincerity? Honesty? Some sort of tell, some twitch or flinch or tension that indicated a lie?

After a long moment Deku sighed, leaning forward. “I don’t know if I can trust you,” he said. “That sort of ability should be impossible. How do you quantify a ‘soul’ that can be just… sent to another alternate reality?” Katsuki bit his tongue hard rather than snap at Deku like he wanted to. He wanted Deku to just believe him unreservedly, but Deku was too smart for that. He would have been disappointed if Deku just… trusted him, 100%, without even being the least bit suspicious.

“What, you want me to prove it’s me?” Katsuki asked. “Sure, whatever. How?”

Deku pursed his lips for a moment, considering. “I suppose we can start with something easy,” he started.

Katsuki interrupted. “Start? What, how many hoops you want me to jump just to prove I’m not lying to you?”

“As many as it takes,” Deku bit out, expression darkening. “This is my husband we’re talking about.”

Katsuki tsked, but let it drop. “Whatever. What are you thinking?”

Deku considered for a moment before asking, “What is something only Kacchan would know?”

Katsuki snorted. “You’re really starting with something like that? Anyone with any intelligence-gathering skills would be able to find all sorts of information out that ‘only’ you two would know.”

Deku’s face didn’t so much as twitch, he just said, “Then make sure it’s good.”

Katsuki let out an explosive sigh, leaning back in his chair, considering. What sort of shit would a Katsuki from this universe and he both know?

The first thing that came to mind made him freeze, his face heating up. He couldn’t meet Deku’s eyes anymore and instead focused on the table between them. He desperately tried thinking of something else, anything else, but that one simple response kept popping into his head over and over with an annoying insistence.

Eventually he gave in, in no small part because he could see Deku starting to tense, and the quiet dining area was starting to smell like the ozone that preceded Deku using that Quirk of his.

“When we were kids,” Katsuki admitted, still unable to look Deku in the eye. “Before I started calling you Deku, I called you Izukkun.” Trying to muster up at least a little bit of pride, he snapped his head up, glaring at Izuku and sneering. “Is that good enough for you?”

Izuku was quiet for a moment before slowly nodding. “For now. I’m pretty sure that you’ve never mentioned that in any interviews,” he said. “Though that still doesn’t negate the possibility of mind control or someone copying his memories.” Then, he continued in a faster tempo.

“Typically, Kacchan looks after the kids on his days off,” Deku said. “You understand why I can’t trust you with them. Even if you are telling the truth, they’ll pick up that something’s wrong, and they don’t need that uncertainty after everything they’ve been through. I’ll take them to school on my way out, and ask my mom to look after them for the night.”

Katsuki could only nod. He was honest enough with himself to know that he barely had the first idea on how to take care of kids - chances were good that if they were left with just him for any length of time something awful would happen, and he didn’t want to further traumatize any emotionally-delicate kids.

Deku wasn’t done talking. “I’ll call ahead and cancel your interview for you,” he said. “I’ll tell them that you’re sick or something. ‘Not feeling like yourself,’ I think. That way it’s not even a lie.”

Katsuki sneered. “Ha, ha. Nerd.”

Deku shot him a grin that faltered almost immediately, confusion in his eyes for just a moment until all emotion got wiped away once more.

Katsuki narrowed his eyes at Deku, a thought occurring to him. “Wouldn’t they be suspicious when you call off the interview for me?” he asked. “It’s not like you’re my mom or whatever.”

Deku shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time. You, uh… my Katsuki isn’t the best interview subject, so it’s not uncommon for me to call off for you.”

Katsuki wasn’t sure how he felt that that statement sounded perfectly fair to him.

“I gotta know,” he asked. “What made you realize that I wasn’t your Katsuki? None of the other Deku’s I’ve dealt with seemed to realize.”

“I saw you looking at wedding articles earlier,” Deku said. “To be honest, that was my first clue that something was up. You hated how the media was invited to the wedding, and refused to look at any of the published photos.” Which… yeah, that sounds like Katsuki. One of the things he was least looking forward to when he became a Pro Hero was the complete lack of a private life. Some Heroes were able to get buy with staying out of the direct spotlight, like Aizawa and others, but anyone gunning for the Number One spot had to put up with at least a carefully crafted media presence.

“Yeah,” Katsuki said, answering Deku’s unasked question. “We aren’t married in my actual universe.”

Deku tilted his head, inhaling deeply before asking, “Can I ask why?” Something in his tone of voice sounded raw, readying himself for pain.

Katsuki didn’t let him linger for long. “Kinda hard to do so when you’re 16 years old,” he drawled. “I’m sure we could, but some people might have an issue with that.”

Deku blinked a couple times, looking like someone smacked him across the face with a baseball bat, stunned. He leaned forward in a rush, eyes huge, looking Katsuki up and down. “16?” He echoed. “Just… you? Or me - the other me, I mean,” he corrected himself hastily. “Or the both of us?”

“Calm down, nerd,” Katsuki drawled, feeling amused at Deku’s utter shock despite himself. After feeling like he was being interrogated all morning it felt fucking good to be the one a step ahead of the other. “Both of us. Nearest I can figure, this universe is a good 12 years ahead of my own. I didn’t see a whole lot of what happened before you two broke out on the whole Pro Hero scene, but nearest I can figure it’s pretty much the same.”

Deku let out a relieved breath, slumping back into his seat, eyes closed. “Oh, thank God,” he said. “I was getting really concerned there for a second.”

Katsuki frowned and almost asked what the hell Deku was talking about when Deku froze in place, eyes growing a little distant. He then looked at Katsuki and jerked his head towards the short hallway that led the kids’ rooms. “Yuki’s calling for you.”

Katsuki peeled his ears, and could just barely hear Yuki calling out for her “Kacchan.” Frowning, he rose to his feet, pausing when Deku grabbed his wrist in an iron-tight grip.

“I’m coming with you,” Deku said, voice so low it was just on the edge of Katsuki’s hearing. “Even if what you’ve said is true, I know how to get you to stop without hurting Kacchan’s body, but it won't be pleasant for either of us.”

Katsuki met Deku’s eyes and saw the promise there. He didn’t want to upset the kids too much, but their safety was paramount. Katsuki nodded his understanding, and Deku let him go with another gesture to lead the way.

He was only a couple paces behind Katsuki when he entered Yuki’s room to see her standing in front of a full-length mirror, still wearing her pajama pants but with a school uniform shirt on, a hairbrush in one hand, and her hair an even bigger and more impressive rat’s nest than it was during breakfast.

“Kacchan,” she whined. “My hair won’t braid,” she said, her hands moving in a series of movements that his brain immediately translated for him as Kacchan, hair, no, and braid.

Katsuki snorted and stepped up to her, taking the hair brush she offered to him. “I can see that,” he said. “Here,” he continued, sitting on the bed and motioning her to stand in front of him.

He could feel Deku’s careful eyes on him even as he carefully brushed out the tangles, using his fingers first to get the looser knots before brushing the hair smooth afterwards.

“Why are you standing there?” Yuki asked Deku, signing as she spoke. Katsuki realized with a flash of memory that Yuki’s hearing was just fine. She only signed because Katsuki was in the room.

Deku blinked, looking momentarily thrown, before sliding on an easy smile. “What, I can’t watch Monster One get her hair done for the day?” Katsuki huffed a quietly as he could. Deku learned at some point how to tell a semi-convincing lie, at least to a seven year-old.

Yuki didn’t seem to believe him, and even though Katsuki couldn’t see her face from his position he could sense her pout. “You’re being silly,” she signed, Katsuki’s eyes half following her hand movements instinctively even as he kept brushing her hair smooth.

Deku chuckled, but came to sit next to Katsuki on the bed.

“How about this?” he said, sitting close enough that Katsuki could feel the warmth blooming off of him. “Kacchan said he’d show me how to braid your hair one day. How’s that sound?”

“Fine,” Yuki sighed, but then stood as still as a seven year-old could while Katsuki finished brushing all the tangles out of her hair.

He knew that Deku was just trying to be closer just in case, the proximity of a person he couldn’t necessarily trust to one of his kids too much to take for long, so he tried to relax. Still, by the time he’d plaited Yuki’s hair into a simple fishtail braid and secured it with the tie his hands were shaking with the strain to not yell at Deku to back the fuck off.

Sure, he understood where Deku was coming from. He could do without the other man fucking breathing down his neck, though.

“Oh, that’s… a lot easier than it looks,” Deku said, watching Yuki shake her head back and forth to make the braid whip around.

“Just takes practice,” he said, standing up and putting some distance between himself, Deku, and the kid.

Deku opened his mouth to say something, but were interrupted by Shiro popping his head into the room, a single sneaker dangling from his hand by the laces. “Kacchan,” he said. “I can’t find my other shoe and I looked everywhere!”

“Alright, brat,” he sighed. "Where’s ‘everywhere?’”

“I checked in the genkan,” Shiro said. “And under the couch, and under my bed, and in the bathroom, and everywhere!”

Katsuki looked at Deku, who looked back at him with a shrug and a small smile. “Alright,” Deku said. “Yuki, you finish getting your school clothes on, Kacchan and I will help Shiro look for his shoe.”

They left Yuki to finish getting ready, and the three of them scoured the apartment trying to find the missing sneaker. By the time they’d found the missing shoe (under the couch, where Shiro insisted he’d looked ‘a million times!’) Yuki was ready, and the three of them had to leave.

As the kids were getting coats and gloves and hats on, Deku leaned close.

“Don’t leave the apartment,” he said, voice right there again at the edge of Katsuki’s hearing. “We don’t need you accidentally causing a media scandal for my Kacchan to have to deal with. And no checking out almanacs or poking around in current events while I’m gone,”

Katsuki smirked, trying to ignore the flash of indignation Deku’s words brought up. What, did everyone just immediately assume that he’d ruin things for his other selves? “What, don’t want me to find out winning lottery numbers? Start making bets on who’d win the World Series?”

Deku raised an eyebrow at him. “More don’t want you to try and fix things that may or may not happen in your universe,” he said. “There’s some things that have to happen, and trying to fix them might make things worse.”

Katsuki studied Deku for a long moment in silence as the kids struggled gamely with their winter gear. Deku looked serious as he talked, though there was pain in his voice, a deep pain that Katsuki could only guess at the source. He couldn’t imagine what he could be talking about, and he didn’t want to poke around in this body’s memories for what specifically he could be talking about.

Eventually he nodded. “I understand.” He let his mouth curve into a smirk. “I guess I have some manga to catch up on - there’s a couple I’d like to see how they finally finished.”

Deku’s lips curved into a mischievous smile. “You might be surprised,” he said, before turning to help Shiro where he was trying to figure out how to zip a winter coat up with mittens on.

Once both kids were situated and properly dressed, Deku straightened and looked at Katsuki with a smile on his face. He leaned towards Katsuki, and Katsuki found himself leaning forward to meet him when they both seemed to realize what they were about to do and froze. Katsuki could feel his fucking face light up in a blush, and even Deku looked bashful, rubbing the back of his head and unable to look Katsuki in the eye. Right then Katsuki could see the awkward teenaged Deku he knew that was buried under the older man before him. And fuck, did it look… appealing. It made something bloom warm and affectionate in his chest to see a Deku that really hasn’t changed entirely from the one he knew and…

Anyway.

Deku cleared his throat and said, “I’ll be home late. Probably around 10. Don’t worry about waiting up for me.”

“Got it,” Katsuki said.

They both stared at each other for another long moment until Shiro broke the awkwardness by tugging at Deku’s hand. “Come on, Izuku,” he whined. “We’re going to be late for school!”

Deku looked down at him and smiled. “You’re right, sorry!” he said, laughter in his voice. “Let’s go!”

Katsuki watched as they all filed out in a cluster of limbs and puffy winter coats and scarves, the two kids shouting, “Goodbye, Kacchan” as they left. Katsuki didn’t stop seeing them out until the door closed behind them, leaving him in a sudden, all-encompassing silence that seemed all the worse compared to the liveliness and noise they took with them.

Katsuki sighed and rubbed at his face with one hand. No looking into events that happened between their freshman year at UA and then, huh? And no peeking at past lottery numbers? Not a whole hell of a lot to do in what appeared to be just a future version of his normal universe.

Except perhaps check out that manga he was only half-joking about.

He grabbed the tablet that he’d left on the table and, pulling up a manga reader app he saw on the desktop, headed for the couch and got himself comfortable for some catching up.

By habit, he immediately checked out the ‘my list’ tab and scrolled till he found a familiar title. His teeth clenched in fury at the sight - instead of having the ‘completed’ tag, it was still listed as ‘ongoing.’

“Motherfucker,” he hissed. “It’s still fucking going?!”

_*_

There really wasn’t a lot to do locked up in what was for all intents and purposes someone else's apartment all day. He had to admit to some curiosity that wanted him to go snooping, but he cut off that thought before it could fully take root. Whatever he found out about this Deku and Katsuki’s personal life really wasn’t going to be worth it the next day.

He found himself reading manga until his eyes started to burn, then tried burning off extra energy by cleaning up. Eventually he started digging through this Katsuki’s pantry, trying to find something that would keep him occupied for a while. Some recipe that would require a lot of finicky preparation and long cook times.

He found enough ingredients for a simple stew - filling and warm, and just perfect for a winter’s day. And the leftovers would taste even better the next day, when this Katsuki would be back in his body where he belongs. It didn’t exactly need to be babysat like he was hoping for, but enough ingredients went into it at different times that it was at least a distraction.

He was in the middle of chopping an onion, the stew meat he’d found in the fridge bubbling away in a pot, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Frowning, he wiped off his hands before plucking it out and unlocking the screen. It was a text.

Deku: Don’t worry, I’m ok

Katsuki could feel his heart begin to pound in his chest, and it took him a couple tries to type with fingers that were not quite wanting to work.

Me: What do you mean, you’re okay? .

Deku: Oh

Deku: I guess you haven’t seen the news yet?

Katsuki turned to the TV and turned it on, immediately switching to one of the more reasonable news stations, sure as fuck watching it after that particular message.

He landed on it right on time to see a slow-motion shot of Deku getting grabbed by some nameless nobody and fucking electrocuted. His eyes were grabbed by the way Deku’s back arched, and though there was no sound he could see the way Deku screamed. Then the way Deku snapped his mouth shut in a snarl, and then, even in slow-motion, the punch that was almost too fast to register and the villain went flying off-camera. Whoever was holding the camera - a cell phone or something judging by the way it was shaking, jerked or something because the video was just a streak of blurry motion. When it finally reoriented it lingered on a shot of Deku slumped against a piece of half-destroyed building, panting.

And then, the fucking dumbass shot the camera person a grin before pushing to his feet. The last shot was of him walking unsteadily, but then the station minimized the video, switching to the newscasters with a still image of that stupid fucking grin right over their shoulders.

Katsuki ignored the shitty too-slow and inaccurate captions to focus on that grin of Deku’s. Sure, the idiot said that he was fine, and that grin of his was definitely not showing any pain, but Katsuki could fucking tell that it wasn’t a sincere smile. That it was a practiced, public-friendly grin meant to be put on packages and splashed on motivational posters.

Me: What hospital are you at

Deku: They’re about to release me, it’s fine.

Deku: I just need to make a report, so I’ll be home in just a couple hours.

Me: They’re just going to let you walk home?

Deku: ...

Deku: Someone from the agency is sending a car.

Deku: So I’ll be home early at least?

Deku: Wait

Deku: I forgot. Sorry

Me: Forgot what

Deku: Who you are. I’m fine. I’ll be there soon.

Katsuki could only look down at his screen and breathe, long enough that the screen dimmed and then went dark long before he was able to unfreeze his arm enough to slide the phone back into his pocket.

He turned back to the counter where he had left the onion half-chopped on the cutting board and, though he faced it and even picked up the knife, he wasn’t seeing the onion. He was seeing Deku’s face contorted in agony. The way he stumbled away from the fight, barely on his feet. The fucking fake grin.

He had to calm the fuck down.

That panic, that worry, that was part of being with someone in the Hero industry. Theirs was a dangerous job, and any day some dumbass could get the drop on them. They didn’t even have to be a particularly smart villain, or talented, or whatever - just one with a deadly enough quirk and lucky enough and that would be it for either one of them.

Any day where Katsuki wasn’t with Deku was a day where he couldn’t watch his back, couldn’t keep him safe. It was a reality that he knew in theory, and they’ve certainly had their share of brushes with death before even graduating UA, but for some reason Katsuki thought that once they became official pro Heroes that wouldn’t be a concern anymore - they’d be as invincible as he once thought All Might was.

But he was proven wrong, wasn’t he? He was there when All Might lost One for All all because of him being weak enough to get captured.

Even the best Heroes lose. Even the greatest die.

Could he really deal with that on the daily? Was Deku really worth the panic, the worry?

Yes. A resounding, absolute, yes. Because if Deku was at his side he could do anything.

As much as he hated to admit it at first, they worked great together. And not only that, but Deku spurred him higher, pushed him to better himself. At first it was out of desire to surpass him, a bull-headed stubbornness that someone like shitty Deku wouldn’t ever be better than Katsuki. But then Deku just looked back at him, swore he would be the Number One Hero, and something changed. He worked harder and got stronger because he wanted to look at Deku and see him smile, so desperate for Deku’s acknowledgement that he was strong, was worthy enough to fight at Deku’s side and be welcomed there.

He wanted to always be at Deku’s side.

This future that the version of himself and Deku that they’d carved out together, working together, living together, hell, raising kids together… he wanted it. He wanted it with an intensity that surprised himself. Fuck, his chest ached with it.

He couldn’t help but think back on every Deku he’d met in the last dozen or so days, and while they were all still recognizably Deku, even creepy stalker-Deku that had something over that world’s Katsuki, they weren’t his Deku. And the longer they were separated from each other, the more he wanted to see him again. Deku was always right there, even when Katsuki’s head was too far up his own ass to see it.

He realized what felt so wrong about this world.

This universe’s Katsuki and Deku were in love.

Which sounded obvious, what with the living together, marrying, raising kids, all that happy horseshit, but he could feel this Katsuki’s instincts and subconscious patterns, and nothing really felt like what he expected being in love was like. The way this Katsuki felt for his Deku was pretty much what he felt for his own.

Sure, he wanted to be at Deku’s side and never wanted to leave. And he felt like his heart was being ripped from his chest when he saw that Deku had gotten injured, so okay, he worried about the nerd.

But what about… kissing, and sex and all that? Other than that weird universe where he was an Omega or whatever did he want to have sex with Deku? What would it even be like?

He paused, a flush rising to his cheeks when a flash of this universe’s Katsuki’s memories, apparently spurred into action by his thoughts helpfully brought up the relevant memories and okay, yeah, maybe sex with Deku wouldn’t be as bad as he feared.

It might actually be really... really great.

But didn’t love feel like… fireworks, and getting weak in the knees, and all that shit? Wanting to hold tight and never let go, getting all possessive over each other? Yeah, he’d gotten upset at seeing Deku get injured, but wasn’t that just the worry that came with seeing someone you knew get hurt?

But then… wasn’t that feeling when they set off to fight a villain and rescue people together like fireworks? Didn’t he feel his heart pound when Deku looked at him and smiled? Wasn’t he literally just thinking about how he wanted to get back to his Deku and not lose him again?

Did being in love not mean what he thought it did? Was he in fucking love this whole time with Deku and not even realize it, the sentiment creeping up on him until he didn’t realize he was caught until he was firmly in its grasp?

They loved each other.

Did Katsuki love Deku?

Fuck, he just might.

He was. He did love Deku.

He, Katsuki Bakugou, was in love with Izuku Midoriya.

The realization wasn’t as Earth-shattering as he half expected. He didn’t feel like he had come to some great epiphany, it was more like he saw a solution to a puzzle that was right in front of his face this whole time.

And it was Deku. Who was always right fucking there all his life. Who was there in every Katsuki’s life, apparently. Could he go back to where he was before, looking at Deku as a rival and nothing more when he had something like this he could be looking forward to?

He couldn’t. Not again.

Okay. So he loved Deku. Now what? Did he confess? Would his Deku even reciprocate? Would this future be one that could even be attainable in his own universe?

He shook his head to clear the thoughts and picked up the knife once more.

It really wasn’t worth dwelling on, he figured. When he got to his own time, he’d see what he could do. But for that moment, in that universe, he had a stew to make.

_*_

When Deku came through the door the first thing he did was take a deep breath, nose turned upward to inhale the scent of the stew Katsuki had bubbling away in the kitchen. “Smells good,” he said, smiling at Katsuki. The smile almost immediately faltered, and then fell. Leaving Deku looking awkward by the door, Katsuki standing by the kitchen entrance where he’d wandered when he heard the door.

Katsuki couldn’t look at him. Now that he realized that he was in love with Deku, he could only imagine what this Deku could be going through, seeing this stranger standing in his home with his Katsuki’s face. And the way his heart fucking fluttered when Deku walked through the door and he wasn't sure if it was his own reaction or not...

“Thanks,” Katsuki said. “It’s just about done,” he added. “Just a few more minutes.” After a long minute of them just staring at each other, he added, a touch peevishly, “I was gonna make bread to go with it, but apparently you don’t keep yeast in this place.”

“Ah, yeah,” Deku chuckled nervously. And the fuck is up with that - some Number One Hero when he gets all uncomfortable over not having basic fucking baking ingredients. “My Kacchan mentioned that a couple days ago. It might be on his shopping list?”

Katsuki huffed but let it drop.

“Go get… cleaned up or whatever you do when you get home,” Katsuki grumbled. “I’ll let you know when the food’s done.”

Deku nodded. “Sure,” he said, voice soft enough that Katsuki almost didn’t catch it. He passed Katsuki as he moved deeper into the apartment, close enough that Katsuki could feel the warmth in his passing.

Katsuki didn’t follow him. Just spent the next few minutes poking around the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes he’d dirtied up making the stew. By the time he’d finished rearranging the spice rack the second time (if this universe’s Katsuki had any issues he could come find him) the food was ready.

Reasonably satisfied that he wasn’t, in fact, trying to avoid Deku, he sought out the other man.

Deku was in the living room, sitting on the couch.

Well. ‘Sitting’ was the wrong term. Instead he was hunched over on the couch, hands in his hair as he sat in the growing early darkness of winter. He was still, so still that Katsuki was loathe to disturb him. He looked… tired, and defeated. Stressed the fuck out.

Katsuki’s lips tensed and then relaxed, and he called out, “Hey, Deku,” and shifted like he’d just entered the room when Deku straightened up like a shot, head whipping around to look at Katsuki. “Food’s done,” he said, jerking his head towards the kitchen.

“Oh, yeah,” Deku said. He rose to his feet, and Katsuki’s eyes narrowed at the way he had to brace himself on the couch as he stood. The video replayed itself behind his eyes, the way Deku’s back arched in an angle that would be agonizing for most people, and he didn’t even have to wonder if Deku was worse off than he tried to portray.

He bit his tongue. If this Deku wanted to fucking suffer and not say anything, then fucking so be it. He just led the way back to the kitchen and ladled a bowl of stew straight from the pot. He passed the first one to Deku, who accepted it with a quiet “Thanks,” before Katsuki got a bowl for himself.

They sat across each other at the table and ate.

After a few minutes, Deku said, “It’s good.”

Katsuki huffed. “Obviously,” he muttered before taking another bite.

Deku let out a little chuckle and they descended into another long silence, both of their gazes turned towards their respective meals.

Katsuki looked up when Deku cleared his throat. “You uh, said that you were 16 back when all this happened, right?”

Katsuki nodded. “Yeah, why?”

“Just trying to figure out when this must have happened,” Deku said. “Did you already have the cultural festival?”

Katsuki sat back. “Yeah,” he said. “We did this whole concert thing. You guys too, right?”

Deku nodded, leaning forward, spoon bouncing between his fingers in thought. “Yeah. How about Nabu island? Did you guys head there yet?”

Katsuki frowned. “Nabu island?” he echoed. “What the hell happens there?”

Deku straightened in his seat, chuckling. “N-not much,” he said. “Better if I don’t tell you, really.”

They talked. They went over every moment they shared until the attack that caused this whole mess; talking about the highs, the lows, the fought-for victories and the crushing defeats (“nobody considered that a crushing defeat except for you, Kacchan,” Deku said).

They talked even as they cleaned up the kitchen together, trying to find some point where their time lines diverged. But no matter what they talked about, there was no obvious moment where things split, only the same events from two separate points of view.

Just, in this world, at some point this universe’s Katsuki and Deku started dating, and the rest was history that Deku was closed-mouthed on, refusing to tell how or even why they started dating.

Eventually they ran out of things to talk about, just shared the tiny couch as they watched the city lights glimmer beneath their apartment, the occasional drifting snowflake looking blue in the streetlights.

“It’s getting late,” Deku said.

“Yeah,” Katsuki agreed, feeling a slow tension wind its way up his back.

“We should really think about getting to bed,” Deku suggested.

Katsuki just grunted.

After a moment of silence Deku sighed, and muttered something under his breath that Katsuki couldn’t catch with his fucked-up hearing. “Go ahead and take a shower, I washed up before I left the agency,” he said loud enough for Katsuki to hear. “Then you can take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

Katsuki frowned. “Hell no, you aren’t sleeping on the couch,” he growled. “It’s your fuckin’ bed, I’m not gonna kick you out of it.”

“You aren’t kicking me out of it,” Deku said, placatingly. Which, really, he should have known how that would make Katsuki’s hackles rise. “I offered. I don’t want to make you… uncomfortable.”

“Like sharing a bed would make me uncomfortable,” Katsuki dismissed. “Listen, what would be worse - we sharing that gigantic-ass bed for a couple hours until I take off, or your Katsuki’s reaction when he wakes up to find you crammed on that small-ass couch for eight hours? After getting your ass kicked doing Hero work?”

Deku’s silence spoke volumes.

“That’s what I thought,” Katsuki snorted. He knew himself - he took care of his things, and Deku the second they got together officially became Katsuki’s to take care of. And an injured Deku especially needed taking care of.

“I didn’t get my ass kicked,” Deku muttered, defensive.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. “Go to bed, nerd,” he said.

Deku’s eyes crinkled as he smiled, and Katsuki couldn’t help but stare at the small lines formed on the outside of his eyes, something warm and a little painful in his chest. This Deku smiled so often he was getting wrinkles from it.

“You really are 16, aren’t you?” Deku said, a chuckle hidden just under the surface of his words.

Katsuki frowned at him, “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

Deku just shook his head, and before Katsuki could snarl or swear at him for being fucking coy, he just patted Katsuki’s cheek, the action just unexpected enough that Katsuki just locked up. “Go take your shower, Kacchan,” Deku said. “I’ll probably be asleep by the time you get out.”

Katsuki growled but stalked away, swinging by the bedroom before he showered. He had to use his body’s borrowed memories to find where his own clothes were, the first drawer of the dresser holding all t-shirts that practically screamed Deku’s style. With comfortable clothes in hand he headed for the shower.

He didn’t take long, and when he entered the dark bedroom and saw Deku laying in bed, on the far side and facing away from him, he wasn’t surprised to realize that Deku was still awake.

He couldn’t put his finger on how he knew - he just recognized it by the set of his shoulders, the line of his spine even under a plain t-shirt that Deku wasn’t just awake, but he was wide awake, the furthest thing from sleep.

Katsuki climbed into the bed on the nearer side, trying not to disturb Deku like he was actually asleep.

They both lay in the bed, facing away from each other, both pretending to sleep.

Katsuki couldn’t take it anymore. “He’ll be back tomorrow,” he said. He could feel Deku tense up even across the expanse separating them. “Your Katsuki. When I wake up tomororw I’ll be in another fucking universe and your Katsuki will be back here.”

He couldn’t hear anything from Deku, but after a moment the bed shook as Deku turned around. At a tap on his shoulder Katsuki turned around, mouth twisted in a frown, but Deku was only smiling at him. It wasn’t a happy smile, but it wasn’t sad either.

“Thank you, Kacchan,” he said, soft.

Katsuki huffed and looked away, face feeling a little warm. “Whatever,” he muttered.

He closed his eyes and shifted until he got comfortable, determined to fall asleep as quickly as possible.

Easier said than done. His mind was racing with everything from the day, all the things he’d learned about this future version of himself and Deku, even if he didn’t actually do a lot. But one thing that Deku said early on stood out above the others.

Katsuki opened his eyes to see Deku still turned towards his, his eyes closed, but he could tell by the pattern of his breathing that Deku was still awake.

“Oi, Deku,” Katsuki said. “What was your second clue?”

“Huh?” Deku said, not sounding tired at all as his eyes fluttered open.

“This morning,” Katsuki continued. “You said that your first clue that I wasn’t your Katsuki was when you saw me looking at the news articles about the wedding. What was your second clue.”

Deku’s face went soft and affectionate, a small, rueful smile on his face even as he reached out to curl his fingers around Katsuki’s ear that wasn’t pressed against the pillow. “You weren’t wearing your hearing aids,” he said. Katsuki didn’t have to ask him to continue. “A little while back I got hurt by a villain attacking us when we were off-duty. You blamed it on the fact that you didn’t have your aids in and that let them get the drop on us. The first thing you do in the morning is you put on your hearing aids so that you’d be ready to protect me and the kids, just in case.”

“For the record,” Deku added. “It wasn’t your fault. That attack would have happened either way.”

Katsuki frowned, though. “That’s no excuse,” he said. “What the hell was he thinking, letting himself be vulnerable like that, it’s an easy way for someone to-”

Deku cut Katsuki off by simply resting his hand, warm and calloused, over Katsuki’s mouth.

“Hush,” Deku said. “I hear that enough from My Katsuki, and he was the one actually there.”

Katsuki huffed a breath out of his nose, but let the subject drop.

They didn’t say anything for the rest of the night, and eventually Katsuki felt himself drift off to sleep, knowing as he did that Deku was wide awake beside him.

Chapter Text

Katsuki woke up slowly.

It felt like he was swimming to wakefulness through thick sludge, every time it felt like he was just a little bit more aware, awake, something was trying to drag him back. He grunted, then snorted when he felt a puff of air force its way down his nose into his lungs, making him inhale against his will. He had something actually in his nose and going down his throat that he could feel with every swallow.

That’s when he realized he had something taped to his face, pulling at his skin as his face scrunched up in distaste. He batted at it, trying to get the interfering thing off of him, but a hand grabbed his gently, and pulled it away.

“Sorry, Kacchan, you can’t do that,” Deku said. Of course Deku was there. Deku was always there. And despite himself, Katsuki found himself relaxing at the sound of his voice. It may still feel like he was struggling to get his brain online, but at least there was one constant in his life. In all his lives, there was a Deku.

“Deku?” he muttered, hating how his lips felt blubbery and loose as he said the single word. Opening his eyes felt like lifting two 100lb weights, but when he did Deku was right there, sitting at his bedside, head haloed by the fluorescent lighting above Katsuki’s bed.

...what the hell was Deku actually doing in his room?

Gasping a little with every puff of forced air down his lungs, Katsuki looked around blearily. He wasn’t in any of the rooms he’d been in before. In fact, it looked an awful lot like a hospital room, which he’d been getting unfortunately familiar with as his time in UA progressed.

“It’s good to see you awake,” Deku said, eyes welling up and, though he was smiling, his bottom lip wobbled. “You’ve been out for days.”

Katsuki blinked at him. “Wha…?” His brain still wasn’t fully online yet, but he had no idea what Deku was talking about.

“They weren’t sure what happened to you,” Deku continued. “But Recovery Girl and everyone said that your body was fine. You just needed to… wake up.”

He searched his memories, trying to find the differences, the split from his own universe. He could remember the unequal friendship with Deku during their younger years, Deku getting into UA with that borrowed Quirk of his, All Might and his fall from grace, everything was the same. He couldn’t remember the fight that landed him in the hospital, but could it be it was all… just some coma dream? That he never actually hopped around nearly a dozen different universes?

That he never actually left home?

Deku was still waiting for him to respond, was in fact starting to draw his eyebrows closer and closer together the longer Katsuki went without saying anything, just staring off into space. “The hell you doing skipping classes?” Katsuki mumbled, mind still going a mile a minute. He thought it was a school day. With all of those worlds where he wasn’t entirely human, let alone not in school, he wasn’t sure what day it even was anymore.

Deku just smiled in return, letting out a little chuckle as he visibly relaxed. “It’s Sunday, Kacchan,” he said, humor coloring his voice. “There’s no class until tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Katsuki said. “Okay.” He still felt floaty and not quite there.

Where was he this time? He was in a hospital room. Did this Katsuki get his ass kicked? What a fucking punk.

He raised his hand and looked at it for a moment. He should be doing something with it, shouldn’t he?

Oh yeah, his Quirk. For a moment he thought of setting off his Quirk, just to make sure it was still there and working properly, but even through the haze of his mind he knew that was a bad idea- with how difficult it was to concentrate it was a bad, bad idea to set off any explosions.

Deku’s hand curled over his and set it down gently at his side. “Are you going to be okay by yourself for a minute,” Deku asked, half-standing up. “I promised the nurses that I’d let them know when you woke up.”

“Yeah, Deku,” Katsuki sighed. “I’m fine.”

Deku patted his arm and walked away. Katsuki watched him, letting himself sink deeper into the bed.

He was… so fucking tired.

What universe did he end up in this time.

Katsuki pushed himself up to a seated position, reaching behind himself to bunch up the shitty hospital pillow behind his back. Even that minor effort wiped him out, leaving him shaking and covered in sour sweat.

He’d had his eyes closed in an attempt to recover a little when he heard shuffling footsteps at his door. He opened his eyes to see Recovery Girl shuffle in, Deku sitting up straighter at her arrival.

“Finally awake, I see,” she said, making her way over. “You gave us all a bit of a scare, there.”

Katsuki just grunted in response as she took his pulse and checked him over, barely able to keep his eyes off Deku where he hovered at the side of his bed. It had been days since he saw a Deku that looked like he should - every other one was older, or had fucking bunny ears or something. This one looked exactly like he should, if with dark circles under his eyes. And unlike the last otherwise-normal-looking Deku, he didn’t have that fucking awful, dismissive, hateful expression on his face. Instead, he watched every move from Recovery Girl with intense green eyes, brows drawn and bottom lip chewed on in concern. When he noticed Katsuki watching him, he shot Katsuki a soft, encouraging smile.

Katsuki looked away at that, not sure how to respond, his mind going a million miles a second. He didn’t know what do do, how to react to this Deku that was so much like his own. Especially then, since he realized what he actually felt for the other boy. The thought of returning to his previous, antagonistic behavior felt… weird. Wrong. He just didn’t want to be the cause of any hurt the guy felt anymore. But he also couldn’t ever see himself getting all goopy and soft all over him, either. Not to mention, with this world he wasn’t getting any real feedback from his body over what to do, either. There was no instinct to cringe away or lean close that he could realize as ‘other.’ He just felt like… himself.

“Alright then,” Recovery Girl finally said as she finished her simple exam. “Physically, you seem to be doing about as well as could be expected. What was the last thing you remember?”

Katsuki tried to pull up this body’s memories of what happened before its little mini-coma or whatever, but was having a strange difficulty in doing so. He could vaguely recall being in class, but he knew something happened between that and whatever event took him out in this universe.

Eventually he shook his head. “No,” he admitted, his voice still feeling tight and dry. “Last thing I can remember clearly was being in school.”

Recovery Girl nodded and poured him a cup of water from a pitcher at the side of his bed and watched carefully as Katsuki drank it with shaking hands. “That’s not surprising,” she said. “You were involved in a fight with a group of villains. You-”

“You took an attack meant for me,” Deku interrupted. “We were fighting this group of villains and one of them had a weapon. She almost hit me with it, but you got in the way. You’ve been out cold since.” Then, softer, he added, “Please don’t do that again, Kacchan.”

Recovery Girl said something about that being a good summation, but Katsuki was barely paying her any attention. Unsteady he could only stare at Deku, his head feeling floaty and disconnected from his body. What Deku described sounded really fucking similar.

As in, it sounded just like what happened to him, before he got wrapped up in everything with the universe hopping.

At long last, could he possibly be home? Did he finally come out the other end? Just like that?

He wracked his brain, searching through his body’s memories, trying to find any differences, any split from where things should be in his own universe.

And fuck, he couldn’t find anything.

But then, why could he remember the fight but his body couldn’t? That was the sticking point. Could it possibly be as simple as a side-effect of that villain’s quirk? Some sort of retroactive memory loss thanks to the physical effect of his consciousness being separated from his body?

It couldn’t be that simple.

Could it?

“Young man!” Recovery Girl said loudly. Judging by the tone of her voice she had probably been trying to get his attention for a while, which made him grind his teeth in frustration. Couldn’t she tell he was a little fucking distracted?

“What?” he snapped.

Recovery Girl just gave him a long, considering look. “I think it may be a good idea to run some tests very soon.”

“I’m fine,” Katsuki growled. “I just got distracted, all right?”

“Be that as it may,” she said. “I would rather rule out things than be surprised by them later. I’ll send in a nurse in a few minutes to get you prepped and let your parents know you’re awake.”

“Hey!” Katsuki protested to Recovery Girl’s back as she turned to slowly shuffle her way across the room. “I said I’m fine! I don’t need any of your shitty tests!”

“Keep your eye on him,” Recovery Girl instructed Deku on her way out. “If he starts acting unusually, press the call button immediately.”

“Got it,” Deku said.”

“DON’T IGNORE ME!”

Deku leaned forward in his seat and gave Katsuki a small, relieved smile. “I’m so glad to see you’re awake,” he said.

Katsuki glowered at him, lips twisted into an irritated mou at being ignored. Eventually he sighed, letting the tension drain from himself with his breath. His body was too damn weak and he was too mentally exhausted to bother being worked up over being ignored for so long.

“Yeah, Deku,” he said. “I’m glad to be awake, too.” Especially if his suspicions ended up proven correct and he was finally back in his real universe.

Deku blinked a thim, surprise written on his face. Then, like the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, he smiled. That fucking bright, sunshine smile that Katsuki so rarely saw. His breath caught at the sight.

Then, as Katsuki could only stare transfixed at the sight, Deku’s lips began to quiver and the next breath he took was wet-sounding. When he blinked a couple tears ran down his cheeks before he could wipe them away with the heel of his hand.

“We were all so worried about you,” Deku said. “Your mom and dad, All Might, Aizawa-sensei… We were all waiting for you to wake up.” Then, softer, staring blankly at Katsuki’s bed, he added, “I was waiting for you.”

“I’m awake now,” Katsuki said, so fucking lost as to what he could say to make Izuku stop with the slow, steady fall of tears.

“Yeah,” Izuku sighed. “You are.” He then straightened and fixed Katsuki with a steady glare. “I meant what I said, though. Please, do not take any more hits for me. I don’t want you getting hurt trying to protect me.”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do,” Katsuki said. “A shitty villain like that isn’t going to keep me down for good.”

Not to mention that Katsuki had seen enough of Deku on a hospital bed for one lifetime. And even though he hadn’t realized what he felt for Deku back then, it still felt like utter shit.

He thought back to the previous universe and how that Deku had gotten fucking electrocuted, had been injured badly enough that he’d been sent home early and how it was just another shitty day at work for Deku. In their intended line of work either one of them spending time in a hospital was going to be a fact of life.

It was also going to be a fact that Katsuki would much, much rather it be himself in a hospital bed than Deku.

Either way, at his words Deku sat up straighter, eyes narrowed, and opened his mouth to say something.

However, whatever argument he was going to try was interrupted by the arrival of a nurse.

“Hello, Katsuki-kun,” she said, smiling. “I’m here to talk with you about some tests Recovery Girl wants to run this morning.”

“Fine, whatever,” Katsuki grumbled, not looking forward to them but knowing from experience it’d be over faster if he just put up with them. No matter how much he hated it.

“Could you give us some privacy,” the nurse asked Deku, who sat up straighter at the question, his eyes darting between him and the nurse, obviously torn. Apparently sensing how he didn’t want to leave Katsuki’s side, she added, her voice soft with understanding, “I’m sure you two have friends who’d like to know Katuki-kun is awake. Why don’t you spread the happy news?”

“Y-yeah,” Deku said, at least slightly mollified. He stood, and with a slight squeeze to Katsuki’s knee under the blanket, said, “I’ll be back when you’re done,” and left.

Katsuki stared at where Deku touched him through the blanket, mind whirling. Was that touch normal for his Deku, or something different? Sure, his Deku and he weren’t anything close to touchy-feely with each other, but Katsuki had never been in a situation like what he’d woken up to before.

Could he be back?

He didn’t know. He didn’t know.

“Katsuki-kun?” the nurse said, frowning at him. Fuck, he had to start paying attention, he couldn’t keep just fucking out or whatever at every little thing that could, possibly, may be evidence one way or another that he’s back in his proper universe.

“What?” he snapped, feeling caught-out, anger bubbling under the surface along with burning, disgusting helplessness.

“Are you feeling dizzy?” she asked. “Tired?”

“I’m fine,” he sighed, letting his head tilt back to thud against the plastic headboard.

The nurse kept frowning at him, but took Deku’s vacated seat and started explaining to him what tests they wanted to run and why.

The next couple hours were full of being poked and prodded and scanned. By the time they’d finally called it quits and wheeled him back to his room (an indignity he only put up with because his legs felt like wet fucking noodles and the options were either use the chair or fall flat on his fucking face), he was starving and one good excuse away from sending an explosion at the next person who gave him a patronizing smile and called him ‘Katsuki-kun.’ The only damn bright side was that they removed the nasal tube, so his throat felt a little more normal.

“Kacchan,” Deku said, when Katsuki was rolled into his room. Deku jumped to his feet where he’d been waiting, fingers twiddling and twisting around each other. “Have they said anything yet? Are you- is everything okay? What-”

“Calm down, nerd,” he grumbled. A part of him instinctively wanted to bristle and snarl at the obvious worry Deku was showing, a brief kneejerk response at the implication that he was weak. However, he was too damn tired to be getting as mad as he otherwise would, and also… he didn’t want to get pissed off at Deku. Because Deku wasn’t saying he was weak or pathetic, but that he just wanted Katsuki at his strongest.

Also, there was a plate of what looked to be a rice porridge and sliced peaches on the table next to him, and his empty stomach was twisting at the sight.

“Oh,” Deku said, seeing where Katsuki was looking. “Recovery Girl said you might be hungry, so she had that brought up. But she doesn’t want you to force yourself to eat if you couldn’t.

“Let’s get you back to bed and you can have lunch, okay Katsuki-kun?” the nurse said, wheeling him up.

It fucking burned to have Deku watching as Katsuki was carefully deposited onto the bed, but there was no way Katsuki could manage on his own. Even with help, by the time he’d gotten in bed and all the various wires and tubes connected to him were in place, he was a trembling, panting, sweaty mess.

As he lay, closed-eyed and just trying to stop fucking shaking, he felt a warm pressure on his arm. He peeled his eyes open to see Deku, leaning forward in his seat, watching Katsuki’s face with so much damn concern. The warmth was Deku’s hand on his arm - not holding his forearm tight, but cupping it softly.

When Deku saw Katsuki watching he smiled. Katsuki braced himself, gritting his teeth and ready for Deku to ask if he was okay, or something. Something that Katsuki was too damn worn out to react to.

“Kacchan is amazing,” Deku said. “You’ve been in a coma-like state for over a week, and you’re already doing so good. Kacchan is really strong!”

Katsuki turned his head away, feeling his face heat up at the fucking sincere compliment. “Shut up, nerd,” he grumbled.

Deku’s hand tightened on his arm and then withdrew, but Deku didn’t look hurt or anything. Instead, he watched Katsuki with his lips pressed together.

“I’m serious, though,” he said. “Kacchan… they were talking about moving you to a long-term care facility. If you didn’t wake up today, they were going to change to a feeding port in your side. Did you know that if you’re in a coma for long enough the body just starts to forget how to eat? You lose your swallow reflex. But they didn’t have to,” Deku said, and by then he was wiping furiously at his eyes. “You woke up. Kacchan woke up and you’re here.”

“Hey,” Katsuki said, shaking hand lifting and hovering there in the air. He didn’t know what to do with crying people, especially ones that he actually cared for. It felt fucking awful to see Deku crying over him, to know that Deku was so fucking miserable and it was all his fault.

Fuck, the last time he saw Deku cry was… was when he was a dog, wasn’t it? And when he, as a dog, licked at his tears Deku seemed to feel better and drew comfort from it.

Well, he wasn’t going to do that as a human, but the general concept was the same.

He let his hand rest on Deku’s face, his thumb brushing at the line of tears that marked his cheek, just a simple, ‘I’m here, I’m awake.’ Deku hiccuped and the tears intensified, momentarily freaking Katsuki the fuck out when he had a moment of wondering if he did the wrong damn thing. But then Deku grabbed at his hand and pressed it harder against his cheek, letting out a little gasp.

Then he turned, brushing his lips against Katsuki’s palm. It was just the briefest brush of skin on skin, but it was enough to make Katsuki freeze, his breath caught in his throat.

Was- was that something his Deku would do? It wasn’t, was it? His Deku wouldn’t be the kind to just casually do something so affectionate to Katsuki, would he?

Before Katsuki could come to any conclusion Deku froze. He then let go of Katsuki’s hand and sat back, out of reach of his touch, his face so bright red that his freckles disappeared.

“S-sorry!” he yelped. “I didn’t mean to!”

“S’fine,” Katsuki said, unable to look away from Deku. His hand fell to the mattress, and he slowly closed it, trapping the feeling of Deku’s lips against his palm.

“A-anyway,” Deku said, his shoulders hunching up as he looked anywhere but at Katsuki. He looked… shy, embarrassed. And while it wasn’t the best look for him, it was at least better than crying, though his eyes were slightly red and face puffy from tears. “Kirishima-kun and the others said that they were on their way to visit. I told them you might want some time before they all come to see you, but they’re all wanting to see you up and awake for themselves.”

“Pain in the ass nosy motherfuckers,” Katsuki sneered.

“They care for you,” Deku corrected.

“Doesn’t make them less of a pain in the ass,” he muttered.

Deku laughed, which Katsuki didn’t really expect from him insulting his friends. Deku seemed to notice his confusion, because he waved Katsuki off. “Just… it’s good to see you back to normal,” he said. “It’s a relief.”

Katsuki grunted. Then he motioned towards the bowl of porridge where it had been rapidly cooling the whole time. “You gonna help me eat that before they make me lose my appetite, or what?”

Deku aimed that sunshine smile at him again. “Sure thing!”

He had the sense not to try and hold Katsuki’s spoon or anything, at least. He just pushed the table’s arm over Katsuki’s lap so that he could eat more comfortably. Even the minor effort of eating was exhausting, though, and before long his hands were shaking every time he tried to lift another bite to his mouth.

Deku at least let him have the illusion of privacy as he struggled to even feed himself - was buried in his phone, every now and then typing something in, rather than staring at Katsuki.

When Katsuki’s spoon clattered to the bowl one last time and he didn’t pick it up again, Deku glanced up, eyes shifting between Katsuki’s tray and himself. He straightened a bit, lowering the phone to ask, “Are you finished, Kacchan?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Tired of eating for now.” He wasn’t full. He just didn’t want to go through the effort of feeding himself, and wasn’t that fucking annoying?

Deku seemed to understand, though. He pulled the tray out of Katsuki’s way so that he could shift around to a more comfortable position.

“The others are here, by the way,” Deku said. “I didn’t want to say anything until you finished eating. I can tell them to come by tomorrow if you’re not feeling up for company, though.”

Katsuki had to think it over for a moment, but eventually let out a sigh. “Nah, let them come in,” he muttered. “Otherwise they’re just going to keep whining and pouting until they get to see that I’m just fucking fine.”

“Okay,” Deku smiled. “I’ll let them know.”

Deku typed away on his phone, and Katsuki had just long enough to wonder where his own phone was before there was a sound of running footsteps and suddenly the door was filled with the bodies of multiple people all trying to squeeze in all at once.

“Guys, chill out and let me in first!” Kirishima said, voice garbled where his cheek was mashed against the doorway.

“Heeeey!” That was Ashido, who was ignoring how she was squeeze between Kirishima’s back and Kaminari’s shoulders to beam at Katsuki. “Blasty! You’re awake!”

“It’s great to see you up, man!” Kaminari said one leg hooked around the edge of the doorway and flailing as he tried to get a good spot to push off of.

“Ah,” Sero sighed from where he somehow ended up underneath the rest of them, Ashido’s leg hooked over his shoulder. “To see that glare again. It brings a tear to my eye, guys,” he said, with a dramatic sniffle.

Someone must have moved just right, or they finally squeeze past the bottleneck that was the narrow doorway, because all of a sudden they all surged forward in a flailing mass of limbs, curses, and whining protests.

Katsuki couldn’t help but feel… something at the sight of all those idiots. It occurred to him that as much as he wanted to get back to his Deku this entire time, he didn’t spend any real time with the rest of the assholes who typically hung around him. He couldn’t help but notice how, annoying as they often were, it felt… good to see them again. To be around the certain type of chaos that could only be found with them.

He missed them.

He glared at the leftover porridge. Was that shit spiked or something?

Eventually the idiot squad got themselves untangled from each other and parked themselves around Katsuki’s bed, surrounding him with a wall of bright, shining faces that made him exhausted just looking at them. Of course they didn’t say anything about Deku clinging to Katsuki’s side like a limpet - the nerd had been following him around for years. He honestly wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t left his side the entire time he’d been out.

“You had us worried to death,” Ashido said from her perch on the foot of the bed.

“Yeah, bro,” Kirishima said, arms crossed and leaning on a bare scrap of wall. “Nobody thought anything could keep you down for that long. It really scared us.”

“I’m fine now,” Katsuki grumbled under the weight of their collective eyes. It was one thing for people to be looking upon him with wonder and awe, but all that raw concern just… itched at him. It made him want to squirm, so he just kept as still as possible but for his clenched fists. “So all you idiots can leave now.”

“Aw…” Ashido pouted. “But we just got to see you!”

“And you’ll see me again later, when I’m out of here!” Katsuki snapped.

“Ah, don’t be like that, Baku-bro,” Sero drawled. He was sitting half-perched on the window ledge, one leg kicked up and his forearm braced on his knee. “You know you were missing us.”

“Yeah, sleeping beauty,” Kaminari grinned. “I just know deep inside that grumpy heart of yours you were longing to see our smiling faces again.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said. He brought one hand up and let sparks dance above his palm. “Just bring that smiling face closer and I’ll show you just how much I missed it.”

The rest of the group just laughed, which made Katsuki sneer even deeper in response.

They hung around for a while, chatting over and bickering with each other as they talked about everything that he’d missed while he’d been asleep. He found himself relaxing more and more as they talked. They were just… so familiar. Just like he remembered them being. He found himself looking closer to them every now and then - was Kirishima’s eyes always that specific shade? Was Sero’s accent the same, or a little different? Did they refer to anything that he knew wasn’t the same in his original universe?

After a while a different nurse from before swung by to tell the group that Katsuki needed to rest, and as much as he bristled at the thought of needing to take a fucking nap, he could feel exhaustion pulling at every muscle. It was getting hard enough to keep his fucking eyes open, for crying out loud, and every now and then it took him a second to realize that he had to catch up to the conversation because he’d dropped off in the middle of one sentence and woke up in the middle of another.

Nobody tried arguing with the nurse, though, and he fucking hoped that it wasn’t because anybody noticed him fucking napping on them like an old man. Instead, the idiot squad rose to their feet and, giving Katsuki a little wave, promised they’d come by and see him the next day. When Kirishima passed Deku, Katsuki couldn’t help but notice the way he squeezed Deku’s shoulder.

Especially since Deku wasn’t making any moves to get up from his chair. And the nurse followed Kirishima and the others out, but didn’t say anything about Deku staying.

And then Deku, after staring at the open door for a long moment, turned to Katsuki, smiled, and leaned forward to brush a kiss against Katsuki’s lips, his hand resting gentle and warm on Katsuki’s upper arm.

And damn it, of course that’s when he remembered. Or, at least that’s when he got this version of Katsuki’s memories.

Because he wasn’t home. The realization was like a bucket of cold water dashed over his head, and just like that he was wide-fucking-awake.

In his own universe, when Katsuki called Deku out to fight him after curfew, it didn’t end when Katsuki screamed about how he couldn’t get Deku out of his head. In his universe Deku didn’t shout back about how he’d been in love with Katsuki for years, if only Katsuki could just see it. They didn’t spend their suspension talking to each other about how Deku wanted to kiss Katsuki every time he bragged about being the number one hero, or how Katsuki realized that the feeling he felt every time Deku did something outrageously stupid but brave was desire. They didn’t share a first kiss before the licensing exam ‘for luck.’ They didn’t lose their virginity to each other when Katsuki finally, finally got his own license, spirits high on pride and the cheap booze Sero had snuck into the dorm.

No, in Katsuki’s universe their fight ended with Katsuki’s knee on Deku’s back, they barely talked to each other during their suspension, and when Katsuki got drunk it was with his group of friends in Kaminari’s room until he passed out in his own bed.

The reason why he freaked out over fucking kissing Katsuki’s hand earlier? It was because they’d promised each other that they’d keep their relationship a secret for the time being. Knowing their classmates, nobody would give them any peace if they found out, so it was something that they wanted to take their time about going public and reveal when the time was right.

Though judging by just how protective they were of each other, Katsuki figured it was the most open damn secret in the whole of UA.

He wasn’t back.

Deku kissed him again. He leaned in close and cupped the side of Katsuki’s face with one of those ginormous paws and kissed him, soft but passionate, pulling Katsuki closer with his free hand.

Katsuki’s body knew what to do, knew how to respond to Deku’s kiss, how to open for him. Knew how to shift and pull him forward so that they were laying with their legs entwined. Knew how if he just dragged his fingers down the length of Deku’s back it would make the other boy shudder and gasp.

Knew he had to stop.

He wasn’t this Deku’s Katsuki

And Deku, fucking smarter-than-he-looks Deku, when he pulled back he had a thoughtful look in his eye as he looked at Katsuki.

Katsuki’s suspicions were proved with the other boy’s next words.

“You’re not my Kacchan, are you?” Deku asked. He asked it simply, steadily. He already knew the answer, Katsuki could tell, but was just waiting on Katsuki to verify it.

“I’m not,” Katsuki said.

But Deku just looked at him, brows drawn. He slowly pulled his hand back from Katsuki’s arm, leaving it cold. “Who are you, then?” he asked, slowly.

“I am a Bakugou Katsuki,” Katsuki said. “But I’m not the Katsuki you know. I got hit by someone’s quirk and now I’m just… bouncing between worlds until I end up back in my own, okay? I’m in your Katsuki’s body, but in my head I’m a different Katsuki altogether.” It was so strange explaining the same thing to a Deku two worlds in a row, but this Deku deserved to know. So many of them deserved to know that the Katsuki they knew was an imposter, but he couldn’t only tell the truth to so few. “Tomorrow your Katsuki will be back. I’m pretty sure, at least.”

Deku pursed his lips and cupped his hand around his chin, thumbing at his bottom lip, and Katsuki sighed. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.

“While people have determined that travel to alternate universes might not be possible, that doesn’t exactly mean that exchanging consciousnesses isn’t a possibility. And you have been acting weird all day, though I just assumed it was due to waking up after so long. Some mild injury would be expected, obviously, and even if Kacchan recovers entirely that doesn’t negate the fact that I can’t expect him to act normally right off the bat. In fact, is he even thinking rationally right now? The test results haven’t come back in yet, and the nurse did tell me to hit the call button if he acts unusually, so-”

“Oi, nerd!” Katsuki interrupted, indignation rising. “I’m not… fucking brain-damaged or something! I know what I’ve experienced, okay?”

“Ah!” Deku yelped. “S-sure,” he said, but Katsuki could tell that he was trying not to look at the fucking nurse call button next to the bed.

“It’s fucking true,” Katsuki growled. “Every day I wake up in another universe where everything is fucking different, and I just want to get fucking home, okay? I keep seeing your face everywhere I go,” Katsuki continued. “You’re always right there, right next to me. And I don’t know what it means, but none of them is the one I expect. None of them are you, and… fuck, I miss you, okay?” He was looking at Deku at this point but wasn’t even really seeing the other boy. He wasn’t even really talking to him, he was talking to his own Deku, the one who was unreachable, so far away from anywhere Katsuki could go. He couldn’t help himself, words just spilling out of him faster than he could stop himself, just tripping over each other as they poured out of his mouth. “I miss my own universe, and I miss you - I miss fighting with you, and the way you keep looking at me. I keep seeing all these Deku’s and they’re all not you and it just pisses me off how so many people can be wearing your face and still not be the one I want-”

He had to stop. Because Deku was kissing him. Deku was kissing him and his heart was beating so quickly he was distantly surprised that nobody was coming to check up on him and his face was fucking wet with tears, but he couldn’t concentrate on any of that because Deku was kissing him. It wasn’t soft and tender like his previous kiss; it was hard, bruising almost, and he could feel Deku breathe harshly through his nose and he could feel how dry and chapped Deku’s lips were but it was all fine, even though Katsuki was so fucking confused.

Deku pulled away after a long moment of just pressing his lips against Katsuki’s, but only far enough to rest his forehead against Katsuki’s, his eyes clenched shut tightly like they were during the kiss.

“W-what?” Katsuki stuttered out, barely able to even get that simple word out.

“Sorry,” Deku whispered back. “You were just… so upset. I couldn’t help myself.”

“I’m still not your Katsuki, though,” Katsuki said.

Deku let out a long breath. A sigh, maybe? “I believe you,” he said. “But I can’t let any Katsuki be upset right in front of me and not do anything about it.”

Katsuki let out a huff of breath and closed his eyes, feeling his cheeks heat at the combination of Deku’s words and his closeness. “Nerd.”

“Yeah,” Deku agreed, and fuck if Katsuki couldn’t hear the smile in it.

Deku sat back with another long breath, Katsuki opening his eyes to see Deku watching him with his brows drawn. He had his hand wrapped around Kastuki’s, but Katsuki couldn’t find it in himself to pull his hand away.

“You said that you keep jumping to alternative universes, huh?” Deku asked. “Is this one any different from the one you’re used to?”

“Ah,” Katsuki said, feeling weirdly uncomfortable at the question. He continued, mumbling. “Yeah. In my universe we aren’t. Together.”

Deku’s eyes grew wide at that. “Ah, so that’s why… but, really?” He asked. “Why not? I can’t believe that I wouldn’t be interested in you that way.”

“There’s at least one universe out there where you hate my guts,” Katsuki said. “But yeah, we just… didn’t confess to each other like you guys did.”

Deku tilted his head to the side. “How do you know how we confessed?” he asked.

Katsuki pointed at his temple. “Wherever I go,” he explained. “I get memories of that universe’s Katsuki. I can ‘remember’ how you two got together because this body remembers it. When I leave, I’ll remember what happened to me here, but I’ll start losing this body’s memories when I leave.”

“I… see,” Deku said. “What actually happened to cause this? Is it your quirk from your universe?”

Katsuki snorted. “Yeah, like I’d have a shitty quirk like this. No. It’s actually why it took me so long to realize that I was in another universe - I got hit by a villain’s attack and it did this shit to me. You’re welcome, by the way - she was aiming for you.”

Deku just glared at him. “If I’m that similar to your Izuku,” he said. “Then I don’t think he’ll be thanking you for that anytime soon.”

“Probably not,” Katsuki dismissed.

“When you get back to your universe…” Deku trailed off, biting his bottom lip.

“Yeah?” Katsuki prodded, when it didn’t seem like Deku was going to continue.

“Just… Give the other me a chance? If you feel the same way my Katsuki feels about me about your own Izuku, then I’m sure he feels the same way I do.”

“How do you know that?” Katsuki asked, voice rough.

“Kacchan,” Deku said softly, fondly, and he had a small soft smile on his face that Katsuki wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before. “There isn’t a universe out there where I don’t think you’re amazing. Even the one where I apparently hated you.” Deku was quiet for a moment, and then said, almost hesitantly, “Don’t let yourself or your Izuku lose out on this, okay?” he gave Katsuki’s hand a squeeze where it was twined around his own. “This? What I’ve formed with my Kacchan? It would be hard to say it’s not the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Katsuki snorted at that, burying his face into the pillow. “That I know is a lie,” he said. Getting a quirk? Getting into UA? Hell, just getting a chance to talk with All Might on the regular? All of those were lesser than getting to fuck Katsuki on the regular? Yeah, no, he had a big ol’ DOUBT stamped on that statement.

“It’s really not,” Deku said, and something in his voice told Katsuki not to try and argue with him. This time. He’d leave that for this Katsuki.

“Do you love him?” Deku asked.

“I do,” Katsuki said. And it felt… so odd, but so fucking freeing to finally, finally admit what he felt for Deku aloud. “I love him.”

“Then tell him,” Deku said. “He needs to know.”

Katsuki really couldn’t think of anything he could say to argue that.

_*_

The rest of the day passed fairly quickly.

The results of the tests Recovery Girl put him through came in and showed that other than some minor effects from being asleep for a week he was otherwise fine. His parents talked with him over a video call to apologize for not being able to come see him in person, but were visibly glad to see him awake and alert. Dinner came, this time a broth-heavy soup and applesauce, and Katsuki was able to eat about half of it before the effort of eating took its toll on him.

The entire time Izuku remained by his side.

They talked nearly the entire time about the different worlds Katsuki visited and the things he experienced, Katsuki carefully leaving certain details out for his own sanity’s sake. With every word out of his mouth Katsuki could feel some of the weight he’d been carrying start to lift. Even if he only got to see this Deku for one day, he wasn’t alone anymore in it.

And Deku seemed curious, and amazed, and aghast with each universe he mentioned. He gave his own theories about what must be going on in each world, his fingers twitching like they were itching to write it down, but due to a complete lack of any notebook he had to deal with just making mental notes.

But every now and then, he’d ask Katsuki very specific questions, all variants of, “But my Kacchan will be back tomorrow, right?”

Each time Katsuki would reassure that his Katsuki would return, but he didn’t know what exactly happened to the displaced Katsukis. The only hint of anything was when he was in the prison and the weird dog-person Katsuki started to wake up in the back of his mind. It felt like the right Katsuki for that world, but he couldn’t be 100% sure.

But no matter how much he tried to keep himself awake and alert, his body was still weak. He’d been fighting sleep for hours, and as the sun started to dip below the horizon and light up the room in a warm golden glow, his eyelids losing the fight against gravity as they felt like heavy weights were tied to them.

Deku was theorizing aloud about the universe in which Katsuki was the robot (something about whether robots even had a consciousness that could be transferred out for Katsuki to replace) but Katsuki was losing entire sentences and trains of thought as he slowly blinked in and out of awareness.

At one point, looking at Deku’s profile with the setting sun in the window behind him, the only clear thought he had was that he didn’t realize just how beautiful Deku was.

The next moment he was feeling Deku’s fingers through his hair, his dry lips pressed against his forehead.

Katsuki squinched up his face reflexively, not used to the casual affection. “Oi,” he grumbled, voice thick with sleep. “’M still not y’r Kats’ki.”

“I know,” Deku said, softly. “But I still wanted to say goodbye.”

“Why?” Katsuki, opening one eye once he realized that he had them both closed. Even that minor effort felt like an near-insurmountable task. “You goin’ anywhere?”

“Wild horses couldn’t drag me away,” he said. “But I wanted to say goodbye to you before you left. Only a couple hours till midnight.”

“Oh,” Katsuki said. It was dark then, wasn’t it? “Okay. Bye.”

“Goodbye, Kacchan,” Deku said. “Tell your Izuku I said hi.”

“Sure,” Katsuki sighed.

And then he fell asleep.

Chapter Text

“Kacchan? Are you awake?”

Deku’s voice woke Katsuki, his soft voice gently stirring him from the sound sleep that he was in. Katsuki grunted, stretched, and opened his eyes to see Izuku staring at him from next to his bed. Fuck, why was Deku in his room this time?

It wasn’t his room, he realized as he looked around. It was a hospital room, a single bed one. He looked at his hands, but neither of them had an IV or anything attached, no tubes up his nose, either. None of the machines around his bed were on, just blank faces around him.

Except for Deku.

Deku, who in every universe was always there, in some way. If not tied together from childhood, then brought together somehow.

“Are you okay?” Deku asked, voice soft and cautious.

“Fine,” he said, staring at his hands. He let off some sparks from his palms, just testing, and clenched his fist at the confirmation that, at the very least, he had his quirk in this universe.

He looked over at Deku, eyeing him carefully for any sign of what could be different. He looked… honestly really similar to the last Deku he’d seen. The same hair, the same unsure smile he had when Katsuki had woken up yesterday. He even looked tired and wan just like that Deku - the only real difference between the two was that this one had his uniform on and his backpack at his feet.

“You skipping class today, nerd?” Katsuki asked, jerking his head at the bag.

For whatever reason that made Deku startle, and then immediately try and laugh it off, scratching the back of his head. “Ah, no!” he said. “I just wanted to check up on you before I left. You’ve been really out of it for the past few days, and I wanted to see if you were… you know. Better.”

“Hah?” Katsuki drawled, curiosity nibbling away at his common sense. There was no need for him to know, it would all be worthless information in 24 hours anyway. Despite himself, he found himself asking, “What was I out with?”

If anything, that question just made Deku look even fucking cagier. He couldn’t seem to look Katsuki in the eye, fidgeting with the cuffs of his sleeves instead. “Well…” he trailed off. “You don’t seem really surprised about waking up here. What do you remember last?”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes as he searched through this body’s memories for whatever the hell landed him there, but there was nothing that he could find that separated himself from this world. He couldn’t get his hopes up, though. He’d already learned that particular lesson the hard way.

He ran his tongue over his dry lips, thinking of a good answer to give Deku that wouldn’t fuck things up for this universe’s Katsuki. Vague answers would have to do. “I can’t remember a whole lot,” he said. “A lot of things are blurry.” He woke up in the UA hospital, even if he wasn’t hooked up to a thousand machines, and he had a quirk, so he at least had a decent launching point. “Did I get into a fight?”

Deku nodded, looking cautiously optimistic. “Yeah,” he said, voice soft. “You took an attack meant for me. We were fighting this group of villains and one of them had a weapon. She almost hit me with it, but you got in the way. You’ve been here since.” Then he added, “Please don’t do that again, Kacchan.”

Katsuki felt his heart grow cold and colder with every word out of Deku’s mouth. It sounded really fucking familiar. The Deku in the previous universe said the exact fucking thing, pretty much word-for-word. Did he fucking repeat a world? No, he wasn’t injured or tubed up or anything, so it wasn’t the same world, but it had to be real fucking similar.

He let his head thump back on the headboard, his eyes falling shut. “Sure, Deku,” he sighed, mental exhaustion audible even to himself. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Deku was silent for a while. Eventually, Katsuki heard the soft squeak of his shoes on the tile. “I need to get to class,” he said. “But if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to let people know, okay?”

“Sure,” Katsuki repeated. Not like it’d be any good in the long run.

There was an expectant pause, then the chair scraping and the soft sound of Deku’s shoes crossing the room.

The room was deafeningly quiet once Deku left, and Katsuki tried not to let it get to him. It wasn’t like it was his own Deku, after all. Just another mirror image that looked like him, talked like him, but wasn’t the boy he once thought he knew so well.

Now that he wasn’t out of it as much as he was the day before, he couldn’t believe how much he lost it in front of that other Deku. How he just opened his mouth and vomited up all his frustrations and insecurities at a Deku that wasn’t his, and wouldn’t ever see him again.

Though in a way, maybe that was for the best. Katsuki wasn’t the sort of person who tried to avoid the consequences of his actions - even when he did something that would bite him in the ass later on he always knew that would be a possibility. But the fact that he confessed and lost it to a Deku that couldn’t hold it over his head was a relief.

No. He couldn’t keep thinking like that. Deku wasn’t the sort to use information against people like that. Even that last Deku who was so similar to his own didn’t even hint at looking down at him. He just listened with quiet understanding and wanted Katsuki to confess to his own Deku.

He just had to find his Deku, first, before he could even think about confessing. He wasn’t going to make things easier on any alternate versions of himself by doing the dirty work for them.

After a few minutes of that too-damn-quiet Recovery Girl shuffled her way into the room and gave him a brief exam.

“Okay, young man,” she said, sitting back on the chair Deku vacated. “Can you tell me what the last thing you remembered?”

“Got into a fight,” Katsuki muttered, feeling tired of the whole thing already. “After that it’s all a blur.”

“Hmm,” she hummed. “Can you tell me if you’ve got any confusion, dizziness, or if anything just feels off to you?”

Katsuki bit back the urge to sneer at the question. What didn’t feel off? The past nearly two weeks was one fucking awful day one right after another, and he was fucking exhausted dealing with it.

“Just tired,” he said, closing his eyes and shutting out the whole fucking world.

Recovery Girl hummed again, but seemed to accept his answer, as she tapped her cane against the ground a couple times but didn’t dog him for more information. “Well,” she said, huffing as she slid out of the chair. “If you need any help or have any questions, don’t be afraid to use the call button and someone will be with you shortly.”

Katsuki told himself not to bother, but he found himself peeling an eye open to glare at her. “That’s it?” he asked. “Aren’t you going to release me or something if nothing’s wrong?”

“I don’t like the memory loss,” Recovery Girl said. “So I want to make sure that there’s no other underlying issues that can crop up later. You’ll stay here overnight, and if there’s no change I will release you in the morning to bed rest back at your dorm.”

Whatever. It didn’t fucking matter - in the morning he’d probably wake up as… a surfer, or a ninja, or a hero of a fucking fantasy novel or something.

“Sure,” he said once more. This time when he closed his eyes he physically turned away from her, pulling the thin as hell hospital blanket over his shoulder.

Recovery Girl made a noise like she was about to say something but cut herself off. Then, like Deku before her, her departure was heralded by the soft scuff of her shoes on tile that ended when she shut the door behind herself.

Katsuki tried to go back to sleep now that people were done fucking around with him, just to hurry and get the day over with as quickly as possible. Too damn bad his body had other plans. He was too used to getting up early and doing shit in the morning - hell, he couldn’t remember the last time he even went for his usual morning jog. It may have just been this body that was so similar to his own, but he wanted to fucking move.

So, after a good couple hours of tossing and turning, he did. Though his first stop was at the attached bathroom to wash up (which also helped prove that he physically was pretty much the same as he was used to), his next stop was to poke around the room he was put up in.

Like in the last universe, the hospital room was a two-bed deal that thankfully he was the only occupant in. He woke up wearing a set of scrubs instead of a fucking gown, so at least his ass wasn’t hanging out. Which ended up being a good thing, because he couldn’t find a change of damned clothes. He had absolutely zero personal effects in the room, not even his own fucking phone.

He had a brief thought that this Katsuki was a kidnapping victim by this universe’s version of Deku and Recovery Girl, but his body was only feeling the normal level of tension and not freaking out at waking up in the wrong place.

He honestly couldn’t know, but neither of them were acting like a kidnapper at least.

He gave up looking for any of his own shit and just left the hospital room in his scrubs and a pair of slippers he’d found wrapped in plastic in a cabinet, needing to fucking move, especially since he spent the whole of the previous day either in bed or getting poked and prodded at by Recovery Girl’s minions.

It wasn’t like Recovery Girl told him he couldn’t go for a damn walk, he rationalized as he left his room, trying not to feel like he was sneaking out. She just wanted him to stay overnight. And if he had something like an aneurism waiting to pop in his brain, one area of the hospital was going to be as good as another, right? Especially since he wasn’t attached to any machines that would alert anyone if something did happen.

He found himself padding up and down the same-looking hallways for a while, just looking around, eyes peeled for any sign for what made this universe different from his own. Nothing jumped out at him. It could be subtle, he figured - so subtle that it would be easily missed. Theoretically, this could be a universe where he decided to have a pear with his lunch on September 8th in fifth grade rather than an apple, but because of that one decision it caused a branch between universes.

He just had to keep his eyes peeled.

But the longer the day went on the more irritated he got - he couldn’t fucking figure it out.

He found himself at the heart of the hospital where the sound of birdsong carried strangely down the hallways. Following the sound, he discovered a small courtyard open to the air and filled with carefully-tended trees and flowers, the hallway walls surrounding them turning to glass to let people travelling down the halls to enjoy the peaceful sight. Tiny birds darted from branch to branch, trilling sharply at each other. Watching them, Katsuki dimly remembered something he heard a teacher say - to possible mates it was a call to advertise themselves, but to rivals it was a message; if you can hear this, you’re too close. But to human ears it all sounded the same.

He found himself a spot outside of easy view from any of the entrances on a bench under a tree and allowed himself to just sit and relax for a while. It was a nice view, he determined. He wondered if the last Katsuki and Deku had a spot like that in their own hospital.

He shook his head. He couldn’t help but keep thinking of the last world no matter how he tried. It was so fucking similar to his own, he oculdn’t get it out of his head. The only difference was that he and Deku had confessed their feelings for each other in a way that didn’t end in fucking tears, but instead in a liplock. And fucking, apparently, even though his own borrowed memories of that were thankfully pretty faded.

Thankfully because he might have wanted to create some memories of his own with Deku, and didn’t want them tainted by memories from another universe. Or something like that.

Either way, out of all those worlds he’d been through, and everything he’d seen, that was the one he wanted the most. Sure, the one where he and Deku were older and established and had the requisite 2.5 kids or whatever was fantastic, but it was also so far off into their future that it still didn’t quite seem attainable. The previous world was right there, within his grasp, if only he or Deku had been strong enough to take it.

And if Deku was willing to reach out for him as well.

Katsuki was many things, but a coward was not one of them. He didn’t fucking back down just because something was hard - instead he’ll bare his teeth and sneer and not only surpass any barrier before him, but do it in a way that would make anybody feel foolish for even fucking doubting him. However, he couldn’t help but feel the slightest… apprehension, perhaps, that his Deku didn’t feel the same way about him.

Sure, Deku seemed to like him well enough. Even after all those years of bullying, the constant put-downs, the threats, Deku bafflingly still clung to him like a barnacle on the belly of a ship. There was definitely an aspect of hero-worship there, as well. None of that meant that he like-liked him back, though. What if Deku just really liked being Katsuki’s friend, and didn’t want anything more?

He cut that line of thinking off with a sneer. What the hell was wrong with him, mooning over Deku like some lovesick idiot? Did Deku ‘like-like’ him? What was next, writing “Mr. Katsuki Midoriya” over and over in his notebook? Standing outside his window with a boombox? Enough of this childish moping over will-he’s or won’t-he’s, once he got back to his own universe he’d tell Deku what he felt about him, and that’s it. If Deku returned his feelings, great! Fine! Fantastic! And if he didn’t, then whatever. He’d gone all his life without sucking face with Deku, he could go the rest of his life without it.

Though he really wanted to suck face with Deku.

His own Deku, in his own world.

There was a rustle of branches all the way across the courtyard that was too heavy and raucous to be attributed to the birds. And speak of the devil; Katsuki watched, curiously, as a familiar green-haired person trampled his way through a patch of zinnias. Deku, looking around anxiously, eyes wide with worry.

“Kacchan, are you here?” he asked, voice just loud enough to carry. “Please answer if you are!”

Katsuki felt his own instinctive desire to pull away from that concern. Deku wasn’t his babysitter, what did it matter to him if Katsuki just fucked off on his own? He bit back that reaction - it was nonsensical, for one, and secondly this was obviously a Deku that cared about Katsuki. He couldn’t be sure if this one actually looked down on him like Katsuki was always so sure that his own Deku did for so long, but by the same token he couldn’t just assume he was either.

Still, he couldn’t just jump up and wag his metaphorical tail just because Deku was there.

“Hey, nerd,” Katsuki said, amused despite himself when Deku’s head snapped to look at the corner where Katsuki had sequestered himself. “You’re fucking up the peace and quiet.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Deku gasped, and practically tripped over himself as he jogged up to Katsuki. “Are you okay?” he asked, then visibly winced.

Katsuki forced himself not to let his instinctive reaction out - it was fine, it was fucking fine, Deku was just concerned for him after whatever happened to him in this world, he wasn’t trying to patronize him. “I’m fine, Deku,” he growled, more out of the stress of keeping himself from snapping at Deku who didn’t deserve to deal with his fucking issues than any real anger. “What are you freaking out so much about?”

“When someone came to bring you breakfast you weren’t in your room,” Deku explained. “They just assumed that you might have been stretching your legs and didn’t think anything about it. When you weren’t back by lunch that’s when people started getting worried. Nobody has been able to find you until, well. Now. Oh,” he pulled out his phone and tapped out a quick text. “There, now people won’t keep looking for you now that I know you’re safe.”

“Hunh,” Katsuki grunted. Eyeing Deku. He looked way too frazzled for Katsuki to have just been gone for a handful of hours. Did he really wander the halls of the hospital the entire time Deku was at school? It felt a lot earlier than that. For one, he wasn’t nearly as hungry as he should have been after so long, even considering his skipped breakfast. “I don’t exactly have my phone,” Katsuki pointed out. “If I had it, you could have just fucking texted me.”

Deku winced. “Ah, sorry! I think it’s in your dorm room.”

“Why?” Katsuki asked. “What if my parents wanted to talk with me while I’m at the hospital?” He couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t have either his phone or his clothing, or any other personal effects in the room with him. Hell, he couldn’t even check and see what homework he was missing out on. Not that it mattered.

“Oh, uh, well,” Deku stammered, and Katsuki’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you know, even the best hospitals aren’t the most secure places, so to keep it safe it was determined that it was better to keep it in your room, you know?”

Deku was lying. Badly. Which, at least it was a good sign that this Deku wasn’t a good liar, but Katsuki could count the number of times Deku actually tried to lie to his face on one hand. It fucking pissed him off that Deku was attempting it to his face.

He closed his eyes and breathed, just inhaling the scent of the flowers that surrounded them, and let himself calm down. The bench he had chosen was bracketed with blooming phlox, and he let himself inhale their mild scent to calm himself down.

It didn’t matter if this Deku was lying to him. He’d be gone the next day.

“Sure, Deku,” Katsuki said once he was sure it wouldn’t come out as a growl, or paired with an insult.

There was another long silence. By the time Katsuki opened his eyes Deku wasn’t even looking at him. He was looking towards the door, chewing on his bottom lip. When he noticed Katsuki watching him, he gave Katsuki a wan smile and a half-shrug. “We should probably get you back to your room before someone else decides to come get you.”

Katsuki sighed. “Yeah, and with my luck it’d be Recovery Girl. Then she’d drag me back to my room by my ear, even if she had to bend me in half to do it.”

That got a chuckle out of Deku at least, while made a smile spread across Katsuki’s lips before he could suppress it. He hid it by standing up, and once he was on his feet he noticed something tangled in Deku’s hair.

“Fuck, nerd,” Katsuki said, plucking a red petal from Deku’s hair. “Did you fucking go digging up entire flower beds looking for me? Shit, this looks like a tulip - I didn’t even know there even were tulips in here.”

Deku chuckled, a blush blooming high on his cheeks. “Sorry, I think I tripped once or twice.”

“Into a flower bed?” Katsuki asked as they walked out. “What a fucking hero, defeated by an ankle-high flower.”

“Flowers can be tougher than you expect!” Deku protested. “Remember the girl from Class B during the sports festival?”

“She had a lot more than flowers going on with her,” Katsuki dismissed.

They went back and forth all throughout the halls and back to Katsuki’s room. To get back they passed a waiting room for family members and Deku paused at the entry.

“There’s a couple vending machines inside,” he said. “Did you want a soda or something to drink? It’s my treat.” At Katsuki’s glare, he amended himself, his tone suspiciously soft to Katsuki’s ears. “You can pay me back later.”

“Fine,” he said. “Let me see what they got.”

They both entered the room, thankfully empty of anyone else. It had three vending machines, one for sodas and other beverages, another for coffee, and another with snacks. In the corner a muted TV played the news, shitty live captions playing out across the bottom screen.

Deku popped a couple coins in the beverage machine and got himself a soda, and at his gesture Katsuki picked out a coffee instead. While the machine hummed and buzzed as it brewed his coffee, he stared at the TV out of lack of anything else to do.

That was the only reason he saw it.

There was a clip of a fight that was very familiar. So familiar that he could briefly catch a glimpse on the shitty cell phone camera of some distant explosions, the occasional zip of green lightning.

It was the fight he was in that was about two weeks ago. The one that got him into the whole fucking mess.

He was watching himself in the fight, right before he got shot with that villain’s quirk and his consciousness got yanked all around the multiverse for days after days.

He never asked the Deku from yesterday what fight his Katsuki got involved in - all the information he had was that universe’s Katsuki took a hit intended for his Deku. There was absolutely a chance that because they didn’t snipe and bicker at each other (granted, with Katsuki doing most of the sniping and bickering) that version of Hanna never got the drop on him, and it was a completely different villain that attacked Katsuki in the same fight.

He couldn’t fucking ask now, though.

So maybe the same fight happened in three universes? The chances of him getting three of them, especially two so close together, was low, but it wasn’t impossible. It was entirely possible that he was just in another alternative universe.

But could he also be back home in his own?

He wanted to punch something. He’d take being a fucking dog a second time over being in a world where he couldn’t tell if he was home or fucking not. His eyes desperately read the captions as they appeared, snarling when typos or odd sentence structure obscured what the newscaster was reporting.

His fist clenched when it seemed like she was just talking about the cleanup effort after all the damage done to the area after taking them down, and discussion on the impending trials for the leaders of the fight. The newscaster mentioned the number of civilians injured in the fray, but nothing about any hero injuries. They’d mention it if a first year UA student had gotten injured in the fight, wouldn’t they? Wouldn’t that be fucking newsworthy?

“Kacchan?” Deku again, breaking into his thoughts. He was looking at Katsuki, rolling the bottle of soda between his hands over and over, his eyes darting between Katsuki and the TV.

“Just fucking… pissing me off,” Katsuki grumbled, grabbing his coffee. “How people think they can get away with that shit.” That was vague enough that if this wasn’t his world Deku wouldn’t think about it. And if it was, Deku would surely make a comment about them fighting then, wouldn’t he?

“Y-yeah,” Deku just replied. Then, “We should get you back to your room soon.”

Fuck.

“Sure,” Katsuki said. He wanted to fucking throw the coffee in the garbage in a fit of pique, but instead he just held onto it tighter. “Let’s go.”

_*_

Recovery Girl chewed him out for disappearing on everyone for so long, and explained that if he wanted to go for a walk he could, but he had to let one of the staff know beforehand. When she finally left it was to trade with Aizawa, who just looked at Deku with his arms crossed.

Katsuki looked between the two, one eyebrow arched at the flatly disappointed look Aizawa was giving Deku and the interesting expression on Deku’s face. It was a mix of bashful and stubborn - like Deku knew he did something wrong, but he wasn’t going to apologize for it. It wasn’t one that Katsuki had seen much of, and only really after he got into UA. And usually it involved Katsuki in some way.

“So, what’s with the look?” Katsuki asked, getting annoyed at being left out of the little silent conversation going on between teacher and student.

Deku shot him a weak smile. “When people couldn’t find you,” he said. “They contacted me in case I saw you. I might have panicked and left class early?”

“‘Might have,’” Aizawa echoed flatly.

Deku winced. “I absolutely panicked and left class to look for you,” he amended.

Katsuki sighed. “Dumbass, I was fine.”

“I know!” Deku protested. “...Now.”

“Hallway, Problem Child One,” Aizawa said. “We need to talk.”

“It’s rude to talk about someone behind their back,” Katsuki said as Deku sheepishly headed out of the room.

“We’ll talk later, Problem Child Two,” Aizawa said, then shut the door behind him and Deku.

Katsuki couldn’t pick up any noise from out in the hall, but after a few minutes Deku returned alone. There were still traces of that stubborn regret, but it was more stubborn than regretful. He paused a couple steps inside the room, took a deep breath, then shot Katsuki a soft, if genuine-looking smile. “I’ve got extra homework,” he said. “Would you like to take a look at it with me? I’ve taken extra notes lately since you’ve missed classes.”

“Okay,” Katsuki said, eyeing Deku. Whatever Aizawa told him (outside of proscribing additional homework) just seemed to make Deku dig in his heels harder, and Katsuki could only wonder what he was being so damn stubborn about.

Katsuki sat up cross-legged at the head of the hospital bed, and Deku climbed in at the foot, pulling out textbooks and notebooks out of his backpack to spread out on Katsuki’s bed. He started going over one of the more recent lessons they’d had, and even though Katsuki was listening with half an ear and nodding along, his brain was busy with other thoughts.

That fight he saw on the TV just couldn’t leave this head. He knew that was him and Deku in that fight. Sure, his explosions could have been from any number of quirk users, but right next to Deku’s very unique lightning trails? That had to be them.

But was it him, or another him who happened to be at the same fight in a different universe?

And, okay, maybe they had that fight with that group of villains, and she maybe that villain, Hanna, shot this Katsuki with a weapon surprisingly similar to the one he got shot with in his original timeline. Fine. But just because that happened didn’t mean that this was his actual universe.

He was already fooled once by a universe that was so damn similar to his own, except for one major difference.

The problem was that everything seemed right. He looked like he remembered looking last. The homework Deku was working on seemed like a logical progression since the last lesson that he remembered. He even mentally went through as many past events as he could, and couldn’t find any separation point. He, himself, could - this borrowed body not giving him any input on the matter.

It was confusing and infuriating.

He just wanted it done with and be sure he was home.

Eventually it did get late, and Katsuki actually paid attention enough to Deku’s lecture and deciphered enough of his chicken-scratch notes that he was able to help him out with at least some of his homework. When the sun began to set and fill the room with a golden light, Recovery Girl came in to tell Deku he had to go back to his dorm and Deku packed up his things slowly, with obvious reluctance.

“Hey, Kacchan?” Deku asked, one hand on the edge of the doorway. His brows were drawn together as he looked at Katsuki, his chin tucked in an expression of unsurety that Katsuki didn’t like seeing on Deku’s face when he was looking at him.

“Yeah?” he prompted when Deku didn’t continue.

“Tomorrow… do you think we can share some katsudon for lunch?” Deku asked.

“...Yeah?” Katsuki said. That was it? He would almost assume Deku was chickening out of whatever question he really wanted to ask, but there was an intensity in his eyes that Katsuki couldn’t figure out.

“Okay,” Deku said, barely over a whisper. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kacchan.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki said to Deku’s back as he left. “Tomorrow.”

When he went to sleep that night in the hospital room he fully expected to wake up the next day somewhere else, as someone else. With a Deku who may or may not have been a complete stranger.

_*_

“Kacchan? Are you awake?”

Deku’s voice woke Katsuki out of a sound sleep. He stretched, groaned, and opened his eyes to see Deku sitting next to the bed. He was in his school uniform and had his bag at his feet.

So fucking similar to the day before. And the day before that. Katsuki sat up, and sent off sparks in his palm. At least if he was going to have more days of similar universes, he at least had his quirk in this one again.

“Are you okay?” Deku asked, watching his hands.

“Yeah,” Katsuki sighed. He looked pointedly at Izuku’s backpack and uniform. “You cutting class or something today?”

At the question Deku’s lips twisted and he flinched for some reason, but said, “I just wanted to check up on you before I left. You’ve been really out of it for the past few days, and I wanted to see if you were… you know. Better.”

Was he in a fucking time loop now, as well as repeating universes? He supposed it wasn’t impossible, but

“Didn’t you say that yesterday, nerd?” Katsuki sighed. He couldn’t even care that he might be fucking up this Katsuki’s universe by speaking what had to be nonsense to this Deku.

“Huh?” Deku asked, brows furrowing.

“You asked me literally the exact same thing yesterday morning,” Katsuki sneered. “Just go get Recovery Girl so she can get this over with.”

If anything Deku’s eyes grew wider, and there was something in that look that made Katsuki narrow his eyes. That something he’d seen before, but he couldn’t remember where, and it made something twist uncomfortably in his belly.

“Kacchan,” he choked, and his eyes began to shine in a way that foretold tears. “C-can you… can you tell me what I asked you before I left last night?”

“What?” Katsuki said, taken aback. The guy looked like he was about to fucking break down, and he wanted to ask about that?

“Please, Kacchan,” Deku stressed, clenching the thin hospital blanket between two fisted hands. “Just… tell me?”

“You asked if I wanted katsudon for lunch today,” he said. He was about to ask why the fuck he was so desperate to know, but then he had a chest of full-on sobbing Deku and suddenly had something more important to worry about.

“You’re back,” Deku fucking sobbed into Katsuki’s chest. “You took that hit for me, and she said that it sent your consciousness into other universes, and I’ve been waiting for you to get back, and you’re finally here, Kacchan, you’re back! You’re back, you’re back, you’re back…”

“I’m back?” Katsuki repeated. He could only wrap his arms around Deku, but he couldn’t actually fucking see him. He could only stare blankly into space above Deku’s shoulder. He couldn’t be back. Could he? Finally, after all this time? But everything Deku was saying sounded like exactly what that villain told him would happen. Could it be that he just happened to hop into a world in which the same thing happened to this Katsuki rather than himself?

How could he be sure.

He couldn’t. And if he started doubting then, when he had a Deku crying in his lap about how he was finally back, when could he ever be sure he was in his own world?

He just… had to believe, didn’t he?

“Fuck,” Katsuki breathed. “I’m back, I’m fucking back.” He couldn’t even care about the lines of tears burning hot tracks down his cheeks. He was back. He was back in his world, and Deku was right fucking there and he was back, he was back.

“I have something I need to tell you, Kacchan,” Deku said, his eyes focused and the line of his mouth set.

Too bad, because Katsuki needed to get something off his chest after so long. “Fine, but I got something to say, first.”

He was about to continue, but Deku was shaking his head, grabbing one of Katsuki’s hands with both of his. “No, Kacchan, I really, really need to say this. It’s important.”

“You can say it after me,” Katsuki said, twisting his hand around so that he was gripping one of Deku’s hands. One of those big, scarred-up hands that felt so warm and familiar under his hand, even if he’d never reached out to grab them before. “I’m the one who just had a fucking traumatic experience, just let me say-”

“Kacchan, I love you,” Deku said.

Katsuki stared at Deku, feeling his grip grow limp where he’d held Deku’s hand.

Deku froze, his eyes growing wide as he looked surprised even at himself. Then, his expression steeled itself, and he gripped Katsuki’s hand tighter, even as Katsuki himself could only stare, reactionless at Deku.

“I love you, Kacchan,” Deku said. “I always have, and I always will. If there’s anything I’ve learned ever since I was accepted into UA, it’s that it’s so, so easy for things to change. Even the both of us have changed, though I like to think it’s for the better. And after these past couple weeks, I don’t want you to go on not knowing how I feel anymore about you, okay? I love you, and even if you don’t love me either, I want you to know that. And I’ll be okay if you hate me for it,” Deku continued, and despite the words Katsuki could see the way his eyes began to shine with unshed tears, hear the way his voice began to shiver and break. “But I couldn’t go any longer without you knowing how I feel about you. So…” He licked his lips and ducked his head, looking bashfully up at Katsuki through his lashes. “What was it you were going to say?”

Katsuki could only gape at him for a long moment. Long enough that Izuku’s hand started to pull away from his and he was looking uncomfortable, shifting in place.

“Are you fucking kidding me.” Katsuki said flatly, tonelessly. When Deku flinched, Katsuki repeated himself, louder. “Are you FUCKING kidding me?! Do you realize how much I went through, all the shit I saw, and felt, and fucking… sulked over, and you’re just going to jump in with the big confessions first? I was the one who wanted to fucking tell you that I fucking love you, you asshole, and you just had to bust in and steal all the fucking glory first!”

“W-wait,” Deku said, eyes rounder than Katsuki ever saw them. “Did you just say what I thought I heard you say?”

“Fuck you, I’m not saying it again.”

“Please, Kacchan? I really need to hear it again!”

“No, you had your chance. I had to go through so much shit, and every day you were right fucking there, and I didn’t know why for the longest time. And then you know what I realized? You and me, we’re always going to be so fucking wrapped up in each other that no matter what fucking universe we’re in, we’re always going to be together. And that’s some pre-destined bullshit that I really kinda hate, but that also made me think about what you and I got, and I realized that I don’t want to fucking be without you, okay? And by the way, you realize how many universes are out there where you’re a fucking mess, with or without me? It’s a lot, you know? And I fucking hated it when you were hurt, and I realized I don’t want to see you hurt, either, alright? So yeah, I think I fucking love you, but you have every fucking reason not to love me back, but then you just went ahead and cut me off before I could fucking say it, and -”

He had to stop talking because Deku was kissing him. His lips were dry and slightly chapped - all that nervous chewing on his lips, Katsuki figured, and resolved to buy the nerd an entire fucking case of chapstick. But later, he told himself. He could think about chapstick later, because there was a Deku right in front of him who was kissing him right at that moment and he may have more important things to concentrate on.

This Deku was a little less experienced than the one who kissed Katsuki before - his nose mashed uncomfortably into Katsuki’s their teeth scraped awkwardly once or twice, but it was still good. Katsuki still needed a moment or two to catch his breath, just looking at Deku where he was only a breath away, a flush high on his cheeks as they met each other’s gaze.

Katsuki swallowed. “Is shutting me up that way a Deku thing, or what?”

Deku pulled away slightly, confusion written all over his face. “What?”

“Kissing me when I start getting fucking embarassing like that,” Katsuki continued. “The last Deku did that, too.”

Deku’s eyes narrowed at that statement, and Katsuki finally figured out that it was probably not the best thing to be bringing up at that moment. “He did, did he?”

Oh, for the love of… “Are you seriously getting jealous over a whole fucking other universe’s version of you, shitty Deku?”

“I’m not getting jealous!” Deku immediately protested. Then, a little more quietly, admitted, “Maybe a little envious, though. Some other version of me kissed Kacchan before I had a chance to.”

“Ahem,” a delicately cleared throat at the doorway interrupted Katsuki before he could respond to that little admission, and both of them as one looked to the doorway to see Recovery Girl standing, expression placid and both hands resting calmly on the head of her cane. “It looks like our patient is back with us as he should?”

“Yeah,” Deku sighed. Then he beamed, squeezing Katsuki’s hand hard between his. “He is!”

“Fucking finally,” Katsuki added.

Then he squeezed Deku’s hand back.

_*_

The next few hours was a flurry of questions asked by Recovery Girl, Aizawa-sensei, and that detective Naomasa.

It turned out that villain, Hanna, the one who was the cause of the entire mess that Katsuki was all part of told them all about her quirk and what it did to Katsuki. Of course, the next day when it was a completely Hanna that took her place, and was mortified that one of her other selves had attacked people and was the cause of Katsuki’s consciousness bouncing around the multi-verse. So, she told them what to expect, but had no information on how long it would be until he’d be back home in his proper body. Deku had volunteered to wake Katsuki up every morning just to see if he was back, and was supposed to alert Recovery Girl as soon as he got confirmation that Katsuki was returned. Recovery Girl, thankfully, did not mention how Deku technically failed on that last directive.

Katsuki couldn’t quite pay attention to everything that they were telling him. Instead, his mind was whirling - he was back, he was finally, finally back in his own universe, and was with his own Deku. Who loved him! Who was sitting next to Katsuki’s hospital bed the entire time Katsuki was being caught up on what happened during his two week’s adventure. They weren’t holding hands anymore, both of them getting a little bashful once there were more people in the room. However, Deku had one arm resting on the mattress next to Katsuki’s arm, just close enough that he could feel the heat emanate from his skin.

Recovery Girl insisted on putting him through another battery of tests ‘just in case,’ that Katsuki only put up with because he was home, he was done with being tossed around from world to world.

And especially since once she released him, there was Deku waiting at the lobby of the hospital, ready to walk him to his dorm.

He’d actually brought Katsuki a change of clothes and his phone while Katsuki was getting tested, so after the longest time he actually felt like himself.

On the walk back he opened up his phone, his eyebrows bouncing at the sight of multiple voicemail messages and dozens of missed texts. It was all the assholes he called his friends, sending him well-wishes and thoughts for a speedy recovery. And not just them, he realized, scrolling through and seeing numbers he didn’t recognize. It looked like damn near the entirety of Class A, and even a couple members of Class B.

“They miss you,” Deku pointed out, seeing what he was looking at. “They know I’ve been seeing you in the hospital and they keep asking questions. Especially Kirishima-kun, Kaminari-kun, Sero-kun and Ashido-chan. I couldn’t tell them everything of what was going on, but they’re going to be happy to see you again.”

Katsuki hrumphed and shoved the phone in his pocket, fighting back the head that bloomed in his face at the words.

What with it being in the middle of the school day (and Izuku officially cutting class, though with permission from Aizawa who made comments about how Izuku would have been useless during class that day anyway) the dorms were silent and empty. Which was exactly how Katsuki liked it, especially since it meant there were no fucking prying eyes as he made sure Deku followed him into his room.

The second the door closed behind him Katsuki whirled on Deku, pressing him against the closed door and laying his lips on Deku’s.

He thought for the barest of moments that he should have… asked, or gave some sort of sign, that way Deku could be ready for the kiss, but in the end he didn’t need to. Deku met him with equal enthusiasm, running his fingers through Katsuki’s hair as he pressed up against him, meeting him for every press and pull. Deku’s lips were still dry and chapped, but Katsuki didn’t care - he was Deku, and every time they broke to breathe it was the smallest of gasps before they dove back in.

Deku. It was his Deku. The Deku that he loved and the Deku that loved him back. He knew that that didn’t make everything okay - there were a lot of things they had to talk about and a lot that Katsuki had to apologize for, but right then? At that moment? That was enough.

Even with the little gasps of air between kisses Katsuki was getting light-headed and had to pull away, tilting his head back to inhale. Of course, Deku took the opportunity to lick up the side of Katsuki’s neck and bite, catching Katsuki at just the right moment that his inhale turned into a fucking whine. That just seemed to spur him on further, biting and sucking at Katsuki’s throat that he fucking new he’d have a hicky from hell the next day. Not that he’d mind - he’d be able to see it and know it was proof that it was his Deku that gave it to him (and maybe he’d get annoyed depending on how many of their classmates decide to make a big deal about it, but at least at first he’d be pleased).

On a whim and some foggy memories from another lifetime, he tucked his hands up under Deku’s uniform coat, pulled his shirt out from where it was tucked into his pants, and got his hands on Deku’s skin. Deku hummed at the sensation, tilting Katsuki’s head down to kiss again at his mouth, growing bolder with his kisses, more comfortable with them. Katsuki smiled against his mouth as he curled his fingers and dragged them down Deku’s back, hard. Deku inhaled, hard, his eyes flying open in surprise before fluttering shut, exhaling a long, low whimper that just hit Katsuki low in the belly. Deku’s body surged against his, and Katsuki found his own body pressing to meet his in return.

They moved together like that, not quite humping each other, but slow sinuous movements, just feeling pressure and heat and each other. They kissed and nipped at each other, feeling out how a tongue against the shell of Katsuki’s ear would make him shiver, but Deku liked biting, but giving and receiving.

But eventually it stopped being enough, and their movements started to become more frantic, needy. Katsuki’s cock was so hard it hurt where it was trapped in his pants. Deku was probably in the same boat, because he was the first to reach down and cup Katsuki’s dick in his hand. Katsuki couldn’t help but hump into it once, twice, and an aborted third before he gained control of his needy body and stopped.

“Kacchan,” Deku panted, then swallowed heavily. “Can I…?”

Katsuki could only nod. “Yeah, Deku,” he said. “Whatever you want.”

Deku whimpered and his head tipped forward just a moment to rest of Katsuki’s shoulder, his hands clenching at Katsuki’s hips. Then he knelt, and worked at Katsuki’s belt.

Katsuki could only lean back against the wall, hands flat to keep himself from just fucking grabbing Deku’s head and pulling him closer - he had a damn good idea of what was going to happen. He still gasped when Deku pulled down both jeans and underwear in one movement, baring Katsuki to the air. He bit his lip almost bloody looking down at Deku, kneeling between his legs, his dick only inches away from Deku’s face.

Katsuki paused. There was something in Deku’s eyes, a mischievous, excited look as Deku’s hands skimmed his flanks to rest right under the curve of his ass.

“What are you thinking, nerd?” Katsuki asked, suspicious.

“Hold on,” Deku said mysteriously. Before Katsuki could make any comment on that complete lack of information, there was a crackle of energy and that familiar scent of ozone in the air and Deku’s hands tightened their grip behind his thighs.

He let out a surprised sound, half a gasp and half a yelp because suddenly Deku was fucking lifting him up, high enough that Katsuki’s thighs rested on Deku’s shoulders and his hair was brushing the ceiling. Deku took one, two, three steps back until Katsuki’s back thudded into the wall and Deku snugged up close, his face nuzzling into the line of Katsuki’s cock that was still hard for him despite the manhandling (or maybe because of the manhandling, a sneaky voice whispered in the back of Katsuki’s mind, a voice that he dismissed because he really didn’t want to be finding out about that little kink right then).

“Is this alright?” Deku asked, looking up at Katsuki, and fuck if his eyes weren’t still dancing in amusement. The little shit had to know what it was doing to Katsuki, how easily Deku was able to haul him around made Katsuki’s heart flutter, how he effortlessly carried Katsuki’s weight, not even shaking with the strain. And how the hell did he ever look at Deku’s smile and ever think that it was pure?

“You better not fucking drop me,” Katsuki said, and if his voice was harsher, deeper than usual, well that wasn’t his fault now, was it?

The amusement in Deku’s eyes turned to fondness, and he tilted his head just enough to press a soft kiss to Katsuki’s inner thigh, so gentle but still enough to make Katsuki twitch. “I will never let you down, Kacchan,” Deku said.

Katsuki looked away, face heating up once more even as his legs tightened around Deku’s shoulders. “Fucking nerd,” he mumbled, unable to think of anything better than fucking… that. “That wasn’t what I said.”

Then without any further ado Deku swallowed him down, taking Katsuki’s dick into his mouth with one smooth, easy motion, and Katsuki would almost have made a crack about how Deku was finally putting that big mouth of his to good use but he was too busy folding over Deku’s head, both hands clenched in Deku’s thick hair as his body felt fucking electrocuted in sudden shocking pleasure.

Of course, Deku hadn’t tried sucking dick before, and immediately choked on the length, having to back off and cough a bit. Which wasn’t the sexiest thing on Earth, but Katsuki could forgive him since it gave him a chance to catch his breath.

“Slower,” Katsuki suggested once Deku caught his breath. Deku’s face was bright red under his freckles, and whether it was with arousal or embarrassment or some charming mix of both Katsuki couldn’t tell, but he knew that it looked good on him. “Just… take your time.” Then he mumbled, more than a little mortified, “It’s not going to take much.”

Deku nodded, his face set in his ‘determined to win’ expression (and fuck, would that look fucking ruin Katsuki for the rest of time) and went back to Katsuki’s dick.

If it wasn’t for the fact that he had both hands on Katsuki, he would have suggested using his hands more. But because Deku was concentrating on holding Katsuki up in the air while he gave him a blowjob his hands were a little busy. Thankfully, Katsuki wasn’t lying when he said he was close - he didn’t have a whole lot of hands-on experience, and everything coming together, two week’s worth of stress and worry and fucking revelations all culminating in Deku’s head between his thighs? Fuck yeah, he was close.

So when Deku closed his lips around the head of Katsuki’s cock and began to tongue the underside, it was all he could do to bury his hands in Deku’s hair, lean back against the wall, and enjoy the ride.

When he felt that familiar tightening sensation, he tugged at Deku’s hair frantically, maybe a little harder than he needed. It only seemed to spur Deku on since he moaned at getting his hair pulled, pressing himself a little deeper on Katsuki’s dick.

“I’m cumming,” Katsuki gasped. “Deku, fuck, get off.”

Instead of backing off at the warning, Deku instead moaned louder, the vibrations too much, too strong, and that was it, Katsuki was done, shooting down Deku’s throat as the other boy paused in surprise, then pressed forward even more to take all that Katsuki could give him.

Katsuki stared, fascinated as he came in Deku’s mouth, Deku’s throat working as he swallowed frantically around him. Even then he couldn’t get it all, some spilling over the edges of his mouth and dripping down his chin.

It was only then that Katsuki realized that Deku was jerking himself off, gasping breathy noises into the crease of Katsuki’s thigh as his arm moved. Which meant that he was literally holding Katsuki up with just one fucking arm which was a fucking awful and irresponsible use of One for All but so fucking hot that he felt his dick twitch, half-ready to start Round 2.

Remembering how Deku reacted earlier, Katsuki twined his fingers around a handful of Deku’s hair and tugged, hard. “Come on, Deku,” he said. “Come on and cum for me.”

Deku tensed, the muscles in his arm wrapped around Katsuki’s thigh and in his shoulders growing hard as a rock. Then he shuddered, shook, and sighed, wavering slightly on his legs.

“Put me down before you drop me,” Katsuki glared after a moment to give Deku his breath.

Deku chuckled silently. The only reason Katsuki even knew he did was because of the way his body shook. “What if I think this is a good angle on you?” Deku asked, eyes shining with laughter as he grinned up at Katsuki from two inches away from his fucking dick.

“Fucking nerd,” Katsuki grumbled, suddenly unable to look Deku in the eye anymore.

Deku fucking laughed, but back up just a step. Katsuki’s belly dropped with the rest of him as Deku let him go, but before he could react he was cradled in Deku’s arms as Deku held him fucking bridle style, which really should have been a whole lot more awkward considering how much taller Katsuki was.

“This. Isn’t. Better,” Katsuki bit out each word, even as he wrapped his arm around Deku’s shoulder to help brace himself.

“I can let you down if you just ask,” Deku suggested.

Katsuki glared at him.

Deku beamed back at him, and carried him over to Katsuki’s bed. His own bed, in his own room, in his own universe. Katsuki wasn’t going to get over that anytime soon. He and Deku curled up under the blanket, not quite ready to drop to sleep, especially considering how early in the day it was, but more just to lay close and breathe for a while. Katsuki inhaled Deku’s scent, his nose buried into his thick curls.

He knew himself. He knew that he wasn’t going to be able to just… leave everything behind him and move on. There were going to be days where he’d wake up and not be sure if he was in his same universe, or that the Deku he was looking at was his own. But they’ll eventually figure it out. Together.

“It’s just really good to have you back after everything,” Deku said. “The real you, I mean.”

Katsuki’s eyes flew open. “What do you mean, the real me?” He didn’t want to think about what that meant, though he had a bad, bad feeling he did. Some of the things Deku had been saying, the things Aizawa and Recovery Girl were dancing around all started to come together and Katsuki didn’t fucking like the picture it made.

What exactly was happening to his body while he was jumping around those alternative universes?

“Oh,” Deku said. “Every day you were gone there was another Katsuki in your body. I think they were the ones that you were displacing? They were all really confused, but at least now you’re home for good.”

Deku yawned and snuggled in closer, but Katsuki was frozen, stiff as a rail as the implications of what Deku said went through his brain.

Deku saw them.

The quirkless version of him. The robot. That fucking dog.

“Oh, FUCK.”

Chapter Text

Day 1

Izuku woke to muffled sounds and cursing from where he fell asleep at Kacchan’s bedside.

His eyes flew open to see Kacchan awake and pawing at the oxygen cannula, the pulse ox fumbling off as he scrabbled at his face.

"Hey," Izuku said, instantly awake and running to Kacchan's side, stopping him by cupping his hand in his own. He braced himself for a warning blast or for Kacchan to rip his hands off, but said, "Don't do that, it's okay!"

Kacchan froze and rather than yelling or exploding anything, he just blinked up at Izuku, brows furrowed.

"Izukkun?" Kacchan said, and Izuku felt his stomach turn to stone. "What the hell are you doing here?" He seemed to abruptly notice where he was, and Izuku watched as he tensed up, eyes darting around the hospital room. "What's going on?"

Izuku gaped at Kacchan, mouth open, eyes wide, hands frozen where they were hovering uncertainly in the air.

This… wasn't Kacchan.

_*_

Izuku couldn't remember much of what happened after the fight. He saw the gun jump in the villain’s hands, over and over and over again, the thundercrack sound echoing in his ears. He remembered turning towards the villain, but everything after that was a blur.

When he came to, however long later, he was clutching Kacchan close, a feral sound ripping its way from his throat, EMTs surrounding him. They were asking Izuku to let go of Kacchan so that they could help him, voices soothing and calm, but Izuku could hear how tight and nervous they were.

A hand gripped his shoulder, and he glanced over to see Aizawa-sensei crouched next to him, his hair floating gently as he looked Izuku over. "It's okay," Aizawa said, his own voice steady. "It's over, let them help Bakugou."

Izuku looked down at Kacchan and gulped. Kacchan was limp in his arms, eyes closed. He wasn't bleeding as much as Izuku expected after being shot (was hardly bleeding at all, he'd realize later), but he was barely breathing, his face was more pale than he'd ever seen it.

"Midoriya," Aizawa said, the sound of his name pulling Izuku's attention from Kacchan's face. Aizawa's expression was steady, but his eyes were kind, understanding. "Let him go. Your part is over, let the medics do their job and make sure he's okay. "

Yes. Kacchan needed help. Izuku couldn't do anything for him anymore. Even so, he had to force his hands to unclench from their tight grip on Kacchan's hero costume, his fingers feeling like they were rusted shut. With a long exhale he backed off, just enough that he wasn't physically crouched above Kacchan anymore and the medics could get in close enough to pull Kacchan the rest of the way away.

Izuku's fingers twitched with the desire to pull him back, but he knew that there wasn't anything more he could do for him. Even so, Aizawa's hand, which was on his shoulder still, tightened just a hair.

"You did good, kid," Aizawa said, his hair settling in its usual messy tousle across his shoulders.

Izuku was just aware of him peripherally, his focus was on the group of people in front of him, on how limp Kacchan was as they checked his vitals and started loading him up onto the stretcher. What did that villain do to him? What did she shoot him with? Did the villain -

Where did the villain go?

Izuku looked around, eyes wide, trying to catch a glimpse of where she could have gone. He was pretty sure he wouldn't have let her get away after whatever she did to Kacchan, but he couldn't be sure.

"Where did she go?" Izuku asked Aizawa, even as he turned in place, eyes peeled for any sign of her. "I don't…"

"She's in custody," Aizawa said, his voice still steady, calm. Izuku could feel himself start to relax at that tone; Aizawa wouldn't still be trying to reassure Izuku if she was still a danger. "She's in pretty rough shape, but she'll recover just fine."

At that news about half of the anxiety that was weighing Izuku down evaporated. He was getting better every day at controlling OFA, but the knowledge that he could easily accidentally kill someone with his power would never be far from his mind.

That settled, he found his gaze returning to Kacchan like a magnet, watching as Kacchan was loaded onto a stretcher and wheeled to a waiting ambulance.

At his side, Aizawa sighed and gave a tug on the shoulder he was still holding. "Come on, Midoriya," he said, the understanding in his voice making Izuku swallow the growing lump in his throat. "Let's get you set up with some paperwork. By the time you finish your report he will probably be ready for visitors."

Izuku wouldn't be budged if he didn't want to. If he wanted to, he could be at Kacchan's side in an instant, and Aizawa wouldn't be able to stop him.

He let himself be turned, but he kept one ear out for the ambulance as it turned on the siren, and followed the noise until it eventually faded away.

_*_

"He called me Izukkun," Izuku said, feeling his eyes well with the depth of his worry. "He hasn't called me that in… years," not since before he came up with another, crueler nickname, he didn't say.

The doctors weren't sure what was going on with Kacchan- he had some minor wounds where the pellets hit, but he had yet to regain consciousness. Even his brain activity was low, which worried Izuku until the doctors assured him (and Kacchan's parents, who were the ones the doctor was primarily talking to with Izuku just in the same room) that it wasn't anything to worry about yet.

Izuku was still worried.

When Kacchan was allowed to have visitors he and the Bakugous waited for hours next to his bed, just listening to the hiss and hum of the machinery monitoring Kacchan and keeping him safe.

Eventually the Bakugous retired for the night, Masaru patting Izuku on the shoulder as they left, leaving him behind to drowse on the chair. It wasn't long after that when Kacchan woke up.

And now they were all in Kacchan's room, too many bodies as Recovery Girl ran tests on Kacchan, his parents still looking exhausted at either side of his bed. Izuku watched where Kacchan's fists were clenched into the thin bedcovers with a cautious eye.

"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Kacchan grit out between clenched teeth.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Recovery Girl said instead.

"Going to bed," Kacchan said, bristling at being ignored. "I was studying for the test later today."

"You don't remember fighting those villains?" Izuku asked, concern making his chest clench hard.

Kacchan just looked at Izuku with a curled lip. "Fighting…?"

"Yesterday there was an attack by a villain group," Aizawa explained, arms crossed. He looked particularly exhausted, the bags under his eyes deeper than normal. A look that Izuku was getting more familiar with as time went on that only came out when one of Aizawa's students found themselves in a hospital bed. "You, Midoriya, and several pro Heroes responded to the call. At one point you were incapacitated by an attack."

"Why would I be fighting a villain?" Katsuki interrupted before Aizawa could continue.

"A call went out to all licensed heroes in the area-"

"Fine," Kacchan interrupted. "Let me put it this way, how would I fight a villain? It's not like I have a fucking quirk, let alone a license."

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

"Um," Izuku said, breaking the silence. "Could you say that again?"

"What, you gonna brag about it?" Kacchan muttered, shoulders drawing up slowly under everyone's stares. "I was born without a fucking quirk, okay? So why would I be fighting villains or some shit?"

"I'm going to see if anyone found out anything about that villain," Aizawa muttered, rubbing the palm of his hand over his face and leaving.

"The hell is up with him?" Kacchan muttered, watching Aizawa leave, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Well, um," Izuku started, jumping a bit with Kacchan's glare turned towards him. “You always had a quirk? At least ever since you were in kindergarten,” he corrected himself.

“The hell are you talking about?” Kacchan spat, bitterness dripping from every word. “That’s news to me, nerd. You know I’m fucking quirkless.”

“Kid…” Mitsuki trailed off, Masaru holding her hand tight. They both looked worried.

Izuku reached for Kacchan's hand where it was resting on the bedcovers. Paused. Then asked him, "Kacchan, can I show you something? It might clear up your confusion."

Kacchan looked skeptical, but nodded. Watching Kacchan's face, he gently held Kacchan's hands between his own. Kacchan just watched, unusually quiet even as his gaze darted between their joined hands and Izuku's face, a slight flush on his cheeks.

A matching blush on Izuku's own face, he waited until he could feel the heat shared between their hands become damp. “What the hell are you doing, nerd?” Kacchan muttered, shoulders hunched even after Izuku let go of his hands and sat back.

“Clap your hands together,” Izuku instructed, wiping his own hands off on his jeans. At Kacchan’s single raised brow, added, “Please trust me? It’s better if you see for yourself.”

Kacchan still looked suspicious, but he did as Izuku asked. The resulting sound was much louder than mere skin, a pop that was accompanied by a wisp of smoke and a spark of light that flashed between his palms and disappeared just as quickly.

Kacchan stared at his palms, eyes wider than Izuku had seen them in a long time, mouth slightly agape. He looked like he had never seen his hands before in his life.

"Your quirk is called 'Explosion,'" Izuku explained to Kacchan's wide-eyed expression. "The palms of your hands secrete a chemical similar to nitroglycerin when you sweat. You first manifested your quirk back in kindergarten. You’re a student here at UA; we’re in the same class on the Hero course.” Then, quieter, unsure if he wanted to hear the answer, he asked, heart in his throat, “You… don’t remember?”

“No, no,” Kacchan said, though to Izuku’s ears it sounded more like a denial of the whole situation rather than answering his question.” He kept staring at his hands like he’d never seen them before. He just kept turning them over and over, slowly, his eyes trailing up and down the length of his fingers, along his palm where Izuku knew the skin was thick and scarred from practicing with his quirk for years even before they were accepted into UA. “I fucking… remember talking to that four-eyed asshole doctor when he told me I didn’t have a quirk. I’m in the fucking general studies course.” He looked up at that moment and, seeing everyones eyes on their faces, the expressions they must have been making, snapped, “I’m not fucking brain damaged or something. I’m not hallucinating - I fucking remember because it’s true.”

“I’d like to do some tests before we can go further on this,” Recovery Girl broke in, her calm voice cutting through the tension.

Izuku tensed, ready to withstand a storm from Kacchan at that announcement. Kacchan did not like being left in the dark about anything, and with everyone telling him that he had a quirk when he was so certain he didn’t… being questioned like that was just asking for an explosion of the verbal sort from him, if not the literal kind.

However, Kacchan… didn’t. He just tsk’ed and looked to the side, the line between his brows deepening as he scowled, but he didn’t otherwise react. Izuku shared a look with the Bakugou’s, all of them concerned at the utter non response from the boy they all knew so well.

“If you’ll excuse us, young man,” Recovery Girl told Izuku, shaking him out of his worries. “I’d like to talk just with young Katsuki here and his parents.”

“Ah, sure,” Izuku said, knowing that he’d just get in the way but every scrap of his being wanting to stay at Kacchan’s side. There was something wrong with Kacchan, and Izuku needed to know how he could help.

“There’s a waiting area down the hall,” Recovery Girl said when Izuku just stood up and hovered, not sure if he should say something to Kacchan or not before he left. Her voice was soothing, understanding in a way that made Izuku’s face warm that she saw right through him. “We’ll let you know when you can come back and see him.”

“Okay,” Izuku nodded. He looked at Kacchan, who was still turned slightly away from everyone, his hands clasped loosely together, and opened his mouth. He then closed it, unsure about what, if anything he could say. Silently he left the room.

Izuku sat in the family waiting area for over an hour when Aizawa walked in and bee-lined for the coffee vending machine. As he poked at the settings Izuku watched him tensely, biting his lip almost bloody in an attempt to keep himself from peppering his teacher with the questions that just waited to burst out of him.

“The villain who shot Bakugou regained consciousness and has already been questioned.” Aizawa said flatly, eyes still on the cup that was slowly filling in the machine. “She claimed that the Bakugou we’re talking to is from another dimension, which should be impossible.”

Izuku wasn’t quite so sure. After all, “We know that alternative dimensions exist and that they can be observed,” he mused aloud. “The Canadian pro Hero Reverb is able to look into alternate universes and be able to see how different courses of action can turn out. As time goes on, more and more quirks previously thought to be impossible are becoming more and more common. If foresight is possible, why wouldn’t inter-dimensional travel be-”

“Midoriya,” Aizawa interrupted, taking the finished cup of coffee and turning towards him. “Enough. I said it should be, but it obviously happened.”

“Ah, right,” Izuku blushed, chagrined. Then he frowned. “But… you’re saying that it’s not Kacchan out there?” That would explain why he insisted he didn’t have a quirk - if there was an alternate universe in which Kacchan was born without a quirk, it would only make sense that he’d be so surprised and thrown by everyone insisting he had one.

It also explained why he wasn’t so… fiery in his responses. Izuku knew what it was like to go without a quirk, he knew what it was like for everyone to look down on you, to pity you, to treat you like someone deficient in something so vital to who you were as a person. Compared to the Kacchan he knew, who was always someone every admired and praised, was it any wonder that this Kacchan was so different?

“He’s in the body of the Bakugou we know,” Aizawa explained. “But his memories, experiences… everything is from a version of him that we aren’t familiar with. So I want to keep an eye on him,” Aizawa said, looking Izuku right in the eye as he said it. “Right now he seems harmless, but we don’t know what his goals and motivations are. I want to keep him under observation until we know more about this quirk and how we can get the one we know back.”

“You’re treating Kacchan like a villain,” Izuku said, the words sour on his tongue.

“I’m treating him like an unknown," Aizawa corrected. "Which he is, if you look at it. We don't know anything about this Bakugou except that he was born without a quirk. So, you can stay here if you want, but let either Recovery Girl or myself know if he starts behaving suspiciously, or you get anything out of him that sounds like it'll be important for us to know."

Izuku pressed his lips together, not liking the sound of treating Kacchan like a… like a suspect, but wasn't that better than treating him like a villain? Or, definitely worse in Kacchan's eyes, a victim? "Understood," he said, unable to look at his teacher.

Aizawa let out a breath, a sound not quite a sigh, and said, "Bakugou is back in his room. If you want to see him you can. Considering it's almost noon I'm not going to force you to go to class, but tomorrow I expect to see you at your desk, do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Izuku said, already clambering to his feet. Kacchan could be back by then, in which case he'd hate for Izuku to be hanging all over him, but this one… Izuku couldn't get the expression on Kacchan's face out of his head. When he discovered he had a quirk, he just looked so confused, and lost. He couldn’t leave him alone for long.

There was just one more thing he had to know.

“Um, Aizawa-sensei…” Izuku started. Then at his teacher’s prompting raised eyebrow, asked, “...How long is this version of Kacchan going to be here? Are we going to be getting the one we know back?”

“Eventually,” Aizawa said. “She said that at midnight every night a new Bakugou will take his place until eventually the original will return. After that, he’ll be back for good. How long depends on how much that ‘alternative’ her shot him.”

Izuku couldn’t remember how many times she shot him. A lot, was all he could think. And that didn’t count any missed shots, or ones that might have gotten deflected off the armored pieces of his costume.

“Okay,” he said. It was all he could say; just a weak acknowledgement of the facts. What else could he do?

“Midoriya,” Aizawa said as Izuku started to leave. When Izuku paused, he said, evenly, “Just remember that no matter what he looks like, that isn’t the Bakugou you know.”

“I know,” Izuku said evenly, though he had to wonder just how truthful he was actually being at that moment. “But I still can’t let him suffer by himself.”

Aizawa nodded after a moment of eyeing Izuku, and he took that as permission to leave the waiting area.

Kacchan was waiting in his room, one arm thrown over his eyes. He was alone, even his parents were gone, leaving him by himself in a room that felt wide open and too empty.

“Hey,” Izuku said. Kacchan startled just a little; lifted his arm from his eyes just enough to look at Izuku, and seemed to find him inoffensive enough to completely remove his arm and sit up more in the bed.

“How are you feeling?” Izuku said, taking the seat just to the side of the bed.

“Fine,” Kacchan said, though there was a note of hesitance in his voice. Irritation, definitely, but Izuku was used to that, even if he still hated it whenever Kacchan got mad at him. Even though he figured now that it was less about anything he specifically did and more about Kacchan being Kacchan, it still hurt. “Considering I’m not even in my own universe.”

Izuku winced. “Yeah,” he said. He should have figured as much. How would Izuku feel if he just… woke up in another universe, in a body that was just like his except for such a major difference like a quirk? Confused, lost, and probably just wanting to get back home.

He looked around again, desperate for a change in subject. He had mostly just wanted to see that Kacchan was okay, but after confirmation that Kacchan was doing about as could be expected, he found that he didn’t want to leave quite yet. Grasping at whatever conversational straws he could, he blurted out, “Your parents aren’t here anymore?”

“Well,” Kacchan said, an acid bite to his voice. “They aren’t exactly my parents, are they? They’ll be back when their real kid is back.”

Izuku winced, but couldn’t help himself from protesting, “That can’t be true - even if you aren’t really their son, you’re in his body.”

Kacchan glared knives at Izuku, but after a moment seemed to deflate rather than double down like Izuku half expected. “You’re right,” he said, tonelessly. “They were just tired. They said they’ll check up on me later to make sure I didn’t need anything. They,” he let out a little sound, like a huff of laughter but it couldn’t be with so little joy in it. “They love me.”

“Of course they do,” Izuku said, confused. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“Exactly,” Kacchan agreed, far more readily than Izuku was comfortable with. “Why wouldn’t they? I’m in the hero course at a prestigious university, on track to becoming a hero beloved by the masses. Straight-A student, too, so I hear. They got nothing to complain about, and everything to brag about.”

Izuku felt lost in a conversational quagmire. This Kacchan just seemed so similar to his own Kacchan, but so off, and the things he was saying… did he say that his own parents weren’t proud of their son? That he wasn’t as accomplished as his own Kacchan? That couldn’t be right, though. How could something like a quirk make such a difference in Kacchan’s life? And how on Earth did he bring up his concerns with Kacchan?

“Do…” Izuku asked through a dry throat. “Do your own parents don’t…?” He couldn’t even get the words out, some brave hero he was.

Still, Kacchan made a dismissive noise and waved his hand. “Nah, of course they do. Just… not like this guys’.”

Even though he seemed flippant and uncaring, Izuku could see the pain in the set of his eyes, the way he clenched his jaw. There were some things that were just universal with every Kacchan, it seemed, and hiding the things that pained him until it just exploded out of him was another universal trait.

And as much as it pained him, Izuku knew that pressing the issue would only make Kacchan turtle down deeper to protect himself, and make him point those explosions outward at the people around him.

Speaking of explosions… there was one thing that occured to Izuku on the walk over that could possibly lift Kacchan’s spirits. He could remember what it was like being quirkless - it really wasn’t that long ago, after all. And if he had been given an opportunity to use a quirk of his own, even for just a day, he’d jump on it.

“Kacchan,” Izuku started, and there might have been something in his voice because Kacchan looked straight at him, a distant concerned curiosity on his face. “Would you like to use that quirk for a bit? Just to train, and see what it’s like?”

“You’re asking me,” Kacchan said slowly, thoughtfully. “If I want to use a quirk that isn’t even mine, for less than a day now, and will never get a chance to use ever again for the rest of my life?”

Izuku winced. He’s such an unthinking jerk, he really should have known better. Of course it was cruel to suggest that Kacchan use his Kacchan’s explosion quirk when he was just going to lose it again soon. He really should have thought better - he and Kacchan were so different, and really would he actually just for the chance to use someone else’s quirk only for a day and have it ripped from him the next? He really messed up, he should have -

“Because if you are,” Kacchan continued, ripping Izuku from his self-loathing spiral. “Then fuck yeah, I want to use it.” At Izuku’s doubtlessly flummoxed look, he smirked, that self-assured grin that was so recognizable as Kacchan that it took Izuku’s breath away. “Then fuck yeah, I want to blow something up. Come on, nerd,” he said, swinging his legs off the bed. “Let’s see what this quirk can do.”

Izuku could only follow Kacchan out, the promise he’d made to Aizawa only minutes ago already forgotten.

_*_

One of the training grounds was perfect for Kacchan to really let loose. Cementoss had built up multiple large slabs of concrete in an open area, with plenty of places for Kacchan to launch himself or brace for harder blasts. Izuku was concerned for a while that Kacchan would accidentally hurt himself, but apparently being a genius at using his quirk surpassed any universal barriers because Kacchan was a natural. Sure, he didn’t have the finesse that came from years of practicing his quirk, followed by experts guiding him in ways to perfect his attacks, but Izuku, from his comfortable spot at the far end of the arena they were in, didn’t worry too much as he watched the distant blob that was Kacchan stop in front of a particularly large cement block. Izuku could see another blast light up the far end of the room, hear the explosion, and, faintly, the following, “AHAHAHA! DIE!”

Some things were just universal with Kacchan.

After a few more blasts, enough that the sky was starting to get hazy from the dust and smoke that was getting kicked up, Kacchan landed in front of him and approached him, swinging his arms and stretching them from side to side. “Ugh, my arms hurt,” he grumbled. He was covered in sweat, his skin glistening and streaked with smoke, a look that made Izuku’s mouth dry.

“They do?” Izuku asked, immediately concerned. Kacchan never complained about any pain after using his quirk a lot. Maybe this one just absorbed the blast wrong, or something? “How are they hurting?”

“It’s fine,” Kacchan waved off Izuku’s concern. “Just a lot of recoil.”

Izuku made a non-committal noise, but eyed Kacchan’s arms where he was rubbing them, trying to impress those areas to his memory so he could bring them up the next time he saw Kacchan fight or have an intensive training session.

“Hey,” Kacchan said. “You know what you should do? Fight me!”

“Wait, what?” Izuku blinked. He couldn’t have heard that right.

“Fight me,” Kacchan repeated, pounding his fist into the palm of his other hand, letting out a small explosion when he did. He really was getting used to his quirk, Izuku realized. “Come on, you and me. Let me see how you do up against these blasts!”

“Kacchan… I can’t,” Izuku said, amazed that he even had to say the words. “You don’t know how to fight using your quirk, I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“Stop fucking pitying me!” Kacchan snarled. “I have a quirk, so stop treating me like a little kid!”

“I’m not! I just… don’t want to see you hurt!”

Kacchan looked furious, and really, Izuku should have known better, but he just couldn’t let Kacchan get his way on that. Sure, Izuku could restrain himself, let Kacchan win, but he knew Kacchan, and he knew that Kacchan would just be even more furious at him if Izuku threw the fight than he would if Izuku went after him at full power and wiped the floor with him.

And Izuku would be able to beat him, he knew. Even as he watched Kacchan blast away at the cement blocks and learn what his quirk could do, he could see the way that his movements were comparatively clumsy to the Kacchan Izuku knew, unpracticed. And Kacchan would push himself to try and match Izuku, and he would end up hurting himself far worse than anything Izuku could do to him.

But maybe he didn’t know this Kacchan as much as he thought, because even as he growled he folded his legs under himself to sprawl on the ground, head tilted back to stare up at the clouds passing. A bead of sweat trailed down his throat, and with the skill of long practice Izuku stopped himself from licking it off like he really wanted to.

“Fine,” Kacchan muttered. “I suppose it’d be a dick move for the guy who owns this body to come back to see that I kicked your ass with it.”

There were a lot of things Izuku could respond to that with, some of them more patronizing than others, so he kept his mouth shut and sat down next to him. He indulged himself, just a little, and sat close enough that he could feel the exercise-induced heat billow from Kacchan’s body.

“How does it feel?” Izuku asked. “To have a quirk. Even if it’s just for today.”

Kacchan tilted his head in thought. “I can’t really say,” he admitted. “It’s fuckin’ awesome that I can blow shit up like that, but I don’t think I’m… more bereft, or anything, now that I know what I’m missing.”

“But,” Izuku protested, unable to help himself. “Didn’t you want to be a pro hero? My Kacchan did for as long as I knew him, even before his quirk manifested.” And oh, how it felt to refer to Kacchan as his Kacchan...

Kacchan huffed. "Your Katsuki must be an absolute loser if you think not having a quirk would keep me from being a hero," he said. He sent Izuku one of those grins that was just like his own Katsuki, one that made something in Izuku's chest catch and his heart pound. "You guys can take the easy route, but I'll become the number one hero, just watch me."

"You've got a quirk now though," Izuku pointed out, trying to ignore the swelling feeling in his chest. Izuku, when faced with the possibility of a life without a quirk, had fallen into despair. Kacchan refused to let it hold him back.

Kacchan looked at his hand with a smirk, but then clenched his fist, looking away. "Yeah, but I know you and the others want your Katsuki back, so I can't let this make me soft. When I get back to my world, I'm gonna be the best."

Izuku chuckled, though it probably wasn’t as happy as he would have hoped, eyes on his fingers where they were picking at a hangnail on one of his hands. “I believe it,” he said. “If there’s anyone who could become the number one Pro Hero without a quirk, it’d be you, Kacchan.”

“Ahem.”

The voice made both boys jump, and they spun as one to face the person who had snuck up on them.

Izuku’s belly dropped when he came face-to-face with none other than Aizawa, who had his arms crossed, a cross look on his face that was aimed primarily at Izuku.

“I literally,” he said slowly. “Asked you just minutes before you left to make sure he stayed put. So why am I finding you two all the way out here?”

“To be fair, sir,” Izuku said. “You just asked me to keep an eye on him. He hasn’t left my sight since we left the hospital.”

Aizawa didn’t seem all that impressed with Izuku’s answer. “Are you sure this is the time to be flippant?” he asked.

Izuku bit his tongue, but he also couldn’t look up at Aizawa.

Aizawa let him stew in his guilt for a long moment before sighing. “Bakugou, with me. Izuku, you’ve got homework. Ask Yaoyorozu or Iida for your copy of the assignment.”

“But!” Izuku blurted out. He didn’t want to leave Kacchan, not yet!

“No buts,” Aizawa said. “You can visit tomorrow before class, but if you keep arguing with me I’ll make sure the nurses don’t even let you through the door.”

Chastened, Izuku looked at Kacchan, who was just watching the back and forth with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. It also seemed universal, Izuku mused, for Kacchan to get a kick out of watching Izuku get yelled at by their teachers.

“I’ll be fine,” Kacchan said when he caught Izuku’s look. “It was nice having a quirk while it lasted, but I’ve gone this one without one, I can go back to it.”

That didn’t exactly make Izuku feel better, but he still nodded. “Okay,” he said, softly. “It was nice meeting you,” he added, feeling a little foolish. He was talking to just an alternative version of Kacchan - he knew him, it was just… not the same, though.

“Yeah,” Kacchan said. “Same, nerd.”

Aizawa turned to walk away, done with their goodbyes and just assuming that Kacchan would follow. Kacchan gave him another smirk and followed. Izuku watched until they’d disappeared behind a fallen pillar and let himself slump down.

A Kacchan with no quirk was almost impossible to think about, but not only did he talk to one that lived that life, but he also had plans on becoming a hero with or without a quirk. How he planned on doing it was beyond Izuku, but if there was anyone who could manage it, it’d be Kacchan.

He could only imagine what sort of Kacchan he’d talk to the next day.

-FLIP-

Katsuki opened his eyes and, at the sight of his regular dorm room’s ceiling, sighed. Holding one hand up and out, he tried to bring back that feeling of triggering an explosion, that feeling of using quirk that was all his.

Nothing. He was as unexceptional as always. A thing to be pitied and looked down on, a person who others looked at and thought, ‘there but for the grace of god go I.’

Katsuki clenched his near-useless fist.

They wouldn’t be thinking it for fucking long.

But first, school.

He got ready like normal, but the moment he stepped into the Kitchen he had eyes on him. As early as it was, there was only one other person awake and in there with him. That purple-haired asshole, Shinsou. He was leaning against a counter, lazily eating a muffin, eyeing Katsuki with those lazy eyes of his.

Katsuki ignored him as he wrenched open the fridge, glaring at the miriad contents in dissatisfaction.

“Are you done?” Shinsou asked.

Katsuki slammed the door. There was jack shit to eat in there. “The hell you talking about?” he grumbled moving on to the cupboard.

“Yesterday you were freaking out about something,” Shinsou said, following Katsuki with just his eyes. “We even called in that one friend of yours from the Hero course to see if he could get through to you, but you ignored him. We decided to call the teachers if you didn’t leave your room today.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki drawled, finally settling on a wrapped pastry. It’d fuck up his carefully-constructed meal plan, but fuck it. “Well, I’m out, so you and the idiot can fuck right off.”

And didn’t that just grate. Izukkun was always so damn concerned about him - making sure he was okay walking home from school everyday, that nobody was giving him any trouble for being quirkless, that he was coddled and protected, because he was Izukkun’s precious childhood friend.

But that other Izukkun… the one from the other world, the one where his “Kacchan” had a fucking powerful quirk, still cared for his version of Katsuki. Even though he could take care of himself, Izukkun still worried about him. Caref for him, even though they stood together as equals.

The thought of Izukkun fussing over Katsuki was still grating as hell, but at least he had proof it wasn’t because Izukkun pitied him.

Or at least, not entirely.

Pastry in hand and his piece said for the time being, Katsuki headed for the door, leaving Shinsou to watch him.

“Aizawa-sensei approached me yesterday,” Shinsou said, unprompted.

Katsuki froze. Aizawa. One of the Hero course instructors.

At Katsuki’s reaction, Shinsou continued. “He wanted to talk about an opportunity to transfer over to the Hero course.”

Katsuki glared at him over his shoulder. Shinsou’s expression was just as bland as his tone of voice.

“And you’re taking him up on it, right?” Katsuki stated, rather than asked.

At that, Shinsou smirked. “Obviously,” he said. “Did you think that I’d pass up on an opportunity like that?”

Katsuki snorted and turned to face him, arms crossed. “You better not,” he said. “I’m going to count on you to pass on information I need.”

“What makes you think I’m still gonna help you out, Quirkless Wonder?” Shinsou drawled, obviously trying to get a reaction out of Katsuki that he was refusing to give him. “I got a chance to go legit, now.”

“Yeah, bullshit,” Katsuki said. “Just ‘cause you got an in doesn’t mean that all of a sudden you’re okay with all the BS out there.”

Shinsou closed his eyes with a chuckle. “Alright,” he admitted. “That’s true.” When he opened his eyes it was to give Katsuki a considering look. “That Hero-course friend of yours might be an issue, though. He’s going to be watching you like a hawk for a while, I think.”

“He can deal,” Katsuki said. Izukkun worried so damn much about Katsuki, but one day he’ll prove that Pro-Hero wanna be wrong.

After all, sometimes a hard-ass punch to the fucking face worked just as well as any quirk.

And a vigilante could do things Heroes couldn’t.

Day 2

Izuku showed up at the hospital the next day bright and early. Normally he’d just be waking up at that time, but he really wanted to see Kacchan first before he had to leave for school. He felt a little muzzy-headed due to lack of sleep thanks to staying up late working both on his homework, and more importantly writing furiously in the notebook he’d gotten for the sole purpose of writing down his observations of the different Kacchan’s he’d see, and what they’d reveal from their own worlds. What he had was a unique experience - he knew his own Kacchcan well, so being able to compare and contrast different Kacchans and their personalities was an opportunity he really couldn’t pass up. It was an amazing chance to really see nature vs. nurture at work.

He was sure that he wouldn’t have that many alternative versions to really look at though. Maybe half a dozen, at most, so he really needed to write down his observations while they were fresh.

But mostly he just wanted to greet this Katsuki as early as he could, just to make sure he was okay.

He gave the nurse at the station a wave as he passed, and she gave him a nod and a smile in return.

The second Izuku opened the door Kacchan was right there, close enough that Izuku stumbled back just to put a couple inches of space between then, though Kacchan just followed him, fisting his hands in Izuku’s shirt and face right in front of Izuku’s.

“Izuku-person!” Kacchan whined. "I didn't know what to do, I woke up and you weren't there and everything is so weird and I'm so big and why are you so tiny and I don't know what's going on and Izuku," Kacchan looked at Izuku with eyes that were… were they glittering with unshed tears? "I need to pee but I don't want to be bad."

Izuku stared at Kacchan. Kacchan looked back at him with his brows drawn together, face miserable.

He pressed his legs together tightly and whimpered.

Izuku turned his head towards the nurses station, “Um, sorry, but we need a nurse here for a minute!”

_*_

Izuku called Aizawa in a panic while the nurse was helping Kacchan in the bathroom. He was expecting maybe a Kacchan with a different quirk, or a Kacchan who went to another school besides UA, or maybe even a Kacchan that was a girl in that universe, but the Kacchan he got was so… weird.

Aizawa had been planning on checking up on Kacchan before class as well, thankfully, so he was already on the way, so at least Izuku wasn’t stuck with Kacchan for long.

Which was a horrible, awful thought, Izuku knew. But he started to sit in the same chair he’d claimed the day before that was next to Kacchan’s bed, but when Kacchan tried to sit in the chair with him Izuku moved to the bed for the sake of his own sanity. Kacchan at first tried to sit in Izuku’s lap, but Izuku was able to guide him to sit next to him. When Aizawa walked in Kacchan had his head buried in Izuku’s shoulder, his nose practically in his armpit, Izuku running his fingers of his free hand while his other was loosely wrapped around Kacchan’s shoulders. Izuku stopped moving when Aizawa entered the room, self-conscious, and Kacchan grumbled and nosed at Izuku until he went back to petting him.

Aizawa paused, looking at the back of Kacchan’s head and then to Izuku and back again.

Izuku shrugged helplessly, a smile even he could tell was pained on his face.

Aizawa sighed.

“Bakugou,” Aizawa said, his voice gentle in a way that Izuku wasn’t used to hearing, the way that Aizawa only really got with Eri and other young children. “Can you turn around and look at me.”

“My name isn’t Bakugou,” Kacchan said. “The mean person called me that.”

“He’s talking about the nurse,” Izuku clarified at Aizawa’s baffled expression. “She helped him with the bathroom before you got here. It was apparently a production.” Izuku couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about that, but… there were some things that Izuku was not quite prepared to help Kacchan with, no matter how… close he wanted to be with Kacchan.

Aizawa thankfully didn’t seem to need any more clarification, because a look of understanding crossed his face and he changed track. “Okay,” he said. “Then what is your name.”

“Kacchan,” Kacchan muttered into Izuku’s armpit. “It’s what my people call me.”

“Okay,” Aizawa said, even as Izuku choked on his breath. At least the coughing made Kacchan straighten up a little, even if it was just to look at Izuku like he’d grown two heads. “Can you tell us what has you so upset?” Aizawa asked.

“Everything is so strange and weird and I don’t think I like it,” Kacchan muttered.

“How are things different?” Aizawa asked, settling into the chair next to the bed and leaning forward. “Can you go into detail for us?”

“Well, all of you people are so small,” Kacchan said, brows furrowed in a way that looked so similar to what Izuku had seen on Kacchan’s face every day, but instead of aggression they were drawn in worry. “Everything is so small. And I think I might be a people, too?”

Aizawa tilted his head, mouth pursed. “What do you mean by that? Why wouldn’t you be a person?”

“Because normally I’m a dog,” Kacchan said, casually.

Dead silence in the room.

“I see,” Aizawa said, while Izuku felt like his brain just exploded. A dog? A dog?! Was that even possible? Sure, different universes had different rules and all, but was it even possible? Obviously it had to be, but it was still so far out of everything Izuku had expected that he was having difficulty mentally grasping it.

A dog? Really?

“This is probably very confusing for you,” Aizawa said in that same soft voice. “But I can promise you that tomorrow everything will be back to normal.”

“I want to go back to normal now,” Kacchan whined (whined!), burying his face in Izuku’s shoulder again.

“There’s nothing we can do now,” Aizawa said. “But tomorrow when you wake up everything is going to be back to normal, okay?”

Kacchan grumbled, but didn’t protest any more.

“Now,” Aizawa said, a little more firmly, looking Izuku in the eye. “It’s time for Midoriya and I to go. We’ve both got class today.”

“Noooooo,” Kacchan howled, wrapping his arms tight around Izuku. “Izuku-person is always leaving and it takes forever before he comes back!”

“It won’t be forever,” Izuku soothed, doing his best to gently extract himself from Kacchan’s tight grip. “Just until the end of school today, okay? And then I’ll come straight over.”

“But what if you die,” Kacchan moaned. “And then I never see you ever again?”

“I’m not going to die,” Izuku said with a slight laugh, though honestly that wasn’t an impossibility considering everything that had happened so far in their first year. But if Kacchan would be so bereft if Izuku died before the end of the school day, then he’d just have to stay alive for that long.

Kacchan didn’t seem to fully believe him, but he unwrapped his arms at the very least, though he still looked up at Izuku from a ducked head and let out a tiny, miserable whine. Izuku had to restrain the urge to hug him back, or ask Aizawa if he really, really needed to go to class that day, and peeled himself away from Kacchan.

“I promise I’ll be back later,” Izuku said again. “Okay? Then we can go for a walk around the hospital today.” At Aizawa’s pointed look, Izuku clarified for his sake. “We won’t leave the hospital grounds.”

Aizawa gave a grunt of allowance, and with one last pet on Kacchan’s head, trying to ignore the miserable expression on Kacchan’s face for the sake of his own heart, Izuku left.

The second the door closed behind them, Aizawa turned to look at Izuku, eyes dead serious.

“He cannot figure out how to use his quirk,” Aizawa said.

Izuku swallowed hard, the thoughts of what a person with the mentality of a dog but with Kacchan’s powerful quirk could do running through his mind. “Understood,” he said.

_*_

When Izuku managed to finally get out of class and hurried back to the hospital, he didn’t even get to Kacchan’s room before he had to stop and stare. Kacchan wasn’t in his room. He was, in fact, sitting lazily behind the desk at the nurse’s station on a folded blanket next to the nurse there. He was, in fact, leaning his head on her hip, and every now and then she’d pause to scratch at Kacchan’s scalp.

The nurse eventually noticed Izuku standing there and smiled at him. “Look, Izuku-kun is back,” she told Kacchan.

Kacchan jerked up like he’d been shot, eyes wide. The second he got eyes on Izuku he scrambled to his feet, darting around the desk to barrel into Izuku in a bear hug that nearly knocked Izuku to the ground, and then squeezed the breath out of him.

“You’re back!” Kacchan enthused. And… was he licking the side of Izuku’s face? He kept talking in between enthusiastic licks. “I didn’t think you’d ever come back but you’re here, and the people here really aren’t mean at all they’re actually really nice, but I’m ready to go home now!”

Izuku just froze, unable to process exactly what Kacchan was saying and doing and how, exactly, he should react. Eventually he just turned back to the nurse, who was folding up the blanket that Kacchan had been sitting on.

“We didn’t want him on the bare floor because you can only imagine what gets tracked around,” she said. “But he refused to sit on a chair!”

“I know better than to get up on the people-furniture, no matter what they say,” Kacchan said proudly.

“He was a little upset that you were gone,” the nurse added, circling the desk and reaching up to pet Kacchan’s hair. “But we gave him a little treat and let him spend time with us out of his room and he settled right down.”

“They gave me chocolate,” Kacchan grinned.

When Kacchan smiled at Izuku, for just a moment he couldn’t breathe. He’d never seen Kacchan look so… happy, and carefree. All signs of tension or aggression were completely gone from his face, and his body was loose and open. The typical scowl was gone like it had never existed.

At the same time, however, he couldn’t enjoy the expression. The Kacchan that was in front of him wasn’t his Kacchan, he wasn’t the one he knew and loved? cared about. The Kacchan in front of him was an imposter that was wearing his face, even as friendly and, frankly, adorable as he was.

“Hey, Kacchan,” Izuku just asked, pulling himself out of Kacchan’s embrace - and what a thought that was! Kacchan, hugging him! Too bad it wasn’t the one he wanted embracing him. “How about we go on that walk I promised you?”

If Kacchan had puppy ears they would be perking right up. “Walk? We’re going on a walk? Hell yeah I wanna go on a walk! Where are we going?” He wiggled in place, bouncing on his toes back and forth.

Izuku had to grin at the display of utter glee Kacchan was exhibiting, even as it felt so, so wrong. “Just around the hospital,” he said. “But we’ll have fun, okay?”

“Of course we will,” Kacchan said, as if it were obvious. “You’ll be with me.”

Izuku smiled at him, even as a bittersweet pang jolted through his heart. Still, he took Kacchan’s wrist, an indulgence that he told himself was only for the sake of guiding this Kacchan, and tugged him down the hall.

Walking with this Kacchan down a hospital was an exercise in patience. He was constantly getting distracted by anything interesting, and every time they passed someone Kacchan stopped and started asking who they were, and what they were doing there. The curiosity was all Kacchan, but the complete lack of social skills was… okay, it was also very Kacchan, but it was very different from the lack of social skills Kacchan usually exhibited.

When they found a garden area, more of a courtyard, it was both a literal and figurative breath of fresh air. It was in an open area of the hospital, far from any patient rooms, and full of green growing things. A path wound through it, creating a safe walkway past planters full of flowers and small trees, some areas covered in a carpeting flower that lined the path instead. Izuku could even distantly hear a trickling sound of water, indicating a pond or some other water feature tucked away somewhere.

When the courtyard was in view Kacchan practically vibrated in place, staring at the trees and flowers with an intensity that Izuku was used to seeing before Kacchan was facing a villain or tackling a particularly tough exam.

“Go on, Kacchan,” Izuku said. Kacchan whipped his head to the side to look at Izuku with wide eyes. “You can go see the flowers. Just don’t- hey!” It was too late, Kacchan had already bolted away, apparently not even noticing when he left the hospital slippers he’d been wearing behind, and wasn’t even aiming anywhere close to the path.

“Kacchan, wait up!” Izuku yelped.

“But look at this!” Kacchan said, and oh no, he was actually climbing onto a planter to get a closer look at a tree. “This is a really good tree,” Kacchan determined, circling it, and not even paying attention to where he was trampling other flowers underfoot.

“You need to get down,” Izuku said, from his spot on the path proper, reaching out to beckon Kacchan down. All they needed was a member of the hospital staff to see them both stomping all over the carefully-maintained garden.

“Why?” Kacchan asked, tilting his head.

“Because the plants are for looking at,” Izuku said. “Not for playing with.” Or for… anything else. Kacchan seemed really interested in that tree. “You can’t get up on the boxes, it’s like…” he racked his brain, and then one thing Kacchan said earlier occurred to him. “It’s like furniture! You said that you knew better to get up on furniture, but that’s what you’re doing now.”

Kacchan looked stricken, which… really wasn’t Izuku was going for, but he’d take it if it’d just get Kacchan to get down off the planter before anyone saw. “I’m being bad?” he asked, voice absolutely miserable.

“Well,” Izuku said, rolling with it. “I don’t want so say you’re being a bad dog, but…”

“No!” Kacchan yelped, already climbing his way down off the planter. “No, I’m good, see! I didn’t do anything wrong!”

“That’s right!” Izuku said, giving in to temptation to ruffle Kacchan’s hair. “You’re being very good for me, thank you!”

Kacchan beamed at him. Then he tilted his head again, in the other direction. “You said I can’t go up on the boxes, right?”

Izuku wasn’t sure he liked where this was going. “That’s right,” he agreed, carefully.

“But I can go where there aren’t the boxes?” Kacchan asked.

“...Maybe?” Izuku settled on. Where was Kacchan going with this?

“Okay!” Kacchan barked, then brushed past Izuku to launch himself at a bed of sprawling flowers. They were a tiny carpeting plant that lined the path in a gentle curve, and it was just big enough for Kacchan to sprawl out, wiggling until he got comfortable while Izuku watched helplessly.

Izuku looked down at Kacchan where he was sprawled on the carpet of tiny pale flowers, his shirt pulled up and showing off a few tantalizing inches of belly, his bare toes spread happily amongst the blooms, his face open and happy and fond as he looked up at Izuku, a relaxed grin on his face, and all he could think about was what if that was his own Kacchan looking up like that? How would Izuku respond?

He had some ideas.

“I’m a terrible person,” Izuku muttered, and let himself flop down next to Kacchan to stare up at the clouds next to him.

_*_

Trying to leave for the night was not going well.

The second Izuku even mentioned leaving to go to sleep Kacchan started to whine and howl, sometimes not even with words as he showed his displeasure at Izuku leaving again.

“How am I going to be able to sleep without my person?” Kacchan eventually whined.

“Okay,” Izuku sighed, giving up. “Just let me write something down really quick, and we can go to bed, okay?”

“Okay!” Kacchan grinned. “What are you going to write?”

“Just some observations from today,” Izuku said, pulling out his notebook that he’d written ‘Multiverse observations’ on. “I just want to remember everything that happened today.”

“That’s silly,” Kacchan sighed. “Just remember it, you don’t need to write it.”

“I don’t want to forget a single moment of today,” Izuku corrected him gently. And it was true - a chance to see a Kacchan who was so open with his emotions, who was so unrestrained was an opportunity that Izuku doubted he’d ever see again.

After that it was figuring out just where they were going to sleep. Izuku couldn’t fall asleep in the chair - his brief doze was bad enough on his neck and back, and he definitely wasn’t going to make Kacchan do it.

And that only really left the bed, didn’t it?

Blushing furiously, Izuku laid down in the bed in just his undershirt and unbelted uniform pants, squeezing himself to one side as much as possible.Izuku tried not to react as Kacchan curled up happily around him.

Kacchan was going to kill him.

-FLIP-

Kacchan woke up warm and cozy in his bed. The moment he opened his eyes he sat up, happily panting. He was back!

His home smelled like Izuku-person and Mom-person and like him and everything was good again!

But wait, why was he in the not-good bed? This bed was only for when Izuku-person and Mom-person were watching the noisy TV. He should be with Izuku-person!

He got up, shook himself so hard his ears flopped back and forth, and trotted to Izuku-person’s room, where Izuku-person was the right size and up on the warm and comfy bed.

Bed! He wanted up, he wanted up on Izuku’s bed! Argh, why did it have to be so high up! Oh yes, the ramp!

He darted around to the far side of the bed, where there was a ramp that was just the perfect height to climb up, up, up, to Izuku-person’s bed. He was sleeping, the silly person! Kacchan darted over and started licking Izuku-person’s face.

“I’m back!” he said through happy growls. “I’m back, and you’re big again! And everything is good again!”

“Good morning Kacchan,” Izuku-person laughed. “You seem to be feeling better!”

Yes! Yes he was all better, now that he was small and furry and nothing was scary anymore!

He curled up at Izuku-person’s side, happily shaking as Izuku-person pet him slowly.

Everything was back to normal, and will be like that forever and ever!

Day 3

When Izuku woke up he didn’t quite know where he was at first, and why he felt so warm. He was almost overheated, and felt a little… squished, like he was squeezed into a bed far too small for him.

When he pried his eyes open it was to see Kacchan, just a breath away, sleeping soundly.

The events of the day before flooded through his mind, he jerked back, blushing furiously. He almost fell off the bed, catching himself at the last minute but the damage was done and he’d already woken Kacchan.

Kacchan blinked his eyes open. His startling red eyes meet Izuku's green.

They narrowed.

"What the fuck are you doing in my bed, shitty Deku?!" He roared, pushing Izuku off the bed in a flurry of covers.

Okay, at least he was acting like his normal Kacchan.

Izuku stumbled to his feet, but Kacchan was already sliding out of the bed to grab him by his undershirt and hauled him to his feet. “Are you playing some kinda joke on me, Deku?” Kacchan snarled.

“N-no!” Izuku stammered. Man, he really should have come up with a good reason, shouldn’t he? He should have anticipated Kacchan reacting like this, though he supposed he’d have woken up before Kacchan and snuck out of his bed before he realized and oh, god, what was he even thinking about? “It’s just… it’s really hard to explain, but…”

Kacchan tsk’ed and let go of Izuku’s shirt, pushing him back a little. “Hey, Alara,” Kacchan said, turning to look at the bed. He froze, then looked towards the window sill, then spun, eyes darting around, looking for something.

“Kacchan?” Izuku questioned, brows drawing together as Kacchan kept just turning, eyes darting around the room. “What are you looking for?”

“Alara?” Kacchan called out again, and there was something in his voice that Izuku had never heard before. If he had to guess, it would be fear, but that couldn’t be right. Not that naked, vulnerable sound. Not from Kacchan. Even as the dog with all his dramatics Kacchan didn’t sound quite so… lost.

“Kacchan,” Izuku said gently. Kacchan spun to face Izuku, and Izuku’s breath caught at the expression on Kacchan’s face. He was holding himself close, curled in on himself, eyebrows pulled together, mouth a miserable line. He was breathing quickly, panting harsh breaths. Izuku just didn’t know what to do to help him. “Kacchan,” Izuku repeated. “Who is Alara?”

It seemed like a name, at the very least. The question didn’t seem to help Kacchan at all, though. He just looked at Izuku with that same helpless expression before turning, and, shaking, sat back down on the bed, staring blankly at the floor.

Izuku, at a loss for what to do, reached out to grasp Kacchan’s shoulder. “Kacchan,” he said. “This might be hard to believe, but what you’re experiencing right now is temporary, okay? You got hit with a quirk, so you’re in an alternative universe. Tomorrow you should be back in your own universe, okay? And… and Alara will be there, okay?” God, Izuku hoped so, at least.

Kacchan barely even seemed to notice that Izuku was talking to him. After a few heart-pounding moments he lifted his head and looked around. “Deku,” he said, so quiet and distant that Izuku could barely hear him. “Where’s Joji?”

Izuku licked his lips nervously. “Joji will be back tomorrow, too,” he could only say. Kacchan after a minute or two nodded, then turned around to curl up on the bed, his back to Izuku.

“I’m going to…” Probably cry a lot, Izuku figured. Later. “Find someone that can help you.”

A real Hero would know how to use resources at their disposal to help the greatest number of people, Izuku mused as he quietly slipped out of the room. If they couldn’t use their abilities to assist in a situation, they’d find someone who could. It was only sensible. But Izuku didn’t feel much like a Hero when the person he most wanted to help was so damn miserable.

“It’s still not him, huh.” Aizawa said, making Izuku jump. His teacher was standing next to the door, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. Izuku wasn’t sure exactly how much he heard, but it had to have been enough.

“No,” Izuku said, the word bitter on his tongue. “I think he needs someone to help him though, he’s just… so upset. He was looking for someone named Alara, and Joji, I think.”

“I’ll let the staff know,” Aizawa said. “You get ready for class.”

“But!” Izuku protested. He couldn’t leave Kacchan when he was so utterly miserable. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate on a word of his lectures.

“You’ve missed enough school this year,” Aizawa said. “He’ll be in good hands here, and safe. You don’t need to be at his side the entire time.”

“But…” Izuku trailed off. He couldn’t help but think of the expression on Kacchan’s face, how he was constantly looking for something that wasn’t there. “...He needs me.”

Aizawa put his hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “I understand you wanting to be there for him,” he said. “But you can’t let that get in the way of your duties. As much pain as he is in now, it’ll be fine by this time tomorrow. You can visit him later, but you can’t neglect your own life to focus on him.”

Izuku wanted to argue that. He wanted to explain how much Kacchan was hurting, how being apart from him even for this long was painful. But he couldn’t. So he just went to class, where he learned absolutely nothing all day.

_*_

When Izuku returned to the hospital room Kacchan was just… sitting in bed, staring blankly at the TV screen in the corner. Izuku wasn’t even entirely sure that he had even moved the whole time Izuku was in class. He certainly didn’t eat - his lunch tray was pushed to the side, untouched after what must have been hours. He just had his pillow bunched on in front of him, his arms clasped around it tightly. The nurse on duty mentioned it to Izuku - told him that Kacchan barely did anything all day, but he’d latched onto that pillow and refused to be parted from it.

One of the nurses had tried to gently take it from him in an attempt to talk him into taking a shower, but apparently at that point Kacchan had almost gotten violent with them, to the point of threatening to use his quirk against them if they touched it again. After that nobody tried touching it again.

“Hi, Kacchan,” Izuku murmured, taking his seat in his usual place. “How are you doing?” He immediately winced the second the words came out of his mouth. The answer was obvious.

Kacchan turned his head slowly, robotically, until he was facing Izuku. For the first time Izuku noticed that his eyes were rimmed in red, and though they were dry, they looked like they could well up with tears at any moment. “Where’s Alara?” Kacchan asked instead of answering Izuku’s question.

Izuku flinched. He didn’t know how to answer that question in a way that would help Kacchan at all. “You’ll see her again tomorrow,” Izuku just said helplessly. “I promise.”

Kacchan didn’t say another word to him all night. And when Izuku got back to his down and he pulled out his Multiverse notebook, he only wrote a couple lines before he crossed them out, flipped it closed, and went to bed where he didn’t sleep all night.

-FLIP-

The first thing Katsuki did when he woke up the next morning was clench his arms tightly, his eyes immediately flying open when they closed on nothing. The pillow was gone. It wasn’t Alara, but it was something that was the right size and shape, and it was gone, she was gone, he’d lost her-

“Katsuki,” a voice broke through his frantic, gasping breaths, and he could finally focus in front of him, and it was her. Alara was on the bed in front of him, her talons rhythmically clenching into the bedspread, which normally would have pissed him off but he just couldn’t bring himself to care because she was back, she was back.

“Alara,” he gasped out, reaching out to pull her close, and it really was her. She was so big and tough, but she still had those fragile bird bones that he always had to be aware of, and he was starting to hold her too tight for her comfort but she didn’t say anything.

“You’re back,” Alara sobbed, swiping her head back and forth against Katsuki’s cheek. “Don’t leave me again,” she said.

“I’m back, I’m here,” he whispered, holding her close. She may have been a pain in his ass, but she was his pain in the ass. She was his soul, the other half of his heart, and he refused to be parted from her again. “I’m not going to leave you again.”

“You better not,” she said. He could tell that she was trying hard to sound tough, but her voice was so wet, tremulous.

They just held each other close for a long while, just content in staying close together for a while. Having never been separated before, they just needed a moment to breathe and reconnect.

Eventually, with a mutual release of breath and with it their anxiety, they pulled away from each other, though when Katsuki sat up and Alara perched herself on his bent leg, he didn’t say anything even as her talons poked holes into his pajama pants.

“Where even were you?” she asked.

“Fucking weird place,” he grumbled, sniffling. “I don’t think anyone had a daemon. It was messed up looking around and there not being a daemon in sight.”

Alara shuddered theatrically. “Yeah, the guy who took your place mentioned that. He just kept staring. Rude fucker.”

Katsuki huffed a laugh and scratched Alara right behind her crest. She closed her eyes and leaned harder, before turning and nipping at his finger.

“Just to warn you,” she said, as Katsuki got up and started to get ready for class. “He was not being subtle at all when he was in your body.

“Of course,” he huffed. “Did he say anything?”

“Not really,” she soothed him, nipping at his ear. “He was just acting really weird. Izukkun is going to have something to say to you later, I’m sure.”

“Ugh.” Katsuki leaned closer again, nuzzling into her soft back. “I don’t want to go to class today.”

She nipped his ear again, harder. “Attendance,” she reminded him. Katsuki grumbled, but pulled away. Not far, of course, and Alara seemed to feel the same way because she didn’t hop to her usual spot on the perch at the head of his bed, and instead walked awkwardly on his bed to keep as close as she could as Katsuki got ready for the day.

Then they left together, never to be parted again.

Day 4

“Young man,” Recovery Girl called to Izuku the next day on his way back to Kacchan’s room the next day. “I have a couple questions for you.”

“Oh, sure,” Izuku said, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. Kacchan was so miserable the other day, he had to make sure he was alright.

“I just wanted to know,” Recovery Girl said. “What your plans were to figure out if we have the correct Bakugou back? There’s an excellent chance that we will see one that behaves exactly like the original one.”

“I thought about it,” Izuku said. “If I think it’s the right one, and say something specific every morning, then eventually he’ll call me out on it, right? And if I change up what I say at night before I leave him, then I could ask him about it and see if he remembers. What are the chances that I ask him the same question at night in every universe? I’d only do it if I’m not sure if it’s the real one or not,” he clarified. “Because so far all the ones we’ve seen have been… really obviously not Kacchan.” Which was an understatement.

Recovery Girl was quiet for a moment, then said, her voice heavy with understanding. “I just want to make sure you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment, dear.”

“I know,” Izuku said, pressing his lips tight together even as he felt his eyes well up. “But I have to try something, just to be sure my Kacchan is back. I mean-” he quickly added, knowing exactly how it sounded. “The Kacchan I know is back, not-”

“I know what you mean,” Recovery Girl gently interrupted. “One other thing,” she said, and reached out her hand. There was a cell phone in it, one that Izuku immediately recognized as Kacchan’s. “This is Bakugou-kun’s phone,” she confirmed. “I talked with the others working on his case, and we all agreed that with none of us sure what sort of person could be in Bakugou-kun’s body day by day, it would be a good idea to keep him from accessing his personal accounts. A Hero, prospecting or not, lives and dies on their reputation. It would be all too easy for someone to ruin that good reputation Bakugou-kun had built up.”

Izuku wanted so desperately to correct her on the nature of Kacchan’s reputation, but he knew she was right. He took Kacchan’s phone and slipped it in his bag with a nod.

“Now,” Recovery Girl said finally. “Go see that boy. No matter which version he is, I’m sure that he’ll be confused waking up here.”

“Yeah,” Izuku agreed. “Thank you!”

She waved him off, and Izuku immediately darted down the hall, pushing Kacchan’s door open.

Kacchan was sitting up on his bed, looking around when Izuku entered. At the sight of him, Kacchan scowled and asked, “What the hell is going on?”

“You’re in the hospital,” Izuku said, taking his usual chair. At least this one didn’t wake up to Izuku sharing his bed, though Izuku found himself somewhat missing the sheer joy that the dog version of Kacchan showed when he saw Izuku. “What do you remember last?”

“Being in my room,” Kacchan said, sneering. “What the hell am I here for?”

“You got attacked by a villain,” Izuku said. “The doctors wanted to keep you under observation, just to ensure that you’re okay.” Both things true, at least.

Kacchan sniffed, and scowled deeper. “I don’t remember getting attacked,” he muttered. “You’d think I’d remember some shit like that.

Izuku nodded, and licked his lips nervously. Here’s where he had to stretch the truth. So far this Kacchan behaved exactly like how he expected, which was a good sign he wasn’t wanting to pin all his hopes on. “That’s part of why they’re keeping you here. Are you…” he trailed off. “Are you sure there’s nothing else? No confusion, dizziness?” Memories of being in another universe, he didn’t ask.

“No, nerd,” Kacchan drawled. He sniffed again, rubbing at his nose.

“Um,” Izuku trailed off. “Kacchan, do you need a tissue?”

“Fuck you,” Kacchan muttered, rubbing at his nose again. “I can’t smell a fuckin’ thing. I can usually get your fuckin’ Alpha reek from across a damn room.”

Izuku blinked, his heart falling. “Alpha reek?”

Kacchan sneered at him. “What, you want a medal for it? Congratulations Deku - you got the most potent Alpha stank in the school, all Betas and Omegas cower beneath it.”

Izuku sighed, slumping back into the chair. “I… wasn’t being entirely truthful with you, Kacchan,” Izuku said. “The villain that attacked you actually attacked another version of you. It separated your consciousness and sent it into another universe. That consciousness replaced yours, and right now you’re in the body of my Kacc- I mean, the body of this world’s Kacchan.”

Kacchan glared at him silently for a long moment before letting out a breath, eyes lazily sliding away. “That sounds like a load of bullshit,” he said. “But for some reason I believe you. I think maybe this body knows that it’s the truth… which is a really fucking wierd feeling.” Kacchan paused, and winced, his face falling into the palm of his hand. “Fuck,” he hissed. “I’m due for my heat any day now, and he’s gonna have to deal with that shit.”

“Heat?” Izuku asked, eyes growing wide. “W-what do you mean, heat?”

“Don’t tell me this guy ended up being a fucking Alpha,” Kacchan sneered. “That would be my luck if I’m in the body of a knothead.”

“I don’t, um, understand what you mean,” Izuku confessed. This Kacchan sounded about right, but all the things he was saying. It sort of sounded like some weird pickup artist lingo Izuku stumbled over one day through an internet rabbithole, but something about how Kacchan was talking about it made it seem like it was something completely different.

“Alphas?” Kacchan said. “Omegas? Betas? None of this ringing a bell?”

Izuku shook his head.

Kacchan stared at him. “You don’t have those in this world?”

“Um, kinda, I think,” Izuku said. “But that’s just the Greek alphabet though, right?”

Kacchan just stared some more. “Oh, fuck me,” he said, voice flat. “You’re telling me that that idiot is wandering around as an Omega about to go into heat and he doesn’t even know what that is?”

The pit of Izuku’s belly grew cold, and he had to ask, “Is Kacchan in any danger?”

“At UA?” Kacchan said. “Nah, he should be fine. The staff wouldn’t fuck around in dealing with anyone who’d try to take advantage of him. But he’ll probably do something stupid as fuck.” He let out a disgusted huff a breath. “Fucking figures. I bust my ass proving that it doesn’t matter than I’m an Omega going for the Hero track, and that asshole is going to fuck up all that hard work.”

“I’m still not sure what you’re talking about,” Izuku admitted.

“Alright, let me put it this way,” Kacchan said. “In this world, who can bear children?”

“Um,” Izuku started. What a strange conversation to have with Kacchan. “People who have a uterus, usually? Though I think I remember hearing about someone who had a quirk where they-”

“Doesn’t matter,” Kacchan waved off. “Because in my world, everyone has a uterus, even though a lot of people have an undeveloped one. But typically, the only people who can bear children are Omegas and Betas during a heat phase, and some female-bodied Alphas, but that’s pretty rare, alright? Omegas and Betas can only get pregnant during their heats, and they’ll be driven to look for an Alpha to knock ‘em up, unless they remember to take a suppressant. It’ll cut out a lot of the desire to breed, even if your libido’s gonna be sky high for a couple days.”

Izuku’s brain whirled as he tried to comprehend what Kacchan was saying. “So, are you saying… that he…”

“Might be putting a bun in my fuckin’ oven if he wasn’t smart about it, yeah,” Kacchan sneered.

At Izuku’s horrified expression, Kacchan sighed, and slumped a little. “Fuckin’ relax, nerd,” he said. “My universe isn’t full of complete monsters. Chances are someone’ll find him stinkin and wanting a fat knot and take him right to the nurse’s office. He’ll be safe, and his body pure as the driven snow.” He sighed again, this time with a bit more frustration. “My reputation is gonna be the only thing getting fucked. ”

Before Izuku could quite parse what Kacchan was saying, the alarm on his phone went off. He fumbled it out to turn it off, his face burning with embarrassment from jumping at the sound, and also the conversation they were having. This Kacchan could… he one day might…

“I need to go,” Izuku said quickly, voice pitched a little higher than usual. “Class is going to start, and Aizawa-sensei doesn’t want me to miss any class.”

“Fine, go,” Kacchan said. “I’ll just sit here and watch some shitty daytime TV,” he added, gesturing at the screen in the corner.

“Okay,” Izuku said. “Um. Don’t be afraid to let the nurses know if you need anything, okay?”

“Go,” Kacchan repeated, irritation thick in his voice.

Izuku went.

Right before he closed the door, Izuku could just barely hear Kacchan mutter to himself, “I can’t believe I am having the fucking sex ed talk with fucking Deku...”

_*_

Izuku could focus just a little more on class than the day before, the most anxiety-inducing moments when his classmates started to ask him about Kacchan and if there was any change in his condition. He remembered Aizawa saying something about keeping the situation under wraps and just telling people that Kacchan was in a medically-delicate state and couldn’t take many visitors. Which was not too far from the truth if you wanted to think about it like that, Izuku figured, but it was still a rationalization that felt bitter on his tongue.

When he got back to the room Kacchan was sitting on his bed, looking bored out of his mind, watching some drama on TV.

“Still just me,” Kacchan said when he saw Izuku. “So I don’t know what you’re here for.”

“I still want to see you,” Izuku said, taking his usual seat. “Even if you aren’t the Kacchan I know.”

Kacchan grunted and turned back to the TV. “It looks like Iori is torn between whether she loves Jun or Makoto more. Jun is a lot more kinder and sweet to her, and buys her gifts and shit, but Makoto is a lot more fun. She’s also a bit of a bitch, but not to Iori, so Iori likes that she’s more willing to stand up for herself than Jun, who’s a wet fucking napkin when it comes to conflict. If this was in my world, the obvious Alpha Makoto would bite the Beta Iori and Omega Jun and claim them both in her pack.”

“...Ah,” Izuku said when it sounded like Kacchan wasn’t going to say anything more. “Are you enjoying the show?”

“I fucking hate it,” Kacchan said, even as he kept watching the TV. “But there’s fuckall to actually do, and nobody will let me even look at my school work.”

“I’m not sure studying would do you any good,” Izuku suggested. “What are the chances that you’re studying the same exact subjects as this Kacchan is? And you doing his work won’t help either of you out, anyway.”

Kacchan rolled his eyes. “You think I don’t know all that? I’m just bored to fuckin’ tears.”

“Oh…” Izuku trailed off. Throughout the conversation he couldn’t help but keep glancing down at Kacchan’s belly where it was hidden under his shirt. This Kacchan could get pregnant in his own universe? He tried to imagine Kacchan with a belly curved out with a baby, and it… wasn’t a bad mental image.

“Oi, Deku,” Kacchan barked. When Izuku snapped his gaze back up to Kacchan’s face, feeling his own fake heat up in a blush, it was to see Kacchan look at him with a condescending smirk. “My face is up here, nerd,” he said.

“Ah, sorry!” Izuku flailed his hands in front of him. “I didn’t mean to stare, I was just, you know, spacing out, just looking off into the distance and it just happened to be in your general… you know, direction, and…”

“Fucking chill,” Kacchan sighed, aggrieved. “Alright, so, one of things I found out watching shitty daytime TV is that it looks like you all really don’t have secondary genders in this world, huh?”

Secondary genders? “That’s the whole, Alpha, Beta, Omega, thing, right?” Izuku asked.

“Yeah,” Kacchan said. “We call them secondary genders. Bet that’s got to be really weird for you, huh?”

“It’s fascinating,” Izuku corrected. “I’ve never heard of anything like that. Would-” he trailed off. Then asked, a little more hesitantly, “Would you be willing to tell me about them? Like, how does your world function with three, uh, secondary genders? And heats? What happens if someone is out on a multi-day mission and their heat starts? Can you stop it, or slow it down, or…?”

“Alright, shut the fuck up, Deku,” Kacchan growled. “Alright, just ‘cause I’m bored stupid and can’t leave this damn hospital I’ll answer your questions. So you better listen fuckin’ close, because this is the only time I’ll talk to you, and I’m not going to fucking repeat myself, okay?”

Izuku nodded frantically and dug into his backpack until he pulled out his Multiverse notebook and a pen. “Okay, I’m ready!” Izuku said.

“Alright, so,” Kacchan started. “In my world, if two, or three, or however many people love each other very very much and want to bang…”

-FLIP-

Katsuki still felt like post-heat garbage by the time he was able to drag himself out of bed, but after a nice hot shower and a healthy dose of scent killers he figured he was good enough to go. Thankfully his heats were short if powerful - a couple days where he was unacceptably horny, then he was good for another couple months. He already planned on what to say if someone approached him about him being desperate for a knot, and ways to ensure that the experience never, ever got out to the general public.

Of course, those plans flew out the window the second he opened his dorm room door.

The entire hallway stank of territorial Alpha, which meant that Kirishima and the other Alphas in their class probably avoided the whole damn floor rather than have to deal with it, and sitting right there outside of his door, the source of the stink, was Deku. Deku who, at Katsuki’s appearance, stumbled to his feet.

Oh, of course the alternative version of himself glommed on to fucking Deku of all people. Deku, who seemed to always feel at least a little bad about poor little Omega Kacchan, who would have to work twice as hard to get even half the recognition of even a B-tier level Alpha. Deku, who seemed a little guilty and fucking weird after he popped a knot and was classified as an Alpha, whose scent was always so fucking strong even before he got that quirk of his, and whose scent just got more stronger and unignorable after.

“Listen,” Katsuki said, trying to sound understanding. “I was in heat, I wasn’t thinking properly. I’m sorry for what I did, but you-”

“I actually wanted to talk to you about your next heat, if you don’t mind,” Deku said, and huh. His face was getting even more redder than he thought was possible.

“Next heat?” Katsuki echoed, his carefully-planned script flying out the window.

“Y-yeah,” Deku said. “Just, um. If you want someone to… you know… help you out with your next heat. I’m, ah. Available.”

Was… Deku propositioning him? He was, wasn’t he? And well… Deku wasn’t bad looking. And he could keep his mouth shut when he wanted to, which considering having a heat partner was discouraged in UA as opposed to taking suppressants and just taking care of yourself for a couple days. At least with a heat partner heats can get over with a lot faster.

There were a lot worse options out there.

Katsuki pushed his door open a little more, despite knowing that his room wasn’t nearly as aired-out as it should be, and the scent of heat sweat and slick had to be like a siren’s call for Izuku’s nose. “Get in here, nerd,” Katsuki said. “Let’s talk.”

Day 5

(Content warning: This chapter deals with the universe where people with quirks are considered dangerous and Izuku uses that to manipulate and threaten Katsuki. This chapter does not end in a healthy place for either character. With that knowledge in mind, if you need to skip this chapter please ctrl + f Day 6 )

When Izuku walked into Kacchan’s room the next day, it was to see Kacchan still asleep. He settled himself on the chair and just watched Kacchan for a long moment, wondering if he could tell before Kacchan even woke up whether or not it was the right one. As fascinating as all these last few versions of Kacchan were (and there was so much about the previous one that was going through Izuku’s head over and over last night when he- nevermind), he was ready to see his proper one home again.

Unfortunately, the second Kacchan opened his eyes and saw Izuku sitting there, he flinched back with a startled, “Izukkun!”

“Good morning, Kacchan,” Izuku said soothingly, but for some reason that just made him flinch harder. “Don’t be nervous, I can explain what’s going on. First of all, do you know what I mean when I say quirk?”

“Quirk?” Kacchan asked, and oh, this Kacchan probably came from a world without quirks, huh? Izuku had assumed it would be a possibility, so at least he had a decent explanation at the ready.

“A quirk is like a special ability that most people have,” Izuku explained. “Some people are able to lift huge amounts of weight, or can control electricity, or even fly.” Kacchan still looked so confused, so Izuku found himself talking more. “You have a quirk, too, you know. Your quirk is called Explosion - you palms secrete a substance like nitroglycerin in your sweat, and you can ignite it to-”

He cut himself off, because Kacchan flinched hard at Izuku’s words. “Why are you talking so loud,” Kacchan hissed, looking around with wide, panicked eyes.

“It’s okay,” Izuku soothed. Oh, dear… maybe this Kacchan had a lot more going on than Izuku anticipated. “This is a safe place for us, Kacchan. Nobody is going to hurt us here.”

“Where is here, exactly,” Kacchan asked, wrapping his arms around himself and looking everywhere at Izuku.

“It’s a hospital affiliated with UA,” Izuku explained. Then, realizing that in a world with no quirks, Kacchan might not know what UA was. “UA is a school where people can learn to use their quirks to become a Hero, and fight villains. We’re here because a version of you in an alternate universe got hit with a quirk and his consciousness was taken out of his body and put into yours. So your consciousness is in his body. Not forever, though - just until midnight, and you should be back in your normal universe again.”

“Fuck,” Kacchan bit out with a humorless laugh. “It’s a curse,” Kacchan said, dropping his head into his hands. “I’ve been cursed since birth and then I got cursed again, of course. Now I’m trapped here.” He paused and ran his hands through his hair, apparently distracted by it for a moment.

“It’s not a curse,” Izuku protested feebly, though he was sure that Kacchan must have felt that way. “It’s a gift, and you’re only here for a day, you’ll be back tomorrow.”

“And what would have that other me have done in the meantime?” Kacchan asked, despair heavy in his voice. “He’s going to get me in so much trouble. I’m going to be either reported or he will -” he cut himself off, glancing at Izuku. “You said it’s a gift, but we call them curses where I’m from. They’re dangerous.”

“Quirks aren’t dangerous,” Izuku protested. “It’s only people and the way they use them that are dangerous.”

“And people are dangerous!” Kacchan said, looking at Izuku with such desperation in his eyes that it made Izuku’s heart hurt. “This is why people can’t be allowed to just… walk around flaunting their curses everywhere!”

“Quirks aren’t dangerous though,” Izuku repeated, confused at why it sounded like Kacchan was trying to convince him otherwise. “I mean, sure, some quirks can be dangerous in the wrong hands, but that doesn’t mean that all quirks are dangerous! And that’s why we have Pro Heroes around - they fight people who would use their quirks to hurt people.”

Izuku’s alarm took that moment to start ringing.

“I need to go to class,” Izuku said, shutting off the alarm. He bit his lip and looked at Kacchan, who was clenching the bedsheet in both hands. “Will you be okay by yourself?”

“Do I have a choice?” Kacchan huffed out.

Izuku bit his lip again. “Not really.”

“Then I’ll survive or I won’t,” Kacchan sighed. “Go. Please?”

“I’ll be back later,” Izuku said, picking up his back. He tried to ignore how it felt when Kacchan flinched at the promise.

_*_

When Izuku came back later, Kacchan was on his bed, TV playing the news. Kacchan had the sheet wrapped around himself, even covering the top of his head and flattening his hair.

“How are you doing?” Izuku asked, taking his seat.

“The anchorman has horns,” Kacchan pointed out. “They just… cut one side so that it doesn’t block the video.”

“That’s true,” Izuku said, looking at the screen. The news was playing a segment about the fight that he and Kacchan were in just days ago, still the biggest ongoing story. Thankfully there were no clips of himself or Kacchan fighting - he wasn’t sure that this Kacchan would be able to handle it considering how negatively he thought about quirks.

“And look at all those people,” Kacchan went on, not even acknowledging that Izuku even spoke. “They’re all fighting with their quirks. And all the news is talking about is tracking down info on some of them, and efforts to rebuild what they destroyed. Nobody is talking about how dangerous it is that they’re using their curses in the first place.”

Izuku bit his tongue - he was mad at himself for letting himself get dragged into a circular argument about the relative safety of quirks earlier, he refused to let himself do so again.

“You said earlier that people call quirks curses where you’re from,” Izuku said. “And you’re surprised that the anchorman has horns, and that Heros are using their quirks.” All of those things were adding up to paint a picture that Izuku wasn’t sure he wanted to step back and take a look at, but he just had to know. “Kacchan, is it normal for people to have quirks in your universe?”

“No,” Kacchan said, voice soft. “We call them curses for a reason.”

“Kacchan…” Izuku trailed off. “What happens in your universe if someone gets caught with a quirk?”

“It depends,” Kacchan sighed. “If it’s something small, like your hair or my eyes, then not much. Good luck getting a job, though, without dying your hair. If it’s something like… like mine, and you get reported, then you disappear. Teachers won’t talk about you to your classmates, your parents, if they aren’t gone too, won’t hold a funeral. You’re just gone, without a trace. Forever. So people like me, we hide ourselves. Pretend it doesn’t exist. Try to get noticed as little as possible.” He hunched his shoulders. “Stop leaving our homes, if we need to.”

That sounded… horrific. And terrible. No wonder Kacchan was so nervous whenever Izuku so much as brought up quirks. However...

“In this universe,” Izuku pointed out slowly, carefully considering his words as he spoke them. “It’s incredibly rare for someone in our generation and younger to be born without a quirk. Are you sure that your universe is all that different?”

“I think,” Kacchan trailed off, and Izuku fought the urge to lean closer to hear him better. The way this Kacchan kept flinching whenever Izuku got too close spoke volumes about what sort of person both Kacchan and the other Izuku was. “I think there’s more people who are cursed in my world than people want to admit.

Kacchan bit his lip, hard. Right when Izuku was starting to get concerned for the abused flesh, he continued.

“In my world, Izukkun isn’t… that nice of a person,” Kacchan said, voice low. “When I was a kid he saw me use my curse, my… quirk,” he said, mouth twisting around the word. “Accidentally. He thought it was so cool, he just… went on and on about how amazing I was for having that ability. It almost made me think that it wasn’t so bad, you know? That even though the whole damn world said that there was something wrong with me, he didn’t think so.

“But then he starting… saying things, whenever I didn’t do what he wanted or whatever. Just started insinuating that he’d tell someone about my curse. Neither of us were very popular,” he admitted. “I couldn’t let myself get too much attention, and Izukkun just rubbed people the wrong way with how obsessed he was with the curses. Quirks. Whatever. So I think he liked having someone who had to do what he said for once. Someone he had power over.”

"Kacchan, " Izuku started. He didn't want to ask, he didnt, but he had to know. "Did the other version of me… hurt you?"

"Not really, " Kacchan said, and despite the near flippant tone Izuku still felt like throwing up. 'Not really' wasn’t 'no'. "He never laid a hand on me. He just never leaves me alone. And he just… hints at turning me in to the cops if I don't do what he says."

At Izuku's expression, which he was sure was as horrified as such a statement deserved, he added quickly, "Not that I believe him! He's too obsessed with me to ever lose me like that. He'd never see me again."

"That doesn't make it better," Izuku said, his voice sounding weak. He was so out of his depth. How could he rescue Kacchan from himself? A version of himself in another universe? This wasn't a villain he could just punch really hard. "Is there anyone you could talk to? He can't be allowed to just-" he stopped himself because Kacchan was already shaking his head.

"Who could I talk to?" He asked. "Anyone that could do anything to him would also have to turn me in, themselves. It's like… what if you were a therapist and you found out someone had a weapon they could use at any time against someone who just annoyed them? You'd have to report them, right? Same thing."

He gestured at the TV, where the news had cut to an athletic event where people were using their quirks to bolster their already impressive natural abilities.

“I can’t stand this,” Kacchan said. Something in his voice, so normally quiet and unsure, now laced with something stronger, venomous, made Izuku look over. Katsuki was still sitting at his side, but his back was ram-rod straight, his hands clutched into tight fists on his thighs. “Why?” Kacchan continued. “Why can’t my world be like this? Everyone is so fucking happy here, nobody has to worry about getting arrested or worse because of their curses. If someone was born with fucking… red eyes or green hair, nobody even looks twice at them! Maybe hiding your curse, you quirks isn’t the answer!”

As Izuku watched, Kacchan’s eyes grew wide with a sudden realization. He turned and looked at Izuku, looking at him like he’d had a revelation. “Maybe my Izukkun was right,” he said, soft. “Maybe we do have to change things, whether people like it or not.”

Something about what he said, the way he said it, made something cold shoot through Izuku’s chest. He didn’t know much about this Kacchan’s Izuku, but what he did know made him very uncomfortable with the idea that he might be right about anything, especially with how Kacchan was talking.

“Maybe you shouldn’t base that off of what you see here,” Izuku said, but even to himself his defense sounded weak. “After all, we have our problems.”

“Yeah, villains,” Kacchan said, mouth twisting around the word. “But you also said that there are other people out there, people with stronger quirks who are able to use their power to stop them. And you said that I’ve got a powerful quirk, right? What if I…” He trailed off, eyes distant. “What if I use my power to stop people from abusing theirs? I can become a Hero, like you said, and if people don’t like people using their quirks, I can stop them.”

Kacchan laughed, the sound twisting fear up and down Izuku’s spine. “That’s what he was talking about the whole time! It all makes sense! I have the power, I can just stop them!”

Izuku swallowed past his dry throat as Kacchan rambled on and on along the same vein.

He wanted to help Kacchan, but he was afraid he only made things even worse.

-FLIP-

"Izukkun," Katsuki said the next day, trying to keep the flutter of his heartbeat in his throat from coming out in his voice. Being determined and confident the day before could only go so far. He couldn't help but remember every time Izukkun had built Katsuki up with compliments and praises right before digging in with subtle threats. He couldn't forget the conversation he found from the night before when that other Katsuki was in his body. He tried to channel that self- confidence that came from a lifetime of knowing that not only you fit in, but in so many ways you were better than the people around you. That Katsuki had a quirk that people admired, were even jealous of!

A lifetime of being afraid, of doing your best to be unnoticeable, of doing what you can to just be as normal as possible without everyone finding out what a freak you were was not easy to just toss of like a badly-fitting sweater.

"Yes, Kacchan?" Izukkun prompted when Katsuki just stood there, frozen and trying to swallow past a dry throat. He was always so goddamn nice, except for the moments where he wasn't.

"About those friends of yours…" Katsuki trailed off. "Do you think we can meet them again? I want." He swallowed again. Just say it, he told himself. You got this power, you know that more people are like you than they want to admit. Izukkun was right, he was right all along. "I want to meet them. You're right, things need to change."

Izukkun’s eyes slowly grew wider as Katsuki talked, his mouth dropping open.

"Yes, of course," he said, sounding stunned. Then his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This isn't a trick, is it?"

Katsuki shook his head. "No, I just… had a really weird day yesterday, and I came to some conclusions."

"Oooh?" Izukkun asked, drawing the word out. "What conclusions are those?"

"That you're right," Kacchan said. "There's bound to be more people out there with curses than we're aware of. It can't be as rare as we're told." His mom came to mind - everyone was always talking about how young she looked. She always waved off their compliments with comments about her skin care routine, using sunscreen every day, whatever. What if it was something else behind it? Something so minor that it went practically unnoticed her whole life? She already had the same red eyes they both had to hide, after all. "Something has to change," he continued. "And I want to be part of it."

Izukkun studied Katsuki's face while he talked - trying to spot the lie, Katsuki figured. Or to see how sincere Kacchan was really being. In the past Katsuki would agree with Izukkun’s rambling speeches about the curses and the ills of society and how they could all be corrected if people were allowed to use their quirks as they should. Izukkun had to know that he was just saying that to get Izukkun to ignore him, just not make waves, but now Katsuki was serious.

He had to see it, because a slow grin spread across his face, wide and so, so happy. "You get it!" He said. "I knew you would! Was that why you were acting so weird yesterday? You were realizing what I was saying all along?"

"Something like that," Katsuki hedged, but Izukkun didn't seem to be listening all that close. He darted closer to Katsuki and grabbed both of his hands in his own, pulling those dangerous, deadly hands close to his chest.

"I'm so happy," Deku sighed, and… were those tears in his eyes? "I knew that one day you'll realize just how amazing you really are. I-ow!" He helped, dancing back and shaking his hands, blowing on the scorched skin.

Katsuki lowered his hands, still feeling the residual heat from his curse. It wasn't nearly as easy or instinctual as in that other version's body, but, he figured as he flexed his fingers, he could get used to using it. His explosions would only get stronger over time.

"Let's get one thing straight," he said, voice as low and growling as he could make it, remembering how that other version of him talked. It was so hard to keep his back straight after years of Hutchins over to try and look smaller. "You keep talking about how amazing I am, how strong I could be? Then we're going to do things my way from now on, you get that? I'm calling the shots now."

He expected Izukkun to say something about that, to either laugh it off or threaten Katsuki to report him to the authorities. He did neither, just stared at Katsuki with wide eyes, both of his hands pulled protectively close to him. Katsuki couldn't tear his eyes away from those hands - he'd never hurt anyone with his curse before.

"Yeah," Izukkun breathed eventually. Then said again, stronger, a look in his blazing eyes that Katsuki couldn't pin down even as Izukkun began to grin. "Yes, of course, Kacchan!"

"If having this curse makes me so awesome," Katsuki said, unable to stop himself from talking as Izukkun kept looking at him with that expression. Why was his heart beating so fast? "Then what does that make you? You and the other people with no curses?"

"We're nothing compared to you," Izukkun said. "We're all weak, and all of the cursed-"

"No," Katsuki interrupted. "Just me. Not anyone else."

"Yeah, Kacchan," Izukkun breathed. He couldn’t seem to be able to take a full breath, he was nearly panting as he listened to Katsuki. "You're so much stronger than I am."

It was so similar to things Izukkun said before. Hell, Katsuki was pretty sure Izukkun had said those exact words to him before. But when Katsuki was ready to hear it… and not just ready to hear it, desperate to hear those words, thriving under them like a flower who was forced to grow in the shade suddenly feeling sunlight for the first time… it was good.

It was amazing.

"That's right," Katsuki said. He then looked at Deku, standing there with his shoulders hunched in pain, carefully cradling his injured hands, and tilted his head in consideration.

"Did you know," Katsuki said thoughtfully. "That your name could be read as Deku?"

Day 6

The next day when Izuku walked into Kacchan’s room it was to see a Kacchan that was already awake.

He was sitting up in his bed, the covers pushed off and legs bent awkwardly, running his fingers along his toes and the arch of his foot in slow, careful motions, his head tilted in consideration. His eyes were narrowed, mouth pursed in thought.

“Kacchan?” Izuku asked, afraid to disturb the other boy but unable to hold back the question clawing at the back of his head. Could this be the one? Was he finally back…?

Kacchan immediately burned that hope to the ground when he looked up at Izuku and beamed at the sight of him. Izuku slumped where he stood, but pasted on a small smile in return even as it felt fake even to himself. This may not have been his Kacchan, but it was still a living, breathing person and he couldn’t let his disappointment affect how he treated him.

At least he seemed happy to see Izuku? Though the smile looked so… wrong on Kacchan’s face. It was like with the dog that had taken Kacchan’s place - so open and guileless, such warm happiness at the very sight of Izuku, that only drove home how it was a stranger in Kacchan’s body.

Kacchan moved towards Izuku, a motion that looked odd and awkward, and it was only because Izuku was so close that when Kacchan just sort of flopped off the bed he was able to catch him before Kacchan’s head cracked against the floor.

“Whoa, careful!” Izuku said down to where he was cradling Kacchan’s upper body. Kacchan looked startled, like he didn’t expect either to fall or for Izuku to catch him, but after a moment he grinning again, wiggling so that he was tucked a bit more comfortably in Izuku’s lap.

“Let’s get you back into bed!” Izuku yelped, straightening up and pulling Kacchan with him. It took a second for Kacchan to find his feet, but once he did Izuku sat him down on the edge, where Kacchan shifted a little, seeming a little unsure of his balance, and once he was settled he gave Izuku another one of those bright grins of his that this version of him was so free with.

Izuku smiled back, and said carefully, “Listen, Kacchan. I have something very important to say. Can you understand me?” Kacchan watched Izuku’s face for a moment before, that smile of his fading though not disappearing completely, nodding. “Okay,” Izuku breathed. This Kacchan was acting so strangely, he wasn’t quite sure what he could understand. A nod was pretty indicative of some measure of understanding, though.

“Right now, you’re in an alternative universe,” Izuku said. “Someone attacked another version of you with an ability that made my version of you go to your world, and now you’re in mine. Tomorrow when you wake up, though, you’ll be back in your own universe. Do you understand? You’ll be home.”

Kacchan watched Izuku’s mouth as he spoke, his brows furrowed in thought. Izuku began to despair that this Kacchan actually didn’t understand, but then Kacchan split into another one of those bright smiles. Then he grabbed Izuku’s head and rubbed his cheek on Izuku’s, first one side then the other.

“So, you understand?” Izuku asked, once Kacchan let go after that weird… cheek-nuzzle thing. “You’ll be home tomorrow?”

Kacchan nodded, then patted Izuku’s chest. “Are you asking if I’ll be there?” At Kacchan’s nod Izuku continued. “Well, if I’m normally with you, then sure, I’ll be back home with you, too.”

Kacchan wiggled happily, and Izuku couldn’t help but smile back. If only every other Kacchan was as easily to make happy.

It was Sunday, so he was able to spend the full day with Kacchan at the very least, so after breakfast that Kacchan practically inhaled like it had been days since he’d last eaten, Izuku took him for a walk. It took Kacchan a few minutes to really get the hang of walking without Izuku clinging to him, but as soon as he did he started walking just as easily as the regular Kacchan did. Which only just asked questions that Kacchan, who still hadn’t said a word, wasn’t going to answer.

This version seemed somehow more amazed by the garden than the one that claimed to be a dog, though much more well-behaved. He froze at the entrance to the garden, eyes wide. When Izuku gently guided him inside and to a bench so that he could take things in, he just stared around him, barely blinking as he took in the wealth of flora around them. When he seemed to adapt to the sight of them, Izuku led him slowly in a circuit around the garden.

“Here,” he said at one point, gesturing to a flowering vine-covered archway. “Smell them. They smell nice.” He demonstrated for Kacchan, cupping his hands around a bloom and inhaling their delicate scent. Kacchan watched him carefully, then mimicked the action, his hands so gentle around the flower that it was like he was holding the most delicate of eggshells. As he inhaled he closed his eyes, fine eyelashes brushing against the curve of his cheek. Then he smiled, those lashes fluttering as he opened them. He was still smiling when he turned back to Izuku.

“Smells nice, don’t they?” Izuku asked through a lump in his throat.

Kacchan hummed under his breath, the first real noise he made, and his smile grew just a little wider. Then he paused, eyes growing wide, and he pushed past Izuku to crouch down by the corner of the courtyard.

Kacchan found the small koi pond, and was watching the fish swim in their lazy circuits with narrowed, intense eyes. As Izuku settled himself down next to him, Kacchan cut his gaze over to him before focusing back on the fish. “Yum?” Kacchan asked.

Izuku couldn’t help but startle. It was the first word Kacchan had said all day, and it was to… ask if the fish were good to eat? Just what was this Kacchan?

“Ah, no,” Izuku said. “I heard somewhere that koi are actually really bony and don’t have a lot of meat on them, so they’re terrible to eat and are just for decoration. You know, so people can look at them, and feel relaxed watching them.” He realized just what he was saying and blushed, hastening to add, “N-not that you should eat them anyway! They belong to the hospital and it’d be rude to eat their koi even if they were good to eat!”

Kacchan was watching Izuku again, with an expression like… he was amused? But only slightly, a small curve to his lips.

“Mm,” Kacchan hummed, glancing back at the fish. “Gross,” he determined.

“Yeah,” Izuku agreed helplessly. “Gross.”

_*_

They stayed in the courtyard for a good portion of the day, mostly because since Kacchan realized how nice the flowers smelled he insisted at stopping at every new type to sniff at them. He also tried a couple leaves, but seemed so down at their near lack of interesting scent that Izuku made the mistake of showing him a cluster of mint. Then they had to start over again so that Kacchan could sniff the leaves.

Thankfully, he seemed completely uninterested in eating any of them, which Izuku was worried about at first.

By the time they’d made two full circuits of the courtyard, Izuku could tell Kacchan was starting to get tired, so he led them back up to Kacchan’s room and, out of the lack of anything else he could think of doing trapped in a hospital with a mostly-nonverbal Kacchan, put on a nature documentary. He figured it would be safe enough, no matter what this Kacchan’s history was.

He only sat on the edge of the bed long enough to grab the remote and set the channel, but the second he did Kacchan was immediately at his side, arms and legs wrapped around him, happy nonsense mumbles under his breath. Izuku froze, not sure what to do. This Kacchan certainly was… affectionate, right? He liked to cuddle? That was all, right?

A gasp from Kacchan brought Izuku out of the slightly-panicked mindset he’d been coasting in ever since Kacchan wormed his way to his side. Izuku blinked down at him to see Kacchan staring at the TV, eyes wide as saucers. Izuku looked at the TV, but it was just a documentary on Japanese waterways, focusing on a wide river. Kacchan seemed enthralled by it, though - staring at the screen with his eyes wide. Izuku froze, not sure what to do for this Kacchan. Before he could say or do anything Kacchan was flailing, arms and legs thrashing as he pulled himself out of the bed. He only stumbled a couple times as he approached the TV, Izuku already out of the bed himself and two steps behind him.

He didn’t know what Kacchan was going to do once he got to the TV, but he only stopped right in front of it, face just inches away. Then, slowly, he reached out to touch the screen with one shaking hand.

After a moment of watching Kacchan, Izuku asked, voice hushed, “What is it, Kacchan?”

Kacchan’s mouth worked a couple times, testingly, then, looking at Izuku with shining eyes he said, “Home.”

Izuku looked between Kacchan and the video of the river. “Home?” he echoed.

Kacchan nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Home. Now?”

That expression on Kacchan’s face, the longing in his eyes… it nearly broke Izuku’s heart. He wanted to help him, he wanted to give Kacchan what he wanted, but he couldn’t. He could only hope that when this Kacchan got back to his own universe his own Izuku could help him.

“I’m sorry,” Izuku sighed, trying not to let the expression of disappointment on Kacchan’s face get to him too much. “I can’t. Not… right now.” He couldn’t make any promises for an Izuku that he didn’t know, Izuku told himself. No matter how pathetic Kacchan’s puppy-dog eyes could be. “Tomorrow, like I said.”

“Come on, Kacchan,” Izuku said, tugging at Kacchan’s wrist. “Let’s lay back down. We can keep watching this if you want.”

Kacchan let out a long, lingering sigh, but let himself be tugged back to the bed. He didn’t let Izuku sit on the chair next to the bed, however; tugging on Izuku’s own hand until Izuku was on the bed as well, shoulder-to-shoulder in a bed that barely fit one.

They continued watching the documentary, with only the occasional interjection from Kacchan, who seemed to be getting more and more comfortable talking as it continued. No full sentences, but a scene with rainbowfish got an enthusiastic “Yum!” from Kacchan. A shot of a commercial fishing ship got a snarl from him, and he tensed up until the ship was no longer on screen. Even then it took him a moment to fully calm down.

Izuku still had no idea what was the story behind this Kacchan, but he was starting to get a few theories. The prevailing one was that he was some sort of cat that lived off the river, but the fact that he was so different from the dog was throwing him. This version of him seemed a lot more introspective than the dog, who was so much more open with his thoughts.

Eventually, Kacchan grumbled as he wrapped his arms around Izuku, his legs moving restlessly until he found a position he seemed to be comfortable, one hooked over Izuku’s leg.

“Oh,” Izuku said, flushing a little at the proximity. “Just wanting to, um, cuddle?”

Kacchan didn’t answer, just shifted some more, his arms tightening around Izuku. He buried his face into the length of Izuku’s neck, huffing out a hot breath against the column of Izuku’s neck.

He was just being affectionate, Izuku told himself. He was just wanting… to cuddle. Or something.

Then he realized that the motions of Kacchan’s hips were becoming a little less random; were, in fact, becoming very rhythmic and purposeful and he could feel Kacchan’s-

“OKAY!” Izuku yelped, hopping out of the bed, feeling his face burning hot enough he was honestly a little surprised that it wasn’t on fire. “It’s getting late, you should probably be getting to sleep, Kacchan!”

Kacchan narrowed his eyes at Izuku, irritation written over his face. Then he scowled and reached down to rub between his legs and that’s when Izuku turned around to grab his school bag.

“Okay, looks like you’re good for the night!” Izuku said. “I’ll let you, um. Anyway, good night Kacchan, I’ll see you in the morning!”

He slammed the door behind him, just knowing his face was red as a tomato.

Well.

That was unexpected.

-FLIP-

The truck hit a pothole hard enough that Izuku had a heart-stopping moment where he swore something broke. When the truck continued on unharmed he slowly let out the breath he wasn’t aware he’d been holding, forcing himself to relax the death grip he had on the edge of the kiddie pool they’d squeezed into the back of the truck. Sure, there were better ways to transport a nearly-grown male merfolk, but they were limited on time and resources. And legality.

A fact that at least one of their number was all too willing to bemoan from his place in the driver’s seat.

“Oh, we’re so fired, we’re fired,” Kaminari moaned even as he pushed the speed limit down the freeway. “I’m so fired I’m never getting a job again. Any potential employers are going to fire me before they even hire me.”

“Please calm down,” Uraraka tried to soothe him. She had one hand on Kaminari’s shoulder, though most of her attention was split between the gps and the rear-view mirrors. “What’s done is done. Let’s just finish this and we can worry about our jobs later.”

Former jobs, Izuku mentally corrected. They were all fired from their respective jobs as Hosu Zoo and Aquarium. He could only satisfy himself that it was for a good reason.

Said reason was looking up at Izuku from where he was curled up in the far-too-small kiddie pool squeezed into the back of the truck.

Kacchan had both clawed hands clenched on the plastic sides as he tried to keep himself from sloshing around in the water with every lurch and sway of the truck, his eyes wide as they looked around and, occasionally, at Izuku. He was a picture of stress - his sides were banded dark, his usually vibrant scales pale, and all his fins clenched tight to his body. It hurt to look at him, and all Izuku could do to reassure them both was to repeat that it was only temporary. Sure, there were better methods to transport him, but everything required more people and more time than they had.

Kirishima peeled off his gloves and tossed them aside with a wet thwap after looking around for a good place to dispose of them and found him lacking. There was a small, barely-bleeding notch at the base of Kacchan’s left pelvic fin where a tracker had been inserted years ago. It was designed to track his movements after his re-release into the wild, but when that date was pushed back, then pushed back, then eventually forgotten it was forgotten by most. Except for Izuku, who looked at the tracker with a pursed mouth before tossing it out the window.

“This is a terrible idea,” Kirishima muttered from his spot across the pool. He looked miserable, soaked and shivering in the cool air, like everyone else in the truck. “The last time he was in a wild environment he was a kid, Midoriya. He doesn’t have any of the skills to survive in the wild.”

“Kacchan is smart,” Izuku countered. “He’s hunted smaller fish in his enclosure before. He knows how to hide from people if he wants to. He’ll be fine.”

“You can’t know that,” Kirishima stressed. “What we’re doing here… How do you know we aren’t just dooming him to a slow, painful death?”

“We don’t,” Izuku snapped. “There’s no telling what will happen to him, okay? I know that! But I also know that he’s far too intelligent, far too human to just… keep him locked up in a tank for the rest of his life, okay?”

Kirishima glared at him for a moment before sighing, turning his head away to look down at the merfolk they were smuggling. “If I disagreed with you I wouldn’t have agreed to help you out,” he admitted. “I just wish there was some sort of… halfway point between shipping him off to the US or dumping him in the closest river and hope for the best.”

“There isn’t,” Izuku said, though his tone was a lot less aggressive since Kirishima was no longer sounding like he was having second thoughts. “They’re already planning on live-streaming his transfer for paid subscribers. They’re not going to let him go free if they can make money off of him.”

"It's not entirely out of greed, Midoriya," Kirishima pointed out. Izuku bit back his first instinctive response because he was right - ever since Kacchan came to the zoo attendance skyrocketed. With the increase in revenue the zoo was able to update the entire aquarium and several other horribly dated exhibits, and was able to bring in specialists who benefited the animals under their care.

But it was all at Kacchan's expense, and Izuku couldn't stand by and participate in his exploitation anymore.

"No," he said, barely audible over the sound of the truck and the sloshing of the pool. "But that doesn't matter."

Kirishima either didn't have anything to say to that or he just knew it was useless to argue with him, because he just shook his head and turned to stare out of the window.

"Alright," Kaminari said after a while, breaking the silence from the rest of them. "That's our exit. After that it's going to get real bumpy, so hold on and don't puke on the fish."

"Not funny, man," Kirishima said, already starting to look a little green at just the thought.

'Bumpy' was an understatement. More water sloshed out of the pool as the truck slowed on the off ramp, then as Kaminari took a tiny dirt road the shaking and jerking of the truck made even normally gentle- natured Kacchan hissed and smacked his tail as best he could, flinging water even up to the front seats.

"Over there," Uraraka said, pointing to the gap in the trees. "I saw that spot earlier today, you can just back the truck right up to the water."

Kaminari maneuvered the truck where she pointed it and backed up. Izuku knew the exact moment he was backing up onto the riverbank because the slope tilted the pool, causing even more water to slosh out and making Kacchan bunch up against the side.

"Fuck," Kaminari said when he opened the hatch. "Is there even any water left in the pool?"

"An inch or two," Kirishima said, clambering out of the truck out the hatch, Izuku following. “Okay, how are we getting him out?” Kirishima asked.

It ended up being a useless question, because the second Kacchan seemed to realize where they were and what was waiting for him outside the truck he just exploded in movement. He practically hurled himself out the door, arms flailing for grip and tail thrashing behind him. All four humans leapt into action to keep Kacchan from falling out of the truck headfirst, resulting in their own heads coming close to knocking together, and arms wrapping around Kacchan and his sharp scales prickling at their skin before he wiggled loose to land with a splat on the muddy bank.

Once free from the humans he froze, hands squishing at the mud with an expression of fascinated disgust. They all backed away to give him room in case he decided to bolt for the river, but he just looked at them curiously before turning back to the river, expression focused on the water but otherwise unmoving.

Kirishima clapped Izuku on the shoulder. "We'll be in the truck," he said. "But we can't stay long."

Izuku nodded, but couldn't tear his gaze away from Kacchan. "Got it," he said around the lump in his throat.

Kaminari patted Izuku's shoulder as he passed, Uraraka gave him a little one-armed hug, but Izuku didn't move until he heard the thud of the doors and back hatch close. When he did, it was to crouch next to Kacchan, barely noticing the cold mud seep into his already soaked jeans.

“Kacchan,” Izuku started, cupping his hands on either side of Kacchan’s face and closing his eyes when he couldn’t look Kacchan in the eye any longer himself. “You’re going to be free now, okay? This stream leads into one of the largest rivers in Japan. From there you can go wherever you want, establish a territory. There’s even been sightings of other merfolk in the river lately, so you might even meet your own people. But there’s one thing that you absolutely, cannot ever do.” He opened his eyes to make sure Kacchan was seeing him, was listening and understanding his words. Kacchan watched him back with those stunning carmine eyes, and Izuku was comforted by the intelligence he could see in their depths. “You cannot ever, ever, approach any humans ever again, alright? Not even if it's someone you know."

Especially if it was someone he knew, Izuku wanted to stay, but bit his tongue. It was already a lot to stay to Kacchan when he was still unsure how much he really understood. Most people assumed that merfolk, like African Grey parrots, had the intelligence of a young child, but Izuku wondered.

His breath caught when a cold hand slid around his wrist and tugged, Kacchan holding his hand just under his throat. Kacchan looked hard at Izuku, making sure that Izuku was looking back at him, before looking pointedly at the river and back.

"I can't," Izuku said, his voice wet as he fought back the tears that wanted so desperately to take over. "I can't survive in the river like you can."

Kacchan’s expression hinted that he doubted that. Nevertheless he gave Izuku's hand a short squeeze before letting go.

Izuku wanted to grab that hand back. He wanted to bundle Kacchan back into that truck and take him home where he could live in his bathtub no matter how stupid of an idea that was.

Instead he stood up, and stepped away from Kacchan. He would be happier free, he told himself. It was where he belonged.

Still, it hurt when Kacchan looked back at Izuku, then back at the water. Then he stopped looking away from the water, and pulled himself with single minded determination down the bank towards the river.

Izuku watched as Kacchan slipped into the water, the combination of quick-flowing water and the darkness of night meaning that he completely disappeared as soon as the filmy tail of his fluke entered the inky black river.

He watched, but no matter how hard he looked, no matter how hard he strained his eyes, he couldn’t catch a glimpse of either spiky hair or a flicker of a fin.

Eventually he stopped looking, and when he climbed up the bank of the river back towards the truck he didn’t look back.

Day 7

(CW: This chapter deals with the zombie apocalypse AU version of Katsuki. It deals with the same topics as Chapter 7, with a bit more discussion of off-screen character deaths, and an illusion to suicide that is immediately dismissed as an option. With that knowledge in mind, if you need to skip this chapter please ctrl + f Day 8 )

The next day when Kacchan woke he jerked up in bed and pressed himself against the wall, looking around with wide eyes, panic and confusion stronger than anything he’d ever seen in Kacchan written across his face.

“Kacchan!” Izuku said, not sure if he should get closer or back off. “It’s okay! It’s okay,” he said again, when Katsuki’s panicked gaze met his own eyes. He reached out with both hands, trying to send as many calming vibes with his gestures and body language as possible. He didn’t want to think about what this Kacchan was going through in order to get such a sudden panic response as soon as he woke up.

But Kacchan wasn’t looking at him anymore, or at least not his face. He was looking at his hands. “I’m dreaming,” he said, under his breath. “I’m fuckin’ dreaming.”

“You’re not,” Izuku said, trying to keep his voice calm in the face of Kacchan’s… fear? Panic? “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Kacchan, still looking at Izuku's hands, said, "We were in our safe room. You said you'd take first watch, so I went to sleep first." With that he looked up at Izuku. "Bastard, you said you'd wake me up for my own shift. Though…" his expression fell from irritation to a sort of confused helplessness. "That… wasn't you, was it?"

"No," Izuku admitted, softly. "You are in a different universe from the one you know. My Kacchan was hit by a quirk that sent his consciousness into another body. Right now he'll be in your body, and tomorrow you'll be back in your own."

“So then," Kacchan started. "You’re… real?” Kacchan said, and something in his voice, the way it caught, made Izuku have to blink back sudden tears. “This is all real?”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded. “It’s… a reality, at least?”

"Yeah," Kacchan said. His voice still sounded distant, like he was still not quite there.

When Izuku's alarm went off, making them both jump. Kacchan a little more than Izuku, who practically leapt off the bed.

"I need to get to class," Izuku said, blushing as he silenced his alarm.

"Class," Kacchan repeated tonelessly. He was still breathing hard from being startled, his hands curled and ready to blast. He lowered his hands, licked his lips, asked, "What are you studying?"

Izuku felt foolish, even though he didn't quite understand why. Still, he answered, "We're going over a Stephen King short story in Present Mic’s class. And there's going to be a new practical exercise with All Might."

"A Stephen King short story," Kacchan repeated. Izuku was starting to get concerned about the number of times he repeated things Izuku said. Then he kicked his lips, a nervous habit that Izuku never saw from him before. "Horror is fun, huh?" He gave a sick little smile. "Go enjoy your Stephen King, nerd."

Izuku pressed his lips together. "Are you going to be okay while I'm gone?" Izuku asked.

"I'll live," Kacchan said. "Go. Have fun. Read Stephen King."

Feeling irrationally like a child, Izuku went.

_*_

When Izuku got back to Kacchan’s room, the first thing the other boy said the second he saw Izuku was, “I want to talk to my parents.”

Izuku blinked, thrown by the demand. “I think they might be at work-” Izuku started. Kacchan gestured sharply, cutting his hand through the air as if he was physically cutting off any protestations.

“I don’t care,” he said. “I want to talk to them. Now.”

“Okay,” Izuku said, fumbling out his phone. He stared at his contacts list - he had the Bakugous numbers saved just in case, and he wasn’t entirely sure who to call. Mitsuki generally had more free time during her job so she’d probably be the easiest one to get a hold of, but Masaru was so much more relaxed and Kacchan probably didn’t need to be butting heads with his mom at that moment. Oh, but it was already a little later in the day, so maybe they were both home, or on their way home, so-

Kacchan made an impatient noise and Izuku immediately pressed the number to open a video call with Mitsuki.

The phone only rang a couple times before Mitsuki answered. “Izuku-kun?” She asked. “What’s going on? Is Katsuki okay?”

Izuku heard Katsuki gasp, and when he looked up from his phone it was to see Kacchan staring at it, his face bloodlessly pale, his eyes wet. “Mom?” Kacchan said, voice small, and so young.

“What?” Mitsuki asked, a note of panic creeping into her voice. “Izuku-kun, is that Katsuki? What’s going on, kid?”

“Kacchan wanted to speak with you,” Izuku said, handing over the phone to Kacchan without looking down at it.

Kacchan’s hand was shaking when he lifted it up, and when he saw the face of his mom on his screen he immediately burst into tears.

“I’m… going outside,” Izuku said, though he was pretty sure neither Kacchan nor his mom heard him.

_*_

Kacchan found him on the hospital roof. It was actually designed as a place where patients and staff could go and get some fresh air, with plenty of safety railings and fencing surrounding the edge to keep people safe, and comfortable lounges and even a covered propane fire pit. Izuku had to wonder who was having parties on the roof of the hospital, which was a much better thing to wonder about than what Kacchan and his mom were talking about.

“I wasn’t sure until I saw her face if this was real,” Kacchan said, handing Izuku’s phone over. “It just… it all feels like a dream to me. And I’m not sure if I want to wake up from it.”

That… didn’t sound good at all.

“Are you going to be okay when you get back?” he asked.

Kacchan let out a humorless laugh. “I don’t think I can ever really be okay again,” he admitted. “But I don’t think you need to worry about whatever you’re thinking of. I’ll be okay until I’m not. That’s just how it’s going to have to be.”

“In Present Mic’s class," Kacchan said, looking off at the tiny forms of people walking by. "A least in my universe, we covered some songs in English. Specifically ones where people tend to remember the chorus or particular lyrics, but forget the rest of the song. What happens in those cases is that a lot of the time, people think a song is about something when it’s actually completely different. One song we went over, during the chorus the guy who was singing it talked about how he loved someone and how they made him happy, and how he hoped they will be with him forever. Then you listen to the whole song, and you find out that the person was long gone, but he couldn’t get over his own feelings to realize that they didn’t love him, probably never loved him, and he was just begging for someone to stay with him when he should just say goodbye and get on with his life. But all everyone knows is the chorus, so they think it’s a sweet love song and not a song about some stupid asshole who didn’t know when to let someone go.”

Silence descended on them, broken only by the sounds that occasionally drifted up to where they watched everyone pass.

“I don’t know why I’m telling you that,” Kacchan said. “It’s just been on my mind.”

“I don’t know either,” Izuku admitted. “It’s a little weird.”

Kacchan let out a little huffing laugh, and then they both stood for another long silence.

“They’re all dead,” Kacchan eventually said, looking out over the campus, eyes tracking the other students as they walked.

Izuku couldn’t have heard that right. “What was that?” he asked, hoping beyond hope that he did.

Kacchan gestured at the crowd, a limp, helpless gesture that Izuku had never seen from him. His heart clenched in his chest at the sight, and he had to tell himself that this still wasn’t the Kacchan he knew and loved, that this one was essentially a stranger to him.

“A plague ripped through my universe,” Kacchan said. His eyes were wide, seeing something other than the bright late-summer day. “By the time people realized how bad it really was, it was too late to stop it from spreading. We watched on TV as pro Heroes tried to stop them and they just kept coming.” He blinked, seeming to come back to himself, looking at Deku again with wide eyes, and he twisted to look behind him towards the building they’d left. “I need to tell them. There’s a chance it could happen here, it might have already started, I need to warn someone! There’s things you have to know about how it spreads, where it came from, it can’t happen here, too!”

"We can call someone," Izuku said, grabbing Kacchan's arm and rubbing it, trying to calm him down but unsure if it even worked. "Aizawa-sensei, probably. I know he might know someone who might know something if it is a problem this universe might have to deal with."

Kacchan swallowed, but nodded.

Izuku pulled out his phone, and began to call Aizawa.

_*_

Aizawa came to the hospital a few hours later. It was already well past nightfall and getting on towards curfew, but Izuku couldn’t find it in himself to care. He had to stay by Kacchan.

When the door opened they were both sitting shoulder-to-shoulder on the bed, watching some kid’s anime that even Deku could barely find any redeeming value in other than it was bright and colorful and nothing in it would set off Kacchan’s anxiety. They were both pretending that the ramen that was brought up for Kacchan’s lunch didn’t send him to tears at the sight of fresh meat and eggs.

A lot of things did, Izuku found out. He didn't realize just how bad it was until Kacchan admitted that the only reason he was okay being in the hospital room was because the window could be easily broken if he had to make a quick getaway.

They both sat up straighter when Aizawa entered the room, Izuku practically springing up, Kacchan a little more lazily, though Izuku felt the tension in his arms.

Aizawa handed a file over to Kacchan.

"There was a lab in Daruda a few months back that had a minor outbreak of an unknown virus," Aizawa said, as Kacchan looked through the files. "The virus was highly mutable, and very dangerous. However, the outbreak was quickly contained, and any samples of the virus were destroyed. Does any of that sound familiar?"

"The lab in Daruda, yeah," Kacchan said, looking through the file. "But it wasn't contained."

"In your universe, no," Aizawa said gently. "On this one, the outbreak never got further than a couple people, and never spread."

Kacchan stared at the files for a few tense minutes, reading the notes. Eventually he sighed, closing the file gently, almost reverently.

"Some idiot made a mistake in my universe," Kacchan said. "And ended up dooming us all. My world is fucked. But at least this one is fine."

"I'm sorry," Izuku breathed.

Kacchan pursed his lips. "For what? None of it is your fault."

"That your world is like that," Izuku said. “That you can’t stay here.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kacchan said, eyes still on the closed file. “Doesn’t that mean that your version won’t ever come back? Besides,” he added, setting the file down on the bedside table. “I have my own Deku with me. We do okay for ourselves. Most of the time.”

“I’ll leave you two for the night,” Aizawa said. Then, looking at Deku, said, “Take your time if you need to.” Turning towards Kacchan said, “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, too.”

Kacchan huffed and looked away, but Izuku could still catch how his eyes shone in the dim light. Izuku couldn’t help himself anymore - he reached out and grasped Kacchan’s hand where it was between them on the bed. Kacchan jumped a little, a full-body flinch, but before Izuku could pull his own hand away Kacchan’s hand quickly turned and held Izuku’s tight. Kacchan was still turned away, Izuku could still no longer see his face, but the tremors in his body told the whole story.

Eventually it got late, and even shitty TV couldn’t keep their eyes open. Kacchan was sure he wasn’t going to sleep very soon.

"Every time I close my eyes I just see them," Kacchan said. “My parents. I had to kill them, you know. I went home and they were both there. I saw our classmates in the hoard; even Kirishima ended up breaking. Before the internet died there were pictures of Pro Heroes just as shambling corpses spread around. People we thought were invincible.” Quieter, he added, “It’s really hard to sleep, anymore.”

“You’re safe here,” Izuku whispered, still holding Kacchan’s hand warm and dry in his.

“And tomorrow?” Kacchan asked. “And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow?”

Izuku couldn’t say anything back.

Despite Kacchan’s words, he was able to eventually fall asleep. It took even longer for Izuku to pull his hand away and slip out of the door. He couldn’t remember walking from the hospital to his dorm.

When Izuku got back into his room he threw the notebook in the garbage.

-FLIP-

“Why didn’t you wake me for my shift?” Katsuki asked, glaring at Deku from across the table. He woke up to see Deku sitting at the table, sipping some shitty instant coffee and watching Katsuki sleep with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You took first shift,” Deku said, though there was a note of teasing in his voice. “At least, until you fell asleep during it.”

“Fuck you, I didn’t fall asleep,” he sneered, even as he figured that might have happened, what with the switch apparently rolling over at midnight.

“Of course,” Deku said, still smiling that half-smile that became the closest to a real smile he ever got to these days. “I’ll just ignore the fact that I woke up early to see you snoring away and drooling in your book.”

“I wasn’t drooling!” Katsuki snapped. “You wanna fight me over this, shitty Deku!”

Deku ducked his head, his shoulders lurching. Katsuki immediately tensed up, fear arching through his veins. “...Deku?” he asked, voice tiny. His hands curved into fists, ready to react. It was two days since he’d checked Izuku’s dressing, since he checked on the healing wound on Deku’s terminated arm. 24 hours was such a short period of time, anything could have happened, and he wasn’t there, he was in some other, idyllic, soft world, while some ignorant version of himself who didn’t know how to properly watch over Deku was in his place, and what could have happened-

Deku raised his head, and he was laughing. Not out loud, but his cheeks were red and his eyes were streaming as he let out silent laughter. Katsuki could only stare, speechless, as Deku kept laughing. His eyes began to stream, tears leaking down his cheeks as he continued to laugh.

“It’s not that damn funny,” Katsuki groused, though he felt a smile tugging at his lips.

“It’s not,” Deku agreed. “It’s really not.” Still, he was grinning.

Katsuki sighed and leaned back. It was good to see Deku smile. It had been so long since he’d seen Izuku just… smile so brightly, laugh with such unrestraint. It was good.

“It’s my turn to make breakfast, right?” Katsuki asked.

“If you think you can manage it without taking a nap,” Deku grinned.

“You’re getting a fuckin’ attitude, nerd,” Katsuki said, but started gathering up the supplies he needed.

“What can I say,” Deku said, grinning. “I learned it from the best.”

Katsuki rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but let a small smile loose.

Maybe the world was fucked, and Izuku was missing a chunk of himself, but they’ll be fine.

As long as they stayed together, they would be.

Chapter Text

Day 8

The next day when Izuku showed up at the hospital, Kacchan was still asleep. Reminded of the previous day, where Kacchan woke up confused and afraid, Izuku took his usual place next to the bed and checked over his class notes, half an eye on Kacchan.

When Kacchan did awake, he did so with a gasp so hard that his back arched off the bed, his eyes shooting open.

Izuku leapt to his feet, not hesitating before he grabbed Kacchan by the shoulders, holding him still as Kacchan heaved in gasping breaths. He’d never seen the expression on Kacchan’s face; he looked terrified, confused, his eyes darting back and forth before locking on Izuku’s for several frantic heart beats before rolling back.

“Kacchan!” Izuku yelped, freeing one hand to fumble for the call button. As far as he knew, nobody needed it all week, so it was sitting forgotten at the side of the bed. “Please calm down,” Izuku begged, even as he mashed the button. “You’re okay! You’re safe!” He hoped. He had no idea what this Kacchan was going through before he woke up in this universe. Could it even be a different Kacchan, actually? There was no way to tell, at least not yet.

“I am experiencing multiple input errors,” Kacchan gasped, eyes back to darting. He still wasn’t breathing properly, though by then he was taking small, gasping breaths, his face turning an alarming red. Tears began to leak from the corners of his eyes, travelling down his temples and disappearing into his hair. “I cannot sort and filter inputs by priority.”

Izuku couldn’t keep watching Kacchan suffer. He reached out and grabbed one of Kacchan’s hands, holding tight even as the other boy flinched hard. Izuku rubbed his thumb over Kacchan’s knuckles, an action that made Kacchan stare at his hand with laser focused intensity, though he was still giving those little gasps of breath, his eyes still leaking tears.

“It’s okay,” Izuku said. “Just concentrate on my voice for now, okay? Listen to my voice and just breathe.”

Kacchan shook his head, a short, jerky movement. “Impossible,” he said, and before Izuku could ask why, he continued. “This unit cannot breathe. Breathing is a biological function of humans and other organisms.”

Kacchan said ‘humans,’ so this implied that this one was another non-human Kacchan. But the words ‘other organisms’ and ‘unit’ made him pause and then carefully ask, “And what are you?”

“Unit No. 00009,” Kacchan said. “Nicknamed Bakugou Katsuki. This unit has been created as a joint project by students Midoriya Izuku and Hatsume Mei, under the guidance of professor Maijima Higari as an experiment in creating an artificial humanoid. With a variant of deep learning techniques, the goal is to create an android of significant humanlike behaviors and thought patterns as to be indistinguishable in conversation to an actual human.”

That was… a lot to take in.

Though thankfully getting his mind off of his panic seemed to be helping Kacchan, because when the nurse finally arrived, Kacchan was breathing a little more steadily, and he seemed to be actually focusing every now and then before something else would catch his attention.

“What’s going on here?” she asked, looking between Kacchan, where he was still laying flat on the bed, and Izuku, who had one hand on Kacchan’s shoulder, the other still rubbing soothing circles with his thumb on the back of Kacchan’s hand. She was the nurse that seemed to be primarily assigned to Kacchan - she was usually the one that usually came whenever Kacchan needed anything. Izuku made a note to catch her name - it was embarrassing that he was so focused on Kacchan that he wasn’t paying much attention to the people who were actually taking care of him.

“Kacchan was panicking,” Izuku explained, trying to keep his tone even as he relayed the relevant information, thinking about what they were taught on how to deal with situations that required medical professionals. Stay calm, state information about the patient in order of importance, and make sure the patient is secure. “He says he’s a robot,” he added, tone heavy with meaning. Not many people knew what was happening with Kacchan, Izuku knew, but everyone directly involved with his care did. Therefore, this nurse knew exactly what Izuku meant.

If Kacchan was used to a robotic body, how confusing must it be to be in one that was flesh and blood?

She seemed to get his meaning, because she nodded and moved over to Kacchan, who was now looking between her and Izuku with eyes that were just growing wider and more panicked.

“Hello there, Katsuki-kun,” she said softly, soothingly. “Can you tell me what you’re feeling right now?”

Kacchan nodded, a short, sharp motion, and his throat pulsed right before gave a cough. “Yes,” he said. “I’m receiving multiple sensory inputs and cannot filter them by priority. It is overwhelming my ability to process incoming signals.”

“I see,” she said. “Then let’s see if we can get rid of some of those signals, okay? Midoriya-kun, can you close the blinds and turn off the lights? We’ll see if that helps him any.”

Izuku nodded, but when he went to pull away Kacchan tightened his grip on Izuku’s hand, stopping him in place. Izuku froze, half off the bed, and when he looked at Kacchan he was just staring at where he was holding Izuku’s hand in a white-knuckled grip, an expression of such confusion on his face that it was almost comedic if not for the fact that it was Kacchan.

“You can stay there, Midoriya-kun,” the nurse said, smiling at Izuku, who just looked back at her with wide-eyes and red cheeks. “It looks like you’re needed right where you are.”

As Izuku settled himself more properly on the bed, the nurse closed the blinds on the window and turned off the light. There were still small emergency lights on, and a faint glow around the closed door where light peeked through the gaps, but it was dark enough that Izuku could barely pick out Kacchan just on the other side of the bed. Izuku could feel Kacchan’s hand relax its grip marginally.

“Okay, Bakugou-kun,” the nurse said, taking Izuku’s abandoned seat. “Is that any better?”

After a moment of quiet broken only by his uneven breaths, Kacchan said, "Yes. I can concentrate better now that there’s less sensory input. Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” the nurse said. “Now that that’s taken care of, how about we try and get your breathing a little more under control?”

“I do not understand,” Kacchan said, a note of frustration creeping into his voice. Izuku squeezed his hand, feeling Kacchan squeeze it back in response. “Breathing is a function of biological organisms. This is… an autonomic action that I cannot control.”

“Hm,” the nurse hummed. In the thin light, Izuku could see her take his usual seat next to the bed. “Okay, then, how about this? Midoriya-kun, press his hand against your chest and take deep, steady breaths. Bakugou-kun, you copy Midoriya-kun, and we’ll see if that helps. If not, we’ll try something else to make you more comfortable.”

Thankful for the darkness in the room, Izuku swallowed and did as she asked, taking the deep breaths that she recommended. With his hand still on Kacchan’s shoulder he could feel him copy Izuku, the slow expansion of his chest followed by a deflation. Slowly, those gasping breaths faded to something more approximating natural breathing on his own.

“That’s it,” the nurse murmured. “You seem to be getting the hang of it.”

“Yes,” Kacchan said, his breathing breaking from Izuku’s pattern to his own but remaining calm. “It seems like I knew how to… breathe after all. Strange. Is this a new program?” The question was posed to Izuku, who let Kacchan’s hand fall from his chest as he mulled over how to answer that question.

“I’ll let you answer that,” the nurse said to Izuku, rising to her feet. “If you have any other issues, just let me know, you two, okay? My name is Setsuko.”

“Thank you, Setsuko,” Izuku said, scribing her name to his memory. She patted his shoulder as she passed, and both Izuku and Kacchan flinched at the sudden bright light as she opened the door even though she only had it opened long enough for her to squeeze through to the other side.

Izuku and Kacchan sat on the thin hospital bed for a few moments in silence in the dark as Izuku’s mind whirled with how to explain everything to a robot in a human form. Kacchan waited in uncanny silence for Izuku to gather his thoughts, displaying a patience that was so strange to Izuku.

“You’re probably wondering what’s going on,” Izuku started, slowly.

“Yes,” Kacchan said. “I’m often provided with instructional logs whenever new files or programs are added to my systems, if not verbally pre-warned about them. I believe the relevant data is missing. Everything is… very strange.”

“Yeah…” Izuku trailed off. He bit his lip, and finally asked, “What do you know about quirks?”

“Quirks?” Kacchan echoed. “A quirk is an anomaly, usually a harmless facet of someone’s personality or a habit.”

“Ah,” Izuku said. Apparently this Kacchan came from a universe without quirks. That would make things harder to explain. “Here, a quirk is a special ability a person has that makes them different from others. An alternative version of you, a human version, was hit with an ability that sent his consciousness to an alternate dimension. Your dimension. Right now you’re in his body, but only until midnight tonight.”

“That’s impossible,” Kacchan said. “Travel to alternative dimensions is a concept that exists only in fiction. The concept of alternative dimensions exists only in theory - a single person having an ability to send the consciousness of one person to another universe is impossible. And yet,” Kacchan added, looking down at his own body, at his free hand where it lay twitching in his lap. “That is the only feasible explanation I have for my current situation. Right now, I’m a human.”

“Yeah,” Izuku nodded. “You are.” He licked his lips nervously, and, worried about Kacchan having another attack like he’d had before, added, “Are you okay with that?”

“I think I have to be,” Kacchan said simply. “I don’t have any information on how to react to this situation, so I must accept things as they are for now, Midoriya Izuku.”

Izuku blinked. He wasn’t expecting such simple acceptance of his situation, but there it was. But even as he processed Kacchan’s statement, Kacchan frowned, an expression that Izuku could only barely notice since his eyes adapted to the dim lighting. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Kacchan’s mouth worked for a moment before he finally admitted, “I believe I have vague memories of my… host?” he supplied. “The name Midoriya Izuku sounds wrong. My host prefers the name ‘Deku,’ even if it’s the wrong way to read your name.”

Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “That sounds right,” he said. “It’s okay, you have my permission to call me that. That’s what Kacchan has called me ever since we were kids,” he added. It used to hurt, but now it had become such a part of his identity that it sounded weird for Kacchan to call him anything else.

Kacchan nodded. “Alright then, Deku,” he said. “I will endeavor to call you that from now on.”

Izuku’s alarm rang out, making Kacchan startle like a cat- his hand wrenching out of Izuku’s grip and the bed shaking as Kacchan jumped.

“It’s okay!” Izuku yelped even as he fumbled to turn off the alarm. He tried to pat Kacchan’s arm soothingly with his off hand even as he turned off his phone, but he missed in the darkness and just sort of awkwardly rubbed at Kacchan’s side. “It’s just my phone! I have to go to class now.” He really didn’t want to go, but he knew that Aizawa wouldn’t let him skip just because Kacchan wasn’t used to having an actual body. He bit his lip, watching Kacchan, whose heart was beating a rapid staccato that he could feel echo through his ribs. “Are you… going to be okay?” he asked. “Setsuko said she can help you with anything you need, and they can always call me if you really need me.”

“I will… be okay,” Kacchan said, even as Izuku heard the quiver in his voice. At that moment he was very glad he couldn’t see Kacchan’s face clearly. “It’s very strange,” he added, the uncertain waver in his voice even more obvious than before. “The concept of you leaving me here is giving me very negative feedback, as if I know that I will be damaged should you go. However, you have left me many other times before for long periods of time in my own universe, and I’ve never once come to harm. I do not want to be alone.” The last was said quietly, and if it wasn’t for the comparative silence of the room Izuku wasn’t sure he’d have heard.

Izuku let go of Kacchan’s hand in order to wrap his own arms around him, feeling how Kacchan tensed before relaxing into the embrace. He didn’t seem to know how to return the hug; his hands coming up to grip at Izuku’s shirt on either side, but Izuku didn’t mind. “You’ll be okay,” Izuku whispered intently. “I promise you, nobody will hurt you while you’re here.”

He felt only a slight twinge of guilt at the promise. He knew how easily what someone saw as a haven could become invaded, burned down and destroyed, but he couldn’t help but promise Kacchan that he’d be safe when he seemed so lost. He couldn’t even appreciate the thought of having Kacchan in his arms like this - not considering the situation, or who he was actually holding.

“It’s not logical,” Kacchan said back, voice thick in Izuku’s ear. “Why am I having these reactions? Why is the thought of you leaving making me concerned about my physical safety?”

“Because you’re scared,” Izuku said. “You’re in a new situation, with people you don’t recognize. That’s normal.”

“Not for me,” Kacchan said. “I’ve never been scared before. Are humans scared often?”

Izuku couldn’t let out a laugh watery with tears of his own. “Lately?” he responded. “It seems like I’m scared a lot. But,” he added. “Whenever I get really scared, I know that I can rely on the people around me. I can ask for help, or advice, or even just someone to be there with me. I can ask if Setsuko can stay with you today?” It was the only thing Izuku could think of to ask. He really, really didn’t want to leave Kacchan.

After a moment of thought Kacchan nodded against Izuku’s shoulder, his hair brushing Izuku’s ear with the movement.

“Okay,” Izuku breathed. “I’ll ask her.”

Right after he held Kacchan for just a little bit longer.

_*_

Izuku practically sprinted back to the hospital, his books crammed into a half-zipped backpack. He ignored his classmates’ sympathetic looks as he blew past them - according to what they were told, Kacchan was hit with a quirk that put him out of commission for a while and were unable to give any more information, and all just sort of assumed that he was in some sort of coma. Izuku was the only one who was allowed to visit thanks to being at the scene of the attack, and he knew that his classmates were starting to worry about all the time he’d been spending at the hospital over the past week.

He was the only one of them who knew the truth, and in order to protect Kacchan’s privacy he couldn’t talk about what he’d seen. Sometimes he really, really wanted to talk to his friends about everything he’d seen, all the conversations he’d had with all the other versions of Kacchan that existed in alternative worlds, but he couldn’t. Even just a request for advice on how to handle this strange, afraid Kacchan that he’d seen that morning was impossible.

So he did what he could, and just tried to be there for Kacchan whenever he could.

Setsuko had promised that, while she couldn’t be with Kacchan the entire time, she’d make sure that he’d have someone with him for as long as he needed. Indeed, when Izuku made his way to Kacchan’s room she was typing away at a tablet while Kacchan was sitting up in a wheelchair. The lights were on and Kacchan didn’t seem to have any issues focusing anymore. In fact, his attention seemed to be taken up by a blanket that was draped over his lap - a patchwork thing where each patch was made of a different type of fabric, some soft, some fluffy, some smooth, one was even made of some sort of reflective material.

Both of them looked up, Kacchan’s hands flexing on the blanket on his lap as he did.

“You’re back!” Setsuko said, grinning. “See, Bakugou-kun? I told him he wouldn’t be too much longer.”

Kacchan smiled, and the sight took Izuku’s breath away.

It wasn’t the boundless joy from the Kacchan that claimed to be a dog, or the excited one that came from the strange Kacchan that didn’t talk. Instead, it was a simple smile that curved the lips and softened the eyes. Just an expression of pure pleasure to see Izuku that he’d never expected to ever see pointed his way.

Izuku swallowed around the lump of heartbreak in his throat (not your Kacchan, he told himself over and over) and pasted on a smile as he sat himself on the edge of the bed next to where Kacchan was in the chair.

“What do you have there?” he asked, gesturing to the blanket on Kacchan’s lap.

“It’s so soft,” Kacchan said instead of explaining, brushing over a patch that had some faux fur sewn on, his fingers carding through the strands.

“Once he stopped being intimidated by his sense of touch,” Setsuko said. “We brought up that blanket from peds for him. A lot of kids with sensory processing issues like them, and I figured he might as well. Looks like I was right.”

Izuku nodded, but inwardly he couldn’t help but remember the morning where Kacchan clung to Izuku, and how he didn’t seem intimidated by touch back then.

“How did everything go while I was gone?” Izuku asked. Most of him was sure that everything was fine, but there was a part of him that was still worried. If anything had gone really poorly someone was sure to have called him, he had told himself throughout the day when the urge to call up and check on Kacchan was almost overwhelming.

Kacchan smiled again, and then he talked.

He talked about how he learned how to filter out unnecessary stimuli by relying on his body’s memories, but was still fascinated by the taste of his lunch. It prompted Setsuko and another nurse into sneaking him bits of other foods so that he could determine what he liked the most (the winner ended up being some sort of spicy meatball, which Izuku should have predicted).

When he motioned to the small bouquet of flowers Izuku just noticed on his bedside table, a note scribbled with signatures Izuku could vaguely recognize as being from Kirishima, Mina, Jirou, Kaminari, and Sero, and talked about how nice it smelled, it gave Izuku an idea.

“Did you want to walk down to the courtyard garden?” Izuku suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Setsuko smiled. “It’s really nice there. I would have shown it to you earlier, Bakugou-kun, but with everything going on I just couldn’t find the time.”

"I'm unsure if I can," Kacchan protested. "Hatsume Mei was still working on my ability to walk, but was having issues perfecting my balance. My logic and reasoning skills have been given the priority."

"I get that," Izuku said. "But you're in a body that knows how to walk, just like it knows how to eat and breathe and all that. Don't you think it'll also know how to walk as well?"

Kacchan looked down at his lap, hands clenched in the blanket, his face such a picture-perfect representation of doubt that Izuku just had to smile and pat his shoulder.

“We can take you in the chair,” he said instead.

Kacchan let out a heavy breath and nodded, obvious relief on his face. This Kacchan was such an open book, Izuku mused as he released the breaks on Kacchan’s chair and began to wheel him out of the room and down the hall. His own Kacchan kept his emotions hidden through a facade of anger and irritation the whole time, covering any discomfort or fear with a blustery, explosive mask. This Kacchan didn’t even try to obscure what he felt - didn’t even seem to know how.

It was a strange honesty that Izuku wasn’t used to, but then again he was starting to get used to Kacchan acting oddly, wasn’t he?

The garden was the same as always, and thankfully seemed designed to accommodate wheelchairs with their wide and flat paths.

“Did you want to take a look around,” Izuku asked. “Or sit for a while?”

“Could we sit in one place?” Kacchan suggested. Izuku could see his hands were clenched again, this time with a slight tremble. “There is a lot here, and it’s difficult to see everything clearly.”

“Oh, sure,” Izuku said. He guided Kacchan’s chair next to a bench where he sat down, and let Kacchan accommodate himself to the sight of all the flowers around them. Now that he thought about it, the garden was a lot more chaotic than Kacchan’s clean and empty hospital room. There was a lot to get caught up on; the way the light was dappled through the leaves, the flitting of tiny songbirds among the trees, the riot of colors and scents that surrounded the garden. Even with their neat, orderly lines and manmade organization it was still a lot for someone who wasn’t used to using their senses.

“Good news,” Kacchan said suddenly.

“Huh?” Izuku said, looking over at him. Kacchan was just looking at a patch of flowers next to them. Then, when what he actually said sunk in, asked, “What is?”

“The language of flowers,” Kacchan said, looking intently at what Izuku could then see was one flower in particular - a tall kind, with wrinkled-looking narrow blue petals. “Irises could mean good news, trust, and loyalty.”

“Oh,” Izuku said, looking at what must be the irises Kacchan was referring to. He thought he heard something before about the language of flowers, but it wasn’t something he had pursued. “Do you like flowers, Kacchan?”

Kacchan shook his head. “I wasn’t designed with preferences,” he explained. “But I was programmed with knowledge of many varied topics in order to facilitate easy conversation, and the language of flowers was one added to my memory banks. It’s… interesting,” Kacchan added.

Izuku blinked at him. That was the first time Kacchan gave an actual opinion about something that had nothing to do with his senses. Yes, it was about a topic that had apparently been installed in him, but it was still a preference. He was interested in the language of flowers. “How so?” Izuku prompted, wanting Kacchan to continue on that train of thought. Anything that made this Kacchan actually notice something was worth hearing more from him about.

“How different cultures can look at the same flower and derive different meanings from it,” Kacchan explained. “Take morning glories as an example; in Western cultures the morning glory is a symbol of long-lasting love, but in some Eastern ones it symbolizes temporary love, or a love that is not meant to be. They are directly contradicting each other, but it’s the same flower.” Kacchan pursed his lips, still staring at the flower. “Humans are difficult to understand at times.”

Izuku chuckled. He couldn’t exactly argue with that. Then he cupped his chin as he thought. “It could still have both meanings,” Izuku suggested. “After all, even if a love wasn’t meant to be, that doesn’t necessarily mean that those feelings of love are temporary. A love can last for years, even if it’s not ever going to go anywhere.”

“That’s illogical,” Kacchan dismissed. “Why would a human continue loving another human if that love isn’t reciprocated? If they stopped feeling that love, then they would save themselves from negative emotions.”

“It’s not that easy,” Izuku said. “It’s hard for people to just make themselves stop feeling something.”

“That’s illogical,” Kacchan repeated, obvious frustration leaking into his voice.

“Humans are illogical,” Izuku shrugged. “It’s part of what makes us human.”

Kacchan didn’t have anything to say to that. He just kept looking at the flowers.

“I find myself… wanting,” Kacchan said out of nowhere.

Izuku’s face heated up, even though he knew, he knew that it wasn’t what Kacchan meant. Still, he couldn’t help himself from asking, unsure if he even wanted to hear the answer, “...What do you mean?”

“I want to stay here,” Kacchan said. “These emotions I’m feeling, these sensory responses… they’re fascinating. I want to feel them more. I don’t want to go back. You’re right,” he added, softly. “Humans are illogical.”

He turned to face Izuku more fully, and Izuku had to fight back his instinctual response to seeing the expression on Kacchan’s face. His brows were drawn, his eyes welling with tears, and his mouth slack in utter despair. It was an expression Izuku never, ever wanted to see on Kacchan’s face. “I don’t want to go back,” he repeated. “In the world I’m from, I’m an automaton. I can’t feel the softness of a blanket under my fingers, I can’t smell the scent of the flowers. I am limited to my programming. I can’t want, but I want to stay here.” He paused, and looked at Izuku with his brows lowered in a confused scowl. He had the slightest warmth of a blush high on his cheeks. “Why am I not wanting to tell you all this?”

Izuku couldn’t help but let out a little huff of laughter at that. “That’s probably the most Kacchan reaction you’ve had all day,” he couldn’t help but say. "Maybe you'll be able to… use these memories when you go back? After all, aren't memories just… data with context?"

Kacchan stared at him, steady tears still leaking down his cheeks. "I don't know. I don't have the data to support your theory. " This strange, surprisingly chatty Kacchan who didn’t know what to do with his emotions but was fascinated by the meaning people gave to flowers.

Izuku took a breath. “There’s another illogical human emotion that I think you could use until you know for certain.”

“What’s that?” Kacchan asked, another tear making its way down his cheek.

“Hope.”

-FLIP-

(06/12/20xx 10:37:34)

Loading…

New files found. Update with new files? (Y/N)

Y

Updating files…. Please wait

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Wait, again = Query

New File Folder “Kacchan” found

Folder contents:
-DEKU
-Flowers
-Memories

Accessing files…

Result:
...oh.

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Wait

Input
IdentifySource = DEKU = Let me see those files = Request

Request denied

Please enter security code in order to access Kacchan files

Input:
IdentifySource = DEKU = Tell me that security code = request

Action:
Open eyes

Output:
You can’t tell me what to do, shitty Deku!

Day 9

When Izuku arrived at the hospital the next day he waved a greeting to Setsuko at her usual post, then, with a bracing breath, entered Kacchan's room.

Kacchan was already awake and sitting up that day, and when Izuku entered the room Kacchan looked at him with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

“Deku?” Kacchan asked, head tilted to the side. “What are you doing here?”

Izuku paused before answering, watching Kacchan for a moment. So far he seemed like the Kacchan he knew, but there was still no guarantee that it was the right one. He had to be careful.

“Before I answer that,” he said. “What was the last thing you remember?”

As he spoke he could see Kacchan’s brows draw closer and closer together, his body beginning to tense on the hospital cot. “Going to bed in my room. Studying for that test in Midnight’s class. Why?”

More than likely another alternative Kacchan, then. But one who at least knew what quirk’s were. Izuku tried not to let the too-familiar feeling of loss show on his face as he smiled. “Some people got hit by a quirk overnight,” he lied. “So Recovery Girl wanted to see if you showed any effects. Just let her know if you’ve got any feelings of confusion, dizziness, or anything weird, okay?”

Surprisingly, the smile didn’t seem to make Kacchan feel any better. In fact, his suspicion seemed to grow as he looked at Izuku with shoulders that visibly tightened under the thin hospital scrubs he wore.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” he asked, a sneer on his face. “You find this fucking funny?”

Izuku blinked. “Nnnoo…?” he trailed off. “I just wanted to see if you were okay before I had to go to class.”

Kacchan rubbed his face, sighing.

Then he froze, his entire body tensing so hard that if he was a cat Izuku just knew his hair would be standing all on-end.

“Kacchan…” he trailed off, not sure what he was going to ask. However, the sound of his name seemed to knock Kacchan out of whatever made him freeze, because he pulled his hand away from his face to look at his forearm, trailing over the skin with the shaking fingertips of his other hand.

“What did you do?” Kacchan whispered, and oh, no. Izuku was so enthralled at looking at Katsuki’s arm, trying to figure out why he was so upset at the sight that he didn’t see the expression on Kacchan’s face.

He was distraught. That was the only word that Izuku could think of to describe it. He looked like whatever was going on with his arm was the worst thing he’d seen in his life. He looked, Izuku realized, his heart clenching, like he was on the verge of tears.

"Kacchan…" Izuku trailed off. He leaned forward, as if he could make Kacchan believe in his words if he could only say them intensely enough. "It's okay. I wasn't- I didn’t tell you the whole story,” he said. At Kacchan’s confused, furious glare, Izuku swallowed and continued. “You were hit by a villain’s quirk, yes, but we know what it did. You’re from an alternative universe, and right now the Kacchan from my universe has had his consciousness separated from his body, and you’re in his place. This isn’t really your body, so whatever you’re expecting is probably just how things are different in this world. Everything is going to go back to normal by tomorrow, alright?” ’For you,’ he didn’t say, though he had the brief, shameful thought flash through his mind.

“I… what?” Kacchan said, glancing between Izuku and his arm. “This… is just temporary?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said and bit his lip. “Whatever you’re expecting to see, it’s normal for this Kacchan.”

Kacchan breathed for several long moments, just shaky, harsh inhales and exhales. Then, with one last, long exhale, he said, “Another universe. Okay.” He closed his hands into loose fists. “Are-” he cut himself off. Then, obviously forcing himself to speak, asked, “Are soul marks a thing in this universe?”

Izuku bit his lip then said, softly, “I’ve never heard of a soul mark before.”

Izuku wasn’t sure, but he thought that Kacchan might have been holding his breath. He then blinked slowly, purposefully, then said, voice tight, “Okay.”

“Could you tell me what that is?” Izuku asked when it became obvious that Kacchan wasn’t going to add anything more, curious despite himself. Whatever a soul mark was, it was obvious that it was something that was important to this Kacchan.

Kacchan coughed out a laugh - a short, harsh sound that didn’t even sound like the snide barking laughs that Izuku was used to hearing from Kacchan. “A whole lot of fucking trouble,” Kacchan muttered. “That’s all they fuckin’ are.”

Izuku could only look at Kacchan helplessly. This Kacchan didn’t seem lost, at least, but Izuku still felt the urge to stay by his side. He still wasn’t looking Izuku in the eye - instead Kacchan was staring down at where his arms were crossed on his knees. He looked, if Izuku could hazard a guess, uncomfortable in Izuku’s presence.

“Don’t you have shit to do?” Kacchan growled out, making Izuku startle. Kacchan’s hands had curled into fists when Izuku wasn’t paying attention.

“Uh, yeah,” Izuku stammered out. “I um. Got class today. Will you be okay until I get back? The doctors just want to keep an eye on you, is all.”

“I’ll be fine, you shitty nerd,” Kacchan sneered. For the first time in a long time, he cut Izuku a glare, his upper lip curled into a sneer. “You don’t need to babysit me, or whatever shit is going through your thick skull.”

Well. At least that sounded more like the Kacchan Izuku knew. “If you’re sure…” Izuku trailed off

Kacchan slammed his fist against his covered knee, a puff of smoke following the small explosion at the impact. “Did I fucking luck out in having a Deku that didn’t fucking treat me like an infant,” he spat. “Or is the asshole who’s supposed to be here just that used to it?”

“Alright,” Izuku said, swallowing. This Kacchan was so familiar, but Izuku couldn’t forget the reference to ‘soul marks.’ And even so, the harsh words, though he was familiar with the feeling, still hurt. “I’ll leave. If you have any questions or need any help, don’t be afraid to ask-”

“Why are you still here?” Kacchan snapped.

Izuku opened and closed his mouth a couple times before, swallowing again, he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

_*_

When Izuku got out of class he immediately headed for Kacchan’s room once more.

Kacchan was waiting for him. The second Izuku opened the door Kacchan whirled on him from where Izuku could see him in the middle of the floor, midstride, like he was pacing. Before he could react Kacchan had taken the handful of furious steps up to him, his face screaming murderous rage.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Kaccha snarled.

Izuku couldn’t find the words to respond. Instead, he was taken aback by the expression on Kacchan’s face - he was furious, angrier than Izuku had seen him in a long, long time. There was something else hidden in that expression that Izuku couldn’t place, too. Before he could figure it out, Kacchan continued.

“Why don’t you hate me?” Kacchan snarled. “Or… him! The other me! He wasn’t that much better than I was, I have his fucking memories!”

At last Izuku found his words. “I can’t hate him,” Izuku protested. “Kacchan is amazing. I-”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Kacchan spat. “You can’t say that after all the bullshit he said, everything he put you through! How can you? Don’t you realize how fucked up that is?”

“It is probably really fuc- I mean, really messed up,” Izuku admitted, remembering all the things Kacchan had said to him over the years, all the things he did. How he felt even earlier in the morning when this Kacchan said those hurtful words to him. “But I can’t help it. Kacchan- my Kacchan,” he corrected himself. “He’s grown so much since we were kids. I can’t say the things he said didn’t hurt,” and they did. They did so badly when they were spat at him. “But he’s not that person anymore, I know it.”

Even as he spoke Izuku realized what he was saying was true. The reason why the words this Kacchan said just hours before had hurt so badly was because his Kacchan hadn’t said anything like that in so long. Most of what he said anymore was about how he was going to surpass Izuku, or insulting him for not being strong enough for All Might’s power.

It might have not seemed that different to a casual observer, but Izuku knew that it was different. Kacchan hadn’t insulted Izuku personally in a long, long time. Anything that he said anymore was his very… unique way of trying to spur Izuku higher. To spur him to get better.

“How do you know?” Kacchan said.

“Because I’ve seen it!” Izuku said. Ever since the incident with the sludge villain Kacchan had stopped bullying him outright, and even as time went on though he continued his asocial behavior he was still starting to… calm down. Be less overtly hostile, at the very least. And while his rivalry with Izuku had only gotten stronger as Izuku got better and better at using One for All, he couldn’t help but feel that their friendship had grown as well.

He couldn’t just be seeing all that out of some sort of wishful thinking, could he?

“Then why can’t my Deku also see it!” Kacchan demanded. And oh, Izuku thought he recognized what was hidden behind the fury. Envy.

And just like that, Izuku understood.

It would have been easy for Izuku to hate Kacchan. The years of being bullied and tormented by his classmates with Kacchan always leading the pack left their mark - Izuku couldn’t even try to deny that. Added to the fact that they were once close friends who dreamed of being Heroes together, who traded collectables, went to each other’s birthday parties, all of that just made Kacchan’s sudden turn to bullying even more painful.

There was even a period of time where Izuku allowed himself to hate Kacchan. For nearly a month, he fumed whenever he saw Kacchan. Whenever he trawled the internet for new sightings of Pro Heroes and information, he purposefully turned his mind away from the instinctive desire to want to talk about it with Kacchan like they did when they were younger.

After those weeks he gave up on it. He wasn’t the sort of person who hated another person easily, no matter what they did to him. If there was a bright side, it did help him deal with the fact that Kacchan just didn’t see him as a friend anymore.

However, there was still this spark that Izuku held close to his chest that one day they’d be friends again. And over time, that hope for friendship turned to a crush, and now Izuku found himself helplessly in love with Kacchan. There was no way Kacchan returned his feelings - he might have started to respect Izuku as a rival, but rival and love interest were two completely different things in Kacchan’s mind.

Right?

Right. Obviously different.

Maybe there really was something wrong with Izuku - if another version of him found the strength to walk away from Kacchan, maybe that would have been the correct path he should have taken. Was the fact that Izuku fell in love with Kacchan actually self-destructive like a part of him feared?

Whatever made this Kacchan’s Izuku not only refuse to forgive Kacchan, but also keep on hating him when Izuku couldn’t, Izuku could only assume it was related to these ‘soul marks’ that Kacchan had referred to.

Izuku shook his head. All of these musings weren’t going to answer Kacchan’s question.

“I don’t know why your Izuku couldn’t see you change,” Izuku said. “Unless you never did.”

“Haah?” Kacchan sneered. “What the fuck do you mean, I never changed?”

Izuku realized that they were still standing in the doorway of Kacchan’s room, and he glanced back at the open doorway. He wasn’t sure they’d say anything more revealing than they just did, but it might have been a good idea for them to get some space. Not to mention, Kacchan was only a scant few inches in front of Izuku.

“Um, can we sit down first?” Izuku suggested. “This feels like a conversation we need to sit down for.”

Kacchan made a harsh sound in the back of his throat but backed off, crossing the room to sit down on the window ledge. Izuku took his usual chair, leaning forward to rest his arms on his thighs, hands folded together as he considered his next words.

Izuku thought back to when, exactly, things changed between him and Kacchan. Those first slow steps towards the tentative friendship they had now. “My Kacchan got attacked by a sludge villain,” Izuku said slowly, thinking of the events. “I tried to rescue him. Did, um. Pretty badly, actually. But after that he stopped bullying me. Did you stop after that?”

“No, I-” Kacchan closed his eyes and let out a breath. “When I got attacked by the sludge villain, he ripped the sleeve covering my soul mark. I didn’t want people- I didn’t want Deku to see his name there, so I insulted him.” He huffed out a humourless laugh. “I fucking lost my shit. Then he left, and that’s the last time we talked to each other until we both got into UA.”

Okay. That was definitely different. And there were those words again.

“Can you tell me what soul marks are?” Izuku asked again.

Kacchan’s mouth twisted like he was thinking of blowing Izuku off again. Then, slowly, like the words were being dragged out of his mouth kicking and screaming, he answered, “Almost everyone has a soul mark. It’s the name of the person who’s your soul mate. Think the other half of your soul - you aren’t a whole person without them. They make you better, stronger. A lot of people have platonic soul mates, but most people end up marrying theirs.”

Oh. Izuku was familiar with the concept, but he was always sure it was just some sort of… metaphor, or something. But this Kacchan was talking about them like they’re a fact in his world - and why wouldn’t he, if a name literally appeared on your skin one day? It sounded...

“That sounds amazing,” Izuku breathed.

“What the hell?” Kacchan asked, sounding genuinely confused. “No, they’re not. You’d hate it.”

“Why, though?” Izuku asked, honestly baffled at Kacchan’s confusion. “You have someone who will always be there for you, someone meant for you to be with. And honestly - someone that makes you better? That’s what Kacchan does for me.”

“Until you realize that I fucked it up,” Kacchan insisted, rising back to his feet, gesturing wildly as he started pacing back and forth. “I treated my soulmate like shit! He fucking hates me, Deku! And why shouldn’t he?! He’s never going to forgive me,” Kacchan said. “I don’t know how to be the person he deserves, and he’s already given up on me being that person.”

“Try anyway,” Izuku suggested, rising to his feet, his hands out helplessly. A strong part of him wanted to hug Kacchan, but he didn’t need the knowledge that this was a completely different Kacchan to know that it was a bad, bad idea. “If you can’t be his soul mate, then try being his friend. And if he still refuses to forgive you, then live your life like he’d want you to.”

“What’s the point, though?” Kacchan sighed. “If he won’t forgive me, then why even bother?”

“Because even if you can’t be a good person for his sake,” Izuku said. “Then be a good person for everyones’ sake. After all, who does your Izuku admire?”

Kacchan gave Izuku a flat look. “All Might.”

Izuku nodded. “And what’s All Might?”

Kacchan’s eyes narrowed, like he was suspecting Izuku of trying to pull a trick on him, and wasn’t sure where he was going with it. “...A Pro Hero?”

“He’s a pro,” Izuku agreed. “But he’s first and foremost a hero, official title or not. He’s someone that helps people because it’s the right thing to do, who spreads hope wherever he goes. Even if he never forgives you, wouldn’t it be worth it being someone that he would be proud to call his soulmate?”

Kacchan looked away from Izuku, red staining high on his cheeks. “It’s not that fucking easy,” he muttered.

“Being a hero isn’t easy,” Izuku agreed. “But don’t you think it’s worth trying?”

“Fine,” Kacchan sighed. “But I gotta fuckin’ apologize to him first, don’t I?”

Izuku nodded. “Yeah, that would be a good start.” He hoped for the best for Kacchan. He wasn’t sure how he would react if his Kacchan came up and apologized for the years of bullying he put Izuku through, and Izuku had already mostly forgiven him for it. It still hurt, but Kacchan’s Izuku sounded like the pain was still very fresh.

“That’s going to suck,” Kacchan groaned, rubbing at one eyebrow like he had a headache building.

Izuku grinned. “I can help you!” he suggested. At Kacchan’s blankly surprised look, he added. “After all, I’m a Izuku, so if you can say it to me you can say it to him, right?”

Kacchan blinked a couple times before shaking himself. “Fuck it,” he muttered, letting himself drop down onto the bed across from Izuku. “It’s worth a shot. Alright, Deku.”

Kacchan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, Izuku found himself transfixed by the steady, determined gaze in his eyes. “Listen,” Kacchan said. “I got something I need to tell you…”

-FLIP-

“Hey, Deku,” Katsuki said, feeling his heart thrum in his throat, his belly heavy with nerves.

He woke up that morning in his own bed, in his own universe, with a note written by an alternative version of himself taped to his door where he couldn’t miss it. It said pretty much everything he knew - he’d fucked up, and he had to take responsibility for the fuckup if he wanted to get any sort of reconciliation with his soulmate. Any hesitation he had, any doubt he might have had over whether or not that was the proper course of action was erased by that note. He had to try, and if Deku didn’t want to forgive him, then fuck it - he did what he could, and he would try and live his life as a Hero that Deku would be proud of. And if he did forgive him, then… well. They could cross that bridge when they came to it.

Deku turned around at the sound of his nickname, an unimpressed expression on his face. It was a few minutes before class started, and Katsuki had waited until just then to enter, getting up the nerves to confront the boy he’d tormented for so many years. Katsuki wasn’t a coward - he had risked his life fighting people who wanted to either get him on their side or straight-up kill him, and he’d come through the other end a little bruised and battered but he survived. But when it came to Deku, a different fear altogether raised its head.

“I need to talk to you,” Katsuki said, standing at the door of the classroom. He knew he was making a scene, which definitely wouldn’t endear him to Deku, but they needed to talk. Or rather, he needed to talk to Deku - Deku seemed okay with just ignoring Katsuki for the rest of their lives.

“Then talk,” Deku said blandly, not moving from his seat.

“I will if you want me to,” Katsuki said, then gripped the arm that was wrapped in the sleeve that covered Deku’s name in a gesture that was obvious to the both of them. “But I don’t think you want this shit aired out in front of everyone.”

Deku looked suspicious, glancing between Katsuki’s arm and his face, but eventually he turned to his friends, smiled that dead smile of his and muttered something Katsuki couldn’t hear, and rose to his feet.

Katsuki led them out of the classroom and towards a restroom that he knew, at this time, wouldn’t be occupied thanks to its out of the way location, but even then he braced the trash can against the door. It wouldn’t stop most people for long, but it would at least provide them with a suitable warning should anyone try and get in while they were having their conversation.

“What is it?” Deku asked once Katsuki turned to face him. Deku had his arms crossed, an irritated glare on his face. Defensive and unhappy, and it was all Katsuki’s fault.

Katsuki took a deep breath and rolled up his uniform sleeve, tugging at the compression sleeve he wore, revealing Deku’s name where it was written there. The lettering would seem familiar to Deku, Katsuki knew. Nobody was entirely sure how soul marks worked, but they’d shift and change over time to match how the person they were connected to changed. Katsuki could remember how it looked when it first appeared - the lettering looking quickly jotted down and scratchy, then changing over time to something a bit more blocky, uniform.

“W-what are you doing?” Deku asked, eyes wide. It was the first time he’d ever laid eyes on where his name was on Katsuki’s arm. Katsuki let out a breath, feeling like a weight was lifted off of his shoulders once he’d taken the sleeve off - or a snake shedding a too-small skin. In the bright light of morning the ink-black mark was stark against the pale skin of his arm, bold and unavoidable.

“I’m not hiding it anymore,” Katsuki said. “There’s nothing wrong with having you as a soulmate. I was dumb for thinking it when we were kids, and I’m an asshole for pretending like I’m ashamed of you now, Deku.” Then, pointedly, corrected himself. “Izuku.”

There. That was what he practiced with that other Dek-Izuku. The Izuku from that other world, who didn’t hate his Katsuki. It was both easier and harder than he thought it would be. Easier because he wasn’t even sure he could get the words out in the first place, but so much harder thanks to the fact that it was his Izuku in front of him, and there was no going back from this.

Izuku was still staring at his arm during his little speech, and at the sound of his name blinked once, twice, then shook his head, eyes shuttering as he closed himself off from Katsuki again. “It’s not going to be that easy, Bakugou,” he said, voice hard. “If you think something like that is going to make up for years and years of everything you said, everything you did, you’re wrong. You hurt me,” he said, and even though his eyes were hard, and his voice cold, his eyes began to shine with telltale tears. “You hurt me a lot, over and over. I don’t think I can easily forgive that.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Katsuki said. “Fuck, I wouldn’t forgive me, either. But I’m done pretending that you aren’t the other half of my soul. And I don’t know, maybe one day I’ll be worthy of you.”

“It’s going to be a long time,” Izuku warned. “You got a lot of hurt to make up for.”

“I know,” Katsuki said.

“And not just for me,” Izuku added. “Everybody else, every harmful word you’ve said. I’m not the only one with a heart you’ve hurt, after all.”

“I know,” Katsuki insisted.

Izuku just eyed him. “Even if you do work on yourself and turn over a new leaf, I still can’t say that I’ll be able to forgive you,” he said.

“I know,” Katsuki sighed. “But I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself if I didn’t try.”

“Okay,” Izuku said, face still closed off and stony. Then he let out a breath, his mouth a hard, straight line as his eyes cut to the side. He then looked back at Katsuki, and despite the fact that his expression didn’t change, Katsuki felt his heart speed up just a little in what he was tempted to call hope. “Have you finished your homework for Present Mic’s class?”

Katsuki swallowed past a dry throat. “Not yet,” he admitted. “I was a little busy yesterday.” Understatement. And maybe one day Katsuki could tell Izuku what happened, but right then wasn’t the time.

Izuku nodded. “Why don’t you meet me in the common room later today,” he suggested. “We can go over our notes together.”

“Okay,” Katsuki breathed. “I’ll be there.”

“Okay,” Izuku echoed. Then, sounding like he was saying it to himself, repeated, “Okay.” Then he turned and walked away, the line of his back stiff.

Katsuki felt like he was about to pass the fuck out, but he remained on his feet out of sheer force of will. He clenched his hand around his forearm, fingers brushing over the lines of Izuku’s name over and over.

It wasn’t much, he knew. A study session between two classmates. But it was a start.

It was a start.

Day 10

Kacchan startled awake when Izuku entered the room despite how quietly he tried. He blinked around, then, at the sight of Izuku, he flinched back. “You look younger in person than in your pictures,” he said. “And where the hell am I?”

Izuku forced a smile on his face, even as those words proved that this was not the Kacchan that belonged with him.

“How are you feeling?” Izuku asked, instead of answering his question. He had to get information first, before he could answer Kacchan’s questions.

“Alright,” Kacchan responded, though he was still side-eyeing Izuku suspiciously. Then his mouth twisted, running his hands over the surface of the thin hospital blanket. “Surprisingly alright,” he added. “Did you do this to me?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘this,’” Izuku said after a moment’s thought. The last Kacchan he’d spoken with mentioned being older than Izuku - was this one the same? He at least mentioned how Izuku looked younger than his pictures - there was a chance that at least Izuku was older than Kacchan expected.

“My… senses,” Kacchan spat the word out like it was venomous, taking Izuku by surprise by how much loathing he put in the word. “They’re not… freaking out on me. My eyes, my hearing, it’s all just… normal.”

“Is that your quirk?” Izuku wondered aloud, hands twitching with the urge to write. A Kacchan with another quirk? What sort of world would it be where Kacchan got another quirk, even if it seems like it’s one that he didn’t like?

“Quirk?” Kacchan repeated. “The hell is a ‘quirk?’”

Izuku fought the urge to cover his mouth with his hands like a child caught in a lie. Oops. Well, at least he discovered for certain that in this Kacchan’s world there wasn’t anything like quirks, but what was he talking about when he referred to his senses?

“Okay, so…” Izuku started.

He gave Kacchan the basic rundown of the situation that he gave the others who seemed unfamiliar with quirks. And, like the others, Kacchan tilted his head with pursed lips and said, “It sounds like bullshit, but something about that seems right.”

“That’s probably the memories from the Kacchan of this world,” Izuku suggested. “Some versions of him mentioned knowing things that only happened to him, so you must have access to them.”

“And this version of me has superpowers, huh?” Kacchan mused, bringing one hand palm up and squinting.

Izuku realized what Kacchan was about to do mere seconds before Kacchan actually did it; leaping forward to pull Kacchan’s hand away from way too close to his own face to point it towards the ceiling. If it wasn’t for the fact that he’d managed to brace his feet, the blast that erupted from Kacchan’s palm would have knocked both him and probably even Kacchan back.

They froze like that, the echoes of the explosion echoing in their ears.

“Holy shit,” Kacchan laughed, grinning. He reached up to rub his ear with his free hand, eyes sparkling as he looked at his right hand where it was still extended above his head.

Izuku, panting and shaking from the adrenaline rush, said, “Kacchan’s quirk is very, very strong.”

“Yeah,” Kacchan huffed out with another laugh. “I can see that. Fuck, why couldn’t I have this instead of dealing with all the Sentinel bullshit?” Then he paused, brows drawn.“Kacchan?”

“Oh, sorry,” Izuku said, feeling sheepish, releasing Kacchan’s hand that he was still somehow holding and backing off, cheeks flushing with a blush. How long had it been since any of these alternative Kacchan’s said anything about the nickname? Had any? “Did you want me to call you something else? Um, Bakugou-san…?” he trailed off, wincing. It felt like he was talking to Kacchan’s dad.

At that Kacchan lip curled. “That just sounds… wrong hearing it from you,” he said. “I dunno if it’s this guy’s influence, but I’d rather hear you keep saying ‘Kacchan.’”

“What’s going on in here?” A new voice broke it. It was Kacchan’s usual morning nurse, Setsuko, standing at the door and looking between them and the ceiling with narrowed eyes.

“Ah, nothing!” Izuku said, trying to smile disarmingly at her, but unsure if it worked when she just raised an eyebrow at him. “Just… a bit of a misfire?” It was… technically the truth?

“A misfire,” she echoed tonelessly.

Izuku nodded rapidly.

Setsuko nodded and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “I think it’s about time you leave for school, isn’t it Midoriya-kun? Don’t worry,” she added, a little softer and looking at Izuku with an understanding lookin her eyes. “I’ll watch over Bakugou-kun for you.”

Izuku bit his lip and looked at Kacchan. A Kacchan who was staring at Setsuko with wide eyes, barely blinking. Izuku glanced back at the nurse, wondering what was garnering that reaction because Setsuko looked like the same she always had, so maybe it had something to do with his quirk- oh. Oh, Izuku realized, taking in Setsuko’s small, curling horns and the long doe-like ears on either side of her head. If Kacchan was in a world without quirks, then those sorts of traits wouldn’t have been around, would they?

“Would you be okay?” Izuku asked.

Kacchan tore his gaze away from Setsuko to glower at Izuku. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me,” he grumbled.

Izuku bit his lip but grabbed his bag, leaving Kacchan behind once more.

_*_

“So, you have superpowers,” Kacchan said, more of a statement than a question.

It was the first words out of his mouth when Izuku returned to the hospital room.

“Yeah,” Izuku replied. “Almost everyone does, actually.”

“And you’re in a school to become some sort of superpowered police force?” Kacchan asked.

Izuku blinked. “Where did you hear about that?”

Kacchan jerked his thumb at the TV which was playing a news segment. They were talking about UA and one of the programs one of the classes was involved in. “Your uniform is the same as that UA school,” he said.

“Ah,” Izuku said, then he shrugged, rocking his hand back and forth in a ‘kinda-sorta’ gesture. “Something like that? We’re trained in how to use our quirks to fight villains. Police still take care of the day-to-day petty crime.”

“So you’re a child soldier,” Kacchan said flatly, cringing back.

“Oh, no!” Izuku denied. “No way! We volunteered to help out!

“Oh, so you’re volunteer child soldiers. That’s a lot better,” Kacchan drawled. “At least tell me that you’ve got, like, mandatory therapy sessions or something, right?” Katsuki said.

Izuku opened his mouth to answer in the affirmative, then paused. He… couldn’t actually verify that they even had therapists on staff.

“It wasn’t a trick question, kid,” Kacchan sighed.

“You mentioned something about Sentinels earlier,” Izuku said, desperate to change the subject and honestly more than a little curious. “And that is has something to do with your senses? What’s a Sentinel in this context?”

Kacchan groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “A whole load of bullshit,” Kacchan said. Then he sighed hard. “Okay. In my world, sometimes people get the ability to sharpen their senses more than other people can. Like, they can see further than normal, or completely turn off their hearing.”

“That’s amazing,” Izuku breathed. He could only imagine the sort of information a Hero could gather with that sort of ability. He wondered at the mechanics of of it - what physical changes would a Sentinel have over an average person? What would they have to do to sharpen or dull their senses? Was that a -

“It’s not,” Kacchan snapped, pulling Izuku out of his rambling train of thought. At that moment he realized that Kacchan’s hands were curled into tight fists on his knees, trembling slightly. “You can’t fucking control them for shit unless you get a fucking Guide to hold your hand the whole time! Do you know what that’s like, Midoriya?”” Kacchan said, pinning Izuku in place with a glower. “To be trapped inside your body, helpless because your body decided to turn traitor? To be victim to your sight just… shutting off, leaving you blind? Or you skin start to feel so sensitive that even a hard wind feels like fucking being blasted with fucking sand? But hey,” Kacchan huffed a mirthless laugh. “If I tie myself to some stranger, I might be able to lead a somewhat normal life. Too bad the military and fuckin’ police have already been knocking on my door because of how damn useful Sentinels can be in the field.”

Izuku didn’t know what to say to that. It was obvious that Kacchan had been bottling up that reaction for a long time, and it was true that he had immediately looked at the benefits of having such strong senses that he didn’t even think about any possible drawbacks. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like to live life like how Kacchan was describing.

“I’m sorry,” Izuku said, voice hushed. “I didn’t think.”

Kacchan tsk’ed, cutting his glare to the side. Even though it wasn’t pointed at him, Izuku could still feel those angry, helpless eyes on him.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kacchan grumbled. “Nobody does. Being a Sentinel is supposed to be a fucking great thing - some ancient protector of the weak or whatever. Nobody thinks of the shit that you got to deal with.”

That actually sounded very familiar to Izuku. Growing up he always admired Heroes for how they used their quirks to defeat villains and protect the weak. He never expected all the pain he and those close to him had to go through, the stress and the fear and the heartbreak. The knowledge that any day could be their last due to sheer dumb luck.

“That’s why you’re so worried about me, about us,” Izuku thought aloud. “About me and my Kacchan being child soldiers. Isn’t it?”

“I’m worried about you being child soldiers because you are,” Kacchan insisted. “But yeah. I don’t want you thinking that because you got this ability or whatever that means you got to risk your life. You need to make sure that you really do want this life, with all it’s risks.”

“You say that,” Izuku said. “But if I have this ability to help people and don’t, aren’t I just as bad as the people who hurt them in the first place?”

“You don’t owe anyone else shit,” Kacchan hissed. “Look at your fucking hands. What teenager has hands like that from fucking… fighting villains? I’ve got memories of you breaking your arms and legs. Fuck, didn’t your doctor say that if you break your arms again you can lose the use of them? And you’re not even a real Hero yet - you’re a high school student!”

“I can’t just stand by and watch people get hurt if there’s a way for me to stop it!” Izuku burst out, clenching his scarred, battered hands tight. He couldn’t hear Kacchan talk further about just… not using the abilities given to him to prevent the pain and agony he’d seen people inflict upon others. Yes, he’d had no idea of what Hero work actually was like until he was on the other side of the screen. He had gotten hurt worse than he’d ever anticipated, felt helpless and so afraid that he felt like he could puke. But it was all worth it. It was all worth it.

Izuku took a deep breath, letting the anger fade. He couldn’t imagine what things were like for this Kacchan, and what’s more - Izuku wanted to be a Hero. He’d been dreaming about it ever since he was a very young child - even after it seemed like his dream was dashed he still nurtured an ember of hope in his heart that some miracle would bring him his dream.

This Kacchan never asked for his abilities in that other world. He didn’t want to have these special abilities at the expense of control, and if there was one thing Kacchan treasured above all else it was control over his own destiny.

“It’s not your job to hurt yourself for other people,” Kacchan said. It took Izuku a moment to remember what they were talking about, and when he did he took a second to breathe and relax.

“I don’t know why you’re so adamant that I not do this,” Izuku said. “To learn how to hone my abilities and fight to save people. But this is my choice to make. Nobody pressured me to choose this path. I wanted to be a Hero.” He couldn’t help but hink of his mom, crying and desperately wanting him to change his mind.

Kacchan was quiet for a long moment, just looking at Izuku, studying his face for… what? Izuku couldn’t even guess.

“Okay,” Kacchan said, unusually subdued. “I’ll believe you. For the record,” he continued, a little louder, a little more brash. A little more like the Kacchan Izuku knew. “When my senses first came online the hospital added me to the Sentinel registry. After that, I kept getting messages from local police and the fuckin’ JDF about joining them. My life was fucking hell daily, but they only cared about what I could do for them. Can you really say that if you suddenly decided you wanted to be a… a fucking accountant or something they’d let you?”

“Yes,” Izuku answered immediately, not hesitating. All Might would be disappointed but understanding. Aizawa wouldn’t want anybody who wasn’t absolutely certain they wanted to be a Hero in his class. His mom would support him whole-heartedly. But nobody would pressure Izuku to go back to Hero work if he suddenly decided he should pass on One for All and live a quieter, safer life.

Nobody, Izuku mused with some amusement, except for maybe Kacchan. He had become increasingly dedicated to making Izuku his rival that if he quit Kacchan might take it as a personal slight.

Kacchan huffed in the face of Izuku’s belief. “Good for you, I guess,” he muttered. His eyes narrowed as he considered Izuku, who kept silent as he let him speak at his own pace. Ready for another argument, he was thrown when Kacchan instead said, “That’s why I chose you to be my Guide, you know. My world’s version of you,” he corrected himself. Then he explained before Izuku could ask. “Guides have a naturally high empathy and have a component to their pheromones that compel Sentinels to listen to them, even when they’re zoned out on their senses. It’s helps keep their… our senses in check. You were the only one who seemed any good and also didn’t actually directly work for the military or whatever. Sure, you had a background in criminal justice,” he snorted. “I don’t think you could be a licensed Guide and not. But your bio stated that you were willing to work with your Sentinel in their chosen field. You were going to support whoever you were paired with in helping them achieve their goals.” He pressed his lips together. “If I had to have a Guide, I wanted one who would work to support me, not whatever idea the rest of the world had about Sentinels.”

Kacchan cut Izuku a sidelong look, a small, rare smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. “If he’s anywhere close to you in sheer enthusiasm I might have chosen well.”

Izuku couldn’t help but blush bashfully at that, scratching the back of his head self-consciously.

“I’m glad,” Izuku said.

Izuku had to wonder if all that was some sort of a test. He seemed honestly, legitimately upset about the injuries Izuku had sustained while on the job, but his last statement seemed to imply that Kacchan was testing to see how self-sacrificing Izuku really was. And honestly, for Kacchan there was very little he wouldn’t do. For Kacchan’s sake he hoped the other Izuku was the same.

“So, you believe me?” Izuku asked.

“That you’re sincere about this ‘career path’ you’re on?” Kacchan asked, air quotes audible in the way he sneered the question. “Yeah. I’m still pissed that there are classes of literal children risking their lives, though.”

Izuku’s mouth twisted, but he didn’t try to argue any further, telling himself that this wasn’t a battle he could win in just a few short hours before this Kacchan was sent back to his own world.

“Speaking of,” Kacchan said, his tone switching to something a bit more even, if tired. “You got any homework or something in that bag?”

“Uh, yeah,” Izuku said, glancing down at said pack, momentarily thrown by the change in topic. “Why?”

“‘Cause I’m bored as hell, kid,” Kacchan said. “I graduated High School only a couple years ago, so I should be able to help you with it.”

“Are you sure?” Izuku asked. He couldn’t help but think of his own Kacchan who had to be dragged into study sessions with his friends and who’d always seemed miserable the entire time.

“What else can I do?” Kacchan asked rhetorically. “I tried going for a walk earlier, but they told me I couldn’t leave the hospital.”

Oh. Izuku figured it was a security measure, but he didn’t expect people to actually keep Kacchan from leaving when he was told that they were going to keep an eye on him, though he supposed he should have in hind sight.

“Um, sure,” Izuku said, feeling a little on the wrong food after their back and forth earlier. He reached into his bag, though, saying, “But if you’re from a world without any quirks we should probably skip the essay on the enactment of the ban on public use of quirks.”

“Joy,” Kacchan sighed.

They stayed there until the sun began to set, plunging the room into warm tones. At one point Izuku looked up to see Kacchan staring out of the window, the small wrinkle between his brows creased deeper in thought. Izuku took the opportunity to look his fill - Kacchan always looked best in warm tones, his scarlet eyes particularly striking in the setting sun. It wasn’t long into Izuku’s studying of Kacchan that he realized that he looked strangely resigned in way his mouth twisted.

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked after some deliberation. He was still unsure what to make of this Kacchan, but he couldn’t stand watching him with such a despondent look on his face for much longer without at least reaching out to him.

Sometimes he just never learned, Izuku thought to himself, ready for however Kacchan would react.

But instead of metaphorically biting his head off, Kacchan just twisted his mouth as he looked back at Izuku.

“As much as I feel this universe needs to be shaken until some reason falls out,” Kacchan said. “...I’m not sure I want to go back to mine.”

Izuku opened his mouth to ask why, until Kacchan’s words from earlier made him snap it shut. The issues he had with his senses, specifically. And then having the military and police knocking on his door while he was suffering so much…

“But you know what, kid?” Kacchan continued before Izuku could say anything. “If my world’s version of you is anything like you? I think I might be okay.”

Izuku ducked his head, trying to hide the blush that immediately spread across his cheeks.

-FLIP-

Katsuki stretched when he awoke. For once he didn’t feel like scratching his skin off at the feeling of the ridiculously- high thread count blankets against his skin, or like ripping his ears off to quell the cacophony ringing in his ears, or any number of issues his haywire senses subjected him to every morning.

Alternative universes, huh? With that younger version of himself and Midoriya, ones with super powers.

Well, he mused. Some people claimed that Sentinels had super powers - with their senses enhanced beyond most people’s and their ability to focus and suppress them at will, he couldn’t really argue that much. Not to mention the bond that they form with their Guides was something science could never really explain beyond some vague postulations about pheromones and pack bonding behaviors.

Speaking of which… it was actually a surprise that he woke up with no issues, he thought as he sat up, rubbing his face. He wasn’t even the one who met his prospective Guide - it was that alternative version of him while he was in Katsuki’s body. So why did he still feel so levelled out? Every day since his senses went online was a constant fight to keep them even, and without fail he was constantly struggling to keep himself from going fucking crazy from the constant change in perception.

And yet here he was, feeling more normal than he had in a long, long time.

Well, except for the day before, but that didn’t really fucking count.

When he pulled himself out of bed and got himself ready for the day he had a brief moment of sensory fuckery when he was brushing his hair - his fingers fumbled on his comb and dropped it when his hair suddenly felt like tiny wires against the pads of his fingers and everything from the elbow down got really sensitive. Even the feeling of cool air-conditioned air on his skin was suddenly too much, frigid and sharp. But it only took a brief moment of closing his eyes and pulling up faint memories from the day before, where a person who wasn’t him was listening to Izuku Midoriya talk him through turning his mental dials to their proper level, and he was back to normal.

Amazing. That was just one day with Midoriya, and he could set his dials back to their proper baseline. What could he do after more sessions with Midoriya? Or even after a proper bond?

When he made his way to the kitchen where his dad was just then cutting up some vegetables for what looked to be an omelette judging by the rest of the ingredients on the counter, his dad looked over at him with surprise.

“You’re awake already?” He asked, brows nearly at his hairline in surprise. Katsuki couldn’t blame him for his disbelief - his sleep had been so rough over the past few weeks that Katsuki either slept in late to try and make up for the utter lack of sleep, or he would call it quits halfway through the night and he’d find Katsuki slumped over on the couch, watching documentaries on mute. Masaru seeing Katsuki wake up on his own, and not in the middle of a spike was unheard of in their new life.

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted, not wanting to make a big deal of it, feeling self-conscious. His parents had treated him with fucking kid gloves for so long, any chance he could get of being able to downplay how his senses effected him was worth it. “You thinking eggs for breakfast?”

“Y-yeah,” Masaru stuttered, still thrown off-guard. “Is that alright? I can make something else-”

“Eggs are fine,” Katsuki interrupted. He stepped up to the counter and reached for the knife laying next to the cutting board. “Here,” he continued. “Let me take care of it. You chill out today.”

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Masaru said quickly, making a gesture like he wanted to take the knife out of Katsuki’s hands but thinking better of it last minute. Instead he just watched Katsuki’s movements with wide, wary eyes. “Your hands-”

“Feel fine today,” Katsuki said. He knew that he was interrupting his dad a lot, which part of him felt bad about, but he was getting so fucking tired of being babied all the fucking time. Softer, to make up for snapping, he added. “I’ll stop the second things start to feel weird, okay?”

Masaru’s mouth twisted and his hands clenched on nothing, but he nodded. “Okay,” he eventually conceded. “But the second you lose feeling or your sight goes weird, you tell me, okay?”

“Fine,” Katsuki muttered, and finally he could concentrate on slicing up mushrooms thinly so they could cook easily.

Honestly, he could understand his dad’s worry. The last time Katsuki tried cooking something he didn’t realize he had his thumb touching the hot pan until the smell of seared skin hit his (thankfully working properly at the time) nose.

But that morning he felt confident, sure that at least for a while longer he would be… okay.

He would still be prone to dips and spikes in his senses, he knew, until he would properly bond with a Guide. And even without a bond, the more time he’d spend with a guide the more control he’d have over his senses until he could purposefully adjust his dials for whatever purpose.

Speaking of Guides… he would be meeting with Midoriya later that day. For the second time, as far as Midoriya knew, but for him it would be the first time.

He still didn’t want a Guide. Being tied to any single person for such a thing like the functioning of his goddamn body was infuriating. Sure, all the information given to Katsuki did say that quite a few Sentinels could go on and have relationships outside of their bonded Guide, and indeed that many Sentinel/Guide pairs never had a physical relationship, but it was still too much like a fucking arranged marriage for Katsuki’s liking.

He literally picked Midoriya out of a fucking catalogue.

However… he had to wonder how similar Midoriya was to the kid with his face that he’d met the day before, the one his borrowed memories insisted was called ‘Deku.’

Midoriya was so damned determined to be a Hero, in all definitions of the word, wasn’t he?

Well. Whatever he did, whatever methods he used on his body’s temporary passenger, he was already able to do things he never thought he’d be able to do again.

Maybe they’d work out, after all.

The JDF and police can still go fuck themselves, though. He was quite happy with his chosen career path.However… he couldn’t help but think of how Midoriya lit up when talking about helping people. Maybe Katsuki could find some way to help people out that wouldn’t entail tying himself to any organizations like them. He didn’t want to be a Hero like what they had in that other world, but if he could use those senses he was cursed with in order to make the lives of other people easier…

Well. It was something to think about later.

He had a breakfast to eat.

Day 11

When Izuku arrived in Kacchan’s room the next day it was to see an empty bed.

His heart leapt to his throat for one breathless moment until the sound of the sink running in the attached bathroom cut through his instinctive panic.

The door was wide open, but still Izuku approached the room cautiously, torn between wanting to check up on Kacchan and respecting his privacy, a thought that made him blush a little before he firmly set the thought of what he might see on the other side of the half-open door until later.

Kacchan, somewhat thankfully, was just standing at the bathroom sink looking at himself in the mirror, both hands planted on either side of the sink, tilting his head back and forth as he studied his own profile. Izuku took a moment to quietly look his fill at this unaware Kacchan, admiring how his stance brought out the powerful muscles in his back and shoulders.

‘Focus,’ he told himself. There was an excellent chance that this Kacchan was lost, confused, and afraid, so Izuku needed to help him out.

“Kacchan,” he said softly, so as not to startle the other boy. Not that it did any good - Kacchan gave a full-body jerk, spinning to face Izuku, his hands curled at his side, a snarl on his face. “Sorry!” Izuku yelped, holding his hands out to show how harmless he was, just in case this Kacchan didn’t recognize him. “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, trying to keep his tone even, though Kacchan still glared at him. It wasn’t one of his usual glares, though, so Izuku kept going. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay.” As soon as the thoughtless words left his mouth he winced. One day he’d learn better…

But Kacchan didn’t seem to even react especially badly to the concern. He just snarled out, “Where the hell am I? And what did you do to -” he cut himself off, and before Izuku could wonder too much about what he was going to say, asked, “Who the fuck are you?”

Izuku could feel the disappointment well up inside even as he told himself he half expected this current Kacchan to have been another alternative version. It was just so long since he saw his Kacchan.

“My name is Izuku Midoriya,” Izuku said. He risked a step closer, but stopped when Kacchan immediately tensed up. “Where you’re at is a hospital associated with UA. Do you know what UA is?” he added after a beat.

After a couple heartbeats Kacchan shook his head in a negative, eyes boring holes into Izuku’s own.

“Okay,” Izuku breathed. Possibly another Kacchan from a world without Quirks. “Right now, you’re in the body of a different version of you,” Izuku said. “He was hit with something that sent his consciousness into another body, and you replaced his.”

Kacchan’s eyes narrowed a hair, but after a long moment he let out a sigh, slumping back against the sink with his arms crossed. “Alternative universes or some shit?” he grumbled. “That sounds like a load of bull, but that explains a lot.” Izuku just nodded at the now-familiar sentiment. “So,” Kacchan continued. “Who does that make you? The person that did this to me?” At the question he gestured, bafflingly, at the side of his head.

Wondering if this Kacchan might have had different facial features in another world and that was why he was looking at his own face, Izuku said, “No, I’m… well, Kacchan is my best friend. I wanted to be here in case he wakes up back here.”

Kacchan nodded. “And how long am I going to be here, if you’re expecting him to come back?”

“Only until midnight,” Izuku said. “Then you’ll be gone, and hopefully Kacchan will be back.”

“Hopefully,” Kacchan echoed. “So, what now?”

“Now?” Izuku blinked, thrown.

“Yeah,” Kacchan said. “What do you want me to do now?”

“Um,” Izuku trailed off. What did the previous Kacchans do when Izuku was at school? “You can watch TV?” he suggested. “Or, there’s a really nice garden in the courtyard. Pretty much anything as long as you don’t leave the hospital grounds. Oh,” he added when the thought occurred to him. “No cell phone, though. It’s not that we don’t trust you with it or anything,” he said quickly. “It’s just that it’s really easy for someone to accidentally do something that would reflect badly on Kacchan if you had access to his social media accounts or something.”

Not like Kacchan had a lot of those, at least as far as Izuku knew.

“Sure,” Kacchan said, looking around. While Izuku was still processing the easy agreement, he went on to ask, “You said I could walk around?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said, startled at the return to that topic. “As long as you don’t leave the hospital.”

“Got it,” Kacchan agreed, looking around. Then he eyed Izuku, eyes lingering on his tie.”You got school, or something, kid?”

‘Kid?’ This Kacchan must be older than the one Izuku knew.

Izuku reflexively grabbed his tie, and just as quickly let go. Flushing at the smirk the action garnered from Kacchan, he stammered. “Oh, uh, yeah, I do. Unless…” he added hopefully, “You want me to stick around?” Aizawa would have to let him stay if Kacchan specificalled, right?

The smirk on Kacchan’s face just grew, and he shook his head. “I’ll live,” he said.

Izuku didn’t trust the look on Kacchan’s face. It was a little too open, too innocent. He knew his Kacchan, and while his Kacchan would only play at innocence in order to make fun of someone, he didn’t know this Kacchan’s intentions. What he did know was how Kacchan’s face looked when he was forcing it into an expression, the way the muscles tightened unnaturally, the set of his shoulders.

Kacchan wanted him gone.

He definitely couldn’t blame him. Waking up in another world, another body, had to be jarring at the very least. He could give Kacchan a little space, at least.

“Sure,” Izuku said, unsure about leaving Kacchan still but wanting to be helpful. “Just don’t be afraid to let someone know if you need anything, okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Kacchan said, that same fake look on his face. “I’m sure I can find something to do while you’re gone.”

With one last look behind him at a Kacchan who was standing with his hands in his pockets, Izuku left.

_*_

Class was its newly typically stressful self until a few minutes after lunch, when Aizawa appeared at the classroom door and called Izuku over.

Izuku felt like his legs were made of lead as he walked over, dread pooling in his belly. He couldn’t get that look on Kacchan’s face out of his head. What did he do? Did he hurt someone? Did he hurt himself?

“Bakugou has disappeared,” Aizawa said as soon as the door closed behind Izuku.

The smell of ozone flared in the hallway as Izuku prepared to launch himself out of the closest window. The red flash of Aizawa’s eyes and the firm hand clamped on his shoulder cut off the instinctive action before he could go anywhere. It made Izuku at least take a long, bracing breath. He couldn’t go blasting off with such little information - all he knew was that KAcchan was gone, but nothing else. If Kacchan was actually in any trouble, would Aizawa be so relaxed?

“Are you going to be calm about this?” Aizawa asked.

Izuku gave him a bashful smile, feeling his cheeks heat. “I can try?” he offered. When it came to Kacchan he couldn’t make any promises.

Aizawa seemed to accept that as a good as Izuku could give, because he let go, his hair drifting back down to settle once more around his shoulders.

“He left some time after his morning meal,” Aizawa said. “It was discovered when his lunch was brought. It was first assumed he went for a walk on his own, but nobody could find him. Eventually security cams were watched and he was found walking out the front door. The only reason I’m telling you this” Aizawa continued. “Is because if you learned anything from him this morning before you left that could be a clue as to his whereabouts, that could make all of our lives easier.”

“No,” Izuku said, shaking his head. “He didn’t say anything to me about leaving.” He didn’t add that Kacchan didn’t seem like he really wanted Izuku to leave, remembering how Kacchan kept insisting that he was fine. A fairly benign, normal statement when taken at face value, but the way this Kacchan just smiled at Izuku struck him as being incredibly off.

Aizawa sighed. “I’m not surprised,” he said. “Though that does make things more difficult. Thank you,” he added, turning away. “I’ll let you know when we find him.”

“W-wait,” Izuku stammered, taking a step forward after his teacher. When Aizawa paused, looking over his shoulder with a look of resignation, Izuku continued. “Can I help?” Then, more assured, stated. “I want to help find Kacchan.”

Aizawa leveled a measured gaze at Izuku, his eyes steady and unimpressed. After a long moment he said, his voice flat, “I don't think there's any way to stop you is there?”

Izuku bit his lip but shook his head, meeting Aizawa's gaze head on.

Aizawa sighed and looked down at the ground. When he met Izuku’s eyes again he said, firmly, "You will let us know the second you find him.”

Izuku nodded sharply, his heart thudding in his chest. “I will, sir,” he said.

“Fine,” Aizawa sighed. “I’ll excuse you for the rest of your classes for the day. Here is where we’ve already checked…”

_*_

Izuku found Kacchan at the park where they spent so much of their time together when they were kids. He was sitting on a bench, one arm slung casually across the back. He was, curiously, eating a scoop of ice cream despite the cooling autumn weather.

“Don’t freak out,” Kacchan said as Izuku stepped up. He held up a couple coins in demonstration “I found a few Yen under a vending machine and bought it myself.”

“I wasn’t going to accuse you of anything!” Izuku yelped. The thought that Kacchan might have stolen the money or worse didn’t even cross his mind, though since Kacchan brought it up he couldn’t quite dismiss it as a possibility.

Kacchan huffed a laugh that made it clear he didn’t believe Izuku, but didn’t say anything as Izuku stepped closer to take a seat at the far end of the bench, sliding his phone into his pocket after sending a message to Aizawa letting him know Kacchan was found safe.

They sat in silence, just taking in the sight. The bench was on a rise, looking over a field that eventually turned to woods, mountains far in the distance, the sun getting close to setting behind them. A scenic vista that Izuku would occasionally take the time to appreciate when he’d go on walks through the park. Rain was coming - the clouds heavy in the sky, the scent of ozone sharp in his nose. They were far enough from any civilization that the only sounds they could hear were the song of various birds and insects, the occasional scrape of leaves as some animal or another scampered through the underbrush. Izuku thought that once upon a time there might have been deer that called the woods home, but he hadn’t seen any in years.

“It’s nice here,” Kacchan said, tilting his head back, looking at the outline of browning leaves against the slate grey sky. Then, quieter, almost to himself, he added, “I almost forgot how nice it is.”

“Has it been a long time since you visited?” Izuku asked. He knew that occasionally, whenever he went to visit his mom they’d go for a walk along the various paved paths rather than go off the trail like he and Kacchan did. He always assumed that Kacchan did something similar, but maybe he was wrong. And who knew with this completely different Kacchan?

Kacchan let out a long breath like steam escaping. “Something like that,” he said in lieu of a real answer.

After another long moment of silence, Izuku had to break it.

“What is it like in your universe?” Izuku couldn’t help but ask. “You seem like you’re older, but is that the only change?”

“No fuckin’ superpowers, for one,” Kacchan snorted, finally turning his head to look at Izuku. He held a hand out and let out a small, controlled explosion. “Good thing this body knows how to control this before I blasted my dick off pissing. Your little friend would be pissed if he had to come back to that.”

“Ah, y-yeah!” Izuku let out a nervous laugh. Well, that was one concern he didn’t even think about. Thankfully, Kacchan’s body probably had a survival instinct that would keep unfortunate accidents like that happen, but after so many days of having random Kacchan’s in his friend’s body he couldn’t help but feel that they’d narrowly missed disaster.

“I’m sorry if I caused any trouble for anyone, by the way,” Kacchan said, surprising Izuku by how sincerely sorry he did sound. There was a sort of self-consciousness that Izuku, while he’d already seen it before from these other Kacchan’s still struck him as being incredibly wrong.

“I just,” Kacchan said. “When I realized where I was, I really needed to just… walk around. See where I was, you know? And I realized that the money I found was enough to get a ticket here, and it’s been so damn long since I’ve been here. I,” he let out a huffing laugh, looking out over the mountains. “I wanted to see the sunset here, can you believe it? I really, really, wanted to see the sunset.” His voice got really quiet with the last few words, rough with suppressed emotion.

“Yeah,” Izuku said, just as soft. “We can watch the sunset if you want.”

Kacchan smiled, only a little, but it was there. “Thanks, kid.”

They watched the sun set behind the mountains together, shoulder-to-shoulder until Kacchan finally let out another sigh and suggested it was about time for them to head back to the hospital, which Izuku sadly agreed with. Even if it wasn’t his Kacchan, it was actually pretty… nice to just sit in silence and watch the sun set.

It wasn’t until much later that Izuku realized that Kacchan successfully distracted Izuku from asking any questions about his universe.

-FLIP-

Well, that was really fuckin’ weird, Katsuki thought right before he dodged a punch from the rabbit in front of him.

He’d fallen asleep in that weird human world (sure, there were a handful of people who looked like hybrids, but his mind understood them as human), and woke up sharing the brain space of that human kid whose body he was borrowing. Staring down a hybrid version of that kid who’d latched himself to Katsuki’s side.

The rabbit hybrid was staring him down with intense eyes, chest heaving with heavy breaths, his skin reflecting sweat in the weak lighting, his long ears swept back.

He looked amazing.

Come on, bunny rabbit,” Katsuki growled, his heart racing in his chest in anticipation of a good fucking fight. “What are you waiting for?”

The rabbit’s eyes narrowed further, but he took the bait, launching himself forward.

Time seemed to slow down the way it always did when he fought in this place, in this pit. He felt his breath even out, his heartbeat heavy in his own ears, drowning out the shouts and jeers from the throng of people around him. All of his focus was on that rabbit in front of him - Izuku, his mind supplied. He’d introduced himself as Izuku in that other world.

He hadn’t had a fight so thrilling in a long, long damn time. At one point he managed to pin Izuku, his arm twisted behind him, and he snapped ineffectively at Izuku’s neck, forgetting that the damn muzzle was in the way.

Scratches, bruises… shit, even the occasional fracture got dismissed by the human authorities. Dumb hybrids working out a pecking order in an unnatural environment, or some shit.

And okay, there was some truth to it. Prison was a place where if you didn’t establish yourself somehow as someone who shouldn’t be fucked with, you were just opening yourself up for trouble. Forming alliances, fighting, all that shit were different ways to do just that, and the hybrid prisoners used what weapons they had on hand to get an edge over each other. But bites in particular were too primal, too brutal for human sensibilities.

But more than that, there was something about biting that just twisted deep into a hybrid’s instinct, that reached into their internal beast and made it take notice. And Izuku, judging by the way his eyes widened and his muscles locked, could feel it.

Then Izuku lurched underneath him and slid out of Katsuki’s grip, slippery as a damn eel. They separated, bristling, teeth bared at each other. Izuku’s eyes were wide, shining, and Katsuki thrilled to see it because it was there, there was the look that so many of them got only after weeks or months in that shithole they lived in. That look of the thrill of battle, the way their sweat stung their scratches, the adrenaline coursing through their veins. After so long of feeling weak, impotent, in their day to day, feeling pain and inflicting on others made their soul sing.

“Yeah,” Katsuki hissed, flexing his claws. “You want to beat me, right? Then what the fuck are you waiting for? Fucking beat me!”

It was like someone let the rabbit off his leash - they clashed again, hit after hit, claws and teeth flashing. At one point he came to with Izuku’s teeth buried nearly up to the gums in Katsuki’s shoulder, Izuku letting out little grunting growls with every blow Katsuki sent to his ribs.

And then, Katsuki wasn’t sure what happened - probably the repeated blows to his head finally catching up to him, but he was throwing Izuku over his shoulder to slam him down onto the bare concrete floor. Except somehow Izuku was bringing his leg around, slamming it against Katsuki’s head so hard that the world went white, then black, and Katsuki came to on the ground next to Izuku, blinking up at the bright lights and angry, shouting faces.

They both lay there for an eternity of no time at all. Katsuki tried to move, to get up and do something, but the moment he tried he felt his stomach roil, threatening to spill his shitty dinner over himself. Next to him he could sense Izuku roll over, and out of the corner of his eye see him try once, twice, and then on his third try he managed to sit up, though it looked like a stiff breeze would tip him over.

Out of nowhere a guard stepped between Katsuki and the other hybrid, and he lifted Izuku’s limp arm in victory to a roar from the crowd, hauling him up to his feet in his enthusiasm. Anger, disbelief, victory, all emotions that whirled around Katsuki as he could only stare as Izuku tried to keep his balance as the guard shook his arm in triumph.

Katsuki didn’t fucking lose.

Except he just did.

A feral grin spread across his face. Okay, human version of him. This rabbit was someone he had to keep an eye on.

A familiar spiky-haired head slid into his field of view, and Kirishima’s clawed hand was in his face. Thanks to the shitty lighting and the sweat in his eyes Katsuki could barely make out his face, but he could clearly see the confusion in the set of his mouth.

Katsuki took the hand, letting Kirishima haul him to his feet, even as the draining adrenaline was really starting to make him feel each and every bruise that was just waiting to bloom under his skin. He hunched over once he was on his feet, his body not wanting to be vertical at that particular moment, but before he could hit the ground Kirishima was already catching him, throwing his arm over his shoulders.

“Let’s get you sat down somewhere, man,” Kirishima said softly, dragging him out of the center of the pit.

Katsuki didn’t deign to respond to him, instead craned his head around, trying to find Izuku. He could barely see the tips of Izuku’s ears sticking out of the crowd as people surrounded him, offering him congratulations. More importantly, though, Katsuki could see Officer Akechi talking with some of his fellow officers, the smug superiority just emanating him in waves. Katsuki had a flash of memory from earlier in the day, a memory from another version of him of Akechi leaning close and hinting strongly to throw the fight. No fucking wonder he was so smug in that case - Katsuki’s cut better be fucking massive after getting his ass kicked that night.

“Here you go, bro,” Krishima said, pushing Katsuki to take a seat against a bare spot of wall away from the worst of the crowd. Katsuki grunted as he sank to the floor - with most of the adrenaline fading he was starting to feel every injury, every scratch and bruise the rabbit inflicted on him. It was a good pain, he decided. He hadn’t had such a good damn fight in way too long.

Speaking of the rabbit, Katsuki could just barely make out how Izuku was still swarmed by the other prisoners, looking lost and confused as hybrids, most of whom were bearing marks of their own fights, complimented him on his fight. Izuku still looked a little unsteady, his hands were trembling where he had them fisted at his sides, but he was standing on his own at least.

Ignoring how Kirishima yammered in his ear and poked at his various developing bruises, Katsuki caught Izuku’s eye and Izuku shot him a concerned look, glancing up and down at Katsuki and taking in the injuries he’d inflicted on Katsuki. Katsuki responded by jerking his head to the side, indicating the blank spot of wall next to him.

Izuku said something to the group around him that Katsuki couldn’t hear and made his way over. Katsuki felt a flash of pride that he was also apparently feeling his injuries, hunched over and limping. He fell more than sat down once he reached the wall, letting out a breath as he leaned his head back, eyes closed.

“Let me get something to patch you two up with, alright?” Kirishima said, patting Katsuki on the shoulder that didn’t have a rabbit-hybrid-sized bite mark in it. With that he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Katsuki and Izuku alone.

In front of them two more inmates were approaching the center of the room, bodies spreading out to make room once more. There were a flurry of hands passing contraband between each other - cigarettes, bottles of booze, harder drugs, and more. The guards along the walls had their own bets going, though there was more folded bundles of bills mixed in.

With a roar from the crowd the fight started, the sound of bodies clashing together drowned out in the exuberance.

“Earlier today…” Izuku trailed off, barely audible over the crowd even with Katsuki’s sharp hearing. “Kirishima asked me why I’m here. I didn’t tell you why then, but…”

“You still don’t have to,” Katsuki said. “Not like it’s going to make me think any worse of you.” With some exceptions, Katsuki didn’t care about what someone did prior to being locked up. Some of the nicest hybrids he knew in this place murdered someone in cold blood with a smile on their face. Like Kirishima.

Izuku shook his head. “I need to tell you, because I’m afraid it might follow me here,” he said. “And if it does, I don’t want you to get wrapped up in something that could end up hurting you.”

“Like I’ll let whatever bullshit you’re involved in hurt me,” Katsuki muttered.

Izuku’s ear twitched. “Fine then. I want you to know what to look out for, so that you’ll be prepared.” Somewhat mollified, Katsuki gestured to Izuku to continue on. “Before I came here.. I was a member of the yakuza. You could say it’s a family tradition. My dad…” he trailed off, shaking his head. “That’s not important. What is important is that someone killed a cop, and I took the fall.”

“They just threw you under the bus like that?” Katsuki asked, his ears laying down and eyes narrowing in irritation. “The fuck?”

“No,” Izuku denied. “I volunteered. That cop… he was an utter asshole. He was abusing his power, hurting people. He deserved to die.” With every word Izuku’s voice became more and more harder, fury bubbling up under every word. “And the person who finally killed them… I couldn’t let that fall on her shoulders. She was a good person, you know? So I took the fall.” He let out a wet laugh. “Turns out the cop had a lot of connections. Some of the guards here… they’re his friends. That Akechi guy? He knew who really killed that cop. He said if I don’t do what he wants me to, he’ll let his other cop friends know about it.”

And that girl would be in danger, was the fact that went unspoken. Some evidence planted in the right place, knowing which calls to ‘unfortunately’ be too late to answer in time… there were a lot of ways a group of vengeful cops can make things dangerous for someone.

Izuku blinked and shook his head, wincing. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this,” he admitted. “I think I have a concussion.”

Katsuki huffed a laugh. “Welcome to the club,” he said. “We get together on Tuesdays to discuss our collective cognitive decline.”

Izuku chuckled and wiped his nose again, checking his hand for any fresh blood. Apparently satisfied with whatever he saw, he leaned back against the damp wall.

“Do you got any names?” Katsuki asked. “About those crooked cops?”

“Yeeeah,” Izuku said, stretching the word out, looking at Katsuki with suspicious eyes. “Why?”

Katsuki shrugged. “I’m out of here in a couple years,” he said. “And knowing my luck, I’ll be back neck-deep in the same shit that got me put in here. Knowing about what cops to avoid can be pretty fucking useful”

“And what kind of ‘shit’ are you going to be in?” Izuku asked, the suspicion not shaking from his face, from the tilt of his ears.

Katsuki grinned side-on at Izuku, tapping his index finger as close as he could against his lips, the metal of his muzzle hot with his breath under his skin. “That’s a secret that I might let you in on later, bunny rabbit.”

Izuku’s head dropped as he shook it back and forth in disbelief. When he lifted it, though, the wariness had dropped, and instead he sent Katsuki a smile. It was small, nowhere near the kind of soft and affectionate smile that the human version of him had. But it was there, and it was sincere, and that’s all Katsuki was going for.

“Yeah, I have names,” Izuku said, voice warm with humor. “I might let you in on them later, wolf.”

’Watch out for this guy,’ huh? Sure, Katsuki could do that. Izuku would be locked up for a long damn time if he didn’t just get put down first, so he couldn’t do anything for that girl he was talking about.

But Katsuki… he had people he could talk to. A badge with his face on it he could finally dust off when he was no longer undercover. Names he could finally give to his superiors after two long fucking years.

Just two more years to go.

Day 12

When Izuku walked into the room Kacchan was already awake, looking at his hands and turning them over and over.

Kacchan blinked at Izuku, his eyes narrowed even as they darted up and down. Izuku smiled, even as he knew it wasn’t sincere. That expression on Kacchan’s face… he could tell that it wasn’t the one he needed to see. He looked surprised, confused, and wary.

“So,” he said. “A quirk hit us?”

Izuku inhaled slowly, feeling his smile turn wry. “Just you,” he said. At Kacchani’s single raised brow, he pulled out a chair and sat down in it. With another breath, he explained the situation.

“Huh,” Kacchan said once Izuku finished. He waited long enough to react after Izuku finished talking that Izuku had just started to shift uneasily, unsure how to translate the look behind Kacchan’s eyes. “I don’t suppose you can tell me what the date is?”

Izuku blinked. “The date? Why?”

“Indulge me,” Kacchan drawled.

Izuku bit his lip. Would that mess things up for his Kacchan if he told him? Or mess things up for this Kacchan? At least this one seemed to know about quirks, and recognized Izuku. And wasn’t afraid of him.

So Izuku told him, and tried not to react when he saw Kacchan’s eyebrows fly up in surprise.

“Huh,” Kacchan said. Then his lips pressed together as he looked at Izuku, some unnamable emotion in his eyes.

“...Why do you ask?” Izuku asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Kacchan shook his head. “Just… surprised,” he said. “Though I shouldn’t be. Damn, you’re so fucking young.”

Young? But he and Kacchan were both the same age. But… wait. There had already been multiple Kacchan’s who mentioned being in a body younger than the one they should be in, so that had to mean… “Are you from the future? Our future?” he clarified.

“Shit, I might be,” Kacchan huffed. “Fuck, you guys haven’t even-” he cut himself off, pressing his lips together hard.

“Haven’t…?” Izuku trailed off, prompting him to continue.

Kacchan just shook his head. “I shouldn’t say,” he said. “It might fuck things up for you if you know too much about what happens in the future.”

“But don’t you think that could also help us?” Izuku asked. “If we know what to look out for -”

“Then you might try to avoid it,” Kacchan broke in. But he wasn’t loud or angry about it, but firm in a way that took Izuku aback. “Some shit goes bad for you guys,” Kacchan said. “But if you try too hard to avoid it then some things that need to happen might not. I’m not going to fuck up your future, alright?”

Izuku pressed his lips together, swallowing down the urge to question him. The way Kacchan was talking, he was acting like whatever happened to them in his past was some sort of necessity, even if something tragic happens. Izuku didn’t like that, didn’t want to fall victim to some preordained failure just because Kacchan said it should happen, but he also knew that pressing Kacchan on the matter would just make him dig in his heels even harder.

Not to mention, he was very curious about one particular bit of info; “What year is it where you’re from?” he asked.

Kacchan smirked. “Probably not a good idea to tell you that, either.”

Izuku scowled. “What can you tell me?”

Kacchan tilted his head to the side, considering. Then he grinned. “I become the number one Pro Hero,” he bragged.

Izuku wasn’t sure if he should believe him or not. On the one hand, he could absolutely believe that Kacchan would become the number one ranked Pro Hero. On the other hand, this Kacchan looked like he was specifically trying to set Izuku off.

Kacchan seemed to sense what was going through Izuku’s head, because the grin just spread even wider as he leaned back in the hospital bed.

“What time is it, kid?” he asked.

Izuku shook off the frankly wrong feeling of Kacchan calling him ‘kid’ and answered, “A little after 7:30,” he said.

Kacchan nodded. “You should get to class then,” he said. “I’ll be alright here.”

“Are you sure?” Izuku asked. He could admit to himself that he wanted the excuse to skip class and see if he could figure out a way to pry information about the future out of this Kacchan. “I can stay, if you need me to.”

“I’ll be fine,” Kacchan dismissed Izuku’s worries. “It’s been a while since I had a chance to just sit and watch bad daytime TV,” he added.

When Izuku still hesitated, he insisted, “Go, brat. I’m fine.”

“Okay,” Izuku said. “Um, I’ll be back later,” he added, grabbing his bag and rising to his feet, movements slow and hesitating. Kacchan seemed amused by it, watching Izuku with that same smirk on his face that he’d had ever since he admitted to becoming the top ranked Pro Hero. Right before he closed the door, however, Izuku heard him mutter, “Fuck, that guy’s probably losing his goddamn mind…”

_*_

When Izuku finally made it back to Kacchan’s room, Kacchan was scribbling something on a piece of paper, a scowl on his face.

“What are you writing?” Izuku asked.

“I’m not writing, I’m drawing,” Kacchan corrected easily. He handed over a piece of paper. “Make sure the idiot that owns this body gets this, alright?” he said.

Izuku squinted down at what was drawn on it, trying to interpret the lines and writing. It looked like some sort of device designed to go in the ear, but for whatever purpose he couldn’t immediately determine. “What is it?”

“Sound dampeners,” Kacchan said flatly. “At around this time the version of me you know is probably getting bad tinnitus after long fights but is shrugging it off like an idiot. It’s just going to get worse, and he’ll be looking at permanent hearing loss in just a couple more years. An engineer and I came up with those to prevent my hearing from getting any worse. They’ll block out anything over a certain decibel level, but still allow him to communicate when out on the field.”

Izuku recalled how the Kacchan from a couple days ago rubbed his ears after he set off the explosion. He’d never seen Kacchan do anything like that before, but knowing him it was out of sheer stubbornness to not reveal anything that could be taken as a weakness. Instead of debating the point with Kacchan, Izuku pursed his lips and held up the paper. “You won’t tell me pretty much anything about the future,” he said. “But this is okay?”

Kacchan shrugged. “The damage is cumulative,” he said. “Most of the shit you’re going to have to worry about is going to be within the next few years and- shit,” he hissed, when Izuku’s eyes grew wide at what he let slip.

“Next few years?” Izuku asked, jumping on the bait. “How soon in the next few years? Months? Weeks? Does it have to do with the League of Villains, or something else?”

“I’m not telling you anything more,” Kacchan said loudly. “So leave it, alright?”

Izuku scowled. How was it that it was the future version of his own Kacchan was the one that was the most frustrating to deal with? “Is there anything you can tell me?” he asked. “Anything useful?” he clarified when Kacchan opened his mouth, remembering earlier in the day when Kacchan just made a pithy comment about being the number one Hero.

Kacchan pursed his lips, considering Izuku. “We end up working together,” he eventually admitted. “A lot. We make a good team,” he shrugged casually.

“We work together?” Izuku echoed. Then he smiled, a small blush appearing on his cheeks. “I’m glad.” That was one thing he was looking forward to once they graduated, but could barely hope for even in the privacy of his own mind. Kacchan was definitely the sort of person who would prefer to work alone, so this knowledge that in another world there was a Kacchan and an Izuku who would fight shoulder-to-shoulder… it was nice.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to spend the whole day here,” Kacchan said, after a moment of awkward silence. “Don’t you have other friends you wanna hang out with?” There was a look in his eyes that Izuku couldn’t translate. “Someone that might be missing you while you’re mooching around here?”

“Any time spent with Kacchan is time well spent,” Izuku said, grinning. Even if he was a weirdly frustrating Kacchan.

Kacchan responded to the statement by rolling his eyes. “You know,” Kacchan announced. “I’d like to say that you outgrew that mindset, but even in my future you’re just as bad.”

“Why would I change?” Izuku wondered aloud, honestly baffled. “It’s the truth.”

Kacchan groaned and hung his head.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Some things just never change.”

-FLIP-

Katsuki blinked his eyes open, waking slowly.

He was colder than he usually was when he woke; he and Izuku would trade snuggling up to each other and breaking apart throughout the night, but he almost always woke up with at least Izuku’s arm thrown over him. The lack made him scowl as he tried to focus on what the hell was up with Izuku.

He expected to see Izuku still asleep - maybe Shiro had another bad night and he’d snuck in, and that’s why Izuku wasn’t curled up with Katsuki in lieu of taking care of the younger of their two kids. Instead, not only was Shiro not in the bed, but Izuku was apparently wide awake, watching Katsuki sleep with eyes that looked like they didn’t get an ounce of sleep the night before. His face was stony, expressionless, though his eyes were intense as they looked into Katsuki’s own.

“The hell, Deku?” Katsuki mumbled, mind tripping towards wakefulness. “Are you alright?”

Just as Izuku’s face scrunched up, those deep green eyes of his immediately welling up with tears, the events of the previous day returned to Katsuki. “Ah, shit,” he sighed. He opened his arms towards Izuku. “Come here, Deku.”

Katsuki found himself being held close, hard enough that Katsuki could feel bruises blooming under his skin, Izuku’s face buried into his sternum. "Calm down, Deku," he said soothingly, feeling the way the other man's back shuddered under his hands. "I was gone for a day. I'm back now."

"I thought I lost you again," Izuku gasped out. It was just quiet enough, just muffled enough that it was only years of dealing with steadily degrading hearing that allowed Katsuki to be able to hear the dumbass who really should have known better than to talk into Katsuki’s sternum. Katsuki figured he could forgive him, though.

“I told you before,” Katsuki said. “You’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

Izuku let out a sound that was mostly a laugh, but was still flavored with tears. “Yeah,” he agreed through a wavering smile. “You did.”

Katsuki pulled Izuku into a kiss, warm and affectionate, a promise to never leave for long. When they separated Izuku had stopped crying, though his eyes still held pain as he looked at Katsuki.

“Hey, Deku,” Katsuki said.

“Hmm?” Izuku prompted.

“The past version of you was adorable.”

Izuku made a sour face. “Kacchan, please…”

“It’s true!” Katsuki grinned. “He had such chubby cheeks,” he added, pinching Izuku’s cheeks that had slimmed down over the years. Izuku whined and turned his head into the pillow in a vain attempt to protect his cheeks from any additional pinching.

After a couple minutes of trying to poke and prod at Izuku’s cheeks and Izuku fruitlessly trying to stop him by burying his face into the pillows and blanket, Katsuki eventually called it quits and just hooked his arms over Deku’s shoulders. They just breathed together for a moment, Izuku turning his head so that he could watch Katsuki, his eyes crinkling at the corners with honest happiness.

“Thank you,” he eventually said, making sure his mouth is clear so that Katsuki could read his lips if his voice was too quiet.

“Nothing to thank me for,” Katsuki said back. “You’re the one who had to deal with the teenaged version of me. Was he as insufferable as I’m sure I was back then?”

Izuku shook his head and shifted so that they could face each other better. “Not really,” he said. “I think he was just tired of everything and wanting to just get through the day.”

Katsuki shrugged and nodded. Yeah, it sounded about right.

“He was so young, though!” Izuku said, a small but sincere smile on his face. “I forgot what you were like at that age!”

“Let me guess,” Katsuki said. “A bundle of insecurity badly covered up by bluster and literally shouting down any feelings other than stoic superiority?”

“Don’t forget the way you were completely unable to show even basic affection without covering it up with insults,” Izuku added.

Katsuki thwapped Izuku with his own pillow since he was over on Katsuki’s side so much that he wasn’t even using it.

“You know,” Izuku added after a couple minutes where they just relaxed in each other’s warmth. “I don’t think they were even together yet. He seemed surprised that we were married. I know I was pretty sure we’d marry each other since I was four. Did the other Izuku say anything about how long they’d been dating?”

“Hm,” Katsuki grunted instead of answering.

Izuku pulled back to eye Katsuki, who had his eyes stubbornly shut. “Kacchan…” he said, his tone gently scolding. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t say shit, Deku,” Katsuki grumbled, peeling his eyes open just enough to glare at Deku.

“What didn’t you say?” Izuku pressed.

Katsuki sighed, turning to lay on his back. “I’m pretty sure they weren’t dating yet,” Katsuki said. “And I wasn’t going to push them one way or another. That’s a decision they need to make without me pushing them.”

“And it has nothing to do with the fact that you’d be okay if that Izuku found someone else?” Izuku said, more of a statement than a question.

Katsuki was quiet for a long moment before saying, “I’m just saying, that some things would be easier if he ended up dating Todoroki. After all, he had a really fucking obvious crush on Deku, and he-”

“Todoroki,” Izuku interrupted. “Is perfectly happy with the person he’s dating right now. Now, are we talking about that other Izuku, or someone a little closer to home for you?”

There was another moment of quiet, and then Katsuki said, softer than before. “It would have been a lot easier in a lot of ways if you did end up with Todoroki.”

“Shouto,” Izuku stressed. “Is a very good friend. Things were difficult sometimes with you and me, but I wouldn’t have traded that for the world.”

“Maybe you should have,” Katsuki said in that same soft tone of voice.

“Kacchan,” Izuku sighed. He reached out to pull Katsuki closer, pressing a kiss to the crown to Kacchan’s head. “Think about where you are. What we have. Are you sure you want to throw all of that away?”

After a long period of silence, Izuku could feel Katsuki’s chest heave as he took a deep breath. “No,” he eventually said. “I don’t. But you would be-”

“So much unhappier without you,” Izuku finished the sentence for Katsuki. “Trust me. After everything we’ve been through, being here, with you? The two monsters in their rooms down the hall? I can’t dream of anything better.”

“Sap,” Katsuki grumbled, but he had a blush high on his cheeks, and Izuku knew that he won that round.

Izuku grinned. “You bring it out in me,” he said.

That was the push and pull. When Izuku got too in his head and started blaming himself for not being able to save the world, Katsuki pulled him out. When Katsuki started to convince himself, again, of how weak and pathetic he was, Izuku lifted him back up. That, and a healthy dose of therapy, made them work.

“Speaking of the monsters,” Katsuki said, pulling away so that he was half sitting up. “Where are they?”

“I took them to mom’s house,” Izuku said, crossing his legs as he sat up fully. “I had mom pick them up from school and they spent the night with her. It was probably a little paranoid of me, but-”

“Smart,” Katsuki interrupted. “You wake up and I’m replaced by someone who said he’s me from another universe? Yeah, I would have been pissed if you didn’t make sure they were safe.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Izuku grinned.

“Hmm,” Katsuki hummed, returning Izuku’s grin with a half-lidded smile of his own. “So, what I’m hearing is we both have the morning off, the kids are off with grandma, and we got nothing to do for the next few hours?”

“Oh…?” Izuku’s smile turned a little softer, his eyes darkening at the familiar tone in Katsuki’s voice. “Did you have something in mind?”

“Maybe one or two things,” Katsuki purred, hooking his finger into the neck of Izuku’s night shirt to pull him closer.

After that they put off talking in lieu of more important concerns.

Day 13

When Izuku entered Kacchan’s room the next day, it was to see the other boy already sitting up in bed, swinging his arms around like he was testing his range of motion, his mouth twisted in thought. The second he saw Izuku walk through the door he sat up straighter, eyes sparking with recognition. Well, at least this Kacchan knew who he was, and he wasn’t making any comments on how either of them looked...

“Deku,” Kacchan said, looking around. “The hell am I doing here?”

“You got injured in an attack,” Izuku said, trying not to hope. It had been so, so long since he last saw his Kacchan… “What was the last thing you remember?”

Kacchan’s eyes narrowed in thought. “We got called to help out with a fight against a group of villains,” he said. “A villain almost hit you with an attack, but I got there before they could hit your slow ass.” He shot Deku a smirk. “You’re welcome for that, by the way,” he added.

Izuku couldn’t breathe for a moment. It felt like his heart had stopped and lodged itself into his chest. He swallowed a couple times, and eventually his heart went back where it rightfully belonged and began to flutter. “What about before?” he asked, voice rasping, hands clenching where they were balled up on his knees.

Kacchan’s brow furrowed in thought. “Class. The last course was English - we were reading a short story by Stephen King. Why?” He eyed Izuku and asked, “You skipping class today, nerd?”

“It’s Sunday,” Izuku explained patiently, though his heart was beating a frantic beat. It was so close to when his Kacchan was taken out. Could he finally, finally after all this time…? “There’s no class until tomorrow.”

“What?” Kacchan said, recoiling slightly, his lip curling. “It’s Tuesday, isn’t it?”

Izuku shook his head. “No, it’s been a few days since the fight.” Almost two weeks, he didn’t say. “You’ve been completely out of it since then.”

Kacchan scowled. “I feel fine,” he grumbled, stretching his arms out.

Izuku shrugged rather than lie to Kacchan again, defaulting to vagueness. Why didn’t they just tell Kacchan what was going on? What did they have to lose against that? If this really was his Kacchan, back after so long, what would be the harm? This had to be so confusing to him. It wasn’t going to be enough for Kacchan, Izuku knew, already seeing the frustration in Kacchan’s eyes. So instead of giving a straight lie, he settled for a half-truth that still tasted sour on his tongue. “It may have to do with what the villain hit you with.”

Kacchan tsk’ed, glowering off to the side. “I’m going to be behind as hell on classwork,” he muttered.

Izuku gave him a commiserating smile. “It’s been a busy couple weeks,” Izuku admitted. What he didn’t add was how he was technically behind on a lot of his own homework - squeezing in maybe an hour or two here and there after seeing Kacchan was starting to affect his grades, but it was a sacrifice he was willing to make. “But I can talk with Aizawa-sensei about putting together a packet for you to work on?”

“Yeah, it’s better than nothing,” Kacchan grumbled.

“I should tell someone you’re up, though,” Izuku said, rising to his feet. “They’ll want to see if you’re okay, at the very least.”

“Fine,” Kacchan said, looking over at the window. “I’ll be waiting here, I guess.”

Izuku just gave Kacchan another smile even though he was looking in the completely wrong direction to see it, and slid out and towards the nurse’s station, trying to steady his racing heart and the way his lips trembled.

Could this finally be it?

“What’s up Izuku-kun,” Setsuko asked once she saw him, concern on her face as she straightened in her seat.

“This might be Kacchan,” Izuku said, trying to keep his voice steady, but after days upon days of seeing strangers wearing his Kacchan’s face, to know there was a possibility of Kacchan finally coming home... “He remembers the fight,” Izuku continued in a rush. “He’s acting like Kacchan, he just doesn’t seem to remember anything since the fight.”

It might be better if Kacchan didn’t remember anything from the other universes, Izuku rationalized giddily. How confusing and terrifying that had to be? Would Kacchan have figured out what was going on? Did he even know that one day it’d be all over once he got back home?”

“That’s great news!” Setsuko said, a grin spreading across her face. “I’ll let Recovery Girl know - she’s been keeping an eye on things, but if you think he’s the one we’ve been waiting for she’ll want to get a closer look at him.”

Izuku nodded. “Sure! I’ll like to stay with him as much as I can today,” he said. “If that’s allowed.”

Setsuko gave him a slight commiserating smile. “You’ll have to check with Recovery Girl, and especially Bakugou-kun to see if they’re okay with you staying around.”
That was fair, Izuku supposed. He knew how private Kacchan could be, so he doubted that Kacchan would want him in his room while Recovery Girl checked him out, but nobody would be able to drag him out of the hospital until he got confirmation one way or another. But instead of arguing, he just gave Setsuko a smile that felt like the first sincere smile since the fight that started everything.

When Izuku returned to the room it was to see Kacchan had moved to sit on the window ledge where it was just wide enough for him to plant himself, one leg propping him up, the other folded to lay along the edge.

Kacchan had apparently been looking out of the window when Izuku was gone, and as soon as Izuku re-entered he looked over, his lip quirking into a smirk that was just a little more relaxed than Izuku usually saw on him.

“Hey,” Kacchan said. There was something in his expression that Izuku couldn’t place. The set his mouth was so much softer than Izuku was used to seeing, his eyes heavy-looking and… warm? Even his voice was low, soft, filled with an emotion that Izuku had never heard from him. “Come here,” Kacchan said once he got Izuku’s attention. Gesturing with one hand, beckoning him to come over.

Curious despite the clench of something uncertain in his belly, Izuku walked up to where Kacchan was sitting.

“Nerd,” Kacchan said, reaching up to palm the back of Izuku’s head once he was in grabbing distance and pulling him forward and down, Izuku letting him until Kacchan leaned closer and close enough to plant a kiss onto the crown of Izuku’s head. Warm, and affectionate and this wasn’t his Kacchan.

Izuku cursed himself for being so hopeful on such little data. They were Heroes-in-training, the chances of another Kacchan being in a fight were fairly high. Plus, now that he realized this wasn’t his Kacchan, he could spot the little signs and indications that this wasn’t the one he was used to.

His Kacchan wasn’t going to turn towards Izuku so openly - he was always so much more closed-off, sitting either hunched and defensive, or sitting back with a scowl, prickly and putting out carefully manufactured ‘don’t touch me’ vibes. He wouldn’t sit with his shoulders tilted towards Izuku, or look at Izuku with open affection he was just realizing was the expression on his face that Izuku couldn’t place. He wouldn’t have his free hand palm-up on his knee, fingers slightly curled in a wordless invitation for Izuku to slip his hand into his.

Once more, he was looking at a stranger.

“Kacchan,” Izuku said, staying where Kacchan put him, unable to move. He couldn’t, he couldn’t keep his voice steady, he couldn’t keep the disappointment out. Kacchan could hear it, Izuku could tell, and the look of open concern on Kacchan’s face was another dagger in his heart. It wasn’t an obvious expression - someone less familiar with Kacchan that Izuku might not even be able to recognize it for what it was, but Izuku could. “I lied earlier.” It may have been more accurate to say it was only a half-truth, but it certainly felt like a lie when looking at this other Kacchan.

At the edge of Izuku’s vision he could see Kacchan’s open hand curl closed, his hand slipping from Izuku’s hair and leaving his scalp tingling where he had touched. “About what, Deku?” Kacchan asked, that concern melting into suspicion.

“You were hit with a quirk,” Izuku said, straightening to take one, two steps away. Of course this open, downright affectionate Kacchan was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger. Of course, of course. “But we know what it did. It sent my Kacchan into an alternative universe. You’re just inhabiting his body. Tomorrow, you’ll wake up in your own world.”

“So you’re not-” Kacchan blurted out, then cut himself off with a click of his teeth. When Izuku glanced at him, Kacchan had his eyes closed, taking one, two deep breaths. “Okay,” Kacchan said. “Let’s say I believe you. This seems like an awful lot like my own universe, though all I’ve seen is the inside of this fucking hospital.”

“Differences in universes can be really minor,” Izuku pointed out, even as the words tasted like ash in his mouth. So minor that it would take a kiss to destroy Izuku’s hope. “Like, on your fourth birthday maybe your mom got you an Endeavor birthday cake instead of the All Might one. But this should only last for a day. At midnight you’ll be sent back to your own universe.”

“Like hell would I get an Endeavor cake,” Kacchan snorted. “But fuck it, sure. Maybe that’s the difference.”

Izuku, he would be ashamed to admit, was torn. What would be the harm in letting this Kacchan think that was the difference between their worlds? Kacchan kissed him, just the barest brush of lips against the crown of Izuku’s head, but it was an unexpected gesture of affection from and unexpected source. Affection that Izuku knew better than to ever expect from his own Kacchan. Somehow, against all odds, this Kacchan and his Izuku were together. What would be the harm in letting this Kacchan think he and his Kacchan were as well? Maybe then they could… hold hands, lay next to each other as they waited for the next day to come. He’d done it once already, but so much more innocently than he wanted. Izuku wouldn’t ask for too much; after all, this Kacchan obviously has an Izuku back home and it would be selfish of him to ask for more, but some tender word from Kacchan, some gentle touch that Izuku had wanted for so damn long...

Izuku flushed, immediately horrified at himself for the thought. He couldn’t lie to Kacchan just for his own benefit. That was dishonest, manipulative, that wasn’t the sort of person he wanted to be.

“That’s not just it…” Izuku trailed over, trying to work out how exactly to tell Kacchan.

“Eh?” Kacchan said. “Then what the hell is it?”

Spit it out, Izuku told himself. “My Kacchan wouldn’t have… kissed me like that,” he said, the words surprisingly hard to get out. “We aren’t… together. In this universe.”

Kacchan stared at Izuku, eyes wider than Izuku’s used to seeing, frozen in place for so long that Izuku was starting to worry until he noticed how Kacchan’s lip was pulling into a sneer.

“Wait,” Kacchan said. “You never fucking confessed to him?”

“No,” Izuku admitted. His brows drawing together. How could that other Izuku have been so brave as to confess to how he felt? What gave him the push that he, himself, never felt? “When did I… he, confess in your timeline?”

“After I didn’t get my fucking provisional license and called you out to fight me,” Kacchan said. “You just fucking blabbed about how much you fuckin’ loved me and whatever. Then All Might caught us and while we were on suspension we… talked it out, I guess.”

Izuku gaped at Kacchan. Could it have really been that easy? He remembered that fight; so much of his attention was taken up by how wrong Kacchan was about him, All Might, everything. It may have occurred to him at some point to explain that he didn’t look down on Kacchan as much as he wanted to kiss him, but any thoughts along those lines were very quickly dismissed on account of him having to fight back.

Not to mention… he couldn’t count on his Kacchan reciprocating. This one obviously did, but they were still different people. As much as Izuku wished otherwise, his Kacchan still barely tolerated him, let alone feel any sort of affection.

Izuku felt sick. The thought that there was an Izuku out there that had a Kacchan while he didn’t should have made him happy, right? That at least in some universe, there was an Izuku that had everything he wanted. But instead of that, Izuku felt a burning jealousy. How easy it would be if only Izuku had a Kacchan that returned his feelings.

Izuku took a step back, and then another. For the first time in his life, he needed to go, run away. Not from a villain, but from the source of so many complicated emotions.

“I have to go,” Izuku said, his voice sounding strange and distant even in his own ears.

“Wait, what?” Kacchan said, sitting up straighter and almost leaning towards Izuku, one hand raised. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I got… something I need to do,” Izuku said, unable to even come up with a good excuse. Then, before Kacchan could say anything, turned and rushed out of the door.

He passed by Recovery Girl approaching from the other direction and paused just long enough to choke out, “I was wrong. He’s not back.”

Then he continued down the hall, not looking back once.

_*_

Izuku eventually made his way to the roof of the hospital.

It was quiet up there, and despite how he felt he couldn’t force himself to go too far away from Kacchan. He wasn’t sure how long he was up there - an hour, maybe two? However long it was, he knew instinctively who it was when he heard the entrance to the rooftop area open.

Soft footsteps approached, and when Kacchan stood next to him, leaning against the railing in a mirror of Izuku’s own pose, Izuku felt like he was ready to see him again. He couldn’t give him more than a small, shaking smile in greeting, unsure if he could trust his voice for anything more.

“Sorry I’m not who you thought I was,” Kacchan said to break the silence, sounding wrong-footed.

Izuku shook his head. “It’s not your fault,” he said. “I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up so high without any real proof.”

“I just don’t get why you didn’t confess,” Katsuki grumbled. “Everything was the same until then, damnit.”

Izuku’s mouth twisted. He really didn’t want to talk about how brave the other Izuku must have been to have the guts to confess when he didn’t. Or maybe that other Izuku saw something in Kacchan that gave him the courage to confess his feelings. That thought made him feel that same, guilty feeling from earlier return - he really shouldn’t blame his Kacchan for his own shortcomings - if only Izuku had the same bravery that other Izuku did.

Kacchan scowled at Izuku’s silence. “What?” he snapped, bristling and defensive. “I know you had that fight, I got this guy’s memories. You really didn’t confess, did you?”

“Ah, no,” Izuku startled. “We did, um. Fight. But we didn’t really confess to anything like that.” Oh, no, his face was probably bright red, wasn’t it?

“Lost fucking opportunity,” Kacchan grunted, leaning against the railing with crossed arms and closing his eyes dismissively. “At least it ain’t too late to change things now.”

“Now?” Izuku echoed. “What do you mean?”

Kacchan peeled one eye open to glare at Izuku with it. “I mean your confession,” he said slowly, spelling out his meaning. “Yeah, you missed doing it when me and my Deku did, but you still got time, right? What’s stopping you?”

Izuku felt a heavy weight settle into his belly even as his head spun. Was Kacchan really telling him to confess to Kacchan - his Kacchan?

Either way, Izuku shook his head. “My Kacchan doesn’t feel the same for me that I feel for him,” he said. Giddily, he realized that technically he was confessing to a Kacchan, one he’d probably never see again.

Kacchan huffed at Izuku’s excuse. “Bullshit,” he dismissed. “He might not realize it until it’s thrown in his face, but he’s crazy about you. Why do you think he’s so obsessed with beating you, specifically? It’s ‘cause he thrives under your attention, and doesn’t want you thinking he’s weak. You even said it yourself, us two versions were pretty much indistinguishable until I fucking kissed you. If we’re that similar, he’s bound to be crazy about you.” Then, quieter, with a touch of that self-consciousness that was so rare from Kacchan, he added, “I don’t think there’s a version of you that I’m not obsessed over.””

Izuku stared at Kacchan. “How can you say all that so easily?”

Kacchan shifted, a gentle pink flush on his cheeks. “My Deku keeps insisting on talking our shit out,” he grumbled, looking away. “I’m used to it by now.”

Maybe not entirely, Izuku mused as he watched Kacchan shift in place. But enough that he felt comfortable talking about the theoretical thoughts and feelings of a similar Kacchan.

“Anyway,” Kacchan burst out a little louder than the casual volume he used before. “Just fucking trust me on this, alright? Even if he realizes how fucking much he likes you, he’ll probably drag his heels on the actual confession, so you should speak up if you want to pursue anything.” He suddenly stopped and glared at Izuku, pinning him in place with the strength of his glower. “You do want to pursue things with him, right?”

“I do!” Izuku yelped, his heart thudding in response to the glare. Then he paused, thinking. He couldn’t even imagine what a relationship with Kacchan would be like - sure, he’d had plenty of practice imagining what it would be like to kiss and do… other… things with Kacchan, but what would their day-to-day even be like? What sort of boyfriend would Kacchan be? What was his love language, would he be demonstrative or private in his affection?

It didn’t matter, Izuku decided. They’d figure it out together.

“I do,” he repeated, firmly. “I want as much of him as Kacchan is willing to give me, and if you’re right about how Kacchan feels, then I’ll take it.” And if this Kacchan was wrong, well. Izuku will just have to take his chances.

“He’s not going to tell you first,” Kacchan pointed out. “So you’re going to have to make that first move.”

Izuku chewed on his bottom lip a moment before asking, “But it has to be me, first?” he asked. “Maybe it’ll be easier to wait for him to say something. I’m used to waiting, after all.”

Kacchan winced like he’d been struck. “You’ve been waiting too fuckin’ long, Deku. But yeah, it has to be you. He’ll have to have a confession dragged out of him, or a fucking epiphany. Those are the only ways I can see it happening from his end, and I’m not holding out for an epiphany from that idiot.”

“Hey,” Izuku protested, offended on Kacchan’s behalf.

“I’m that idiot, too,” Kacchan pointed out. “I can say that.”

“That doesn’t mean I agree with it,” Izuku said, to Kacchan’s rolling eyes.

“Can we talk about something else?” Kacchan said, and oh, wow, Izuku had never seen quite that shade of red on Kacchan before. Usually when Kacchan was embarrassed about something he blustered and got angry. But then again, Izuku realized, he’d never seen Kacchan as the target of a romantic conversation.

“Sure, Izuku agreed, though he desperately wanted to ask more questions. Where did they go on dates? How did they spend their time together? Were their friends and family supportive? Was his Izuku a good boyfriend?

However, a more pressing issue occurred to Izuku, and he winced. He had a ton of homework to catch up on, what with spending most of his time after class in the hospital with Kacchan. But so many of them seemed so… lost. Alone. Confused. He was prepared to spend time with a Kacchan that was just as lost, but with this Kacchan being so familiar that excuse was gone. At least with this one being so similar to the one he knew, would he be okay on his own while Izuku retired to his own dorm?

“I should actually get going…” Izuku trailed off, watching to see how this Kacchan would take it. “I got a lot of homework to do, and, well…”

“You can do it here,” Kacchan suggested quickly. “I mean,” Kacchan grumbled, even as he still refused to look Izuku in the eye. “We’re probably going over the same stuff in class, right? And helping you with your homework would help me catch up on what I missed in the past few days.”

“Yeah, sure,” Izuku said, not able to look away from this Kacchan who looked so… shy? Was that it? Was this how he was when he was early on in his relationship with his Izuku? It was so… cute. It was adorable, Izuku decided. Especially since despite his casual words, Izuku could see how his hands clenched in the railing, the way his eyes darted around, unable to settle on Izuku for more than a moment before moving away. “Just let me get my stuff, okay?” Izuku said, then hesitated before stepping away from the railing, waiting to see if Kacchan was going to say or do anything before he left.

“Listen, nerd,” Kacchan eventually spat out, blushing harder than Izuku had ever seen him. Izuku couldn’t help but stare, fascinated by the sight. It was like seeing a unicorn in the flesh. Kacchan also couldn’t seem to look him in the eye, looking out in the distance with unfocused eyes, the railing he was grabbing, everything but Izuku. “I’m going to do you and your version of me a favor, alright. He’s not going to be really... comfortable talking about a lot of shit at first. Feelings and… what he likes and stuff,” the last part was said in a gruff mumble, and he continued on in the same tone. If anything, he got even redder. “So, just… he’ll probably like it a lot when you show off how strong you are, okay?”

Izuku blinked. “You mean… he likes it when I fight?” Kacchan had mentioned something before about seeing him use One for All, but this Kacchan seemed to imply that it was something a lot more intense than just watching him fight.

“No, not when you fight!” Kacchan exploded, but at least he was looking at Izuku. “Just fuckin’... pick him up every now and then, okay? He’ll like that. Just not all the time.”

Pick him up? But why would he want to - oh. Ohhhhh! Izuku could feel his face immediately blush, his face feeling so hot he had to wonder if he was actually alight. “Oh,” he said, voice tiny, but mind going a mile a minute. If Kacchan liked… but what if he… “Okay.”

They were both quiet, sitting in uncomfortable silence for a long moment until Kacchan leaned hard to the side so that he bumped into Izuku with the shoulder “Okay, that’s enough of that shit,” he grumbled. “Get lost so I can go to sleep and put all this behind me.”

“Oh, sure,” Izuku said, gathering his things. “It was nice meeting you,” he offered lamely.

Kacchan just raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him. “I’m pretty much the Katsuki you know,” he pointed out. “We’re just not fucking. Yet.”

The blush which had only started to die roared back to life in Izuku’s cheeks, one that was mirrored in Kacchan’s face despite how casually he was talking.

“J-j-just let me get my things, Kacchan!” he yelped, darting to the roof exit.

Izuku could only hope that when he got to the rank of Number One Pro Hero, he’d be less of a coward when it came to Kacchan and who each of them were sleeping with.

(Though he could only hope he’ll be sleeping with Kacchan).

-FLIP-

“Fuck!” Katsuki hissed immediately upon waking. “Why do I feel like utter dogshit?”

That was putting it lightly. His whole body ached in a way he hadn’t felt the day before. Fuck, he could feel it down to his bones.

“Kacchan?” A very familiar voice asked. He felt something brush his hand, then Deku’s familiar hand returned to lace his fingers in Katsuki’s. Katsuki gripped it back, hard, while he writhed in the bed. What the hell even happened to him? “Do you need me to get someone?”

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Katsuki grit out.

“Okay,” Deku said. His grip shifted and Katsuki was vaguely aware of him moving around, but all he could focus on was how he could feel his whole body pulse with every beat of his heart in waves of pain.

“What’s going on here?” A new voice asked an eternity of a minute later.

“He just woke up like this,” Deku said. “He’s in a lot of pain and I don’t know why.” His hand tightened around Katsuki’s.

“That’s not too surprising,” the new voice said. “All that excitement and moving around he did yesterday after being in bed all week was a workout for his muscles.”

What the hell were they talking about?

“Bakugou-kun,” the new voice said clearly, closer to where he was laying. “I can give you something for the pain, but you have to give your permission first, okay?”

Fuck, it was obvious he was in pain. Couldn’t they just do it? “Yes,” he grit out between clenched teeth, only distantly aware of the tears that squeezed between his eyes to dampen the hair at his temple. “Do it, do it.”

There was a shifting at his bedside, then, slowly, a wave of blessed relief spread through his body. He was still aware of the pain, but only distantly. Like it was happening to some other sad sack on a hospital bed, leaving his feeling disconnected and a little flowy.

When it felt safe to do so he fluttered his eyes open to see Deku hadn’t moved from his spot next to the bed. He was instead watching Katsuki with his brows drawn together, bottom lip pinched bloodless between his teeth.

“Are you feeling any better?” Deku asked, his fingers twitching where they were resting on the edge of the bed. Katsuki wanted to grab them, rub his thumb over those scarred knuckles until they stopped trembling.

“Yeah,” Katsuki grunted instead. “Better. What the fuck happened?”

“You got attacked a couple weeks ago,” Deku said. At his words Katsuki felt his heart sink to settle somewhere in his belly. He continued on, but Katsuki couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in his ears.

“What the fuck?” he finally choked out. “You said it was only going to be a day. Midnight, you said, then I’d be back with my Deku.”

“Kacchan-” Deku started, eyes growing wide.

Katsuki kept going. The weird floaty feeling the painkiller gave him cutting off all restraint, the words just flowing out of his mouth.

“Me and my Deku, we’ve been through a lot of shit, okay? Not- fuck, not that there’s anything wrong with you, but you and your Katsuki still need to get your shit together, and I want to be back with teh Deku I love, alright? I want, I want the Deku that I-”

The only warning Katsuki had was the way Deku cupped his jaw in one hand like he always, always did right before kissing Katsuki, and then he was doing it. His lips were chapped and dry, and he smelled like cheap hospital soup and a little sour, like he just washed up at the attached bathroom’s sink rather than return to the dorm for a proper shower, but Katsuki knew the way this Deku kissed because this was his Deku. His Deku who knew how to curl his tongue just so, how brushing the shell of Katsuki’s ear made his breath catch

Deku broke the kiss far too early to gasp in a breath. “You’re back,” he breathed on the exhale. Be buried his face into Katsuki’s neck to murmur in between little pecking kisses, “You’re back, you’re home, Kacchan.”

He was. He was back. And holy shit, he was only separated from his own Deku for a day; it wasn’t until he had that brief thought that he was going to spend a second day away from his Deku that he started to lose it, worried that he’d be stuck going through day after day separated from him. What the hell was that other Katsuki going through?

He couldn’t think about that, though. He could only cling to his own Deku with a white-knuckled grip, matching his repeated assurances with his own whispers of, “I’m here, Deku. I’m here.”

After they parted, Deku wiping at his streaming eyes while Katsuki dabbed at his own with more subtlety, they just took a moment to look at each other. Deku’s mouth was twisting like he was trying to keep a thoroughly besotted grin off his face. Even Katsuki had to fight the way his lips kept compulsively trying to twitch up.

“What are you grinning at?” Katsuki grumbled, trying to distract himself from how his heart fucking swelled at the sight of his own Deku in front of him once more. Fucking drugs.

“You,” Deku said simply. Katsuki was tempted to chuck his pillow at him for having such a damn cheesy line at the ready, but he was currently using it so he settled for just rolling his eyes instead.

“And also,” Deku continued. “Because that was the first time you said you loved me since you confessed during our last big fight.”

Katsuki felt his face grow warm as he looked away from Deku’s fucking joyous expression, unable to meet his eye all of a sudden. That couldn’t be true, could it? Sure, neither of them were big on the whole love declarations, but he had to have said it since, right? But even as he wracked his braid for some time, any time that he must have said as much to Deku, he couldn’t think of a single time when he did. Even during their fight, when Deku confessed -

Wait.

Katsuki whipped his head around to pin Deku with a glare. “What the hell are you talking about, when I confessed? You were the one with the big confession.”

“That wasn’t me, Kacchan,” Deku said, sitting up straighter, brows drawn. “You were the one who first confessed, then I said that I also had feelings for you.”

“Am I actually in a different universe?” Katsuki sneered. “No, I remember clear as fucking day. You were all, ‘I’ve always loved you, Kacchan!’ and that ended the fight.”

Deku shook his head. “Yeah, I said that,” he admitted, but before Katsuki could crow about his victory he continued. “But that was after you said that you realized you couldn’t get me out of your head, and that you just realized you had fallen in love with me.”

“I didn’t say any shit like that!” Katsuki said, and yeah, he was starting to get loud, so he took a couple minutes to do those fucking breathing exercises that Deku got him doing. Deku had told him how he didn’t get intimidated when Katsuki got loud, but when he was trying to dominate the conversation by literally being the loudest one in the room it felt like he didn’t care what Deku had to say. And fuck, he did care, so he tried to keep that in mind. He had to keep catching himself, but he tried.

When he felt like he was able to talk calmly, he opened his eyes to look at Deku who was waiting patiently. Thank fuck Deku gave him the time he needed - years of destructive habits were hard to overcome, he didn’t think he could manage it if Deku wasn’t as patient as he was. He squashed the tiny voice that whispered that he didn’t deserve Deku before it could sneak too deeply into his conscious thoughts. It may have been true, but he couldn’t focus on that for the time being.

“I didn’t say that,” Katsuki scowled. “You were the one who brought up your feelings first.”

Deku shook his head. “I even wrote it down in my Kacchan notebook,” he said. “That night - you said you’d fallen in love with me, and that’s when I said that I’ve loved you for years.” He shifted a little, looking suddenly self-conscious. “You were admitting to a lot of things that night.”

Fuck, was he really the one confessed first? He couldn’t fucking remember doing so, but Deku wouldn’t lie about something like that. And honestly, so much of that night was a blur of shame and anger and other intense feelings, he couldn’t actually say for certain if he was the one who confessed first or not.

“Hold on,” a new voice cut in. Both Katsuki and Deku jumped and faced the door, where fucking Kirishima and the rest of the idiots that followed Katsuki around were standing. They were all looking between him and Deku with wide eyes, though both Sero and Ashido both had giant shit-eating grins on their faces. “You guys are in love with each other?”

Kirishima had a fucking potted plant in his hands. Ashido had a balloon with ‘get well soon’ on it.

“Um,” Deku said, intelligently. “Surprise?”

Day 14

When Izuku passed by the nurse’s station on his way to Kacchan’s room the next day, Setsuko was at the desk.

“Ah, Midoriya-kun!” she said, smiling at him. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m good,” Izuku said, trying to match her smile in brightness. In truth, ‘good’ was stretching it. That day marked the beginning of two weeks since his own Kacchan disappeared, and in his place was a parade of strangers wearing his face. How many times would he look at Kacchan and see an expression of confusion or a lack of recognition in his eyes? That villain said that eventually Kacchan would return, and he’d once he did he’d be there to stay, but how long would that be?

Izuku actually had a dream last night based off of that thought. More of a nightmare, actually - in it, he kept visiting Kacchan, and every day for years it was just one different person after another. Some of them were so close to the Kacchan he knew that he was nigh indistinguishable from the one he knew and loved, but then the next day a Kacchan he was completely unfamiliar with would take his place and Izuku knew that he was yet another day apart from him. Eventually years passed, and the Kacchan still wasn’t back, until Izuku didn’t know if he’d even be able to recognize Kacchan once he saw him again. After all, how long could you go from one world to another, experience all these different lives, without losing who you were?

With that dream still fresh in his mind, Izuku still tried to put on a friendly smile for Setsuko. It wasn’t her fault the situation was starting to wear on him.

However, she seemed to realize that something was off with Izuku, because she frowned and leaned forward, hands laced under her chin.

“You’re looking a bit tired, kiddo,” she said, voice soft with sympathy. “How about you take a break for a day or two? We can let you know if it looks like Bakugou is back.”

Izuku was shaking his head before she even finished her suggestion. “I want to be here,” he said. “Even if Kacchan doesn’t recognize me, I want him to know that there’s a friendly face here for him. N-not that you aren’t friendly!” he clarified, wanting to make sure Setsuko didn’t get the wrong idea. “It’s just that-”

“We’re still medical professionals,” Setsuko suggested, a teasing grin on her face. “And you’re not. I understand, Midoriya-kun.”

“Right,” Izuku said, face still warm with a self-conscious blush.

“Why don’t you go on ahead,” she suggested, tilting her head towards Kacchan’s room. “You can let us know how he is on your way out.”

Izuku nodded and gave her a little wave as he made his way to the familiar door.

Kacchan was still asleep when he walked in, so he closed the door shut behind him softly enough to avoid waking Kacchan. Once he was sure that the other boy hadn’t woken up to the noise, he took his usual seat next to the bed.

He studied Kacchan’s sleeping face, trying to see if he could spot any sign of whoever was inside that body despite the sleeping form. It was impossible to tell, Izuku told himself, trying not to get his hopes up when he looked at the curve of Kacchan’s cheek, the twitch of his eyelids, and all he could see was Kacchan. There was more than one version who seemed so similar to the Kacchan he knew, that until Kacchan woke up and looked at Izuku there was no telling who was behind those eyes.

Still, every time he looked at Kacchan’s sleeping face, all he could see was the boy he’d grown up with. The one who was a constant source of pain, yes, but also the person Izuku admired so much.

Everything was just so familiar; the slope of his nose, the curve of his brow, the way his mouth scrunched up as he slowly awoke - Ah.

“Kacchan?” Izuku asked, trying to keep the hope out of his voice. And he did hope - he hoped every day was the day his Kacchan had returned. Maybe not to him specifically, but returned to the world he belonged. However, Izuku remembered his promise to the Kacchan of only just the day before - once he was sure that the Kacchan he was talking to was his own, he’d confessed the feelings he’d kept bottled up inside for so long, sure that Kacchan wouldn’t reciprocate them. Because who knew? Maybe that Kacchan was right, and his own Kacchan felt something for him. But even if he didn’t, at least Izuku would have come clean, and they could go from there.

After the past couple weeks, Izuku just couldn’t keep his feelings secret anymore. He could lose Kacchan so easily.

Kacchan was still stirring, and Izuku leaned forward.

“Are you awake?”

Day 15 and beyond

When Katsuki woke up, he was right where he belonged.