Chapter Text
When Aizawa called Katsuki to his office after class, Katsuki figured it was just another thing about being kidnapped. For some reason everyone seemed extra concerned for him after all of that. Which he guessed was warranted, but Katsuki really didn’t like other people worrying about him, it made him feel weak. So he was doing his very best to act fine.
Katsuki trailed after Aizawa awkwardly. The man hadn’t said anything at all on their trip to his office. It was starting to feel weird.
When the office door closed behind Katsuki he finally spoke up. “Look Aizawa-sensei, I really am okay. I’m not letting what happened stop me from being a hero.”
Aizawa shook his head slightly. “That’s not what this is about Bakugou.”
That made Katsuki confused. If that wasn’t what was going on, then what was? His confusion was apparently obvious and Aizawa looked at him seriously.
“Firstly, you have to promise to keep this under wraps. Don’t go telling your classmates or anyone else. What I’m going to tell you can’t get out, at least not yet.”
That made Katsuki furrow his eyebrows. What kind of information was Aizawa about to tell him that was this secretive? Why tell Katsuki of all people? A request he made to Aizawa a few days ago sprung into his head though.
“Is this about Phantom?”
Aizawa hesitated for a moment before nodding. “I’m serious Bakugou. This can’t get out yet.”
Katsuki was still for a moment, before nodding. “Okay. Okay . is Phantom alright? Did you figure out what was going on with him?”
Aizawa nodded. “He’s alright. He wanted to meet with you, if that’s alright. There’s some things he wants to talk about that he wants to tell you himself.”
“Where is he? With the police?”
Aizawa made a small noise under his breath. “No, he’s staying at UA currently. There’s a lot of… delicate circumstances surrounding him. He’s not dangerous and he’s not a bad kid. I don’t want to say too much because I promised him he could tell you himself.”
“So he is young.” That made Katsuki frown. “Okay… I’ll talk to him.”
That led to Katsuki following Aizawa on yet another awkwardly silent trip, but this time across campus. Apparently the teachers had houses apart from the apartments in the dorm. Katsuki didn’t even know these was a thing before now. Aizawa stopped in front of one and unlocked the door.
“Bakugou’s here.” Aizawa called out, Katsuki heard some rustling and Shinsou peered around the corner with narrowed eyes.
“If you do anything to upset him I swear to god-”
“Sh-Shin! Don’t threaten him, it’s okay…” A voice yelped from around the corner. Katsuki couldn’t see the owner but he heard someone closing a door.
That caused Shinsou to stop talking and just give Katsuki a hard glare. Katsuki heard the voice, presumably Phantom, whisper something and Shinsou walked back into the hallway.
Katsuki felt very awkward yet again. How did Phantom know Shinsou? What the hell was going on?
That was very quickly answered when a trembling kid followed Shinsou around the corner. Katsuki locked eyes with him. Wait, fuck, he knew that kid. Akatani, he was pretty sure, from the general education course who always hung out around 1-A. He was Phantom? Holy shit, Katsuki had been right next to Phantom this whole time and he didn’t even know.
Akatani’s shoulders dropped and he started at the ground. “Ka…” The word died on his lips and he looked over to the couch. “L-Let’s sit down.” His voice was barely a whisper and Katsuki could see him physically shaking. This was the villain who had killed multiple pro heroes? He looked like he was about to peel over and start sobbing on the floor.
Actually, Katsuki could literally see his eyes tearing up as he sat down on one of Aizawa’s chairs. He refused to meet Katsuki’s eyes.
Shinsou squeezed Akatani’s shoulder and Katsuki faintly heard the thing he whispered next. “Hey, call me if you need any help okay? If he upsets you I’ll kill him.”
“Please don’t,” Akatani responded weakly.
With that the two boys were left in the living room. Katsuki shifted. The two of them alone in a room together was familiar, except this time Katsuki wasn’t being kept prisoner.
The silence was getting too long, it was ringing in his ears. “You’re Phantom.” Katsuki decided to state simply.
Akatani nodded. “Yeah but… that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” Akatani’s fists tightened around his shirt and Katsuki watched him cautiously. What else could he want to talk about?
Akatani sniffled and finally looked up at Katsuki. “I-” He broke off before he could start talking and seemed to have an internal debate with himself before his shoulders slumped. “I’m really sorry. For everything. I shouldn’t have let you get kidnapped in the first place and-” He rubbed at his eyes. “I’m so sorry. I know that I don’t deserve to be forgiven but-”
Katsuki cut him off. “Phantom… Akatani? Whatever. You were the reason I was able to escape, if you weren’t there…” He trailed off and both him and Akatani winced.
“But still, I-I let you get kidnapped and-”
“Is the only reason you wanted me here was to apologize?”
That made Akatani sink further into himself. “No. Look…” He trailed off. “I have-haven’t been honest about who I am.”
Katsuki furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah you mean like pretending to just be some gen ed kid?”
Akatani winced. “It’s… I was kidnapped a long time ago. That’s why I was with the League.”
Wait, kidnapped…? Izuku’s blinding smile and bright eyes. Katsuki couldn’t help the shake in his hands.
“My name isn’t actually Akatani,” he continued, his voice getting softer and softer.
Izuku’s green eyes, green hair.
“I know you probably don’t want anything to do with me anymore, especially after what I put you through but-” Akatani cut himself off and tried to stop his voice from shaking. He took a deep breath.
Akatani’s eyes were green.
“I-I don’t know if you even remember me or care but… I-I… I-I’m so sorry Kacchan I-I… I’m Izuku…” His breaths were starting to get ragged and panicked.
Izuku was dead. Izuku had been dead for a long time. Katsuki stared at the shaking boy and his eyes widened. Izuku was dead. But here he was, sitting right in front of Katsuki.
“Izuku?” Katsuki breathed out, like one loud noise would tear him out of this. Was this a dream? Katsuki felt floaty.
Akatani, no, Izuku sniffled at that. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry… I hurt you Kacchan and it’s my fault and-and-and-”
“ Izuku. ” Katsuki slowly stood up and Izuku’s eyes followed him. He cringed backwards into the chair like he was expecting Katsuki to come over and try to attack him.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” He whispered under his breath, he was rubbing his eyes aggressively to try to stop the tears, but Katsuki could clearly see them streaming down his face along with his shaking shoulders.
“A-Are you serious?” Katsuki whispered. “Izuku, is that really… Izuku? ” Katsuki could see green hair peeking through the black. Was that faded hair dye? He could see the freckles dusting Izuku’s cheeks. He could see Izuku and Katsuki wanting to kick himself for not recognizing him before.
His face was more sunken, there were scars on his face, his eyes didn’t have a bright spark anymore, but the moment Katsuki had heard him say Kacchan, he knew. Izuku was back. Izuku wasn’t dead. And Izuku was here.
“God… how-how did I not notice?” Katsuki said, his voice breaking off at the end. Because how did he not? He should’ve. Maybe if he’d noticed sooner things would be different. Izuku wouldn’t have had to spend so long in that godforsaken place.
“‘s not your fault,” Izuku whispered with a sad smile. “Nothing you could’ve done.”
Katsuki hated crying. He really did, but his eyes were tearing up of their own volition.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve-I should’ve done more and-“
Izuku shook his head. “There’s nothing you could’ve done Kacchan. Sensei would’ve found me. He always…” Izuku trailed off and Katsuki saw him dig his nails into his wrist. His hands were shaking.
It made Katsuki bare his teeth. Whoever the hell this ‘Sensei’ was, was getting his ass beat.
Izuku sank farther into the chair and studied his feet attentively. “I should tell you what happened… Where I’ve been.”
The story that Izuku launched into made acid rise in Katsuki’s throat and his stomach twist painfully. The raw emotion in Izuku’s voice, the pain that Izuku had been through. Katsuki wanted to kill All for One and that damn doctor. He wanted to kill that stupid hand man in the League. By the time Izuku had concluded his shaky retelling, Katsuki was so close to storming over to Tartarus and killing All for One himself.
“Those bastards,” Katsuki hissed venomously. “I’ll kill them.”
Izuku cringed and glanced at Katsuki worriedly. “Th-They’re dangerous! You-You shouldn’t um… I’m fine.” His voice was barely a whisper though and judging by the way Izuku looked halfway into an anxiety attack, he was not fine. There was no way someone could be fine after they were tortured like that.
Katsuki took a deep breath. Izuku had spent years in that hell, there was no way he was ever letting him go back there. Ever. Katsuki would rather die than let that happen.
He tentatively reached out his hand. “Can I…” Katsuki’s voice trailed off. He wasn’t good at emotions or giving affection, but he wanted to hug Izuku. Normally Katsuki thought hugs were stupid and pointlessly emotional gestures, but Izuku was sitting in front of him, alive. If there was ever a time for Katsuki to hug someone it was now.
“Can I hug you?”
Izuku sniffled again and looked up at Katsuki with wide eyes. “You-You want to hug me?” He sounded shocked. “Um…” He averted his eyes and scrubbed at his face before leaning forwards and wrapping his arms around Katsuki with a choked cry. Oh dammit, he was sobbing again.
Katsuki hadn’t meant to make him cry again! He tensed slightly before hesitantly wrapping his arms around Izuku.
“Uh… it’s okay.” Katsuki said lamely. “It’s okay…” His voice was a whisper and he leaned into Izuku. He ignored the tears welling up in his eyes and focused on his friend.
He squeezed Izuku tighter. Izuku was back, Izuku was alive. And Katsuki swore he wouldn’t let him get hurt again. He’d make it up to Izuku for what he did to them as kids.
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Izuku felt like he was staring at Katsuki too much but it was just so surreal.
Izuku thought for the rest of his life he’d be forced to comply with All for One and Shigaraki’s every order, but here he was. Katsuki knew he was alive, Shinsou didn’t care about what he’d done and still wanted to be friends, and Aizawa was actually helping him. It was crazy. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to talk to Katsuki like this again, but he had.
“I’m sorry.”
Izuku furrowed his eyebrows at Katsuki. Why was he apologizing? If anything Izuku should be the one apologizing. It was his fault Katsuki got kidnapped and his fault 1-A had been attacked and he’d done so many terrible things Izuku would never be able to forgive himself for.
“Why are you apologizing?” He asked in confusion. “If-If anything I should be the one-”
Katsuki shook his head and slammed his hand on the table. Izuku flinched backwards and Katsuki stared at him with wide, guilty eyes.
“Shit. Shit. I’m so bad at this, I’m sorry.” Katsuki seemed so unsure of himself, something that Izuku was really unfamiliar with in the fiery and confident boy. “I was an asshole to you.”
Izuku was about to protest and tell him that compared to All for One and the doctor and Shigaraki, what he’d done was nothing. But Katsuki shook his head.
“And don’t say some bullshit about how it wasn’t that bad. That doesn’t change the fact I was an asshole, okay? I shouldn’t have done all those things to you as a kid. You didn’t deserve any of that and by the time I realized how wrong I was, you… I thought you were dead.” Both of them cringed at that.
“Kacchan… it’s okay, I forgive you.”
Katsuki stared up at him. “Are you sure? Because if I ever do that kind of shit again, even by accident, tell me. I… I’ve spent so long regretting what I’ve done and if you don’t want to forgive me-”
“Kacchan,” Izuku said softly. “I’ve spent a long time thinking. Yeah, maybe you were mean to me as a kid. But you changed. So have I.” Izuku frowned. “Neither of us are the same person anymore and I’ve done way worse things to you…”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes. “We aren’t making this a blame game. None of the shit that happened with the League was your fault.”
“But-”
“Nope.”
“Kacchan-”
“Not listening. You didn’t want to do any of that Izuku. You tried to stop them from finding out about the training camp, hell, you were the reason I escaped at Kamino.”
“But still…”
Katsuki shook his head. “I still don’t think you did anything wrong, but if it makes you feel better I forgive you.”
Izuku stared at him with teary eyes. He didn’t get how everyone was just overlooking all the shit he’d done. He killed people for fucks sake! How was everyone forgiving him when he couldn’t even forgive himself?
Katsuki seemed to notice his turmoil. “Izuku…” He sighed softly. “None of what you did was you fucking fault okay? I hope you can see that one day…”
Izuku’s shoulders slumped and he looked at Katsuki tearily. “Kacchan I-” Izuku wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to do that. Because right now everything was too big and smothering. Too fresh, too painful. But still…
“I hope so too,” Izuku said hoarsely.
The two fell into an awkward silence before Katsuki abruptly jumped up, causing Izuku to jump too. Katsuki sent him a guilty glance, which made Izuku frown at his feet. He was acting so weak lately…
“I have something for you, it’s back at my house and I’ll have to get it from the old hag but… um, fuck, I’ll be back okay?”
Izuku blinked at him and nodded tentatively. What the hell did Katsuki have? It piqued Izuku’s curiosity just a little bit but he tried not to let it show.
“Um, o-okay Kacchan.”
Katsuki grinned at him. “You’ll fucking love it! I, uh, hope.”
Izuku listened to Katsuki walk out and took a moment to take a breath and gather his thoughts. This was so much, it was… good, but so much. God, he hadn’t thought he was ever going to get to talk to Katsuki again, let alone the boy actually being happy that he was still alive even after what he did. And there was of course everything else that had happened, the fact that Izuku was actually free right now (even if he wasn’t completely convinced it would last). It made his head spin.
Another set of footsteps entered the room a few minutes after Katsuki’s departure. “That, uh, went well?” Shinsou asked and sat down on the couch. “Right?”
Izuku clenched and unclenched his shirt in his hands. “Um, yeah, I-I think so. I’m just…” He breathed out softly. “It’s still so much to take in, I haven’t actually talked to him in forever and-and he took it so well, but what if he changes his mind or-or-”
Shinsou shook his head. “I doubt he will Izu, and if he does, fuck him. He doesn’t deserve to be your friend.”
Izuku sighed anxiously, “I guess….”
“Also, do you know what he was going to get? He basically just sprinted out of the house yelling about how he needed to get something from home.”
Izuku shrugged. “I have no idea, he just said that I’d like it.”
Shinsou snorted. “Very mysterious for him, normally Bakugou’s so blunt. Hopefully it’s something cool.”
Izuku hummed in agreement and stared up at the ceiling. What was Katsuki getting anyways?
══════════════════
Katsuki didn’t get back until Izuku, Shinsou, and Aizawa had finished dinner. Something that was unfamiliarly domestic to him. It brought back faint memories of him eating dinner with his mom. It was strangely pleasant.
Izuku was back in the lounge when Katsuki came through the door again, this time holding a large cardboard box. He set it on the ground with a loud thump and whipped the sheen of sweat off his brow.
Shinsou peaked around Izuku curiously. “That’s a big box.”
“Fuck off eye bags. It’s for Izuku.”
Izuku glanced down at it and back at Katsuki. “What’s, uh, inside?”
Katsuki nodded at the box. “Open it, it’s all yours now.”
Izuku blinked at him a few times and hesitantly reached down to take the lid off. “All mine? I can’t take-” But the words froze on his lips when he saw what was inside. He could feel his hand start to tremble… no way.
He could feel both of his friends' eyes on him.
“Izuku, are you okay?” Shinsou asked from beside him worriedly. “What the fuck did you give him?” That was pointed towards Katsuki.
“Stop fucking glaring at me! I wouldn’t give him anything bad!”
Izuku tentatively grabbed one of the books and set it in his lap. A picture of him and his mom smiling up at him met his gaze. Tears threatened to overtake his vision and he ran a soft finger over the picture.
Inko… his mom. Her face had become blurrier and blurrier over the years, and he had always been too scared to look and see if there were any pictures of her online when he’d gotten out in fear of All for One catching on. But now her face was clear in his memories again. Her smile, her laugh, her hugs. Izuku started to cry and tried his best not to get any tears onto the precious book. The book that was filled with pictures of his mom.
“K-Kacchan…” He glanced at him with a loud sniffle. “You-you… I-”
Katsuki looked uncharastically worried. “Oh shit, do you not like it?”
Izuku shook his head wildly. “No! No way! I-I love it… I-I… thank you…” He hugged the book to his chest. “Thank you.”
The box had other things besides photo albums in it too, Izuku found out when he was able to stop sobbing. There were small mementos of his mom, some of Izuku’s hero merch collection, his old her analysis journals. There was so much… the more Izuku looked at it all, the more it felt like everything had come from a different life. Everything was so different now after all, but yet, they still held a warm familiarity and comfort to him.
The pictures in the album all felt like that too. They brought back good memories, of him and his mom and his old life. It was bittersweet and made him miss those times. It was bittersweet yet warm.
“Your mom seems really great…” Shinsou murmured over his shoulder. “You look like her.”
“She was the fucking best!” Katsuki declared. “Auntie Inko always made the best food, way better than my old hags.”
Izuku laughed wetly and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah she did. She always made things extra spicy for Kacchan too.” He ran his finger over a page. “I miss her.”
The three sat in a solemn, respectful silence for a while after that.
“I wish I could’ve met her… but I know she’s proud of you.” That just made Izuku glance at Shinsou skeptically.
“I agree with eye bags, Auntie Inko’s definitely proud of you.”
Izuku doubted that, what mother would be proud of a murderer? “Right…” He ended up muttering.
“I’m serious Izu!” Shinsou said.
Izuku knew they were… but he didn’t understand it. He didn’t know if he ever would. So instead of protesting more he continued looking through the album. H e scoured the pictures for a while longer, looking at every detail on his mom's face, and pulling at memories he’d forgotten existed. But, looking at the pictures, while amazing, was still exhausting, and by the time Izuku got through everything in the box his ever encompassing tiredness and dread had returned.
Apparently though, Izuku was getting bad at hiding his emotions. He was getting too comfortable. Because he noticed Katsuki and Shinsou exchange a small glance.
“How about we watch a movie or something?” Shinsou suggested. Probably to lighten the tension, an attempt to make Izuku comfortable. He felt a warm bit of appreciation settle into his chest.
So Izuku curled onto the couch and gingerly put one of the photo albums on the side table. “A movie? Um… okay, maybe not anything serious though?”
Shinsou nodded. “Not serious, sounds good.” He started to flick through a bunch of movies, but was having trouble settling on one.
Except this was taking too long for Katsuki, because he reached up and snatched the remote out of Shinsou’s hand. “You’re taking too fucking long!”
Shinsou groaned. “I was looking for a good one! But whatever, go ahead, let’s see how good you’ll do.”
Katsuki snorted and selected a movie which Izuku was ninety-nine percent sure he didn’t even look at the description for before choosing it. “My choice'll be the damn best! Just you wait, eye bags!”
“The anticipation is killing me,” Shinsou responded dryly.
In the end, the movie was bad. Laughably so. But the dumb comedy was just what Izuku needed.
The box of his stuff Katsuki had brought was at his feet, a photo album open on the side table. Shinsou was curled up beside him, keeping Izuku warm like a big, purple heated blanket. Katsuki was sitting on the ground in front of Izuku and kept looking up at him, like if he didn’t Izuku would disappear again.
And Izuku… he was happy. Really, truly happy. He let himself smile and closed his eyes slowly. He was happy and finally he could finally relax .
Izuku leaned closer into Shinsou’s side and let out a content breath. Yeah, maybe everything wasn’t okay, but for tonight he could pretend it was. Tonight, Izuku would be okay.
Tonight he was happy.