The dark, swirling mist hanging threateningly behind his head was so goddamn annoying but he'd already tried – several times, to be exact – to explode that blasted thing with his Quirk, but of course he should've known he could do nothing to it. It was a warp gate after all, which meant that shitty villain was here somewhere too, and that made everything all the more suspicious.
Midoriya had said nothing of it when he'd first arrived, so he carefully chose to not mention it and the five hundred other things wrong about the current situation. Midoriya was still watching Bakugou with this pitifully wistful expression that he wanted nothing more than to wipe off his face, but he restrained himself and spat out, "Whaddya mean you're leaving us for good? Gonna go off training somewhere just 'cause you weren't satisfied with how yesterday's mission went? Can't blame ya, but why you gotta bring me all the way out here to tell me something so fucking stupid in person? God, you're so stupid, Deku."
He was rambling, and he knew it. He knew Midoriya wasn't stupid, just as he knew that this wasn't about some solo training excursion and that something had been building for the past year and a half and he'd just turned a blind eye to it all because it was Deku and Deku had always been strong, stronger than anyone else. He'd known him for how many years now? Seen him fight how many times now, while they were in the hero course at UA together, then they'd worked briefly at the same hero agency for two months following graduation before Best Jeanist had kicked them – both, he recounted with a smug sort of pride – out for disturbing the other Pro Heroes' work with their constant bickering…
Well it wasn't really bickering, more like him one-sidedly screaming at Deku. But, pretty much the same thing.
"Well that's not exactly it," Midoriya mumbled under his breath, scratching the back of his neck. Fuckin' kid wouldn't even look him in the eye anymore. Something was wrong.
Indeed, something was very, very wrong. If the secluded location Midoriya had chosen for them to meet and the odd timing (4 am on a Monday, what the actual fuck Deku?!) weren't enough of warning signs, the presence of a villain's Quirk floating above his head was definitely a huge problem and he was absolutely unnerved that Midoriya didn't seem to have an issue with it.
Because no way hadn't he not noticed it. That wasn't the Deku he knew.
"What is it then?" he said gruffly, "Spit it out. I don't have all day, dammit."
"I just…" Midoriya took a deep breath. "I just wanted Kacchan to be the first to know."
"Get to the fucking point, will ya? I wanna get some sleep in and we both have work in like," he glanced at his watch, "four hours. "Damn, that's not nearly enough."
He couldn't stand that sad, knowing smile on Deku's face, he couldn't stand it that he had a terrible feeling he knew what this was about but he didn't want it to be true because it couldn't be, it just couldn't…
"I already told you," he said steadily, "I'm leaving for good. As of today, I'm resigning as a Pro Hero."
Bakugou laughed harshly. "The fuck is this, Deku? You've got to be kidding me – you, resigning? Best joke I've heard in years."
But if you really knew Bakugou, you'd be able to hear the hint of fear he was trying to hide behind those cruel words.
And if you really knew Midoriya, you'd be able to see in his eyes that he was dead serious.
And they really did know each other that well, to that extent, to be able to pick up on the emotions that they'd tried so hard to lock away and it was then that something broke between them, something irreversible and Bakugou knew he couldn't keep this up any longer.
"Why you?! Why you of all people?!" He was screaming, his voice was hoarse and hell, it'd been a long time since he'd raised his voice at Midoriya. His throat was hurting but he didn't care, his voice cracked in desperation but he didn't care, "Why?! Didn't you want to be a hero? You…more than anyone else – I couldn't stand it, trying to get ahead of me like that, trying to be a better hero than me like that, only to fucking half-ass it like this, I can't forgive you…fucking Deku…"
"I want to prove something."
"LIKE HELL YOU DO!"
Midoriya looked at him sadly, unfazed. "Just how well do you think you know me, Kacchan?"
"I DO KNOW –" his voice caught in his throat, "…I do know you. I've put up with you this long and you pull this on me, Deku?"
Again, the sad smile. "Deku this, Deku that…I know it's different now but you never even tried to –"
"Izuku." Bakugou took an involuntary step forwards, not missing that the warp gate had also moved with him. He faced Midoriya more clearly now, and he could see that the other's eyes were wide in evident shock. "Izuku…" It was so hard for him to say it, but the name tumbled over his tongue, rough and foreign, the name of the man he so childishly refused to acknowledge, the name of the man he should've known would be the one who would someday break him.
And it was his own fucking fault.
Midoriya recovered quickly. His eyes clouded over again, returning to a slate-like, emotionless green.
"Kach – Katsuki…san."
Bakugou hadn't expected that, and it fucking hurt.
"So what are you gonna do?" he challenged, meeting Midoriya's impassive gaze with his own. "Renounce your status as the Symbol of Peace? Run off, skipping into the sunset with those League of Villains lowlifes? Strike fear and doubt into the hearts of young heroes who aspired to be you?"
He felt a twinge of satisfaction when he saw that Midoriya flinched at that.
"You…know me too well," he replied quietly.
That couldn't be what he was hearing.
"What the fuck are you saying?! Didn't you become a hero so you could save people? Didn't you become a hero to carry on his legacy?"
"And that's precisely why I can't keep going like this!"
Bakugou had hit a nerve.
Midoriya took a deep, calming breath. "That's why I can't be a hero anymore. Saving people, protecting people, and in the end they still end up getting hurt, getting killed, and I feel so helpless, Kacchan! If I can't protect the people I love, then can I really call myself a hero?"
"And what, you think joining the villains is gonna do you any good?!"
"I don't know for sure," he admitted. "But it's worth a try…"
"What's worth a try, you fucking idiot?!" Bakugou glared at him, his eyes blazing with rage. "Those people you could save…they didn't die because of you, they died because of them! What the fuck's wrong with you, Izuku?! You think being a villain is gonna save anybody?"
Again, Midoriya flinched. "This is…what's best, I guess. For me, and for everyone else. That's all there is to it."
"All Might wouldn't have wanted this."
Midoriya's eyes narrowed. "And he's gone. Kacchan, don't provoke me."
"I will if I have to. I don't care if I make you angry as long as I make you see reason."
"You don't understand anything!"
"I understand enough to know that you're making the wrong decision. If you didn't think I'd react this way when you chose to come to me to tell me this, Izuku…maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do, either."
Bakugou was eerily calm now. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was because Midoriya was angry and between the two of them only one could be screaming at a time…or something.
He looked up at the warp gate, looming menacingly over his head. "So you've already contacted them. Getaway plan, yeah?"
Midoriya didn't answer.
"Sorry I couldn't be there for you when you needed it. Sorry I couldn't talk some sense into you now. I think you're being a fucking idiot, but you've always been so stubborn, I'll give you that."
"Are you done?"
"Well," he said thoughtfully, "after all is said and done, I really can't stop you. Don't think I'd ever forgive you, but if you ever feel like coming back, the Number 2 hero will be waiting here for you."
"Number 1," Midoriya said mildly. His unreadable expression was back, blank and emotionless. "And I'll keep that in mind. To you too – next time we meet, will be on the opposite sides of the battlefield.
This is goodbye, Kacchan."