Class was out and Bakugou would usually head off to his room to change but he was in the mood for something spicy. The teen walked towards the set of stairs that led to the world outside of Yuuei. The entrance of the campus was as usual, littered with reporters and curious students that would pass by to check out the school of their choice and catch a glimpse of some of the prospect attendees. Often time Class 1A would get bombarded with questions from both students and reporters alike. But Bakugou could come and go as he pleased without being hassled. The middle school students were too scared to approach him and the reporters knew he would never entertain their questions and would either just walk off or threated to break their equipment. Of course he would never do that, but the fools were stupid enough to believe the empty threats.

Bakugou walked a block before he decided he was far enough and halted all movement. The teen turned to see the hooded stranger had also stopped a few feet away from him. The blonde drew his hands from his pockets and loosened his collar. "How long are you planning on following me, stalker-kun?"

There was a pause of silence, neither one said a word or moved a muscle. "Oi, stalker-kun," the kid jeered.

There was a thickness in the air and the kid tensed when the person finally spoke. "I thought I'd have the resolve to just watch, but I," he mumbled from underneath the hood that shrouded his face.

It was a man no doubt about it. Bakugou could tell from the hoarse voice. It unnerved him that the man let the last of his sentence remain unspoken. Who was he and why was he tailing him? The blonde sized the man and thought he could take him, the asshole just a few inches taller than he.

Bakugou curled his fingers in offense to warn his potential opponent of the consequences of his pestering. "Last—chance," the words faded into a murmur when the kid caught a glimpse of the face behind the hood.

"Deh-ku?" It was him, but at the same time it wasn't. With the dark tresses tilted from his face Bakugou could make out those rounded green eyes, however there were lines that sat just beneath those sunken orbs. Depleted of that usual glint of enthusiasm. It was him, but there was something amiss, those once rounded cheeks were now hollowed out. The face was a familiar one but the man an alien to him. How could it be Deku he thought this person was clearly an adult, but at the same time he felt it in the fiber of his being that this was the nerd he grew up with.

The greenette was still and he stared for a brief moment fixed on the blonde. The man did not know what to do. The kid had identified him and that was a problem. "Kah—chan," his voice was hoarse and low as if he'd been crying recently. It was useless he could not hold out much longer. Midoriya stretched out his arms and brought their bodies together in a tight hold. On instinct Bakugou went to pull back but the man held him tighter, clenching the fabric of his school blazer. Midoriya knew the younger Bakugou would more than likely pull away, but he couldn't let him, wouldn't let him. He needed this, more than he ever needed anything ever.

Bakugou was tense but not uncomfortable, the man loomed over him and buried his head into the crook of his shoulder and wept softly.

"Just a little while longer," the man whispered softly his breath hot on the blonde's skin. "Please."

Bakugou let his hands fall to his side. The kid did not understand the situation but understood his plea. Midoriya cried a lot but this, this low almost muted cry was one he could never forget. This was serious hurt, it was something deeply rooted that must have been consuming him. He could never forget this kind of cry, it seared into the core of his being after he witness it for the first and what he had thought was the only time he'd ever see his childhood friend like this. The blonde wondered what troubled him?

"Kacchan?" A familiar voiced called from over their shoulder. It was Deku, Bakugou did not need to turn to discern the voice. It was his Deku, the one he knew, the one who could smile through just about anything even as tears uglied his face.

Bakugou felt the man tense. "Past me can't see future me." The man confirmed what Bakugou already knew, it was him, this was really future Deku. Midoriya assumed his younger self must of followed Bakugou when he saw him tailing him earlier. The man knew it to be true because all throughout high school he used to watch from afar his childhood friend so closely, in hopes that one-day he would turn around.

Bakugou brought his arms up and cupped the back of the older greenette's hair and pressed him closer. Midoriya relaxed and fell into his touch and couldn't help but sob uglily. The blonde knew his Deku, his current classmate would understand not to interrupt an intimate moment, especially if Bakugou had become a willing participant. Bakugou rested his face against the older man and glanced over his shoulder at his classmate. Their eyes meet and there was a tightness in the younger greenette's chest. The younger Midoriya stared for a moment in shock and shook his head guess he wasn't in trouble after all, stupid Izuku he thought as he walked off.

Once it was clear Bakugou pushed distance between them. "Okay, he's gone, explain?" he folded his arms.

Midoriya led him to an abandoned parking lot that was now covered in overgrowth. The place used to be their secret hideout as children. Bakugou surveyed the area it was just as he remembered, although the mountain the two once scaled was now just a rubble of rocks. The grass was over grown but the wall that once held a fence was still intact and clear of foliage.

"It should be safe, I didn't come here often during my first years at Yuuei." The man assured.

"Stop stalling for time." Bakugou snarled settling along the top of the raise wall. "Why are you here?" he folded his arms across his chest. Although Bakugou hid it well he was concerned and the older man recognized those concerns. Midoriya had broken the one rule he avowed when they were kids he would never, time travel. Bakugou would laugh at his rationale. The kid would rant on about how there would be consequential ripples to the timeline. So then why did he chance it?

Midoriya placed himself between Bakugou's dangling legs about to rest his head into his lap out of habit when he realized his mistake. The man jumped back and apologized. Midoriya tried to calculate the appropriate distances and took a seat beside him instead.

Bakugou was still shaken and his cheeks wore his embarrassment. Just how close was the future him and Deku he thought? The blonde discretely tilted his head and shifted his eyes over to the man. So this was the future Deku? Bakugou thought he was the same, yet somehow different. Though the man had the same messy green tresses and wide set eyes there just was something missing, but Bakugou couldn't discern exactly what?

Midoriya wanted more time but he knew Bakugou was an impatient person. The man was too scared to voice the sentiments that he held dear to him with the potential threat that he'd become undone. But he had to be fair, he knew this as soon as he revealed himself to him he knew he would have to divulge all he knew, because Bakugou would not have it any other way. The man finally mustered the courage and began, "It happened Monday, five years from now." The moisture had begun to cloud his vision.

"You wake up as usual, before the sun has even had a chance to stretch over the horizon and as usual I'm still in bed." Bakugou registered the sadness in his face, the way his brows pulled and wrinkled the bridge of his nose into a deep crease.

Wait, what they lived together? Bakugou knew there was a significant event that happens but he was too focused on whatever relationship the two shared in the near future.

"We were supposed to travel to Yokohama. You had asked me a week before to assist you on one of your assignments. The agency your employed at advised you to partner up for the mission," the man choked a bit a lump forming in his throat. "I knew it had always been hard for you to ask for help," the greenette pause and swallowed hard a tear streaming down his cheek. "Yet still," he began but quickly abandoned the statement and moved onto something less hard to articulate. "You tucked me in," the corners of his mouth pulled into a smile but it was a broken one. "I woke up to a note on the nightstand." The man used the sleeve of his sweater to wipe the snot and tears from his face. "It said 'left early for a head start, early bird catches the worm you know.'" Midoriya chuckled a bit. "Kacchan is so considerate even though he will never admit it to himself."

The blood pulled to Bakugou's cheeks when their gaze met. Midoriya smiled at him and it was something in that smiled that made Bakugou chest tighten. The kid did not understand the emotion yet but it hurt to look at him without wanting to touch him, so he adverted his gaze onto the grass below his feet.

Midoriya smiled for real this time elated that Bakugou too had felt the way he felt this whole time. The man wished he could have a redo and make up for lost time. Tell Bakugou exactly how he felt, but it was too late now and maybe that was for the best. "I was overworked and whenever I looked too tired Kacchan would complain how much I dragged you down as an excuse to take care of me and this body," he trailed looking down at his battered and scarred hands. "Hmph," his smile widened, "we even planned a weekend for just the two of us, after we settled the case. So many places and things we never had time for…" he trailed.

Bakugou tensed and felt the heaviness in his heart. The teen knew before the man had said it out loud. It was him, he was dead. Midoriya sensed the stiffness in his posture and knew Bakugou now knew what he did. Midoriya became silent so that the kid could take in what he had just realized. Of course it would be hard to hear about your own death. Shit, he even told him it'd happen five years from now and the exact date. But, Midoriya brushed it all off, it didn't matter now, what consequences would there be for the two of them to be worried about?

Bakugou felt numb. There was this weightlessness to his body. The kid didn't know if it was denial or emotional dissociation but the words did not affect him in any way as if he could not compute what had just been divulged to him. So what if the future him was dead, that didn't change a damn thing, it just meant he did what he had set out to do. When he chose the path of a hero he knew what it entailed and he knew there would be a time when he'd have to lay down his life if need be. Guess that time was sooner than he had imagined.

"We held the ceremony today. It was lovely," he paused. "It was really beautiful," he broke down recoiling on earlier that day all his friends and family that attended and all the Ground Zero supporters that showed. The man had his face in his hands and the words that followed were muffled "I just needed to see you," he jerked forward and startled Bakugou who slightly pulled back. The man reached out but quickly folded his hands back into his lap. "Hmm," he hummed not bothering to clean his face. "We were foolish, we promised each other we'd live for one other until the end of time," he giggled and looked at Bakugou. "Foolish right, Kacchan?"

There was something amiss about his laughter, it was as if the man was unhinged. This man was broken and it was clear to see. Those sunken eyes and his hollowed cheeks was evidence of this. Bakugou wondered how he held it together up until this point?

Was this what the teen had to look forward too? Bakugou stared at those greens and felt a bit sick, this is who comes? The blonde bowed his head in discontent. Bakugou wondered if the visit was out of obligation? The thought about his death and their current strained association made the future look bleak. Is this all he had to look forward too, Deku as his closest friend? The break in silence pulled Bakugou from his thoughts.

Midoriya spoke again, "I've decided I can't live without you." There was a calm that washed over him his shoulders a bit more relaxed as he looked to the sky. The realization hit Bakugou like a truck, that smile that calm demeanor, Midoriya was elated at the prospect of seeing him again. It made the teen queasy and made his chest tighten. Yes, he'd said it to him before, but he never meant it. Never thought he'd have the balls to go through with it. Why? Why, for him would he give up on his dreams, his ideals he worked so hard to achieve?

"It wasn't enough time, we had so much more to live for." Midoriya turned to him and clenched his shoulders. "All those years of missed time resenting one another," he squeezed harder his hands firm on his shoulders as he pleaded. "Kacchan can we leave the past in the past and move on so that we can makeup for all those years spent apart?" The greenette bowed his head and let his hand slid down the kid's chest. "Please, Kacchan," he begged. The man had the urge again to dive into the blonde's arms and bury his face into his chest but held himself back.

There was silence before the teen responded, "I'll do you one better," he began and the assertion made Midoriya look to him with desperate eyes. "I'll learn to be a better team leader," he folded his arms. "Seems like the future me relied to heavily on a stupid nerd-kun. And I," he pointed to his chest, "am no burden," he smiled then turned it into a grimace. Even as he said it, it sounded like a blatant lie. But what did it matter, he knew as well as Midoriya that no one could outrun fate. The promise was an empty one, but neither said a word.

Although Bakugou had made such a promise Midoriya was confident that Bakugou would not counteract fate, because he too understood the ramifications it would have for their friends and families if he tried. It was a sweet notion but both knew it was impossible to escape destiny. Even if he somehow managed to avoid death that week it would eventually catch up to him. If only it had been that simple then Midoriya would have never considered finding a successor and forfeiting one-for-all.

After a moment in silence Bakugou swatted the man on his head. "Live, you stupid adult nerd-kun."

Though this was not the optimal end Midoriya had hoped for he was so unbelievably happy that Bakugou understood, that he had listened for the first time, he listened. The tears lined his lids but the weight he'd carried for a while was lifted from his chest, the man content. It was too late for him but for this Bakugou and his younger self they could make these five years count. Midoriya could now leave with as little regret as possible.

Midoriya pulled the hood back over his head when he was tugged back onto his rear.

"We'll go tomorrow," Bakugou muttered his face shrouded by his bangs.

"Huh?" Midoriya turned around and pulled his hood a bit back to see those red eyes he missed so much.

"Where ever I promised I'd take you, we go tomorrow." Bakugou leapt from the wall and folded his arms over his chest. "For now you'll have to room with me, but I guess that won't be an issue seeing as we are roommates in the future." Bakugou studied his face for any hints or indications that what he assumed was true, but the man had a poker face on. What was he hiding?

Midoriya smiled, although Bakugou had a hard time conveying his emotions he always knew what to do to ease his pain. The teen confirmed what the man had always known, there was no way he could live without him. This would be his last couple of days so what was another night in this time period, there was nothing else for him to look forward to or loss. All that he could ever want was here in the right now.

"I was heading for the store, let's go before I get penalties for missing curfew." Bakugou gestured for him to follow and the two walked side by side as if it was just that natural.