Tw: mass death. No explicit gore, though. I'll leave that up to your imagination

I am wondering how I still managed to make this fluffy despite that

Chapter 4: what the fuck is happening

There'd been a lot of disasters that had plagued Japan since the gods came and pulled the island from the ocean's depths.

The north would have snowstorms that threatened to reach the south, freezing crops, animals, and humans to death.

Those at the coastlines would drown almost periodically in tsunamis and floods, leaving ruined huts and concrete, with floating bodies washed to the sea.

The worst was the earthquakes.

Now, these were the deadliest. Because unlike typhoons, floods, and other disasters, earthquakes couldn't be predicted. At best, humans were a second too late with their tinkering instruments, only knowing what happened after it already hit them.

They were the worst because earthquakes led to other disasters, like dominos falling one by one; sinkholes, fires, ground fissures, tsunamis, or worse– another quake.

So Japan had its share of a lot of disasters.

In the early ages, they'd blame it on angry gods or terrorizing demons and spirits. Sometimes, the really clever ones would pin the blame on an average human– a shogun, a thief, or even just an outcast of a town.

Then the humans grew, and so did the world. And those that forgot to believe passed it off as global warming and the like.

But the people of Green Valley and Red Lion did not forget their gods.

They depended on forecasts and their modern instruments, yes. They listened to experts who predicted rain and sunny days. But they did not forget to believe in their gods.

For rain, the people of Green Valley offered trinkets and new installments for the shrine. For the sun, the people of Red Lion donated riches and development.

The people did not forget their gods.

And the gods did not forget their people.

When Izuku woke up, it was not to the pleasant caress of the wind or the pitter-patter of raindrops.

When the rain god woke up, it was to the screams of terror, the harsh sounds of infrastructures collapsing, and the force of waves.

If this had been his first disaster, maybe he would've flailed like a fish.

But there was a reason he was a god of calamity.

In a snap, the water that flooded his shrine was gone, and there was a boundary line that the waves uselessly crashed against.

Izuku perched atop the torii, ready to call for nearby sprites when a sudden wave of prayers hit him, and he screamed.

"Help me... please!"

"Mama, mama... Kami-sama, where's my mama?"

"It hurts, it hurts, I can't breathe."

"My baby, no, my baby, please!"

It wasn't the first time he received prayers that contained so much intent that it carried over some emotion.

But it was the first time that the intensity was high, and Izuku could not stop screaming. He felt the pain of his people trapped under buildings and cars, the pain of drowning and clawing at their throats, the emotional turmoil of cradling the body of dead children.

Izuku felt everything.

And everything was too much.

He was hunched over on himself, the torii beneath him cracking as it bore to contain his energy. The wind picked up around him, uprooting trees. Crackles of lightning sped across his body before it struck the ground, leaving scorching holes.

The boundary line meant to keep the disaster out had begun to serve as a means to keep his power in and away from the mortal realm.

The prayers kept coming, and Izuku wanted to go out and save them all, but feeling all of their pain was crippling him from even taking a single step.

Their pain was becoming his pain, and before he knew it, he was already praying.

"Help me."

"You fucking idiot. What kind of god prays?"

Izuku looked up, green eyes filled with tears. He couldn't help but sob in relief at the sight.

"K-Kacchan, what–" He tried standing, but his legs buckled, and he thought he was going to fall.

He didn't.

"Idiot, get your shit together. This ain't the time for you to be your incompetent self, shitty Deku."

Izuku clung onto the sleeves of Katsuki's yukata, trying to distract himself from the incessant prayers and pain (so so much pain) with the heat of the fire god.

He didn't know how long it took until he managed to finally isolate them, and he could breathe.

"Oi. How long are you gonna cling onto me like a fucking leech, dipshit?"

Under normal circumstances, Izuku would've scrambled away and stuttered or maybe bit back some quips of his own.

But the raging storm and cries of terror were not normal.

So he tightened his hold on Katsuki because the heat was the only thing anchoring him against everything else. He'll deal with the consequences later.

When the fire god did nothing to push him away, he looked up. The usual haughty and arrogant expression on Katsuki's face was gone. Instead, beads of sweat gathered at his forehead, and he was scowling as he tried to contain his trembling.

"Oh," Izuku realized, "You feel them too. Their prayers... their pain."

Katsuki gritted his teeth, a sliver of golden blood dripping from his lips.

"They're noisy as fuck, asshole. Been yapping their shit since ass o'clock in the morning."

In translation: yes, I feel their pain, and they've been suffering far longer and harsher than they should never be— Izuku's kind of proud that he's able to decipher Bakugou-speak.

And he wants to point out that minor achievement when another wave of prayers crashes against him, making him reel for breath. He hears Katsuki choke, and warm hands cling onto his sleeves.

"Fuck– fucking hell." The fire god was breathing pretty hard now, flickers of orange and dark red flames sputtering along his arms.

Katsuki looked and felt like shit. But Izuku wasn't any better.

"What the hell was happening?"

There were bodies everywhere.

If they didn't know any better, the two gods would've thought it was the end of the world.

After both of them managed to snap each other out of the haze of pain and screams, they went out to survey the scene.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

Green Valley was flooded with dirty water made of trash and blood. They could see some buildings– skyscrapers that the mortals built– pop out from the roaring torrent, but nothing else. Bridges were broken, cars floated uselessly, and Izuku could still hear their screams and prayers as his people drowned.

His first instinct was to rush in and save them. To cradle them in his arms and pull out the water from their lungs.

"Don't even think about it, Deku."

"Kacchan, let me go."

"Fucker, you know what you should be doing now. Going down and showing yourself to mortals ain't it."

"Katsuki, let. Me. Go."

One moment Izuku was ready to jump, and the next, there was a stinging sensation on his face. He put his hand against it and hissed at the swollen area.

Katsuki grabbed his collar, eyes blazing into slits.

"Listen, you little shit. You may be the most pathetic god I've ever seen, but you're still a god. You know the rules. You know what's to be done here."

Izuku snarled, his mind still stuck on the sound of cries and sight of bodies floating in the water.

Katsuki released him, crimson eyes burning straight through green ones.

"Remember your goddamn role, patron of Green Valley."

Izuku felt a coldness wash over him, blowing away the haze of save them save them save them. He took a couple of breaths.

Right, he had a duty here.

He closed his eyes, searching and searching for the core of his power. When he felt the familiar taut string, he reached and pulled.

Izuku felt the crackle of pure energy thrumming under his skin, his skin glowing like that of the ocean floor when touched by the sun's rays. He gathered everything he could– from the smallest particles of dewdrops to the more enormous collections the sky offered.

Izuku willed his power to disperse the disaster– to make the flood recede, and the rains stop.

He opened his eyes.

He gaped.

Nothing happened.

"Tsk, thought so."

Izuku whipped his head towards Katsuki, who looked frustrated and pissed but not shocked.

"What? What do you mean by that Kacchan? What do you mean 'thought so'? Why didn't my powers work?"

Katsuki clenched his hands at the side, eyes still glaring at the endless torrent of waves and rain.

"Exactly as I said, shitty Deku," He huffed, but Izuku could see the slight panic in crimson eyes. "I tried the same shit back at Red Lion and it was the same."

Crimson met green. Katsuki was wearing a grim expression.

"Nothing happened."

When Katsuki woke, everything was on fire.

At first, he thought it was another shitty nightmare. Back when he had no control over his powers and woke to the sound of screams and ash. Back when he had to be collared and chained until he no longer set fire to everything.

Then the prayers came, and fuck did they hurt. It was like being hit by those big contraptions mortals made– cowdozers, maybe.

Since he was used to ignoring prayers, Katsuki brushed off the first few. They were probably just petty ones about heartbreak anyway.

The important issue now was finding out who the fuck set fire to his shrine.

"Alright you shitty extras, I'm giving you all the count of fucking zero to own up to this shit–"

Katsuki stops in his tracks after storming out.

It was a sea of fire.

A literal fucking sea of fire.

"What the fuck?!"

And before he could take another step past the torii, the prayers come again, and this time the fire god could no longer ignore them.

It felt like his mind was being doused in dry ice with the pain and agony that came with them.

"Ah, ah, ahhhhhh!"

"It burns, it burns! My arm, my arm!"

"Darling, darling, please, please!"

"Kami-sama, where are you?!"

Katsuki stumbles and crashes against the torii, falling to his knees. The pain was deafening his senses, and all he wanted to do was bury his head in the ground to get some quiet.

But then he reminds himself he ain't weak shit and shoves all those prayers and their pain to the back of his mind. They were still there, but the scalding pain dumbed down to little pinpricks behind his eyes.

Katsuki takes a shuddering breath and glares at the sea of fire.

"Alright, you son of a bitch. Let's get this over the fuck with."

The fire god opens his palms and pulls. The air converges around him, particles separating and combining rapidly until he feels the thrum of energy building up in his chest and body.

"DIE!"

Katsuki throws everything he had gathered in front of him, making him skid back a couple steps.

When the dust settled, the sea of fire was still there.

"What the actual fuck?"

And because he's a stubborn idiot who doesn't take no for an answer, he tries again. And again. And again.

Until he's a heaping mess on the ground, exhausted from gathering and expelling energy too many fucking times. Add to that would be the incessant yapping of prayers with their painful emotions.

He stumbles to stand, gearing to start again, when Katsuki hears it.

"Help me."

BOOM

"Deku."

BOOM

"Oi, shithead."

BOOM

"Fucker."

BOOM

"Broccoli."

Izuku snaps his head to Katsuki, who was leaning against the torii, arms crossed.

"Broccoli? What?"

Katsuki shrugged, "You look like a mini-tree."

"That's because my mother's a nature spirit, stupid Kacchan."

"Me? Stupid?" He huffed and gestured to the ongoing destruction around them. "I'm not the one who won't fucking listen and stop wasting energy."

"Won't listen?!" Izuku stomped over, poking Katsuki in the chest, "How could I listen when you literally told me to just 'wait it out'?!"

He couldn't believe the audacity– the nerve of the fire god then when he had shrugged and told Izuku there was nothing to be done. That the only thing to be done was watch as his people's lungs filled with water and their eyes left unblinking, open, and dull.

Like Izuku could do that.

"I'm not like you, Kacchan! I treasure my people! You may think I'm weak or that I don't fit into the mold of what's strong for you, but my people make me strong."

Green eyes blazed, the rain god gathering power once again.

"I'd rather die than wait and watch as my people– my mortals suffer and drown, Kacchan."

Izuku turns away and grits his teeth as he braces for another attempt. Another attempt to control the disaster and make it go away.

He feels the nips of energy, once an empowering force, now bearing its fangs at his exhausted body.

Again, again, please, I'm not done yet.

In hindsight, Izuku should've known not to turn away from Katsuki.

One minute, the energy had gathered up and ready to be released again. The next, he crumpled to his knees, eating dirt as instinct took over.

Rather than see, Izuku feels it as it passes, barely skimming over his head.

It was a ball of flames– so, so different from the gift he had sent as a prank. This one exuded raw power– a power so blinding that Izuku trembled at it. It was a horrifyingly beautiful mix of demonic and divine power, bright golden flames intertwined and swirling with deep red– almost black– flames that sucked in the air.

Izuku had never been so happy for his instincts.

Then he snapped out of that relief after realizing the alternative.

"Kacchan! What are you doing?! That almost hit me!" Izuku looked back at the fire god, who was obviously pissed off. Well, more pissed off than he usually was.

Katsuki bared his teeth, the tips of his fangs taking on a black tint. There were remnants of the divine and demonic flames skimming across his arms, making him a deadly sight.

"Oh? Then I'll try again, fucker!" He spat, "How dare you assume shit about what I feel, asshole? Ha?! You don't get to fucking tell me that I don't give a shit, because I do!"

Izuku bristled, anger overturning feelings of shock. "It doesn't look like it! You literally took a look at my failure and then declared my people dead! And if you do care, then why aren't you with your people?!"

Katsuki opened his mouth, the admission that I heard your stupid prayer almost slipping when something catches his eye.

He gaped.

Crimson eyes looked past the rain god to the area his attack had landed. The site had been flooded a while ago, the roofs of houses just under the raging waves.

Now there wasn't any water anymore.

Not. A single. Drop.

What the fuck.

"–chan, Kacchan! Hey! Universe to Kacchan! Oh my god, did the truth finally make you speechless, wow. You're not going to cry, are you? I mean, not that I want you to! Ugh, fine, I'm sorr–"

"Shut the fuck up, Deku," Katsuki growled and stomped past the greennette to get a closer look at the area.

He squints. Other than a couple scorched walls and burnt plants, the area was arid as fuck. As dry as one of Half and Half's jokes.

The surrounding waves left the area alone, making it stand the fuck out as a weird circular patch amidst the disaster.

"Kacchan? What are you– Oh."

Katsuki scoffed.

"Yeah, oh. Glad you could shut up for once and use your eyes, idiot."

"Well, sorry if I was too busy, oh I don't know, not getting my head blown off."

"Would there be a difference if I hit you, Deku? Maybe you'll learn to think better without a head than with one."

Katsuki ignored the spluttered protests and waved his hand, sending a minor heatwave towards another area.

The water rippled and bubbled (and no assholes, he wasn't nervous), then there was a resounding pop, and suddenly the water was gone.

At the moment, Katsuki had two realizations– epiphanies, is what mortals would call it.

One: the stupid (cute) rain god's powers had no effect on Green Valley's disaster, but his does. And he's assuming that'll be the fucking same if he dragged Izuku to Red Lion.

Two: fuuuck, Katsuki needs to work with Izuku.

Of course, he immediately poses to stomp over realization #2 because fuck, no.

Then his people chose that exact moment (of course they did because they're little shit mortals) to send him another wave of prayers that fucking hurt.

Just for that, he's tempted to leave them all to die.

(But he doesn't because– just because, goddammit)

"Oi, dipshit."

Izuku sighed. "Yes, Kacchan?"

Katsuki gritted his teeth, clenching and unclenching his hands at the side. A couple sparks release from his palm, and he smothers it.

He inhales and exhales.

"Let's fucking work together, shitty Deku."

One. Two. Three.

Then there was a big-ass smile that split on Izuku's face and Katsuki's torn between wanting to punch the rain god and staring like a dumbass at the embodiment of the sun.

"Say it nicely and I just might agree, Kacchan."

Yeah, he wants to punch the idiot.

"So what the fuck was that?"

"I have no idea, Kacchan," Izuku sighed for the umpteenth time, slumping against a tree.

"Wow, what a big help that was, Deku."

"I'm not omniscient, Kacchan. I don't know everything."

"You're a fucking god. You're supposed to, idiot."

Izuku raised a brow. "Oh? Then why are you asking me? Shouldn't you know then? You being a god and all."

Katsuki clicked his tongue and turned away, flopping down beside Izuku, resting against the tree.

They didn't talk for a moment, just their haggard breathing filling the space between them.

"...Oi."

Izuku hums, eyes closed.

"Your control was sloppy, shitty Deku. You focused too much on power, not technique. Learn to hone it, idiot."

Izuku smiled, green eyes opening to see Katsuki huffing and turning away. The rain god could see the reddening tips of his ears.

"Okay. Thank you, Kacchan! I'll do better like you."

Katsuki grunts.

Izuku closes his eyes again and rests against the tree, loving the caress of the wind against his face.

There was shuffling beside him and then an immense comforting heat at his side.

Katsuki closes his eyes and leans against the tree, arms crossed over his chest.

He was just fucking tired, alright? And if someone points out how he ends up sleeping against the greennette, they can go fuck themselves.

It wasn't his fault that the cute god smelled like rain showers in the middle of summer.

Izuku is a sassy cinnamon roll lol Also, am I the only one who kept thinking 'kamehameha' while these two idiots did their thing?

Characters:

(1) Midoriya Izuku - Rain-Calamity God (patron of Green Valley & ?)

Vocab:

(1) Torii 鳥居 - gate seen in Shinto shrines; gateway between mortal and spiritual realm