Deku was a well known Pro Hero, well on his way to the top ten, and very much looking to become the next Number One.

A Pillar of Hope, to the previous Pillar of Peace.

He had a habit of throwing himself into villain fights, and coming out on top. Sure sometimes he got hurt, but he was really good at avoiding anything that ended with injuries. (When questioned, he often rubbed the back of his head and mentioned his friends and family, jokingly saying they were worse than any injury he managed to get.)

The point, was that the public had gotten used to seeing Deku in the middle of battles, seeing him pull off the impossible, getting up again and again, making sure that he and anyone with him came out of things alive and well.

This was especially true whenever Deku was working with anyone from his old high school class. They'd learned teamwork and trust from their very first year. It was like watching a dance, something with the movements planed to the last twitch, when anyone from the famous 'Class 3-A' was out of the field working together.

Watching any of the 'Big Three' of class 3-A working together was a work of art especially. Bakugou Katsuki- the explosion hero Ground Zero- Todoroki Shouto- the elemental hero Icyhot- and Midoriya Izuku- the 'you can do it' hero Deku almost seemed able to read each other's minds they worked so well together.

No one really managed to stay free and causing chaos when they were on the scene. Not for long.

Perhaps that was why no one saw the result coming.

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Hostage situations were the worst. Deku hated them the most. He hoped MindJack got here soon. Hitoshi's quirk was amazing for situations like this.

He kept his hands up and open, standing still next to Kacchan and Shochan. They were tense beside him, but none of them moved. They'd arrived just a few moments ago, and the villain had panicked at the sight of them.

Deku knew he was fast enough to grab the hostage, but he wasn't sure if he'd manage it before the villain pulled the trigger of the gun pressed to his hostage's temple. He could but with all the rubble of the building, and the other people in danger, the panicking civilians in the way, and quirk of the villain in question enhancing his reflexes and reactions…

Deku didn't want to risk it unless he had to.

"It's alright," Deku kept his voice calm and even as he spoke, but his eyes met the terrified girl in the villain's hold. "No one is going to be hurt." He smiled at the girl, before he lifted his eyes to the villain and narrowed them, the smile unwavering on his face. "I'm here."

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Deku saw the reaction coming a fraction of a moment sooner than the others.

It was reflex- instinct.

He didn't even pause to think.

They'd gotten the girl free, Icyhot having taken her over to the police line while Ground Zero handled the villain, and Deku tried to calm the others. Deku wasn't sure what the villain had done to get out of Kacchan's hold, but he had.

He'd gotten free, and then he'd gotten his gun. He was bringing it up, aiming for Kacchan's chest, and Deku just….moved.

He screamed his childhood friend's nickname, "KACCHAN!" echoing over the air as Deku took a flying leap assisted by One for All towards his friend. The boom of a gunshot was deafening, seemingly vibrating through the chest of those present.

Deku didn't hesitate, as he snapped his hand out, the rush of air pressure knocking the villain back, towards the ice that Shochan had instinctively flung in their direction. Shouto adjusted immediately and the villain found himself encased to his shoulders in seconds.

The pain didn't register until Deku hit the ground. He landed on top of Katsuki, a shaky- "You okay, Kacchan?" -escaping his lips.

"Deku, what the fu- SHIT." Katsuki had been shoving himself up, getting ready to shove Izuku off, but as soon as he began to move his friend, Izuku had cried out. Katsuki's eyes had snapped down, and the spreading stain of red became very obvious on the green of Deku's hero costume.

"Deku, you fucking shit!" Kacchan's voice was vicious, but his hands were gentle as he shifted, lowering Deku to the ground.

His hands didn't shake as they rushed through the motions he'd practiced for ages, working to stop the blood, to help keep his friend alive. "ICYHOT!"

Shouto was already reacting, moving to get the paramedics attention, even as he rushed to help provide a stable icy path for them to reach the other two heroes in the rubble.

"K-Kacchan. I- I'm glad you're alrigh-alright." The smile he shot the blonde was bloody.

"Shut the fuck up, Deku! Tell me that when you're healed up you little shit!"

Izuku laughed, choking mid-sound, moaning softly at the jolt he had given himself. "I- I wanted- you to kn- know."

Katsuki's voice cracked, his hands applying a firm steady pressure to the wound. "You can fucking tell me when you're better."

Izuku' tipped his head, to look up at Katsuki from the ground. "I don- don't know what I would h-have done if that hit. You're…."

Izuku paused eyes drifting shut for a moment, before he jolted in place, choking for a moment.

Katsuki's breath caught, a sob choked back, "I'm what, fucking nerd?"

It took a moment for the question to register, and Katsuki could hear Shoto guiding the paramedics through the rubble, freezing them a stable, careful path to their side. Still- Deku answered him anyway.

"You're m- my brother. I k-know it took-" a cough, a shaking, stuttering inhale" -took us a while t-to get there, bu-but I love you. Y-you're family."

Katsuki's breath caught, and his voice shook with tears as he snapped "Y-You fucking nerd!"

It had taken him years to get to this point, to make up for what he had done as a stupid teenager raised to believe in his greatness. To make up for years of hurting his friend. It had taken them villain attacks, almost death, saving each other, fighting together, and therapy before they had managed to rebuild their friendship into what it should have been.

To hear that….for Deku to voice it…

"Stay with me, you fucking idiot!"

Deku's eyes closed, and a bloody hand lifted to grip at Katsuki's bicep. "T-Tell mom a-and Toshi that M'sorry."

"Deku? DEKU! IZUKU!"

Katuki was shoved backwards as the paramedics finally made it over the mess of rubble, and rushed to help. Katsuki's hands shook, dripping and dyed red. He stared down at them, then turned to look at the smeared handprint on his bicep.

The shaking that hadn't overtaken his hands while Katsuki was putting pressure on Deku's wound, rocked through his body then. It started with his hands, and worked its way outward, until his legs folded under him.

Deku had taken that bullet for him.

It should have been him.

Katsuki could see a paramedic kneeling in front of him, trying to talk to him, but all Katsuki could hear was a ringing note in his ears. The edges of his eyes were blackening.

It should have been him-

How was he supposed to explain this to Auntie Inko and Toshinori?

To their classmates?

How-

How the fuck-

Katsuki couldn't breathe.

He couldn't breathe-

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Katsuki woke up in a hospital.

At first he thought the entire mess had been a bad dream. That he had been injured, and the memory of Deku's blood swelling over his fingers was just a bad flashback to the Battles of UA, and not something he had lived through again.

But then Shouto leaned into his eyesight, and the look on his face was enough.

Still- Icyhot offered him the desired information without prompting.

"Deku's in surgery to remove the bullet and fix some of the damage. He's been there for a few hours. They told us he lost a lot of blood, that it's been….that it's been touch and go. They're saying he's strong, but they don't...they don't know how this is going to go."

Katsuki almost wished he hadn't. The tight feeling in his chest was back, and it was hard to make his body breathe.

He only jolted out of it when the scent of burning fabric reached his nose. He'd accidentally burned the sheets.

He slowly unclenched his fists, and closed his eyes. He ignored the sting of threatening tears. "Does...does everyone else know?"

Shouto nodded. "We've been taking shifts here with you, but everyone else is in the waiting room."

Katsuki threw his legs over the edge of the bed. "Take me there."

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Katsuki held Auntie Inko's hand in one of his, returning the tight grip she had on him. Toshinori held the other hand, and all their classmates, and a few of their teachers were scattered through the waiting room, sitting against the walls on the floor when all the chairs had been taken up. A few had to leave for their patrols, but almost everyone was present.

Their eyes remained focused on the screen that gave updates on those who were in surgery.

The tension in the room was thick, and the silence was broken only by soft whispers as the class spoke to each other.

When the door opened, the entire room surged to their feet.

"Midoriya Izuku's family?"

The room gave a collective affirmative, and the doctor's eyes were soft. Everyone knew how close Class 3-A was, how they all kept in touch, and were more a family then old classmates. It was in all of the class' paperwork, that their classmates and select teachers were allowed to know information should they end up in the hospital.

"He's alright."

Katsuki's legs gave way, and he collapsed backwards into his chair, head thrown back to stare at the ceiling. He clenched his eyes shut, so, so thankful that he would not have to pass Izuku's last words along to his parents.

And while the image and feel of Deku bleeding out under his hands would haunt him for the rest of his life, at least Deku was still alive.

Inko sobbed into Toshinori's shoulder, soft prayers and thanks escaping between the cries, and that would stick with him too.

"Thank fuck," Katsuki whispered his own prayer under his breath, before he stood back up and approached the doctor.

"What else can you tell me?"