A/N: Months passed and Light manga spoiler warning!

For those who've read the manga you'll see that I just plucked out a few key elements from the season 6 arc to come to use for this chapter - for those who have not read the manga, don't stress, the manga goes very differently then what I did with those elements.
So spoiler/not spoiling...idk...just thought I'd let you know anyway.

Apologies that this chapter ALSO took me a while to get out. I maaaay have dropped my laptop and broken it... my bad.

our odd little relationship was going a lot smoother than I would have thought. Somethings irked me though like how sometimes Uraraka would ask Izuku about his relationship with me or talk about us in general like I wasn't right fucking there listening – I had the feeling she was just trying to irritate me but the way Izuku blushed and his chest warmed when he did talk about me to her was the only thing that calmed me enough to not want to scream. And she was getting a little too bold for my liking. The entire school, teachers included pretty much knew of 'our' relationship now. Not even All Might knew that it was Izuku dating her and not me which pissed me off as he congratulated me and made a remark on how I'm more relaxed these days or something. Izuku had to remind me not to tell the man the truth just to shut him up. We both already knew the hero would be against the idea of Izuku letting his presence be known to anyone due to it being a risk of exposing One For All.

But Uraraka was getting bold enough that even when I was in control she would come sit by me during lunch or talk to me about school work. She even approached me about wanting to do sparring matches – I couldn't turn down a challenge like that – but more and more she was encroaching on my space and I wasn't a fan. There was being friendly and then there was being, well, I just didn't like it. I didn't even like my own actual friends pestering me. Izuku on the other hand hummed to himself happily at her attempts to 'get to know me' as he put it. I could only grit my teeth in return.

"You're already dating my boyfriend, why can't you just leave me the fuck alone!" I snapped at her and her voice died in her throat as she clamped her jaw shut. I had been marching back to the dorm after a workout session with All Might. The sun was setting, giving everything an orange tinge and I was already in a sour mood when who happened upon me other than stupid Pink Cheeks.

Uraraka looked genuinely shocked by my outburst which was absurd because they were what I was known for – or at least I was before Mr. Sunshine inside me couldn't help but to be nicer to everyone than I liked – Izuku on the other hand turned an almost dangerous green stare my way.

Kacchan! He hissed with borderline anger, she's trying to be your friend. You don't have to be such an ass to her. I only glared back at him. Was he taking her side?

No, I'm not taking anyone's side Kacchan, he spoke firmly as he picked up on my thought, you don't have to be so mean to everyone all the time. And all she did was call your name. She didn't deserve to be snapped at like that. I could feel his annoyance coming off of him in waves. Something that didn't happen often. I clicked my tongue and turned away.

"I-I'm sorry Bakugo," spoke Uraraka, down casting her eyes, "D-do you really have a problem with me dating Deku, b-because if you do, you both were together first, so I –"

Tell her you're sorry, demanded Izuku, his green eyes burning into me, apologize!

"No" I interrupted her. She lifted her brown eyes to me with confusion.

"I don't care about you two dating," I affirmed with a lowered voice, "do what you want" I turned away to continue down the path with a sigh. Izuku's irritation lessened some but it wasn't completely gone.

"Sorry" I added quietly as I stepped away. She didn't speak or follow after me and the rest of Izuku's anger drained away and that was enough for me to know that had heard me.

It was genuinely uncomfortable to be around her when I was myself. She would approach me all smiles meanwhile I couldn't bare to look her in the eye. Izuku in control or not, Uraraka had seen me naked and yet she still smiled at me like nothing was wrong. I got it, I had given them that freedom, pushed for it even but I couldn't shake the discomfort that came with it entirely no matter how hard I tried to bury it down. Every time she looked at me, it was like I could see a knowing glint in her eyes and I had to turn away. Izuku told me I was imagining it, but that didn't stop me from seeing it. Maybe not so much knowing as attraction? I mean, I couldn't blame her there but before Izuku she had never batted an eye in my direction like that before and yet now my skin crawled when she looked me up and down with a flirtatious smirk that I knew was meant for Izuku and not me. Izuku had already noticed my issues with the arrangement and had asked me about it. I had shaken off his concerns. It had not escaped my attention though how the pair had been holding back on my account. I wasn't pleased either way really. In the beginning I figured it would be uncomfortable, yeah, but that I would get more accustomed to it and Izuku did a plenty good job of distracting me in those moments by involving me in his own way - and fuck did I love it with everything feeling so much more intense – but it still ate away at me bit by bit.

I laid back down on our bed with a heavy sigh, draping an arm over my eyes ready for sleep. My mind took me to that familiar hill I had grown to love so much and when I moved my arm away Izuku was smiling warmly down at me.

"What, nerd?" I barked but it lacked the bite.

"Nothing," he smiled, "you look so peaceful when you sleep" he commented and I sat up, shoving him back as I did. He giggled.

"You stare at me while I sleep? You freak" I sneered with a hint of a smirk tugging at my lips.

"I wish" he scoffed back and rolled his eyes as he lowered himself to his knees before me, "I can't really manage to stay up any longer than you can once you do fall asleep"

"That doesn't stop you doing it here" I retorted and he broke into a wide smile. Busted.

"That's true"

I huffed back and laid back down. I felt a weight on my hips and smirked to myself before Izuku leaned forward, his face hovering above mine.

"What are you so damn happy about?" I huffed as he shifted his weight on me, moving his hips further down.

"Nothing" he grinned back as he leaned forward and settled his head on my chest as he lay on me. I exhaled a long breath and draped an arm over his back.

It was peaceful moments like this with him that I enjoyed the most, even more so than the intense steamy moments at times and I let my eyes drift closed with his warmth and weight on me, feeling his chest press against me with each breathe he took. So alive inside me. At times like this I could forget everything else, the stress of balancing hero work, training and studies and Izuku and Uraraka's relationship. When it was just him and I like this, I could forget the whole world around me for a while and just melt in his company.

If I had known that was to be one of our last moments like that, I would have chosen to never leave it when I opened my eyes in the morning. I never would have let myself waste so much time on other things.

Our work studies were combined. Something big was going down yet no one would say what and that infuriated me to no end. I hated being treated like some dumb kid when we were not far off being practical pro heroes. Izuku did his best to remind me to stay calm, and it worked to a degree. Instead of losing my cool and yelling out loud, I kept my screaming to a minimum internally and mostly settled for grinding my teeth - another habit Izuku tried desperately to make me stop, ranting on about how damaging it was to my teeth – but this time he let me be as he was too focused on gathering as much information around us as possible. I was observant myself, but when Izuku was focused it was almost scary now that I knew how fast his head could take in and sort information, accompanied by quick paced mumbling with it.

We got to work evacuating a city which only grinded my gears more as it was basic grunt work and what ever big was going on was elsewhere. Screw the need for keeping us safe just because we were students. I wanted the action. Izuku nudged at me with a warm smile to remind me to keep calm and focus on the task given to me, which was fine, just fine, until Izuku's attention drifted to elsewhere. Uraraka and several others from our class were here too, clearing out the place as instructed and at first I thought he was just looking her way until I too turned my head and saw there was no one.

What the hell is it? I asked him with a stern voice. We were still doing hero work, even if it was boring, and his attention very rarely strayed when on the job. He didn't look back at me though, standing there, staring off into the distance.

We should go, he replied without tearing his gaze away. I narrowed my eyes in the outside world, trying to see what ever it was he was seeing in that direction, but there was nothing. Not a single soul in sight. I could feel a knot starting to form in my gut, only it wasn't me, it was coming from Izuku as tension was building inside him. His green eyes grew wider. Finally he turned back to face me, his eyes burning with concern and anxiety as the tense feeling roiling in our gut grew.

What? I asked, my own eyes starting to reflect his growing concern.

I can feel him, can't you? he asked. I didn't think his eyes could get much wider.

Who? I demanded.

All For One, Izuku whispered with dismay and there he was, this frantic wild looking white haired maniac coming our way from the sky. It wasn't the bald freak, it was Shigaraki.

"Shit" I hissed aloud and went to move. I aimed my palms behind me to take off. Izuku was practically the embodiment of One For All inside me or at least a part of it even if he did live separate from the rest and if he could feel All For One or Shigaraki coming then the opposite must work, right?

How did you know? I asked as I took to the air and headed off to the west. Sure enough Shigaraki changed his trajectory to head our way.

"Shit, shit, shit" I hissed to myself. I knew from Izuku's sense that he was following us.

I just felt it, he tried to explain desperately, his attention finally coming back to me. That feeling in my gut, the knot tightening wasn't what he had been feeling. Whatever connection he had felt from Shigaraki, I hadn't felt myself. I had been feeling his anxiety pooling into me and for good reason. Last time we had seen Shigaraki and his league, he hadn't been able to move like that.

It's All For One, Izuku explained, I-I can feel it but, he hesitated, it's in him. I can feel it in Shigaraki. I grit my teeth. The maniac was catching up. Izuku's eyes were wide with so many worries and concerns.

Whatever, think about it later, first lets get this asshole away from here, I barked at him and Izuku slapped his cheeks with both hands, blinked and then nodded.

Right! He shouted back with the hint of a smile and looked to me with his usual determined face that only made me smirk back.

That's more like it, I told him and with a more confident and determined sneer I blasted with only the one hand, turning in the air to face the oncoming threat.

We got this! I called

Yeah! Izuku added and I could feel his determination and courage flooding into me and mingling with my own and I felt stronger than I ever had before.

Shigaraki wasn't surprised to see us turn to face him, in fact he broke into a feral grin that I couldn't help but to return. We had led him away from the other evacuating civilians. A few other heroes including Uraraka had called out to us as we left but I had been to busy with Izuku to respond. There was no doubt in my mind that with Shigaraki so out in the open, most likely flushed out by what ever operation was going on, it would only be matter of time before pros were on the scene to take over. All we had to do was keep him busy for a little while. The problem was, I primarily dealt in close combat, Izuku too, and getting close was a danger.

"One For All" Shigaraki called as we drew closer. His eyes narrowed with amusement before he halted and instead black spear like structures erupted from him, bending at almost ninety-degree angles and coming right for us. A few blasts and I was zigzagging through the air to avoid most of them as they came, closing the distance between us.

Kacchan, switch! Called Izuku and with a nod I stepped back, letting him take control. We had been practicing it in our own time, away from everyone's eyes including All Might's. Izuku had done it once before and after he had gotten the hang of controlling my body we had explored it further, not only him using my quirk but also using his own. I hadn't managed to manifest his multiple quirks beyond a pathetic attempt at Black Whip so although he couldn't use my own quirk as well as I could, he still had Float under his belt to keep him in the air and at level with Shigaraki as he let loose his own black tendrils. Black Whip wrapped around the black spears, tightening to bring them together and pulling back his arm to pull Shigaraki closer, using his remaining free fist to throw into the villain's gut hard enough to force him back and away before he could retaliate with a swiping touch.

Black Whip tightened enough to snap the black spears and they crumbled once broken away from Shigaraki's body as he fell back towards the earth. Before he could collide with the ground, Izuku shot forward Black Whip again, wrapping around Shigaraki's torso, managing to wrap his arms up, and pulled him in close again with enough force to bring their bodies colliding together when Izuku threw another All Might powered blow. I could feel our arm aching from the strength of the impact but it wasn't broken at least.

The battle raged on, Izuku pulling and pushing Shigaraki this way and that with mighty punches and kicks without ever letting him touch the ground but no matter how hard he hit the villain never seemed to weaken all the while twisting and dodging the black spears and other attacks thrown our way. Finally Izuku changed tactics and this time when he pulled Shigaraki in the villain managed to keep one arm free and held it outstretched to reach us, only this time Izuku raised an open palm of his own, releasing a large blast from our hand. The blast was enough to burn flesh. Izuku grit his teeth with irritation as the smoke faded and Shigaraki's skin mended itself within seconds.

I wondered why nothing seemed to be working, Izuku hissed, he can heal! I grit my teeth as I watched on, feeling helpless. I had heard through my ear piece that pros were on their way to assist, all we had to do was keep Shigaraki busy a little while longer and then we could back away. Izuku was already panting from the effort of balancing four different quirks and constantly barraging Shigaraki without being touched in return. It took a lot of mental effort for him and all I could offer other than the extra focus was channeling my own strength and determination into him while taking his exhaustion in return. My legs were shaking to the point where I had to kneel down on the hill and I panted for air so Izuku could focus. I took as much of it as I could to keep him in his best condition to get through this. One single touch would be the end for all of us. Me, him and One For All.

"And I thought that green haired brat was a nuisance," sneered Shigaraki as he avoided Black Whip and came towards us, "but you are far more annoying!" he reached out a hand to touch us as he closed the distance with speed. Now that I wasn't driving our body I could get a better sense on Shigaraki. My interactions with him till now had been brief at best but his voice was one I would never forget, yet laced beneath his own voice was something more menacing and thicker, as though his voice wasn't entirely his own anymore.

Izuku let off blasts from his palms combined with Float to create some distance but through the smoke those same black spears shot through. Izuku avoided them the best he could, changing to use Black Whip again to wrap around one and swing away, now using our smoke as a cover but it wasn't enough. One of the black spears burst through the smoke and slashed at our side. Izuku gasped at the pain and I quickly did what I could to take it onto myself, he couldn't lose focus here, not now, not when the smoke still obscured our view, not when the pros were a minute away from our position. So I gritted my teeth till my jaw ached and took the pain.

Izuku could sense Shigaraki beyond the smoke and through him I could feel him closing in. His wild white hair and chapped grin broke through the smoke, hand outstretched to touch us. Izuku let go of Float, letting gravity take over and make us drop but Shigaraki was right on top of us already. Izuku had only just avoided the hand coming for us and threw a kick up, colliding with Shigaraki's middle with enough force to send him upwards as well as propelling us downwards. He activated Float again in time to slow us to a stop in midair but by then Shigaraki was already coming back our way from above.

Izuku fired Black Whip upwards to capture him just as Shigaraki rained his black spears down upon us but they weren't as chaotic and random as they were once before. As the spears closed in they jutted in different directions, fanning out around us.

He's trapping us! I called as the black spears continued to spread downwards like cage bars around us, trapping us inside while Shigaraki came closer from above up. The only routes were to face Shigaraki head on or to fall back to the ground. Izuku turned his attention downwards, wanting to create distance but the black spears had turned back on themselves and were coming up from below, sharp ends glinting in the light.

Shit! I hissed. We were well and truly trapped. We could use Izuku's strength or my explosions to break through the black bars, we knew they could be broken but there was little space and time to react before Shigaraki was upon us, hand outstretched again, his face a wild smile of crazed triumph.

Izuku! I cried out, tried to take back control but Izuku only froze, his face lifted to meet Shigaraki's hand. There was no time to do anything else, no time for him to get out of the way as the hand made contact with our face.

Everything snapped to a bright whiteness and then like a movie imaged flashed through my mind so fast that I could only retain a few. A house. A family. A sister and parents, grandparents too. A dog. Crying. Wanting to be a hero. An angry father. Pain. Feeling alone. The dog breaking. The ground splitting. People falling apart. Blood and dust. Anger. Fear. Alone.

I had felt something like this before from Izuku when he had shared his memories with me, forced them upon me but this time it was more intense, an entire lifetime being crammed into my head and it hurt.

I was blinded for a moment, my arm coming up to cover my face to protect against it. When I lowered it again, surprised to even still be existing in any form, I found the hill was gone, replaced with a vast white expanse that reminded me of my first encounter with Izuku after his death before I woke in the hospital, only this time Izuku was there with me, wearing his green hero costume as he stood away from me and his eyes were fixed on another figure.

Shigaraki was here with us.

"I get it now," grinned the villain as he looked Izuku up and down, "I had heard you died. I only wished it had been by my own hand" he flexed a hand like a claw for emphasis, "you passed One For All onto him" the villain's face turned to look at me. His voice was thicker in here, the deeper undertone more obvious and unsettling and he had a shadow while Izuku didn't. The light was surrounding, there was no source, so where would a shadow come from?

Izuku stepped forward in between me and Shigaraki. His shoulders were squared and I knew he was still read for a fight.

"You won't touch him" Izuku hissed in warning and took up a fighting stance. I tried to move, to step up and fight beside him but my legs wouldn't move. When I glanced down they were gone. I tried to call out, but my mouth was gone too just like that time in the black smoke, in fact, that same black smoke started to roll in from the edges of the plane behind us and with it I could feel my body almost vibrate with power. The blackness thickened around me as other figures stepped out of it.

Nana Shimura was the first to step out, she glanced my way before stepping past where I was stuck to stand beside Izuku, placing a hand on his shoulder. Shigaraki's eyes grew wider as more figures stepped up, each of the previous users, including the wavering form of All Might himself, took up their place beside or behind Izuku, each placing a hand on him. The air was buzzing around me as they added their strength to Izuku's and through him I could feel the heat pooling and swirling inside my gut. The energy was enough that if I could have moved I would have sprung into action. I felt ready to take on the world and I could only imagine how Izuku felt, receiving the power directly.

Nana leaned to whisper into Izuku's ear and through my connection with him it was as though she were whispering into mine.

"Are you sure?" she asked him gently and I could feel Izuku's determination swell inside. There was a touch of something else there but it was drowned out in comparison.

The previous One For All users started to fade as they stepped back, disappearing back into the black smoke swirling behind us. Nana was the last to go. She turned her face to give me one final look, her lips turning up in an affectionate smile before she turned back to Izuku. She stepped back, moved her hand to Izuku's back and gave him a gently push before she too stepped away into the smoke.

"How very touching?" sneered Shigaraki, his eyes having narrowed into slits during the holders brief exchange.

Izuku charged, running right at Shigaraki with a battle cry. I tried desperately to move, to do anything but I was helpless as Izuku collided with Shigaraki. Only, he didn't throw a fist or a kick like I had expected him too. Shigaraki looked just as shocked when Izuku threw his arms around him in a tight embrace.

"It's alright" Izuku whispered to him, "you don't have to fight anymore. You can choose your own path" I could feel Izuku trying to force his emotions onto the villain. I felt flashes of pain in my head as Shigaraki pushed back, more images paying across my mind. Being alone. Feeling helpless and ignored. A man offering his hand. That same man clutching at his soul.

Shigaraki's hands hovered over Izuku for a moment before they came down upon Izuku's back, clutching at his green suit with desperation.

"No you mustn't!" came a deeper voice that made my skin turn to ice. I had heard that voice before, it was the voice of All For One coming from Shigaraki, "You must stay strong Tomura and destroy everything you hate" with those words Shigaraki's grip tightened on Izuku's back and sudden cracks appeared from his hands across Izuku's hero suit. I felt the ice like sensation across Izuku's back as though it was my own, but he didn't falter.

I wanted to scream.

"You can do what you want. You don't have to listen to anyone anymore" Izuku spoke like nothing was wrong. Izuku's own emotions flashed through my mind while I was the bystander to their mind games. His sense of self-worth and pride. His will to become a hero. His desire to help others. His desire to help Shigaraki. The cracks stopped creeping across his back.

In the blink of and eye everything changed. The smoke had disappeared, the hill had returned and before me Shigaraki and Izuku were both children, different clothes and all. Little Izuku still embraced Shigaraki while the little villain's, his hair black and shorter with childhood, eyes grew wet. He gripped Izuku tighter as the child bawled his eyes out, fat tears rolling down his face and onto Izuku's shoulder.

"Tomura!" cried out the voice from All For One, but it was weaker than before and fading fast, being drowned out by the sobbing.

Little Izuku pulled away, ignoring how fragments of his childhood shirt fluttered away as he straightened with a warm innocent smile. He held a hand out to Shigaraki. I wanted to call out to him to not touch the other boy but only a muffled noise came out. I wasn't completely silenced like I had been before, my legs and mouth were slowly coming back. Only if they would hurry! I wanted nothing more than to tear the two apart. Child or not it was still Shigaraki and I wanted nothing more than to get him the hell away from Izuku before he did more harm.

Child Shigaraki looked from Izuku's face to his hand and back again, sniffling. He reached out tentatively and took it. It pained me to see that devastating hand wrap around Izuku's. I felt the ice like sensation of cracks through skin but Izuku didn't even flinch. Instead little Izuku broke into a beaming smile at the touch.

"See, you're not alone anymore" spoke Izuku's squeaky child voice and child Shigaraki sniffled again, "we can play together anytime" he beamed and the other child's eyes seemed to lighten as he gave a wobbly smile in return. He squeezed Izuku's hand and I felt the brittle cold snap of skin cracking.

"I don't want to fight anymore" whispered back child Shigaraki and I didn't think it was possible for little Izuku to smile and brighter, his green eyes closing as he did.

"We don't have to," little Izuku nodded in return, "you don't belong to All For One, you never did. You can do what you want" he flashed all teeth and the other child warmed, his smile coming with more certainty.

Where there had been a dark shadow attached to the boy before, now only stood a normal shadow of a child on grass.

If Izuku could feel how much torment I was in watching him hold and be touched by such devastating hands, he showed no sign of it. Hell, was he going to get a verbal beating after this! Finally little Izuku turned to look at me with a reassuring smile that looked too mature for such an innocent and childlike face. Child Shigaraki's eyes followed Izuku's to meet mine. I could feel Izuku pressing his reassurance and comfort my way and for a moment I didn't have it in me to give the other child a death stare. Izuku nodded to me and I could feel my body again, my real body, on the outside world. It was still intact despite Shigaraki's hand pressed to our face. Izuku gave me back control and we were falling. The entire encounter inside had been no longer than a second or two on the outside but it had already made such a difference. Shigaraki withdrew his hand from our face and the black spears shattered to pieces around us.

We were safe. Izuku had changed everything with just his heart.
No matter how used to him I became, he still surprised me.

But I wasn't going to take a risk.

With both palms facing upwards to Shigaraki I let of a large blast, enough to knock him out when in such close proximity. I blasted behind myself to bring me closer to the now limp and falling body, grabbed the back of his clothes with one hand to secure him and blasted under us with the other to soften the landing. It was awkward and I twisted an ankle doing it but I got us down in one piece with Shigaraki and that was all there was left to do until the pros made it to secure him.

Now back in control I felt the exhaustion flood my body and my legs gave way as I kneeled on the ground, panting and sweating and filled with relief. It was over. Finally. All For One was away in Tartarus, Shigaraki would be too soon enough, or perhaps they would keep them separate considering their connection. I didn't care at the moment. All I cared was that we had survived the encounter and would see another day together.

A/N:See, I didn't really spoil anything did I? Lol

I am also not a super big fan of this chapter personally. It feels like the conflict was all kind of crushed together yet I couldn't bring myself to remove any elements to it in particular.

Anyway, I reckon another two chapter left and we can end this on a nice number of 25 chapters and then I will be free to explore other story ideas again YAY