Hey guys! I've been having random plot bunnies popping into my head all day about one of my favorite ships ever (Bakudeku) and I can't get it out of my head so here it goes haha. This is obviously an AU, though it is cannon centric in the timelines and stuff. So yeah, I'm mainly writing this to get it out of my head, if you guys enjoy it then that's a bonus haha! The song lyrics that you'll see belong to The Kid Laroi and his song Without You
You cut out a piece of me
And now I bleed internally
Izuku sat on the hard ground motionless. Around him, he could hear his classmates calling his name as he sat hunched over, his bleeding fists placed on the ground. His chest burned and heaved, rivers of fire flowing down his freckled cheeks as he muttered to himself.
"Damn it." He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing a sob that tried to force its way out back down into his chest. His entire body had ached and burned just moments ago, his arms had felt as though they had been dipped in lava and then smeared with acid. His head had been pounding, and vaguely he wondered if he had a concussion from the amount of blood that had matted his head to his face- but at that moment he felt none of his injuries. Just a deep, deep burning pain in the left side of his chest. The pain went deeper than any injury he had ever felt in his life. "Damn it." He muttered again, his lips twisting and curling as he fought back tears, hunching over even more and gripping his torn, muddy, and bloody shirt in his hands. Around him, Todoroki and the others fell silent. The only sounds that remained were the insects of the forest and the dying embers of the flames that had roared across the forest. Izuku couldn't help but replay the moment through his head as his already injured fists began banging on the forest floor.
"Kacchan!" The scream ripped itself from his throat as he tried to charge forward only to sink to his knees as his injuries finally caught up with him. Teary emerald eyes shot up and made contact with eyes that scorched him with their ruby bright intensity. Anyone else would have missed it, but Izuku caught it-caught the sight of fear that flashed through Katsuki's eyes as the patchwork villain tightened his grip around the ash-blondes neck. "Kacchan!" Izuku's voice sounded desperate even to him, ripping across the forest with the force of a dying animal letting out its last screams.
"St-stay back, De-ku" The teenager rasped as he disappeared into the purple portal, leaving Izuku to watch as his world shattered in front of his eyes.
"Damn it. DAMN IT!" The green-haired teen slammed his fists into the ground with each word, only stopping when an ice-cold hand grabbed his scarred one. He looked up, vision blurred with tears as Todoroki's heterochromatic eyes bore into his own.
"Midoriya." His name was said quietly and that was all it took for Izuku to break, harsh sobs wracking his body. He found himself pulled against his friend's chest as he sobbed. At some point, Shoji had picked him up and they made their way back to camp. The campgrounds that they had arrived at just days prior were trampled, uprooted trees and ash scattered around the forest floor, intermixed with deep crimson liquids.
"Aizawa-sensei!" Someone-Ochako- Izuku thought, shouted for their teacher. The eternally tired pro hero whipped around towards them, his eyes immediately narrowing in on Midoriya as Shoji allowed the battered teen to stand on his own feet. The students who needed extra lessons were standing behind him, Kirishima immediately rushing forward eyes scanning the group looking for the familiar spikey ash blonde hair. A frown marred Aizawa's face as he realized what had happened, a hand coming up to cover his face as they stood there in silence until the red-headed boy broke it.
"Where's Bakubro?" Izuku's eyes rested on the forest floor, a blank look on his face as no one responded to Kirishima's question. His lip quivered once more but for once in his life, the tears didn't come. He took one step forward on shaky legs, Shoji instinctively reaching out to grab him but the boy shook him off with a small smile that didn't reach his eyes as he turned back toward Kirishima. His heart cracked as he could almost see his angry eyed boyfriend standing next to him. "Midori-bro?" Kirishima was in his face now, Todoroki taking a step forward as if he was going to do something but Izuku's gaze was darkening and he could barely hold onto his thoughts.
"I'm sorry." Was all he could say, Kirishima recoiling at the words gaze wide with horror. Izuku's broken gaze swept over everyone who stood in the clearing, the light behind his eyes suddenly disappearing. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body tilted backward only to be ensnared by a familiar capture weapon.
Left here without you
Without you
"Shitty Deku, you can never do anything right." Bakugou's irritated voice floated through the gym that both boys were currently using, but it lacked its normal bite. He reclined against the wall watching Izuku execute another punch combo. Green eyes landed on him, silently asking him to help, and the ash-blonde boy let out a heavy sigh before pushing himself off the wall. He strolled forward, hands in the pockets of his low hanging black jeans that were matched up with a regular white muscle tee. His calloused hands were removed from his pockets as he slid behind the shorter boy and leaned down, breath on his neck as he repositioned him. "Like this, stupid."
"Thanks, Kacchan." Izuku smiled at him with bright red cheeks, a small one compared to his normal full-faced one, but somehow it conveyed more warmth to Katsuki than any other smiles that Deku had ever given him. The boy turned around, a soft "Tch" leaving his lips as his cheeks flushed red. He started walking away without a sound, slouched forward. "Kacchan?" Izuku questioned, turning around from the punching bag, but the boy continued walking as if he couldn't hear him.
"Wait Kacchan, don't go!" He took one single step towards the boy and suddenly the gym extended, with Izuku being on one end and Katsuki on the other. "Kacchan!" He yelled desperately, suddenly smelling ash as the gym warped to a forest, Bakugou blending in among the trees. "Kacchan!" No matter how fast the OFA holder ran, he could never get any closer to his childhood friend. The faster he ran, the farther the explosion user got ahead. "Kac-
"-CHAN!" Izuku sat up with a gasp, the heart monitor by his bed beeping like crazy as he got a grip on reality and figured out where exactly he was. He vaguely noticed that his arms were wrapped up like a mummy and his head had two bandages wrapped around them. He sagged against the hospital bed as he realized that everything that had happened in the past 24 hours was real, realized that he had watched his Kacchan be taken right in front of his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut feeling the familiar tears well up in his eyes- and maybe they would have fell had his hospital room door not been shoved open.
"Midoriya!" Instantly most of class 1-A was crowding themselves into his room with Ochako, Kirishima, and Todoroki pushing their way to the front. "We're glad to see that you are doing well!" Iida strolled to the front of the group as well, stopping right next to Ochako. Normally Izuku would be excited to see his friends, but the person he wanted to see the most wasn't there. His dull eyes fell to his lap for a moment before he lifted them back up, forcing a smile to cross his face as he chatted with his friends about nonsensical things before Kirishima spoke up after having been silent the entire time.
"Midoriya, we're going after Bakugou tonight. Yaoyorozoru had a tracking device on the Nomu, we're going to get her to duplicate the transponder."
"Wait but that's-" Izuku tuned out what everyone else was saying, instead focusing his gaze on the sharp-toothed boy. At seeing Izuku paying so much attention, Kirishima nodded and continued, speaking over everyone else.
"I was useless at the training grounds but I can't be useless now-Midoriya I know you're the most frustrated out of all of us. You couldn't save him then, but you can save him now."
"I didn't need your saving Deku!" Kacchan shouted at him, shoving him after the sludge incident. "You could have gotten yourself killed!" Izuku had seen Katsuki angry a lot, but he had never seen him like this. The blonde continued ranting and screaming at him until Izuku couldn't take it anymore.
"I wasn't going to let you die Kacchan! THEY WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING AND YOU WERE SUFFOCATING!" The shouted words made his chest heave but they had the intended effect, halting the red-eyed boy in his tracks. Izuku fisted his fingers into his ruined shirt, twisting them nervously as he repeated himself quietly. "I wasn't going to let you die. Anytime you need help I will be there." The other boy regarded him with an almost pensive glance before turning his back.
"Tch. I will never need your help, shitty Deku." He strolled off into the sunset, leaving the boy there by himself right before he was made the offer of a lifetime.
Midoriya shook his head and rubbed his eyes as he emerged out of his flashback to find that everyone was quiet and staring at him. He leaned his head forward, his curly bangs shadowing his face, not saying a word as Iida decided to usher everyone out of the room. Kirishima made sure to be the last one to exit, intending on saying one more thing but the words floated across the room before he could make a sound.
"I will always help him when he needs me." Red eyes widened as everything Midoriya meant was conveyed into his words and the spiky-haired boy nodded once, closing the door behind him softly as he left. Maybe there was something to Midoriya and Bakubro's relationship that none of them knew.
And it hurts for me to think about what life could possibly be like
Without you
"Kacchan!" Izuku screamed at the top of his lungs, drawing the attention of both the villains and heroes in attendance, but more importantly, drawing the attention of the person that he had come for. "Come back to me!"
"Kirishima will sit on Iida and I's backs as we use our speed to launch ourselves off of the ice ramp that Todoroki will make. I'll call for him-"
"Midoriya-kun" Iida interrupted him, adjusting his glasses as Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, and Kirishima watched silently. "I agree with your plan up until this point, wouldn't it be better for Kirishima-kun to call for Bakugou? He seems as though he would stay there just to spite you." A chill ran down Iida's face as he spoke, blue eyes coming in contact with a jaded green. Midoriya's face was nothing but determination as he spoke once more.
"He'll come. Trust me."
For a moment the battlefield stilled, and though they were whoever knows how high in the air, Izuku felt those familiar angry orbs piercing his body. The three boys reached the peak of their arch and for a moment fear gripped Izuku's heart as Kacchan didn't make a move, Shigaraki lunging at him-but then Izuku felt a breeze and he knew. A large explosion rocked the area pushing the villains on the ground back and sending Katsuki into the air. Multiple smaller explosions rocketed towards him before Kirishima reached out, Bakugou's palm slapping into his and tightening. His black shirt billowed upwards revealing skin as he shouted at all of them.
"About time you useless idiots came for me!" No one spoke again until they were blended into the crowd, watching All Might fight his final battle against All For One. All four teens stood in silence as the final blow was struck, All Might appearing with a finger pointing at the camera.
"You're next." His unexpected words struck Izuku with the force of a bullet and he couldn't hold it back anymore. His shoulders shook as the first sob forced its way out of his mouth, the keening pitch of it causing Bakugou to look at him in alarm. He had never heard the nerd cry like this before.
"Oi Deku-" He started to speak before he suddenly found himself with an armful of a sniveling green-headed teenager. Izuku's arms wrapped around him as he buried his face into the taller boy's chest.
"Kacchan I was so scared, I'm so sorry." The words floated into the air as Iida and Kirishima watched the two boys with wide eyes, shock flitting across their faces. Rather than pushing him away, Katsuki pulled him closer, setting his chin on Izuku's hair in an uncharacteristic move, his voice taking a softer quality.
"Stupid Deku. There's nothing to be sorry for, I'm alright aren't I? Tch. Stop sniveling on me I'm already filthy enough." A calloused hand hesitantly rose to rest on the jacket-clad back, irritation suddenly rising through him when the crying didn't stop. Without thinking about it he shoved Deku back and was suddenly grabbing him by his cheeks, kissing him harshly-doing anything to stop those godforsaken heartbreaking sobs. A strangled gasp left Izuku's lips as he leaned into the kiss, both of them conveying everything they felt in that one instant. As soon as it happened it was over, Izuku's dull eyes brightening and Katsuki scowling at all 3 of the boys, turning away and not making a comment as Izuku's scarred and crooked hand grabbed his.
"We should get back to the hospital. Let them know that we got Kacchan back." Everyone nodded in agreement, and as Kirishima and Iida walked forward, Bakugou yanked Izuku back. "Kacchan wha-"
"Shut up nerd." He mumbled before kissing Izuku once more. They stood there for a moment as they pulled away from each other, Katsuki resting his forehead on Izuku's once he was sure the two idiots in front of them wouldn't notice. "Thanks for the help, even though I didn't need it." He pulled away swiftly and turned around, strolling away from Izuku in the same position he had a year earlier after the sludge incident. This time Izuku smiled after him, and rather than saying anything he just rushed forward, snaking his hand in between Katsuki's and walking alongside him but they both knew what he was thinking.
I'll always be there for you, Kacchan.