Last Love
Midoriya Izuku's first love was Bakugo Katsuki.
That realization resulted in a bisexual panic that almost resulted in a panic attack.
Realizing that he was bisexual at the age of four was not pleasant, at all, for Izuku.
That being said, Izuku did accept that his affection for his childhood friend went beyond platonic or even familial.
Aside from his mother, Kaachan was the one constant in Izuku's life that he did not want to lose. He had admired the ill-tempered and foul mouthed boy for as long as he could remembered. For his entire life in fact. He even envied Katsuki. How could he not? He was everything that Izuku wanted to be in life. Driven, strong, in both body and will, and good looking to a great degree.
Izuku, once upon a time, dreamt of marrying his childhood friend. Izuku dreamt of standing beside him forever.
But not all dreams were meant to be fulfilled.
Not all dreams should be fulfilled.
Even if his admiration for Katsuki never vanished, Izuku's love for Katsuki had eroded over the years. Izuku might have had forgiven Katsuki over his ill treatment of him for the good majority of his life, but he would never forget.
Izuku would never forget how much Katsuki hurt him. He would never forget how easily Katsuki disregarded years of friendship over something mundane and trivial. He would never forget how cruel Katsuki is capable of being.
Izuku would also never forget how quickly Katsuki forgot the torment that he put him through. Quite frankly, Katsuki tortured him for more than a decade of his life, and although the bond that they now have was stronger than the bond that they used to have, it was difficult to love a tormentor that did not show an ounce of guilt or repentance for his past actions.
Izuku would never stop admiring Katsuki, but he had stopped loving him.
Admittedly, not loving Katsuki had been easy, disturbingly easy.
Apparently, first love does die, and in Izuku's case, it died a brutal death.
Izuku's second true love is Uraraka Ochako.
And she was also his biggest what-if.
Ochako is a beautiful woman, both in looks and in spirit. Izuku adored her in ways that surprised him even to this day. Izuku admired her in extremes that even surpasses his admiration for Kaachan. Izuku had loved Ochako in ways that made him desire her to such extent that it scared him.
Often times, when Izuku looked at Ochako, he imagines a future with her. When Izuku looked at Ochako, he dreams of a simple life, with a roof over their heads and children that looks like them running around, laughing, and enjoying life. Izuku had fantasize having Ochako in his arms more times that he could have count.
Izuku dreamt of having Ochako in his life forever.
A life with Ochako would have been a good dream to pursue.
Unfortunately, it was not the dream that he had pursued.
Izuku was not that dense, and neither was he a fool. Far from it in fact. He knew that Ochako was interested in him, and a part of her knew that the feelings were mutual. Unfortunately, at that time, their dreams for heroics outweighs their dreams of having each other as lovers. Not to mention, there was the League and the War that hovered in the horizon. Having lovers during a time of war is a recipe for disaster. They, mutually, buried their feelings for each other and remain close friends, best friends in fact. They supported each other as friends, fought for each other as friends, bled together as friends, laugh and cried together as friends.
And that was the downfall of their future as lovers.
Years of companionship and friendship diminish their interest in each other as lovers. As their friendship grew, their desire to have each other as lovers diminish. The interest and affection was there, it never left, it never died in fact, but they were both terrified to take their relationship to the next level in fear of damaging the relationship that they had already cultivated.
This, in turn, lose them their chance to see what they could have been as lovers.
When Tsuyu courted and won Ochako's love, Izuku would admit that he was more relieve than heartbroken.
Ochako shared the sentiment.
When Izuku watched his best female friend get married, he was the one who had cheered the loudest.
His happiness for his friend overshadowed the regret in his heart.
Seeing Ochako happy was a reward on its own.
Izuku's last love and the woman that he eventually married was Eri.
Izuku's romance with Eri was slow and deliberate.
It was also unexpected.
Unlike Katsuki, Izuku never admired or envied Eri in any degree. In fact, considering what happened in Eri's childhood, Izuku had pitied the young girl.
Pity is never a good foundation for a partnership or a relationship.
Unlike Ochako, Izuku never desired to have Eri in any way, shape, or form. Eri is nine years his junior and because of this, Izuku never looked at Eri beyond the scope of an adorable girl who deserves to be protected and cherished.
Izuku never wanted Eri in a way that he had wanted Ochako.
That said, Eri was so easy to love it was almost laughable.
Initially, Izuku loved Eri like the little sister that he wished he could have had.
Him and Mirio both.
Izuku never left Eri, both him and Mirio never did. Even after Eri healed Mirio, the two boys had never left her side and both of them acted as brothers to the young girl. They were both with her when Eri overcame her trauma. They both witnessed as Eri blossomed into a remarkable and beautiful woman. They were both their to watched Eri fall in love for the first time. They were also there to console the girl when she had her heart broken for the first time.
Although, unlike Mirio, who was already in love with someone else, with said love being mutual, Izuku's heart was ripe for the picking, and Eri had unwittingly and unknowingly taken it.
The attraction between the two had blossomed slowly. Eri, who allowed herself to experience more romance than Izuku, always compared her partners to her favorite big brother, and she had always found her partners lacking when measured to Izuku. Likewise, Izuku, who had watched Eri grow into a remarkable young woman, slowly developed an interest in her as a woman and a partner.
At the age of 18, Eri fell for Izuku in a way that no little sister should for her big brother, and she desired to see if she could make a future with him.
Fortunately for Eri, when Izuku reached the age of 30, Izuku developed enough of an attraction towards Eri that he was willing to try and see if a future with Eri is tenable.
The romance and courtship between the two was slow. The way they show physical affection for each other lacks sensuality and desire that should have existed between lovers. Anyone that looks at them during their dates would often mistake the two as either close friends or siblings in an outing.
The two of them together did not draw a portrait of lovers.
That said, the love that they slowly cultivated with each other was strong. Love already existed between the two, and even if said love was that of siblings, both Izuku and Eri cultivated that sibling love to that of a man and woman.
Desire and lust might have been absent in the onset of their relationship, but their attraction for each other was still there, and their respective attraction for one another evolved into passion. Desire and lust followed soon after.
Intimacy was easy between the two, as well companionship. An innate understanding between them was also easily achieve.
The romance between Izuku and Eri progressed slowly, but the love that blossomed between them was nothing short of beautiful.
Izuku never admired Eri the way he had Katsuki and Izuku never desired Eri the way he had Ochako.
That said, loving Eri was easy, convenient even, and that decided it for Izuku.
When Eri turned 25, Izuku, 34 at the time, asked her to be his wife.
Eri agreed, and they married a few months later.
There loved remain until they drew their last breath.