And Make a Wish

The thing about birthdays is that they're shockingly ordinary. All day, Izuku's friends, teachers, and dozens of first and second years he'd never met had asked him if he felt any different, any older, any wiser.

Of course not. Izuku was just as stressed and excited about his upcoming work study, just as uncertain how to handle all the underclassman coming up to him to say happy birthday, just as comforted by a phone call from his mother.

That wasn't to say that yesterday hadn't been weird, though.

Kacchan had been weird. A glance at his phone had the reminder in text.

July 15

5:54
Kacchan
You don't have to come today

5:55
WHAT
I'm coming
Gimme 5

That was weird, right?

In the text box, Izuku had half a message typed. Are you com—. He'd written it at maybe seven the night before but had decided to ask Kirishima instead if Kacchan was coming. And then he had come—over an hour later. Only to leave five minutes later. Kacchan hadn't done something like that since last year when he'd claimed to forget Mineta's birthday. Izuku deleted the message, just so that it wouldn't look like he was typing for days if Kacchan looked at his phone and saw three little dots in the corner.

Izuku had been thinking all night about what he might have done to make Kacchan so strangely avoidant all day but clearly not angry or annoyed enough to keep from spending a few really nice moments together. And there was simply nothing in their history Izuku could pull from to explain that. It was new.

So he was going to have to figure it out at the source.

Izuku and Kacchan ran together six days a week with Monday as a rest day. Izuku never really wanted to miss running on Mondays—running was his most reliable time with Kacchan, after all—but Kacchan insisted. Apparently all the bones Izuku had broken didn't put him in a good position to fight against Kacchan's arguments of shin splints and stress fractures.

But today wasn't Monday, so Izuku left his room at 5:45 to take a journey up to the fourth floor.

Izuku had hardly been up there before. Occasionally he worked out with Kirishima in his room when the gym was too crowded or closed for maintenance, but he'd rarely made contact with Kacchan's room. Hardly anyone had, as far as Izuku knew, though he wouldn't be surprised if Kacchan and Kirishima went back and forth sometimes. Just the thought of it miffed him.

Yeah, definitely not more mature now that he was eighteen.

Izuku stood just in front of Kacchan's door, taking a breath to steel himself as he stared at the plate reading "Bakugou" just to double and triple check that he was at the right door. Then, before he could so much as raise his fist to knock, the door opened.

That wasn't right.

Kacchan usually came downstairs right at six or a couple minutes before. It was possible that he went to the kitchen or another group space first, but Izuku likely would have noticed on the days that he'd been in the common room too early and, as it was, Izuku couldn't imagine anything that Kacchan would be doing outside of his room that would take more than ten minutes. And as it wasn't quite ten to six yet, Izuku had been sure that Kacchan would still be in his room, but not still asleep when he came to knock on his door. Perhaps Kacchan was more mysterious than he'd accounted for? Perhaps—

"Following me, nerd?"

Izuku's gaze jerked up to where Kacchan was looking down at him, an amused grin on his face that shone all the way up to his hairline where his sweatband had his bangs pulled back. That combined with the humid heat Izuku could suddenly feel against the finger that was pressed against his mouth told him that he'd probably mumbled all of that out loud.

"What? No!" Izuku cried, unable to beat down the redness that was assuredly creeping up his neck. "I was just…hey, what's that?"

Kacchan was leaning against the doorframe, his shoulder muscles firm against the wood. His hands were crossed over his chest—covered by a black tank, as usual—and dangling from his right hand was a thin box covered in wrapping paper.

He looked away, grip suddenly tighter on the box, pulling it flush to his side. "What do you think, idiot? Sor—It's late."

Izuku tilted his head to the side, hoping to catch Kacchan's eyes, but they were firm on the doorjamb. "Barely even a day, Kacchan."

"More like twelve years," Kacchan mumbled, thrusting the gift in Izuku's hands.

Twelve years. That meant they would have been six. Izuku flashed back to Kacchan's expression turning hard, the first time he'd ever seen that expression that the other boy had worn for the next decade. The same one he'd worn just weeks later that day in the stream. The same one he'd worn in the months that followed when Izuku tried to invite Kacchan to play, getting a No each and every time before he slowly stopped asking.

A face that, granted, he'd hardly seen in two years.

"Should…Should I open it now?"

Izuku almost missed the brief moment where Kacchan had looked back at him, but just as quickly he looked away again. "Tch. Do whatever you want."

"Okay, I…I think I'll open it now."

Izuku glanced between the present and Kacchan, noticing Kacchan's slight shrug before starting.

The present was exquisitely wrapped. Pearlescent wrapping paper that said loopy Happy Birthdays in primary colors—All Might's colors—along a diagonal. No bows or even a note—unfortunately—but the corners were perfectly creased and only a couple small pieces of tape sealed the edges. It was crisp enough to be professional wrapped, but the lack of bells and whistles had Izuku convinced that it was all Kacchan.

Izuku carefully pulled away the tape from one side, wiggling the box within a little to get it out through the tight opening. When it slid out, Izuku opened the lid and found a square of folded blue fabric. Tucking the box and wrapping under his arm, Izuku picked up the fabric by the corners and a small rectangle unfurled in front of him, reaching from his shoulders to his hips. Not a perfect rectangle, though, more like a trapezoid. And it had two long, thin pieces at the top, just like…

"A cape?" Izuku asked, looking up at Kacchan with a grin slowly stretching along his face. Just then, he noticed that while the cape was blue on one side, it was wine red on the other, and the excitement of it sent tingles down his fingertips. "Just like All Might's?"

All Might's young and silver ages boasted blue capes—not the same blue, though, and this one was more like the young age—with dark red lining, while his bronze age had the red on the outside. So this cape worked equally well as any of the three capes, depending on which way faced up. Deku knew this, and Kacchan definitely knew it too.

"Yeah, my parents had the fabric so—"

"Kacchan made this?"

Izuku's eyes were drying out, bugging out of his skull as they were while as he looked between Kacchan and the cape. Honestly, it was a shock he wasn't crying. He had to actively focus on not clenching his fists around the top so he wouldn't wrinkle it.

"Yeah, well, the old hag helped make them," Kacchan explained with an eye roll. "I was fucking six—not exactly an ace with the sewing machine yet."

"Them?" Izuku asked, latching onto the operative word in that sentence. "Do you have one too, Kacchan? You've kept them all this time? When did you get them—it? From home? Yours is here too, right? Can we wear them?"

Izuku was aware that his words were tumbling out unmonitored, but he didn't care as his focus split between the idea of him and Kacchan with matching capes and the small smile that was spreading on Kacchan's face. Probably because he was about to poke fun at Izuku, because there was no way that Kacchan would say yes. But it was worth it to see that rare toothless smile.

Kacchan arched an eyebrow, seemingly studying Izuku before his head fell, joining his shoulder against the doorframe. "Only because it's your birthday and it's too fucking early for anyone else to be out."

He disappeared from the doorway before Izuku could even comprehend what had been said. When the words finally caught up with him, Izuku grinned and hurried to tie his own cape—his own cape!—around his neck. It turned out, not only were the tips long enough to tie, but there were also little slits for button holes. Necessary for actual hero wear, otherwise a villain could use the cape to choke you, but only useable if you were wearing a costume with the necessary buttons. Very good craftsmanship for a six year old, even if he'd had help from his fashion designer parents. But of course it was—Kacchan was amazing!

Then, Kacchan was before him, a flash of berry red over his shoulder and cerulean peeking out in triangles from where his hands were on his hips. He had one brow cocked and half a grin.

"We're running, right?"

"Yes! Yeah, let's go!" Izuku exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet before racing for the stairwell.

Today was set to be a series of sprint circuits, and he and Kacchan would probably do some pushup sequences between. Since there were no classes today, their morning workout could go as long as they wanted.

"Kacchan," Izuku called once they stepped outside, "I didn't stretch in my room today, so can we do some stretches now?"

Izuku half expected Kacchan to snap something about wasting time or why was he hanging around people's rooms if he hadn't bothered stretching, but instead he just shrugged. "I didn't either. Let's just do them here."

Kacchan immediately stretched his arms overhead, showing off one bulging tricep as his short cape fluttered to one side. Meanwhile, Izuku pressed a foot against the front stoop to target his calf.

Maybe Izuku had been all wrong about Kacchan yesterday. He was being perfectly normal this morning, outside of the gift giving, of course. Actually, the present potentially explained why Kacchan had been leaving his room so early and why he'd skipped stretching—Izuku had to in order to make it early to Kacchan's room, after all.

That could explain why he'd left party when he did yesterday too. Kacchan could have been nervous to give Izuku such a personal gift in front of the whole class, a gift that Izuku would understand but everyone else would have questions about. Kacchan never liked it when everyone asked him questions.

It didn't answer why Kacchan had been missing from the beginning of the party, but it was a satisfactory enough explanation, and it left Izuku smiling as he switched legs, fingering the high-quality fabric between his thumb and forefinger.

"Did you have a good birthday, nerd?"

Izuku looked over his shoulder as he bent into his knee for a deeper stretch, seeing Kacchan stretching out his shoulders with both arms in front of him. He grinned.

"It was great!" Izuku exclaimed, thinking of how the whole class had come together for him, taking advantage of the weekend in order to keep the party going much longer than usual. Well, nearly everyone. "But I missed Kacchan."

Kacchan's expression was unreadable. Usually, he oscillated between obvious levels of anger and glee, or else he just carried a relaxed resting expression. A beautiful one. This was almost like that, but his eyes were piercing, full of thoughts that, silent though they were, cut right through Izuku.

"I'm right here."

Izuku's breath was lost with the early morning wind, his eyes dampening as Kacchan's words sank into his patchwork bones. Two blinks sent the tears away and Izuku smiled. Kacchan was always by Izuku's side. Had been for years now.

Kacchan gave a little half nod as he took one ankle in his hand to stretch his quads. "Tell me about your party, nerd."

"Ah, okay! I don't know how I was still surprised, because we do them every year, but when I walked into the common room after training with All Might…"

Izuku wasn't quite sure when it had become so easy to talk to Kacchan again. When Kacchan had started allowing Izuku to say whatever he wanted. But it was easy and free and before he knew it, they were running again.

The soreness to come was already heating Izuku's body all over with a pleasant tingle. He had become accustomed to the light hum in his muscles, telling him exactly where he'd be feeling today's workout near the end of that first year of training with All Might. Those early months had never been a hum but a scream, his muscles tearing and growing so fast that every day a new muscle group was in terrible pain. Now Izuku could enjoy the little aches in his hamstrings and biceps that were to come. He'd remember his time with Kacchan and wonder if the other boy ached in the same places.

The summer sun was already growing punishing, so Izuku and Kacchan maneuvered through the shade of the trees as best they could on the familiar walk back to Heights Alliance. Izuku's cape was sticking to his back, the sweat having seeped through his shirt to the fabric behind. He had to blame the pushups for sullying the material so quickly. It'd have to go right in the wash. Not that Izuku had planned on wearing his all day but…it would have been nice to have the possibility.

"Hey, there's something you didn't tell me about your birthday."

"What?"

Izuku turned to where Kacchan was walking in line beside him. He blinked, thinking back to everything he'd said while they'd stretched and then during the many rounds of sprinting and falling to the grass for pushup sets. It wasn't the easiest workout to talk during, so it was possible that he'd started ideas and then forgotten to finish them before moving onto the next. But Kacchan had let him talk for ages, so he was sure he'd covered most of the day.

Kacchan was smirking at him as he said, "What'd you wish for?"

Izuku gasped. "What? I can't tell you that!"

"Here I thought you didn't believe in can't anymore."

"F-Fine! Then I won't!" Izuku exclaimed indignantly. "Or else it won't come true!"

Kacchan was studying Izuku, smirk not quite vanished, but a little less smug now. He grabbed the end of his cape and brought a corner over each shoulder, like he was holding a damp towel around his neck. "Guess it's something that you really want, then."

All of Izuku's wishes growing up had been significant. Vital. And they'd all come true.

His earliest wish had been for a strong quirk. When the years had passed and the truth about his genetics became clear, Izuku continued to wish, now for any quirk. Then for any way to be a hero. Until the day he met All Might, he'd never given up the wish that there was a way to be a quirkless hero. There was power in a wish. There had to be power in wanting something that badly.

And then they'd come true one after another. Not just a quirk, but the strongest quirk. Not just a hero, but the successor to the greatest hero who had ever lived. The hero to defeat All for One.

He'd never tell his wish. It was too dear.

"Yes," Izuku said, firm on making this the closing word on the matter. "It really is."

Izuku was prepared to fight further, but Kacchan just spared him a last look before turning back towards Heights Alliance in the distance, the bricks almost pink in the bright morning light.

The dorms were quieter than usual when Izuku and Kacchan returned to the common room. Even for the weekend, Izuku might have expected to see a couple of other people preparing breakfast or studying in the lounge area, but no one was around. The party was probably partially to blame for it, and the fact that this was the last weekend before the trimester's end and, more importantly, work study.

"I heard that your shitnerd friends didn't bother to cook you anything yesterday," Kacchan said once the two of them had put on their house slippers.

"What?" Deku exclaimed. "Satou-kun baked the—"

"That ain't cooking!"

Kacchan grabbed Izuku by the collar of his cape, the fabric coming to constrict Izuku's windpipe—exactly why cape-wearing heroes used buttons—as Kacchan dragged him to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Izuku choked out when Kacchan released him in order to look through the fridge.

"What's it look like, nerd? I'm cooking us breakfast."

"U-Us?"

Izuku's already red face stayed that way as he watched the sweat on Kacchan's temple dry from the cold refrigerator air, now that he'd taken his sweatband off.

"Yeah, us," Kacchan repeated. "I'm cooking you something for your birthday, and I'm sure as hell not just gonna sit and twiddle my thumbs while you eat it alone."

No one had ever made Izuku breakfast before besides himself and his mother. Oh, and whoever worked in all the hospital cafeterias he'd eaten from over the past two years.

Not that he would refuse! It was like Kacchan was trying to extend Izuku's birthday a day longer, which was a surprise, but a very welcome one. Maybe he was trying to make up for his absence yesterday. Before asking Kirishima, Izuku had kept looking for Kacchan at his party yesterday, peeking into the kitchen to see if he was there like last year. And while Izuku didn't want to say that looking in and only seeing Satou whipping a buttercream to perfection was sad, it was…discouraging.

He and Kacchan had been doing better, after all, right? And not just better to the point that fighting wasn't their only method of communication—they'd been doing really well. They had their runs of course, and sparring sessions with or without All Might. But it wasn't all physical stuff! Sometimes Kacchan chose him to partner with on projects—maybe he'd just been trying to avoid his friends, but Izuku chose to see it as a win.

And they'd been spending more time together anyway, mostly by virtue of the fact that when Izuku approached Kacchan, he wasn't pushed away or told to shut up anymore. Even when he was done talking, he could linger until he and Kacchan went their separate ways. It was like they were…companions. True friends.

The sizzling of fish in the pan brought Izuku's attention back to the present. There was a quick miso soup going on the stove and the rice cooker's bright red digits were ticking down. Izuku didn't know if he'd been daydreaming for a long time or if Kacchan was just that fast.

It wasn't long before the fish was resting on a plate and Kacchan was dishing out the soup, handing two hot bowls to Deku—"You at least know how to set a table, right, nerd?"—to bring to the dining table. Kacchan brought over the rice and fish while Deku made a second trip for plates and cutlery.

"Wow, thank you for the meal, Kacchan!"

Izuku thought he saw the barest hint of a smile on Kacchan's face, but perhaps it was a trick of his own good mood.

The fish was so tender it nearly fell apart in Izuku's chopsticks as he served up his portion. It was still steaming in the middle, as were the rice and the soup. Izuku had to take his time eating, blowing on every bite and appreciating the flavor that Kacchan had managed to develop so quickly. Cooking was still a bit of a mystery to Izkuk; he never quite knew how much salt or soy sauce to add and frequently had to go back and forth with ingredients until he managed to pull out a somewhat edible mess. Kacchan had no such trouble.

There wasn't much to be said between bites of food. Kacchan would grunt at every compliment Izuku gave him—the rice was so much fluffier than Izuku's was!—and Izuku was fine with that. The company was even better than the food, words or no.

It was amiable. It was domestic. It was natural, and a part of Izuku wanted to ask Kacchan for this every morning, or at least every weekend. But he squeezed that part down in favor of just enjoying the moment for what it was. It was just a kind birthday gift, after all.

"I'll do the dishes, Kacchan!" Izuku exclaimed, jumping up the moment Kacchan's plate was cleaned and stacking it with his own.

Kacchan stood up too, grabbing the soup bowls before Izuku could, as well as the fish platter. "It'll be quicker if we do them together. Then we can start packing."

"Packing?" Izuku asked, trailing behind as Kacchan returned to the kitchen.

"For break? Work study?" Kacchan returned, sparing a raised eyebrow in Izuku's direction. "You were gonna do it at the last minute, huh?"

"Oh, uh, maybe," Izuku squeaked, dropping his dishes in the sink and reaching for the sponge before Kacchan could. The least he could do was wash while Kacchan dried. They moved easily into an assembly line of sorts, exchanging kitchenware at an even pace without exchanging a word.

Truth be told, Izuku hadn't really considered packing yet. He didn't need much besides his hero gear and other clothes. And some school books, probably. And a few notebooks. And he had a couple All Might essentials that he didn't want left behind for the month.

Okay, maybe it was smart to start packing now.

It was just a lot to think about. Izuku was absolutely thrilled to be working under the number three hero, the mentor who had come to mean so much to Kacchan. Izuku couldn't help but want to be a part of that growth that Kacchan had experienced without him, and being under Best Jeanist's guidance himself would be an amazing insight.

Plus, most of his peers were going to be working on skills that probably wouldn't be priorities of theirs when they went to work professionally. Like Kacchan probably wouldn't work a lot of stealth missions like Gang Orca, and Uraraka likely wouldn't be on the front lines of combat like Miruko. But Izuku needed amazing publicity skills, or at least the ability to give a proper interview. He'd come a long way since his first mock interview with Mt. Lady first year, but he'd also had the longest to go.

But it had been a while since Izuku had done an internship or work study without Kacchan, and Todoroki usually joined them too. Pros who knew the two of them professionally like Hawks or even just ones who'd caught wind of them in the media had sought out bringing them on together. And Izuku and Kacchan had readily agreed. There was nothing that Izuku could learn that couldn't be better taught with Kacchan by his side.

But this time it was just him. Gang Orca and Best Jeanist weren't even in the same district—not even close. They wouldn't even run into each other on patrol.

Maybe the whisperings that he and Kacchan would make good hero partners would fade out before they came back, before they graduated. Izuku hoped not; he wanted to cling onto that fantasy for as long as possible.

"The soap bubbles an eager audience, Deku?"

Kacchan was leaning against the counter, towel in hand as Izuku spun what must have been the fortieth sudsy circle on the last plate. Izuku blushed into the bubbles and rinsed the dish, passing it to Kacchan's outstretched hand. Kacchan dried and put it away as Izuku started on the silverware.

"It's probably a good thing, you know."

"What?" Izuku asked, passing a metal chopstick to Kacchan and feeling the heat of his dry hand, even though Izuku's bones were warmed through from the dish water.

"Us not working together," Kacchan replied, and Izuku realized he must have been muttering a fair portion of his thoughts aloud. Again. "We gotta train like this because it's not like we'll always be together."

The words came out before Izuku could think:

"Couldn't we be, though?"

Izuku caught Kacchan's eyes and suddenly it felt like the hot water hadn't just warmed his hands through, but his whole body. Maybe too much. Had he really just said that?

Izuku thrust the last chopstick in Kacchan's hand, splashing water onto the boy's chest as he did so. He wiped his wet hands haphazardly on his running shirt, probably just reactivating the sweat that had dried on there or something.

"Actually, I really do need to pack!" Izuku exclaimed, backing out of the kitchen and then twisting forward again. "Thanks a bunch for reminding me, Kacchan! And for breakfast! Okay, bye!"

Izuku was already halfway down the hall when the confused, "Deku?" called out behind him.

Izuku stripped as soon as the door was closed and jumped in the shower, nearly forgetting to untie his cape. Usually he bathed right after his and Kacchan's runs and then returned downstairs for a simple breakfast. Sometimes that time overlapped with Kacchan, but Izuku was usually in and out of the kitchen with ready-made food items, so he didn't linger.

Everything was off today. The gift, the breakfast—all of it was so wonderful and unusual that it had distracted Izuku from confronting Kacchan about yesterday. His blush hadn't even dissipated before he stepped under the shower, hot water painting pink streaks over the rest of his body. The temperature was set much too hot for a day in July, but the pain was grounding.

The thing was, Izuku dreamed of being hero partners with Kacchan. He couldn't remember a time where that had ever not been a dream alongside being number one. It had almost seemed tangible during some of their team ups in the past few years and speaking with All Might had only made him want it more.

But he and Kacchan would not be hero partners.

Right? Realistically, it was hard to imagine Kacchan as anything other than a solo hero, even if he had grown leaps and bounds in cooperation. And it was assumed that Izuku would do the same—he'd basically already debuted as a solo hero multiple times over. They'd both be following in All Might's footsteps that way.

And hadn't they proven time and time again that fighting side by side brought them closer to death than anything else? Izuku would give his life for Kacchan before he even realized he was doing it. And if there was one thing Izuku was sure of in his relationship with Kacchan, it was that even if he didn't want to, Kacchan would do the same.

They'd gotten better at this. Izuku had gotten the reminder from all directions—All Might, his mother, Kacchan—that he couldn't be a hero if he was dead. Still, Izuku could only imagine what would happen if a villain noticed how much he cared about Kacchan and used it against him. Moments like that were the only ones where he truly lost control.

The thing was…it would certainly make his wish come true.

Still, he'd decided to never so much as float the idea to Kacchan. Either Kacchan would yell those exact same things to Izuku, or Izuku would just be putting his friend in a tough situation that was doomed to fail. Better to just keep the idea as a murmuring amongst the pros who had seen them. Better yet, a pristine dream, one of two innocent children and nothing more.

Unfortunately, he had a habit of saying a lot of things out loud that he never meant to. He should have expected for this one to come out again sooner or later. Especially while Kacchan was being so darn nice.

The shower nozzle squeaked under Izuku's strong hand as he turned the shower off. The mirror was fogged up, but Izuku didn't need to see to know he was as pink as the day he was born. Pink as sunburn or raw skin, trying to gain back resilience before the world revealed its weakness.

He stepped out of the bathroom, toweling his hair dry while using Blackwhip to open the closet and pick a shirt. What Izuku really wanted to do was throw on his hero costume and run into town and see if there were any villains he could stop. Maybe even just perching on a rooftop and keeping lookout would keep him occupied. But U.A. was still just as locked down as it had been when the League of Villains was active, so even though Izuku could probably get away with it, he shouldn't.

But he had to do something to keep busy. Not homework—something physical. So he started cleaning his room; it wasn't like he could start with packing until he did that anyway. He used Blackwhip to pick up some of the gifts he'd left strewn after the party yesterday, activating Float to hover a few inches off the ground too just for the heck of it. A little quirk practice never hurt anyone, even if the parallel processing was a little exhausting. It got rid of that extra nervous twitch at least.

Actually, it wasn't a bad time for a little bit of practical training. He could practice using One for All for speed in tight spaces where every second counted. He activated it at 5% as he put away his books, 7% as he cleaned the bathroom—might as well leave the place spotless before leaving for a month. By the time he was done, there was nothing on the floor but his suitcase and two blank notebooks that Izuku was sure he wouldn't need between now and next week. And nothing on the bed but for himself, fast asleep.

Izuku woke up, gasping, to the buzzing of his phone. He was opening his phone before he even realized that he was awake. Or that he'd fallen asleep. He barely had to blink at the light of his phone screen since he'd never turned off the overhead and midday sun was streaming through his windows.

July 16

10:05
Todoroki
Are you coming downstairs to do homework?
We're in the common room

We meant Todoroki, Iida, and Uraraka at least. Probably Tsu and maybe Aoyama and Tokoyami. Anyone, really, depending on who was still sleeping in from the party or busy trying to get ready for work study.

More importantly, it was after ten. Not only was Izuku late to work with his friends, but he'd slept for nearly two hours. But he wasn't stressed anymore. Just a little frantic as he typed his response and tossed his phone to the side.

10:06
Coming!

Izuku pushed off his bed—apparently he'd fallen asleep on top of his sheets. Diagonally. He hadn't even put a shirt on out of the shower—the speed cleaning had left him with a fresh sheen of sweat anyway—so he grabbed a light green one that said floral print on the front and pulled it over his head before grabbing his laptop. He imagined everyone would be working on their career prep papers, and he hadn't started yet.

When he trotted downstairs, Izuku immediately spotted Kacchan and his friends sitting at the tables, apparently working on homework as well. Kacchan was slouched low in his seat, laptop in front of him, and freshly dressed in his usual black clothing. Izuku wondered if he'd already finished packing or if he'd been called by his friends as Izuku had been.

"Yo, birthday boy!" Kaminari drawled once Izuku got near. "That was some party! Did Blasty still have you up at the crack of dawn?"

"Of course," Izuku replied quickly. "Kacchan and I always go running."

Kaminari turned to Kacchan, pouting. "Why don't you ever invite us, Kacchan?"

Kacchan glared over his laptop at Kaminari. "Because hearing your scrawny ass complain for five kilometers would turn it into a quirk training session instead of a run."

"Harsh," Sero said, looking sympathetically at a wounded Kaminari.

Izuku tamped down a smile and took the opportunity to scurry away to where his group was on the couches. It was probably embarrassing that Kacchan threatening Kaminari's life felt like a compliment to Izuku. That Kacchan was saying that he liked Izuku's company, even in comparison to one of his best friends. But he couldn't help but read into it—after all, that was why Izuku liked running with Kacchan. And it was another nice thing that Kacchan had said today, despite Izuku running out on him like he had.

In the lounge area, Todoroki and Iida were on one couch while Uraraka and Tsu were sitting cross-legged on the floor with laptops on the coffee table, backs against two of the box ottomans. Izuku took the other couch and booted up his laptop on his knees.

"Are you just waking up?"

It was Todoroki who asked, his tone not accusatory or judgmental; rather, it was dry as always.

"Oh, sort of. I took a nap," Deku clarified, raking a hand through his hair where it was still long on top. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's of no consequence, Midoriya-kun," Iida said. "We're just all working in tandem on our papers for motivation and focus."

"Has everyone already started?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah," Uraraka answered. "We all talked about who might be in groups or partnerships before opening an agency together. Really getting into the hypotheticals."

Izuku swallowed. Other people were talking about partnerships? There were murmurings in the class, of course, but putting it into a paper as though it was a plan, writing out a real blueprint for it…that felt more real. Izuku supposed that was the point of the project, though. And so he'd have to do that same imagining, but as a solo hero.

"Not everyone's doing teams, of course," Iida said, perhaps seeing Izuku's face. "We have to write about how one goes about inheriting existing agencies."

Todoroki looked at Iida, his expression flat. "Speak for yourself."

"Sounds good!" Izuku nodded, trying to build up some enthusiasm for the paper as he turned back to his screensaver. He'd only just signed in when Kacchan plopped down on the couch next to him, feet kicked up, eyes still on his own screen, expression otherwise nonchalant. "Kaccha—"

"Bakugou-kun, I must insist that you get your feet of the coffee table immediately," Iida ordered, gesturing to where Kacchan's stockinged and slippered feet were crossed on the corner of the low table.

Kacchan looked up at Iida and raised both feet no more than five centimeters off the table before dropping them back with a thud. The action made all the muscles in Kacchan's abs and thighs tense, the rippling visible even through his loose clothing. Izuku returned his gaze to his laptop, opening a new document quickly and deciding that he should add more leg lifts into his lower body sets.

"That is not what I meant, and you kn—"

"Bakugou-kun!" Uraraka interrupted. "Not that we mind you here, but why aren't you studying with your friends?"

Why did he leave his friends just as Izuku sat down was a better question, but Izuku had his ears perked up anyway.

"Can't let the idiots rely on me forever," Kacchan said simply. "Won't be there to solve all their problems once we graduate."

Graduation. Only a short seven months away. Two more semesters once this week was up. One or two more work studies that he could do with Kacchan before they both went solo. Well, before they were sidekicks and then solo. Probably.

He breathed the thoughts away with a big sigh, blinking his eyes a few times before opening a tab. For a paper on how one would go about opening an agency, searching for the paperwork that needed to be filed in order to do so was a good first step. Plus, it should be the easiest part—the technical aspect. Thinking about branding would be harder. Green as a signature color was a given, but beyond that Izuku had it more complicated than the other students since he had six or seven quirks, depending on how one looked at it.

It was so much simpler for Kacchan. His quirk was already iconic and his costume was made for merchandise sales. Izuku already had pages of doodles of Dynamight jackets, backpacks, pillows, sunglasses, all with that vivid orange X across the front. That was probably something they should have had classes about before finalizing their general costume designs, although Izuku thought that his current costume would work for merchandise pretty well. He drafted a few paragraphs about that—it would be nice to ask Kacchan for his opinion on that part.

He jumped around the essay; it'd need massive edits before it was anywhere near finished, but at least he was getting most of the nuts and bolts down. As Izuku researched, he saved copies of the government documents he was able to find, scanning them for all the info that might not be obvious or expected. He stopped short when he read the word: founder(s).

Founders. Cofounders.

Nowhere in the documents did it specify that cofounders of an agency had to be legally a part of a hero team. Izuku and Kacchan could open an agency together and never have to register as partners. They could work totally separate schedules so that villains wouldn't play off their friendship. Or maybe they could still work together sometimes, because the thought of never fighting by Kacchan's side again made Izuku want to cry.

"You're muttering, nerd."

Izuku's hands flew off his keyboard and over his mouth as he looked up, bug-eyed at Kacchan and then everyone else. Or he would have, except that Kacchan was the only one left on the couch. A glance at the corner of his laptop screen told him that he'd been writing for two hours, and still nowhere near a final draft. And that everyone else had probably gone to lunch.

His eyes circled back to Kacchan, who looked at him dryly and said, "You know you always write the longest essays."

Izuku bit his lip, thinking of the dozens of times he'd stayed after class to keep writing an essay that everyone else had finished before the bell, just to make sure that he included every scrap of information he remembered, even if it was going beyond the prompt. It didn't give him the best grades in the class, but he couldn't help but overwrite. Go beyond, plus ultra and all that.

Perhaps it was obvious that he was the only one who stayed after like that. But he was still flattered that Kacchan had noticed.

"I'll have to go quicker if I ever want to get my paperwork done as a pro," Izuku said, saving his essay and minimizing all his windows before shutting the laptop.

Izuku expected Kacchan to jump all over that, either agreeing that Izuku would have to get in gear or making a joke about if Izuku ever got to be a pro. Kacchan's tone was always serious when he said stuff like that, but finally Izuku knew well enough that that was just how Kacchan joked.

Instead, he said, "Was that your wish yesterday? For us to be hero partners?"

Izuku winced, turning away, even though there was no way to hide his whole face from Kacchan without turning wholly sideways on the sofa. Nowhere to hide without making it obvious he was doing so.

"Did you, uh, did you just hear me say something about that?"

"No, it seemed like that's why you ran away after breakfast like a fucking weirdo. But good to know you were just thinking about it too," Kacchan said, shutting his own laptop and putting it on the coffee table. "So am I right?"

"No," Izuku answered quickly. "Er, well, not really. Actually, in a way, kind of, I guess, but no, that wasn't quite it, no."

Kacchan's eyes were on Izuku, looking confused for perhaps the first time ever. If it weren't for that time in second year when a villain had hit him with a confounding quirk, Izuku probably wouldn't have recognized the expression. He turned in closer to Izuku, their knees knocking for a moment, then he opened his mouth. "Deku—"

"Happy birthday!"

Izuku turned out of Kacchan's gaze and to the front door where Eri was kicking off her shoes, and running over, followed by Aizawa.

"Eri-chan!" Izuku exclaimed, standing up and moving to the side of the couch so that he could catch Eri and lift her in the air. "Wow, you've gotten so tall!"

Eri laughed as Izuku kept her airborne and again when he landed her softly on the ground. Laughing and smiling had become so normal for her in the last two years, but Izuku always remembered how precious they were, never failing to bring a smile to his own lips. Upon landing, Eri held a paper out in front of her, nearly shoving it into Izuku's chest. "I made you a birthday card in school, Deku!"

"Wow, really? Thank you, Eri-chan!" Izuku exclaimed as he took the card. He looked at the crayon pictures on the front before flipping to the multicolored kanji on the inside. "It's beautiful!"

"I know that your birthday was yesterday," Eri said petulantly, looking around Izuku to send a glare at Kacchan before smiling back at Izuku, "But Sensei said it was better to come today when there was no school."

"That's okay!" Izuku said, looking over his shoulder to where Kacchan had a brow raised at Eri.

The two of them had developed something of a playful antagonism in the last year as Eri's confidence had grown and Kacchan started spending more time with Izuku. Izuku had been nervous at first—as had Aizawa and Togata—that meeting Kacchan would go the same way Monoma had. But it turned out that Kacchan was surprisingly good with her in a way. He teased and poked fun with her, but it was never with the snarl he'd had towards Izuku as a kid. It wasn't unkind, but it seemed to make Eri feel more like a normal kid than having people tiptoeing with kindness around her all the time did. It brought out a feistier side of her.

Izuku waved Kacchan over with one arm and a big smile. Kacchan rolled his eyes but pushed off the couch and came over, slouching behind Izuku with his hands in his pockets.

"I hope you enjoyed your birthday in a reasonable way," Aizawa said as he came up behind Eri. "Your eighteenth birthday is a momentous occasion. For both of you." He looked between both boys. "First year, we thought the two of you might've killed each other by now."

"What?" Eri asked, looking at all three men with wide eyes. "Why?"

Izuku kneeled in front of Eri, thinking again that she was indeed taller. Izuku had grown too, but they could see just about eye to eye now like this.

"You know, Eri, the friends you make at this age can be super, super special," Izuku started. "Maybe you won't be friends forever, but maybe the friendships will be the most important ones you ever have!"

"Like you, me and Lemillion?"

"Yes, exactly!" Izuku exclaimed. "That or even better!"

"Better?"

"Yes!"

Izuku could feel Kacchan's gaze on him, and wondered if the other boy knew who he was talking about. He was probably being really obvious. It wasn't like Izuku had any other friends from when he was Eri's age.

It was fine if Kacchan knew. In fact, Izuku was sure he already did.

"So why would you kill each other?"

"Oh," Izuku intoned, putting a hand to his mouth. He'd kind of hoped that Eri would overlook that part.

"Because," Kacchan started, surprising Izuku as he took a step forward, "sometimes kids are dumb. I bet you have some dumb kids in your class, right, pipsqueak?"

"Kacchan!"

"And maybe those kids will be dumb forever, but maybe they'll wise up some day and you can be friends later on," he continued. "You just gotta be able to accept it when it comes, which not everyone is gonna do. But it turns out it's good to give people a chance. Maybe even more than one."

Izuku was craning his neck up, the muscles getting stiff as he tried to read Kacchan's eyes from this angle, but they were ineffable. Even after all these years, Izuku wasn't always sure how interpret Kacchan's quieter expressions.

"Right," Aizawa said, stepping forward and putting a hand on Eri's shoulder. "Surprisingly good advice, Bakugou. Anyway, we were going to the cafeteria for lunch. Will you be joining us?"

"I don't eat at the cafeteria on weekends," Kacchan said as Izuku stood up next to him.

"Right, we'll take a rain check," Izuku said. "But thank you for bringing Eri over, Sensei. And thank you so much for the card, Eri-chan!"

"You're welcome, Deku!" Eri said, waving as Aizawa took her other hand and led her away.

Then it was just him and Kacchan again. Izuku wondered for a moment if he should have gone with Aizawa and Eri—it wasn't like Kacchan was going to make his lunch after making his breakfast. Then again, since he hadn't eaten his normal breakfast, maybe he could eat that for lunch now. Yes, that wasn't a bad idea.

Izuku took a few steps toward the kitchen and asked, "What were we talking about?"

"We were talking about what your wish was."

Izuku stopped short, glad that he was already facing away from Kacchan this time. He knew that he hadn't been about to tell Kacchan that.

"Haha," Izuku said instead, continuing toward the kitchen.

"It's not like I didn't know your other ones, Deku," Kacchan argued to his back. "It's not like that was gonna keep you from making them come true."

Izuku turned back, mouth open to retort. With what, he didn't know, but before he got the chance to figure it out, Uraraka, Todoroki, Iida, and Tsu came back in through the door.

"Oh good, Deku-kun!" Uraraka exclaimed. "We were just saying how there's a little more cake left in the fridge. Do you want some?"

Before Izuku could respond, Kacchan cut in, taking an intimidating step towards Uraraka as he said, "Can't you see we were talking, Round Face?"

Izuku wanted to step in—he did. But he knew that Kacchan was no threat to Uraraka at this point and his brain was still stuck a moment before.

He'd never told Kacchan any of his wishes. But he wasn't surprised that Kacchan thought he knew anyway; he probably did. It wasn't like Izuku's past wishes hadn't been obvious.

And the fact that Kacchan's guess was so close to what his actual wish was. The fact that Kacchan seemed open and curious even if his wish was for them to be hero partners. And what did it mean that Kacchan wanted to know so badly? He had nagged Izuku about his wishes in the past, but that was because Kacchan had been quite a know-it-all as a kid. That didn't seem to be the reason now.

But that second sentence. The claim that superstition wasn't going to keep Deku from making his dreams come true.

It was easy for Kacchan to say so now. Even though they both knew there should have been no chance of Izuku ever getting a quirk—the Kacchan from back when he'd made those wishes certainly had.

But Izuku had made them come true, hadn't he? They never should have, but it was him never giving up, him pursuing All Might. Not All Might coming to him, as it had felt on that day four years ago. And then he'd continued to push just as hard afterward. It was just as Kacchan had said. He'd had to do something.

He had to do something.

Uraraka and Kacchan were still squabbling, Uraraka now with a plate of mostly eaten cake in hand, Iida by her side with Todoroki and Tsu standing back.

"Take the cake, Uraraka-chan!" Deku exclaimed suddenly, causing everyone to look back at him. Perhaps they'd forgotten he was there as much as he had forgotten them.

"Told you so," Kacchan gloated, crossing his arms smugly.

"You sure?" Uraraka asked. Her face melted from whatever hardness it had taken on to argue with Kacchan to her usual wide-eyed softness.

"We were going to give Eri-chan some," Tsu explained. They must have run into her and Sensei outside.

"Yeah, of course!" Deku replied, nearly bouncing with excitement as he turned sharply to Kacchan. "Let's go on a run!"

Kacchan looked at Izuku sideways. Izuku noticed once again how Kacchan's face, while judgmental and condescending, held none of the distain or ire that it would have years ago. He hadn't seen that Kacchan in years.

"We already did that, idiot," Kacchan said as Uraraka backed away with the cake. "You want shin splints?"

"Midoriya-kun, I cannot advise—"

Kacchan whipped around to Iida, clearly about to bite his head off, but Izuku got there first, eyes wide and perhaps a bit crazed, but he didn't care. "Kacchan! Sprints! Let's go!"

Everyone's gaze was on him, but Izuku was focused on Kacchan. The rest of the room blurred to shades of gray while Kacchan stayed bright, clear. Izuku perceived the tiniest of nods and then Kacchan said, "Get your shoes."

"Oh! Okay! Yes!" Izuku exclaimed. Surprise bled into his excitement, but that didn't slow him running to the genkan to slip on his shoes. God, he felt like he could sprint a whole marathon—maybe two. He waved back to Uraraka and the rest of his friends, saying, "Enjoy the cake! See you later!"

Kacchan was beside him, putting on his shoes from that morning. Deku was up on his feet first, bouncing on the balls of his soles as Kacchan finished up. Then he said, "To the tree!" and took off out the door.

Izuku heard a light, "Fucker," behind him, but didn't slow down, going all out despite the fact that his quads were already sore in places from this morning. He had the energy to burn and either needed to do this, use all seven quirks at once, or scream at the top of his lungs. Sprinting to the tree that marked the beginning of their races seemed the best bet.

Given his head start, Izuku hit the tree first, the bark rough on impact against his calluses. Kacchan was just a moment behind, glaring at Izuku as his palm smacked against the tree, probably rough enough to take some of the bark with him. Izuku didn't even give him time to get his breath back before blurting out, "I missed you yesterday."

Kacchan straightened up, panting but still menacing as ever. "You already said that," he puffed out.

"Why did I have to miss you, Kacchan?" Izuku asked. "I thought we were doing well."

"We are doing well," Kacchan replied gruffly, moving around the tree to a denser patch of shade. It was after noon now, the heat of the day as they approached the hottest time of year. "I just didn't wanna fuck up another one of your birthdays."

On Kacchan's face, Izuku saw memories of ruined candles, an empty courtyard, a lonely dinner table. Rather, those were the things Izuku remembered—Kacchan's versions of those days had to be different. They must have been equally unpleasant to cloud Kacchan's eyes like that, though, if not more so.

"You could never do that," Izuku said quietly, coming around the tree to share Kacchan's spot of shade.

"I think I've done it about ten times," Kacchan grumbled in return.

"Don't give yourself so much credit, Kacchan," Izuku said, close enough now to give Kacchan a little elbow in the ribs. They were both already sweaty again. "Not all those birthdays were so bad. I promise."

Kacchan met Izuku's gaze long enough just to throw him a look of disbelief and a very purposeful scoff, and then turned back forward, leaning against the tree.

"And more importantly," Izuku continued, "now could never be so bad, because even if you think you've made a mistake or ruined something, I know that your intentions are good. And that does make a difference."

Kacchan shook his head. "You're too fucking forgiving."

"And you're not forgiving enough," Izuku shot back. "You know, I had a good talk with All Might yesterday."

"Yeah, we all saw that good talk written all over your face."

Izuku smiled. Sometimes he was able to cry privately without anyone ever knowing, but usually evidence betrayed him. Red eyes, purple bruises under his eyes like he'd been punched in the face, and anything from thin streaks of pink down his cheeks to full pink from forehead to collarbone. Kacchan usually narrowed his eyes at Izuku when any of those were showing on his face, but he rarely said anything. Usually Izuku was grateful for that. He would have been this time too, because he hadn't planned on sharing what All Might said.

He hadn't planned any of this. But Izuku had always been good on his feet.

"It was really good," Izuku insisted. "Not a normal training. I guess he thought it was a big deal that I, you know, survived this long. Of course, he's the real miracle."

Izuku had told Kacchan about Sir Nighteye's prophesy near the end of first year. He hadn't managed to defeat All for One yet, and was always remembering All Might's ticking clock—only a year or less of time, according to Foresight. It had weighed on him, led to him pushing All Might away repeatedly and Kacchan would come back, telling Izuku to get his head out of his ass, prophesy or no.

"He talked about you a lot," Izuku continued, drawing Kacchan's gaze once again. "He said that we—you and me—need each other. That he's never seen anything like you and me when we're pushing each other or when we're working together."

Izuku's face felt hot, and not just with the July heat. The tears were coming on again—conflicted ones. Tears of joy that his idol recognized him and Kacchan as a team, as being important to each other in some way. But also fear that they'd probably never be more than this right now, unless Izuku did something.

"Kacchan, I—"

Before Izuku could continue or even figure out what words were about to come out, Kacchan planted a sweaty palm over his mouth, their faces suddenly inches apart.

"Nerd," Kacchan started, his expression serious from what Izuku could make out with his crossed eyes. "What. Was. Your. Wish?"

Izuku opened his mouth, and felt his lower lip drag down the salty expanse of Kacchan's palm. Kacchan pulled his hand back, but held it fisted just a couple centimeters away, as though he might be needed to mute Izuku again. That was very possible, for what Izuku was about to say.

"My…My wish was to be with Kacchan. In…whatever way the universe takes that."

"In what—"

The lines that were already dug between Kacchan's eyes grew deeper and, again, Izuku didn't know what it meant. If Kacchan started shouting or if he used his quirk right in Izuku's face then yeah, Izuku would know how Kacchan felt. But this? Maybe he was too hopeful to tell. Maybe he was too afraid of what he would find.

The expression only lasted a second before Kacchan shook his head and leaned back, making Izuku want to follow, but he was just a little too frozen to do so.

"Fuck it," Kacchan whispered. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but fuck it. I want to be with you. In every way. I want to be around you, I want to be hero partners, and I want to be together."

"B-B-Be together?" The words stumbled out of Izuku before he'd even begun to process what Kacchan had just said.

"Is that…what you meant?" Kacchan asked and, for maybe the first time ever, Izuku saw nerves on Kacchan's face. His cheeks were pink, despite the fact that they'd both recovered from the short sprint from the dorms by now. His eye contact was flickering in a way that Izuku knew all too well. Kacchan had probably learned it from him.

"I don't know what I meant," Izuku admitted. "I didn't think about making a wish before you reminded me, but I knew it had to be about you. Spending more time with you. In any way that I could."

Kacchan was still holding back, looking at Izuku as though he was waiting for more. For confirmation. So Izuku rambled on.

"It's not that I don't want it too!" he blurted. "I just never really thought—never let myself think—because I'm already so happy with what we have, so I just really wanted more of this—at least! At least more of this! Just knowing that it wouldn't stop. That…That would have been enough."

Through the rambling, Kacchan's lips had curled up, first one side like a classic Kacchan smirk, and then the other in a true smile. Along the way, the smile had curled further into a smug grin, but Izuku had seen it—he knew he had.

"Never knew you were one to dream small, nerd."

Izuku cocked his head to the side, considering. His wishes had always been less than what they'd turned out to be, hadn't they? He'd wished for a quirk, and ended up with One for All. He'd wanted to be a hero and had made it into U.A. with All Might as his mentor. His wishes were always tawdry, paper thin things compared to what came true.

Maybe he'd been dreaming too small all along.

So Izuku grinned, taking back that distance that Kacchan had created, and grabbing him by the shoulder. He only had the briefest moment to see Kacchan's eyes widening before his own closed and he felt lips against his own.

It was surprising how hard the kiss was, all teeth pressed behind thin lips, noses poking into cheeks. Their lips weren't plush, but chapped from being in constant combat, rough against one another. So Izuku lessened the pressure, pulling back enough so that his lips could purse and move—and so that Kacchan could pull away if that's what he wanted.

He did pull away, but only enough to tilt their heads the other way, lips slotting together this time so that Kacchan's lower lip caught between Izuku's, instead of both sets pressed on top of each other. Then there was a hand on Izuku's right arm, thumb rubbing up and down that large scar by his shoulder, and another fisted over the text of his t-shirt.

Izuku smiled into the kiss, wrapping both arms over Kacchan's broad shoulders, unafraid that it was too much. He could dream as big as he wanted now.

After a little bit more figuring it out, lips opening, tongues touching, Kacchan finally pulled back and rested his damp forehead down on Izuku's. His voice was husky and raw as he said, "I wanted to tell you yesterday. Or, I don't know, for a long time."

Izuku looked up, even though all he could see from this close was a blur of red eyes, damp skin. "Why didn't you?"

The hand clutching at Izuku's shirt released it, coming up to just lightly touch Izuku's jaw instead. "In case that was the worst thing I've ever said to you."

Izuku had to pull back. He had to actually look and see the vulnerability in Kacchan's eyes. See that he actually believed that.

"How could it be?" he asked.

Kacchan rolled his eyes, that and half a smile hiding how hard it was, how this wasn't one of the thousands of things that Kacchan was the best at. At this, he was startlingly normal.

"Because your nerd ass is too nice and would think that rejecting me is the worst thing that you've ever done."

Izuku opened his mouth to protest but found he couldn't. Having to turn down someone that he cared about would be hard, would hurt him dearly. But turning down Kacchan—that he couldn't imagine.

"Only because it would be wrong," Izuku said, miming Kacchan and putting his hand behind his jaw, rubbing his thumb just over Kacchan's cheekbone. "And I could never lie about this."

"I know," Kacchan said, that little smile—still fledgling, still new—coming back.

"I don't want to not see you for the next month," Izuku continued, finding a strong grip on Kacchan's shoulder. "I want to see you when I come home from work study. I want what you said. To be together every day and to work together. I want this to be the last time that we ever don't."

"Okay," Kacchan agreed. Like it was easy.

"Okay?" Izuku asked. "You mean…you don't think we'll be killed if we're hero partners? And weren't you the one who said we weren't always gonna be together this morning?"

"Yeah, that's still true," Kacchan said. "Like if one of us get injured—which is gonna happen, knowing you—or if one of us is placed on a special mission, or if we get separated. But get killed?" Kacchan barked out a laugh. "What are you, an idiot? I'm victory and you're peace. No one's beating us. Besides, I already wrote the whole plan in my paper."

Izuku's eyes widened. "You—You what? You wrote about us being partners?"

"Partners, opening an agency together, branding—all that shit," Kacchan said. "I'm getting a fucking A on that paper, and opening an agency with you would be no cake walk. I get extra points for dealing with your nerd ass, even hypothetically."

Wow, Izuku would have to rewrite his whole essay so that it matched Kacchan's. Well, no, he wouldn't want it to match so that it didn't look like they were copying each other, but it was definitely best to get a start on this kind of research now, even if it wouldn't come into use for a couple of years. Maybe he and Kacchan should put a pin in all talks about their pro career until after Izuku finished his essay so that there was no way he could purposefully copy Kacchan. Oh God, Kacchan must have been thinking about this for as long as Izuku had at least.

"Kacchan…" Izuku sniffled, the tears bubbling up before he could stop them.

"Yeah, turns out one of us was dreaming big the whole time," Kacchan said as he pulled Izuku's hands off of him and them wrapped his arms fully around Izuku's back while Izuku sobbed into his shoulder. "Shoulda expected you to cry at some point, you big baby."

"No, I can dream big too," Izuku said, his voice mumbled in Kacchan's tank top. "I can let myself."

"Oh, yeah?" Kacchan challenged. "What's your next wish? And you better fucking tell me this time."

Izuku pulled back, eyes still shimmering but narrowed to meet Kacchan's challenge. "A date. You owe me a date from yesterday."

"Done, easy, try again."

Izuku frowned, jutting his chin out. "A thousand dates."

"You'll lose track, but fucking done anyway. Next?"

There was little Izuku could do but grab Kacchan by the shirt and pull him just that much closer. "Kiss me again."

Kacchan rolled his eyes again. "Eas—"

Izuku cut him off, making that wish come true on his own. Maybe it was a small wish, but did that matter when it was all he wanted in the world? Izuku thought not.

It didn't much matter. Because now, candles or no, Izuku could wish for as much as he wanted. And maybe his initial wish hadn't been so wrong. Because even if it had already come true, it was still all that he really wanted.

To be with Kacchan.