Amor Vincit Omnia Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at /works/45047090.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Category: Gen Fandom: 僕のヒーローアカデミア Boku no Hero Academia My Hero
Academia (Anime & Manga), John Wick (Movies) Relationship: Midoriya Inko & Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki & Midoriya Izuku,
Helen Wick/John Wick (past) Character: Midoriya Izuku, Midoriya Inko, Bakugou Katsuki, Original Characters,
Bakugou Mitsuki, Bakugou Masaru, Midoriya Hisashi Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Canon
Divergence, Valentine's Day, Light Angst, Fluff, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, but he makes it Extremely Clear to john that he Cares, Soft John Wick, he's so soft for his mom okay, valentine's is not always about romantic stuff, Platonic Relationships, Pre-Canon, hisashi is in this for like 2 seconds but he's more or less a deadbeat, john knows this but doesn't care, no beta just john getting used to being Loved again, Canonical Character Death, this pertains to helen wick btw, John Wick is Midoriya Izuku
Language: English Series: Part 2 of Cras Vivere Para Bellum Collections: hufflepuffdemiwizard's completed works Stats: Published: 2023-02-14 Words: 3,762 Chapters: 1/1
Amor Vincit Omnia by athenoot
Summary
His locker is filled with either pink envelopes stamped with tiny hearts or red thumbtacks filling up his shoes.
It's almost funny. Before, he'd get mailed store-bought cards with written death threats from rivals or boxes of chocolate laced with digoxin.
~
(a 5 1; John Wick and his experiences on Valentine's Day, from before and after.)
Notes
happy valentine's day yall!!!
I churned this bad boy out in one sitting just so I have another work added to this /users/athenoot/pseuds/athenoot
LMAOOO but aside from that, I felt like a valentine's day special would satiate any hungry readers lol
for new readers out there: hi, welcome to hell! :D if you're confused as to wtf this is, all you need to know is that in this au, John fuckin Wick died and reincarnated as our lovable lil broccoli baby. except the baby can and will, but chooses not to kill anybody! and he has (unintentionally) obtained a solid friendship w bakubro after some kiddie drama and a near- kidnapping experience! fun times overall.
oh and the timeline this fic takes place in is during john!izuku's early life until middle school : so kinda standalone?? idk but I hope you enjoy reading anyway!
cheers!
CW: vague descriptions of bullying, Canon character death
See the end of the work for more notes
The scent of Helen's shampoo woke him up from a dreamless sleep.
It was her favorite; peach and strawberry scented. Much later—maybe two months into exploring this new thing with her—it became John's favorite too. She had her arms around him in a tight embrace, not too close to feel constricting but not too loose to give him any means of escape from their bed.
Not that he planned to. Today was a special day, after all; or so John was repeatedly told by his wife.
"Good morning," she said sleepily but there was a growing smile in her voice. John couldn't help but smile too when she did. She was infectious like that.
"Morning," he told her, turning over to hug her back, and it felt like safety being in her arms. With Helen, everything felt lighter, and he wished to have this kind of moment with her every waking day.
~
The smell of fried eggs wakes him up from another forgettable nightmare.
John hardly has the energy to think about it now and he chalks it up to the natural way his tiny one- year-old body demands sleep and food, the latter of which is being prepared by his mother. The fried eggs aren't his, but one can dream.
She's noticeably chipper than usual when she carries him out of the crib. There's a hop to her step, a hum to her lips, and a specific way she does the menial chores around the house while John sits on the play mat by the couch, surrounded by toys he pretends to be interested in. She's happy. About what, he's not sure. His mother is a mystery for all that she displays her emotions so openly.
He gets his answer though when a package comes in, and his mother presents him with a small, pink-furred bunny plush.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Izuku!" She smiles at him excitedly and- oh.
Right. Of course.
It's that time of the year again.
(John pretends to be excited about the toy, making odd noises only one-year-olds make and reaching out his tiny, unscarred hands. His mother spent money to get him this toy just to make him happy. He found that he wants her to continue being happy too.)
~
At breakfast, Helen slid a shoebox wrapped in pink, white, and red to him over at the counter.
He opened it, and a white rabbit with a pink necktie greeted him with a cartoony bucktoothed smile.
~
His father, Midoriya Hisashi, makes an appearance a year after John's "diagnosis" of being Quirkless. Or five years by technicality.
There is no warning, no phone call, no indication that the man would be visiting at all today. But here he is, standing awkwardly in the middle of the apartment like a foreigner in a distant country, unsure of what to do or say (if he has anything to say at all).
Combining that with Mom's blank stare that says so much yet so little at the same time, John figures that Midoriya Hisashi is not expected nor wanted. But he's here anyway, and John and Mom have to deal with it. On Valentine's Day.
Midoriya Hisashi fidgets, shifting on his feet, eyes darting anywhere but at Mom, and John has never wanted to turn into his older body and physically remove the man from their home more than he does right now. The man is unquestionably making his mother uncomfortable with his presence. That will not stand. But John is currently five years old physically, and he trusts that his mother knows how to defend herself.
"Hey, uh, Inko." So the man speaks. He's timider than John anticipated. A big contrast from the occasional stories he'd hear from his mother and sometimes Mitsuki when she visited. His father, Izuku's father, is supposed to be a figure of confidence, optimism, and loyalty.
Instead, he left his wife when she was seven months pregnant and only scarcely sent her postcards to let her know he was still alive, just somewhere around the globe for work. (John can't imagine acting like this with Helen.)
"Hisashi," his mom returns.
She's the embodiment of calm but John sees the tightness in her jaw, the way she sometimes flickers her gaze from her husband to John as if she's planning on ways to deal with this without involving or upsetting her son. Because she's a good mother like that.
Hisashi has a bouquet with him. Roses, lilies, orchids, and tulips. I love you, I'm sorry, forgive me.
They're meant to win over Mom, but she's smarter and tougher than she leads. She kicks him out of the apartment, eyes watery but shining of tempered steel nonetheless. And if she used her Quirk to haul Hisashi out by his sad attempt at a necktie, John is her only witness.
(That night, John gifts her a hand-crafted card with a simple I love mom and a—rather poorly— drawn picture of them together. She cries but it's from happiness, and he lets her hold him tightly, even when it was time to sleep. And it's not pretending when he tucks himself under Mom's chin, lulled easily to slumber from the warmth she gives.)
~
His card for her was from a corner store she liked to frequent on sleepless nights. He wrote a simple message on the blank space, adding a doodle of a daisy just to sell it, and hoped it was enough. He was never really good at using his words.
Helen loved it the second he gave it to her and later framed it for her cousins, nieces, and nephews to see when they come to visit.
~
He and Mom have dinner over at the Bakugous.
Katsuki hates it but remains civil because Mom is there, yet he sends John grouchy looks over the table when no one is looking. John ignores him, as usual, dutifully eating his share of the meal. It pisses Katsuki off, as one would expect, although he doesn't lash out, opting to just chew on his food like a grump. That's nice.
Talks of romance and past relationships filter in and out over dinner time. Mitsuki offhandedly mentions going to clubs for particular escapades during her college years, and Mom and Masaru try their best to get her to stop because the children are here, Mitsuki, they don't need to hear that!
But John gets it. He's been to clubs of that nature before, although it was only to gather intel or seek out his target of the night. He never really looked at other people that way, if at all. He gathered that it came with the job of a paid assassin. He thought he'd have no one the way normal people have others to rely on.
Then Helen happened, and he understood, but what they had was different from how Mitsuki described her past flings.
He never saw Helen the way the people at clubs saw each other. What he felt, what they had was... Something. Warm. Whole. Innocent. All-encompassing.
He used to think that his feelings for Helen weren't complete if he didn't want her that way. That close, intimate way. He used to think he was a fraud for not loving her the way normal men should love their partners. But Helen loved him all the same, and he loved her back, and it felt right. Even now, he doesn't know how to describe it.
But it's what he and Helen shared, and it had been enough for him.
(He tunes out the parents lightheartedly arguing over love lives and continues to ignore Katsuki's incessant glaring. He makes a point not to glance over at the youngest Bakugou's grossed-out expression when Mitsuki starts ranting about relationships of many kinds, to the chagrin and exasperation of Mom and Masaru.)
~
A bloody white rose with thorns found its way into John's room at the Continental.
No address, no card, nothing to trace it back to its sender. John didn't have time for such things. He passed the flower lying innocently on the vanity to collapse on the bed in bone-deep exhaustion but still thinking of his and Helen's upcoming (third) date that Saturday.
~
His locker is filled with either pink envelopes stamped with tiny white hearts or red thumbtacks and pins filling up his shoes.
It's almost funny. Before, he'd get mailed store-bought cards with written death threats from rivals or boxes of chocolate laced with digoxin. They were subtle and professionally prepared. This, right here, is just a mess.
At some point, John wondered if this day was a cursed one or if he was just a pretty unlucky bastard when it comes to the fourteenth of February.
"Okay, what the fuck."
Katsuki stares incredulously at the mess that is John's shoe locker. At least with Katsuki, his locker is mostly filled to the top with a bunch of cards, flowers, trinkets, and treats. It's almost overflowing with every possible shade of red and pink.
Without a word, John gathers the few envelopes in a neat stack (he doesn't intend on reading them, honestly, but it'd be unnecessarily rude to just throw them away) and carefully grabs his indoor shoes, proceeding to dump the thumbtacks and pins in his spare pencil case.
At least he won't need to ask Mom to buy more. She's stretched thin enough as it is with the bills and expenses, and the late hours of work. The last thing she needs is John bothering her about school materials.
"Double what the fuck, why are you putting that shit in your bag?"
"Extra stuff."
Assuming he'd even need them, but it pays to come prepared. Who knows, maybe he'll put up a board to stick photos and important papers just to further solidify his new existence as a (current) teenager. He never did get to do that kind of thing before.
His (tentative) friend makes an odd grumbling noise, a sign that he's about to say something about it, but ultimately doesn't comment further. Great, because John doesn't want to deal with a pushy Katsuki over something as trivial as middle schoolers being petty. Kids are vicious when they want to be, but John has dealt with much more.
He hears a gruff sigh.
"Here."
In Katsuki's hand is a small golden box topped with a white stick-on ribbon, likely from his tiny heap of gifts from his distant admirers. John just stares because he's pretty sure it's not for him, and the boy is notoriously protective of his things, so why is Katsuki just handing it over? He asks as much, and Katsuki looks elsewhere, still holding out the box to him silently.
"It's yours," John maintains, partially aware of some eyes digging at the back of his head from different areas of the entryway.
Secret admirers are assassins in the making, it seems.
"Just fucking take it. I hate almonds anyway," is what the boy says and John knows it's a lie.
He doesn't call him out on it, though, because Katsuki is trying. Still trying to make up for a lot of things in their childhood, John is pretty certain. He won't call him out on that one either. An embarrassed Katsuki is not one John would like to deal with this early in the day.
So he takes the box gingerly, putting it in his bag, and doesn't think about the particularly scathing looks the girls in his class give him throughout the morning. He resolves to discover that today marks the second time Katsuki has ever willingly given him a gift.
(John only hears about Katsuki's bloodhounding for the students who stuffed his shoes with thumbtacks when one of the kids in his class comes running to him, telling him that the blond has been frothing at the mouth for the ones who did it. Incidentally, Katsuki stumbled upon them at lunch when one of them cheered out loud how easy it was to stuff that Quirkless squick's shit with their Valentine's presents and proceeded to "throw hands". Needless to say, John doesn't miss playing middleman between an explosive child and a bunch of adolescents.)
~
When John was seven, Natalia secretly slid a Mishka Kosolapy into his pocket after an intense night of training with their instructor none the wiser.
When John was ten, Viktor and Ivan returned from a trial mission overseas with sweets for the younger ones; the Director hadn't been present at the time.
When John was thirteen, he and his trial partner, Vitalij, gambled with the myth of teenage
rebellion and bought (stole) candy from a mall in California after taking out a fumbling crime boss with a tattletale habit.
When John was fifteen, nineteen, twenty-two, treats like that became luxuries. Gifts out of his reach until he got everything perfect; until he was the perfect weapon, a deadly Jack of All Trades in the unforgiving table of the world outside the Ruska Roma and his time with the Marines.
Then, John got older than twenty-two, he met Helen, and things like chocolate and sweets were treasures and normal things to eat at home when you feel like it. He liked the chocolate almonds the most, and his wife gifted him boxes of them when given the chance.
~
"The truth is... I really like you, Midoriya-senpai. You're just so- so cool 'n stuff, and you don't let those stupid guys bother you or anyone else! You're, like, the badass bad boy with a heart of gold; so please accept my confession!"
It's almost cliche to receive a verbal, in-person confession on Valentine's Day. It's also rather bizarre that he of all people is getting one on this specific day. He got confessed to a few times before, but they all ended with either the confessor chickening out, them lashing out at his lackluster reaction or Katsuki coming in to disturb the moment, giving John an out.
He thought he wouldn't get any more of those since he took extra steps to keep himself out of the limelight unless he was forced to, or Katsuki somehow got himself dangling from a cliff's edge of choosing physical violence against a snobby teenager.
Maybe he miscalculated on that end. Either way, before him, a freshman with a unique steel Quirk to her long hair bows, holding out a white envelope to him as an offering. John doesn't get floundered very often, but when he does, he just keeps himself from reacting outwardly.
What is he supposed to say? Or do?
He's never met this girl, let alone talked to her. He's a second-year with a reputation for being "the guy who keeps Bakugou from murdering people with explosive sweat" and "the Quirkless one" so he doesn't consider himself dating material.
Plus, he doesn't think a relationship is viable for him in this life. It's odd enough that he's a grown man existing as a teenage boy in a superpowered universe. He'd prefer not to get intimately involved with anyone at all. Maybe it's because he hates the thought of replacing Helen and her memory. Or maybe he just...doesn't feel what he felt with her with anybody else.
Whatever. That's a problem for Future John. Present John's problem is the freshman with the letter.
He breathes in and chooses logic. He's never met this girl, never talked to her, or knew she was even in this school until she walked right up to him in the middle of the entrance hall; it would be a disservice if he got her hopes up. He was never aiming for a romantic partner. Better to let this be put to rest than have it fester into something irreversible.
"What's your name?" He treads carefully. Japan has specific traditions and cultures for this kind of thing, don't they? He watches the girl jolt in surprise before she gazes up at him, blushing red, and magenta eyes gleaming with- yep, hope. No. Not happening, his apologies.
"I-I'm Yahiro Karin, senpai."
"Yahiro," John starts, keeping his voice level but not cruel. "I'm sorry, I'm not looking for a relationship." He doesn't add right now or at the moment, because then, he'd be lying. He's not looking for another romantic partner ever. And he's fine with that.
Yahiro's face crumples along with the letter in her hands. "Oh..." Then in the next instant, she shouts at him, a part of her long hair transforming into a sharp blade and it shoots out, grazing his cheek enough for it to bleed lightly. John barely flinches. "I hate you! How dare you play with my feelings like this, senpai! You're the worst! No wonder nobody wants to be with a Quirkless squick like you!"
And she storms out of the entry doors, steel hair reverting into its natural keratin.
All is quiet.
Then Katsuki shows up. "Deku, 'the hell happened while I was gone?"
"Hm."
"Oi, don't do that shit with me, I saw her nick you with her tincan hair; what the fuck happened?"
"She confessed. I rejected. She got mad, then almost stabbed me."
Katsuki just gapes at him.
"Deku, what the fuck is your luck with girls?"
John doesn't dignify that with an answer.
(On the way home, Katsuki starts, almost wavering and awkward, but he tries, "Oi, y'know... If it means shit, you're not the worst." John lets him speak, content with being the listener once again. Katsuki's face twists like he's eating a particularly sour lemon slice but soldiers on, picking out words carefully like he's diffusing a bomb. "Not even when you're Quirkless. Alright? That chick doesn't know what the fuck she's on about. You beat the shit out of petty crooks like it's fucking nothing and, y'know, you stopped me from acting like a complete asshole. So you're not the worst. Don't fucking argue with me on that." John doesn't because it'd be useless anyway to try.)
~
Five years. Five years of a blissful, beautiful marriage.
Five years was long but it didn't feel like forever. Five years didn't seem like a long enough time to spend with Helen. It felt like he had been cheated out of a life he never believed he could have. It felt like he was dying falling apart like sand.
Five years of loving her, knowing her, protecting her—what did it all amount to?
"Do you still have Bugsy?"
Helen was so pale on the hospital bed. Her hair didn't have the usual shine from its strawberry- peach shampoo. She looked more ghost than human, and John had an armada of them. But at least
they were quiet, for once.
"Yeah." The rabbit plush never left its place above their bed. Bugs Bunny was its name because Helen liked the character.
Her eyes didn't glow brightly like they used to but they still held this softness meant only for John to see. God, he loved her so much. Still does. Forever. "Keep washing him, 'kay? Or...gets dirty."
"Okay." He couldn't do this. He couldn't do this without her. Why did he think he was capable of ever going through this life alone?
"And..." Her fingers twitched and John hardly thought twice before holding her hand in both of his. It felt so cold. "...don't eat...much chocolate. Or you'll get sick."
"Okay." Don't go. Please don't go. They only had five years, why not five more? Or ten? Or a hundred?
Her eyes fluttered, an echo of those nights when she'd stay up all night going over notes and files of her patients, fighting to stay awake to come up with solutions to help her clients because Helen Wick was a selfless woman like that. Always helping, sacrificing pieces of herself to get others to gather themselves up again. Like she did for John, except he hadn't been her patient.
He had been her friend, a familiar face at their favorite coffee shop who hardly understood her normal problems but listened anyway; then her boyfriend with an unspoken job; then finally her husband, who went through hell and back just to earn a life of normalcy with the woman he cherished most in the whole world.
She was dying and John, a man who could do anything, couldn't do a single damn thing about it.
Five years. Why did they only get five years?
"John..." Her words slurred as if she was sleep-talking. The beeping of her heart monitor remained steady but he knew better than to think it would stay that way. John just held her hand tighter. "H'ppy...Val'tine's day..."
She didn't wake up five days later.
~
On the day before the fourteenth of February, John buys some chocolates and makes cards.
It's a spur-of-the-moment idea. He's only ever made one card in his life, and that was to cheer up his mother when Midoriya Hisashi came knocking on their door unexpectedly. And the only gifts he received were gag gifts from students who felt the need to be especially annoying that day, letters from faceless, nameless admirers, chocolate boxes from Katsuki, and a day out with Mom.
Admittedly, he's a little... Put off by that. He's not normally a gift-giver, much less a good one. Mediocre at best, and John doesn't doubt that the Director would've blown a gasket if she knew he was inadequate at one thing. The only exception had been when he was with Helen. She loved his gifts, even when they were crappy.
But this is Midoriya Izuku's family. His mother would love anything he gave her, just like Helen. Katsuki's still a mystery, and he's not sure if Hitoshi would appreciate a card and a chocolate bar. But again, this is Izuku's family. John likes to believe that they'd be happy with his (Izuku's) presents, as minuscule as they are.
So, he purchases the chocolate with the allowance he has left and creates the most generic but otherwise genuine cards ever.
Mom loves her gift; so do Katsuki and Hitoshi, but they don't use their words, only actions, and John understands that better than most. They return the favor the next day, and John puts up no fight at all against his growing collections of treats and trinkets on his shelves, deciding on keeping his favorite ones in a safer drawer.
Maybe Valentine's isn't so cursed as he thought.
(Next Valentine's Day, he gives All Might—Yagi Toshinori—a simple card and a message of gratitude. John gets a basket of every sweet imaginable, and Katsuki has yet to let him live it down.)
End Notes
it's my lil hc that john is on the ace spectrum bc I'm personally wondering that about myself ok thanks for reading byeeee o/
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Amor Vincit Omnia