Summary:
After a car crash killed his friends and lover, Izuku Midoriya went into a deep depression. But on a trip to a magic shop on the anniversary of the accident, he gets sucked into a mirror that lands him in a parallel world where his friends and lover, Katsuki Bakugo, are still alive! At first, he thought he got thrown back in time to the Viking age, but this world was very different from that era. Izuku is relieved to see Bakugo alive, but the man doesn't know who he is, and ends up making Izuku a slave in his household. Izuku has to make Bakugo fall in love with him again. But Bakugo is as stubborn as ever, and he is more focused on their war with the Todoroki Clan. Izuku wasn't going to lose Bakugo again and he'll do anything to keep Bakugo from running off to battles.
Bakugo doesn't know what witchcraft was involved with Izuku Midoriya appearing out of the sky, but there was something strangely familiar about the man. The man babbled and muttered on and on about how he was from another world where they are together. It sounded like witchcraft to Bakugo, but his feud with the Todoroki Clan is his top priority. But the stranger in green could make a good bed slave.
Notes:
***Hello, everyone! This story I have had on the back burner of my brain for a little less than a year, and I finally decided to go with it!
***The start of the story is full of angst, but the rest of the story will not be as angsty.
***Warnings: Language, angst, hurt/comfort, car accident, mentions of depression, anxiety, suicide
***Please read on and enjoy! Comments and kudos are always welcomed and greatly appreciated! Let me know how I'm doing!
Chapter 1: The Fatal Accident
"Gah! I spilled my hot chocolate! OUCH!"
"Hey, Dunce-Face! You had better burn a hole through your pants and not my seat!" Bakugo shouted to Denki from the rearview mirror.
"Nah, it's all good! I got it!" Said Eijiro, pulling a used tissue from his ski jacket pocket to wipe the spill off Denki's leg.
"Don't have a cow over it," Denki said to Bakugo. "Katsuki Bakugo's oh-so-very-important car is unharmed!"
Bakugo cursed under his breath and turned the wipers on full force to combat the snow.
"Hey, Izuku, why don't you put on some music?" Eijiro offered. "And why are you so quiet, bro? Not feeling well?"
Izuku tenderly smiled at his friend from over the front seat. "Yeah, I'm okay. I guess I'm just a little tired from the day, is all." He turned on the radio.
The four of them had been planning a weekend ski trip for a couple of months, and they had just finished enjoying themselves. Now, they were heading back to the city. The lighthearted fun and activities they shared suddenly disappeared from Izuku's mind. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong or something was going to happen, and it wouldn't be good. The sudden change in snowfall probably wasn't helping this feeling, either, and they were driving some cliffs. Izuku had suggested they stay one more night to wait out the heavy snow, but Kacchan insisted on leaving. The man has a schedule, and he ALWAYS follows it.
"Man, the snow is REALLY coming down!" Denki says, smooshing his face against the window. "It looks like that time Kiri had all that dandruff from his dry scalp issue!" He teased his lover, who playfully shoved him.
"Hey! Stop messing around back there! I'm trying to stay on the road!" Bakugo yelled at them.
Eijiro laughed and said, "What? Are you threatening to turn the car around?"
'I really wish we would,' Izuku thought to himself, his hands folded neatly in his lap while watching the swirls of white pass by. It was getting darker, too. "Kacchan, maybe we should find a place to stay for the night,"
Bakugo scoffed and replied, "I know how to fucking drive in snow, Deku! If everyone can stop talking to me and let me concentrate on the road, then we shouldn't have any issues! Got that, Wingus? Dingus?" He said to the two in the backseat.
They were all silent for a short moment, and then Denki suggested they play a game. It was the 'I'm Going On A Picnic' game, a fun yet challenging game of memory. Everyone agreed to play except for Bakugo.
"Okay! I'll start!" Said Denki. "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing apples!"
"Lame!" Eijiro laughed. "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing apples; and bananas!" He added.
"Did you two assholes just graduate from preschool?" Bakugo chimed in, his hands gripping the steering wheel in a white-knuckle grip. The road was getting slippery…
"My turn," Izuku said, eager to get his mind off the strange feeling in his gut. "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing apples, bananas, and - CAR!" He suddenly screamed.
It all happened so fast. Another car came sliding along the road, unable to stop. The road was only one lane, and Bakugo had nowhere to go to avoid it. The bright headlights blinded them. There was a loud crash. The skidding of tires. Screams from everyone in the car. The world was weightless at first, then it was rolling and spinning. Thumps, bumps, screams, gasps, cracks, pops; so many sounds until everything went black and cold.
The snowy world around them was silent until the faint sound of sirens approached the accident scene.
Izuku shot up in bed in a heavy sweat, panting heavily while gripping the bed sheets. Every night it was the same dream of that dark, terrible night when he lost his friends and lover in the crash. Not a day or night went by that he didn't struggle with extreme survivor's guilt, which is why he has an array of pill bottles on his bedside table. Izuku realized he had forgotten to take his 'zombie pill,' which helped blank out his mind so he could catch a few decent hours of sleep.
Glancing at the bedside clock, it read just after five in the morning. He wouldn't go back to sleep anytime soon, so Izuku got up, made coffee, and plopped in front of the TV. Though he wasn't watching it, he was haunted by the memory of that day. Every scar on his body from the crash was also a constant reminder of what had happened. It had gotten so bad that even during the summer, Izuku would wear long sleeves and pants. He barely looks in the mirror or down at his body when he's changing or showering. It was just too painful.
Izuku did not remember much from the actual crash itself other than rolling around. After waking up from a week-long induced coma, he learned later that only he had survived the crash. While the police did not have the exact specifics of the accident, it was noted that all the windows had popped out. Somehow, his seatbelt had remained in place, likely saving his life. The others…they still were not sure about.
Izuku will never forget that feeling when he woke up from the coma and immediately looked out the window and up at the sky; and instantly thought of Kacchan. He remembered staring at the sky, a dozen confusing thoughts rattling around his bandaged head, and all the while thinking of Kacchan. At first, the doctors were afraid to tell him what happened to his friends because they feared it would worsen his condition. It wasn't until the next day that they explained what had happened, and Izuku insisted they leave NOTHING out.
'I know it was a terrible, tragic accident,' said the hospital social worker. 'But they didn't suffer. There was no pain for them,' She went on to explain that Eijiro broke his neck, likely while still in the car. Denki was crushed by the car, and Katsuki hit his head on a rock. 'The other car's driver did survive the crash. They lost control in the snow.'
Izuku cried then. No, he was not crying; he was bawling so much that they had to sedate him. After leaving the hospital, he was constantly in and out of mental and medical facilities trying to get over the accident. Doctors, therapists, neurologists, counselors, psychologists; none of them had really helped him to heal. Of course, such a tragic life event wouldn't heal overnight, in a few years, or even for a lifetime. All Izuku could do was MANAGE it, but he had to quit his job and sell the apartment he shared with Kacchan. Now he was dependent on government assistance for the time being.
He had even attempted suicide in the beginning on numerous occasions wanting to be with Kacchan and the others. Survivor's Guilt, they kept calling it. Why had he lived? Why did they die? Why didn't he push Kacchan harder to stay at the resort one more day? Why didn't he talk Kacchan out of forgetting about that 'big important meeting' the next day he had to go to? Why did that car hit theirs and no one else's? Why didn't they postpone the weekend trip like suggested? Why didn't they stay for dessert at their last dinner?
All these questions were constantly on a hamster wheel inside his head, and if he had done any of them, then…Kacchan and his friends would still be alive.
'Izuku, do you remember anything before the crash?' One of the doctors had asked him when he awoke from the coma.
'Apples.' Izuku had replied, his voice hoarse and dry.
'Apples?' The nurse repeated, a little confused, as she wiped away his tears.
Through the oxygen mask, Izuku repeated the game they were playing. 'I'm going…on a…picnic…and I'm…I'm bringing…apples…bananas…c-car!' He broke down, and they had to sedate him again.
To this day, Izuku is triggered by the sight of apples and bananas in all forms. He hasn't been in a car or any type of transportation since the accident. He barely leaves the studio apartment, but when he does, he takes the little scooter given to him by his neighbor's kid or he walks. Izuku could tolerate the scooter, not caring that he was an adult man on a child-sized mode of transportation. If it's possible, he would always choose to walk.
His watch beeped. It was time to take his pills.
Izuku only saved and brought a few things with him when he left his and Bakugo's apartment. Most of the stuff had been Kacchan's, as he couldn't bear to part with any of it.
Everything reminded him of Kacchan, his lover and best childhood friend. The mug he used, the ONLY mug he had, was Kacchan's. It was a white cup with a bluebird perched on a branch and words reading in cursive, 'Good Morning, Asshole.' And he had ALWAYS drank from the same side of the mug. Izuku traced the few teeth marks left on the rim from Bakugo's frequent mug use. He could picture his lover holding this mug like it was yesterday. He even wore Bakugo's clothes.
Two months ago, a small intervention was held for him by his high school friends, Ochaco and Tsu, Kacchan's parents, and one of his past therapists. The intervention was an attempt to help him heal by 'taking away' a large majority of Bakugo's things. They said that harboring over the past, especially every little item, wasn't helping him to heal mentally, that he had to move on with his life, as his friends would have wanted him to. Izuku had agreed, but he suffered a mental breakdown when Ochaco washed the throw pillow covers.
'You washed his smell away!' Izuku yelled at her, crying and clutching the pillowcase. It had smelled of Bakugo's shampoo, and even though it had been slowly fading, the slight aroma was enough to give Izuku some comfort.
He apologized to her- it wasn't her fault. Everyone was trying to help him. At the end of it, Bakugo's parents took most of their son's stuff. Izuku still had his phone with all their pictures on it, which was another item they wanted to take away, but he refused. He would go through all the pictures of him, Kacchan, and their friends.
Izuku loved the last two pictures, even though the guilt and sorrow hurt him the most. The second to last was the picture he took of Kacchan in their hotel bed after a heavy round of early-morning lovemaking. Very, very, VERY rarely was his Kacchan romantic, but for some reason, as if he knew there would be a tragedy that day, they had a romantic morning. There was a special side to Katsuki Bakugo that only HE knew, and Izuku never shared it with anyone.
That morning, they ordered room service, ate, made love, and shared lunch with their friends.
The last picture in the camera roll was of the four at the resort just before they left. They had asked a person to take their picture. They posed in front of the large window that overlooked the ski slopes. Eijiro was on the far left, with his arm around Denki and the other giving a thumbs up. Denki had his arms around Eijiro and Izuku's shoulders, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Bakugo was on the other end, giving a thumbs down and frowning. They were all happy at that moment and completely unaware of what would happen in just a few hours.
Izuku opened his phone's calendar and saw that tomorrow would mark one year since they had the accident. His heart started to race with panic, so he took one of his many anxiety meds. What was he going to do tomorrow, on the anniversary of that fateful day? He didn't want to be alone- that much he knew, or rather, he recognized that being alone tomorrow could potentially be dangerous for his mental health. So, he messaged Ochaco, asking if she would spend the day with him tomorrow.
She responded shortly, saying 'yes,' and that she and her girlfriend Tsu would go to a new witch shop that had opened up in the LGBTQ+ district, and he was more than welcome to come along. Izuku messaged back that he would meet them there tomorrow.
'A witch shop, huh?' Izuku walked across the room to part the single curtain and looked out the tiny window. 'I wonder if they could bring my friends back to life…' But that was just wishful thinking.
Izuku looked up at the black sign with gold letters that read, 'Of Smoke and Soil,' with three smaller ones hanging down that read, 'tarot readings,' 'crystal ball,' and 'palm reading.' Where were the girls, he wondered? He was starting to feel a little panicked by their tardiness.
A drop of water fell on his head, and Izuku looked up to see that it was starting to rain. He hadn't looked at the forecast, and he didn't have an umbrella or a hood. The rain fell harder, but he didn't care. He just stood there, letting the rain flatten his hair and dampen his clothes.
"Izuku!" It was Ochaco with Tsu. Both had umbrellas. "Izuku, why are you standing out in the rain?" She asked, lifting her umbrella a little higher to cover his head.
"I was waiting for you and Tsu…"
"We're sorry we're a bit late," Tsu said. "There was traffic coming here on the bus,"
"At least you're not too wet to go inside," Ochaco took his arm into hers. "Come on, let's get you inside." She and Tsu agreed that they were not to talk about the accident unless Izuku brought it up.
The shop was bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside. Smells of white sage and jasmine filled his nostrils and hurt his sinuses a bit. It was a nice shop with altar candles, crystals, incense, and all things witchy. Izuku went over to the book section and read the titles. He had managed to find the will to read books throughout the year, and he couldn't pass up books when he saw them. They weren't his genre of reading, though. The books were about the universe, tarot, runes, and other mystical things. The parallel universe one sparked his interest, however, and he picked it up to flip through it. The girls were smelling all the candles.
"That's a great book," said the shopkeeper, an elderly woman dressed in a mix of Hot Topic and the 1960s. "Do you believe in multiple universes?"
Izuku gave her a slim smile. "I wish I did," he told her. "Then maybe…they would still be alive…"
"Hm. You have a very dark aura around you, friend. You said you've suffered a loss?"
Izuku nodded. "My boyfriend and two friends…we were…in a car crash a year ago on this day," he put the book down and laid his hand on it. "I miss them," he whispered, trying to hold back his tears.
"You poor soul," she walked around the counter and took his hand. "Come into the back. I want to show you something,"
"Huh? What's in the back?" Izuku asked, wiping his tears.
"Something that may help to comfort you on this day," She said.
Izuku told the girls he was going into the back for a moment and would return. He followed the shop owner into the back, where she did her readings. Izuku assumed she would sit him at her crystal ball or take out some tarot cards, but instead, she brought him to the storage room. There were boxes filled with items, but something was hanging on the wall, covered with purple cloth. Izuku's eyes fell right on it, and it seemed to call out to him.
"Sometimes mirrors show us our reflections," she started saying. "And other times, they show us other worlds or present us with an image we wish to see the most." She pulled on the purple cloth to reveal a large, body-sized antique mirror that looked like it came from Marie Antoinette's chambers. "I normally charge for the use of this mirror, but for you, it's on the house,"
Izuku thanked her, then watched her leave the storage room, and he was alone. He hated looking in mirrors, but could this be a magic mirror of some kind? If he wished hard enough, could he see Kacchan and his friends again? He konked himself on the head. 'You idiot, Deku!' he said to himself in Kacchan's voice. 'You know damned well magic doesn't exist!' Still, the mirror seemed to be calling to him, and seemed to be pulling him over to it. Izuku held his breath and stepped in front of the mirror.
There was only his reflection.
Izuku sighed. "What was I hoping to see? Deku…you dummy…"
'Hey! Who's there!?'
Izuku's eyes widened. Did he…did he just hear Bakugo's voice? He did! And it was coming from inside the mirror. No. This had to be some trick, Izuku thought. But he couldn't tear his eyes from the mirror. He distinctly heard Kacchan's voice! How could that be a trick? How would the shop owner know what Bakugo sounded like? Reaching out a hesitant hand, he touched the mirror.
"K-Kacchan?"
'What the hell? Who are you?' The voice was muffled, as if it were far away.
Izuku gasped! There it was again! Bakugo's voice! And it was coming from the mirror!
"Kacchan! Where are you? I'm right here!" His hands searched the mirror, looking for something, anything, that would explain how he could hear Bakugo's voice. 'It must just be my mind wanting to hear his voice today,' Izuku reasoned with himself, slumping forward against the mirror and staring hard at the floor. 'I want to hear his voice…so I imagine it…'
Suddenly, he felt lightheaded, and it seemed like he was folding forward. Izuku tried to move away, but was stuck in the mirror! He tried to pull his hands away again, and instead, they slipped INSIDE the mirror! Izuku tried to call for help, but his voice was silent. The mirror was pulling him in! He fell into the rest of it, feeling the pulls on his body like knives stabbing his flesh. Then, the pain was gone, and he landed on something hard.
"Ouch!" He hissed, sitting up to rub his lower back and tailbone. "That hurt…"
"Where did you come from?" Said a deep voice.
Izuku looked up and he gasped when he saw Bakugo standing before him.
"K-Kacchan? Is it…is it really you?"
Bakugo, or the Bakugo-look-alike, suddenly raised a hand ax above his head. "WHAT TRICK IS THIS?"
"AH! WAIT! KACCHAN! DON'T!"
TBC