Chapter 21

Chapter Text

"So…um," Hitoshi said hoping that Midoriya was still in the vicinity, "this is probably a weird question for a ghost, but do you need somewhere to stay?"

A black whip appeared, rippling in place rather than up and down or side to side.

"Is that a…a maybe?"

The whip rippled again.

"Well that cleared things up," Katsuki said sarcastically. It was true that they hadn't known each other very long, but Hitoshi was already noticing that Katsuki used sarcasm and anger as a way to cope with feeling vulnerable. Considering they were talking to the ghost version of the student he'd accidentally killed, sarcasm was far better than anger right now.

But sorting out their communication problem quickly was probably a good idea. "Can I use my quirk on you?"

Midoriya didn't hesitate to agree. That was kind of nice from Hitoshi's perspective. Most people feared what he might do while they were helpless. He didn't blame them for their reaction, but it did make Midoriya's enthusiasm sweeter.

"So…" Hitoshi said, trying to think of a question to use, "um…come here often?"

He heard Midoriya's soft giggle the moment he grabbed the connection. But it was different to any other connection he'd had before. Instead of having control over Midoriya it almost felt the other way around, except that wasn't quite right either.

"Wow," a voice said inside Hitoshi's mind, sounding awed. "Your quirk is incredible."

"Do I need to speak out loud?"

Bakugo gave him a raised eyebrow. Hitoshi shrugged helplessly.

"Don't think so," Midoriya said inside his mind. "But I think Kacchan might appreciate it."

"Kacchan?" he asked out loud just to see Katsuki's reaction.

His eyes lit up and he seemed really happy. Of course being Bakugo Katsuki meant he also quickly hid the reaction in case someone else might see him. They were still in the classroom after all.

"Hey, nerd," he grumbled. "Welcome back."

Midoriya giggled again. "Hitoshi, is it okay for you to pass a message to Kacchan?"

"Not a problem," Hitoshi said, grinning at Katsuki. "Just call me 'ghoostly translate.'"

"That was terrible," both Midoriya and Katsuki said at the same time. Hitoshi couldn't quell the excited laugh that bubbled out of him. There was no doubt these two had known each other.

"Okay," he said, trying to be serious, "before you ruin my stoic reputation, what would you like me to pass on to Kacchan?"

"Tell him it's not 'welcome back' because I never really left. I've been following him since I died."

When Hitoshi passed that on, Katsuki looked a little green.

"So you know about…?" Hitoshi asked, not wanting to say anything out loud.

"Who your dads are? Yes. And Kacchan's change in living circumstances. Yes. And about my mum and what she did to Kacchan."

Hitoshi nodded, rather than repeating any of that out loud. He'd give more details when they had guaranteed privacy at home.

"And yes. I was also at the USJ."

"That was kind of hard to miss," Hitoshi said, grinning at Katsuki and silently inviting Todoroki to join the conversation. He'd been lingering in the doorway—not having left the classroom when everyone else did—and had seemed anxious earlier to thank the black whip user. "Midoriya just confirmed that it was him at the USJ."

"Figured that out already, nerd," Katsuki said, rolling his eyes but grinning nevertheless.

"I would like to offer my very sincere gratitude for your assistance," Todoroki said in a formal tone, bowing toward the empty space on Hitoshi's right.

"He's so nice," Midoriya said, sounding like he was trying to whisper. "And…um…tell him it was an honor to fight beside him."

"He says it was an honor to fight beside you, Todoroki."

Todoroki nodded, bowed again, and then turned and left the room.

"An honor?" Katsuki asked, sounding amused. "Just because he's Endeavor's son? Phttt, hero nerd."

"Ha," Midoriya scoffed, "as if Kacchan isn't an even bigger hero nerd than me. Ask him about his limited edition All Might figurines. Even when we were six he kept them under lock and key."

"Limited edition All Might figurines?" Hitoshi repeated out loud.

"Oi," Katsuki said, unable to hide his smile, "stop spilling my secrets, Zuku."

"Aww, he hasn't called me that since we were six. He's such a softie under all that explosive personality."

"I take it he really is forgiven then. We didn't misunderstand your black whip earlier?"

"He was forgiven the moment it happened. In another universe I probably would have…dodged."

"Midoriya?" Hitoshi asked anxiously, unsure why the connection between them wavered.

"Sorry," Midoriya said eventually. "Just a um… forgotten memory resurfacing."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so, probably. I mean, I have a few things to think over. I was planning to follow you guys home again tonight, if that's okay? Unless that's like… really uncomfortable now that you know I'm there."

"Not uncomfortable," Hitoshi said, honestly meaning it. "I'm just sorry I didn't realize you were there earlier. Dad will probably want to book an appointment for you with Hound Dog now that we have an easier way to communicate."

"That's… actually probably a good idea. I…um… I plan to refine my use of blackwhip so that I can hold a pen and use a keyboard. I suspect I have plenty of practice in my future. Just as well I don't need to sleep."

"You don't sleep?" Hitoshi asked out loud just to see Katsuki's reaction.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "He's a ghost, eyebags. Everyone knows they don't sleep."

"Right," Hitoshi said, drawing out the word to make it clear that he was making fun of Katsuki. "Known a lot of ghosts then?"

"Come on," Katsuki said, reaching for his bag. "May as well get started on our homework while we wait for your dads."

"Okay," Midoriya said, "I'm just going to go check in with All Might. Can't exactly do my homework the conventional way right now."

"Why All Might?" Hitoshi asked, curiously.

"He trained me before UA. He's the reason I made it into the hero course."

"Wow, and I thought I had an advantage with two hero dads teaching me."

Hitoshi could feel Midoriya's amusement. "I'm not sure dying on the second day of classes was in the training plan."

"Probably not," Hitoshi agreed. "It doesn't seem to have affected your ability to fight, though."

Midoriya laughed. "I'm definitely not complaining about that. I'll meet you back at your place, okay?"

"Okay," Hitoshi agreed. He felt the tug on his quirk and released Midoriya from his hold. "See you at home."

~*~

But before checking on All Might, Izuku turned his thoughts inward as he searched for details on a young girl from a future that hadn't yet happened and hopefully never would.