WOW this chapter could be tough to write. I overhauled it near the last minute to try and get it how I wanted. Hope you enjoy!


Izuku glared at Kacchan.

Kacchan maintained eye contact, but it was strained, like he was fighting every urge to look away from Izuku's hard stare.

It was funny, back in the day Izuku was always so scared of Kacchan, cowering from every one of his glares. Yet now he was utterly unafraid, while Kacchan was the nervous one.

My, how things have changed.

"You bullied me," Izuku said.

Kacchan nodded. "I did." His tone was matter-of-fact, but Izuku could hear the guilt behind it. "For ten years. I refused to look at my own weakness, and instead looked down on you. I made you pay for my own insecurities." Kacchan hung his head. "I'm sorry. For everything."

It was real. Izuku could tell from the tone. His guilt, his apology…they were real. Izuku had once dreamed of hearing those words. Hearing them now…

It felt like a dream.

Kacchan was actually saying that to him. Izuku should be over the moon. And yet, he wasn't.

"So that's why?" Izuku said. "Beneath all that bluster, you were insecure? You?"

"Yeah. My destiny was laid out the moment I got my quirk. I was the strongest, one of the smartest, I was destined to be a Hero and rise above that crappy school. But you…even when it became impossible, you kept striving for your dream. At least until I finally crushed it when I told you to commit suicide."

"You still think it's impossible, don't you?" Izuku shouldn't be disappointed, All Might was the same after all. But part of him had hoped…

Izuku didn't say anything for several seconds. Finally, he said, "That wasn't what crushed my dreams."

"What?"

"Your words weren't what crushed my dreams of being a Hero Kacchan. In fact, that wasn't even the worst thing that happened to me that day. It wasn't even the second worst thing to happen to me that day." Izuku stared at the ground. "The end of my dream had nothing to do with you."

He slowly looked up, and saw Kacchan with his jaw open in what Izuku could only describe as a look of utter shock.

"It…didn't?"


How?! Katsuki was the one bullying Izuku the most! Of everyone, his blows were the hardest and his verbal cuts the deepest. That day was the last day Izuku still talked about being a Hero. After that, the nerd disappeared for a few days. When he finally reappeared, he'd given up.

All this time it was something else?

Izuku jabbed an accusatory finger at Katsuki. "Don't think I'm letting you off the hook. You still battered and bruised my hopes and my sense of self-worth until both were a brittle mess one good blow from breaking! The fact that you didn't throw said blow doesn't absolve you!" The anger faded from Izuku's eyes, replaced by pain. "Kacchan, do you have any idea what it's like to live without hope? Or even meaning?"

"Did you…" Katsuki didn't want to ask, but he had to. "Did you consider it? My…suggestion?"

"I never made any plans," Izuku said. That wasn't an answer.

"I didn't mean it you know," Katsuki said. "That doesn't change how horrible it was but…I wouldn't have said it if I thought there was even a chance you'd try it."

Izuku nodded. "I know. My life felt worthless in that last year at Aldera you know. For the next year…I didn't even have the strength to envy you. I was just…empty."

"If it makes you feel any better, our dreams weren't as glamorous as we thought," Katsuki said. "In my first year at UA my class was attacked by a group of murderous Villains twice and I got kidnapped. Even after graduating…Heroism can be an unforgiving career. We've all had close calls."

Izuku nodded. "I remember your First year. It was horrible you had to go through that kind of thing, especially at that age. I can only imagine what the life of a pro is like. But trust me, it's better to look death in the eye a hundred times striving for something higher than to live without hope or purpose. Take it from someone who's done both."

"What happened?" Katsuki said. "How'd you get out of all that?"

"I found a new dream. And friends. Real friends." Izuku said, a smile coming to his lips.

"What dream?" It was hard to imagine the nerd geeking out over anything but Heroes. Then again, Katsuki was preferred the nerd move on to the alternative.

Izuku waved an arm toward the nearby town. "Fighting kaiju."

"Eh?" The words went through Katsuki's head several times until…

"You mean…you fought the thing that did this?"

"Yep!" Izuku said, folding his arms with a confident smile.

"But you don't have a quirk!"

"But I do have a tank! You'd be surprised what someone can do with the proper weapons and training."

Right, he'd been working on said tank when Katsuki first ran into him. Katsuki supposed that did even the odds, but it said something about how outmatched Izuku was against creatures like that when he needed something as excessive as a tank to fight it. Still, there was one thing Katsuki needed to know.

"How long have you been doing this?" Katsuki said.

"Been fighting monsters for seven years now. Almost as long as you've been a Hero." There was an edge to that last sentence that Katsuki almost didn't recognize. A boast.

"You forbid my fr-colleagues from joining that fight," Katsuki said. "Why?"

"Because they're not strong enough, nor trained enough, nor well-armed enough," Izuku said. Izuku clearly believed what he was saying, but there was a proud edge to his words. "Godzilla is our fight. Just about any Hero would be, at best, useless in a battle."

Katsuki narrowed his eyes. "You like that, don't you?"

Izuku held his gaze. "What?"

"I spent our entire damn childhood telling you that you couldn't be a Hero, and now you get to tell Heroes to piss off while you do the fighting. Don't tell me that doesn't feel at least a little satisfying?"

Izuku glared. "I don't tell them to stay out of it just to show off Kacchan. They couldn't help if they tried."

"But would you want them to help if they could? Especially if you needed help?"

Izuku's glare intensified. "But we don't need help. We can fight kaiju just fine on our own!"

Katsuki could tell he'd just stepped on a landmine. Then again, given his past with Izuku's dreams, could Katsuki blame the nerd for being defensive about them? That wasn't an answer, but Katsuki decided to let it go. Instead he said, "So…you like fighting these animals?"

"Of course," Izuku said. "It's been my dream since I was sixteen."

Katsuki wondered if this, dealing with quirked animals, was a substitute for Hero work, or if there was something more. "Why?"

Izuku's eyes grew distant. "Because…when I'm out there, fighting things so horrible yet so magnificent, protecting others, doing what should be impossible for someone like me…I guess in those moments I've never felt more alive. Some think I want to die, but it's the opposite. I want to live. Out there, I do that."

Katsuki should call him crazy for that. Instead he felt an odd respect. It almost sounded like how Katsuki felt when fighting Villains. However, he couldn't bring himself to admit that. Instead he folded his arms and said, "Good, I was starting to worry you just had a damn death wish or something."

Izuku chuckled. "I've been in the AMF for over seven years Kacchan," he said glancing at the surf. "G-Force six. If I was this bad at dying, I doubt even a swan dive would do it."

Katsuki flinched.

"By the way, after I went back to school, I always saw you coming early and leaving late," Izuku said turning back to Katsuki. "Was, you know, that the reason?"

Katsuki nodded. "Had to be sure."

"I thought so."


Izuku felt his stomach coiling as he considered this conversation. The rage he'd felt when remembering the pain. The admiration he'd once had. The honesty in Kacchan's apology. He felt torn.

"Part of me wants to forgive you Kacchan, really. But all that pain left scars. Ten years of bitterness isn't something that I can just throw off. Not in one conversation. Please, give me a few days to process this. Then I'll tell you what I feel.

Kacchan nodded. "Alright, I will. But first, hit me."

Izuku did a double take. "W-what?!"

"I said, hit me."

"Why?!"

"Because, it'll let you vent and act as a symbolic final shot in all this. And I deserve it."

"Do you use violence for all your problems?!"

"Are you saying you don't want to slug me?"

Izuku opened his mouth to lie. Kacchan raised an eyebrow. Right, he'd probably see right through that.

It looks like Izuku had no choice. He'd have to hit…Kacchan.

Izuku took a boxing stance and did his best not to grin.

As Izuku readied himself, he noticed Kacchan's eyes locked on his own. Most skilled fighters watched their opponent's eyes, to see where their opponent was planning to hit. Kacchan was likely doing this out of habit.

Still.

Izuku stared at Kacchan's left cheek. He wound up. Kacchan clenched his jaw.

Izuku punched him in the gut.

"Oof!" Kacchan doubled over. "You little shit!"

Izuku tried not to laugh.

"You did that on purpose!"

"Did what?" Izuku said in the most innocent tone he could.

"You're a shit liar you know that?"

Izuku reached out to help Kacchan, but Kacchan batted his hand away. "I'm fine."

"You know," Izuku said. "That did feel pretty good."

Kacchan grumbled, but Izuku could tell it was fake.

"By the way, there's something I wanted to know," Izuku said. "Why'd you start to hate me? We were friends. Why'd that change?"

Kacchan looked away. Was his face red? "It…it's really dumb."

Izuku folded his arms.

"Remember that day when we were four and I fell in the creek? You tried to help me and I got pissy?"

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "No? Why?"

"That was it. I saw you offering to help me and I felt you were looking down on me. You, the weak pebble on my path was helping me, the one destined for greatness. All the way through Middle School I never forgot that day, that rage I felt when you-"

"A creek."

Izuku stared at Kacchan blankly. "You bullied me for ten years, made my life a living nightmare…because I offered to help you out of a creek? When we were four?"

"Yeah I told you it was dumb! You don't have to rub it in!"

"I think I do," Izuku said, feeling oddly cheerful. "That is easily the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and I've read about Operation Hedorah. In fact, I've reached a new serenity brought about by reaching what is either a whole new level of rage or profound disappointment. I knew it wouldn't make sense, but I didn't expect your motive to be that plain dumb."

"I get it! I was a petty dumbass before UA! Do you have anything else to add?!"

"No I think that's it," Izuku said. He still muttered "a creek" a few more times under his breath over the next minute.

As Izuku's mind continued its valiant effort to grapple with just how idiotic the reason for his lousy childhood was, he heard approaching footsteps. Turning, Izuku saw his team approaching.

"We wanted to make sure everything was alright," said Zeni. "And if we needed to hold him down for you."

"It's fine," Izuku said. "I think…I think it went fine.

"You both alright?" Chargebolt (Kaminari) said approaching from the other side with a few of his friends.

"Yeah," Izuku said. "I think we might be." And he actually meant it.

Exhaustion began to seep in. That conversation took a lot out of him "I'm going to bed," Izuku said. "Kacchan? Thanks for talking. I'm…I'm glad we spoke."

"Me too," said Kacchan, still rubbing the spot Izuku punched.

Izuku waved to the others and began to walk away.

"Hope we all sleep well and don't have to deal with a Ghidorah sized dinosaur again!" said Kaminari.

"Godzilla's long gone," said Zeni.

"Oh good," said Kaminari. "How'd they kill the actual Ghidorah again?"

"Why are you looking at me Denki? How would I know?"

"I don't know, Kyoka! I just turn to you for answers on reflex!"

"I think they used a special bomb or-"

"Miniature black hole!" Izuku yelled over his shoulder.

"We had miniature black holes too?!" said Zeni. "Get back here! You need to explain!"

Izuku grinned and did not go back to explain.

As Izuku got into his sleeping bag, he stretched out and let out a deep sigh. He and Kacchan weren't friends, but they'd gone a long way tonight.

As sleep took him, Izuku felt like an enormous weight finally start to lift.


That bit about the creek wasn't NECESSARY per see...but I couldn't resist making fun of it! Kacchan totally deserves it!

Hope you enjoyed! Reviews make me smile!