Chapter Text
“Oi, I’m not gonna fucking repeat myself, you shitty nerd!”
Deku stopped in his tracks, his eyes locked on Bakugou’s back. The green haired boy took another step, slowly, his eyes firm and set. In a flash, fire came hurtling at him with great force. Deku barely managed to avoid it, his eyes displaying the awe that made Bakugou feel both indestructible and disgusted.
“Sorry Kacchan, but Mom said I had to come with you to make sure you don’t cause “unnecessary damage’” Deku made air quotes with his fingers, which only seemed to anger the blond before him.
“Tch, I can handle myself,” Bakugou mumbled with a huff.
Deku took a few steps forward until he was right beside him, a smile present on his face. “Yeah, we know you can handle yourself,” They began walking along the familiar shoreline, Deku waving at some of the people on their boats, “it’s just that, you can’t seem to keep your Firebending to yourself.” He whispered the last part. Bakugou scowled.
Bakugou wasn’t stupid. He knew any Firebender living in any of the other Nations was treated like shit. He still had no idea how he had managed to remain off anyone’s radar for so long, given he seemed to Fire bend at any given opportunity. Deku was probably the only one who wasn’t terrified by the destruction his people had brought. It was one of the things he noticed when he first moved to the village. The way the other villagers watched the occasional fire bender or the things they would do to them when alone. The fact that Deku didn’t mind and actually encouraged the use of his bending made him feel less like the monster the world made him out to be.
Normally, he wouldn’t mind Deku coming with him to his usual training spot (although he would never admit it aloud), today was not the case. A certain blond had gotten on his nerves that morning on his way to pick up some ingredients Auntie Inko had asked him to pick up. When he came home, Inko noticed his attitude immediately and shoved him outside to let out some steam. Before he knew it, Deku was trailing behind him. He wasn’t making him feel any better. Not at all.
“Whatever,” They came to a stop in front of a cave far enough away from the boats and the village. Deku looked around quickly before taking a seat in the sand a few feet away from where the sea and the sand clashed. In his satchel, he pulled out a worn out notebook and pencil, flipping to his most recent page.
“Alright, the coast is clear. Let’s see, where did we leave off…” Deku trailed off, searching the page until his eyes landed on a few circles that Bakugou couldn’t decipher. “Right, your AP Shot move.” He looked up to Bakugou, who was busy stretching. “By the way, doesn’t the name sound a bit tacky? Maybe we co-”
“Shut the hell up Deku! It’s my move, so I call the shots, got it?” Deku didn’t respond, instead choosing to shrink into his clothes. Bakugou stood up straight, taking a deep breath. He raised his arm towards the cave, aiming at one of the many rocks he could make out from inside the cave. Control it, you’re the one in control. The flames threatened to burst from his hand, the force almost too much for him to handle. His arm shook, sweat beginning to cover his forehead from the immense concentration he was projecting on his hand. When he could feel sweat beads forming on his palms, he released.
A tiny spark cracked in his palm. He growled. Deku, on the other hand, was taking this more positively. “We got something!” He began scribbling in his notebook frantically. “Did you change anything since yesterday that could’ve caused this?”
Bakugou clenched his hand tightly. “Yeah, I wanted to see if my sweat could help as fuel, kinda like oil,” His eyes narrowed at the cave. All he could manage to produce was a tiny spark. This wouldn’t do, he was Bakugou Katsuki. How could someone as incredible as him create something so pathetic?
“Oh!” Even without seeing him, Bakugou could swear Deku was sparkling behind him. His pencil scribbled across his notebook, his lips muttering incoherent words. When it finally ceased to exist, Bakugou raised his arm back up. Once again focusing the flames to his hands, he closed his eyes. The force of his flames bottling up grew bigger and bigger. With every passing second, he could feel it starting to slip out. His brows furrowed. It was hard to breathe. You're in control. You’re in control. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and his hands. Hold it, Katsuki!
When enough sweat formed on his hands, he let go once more. An explosion in the shape of a beam came shooting from his hand, missing the rock he was aiming for completely and instead disappearing into the darkness of the cave.
Deku gasped. He scurried over to Bakugou, who was still breathing heavily and staring inside the cave to where his AP Shot had been fired. “Wow, you actually did it, Kacchan! This is incredible! So from what we just discovered, benders are able to change the form of their element depending on our body’s response. So if we combine enough sweat with firebending concentrated in one singular area, it can produce a shot….”
Bakugou squinted at the cave, completely ignoring Deku’s rant about this new discovery. Had the cave always had a blue glow inside of it? Was he just seeing things since his AP Shot took so much of his energy? “Oi, nerd,” Deku stopped talking and turned his attention to Bakugou. “Does that cave look...different to you?”
Now it was Deku’s turn to squint into the cave. “I don’t know, Kacchan, it’s hard to see inside, ya know, since it’s a cave!”
“Stop giving me sass, you piece of shit. Look closer,” Bakugou practically shoved Deku inside. He wasn’t seeing things, he was Bakugou Katsuki. If he saw a slight blue hue inside now, it was because there was something blue inside.
A few seconds passed before Deku finally spoke. “I mean, it seems more blue, but you can barely see the difference. It’s probably nothing,”
“Let’s go see.”
Deku all but leaped onto Bakugou, notebook long forgotten. “What? We can’t just go inside, anything could be in there! Besides, I read somewhere that caves can go on for miles with many twists and turns, we could get lost in there!”
In one swift motion, Bakugou threw his companion off of him and trudged forward, creating a small flame in his palm. “Keep being a pussy, if you don’t wanna fucking come, then don’t. I can handle it.” Those words had Deku standing on his feet in an instant. Yeah, he couldn’t leave Bakugou all alone. In a cave. A cave that could easily collapse on him if he went on one of his firebending rampages inside. His feet moved before he could stop them, walking behind the blond while his face displayed nothing but terror.
Nothing seemed off once they were actually inside. It just looked like any other cave would, or at least, what they assumed the inside of the cave looked. Truth be told, they had never actually gone inside. Still, Bakugou continued forward, his foot kicking a small pebble into the darkness. The more steps they took, the more a vibrant, blue hue seemed to engulf them. As Deku’s fear turned to excitement, Bakugou’s seemed to dwindle, now on guard for anything that seemed suspicious.
The two stopped before a small pond inside the cave emitting a small, blue color. “Oh, it’s just the water,” Deku sighed in disappointment.
At this point, Bakugou’s flame was no longer necessary. For some reason, the water seemed to be providing enough light for them to see clearly. “Hold it, Nerd,” Bakugou looked around warrily until his eyes landed on a crack. Except it wasn’t just any crack. Thin, blue lines seemed to be engraved inside, most likely caused from his shot. A few shattered pieces littered the ground in front of the rock. They almost looked like crystals.
“Let’s check that out,” Bakugou pointed to his finding. Deku followed his finger, squinting until he finally saw what had caught Bakugou’s attention. They cautiously walked around the pool of water and stood before the giant rock of a wall.
“Was this the result of your AP Shot?”
“No shit, Sherlock,” Another small flame erupted from his fingers as he brought it closer to the small hole.
“Kacchan,” Deku pressed his ear into the cold rock, his green orbs widening, “I hear breathing!”
Just as the words left Deku’s mouth, the flames in Bakugou’s hand caught a pair of closed eyes. A person. There was a person inside.
At this point, the blond didn’t like the feeling of any of this. What was a person even doing inside of a cave? Not only that, but engulfed by rocks? Well, not my problem, the person's probably dead anyway. He was about ready to dip from the cave. “Let’s just leave, we shouldn’t mess with whatever may be inside.” Bakugou said firmly, turning on his heel and already beginning to walk back in the direction they came from.
Deku, on the other hand, had other ideas. Unhooking his trusty boomerang from his waist, he brought it down onto the rock with all his might. The earth barely cracked, but it was enough to push Deku to continue on.
More and more cracks splintered, the blue glow increasing along with the strange blue lines. They split and shattered onto the ground. “Oi, stop that already, whatever’s in there is already fucking dead, no one could survive inside of a rock!” Bakugou hollered. His eyes looked back to the blue pieces. For some reason, there were less than what should’ve been there. Dark spots replaced them instead. Is that...water?
“No, there’s something here, I can’t just turn my back on someone who could need my help!” Deku yelled back. His arms were giving way from all the hits, looking more and more limp with every passing smash. It was like he couldn’t feel a thing.
“Eurgh!”
With his final smash, the rock fell in giant chunks around him, revealing a girl and what seemed to be some type of bison. The blue lines they had seen coming from the crack seemed to be connecting into them in a spider web-like pattern. It was a mesmerizing sight that took both their breaths away.
“What the fuck?” Bakugou walked forward, his ruby eyes sending daggers at the unconscious girl before him. Her clothes were covered in dirt, but he could make out the oranges and yellows of her outfit. No one in the Earth Kingdom wore those colors, and if they did, it was always paired with different shades of green (which she didn’t have). What really caught his attention was the blue arrow tattoo poking through her hair line and onto her forehead. For some reason, it looked familiar to him, but he couldn’t quite grasp where he had seen an arrow like that.
While Bakugou eyed the girl from a distance, Deku was all up in her space, making sure not to touch her. “So these small, blue lines are water from that pond over there,” Deku muttered as he stared at said lines. If you were close enough, you could manage to see them flowing into the girl’s mouth. “That must’ve been how she and...that...mammal?...are still alive. Hmmm….”
Thinking, Deku brought his hand up to his messy hair, scratching it in hopes it would help him better understand whatever the heck was going on. He picked up his boomerang from the ground and held it up to the girl. He poked it lightly into her dangling arms suspiciously.
Her eyes flew open, causing the boys to stumble and fall onto the ground. Her eyes glowed blue, along with the arrows as she stepped out of what remained of the rock. The bison growled to life as well, looking around until it spotted the boys. It blinked curiously, tilting its head at them.
The blue glow emitting from the girl faded, leaving behind light brown eyes that rolled to the back of her head as she collapsed onto the ground. “Ugh,” She groaned, a hand coming to cup her head.
Deku hid behind Bakugou as they watched the girl doing her best to keep herself sitting up. The blond stepped forward towards her cautiously until he was kneeling next to her. He felt Deku nudge him forward. He let out an annoyed sigh but gently put an arm on her back to help support her.
She opened her eyes slowly, blinking. Her big, brown eyes looked onto Bakugou. “Please, can you come closer?” She managed to get out before coughing. He frowned, but did as she said nonetheless. “I just have one question.”
“What?” His expression softened a bit at her, much to his surprise. There was something about her that just captivated him. Maybe it was the way her body seemed to lean onto him, or the pink of her round cheeks. Whatever it was scared him.
“Will you go Fishopotamus flying with me?” She smiled happily at him. The question caught him so off guard that it made his arm fall. She yelped as her back came into contact with the ground. Bakugou growled at her as he stood up. He walked past Deku and started staring at the glowing lake to distract himself.
Deku all but leaped to help her up. His arm reached out to her, a smile spreading across his face. “Hi there, it appears you were stuck in that rock. Here, let me help you up!” She looked up at him, hesitating before accepting his hand. He easily pulled her up, holding onto her to make sure she could stand. “How did you even get stuck in there, if you don’t mind me asking? Do you know for how long you’ve been there?” Deku started asking.
“I’m not sure, all I know is it was raining. Ugh, my head hurts a little...” She held onto her head, leaning against Deku to hold herself up. A small blush erupted from his cheeks at the close contact.
“Here, I’ll take you to my h-house and we’ll get you some f-f-food, how does that sound?” Deku stammered, his other hand doing frantic motions.
“That sounds like shit,” They turned to Bakugou. “We don’t know who she is and you want to take her home? That’s the dumbest fucking idea I’ve ever heard!” He turned on his heel and looked over his shoulder to send a fiery glare at the girl. She didn’t even flinch and instead seemed unbothered by his distrust. “I don’t give two shits about you, let’s go Deku.” With that said, he started walking back to where they had entered.
“We can’t just leave her here, Kacchan! Even though she’s a stranger, we have to help her, that’s what the Great Swords Master would do!”
“Yes, we can leave her here! She can manage on her own, what makes you think she needs our help?”
Deku remained quiet. His grip on the girl tightened as he stared at Bakugou’s back. “Still, we should help her,” he whispered.
Bakugou didn’t say anything. He knew that no matter what he said, Deku wouldn’t listen to him. There was no point in trying to change his mind.
“Here, let’s go, you must be hungry. By the way, what’s your name? I don’t think I’ve asked you yet,”
“Oh, my name’s Uraraka-Uraraka Ochako. Your name’s Deku, right?” She asked.
The echo of the cave caught Bakugou’s snickers. Deku, on the other hand, just smiled through the pain of being called a name meant to make fun of him. “Actually, my name is Midoriya Izuku, Kacchan just calls me that,”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, I hope I didn’t offend you!” She frantically said, “I just thought that “Deku” was a nice, cute name!”
A blush reappeared on Deku’s face. “Deku it is then!” He practically shouted. With each passing second, Bakugou found it harder to not break out laughing.
It became quiet all of a sudden, the only sound being the droplets of water. “So...what were you guys doing in a cave?” Uraraka asked. “I just never hear anyone saying, “Wow, I’m gonna go to a cave!” for fun, ya know?”
“None of your damn business,” Bakugou silenced her. Uraraka glared at him from behind. This guy was getting on her nerves, and it hadn’t even been 10 minutes since they had met. She glanced over at Deku, who was caught staring at her. He blushed for the millionth time that day, causing a giggle to escape her lips.
“What is that? I don’t think I’ve ever seen any creature like it before,” Deku pointed to the bison trailing behind them, changing the subject.
“Oh, that’s just Koda, my Flying Bison,” She gave Koda a small pat on the head. It let out a sound similar to a purr, leaning into her delicate touch. She giggled. Deku looked “Koda” up and down, his eyes sparkling. Uraraka glanced at Bakugou, who hadn’t turned around at all. Most people liked hearing of a Flying Bison (at least that’s the normal reaction she got when she visited the other Nations). A part of her wanted to talk with him, but she fell short of what to say. He wasn’t like anyone she had ever met. Most people in the Air Temple and her old village were the opposite of whatever this boy was.
"Are you two related or…?”
Bakugou came to a complete stop. He turned around to face her curious eyes, his burning with annoyance. “If I hear one more word escape your fucking mouth, I swear I’ll make you eat shit!” He growled.
They continued walking down the cave, finally reaching the end much to Uraraka’s joy. It became very difficult to answer Deku’s endless questions while also staying quiet for Bakugou.
The sun bathed her, something she had quite forgotten. Squinting her eyes, she reached a hand to shield her from the light. When she regained her sight, a sigh escaped her lips. How long had it been since she felt the warm feel of the sun upon her skin? Why did it feel like it had been years since she had last been outside?
Waves crashed against the shore before her. “Wow, so this is what the beach looks like! I’ve always wanted to see it in person!” She ran up to it gleefully, shoving past Bakugou who’s scowl only deepened. Her shoes flew off, hitting the sand with a soft thud, completely forgotten by Uraraka.
Her feet dipped into the cool water, causing her to tense before relaxing under the feeling. The sun reflected against the water, making it appear to be sparkling. It was a view she never wanted to forget, one that she had begged Monk Thirteen to go see. Thirteen. Her smile fell from her face. Monk Thirteen would kill her (not really) when she found out she had ran away.
“Uraraka…?” She heard Deku say from behind her. “Is...is everything alright?” He reluctantly asked.
Forcing a smile on her face, she turned to look at him, “Yeah, everything is perfect!” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Bakugou’s unconvinced expression. Nothing seemed to get past him.
Deku let her lean on him as she got out of the cold water. She hissed when her feet came into contact with the sand. She hadn’t realized how hot it was when she was running into the water.
They continued on their way to Deku’s home. Uraraka had lost any will to small talk. The pit in her stomach grew in size with every passing second. All she could think of was Monk Thirteen. Her last memory. How had she and Koda gotten stuck inside of that cave and why couldn’t she remember anything? Sensing her despair, Koda nudged her lightly with his head. She smiled.
“Hey guys, how about we ride on Koda? We’ll get there much faster,” She suggested.
Deku stumbled. He looked at her, glowing from every direction. “Can we?” She nodded.
The green haired boy jumped up for joy while the blond a few steps ahead stayed planted where he stood. “Come on, Kacchan!” Deku called him from aboard the Bison.
“Hell no,” Was his only reply.
“Sorry about him, he has bad people skills.” Deku apologized. Uraraka climbed Koda and settled down on the back of his neck. She watched Bakugou walk for a bit until he turned a corner into the village and out of her sight.
“Don’t worry about it,” Her hands grabbed the reins, “Do I just follow him, then?”
“Oh, don’t follow him, I think he needs to pick something up before he goes home. I’ll tell you where to go, don’t worry.” She nodded.
“Koda, yip yip!”
They flew into the air. Koda stumbled a bit at first, but quickly regained his balance. Deku let out a high pitched scream, a river of tears flowing out of his eyes that could challenge any water bender she had ever met. As he guided her through the very short flight, the sound of children below her loudly telling bystanders to look up at the sky caused a small blush to erupt her already rosy cheeks. All this attention wasn’t something she was fond of.
Steadily, she lowered Koda onto the ground when Deku pointed to his house. When they finally managed to land, Deku’s already messy hair had become even more messy as he poked his head from the saddle. His mother, Inko, stood at the front of the door of their house. Her hands held onto thin air and a shattered plate lay around her feet. Uraraka smiled warmly as she too, descended gracefully from where she sat on Koda’s neck.
“Hi mom, has Kacchan come home yet?” He asked, planting a kiss on her cheek.
She didn’t speak, instead choosing to stare at the Flying Bison who didn’t seem to notice her gaze. “Um, mom?”
“Oh my, I’m so sorry,” She snapped out of her trance. “What is that? Who is she?” she asked Deku, pointing at Uraraka. She leaned into Deku’s ear, “Izuku, did you finally get a girlfriend?” She attempted to whisper. Of all her talents, whispering was one she was terrible at. Her words reached Uraraka’s ears, making her rub the back of her neck awkwardly.
“M-mom! N-no, t-that’s not the case!” He stammered nervously.
“Hello ma’am, I’m Uraraka Ochako, pleasure to meet you!”
“Yes, hello, I’m Izuku’s mother, Midoriya Inko. Please, come inside,” She motioned her inside. “Your...friend...can stay outside.” Uraraka nodded, holding her hand up to signal
Koda to stay before walking inside.
The house wasn’t too big. The kitchen was basic with a table surrounded by four wooden chairs. At the center was a plant encased with a pot. The living room had a small couch with a table in front of it, holding another small plant in a vase. They sure love their share of nature, Uraraka thought. What caught her attention was a painting on one of the walls in the living room. A younger looking Deku happily sat on his also happy mother’s lap. Their smiles alone could provide light for everyone in all the Nations. Just looking at it filled her with energy. The wall next to it, however, held a more somber feeling.
A smaller painting was propped on the center of a table, with a vase full of lilies next to it. Two candles flickered on either side, drowning the painting with an orange hue. As she got closer, the faces seemed to become more recognizable. A brown haired man smiled lovingly at a blonde woman radiating confidence. Something about her was familiar, yet Uraraka couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
Those eyes….
“Those are Kacchan’s parents.”
“That makes sense. He looks just like his mom,” She whispered. They remained silent as Inko could be heard setting the table. Her eyes lingered on the woman. Her aura could be felt, even from something like a painting. Her son certainly took after her, no doubt. A small ache in her chest resounded throughout her body at the thought.
Mom.
“We should eat, Bakugou won’t be back for a while,” Inko called the two.
They walked to the kitchen, where many different foods laid before her. Never, in all her life, had she seen so much food. Her mouth watered, stomach growled. She quickly sat down as Inko began placing different foods onto her bowl. The second the rice hit her tongue, Uraraka swore she heard the heavens sing.
Deku and his mother watched as she devoured the food. “This is so yummy, I’ve never had food this good!” She almost cried.
Inko kindly laughed. “Thank you, eat as much as you’d like!” She didn’t have to tell her twice. Uraraka all but ate the entire table (minus the ones that had meat). By the time sunset arrived, she was ready to give birth to her food baby.
Wanting some fresh air, Uraraka had gone outside to pet Koda. She had taken some of the leftover food to feed him. Thankfully, Inko hadn’t seemed to mind.
“You never told me where you’re from,” Deku spoke from behind her as she petted Koda.
“I’m from a small town in the mountains, it’s farther up north of the Earth Kingdom.” She leaned against her furry friend, motioning for Deku to do the same.
“That's so cool!” He opened his mouth to say something else, but quickly shut it.
“If you want to ask something, it’s ok, I don’t mind!” She smiled.
Deku blushed. “Oh, s-sorry. Um, I was meaning to ask about those markings on your arms. What do they mean?”
“Well, I got them after I became a master. Have you never seen anyone with them?”
He shifted his body so he was turned towards her. “No, not personally,” That was strange. Her first time visiting the Earth Kingdom, everyone seemed to know what they were. The people would bow in respect when Thirteen and her walked through the streets. Air Nomads were quite known to visit too, so how did he not know what they were? “I have seen them somewhere before, I just can’t remember where…”
“That’s because she’s an Airbender,” Uraraka jumped. Deku and her looked at the gate of the house. Bakugou stood there, his hands in his pockets. The sunset created a glow around him as his gaze watched the two. Even in the lighting, she found his eyes glaring at her. The pit in her stomach only increased. The blond reached into his satchel, pulling out an old looking book and flipping to one of the pages. Holding it up, a drawing of the tattoos and a person wearing similar clothing was transcribed on it.
“She’s the last Airbender,” Last?
“...she’s the fucking avatar.”