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Up until this point, the third year at UA has been uneventful. Nothing noteworthy has really happened to anyone in 3A, which is surprising, considering everything that happened in their first year.
But so far, there have been no villain attacks at schools, threats to the students or faculty, and no quirk accidents… at least, not any bad ones. Aizawa has been pleasantly surprised by that.
But it seems like Izuku was too hopeful.
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Patrolling with Kacchan is one of the best things about internships. They work together so well that they can almost read each other's minds on the field.
Izuku loves spending time with Kacchan in whatever way is possible. After the war they grew closer together and have been joined at the hip. But he is aware that this is the only way to be close to Kacchan. To be a hero with him. And when the last of the embers leave him, there won't be any more reasons for Izuku to spend as much time with Kacchan as possible.
So he's going to cherish this time they have together, before Kacchan becomes a busy pro hero, and won't have enough time for Izuku outside of work. They will probably see each other on class hangouts and reunions, if Kacchan bothers to show up. Hopefully he will.
Izuku is pulled out of his thoughts, when a truck speeds past them, and is committing one traffic violation after another.
Kicking into gear, he and Kacchan chase down the vehicle very easily; it's going fast, but Deku and Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight are faster! These criminals were very unlucky to speed past them, and everyone knows it.
All in all, it wasn't a difficult arrest, they were able to apprehend and cuff them, and police were already on their way, so they only had to wait for a minute or two for them to arrive.
Naively thinking everything to be calm with the criminals, they didn't pay attention to one of them stumbling towards Izuku to get to him.
Before either of them could react, Izuku is being hit with a quirk. At least, that is the conclusion they arrive at due to the criminal barely tapping him on the leg and then immediately giving up. Yes, a great deduction, Sherlock.
Kacchan is slightly panicky—not that he'd let it show—about not paying enough attention to his surroundings and letting Deku be hit with an unknown quirk. He's murmuring under his breath about how he failed, and how he could let this happen.
That is the last thing Izuku registers, before passing out completely.
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When Izuku wakes up, he immediately recognizes the white infirmary walls. The noise from the heart monitors has a specific pitch that he can recognize anywhere.
Slowly getting up from the bed, and making sure that no place is too sore so he can move around comfortably enough. He gets up slowly so that he won't accidentally feel dizzy or anything.
He checks the room for any other people and what do you know, Kacchan is asleep on a chair in one of the corners of the room. Izuku can feel a smile creeping up to his face. Kacchan is so handsome, even when he's asleep.
Once again, Izuku feels a wave of sadness about the fact that he and Kacchan wont have moments like this anymore.
Yes, it's weird to miss the fact that he would wake up in a hospital with Kacchan being there waiting for him to wake up. But… It makes Izuku feel special; Kacchan doesn't really stay by anyone else's bedside, when they're injured. Not that he doesn't care for them! No, it's just, he has said that there's no reason for him to be there for that long, he'll see them when they get out.
But Izuku's bedside? It's not even that Kacchan thinks Izuku is weak and will die in the hospital if he's not there—even though those were his exact words. No, Izuku knows that Kacchan is worried about him and that's his way of showing it.
He's just afraid that, when he won't be able to be a hero anymore, he won't have Kacchan be worried for him anymore either.
Izuku is aware that it's a selfish thought on his part, but they have been through so much together, and he doesn't want to lose it. No matter which form it comes in.
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Going back to the dorms with Kacchan should be a peaceful walk, but there's something that seems to be too loud. Too invasive almost. It seems to have been increasing since the moment he first woke up, but he can't pinpoint it. And when they arrive at the dorms, everything is loud, too loud.
Normally their class can be a noisy group, but this seems like all of their voices are overlapped by more voices. It's overwhelming. He feels like his brain is about to explode the longer it goes on.
Izuku tries covering his ears, trying to ease the amount of volume permeating his brain. His friends see this, see him in pain and immediately quiet down, but it's still so loud!
All of them are asking if he's okay. No he isn't okay! Why are all of them so loud!
"No one is saying anything, Deku-kun." He can barely hear Ochaco respond to him over the noise, it takes him a bit to register what she said though.
"What do you mean? All of you are asking if I'm okay?!" He can barely get the sentence out through his gritted teeth.
"No, I'm not, everything is too loud!"
Finally, Kacchan makes the executive decision to pull Izuku out of there and to his room. And as they're walking farther and farther away, Kacchan asks what is going on with him. Izuku, not knowing what is happening, responds just that.
"I have no idea what's going on," he says, frustrated with the situation.
"Everything's just so loud. And even up here, I can still hear the others talking." He doesn't know what's going on, and it's terrifying,
Kacchan looks at Izuku confused.
"What do you mean you can still hear them?"
Izuku dismisses this comment, as they are both aware that Kacchan has been experiencing hearing loss due to his quirk, and is not a reliable measurement for what one can and can not hear.
When they get to Izuku's room, it's somehow quieter; he can no longer hear their classmates chatter. But now there is another problem.
Kacchan hasn't stopped talking.
Izuku doesn't think he's ever heard Kacchan talk so much in, well…their entire lives. Because right now, Kacchan is talking more than he ever has. What changed? What is going on? Was he hit by a quirk?
Kacchan looks at Izuku a bit weird, wondering if he's okay. If he needs something. Why is Izuku staring at him like that?
Izuku doesn't know how to react to all of these questions. Because even though Kacchan has been soft and open with Izuku in recent months after the war— no wait, Kacchan has been even softer recently, but he's still Kacchan, he has difficulties expressing himself on a good day. So how come he's asking all of these questions so easily?
Was he hit by a quirk? Did it even hit Izuku, when the criminal charged him? Maybe it hit Kacchan instead, when he tried to get to Izuku—
"Hey, Nerd!" Kacchan interrupts his mumbling by calling out to him
"I wasn't hit by anything," Kacchan clearly informs him.
Apparently they weren't too worried, when nothing big happened after Izuku was touched by the criminal. They assume that he didn't have the chance to activate the quirk, but it seems they needed to reexamine the situation.
In Kacchan's opinion, something has to be going on with Izuku. The thing is, now that Izuku is paying attention, yes, he hears Kacchan saying this, but his lips aren't moving. What the hell? That shouldn't—! Yes there are quirks like that, but Izuku didn't know that there were quirks that gave the ability!
But what are the drawbacks of such a quirk? Obviously, it takes a bit getting used to, but is it just a support quirk? But why not just give the user the ability to hear thoughts instead? What is the point of giving it to others? There has to be something, at least a time limit, but if it's supposed to be inflicted on others, how does it bother them? How does it ruin them?
Assuming that there are many who would rather not hear other people's thoughts, and putting that aside for a bit, what does the quirk do to the victim?
Izuku needs to talk to the user immediately.
He stands up quickly enough that he loses his balance for a second, regains it, and then lets Kacchan know that he needs to talk to the criminal that quirked him.
Kacchan agrees to take Izuku to Aizawa, so that they can get this done fast.
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It's easier than it should've been to convince Aizawa of what they need to do, but Izuku is not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
They stand behind the two sided glass facing the interrogation room, waiting for Aizawa to question the man on his quirk. It doesn't go well, he's acting as if he has no idea what Aizawa is even talking about.
By now they have nothing to show for an hour of interrogation. They've elected to have Izuku go into the room, trying to spark his memory of the incident, but when Izuku goes to ask what the quirk is, he can't get the words out. Not in a way that he's shy asking them, but that he physically can not get the question out.
Slightly panicking and Aizawa trying to calm him down from a slight panic attack, unable to explain the reason for his distress.
The criminal opens him mouth to tell him that they need to talk alone. Aizawa, the cop in the observation room, and Kacchan all object to this, but Izuku needs answers; he doesn't know what to do—
"We can only talk alone." The man's tone is final. He won't say anything, until they're alone.
It takes a bit convincing for Izuku to get Aizawa to leave the room, but it seems like the final nail on the coffin was the man saying that no one can hear what's going on either.
"There's no way we're going to leave you alone with a criminal that used an unknown quirk on you!" Aizawa stresses, showing just how tired he is of this situation, but also how very worried he is of Izuku.
"You will, if you want your little hero to survive."
"Don't worry sensei. You can see me through the glass. Nothing will happen." Izuku does his best to reassure him. He watches the officer mute the microphone in there and proceeds to walk into the room. Time to get some answers.—
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Finally alone with the man, Izuku is able to ask about the quirk. Like the side effects and the end goal. What is incredibly concerning to Izuku is the fact that the man is giving the information willingly.
Apparently the quirk makes the affected hear other peoples thoughts from a certain distance. This much Izuku could detect on his own, but it's nice to have that confirmation.
He can't control what he hears, and can not tell anyone about it. Not the thoughts he hears or the fact that he can hear them.
And that's the thing, isn't it! The quirk will make the affected go crazy from hearing any and every thought of everyone in their presence, and they can't tell anyone about it. Every thought will be excruciatingly loud and the volume will increase each day, and the more emotion the thought has, the louder it is.
The thoughts will permeate every aspect of his life, driving him insane until ultimately, he will take his own life.
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Izuku leaves the interrogation room, distraught. Not even being able to disclose the information to Kacchan and Aizawa, forced to hold his tongue on the matter, he has to make it long enough so that the quirk will wear off naturally. Though the man did not say when that would be. He was fairly confident that Izuku would not make it the full duration.
Now Izuku needs to figure out how he's gonna survive this quirk. He'd like to think that there's no way he would ever do something like that, but fact of the matter is, quirks can be super powerful and dangerous, and this one messes with his head. It's already pretty bad, the volume is too much and so are the multiple thoughts that he can't escape anywhere!
Even during the ride back to UA, Kacchan's and Aizawa's thoughts are so loud and filled with concern for him, and Izuku doesn't really know how to act in this situation. He can't even really tell them about it, so he's just subjected to their worry that seems to be increasing the longer he stays silent. In the end, his attempts to try and calm them down does very little.
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Arriving back to the dorms a silent car is ominous in a way. Well, silent for them! For Izuku, he's never been subjected to so much noise! They are filled to the brim with questions and concern for Izuku. And while it is incredibly heart warming and he feels so lucky to have people that love him to that degree, it doesn't change the fact that he's in pain.
When they arrive back at the dorms, Aizawa tells Kacchan to keep an eye on Izuku and, first of all, the implication that Izuku needs someone to keep an eye on him is just rude. He's very capable of taking care of himself, thank you very much. But, he can also hear the underlying worry, and he can't really be mad at that.
Second of all, Kacchan's reaction surprises him. Because outside, Kacchan just grunts in agreement as usual, but his thoughts, his thoughts are screaming, he's ecstatic! Almost as if he's so fucking excited to, not only to be close to Izuku and spend time with him as like an assignment, but to take care of him too? Like that's somehow a reward for Kacchan? He's thinking about how he's gonna cook for Izuku, how he's gonna feed him, and care for him.
Even though nobody said anything about taking care of him, Kacchan seems to interpret it as such. Because as soon as Aizawa leaves he turns to Izuku and ushers him inside the dorms, telling him how he needs to eat, shower, then sleep. Kacchan is apparently very serious about taking care of Izuku, and Izuku is not entirely sure he minds it.
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Over the next few days Izuku is barely hanging on. Not only because of the invasive thoughts he's being hit with from every direction—even though that is a massive factor—but because Kacchan has not left his side. He's constantly so close and Izuku's frail heart can't handle it!
Izuku's attempts to ignore all the thoughts being screamed at him by Kacchan is the most difficult part, because he has so much going on around in his head. And it's surprising, because Kacchan is usually so reserved and quiet, most of the time Izuku can't figure out what's going on in his mind unless they're in battle.
One good thing about Kacchan's blasting thoughts is that it just overlaps any other thought that he should be hearing, especially in group settings and it actually calms him down. Maybe he'll be able to survive this after all.
Though, there is a… problem? With the content in Kacchan's mind. Everything's about Izuku. Every thought that Kacchan produces is about or in relation to Izuku; whether he's eaten, if he likes the food that Kacchan made for him. Is he done with his work? Is he going to work out? Will he spend time with Kacchan today?
Every time they're alone, Kacchan is thinking about Izuku. Every time they're in a group setting, he can vaguely hear Kacchan thinking about Izuku. Even when Kacchan "accidentally" falls asleep in Izuku's room, he can hear him dreaming about Izuku.
Does Kacchan somehow know about the quirk and its effects? If so, why hasn't he brought it up?! If not with Izuku, then Aizawa! And how come he hasn't blown Izuku up for intruding on his private thoughts?
All day long it's some variation of 'he's too adorable,' and 'he's literally so pretty,' and 'I want to cuddle him to sleep.' And Izuku just can't come up with a reasonable explanation to Kacchan calling him cute or adorable, or wondering how is he so pretty, or any of it really. Everyone knows that he's plain; most of all himself. After all, that is what he's heard his entire life; he still hears it, even more now with the quirk.
But, there is just no way that if Kacchan knew, he wouldn't tell Aizawa or violently confront Izuku about it, so these must be Kacchan's genuine thoughts. But they don't make any sense!
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By now, Kacchan's thoughts seem to be escalating the more they hang out. Going from thinking how ‘“cute and adorable" Izuku is, to wanting to "bite his cheeks" and "squeeze him until he pops."
Which should concern Izuku greatly; he's never seen this side of Kacchan, but he can feel that these thoughts are affectionate in nature. So he lets it be. After all, no matter how much he grumbles about it, he enjoys Kacchan's attention.
Sometimes though, Izuku has noticed a… shift in Kacchan's thoughts. He can't exactly pinpoint it, but it seems off. It… he can't actually hear what's wrong, it's more of a feeling. A feeling he's entirely familiar with. From middle school.
It would happen more in group settings, Kacchan's thoughts would drown everything as usual, but the tone tells about an underlying sadness.
Usually these feelings surface when Izuku is talking to someone else. Without Kacchan right beside him. He'd stare at Izuku intensely, but his thoughts are jumbled and barely cover the noise in the room.
Izuku is talking with Shoto after class about training. At least that's what he thinks it is, it's difficult to concentrate, but he manages to get by.
But, unlike previously, this time Kacchan's thoughts break through the usual volume, but somehow… broken. Like static. He can't catch each and every word, but he's just happy that he's hearing anything at all.
But right now, Izuku truly wishes he couldn't.
With broken sentences, he hears something about "not worthy" and "don't deserve him".
These shock Izuku to his core. Who is he talking about? During the past couple of weeks, he's only thought of Izuku, but who is the other person?
Shoto manages to gain his attention through the noise and Izuku's panic.
"Izuku. Are you okay?" He asks him. And then it hits. He's standing next to Shoto, a promising future pro hero.
Does Kacchan think he shouldn't be standing next to Shoto because he's not worthy of it? Is his quirklessness that much of a hindrance to him still, that he doesn't even deserve to be here anymore?
But, what about all the thoughts Kacchan has of him! All the sweet things he thinks of Izuku!
Maybe that's the true nature of this quirk! He can't actually hear anyone, it's playing with his head, giving him sweet things to "hear" and then taking them away by letting him hear the actual things people think about him.
He tries to keep his panic in check. Does he even have the right to feel like his heart was torn from his chest? These are Kacchan's private thoughts, what right does Izuku have to react to them in any way?
No, he can't let himself feel bad about it. It's not like he could explain how he found out anyway.
And now that he's heard it once, he keeps hearing it. The same broken, slightly distorted sentences that he heard the first time. He can't escape anywhere.
This is just reaffirming the fact that Kacchan won't have anything to do with him when his embers burn out.
And so the constant volume of thoughts, that was once muffled by Kacchan's heartwarming thoughts, is now something Izuku misses.
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When Kacchan started to "keep an eye on him" as Aizawa has asked, he really thought he could deal with the quirk and its possible consequences. Having Kacchan as a reassuring presence, a steady constant next to him, and hearing his sweet—even though quite confusing—thoughts helped him immensely to keep those dark thoughts out.
He felt like this would just be another thing he could overcome, just wait out the timer and all would be well!
But now, every interaction with Kacchan is tainted by the thoughts he could hear in group settings. Every compliment that would pop in his head about Izuku, sounds condescending to him. Even every move Kacchan makes feels like pity.
The embers of One for All will burn out sooner rather than later and Izuku will be right back to where he started. Worthless. Kacchan is probably only clearing his conscience before he can ditch the quirkless loser with no regrets.
At this point, Izuku's mental health plummets. He was too cocky, he should've known. After all the quirk affects the psyche, of course he couldn't handle it alone. But that's the thing, isn't it. He can't share it either.
When his classmates start getting increasingly more and more worried about him, mostly everything he hears when he's in the room is just concern. Izuku finds it very sweet, but he can't talk about it, so he makes sure to dodge them, when he hears them coming to try and talk.
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Izuku manages to evade them for a couple of days until finally, Kacchan of all people, is able to corner him. Izuku was so focused on trying not to hear any more of Kacchan's thoughts that he completely missed his plan to confront Izuku.
Though, his efforts were entirely futile, because as with everything, Kacchan's thoughts got through and it was just filled with Izuku; how he's worried for Izuku, how he misses Izuku, Izuku Izuku Izuku!
"Izuku!"
He's been cornered with nowhere to run. He knows he should listen to what Kacchan has to say, but— but a big part of him is terrified to hear him out. Because what if this is it, what if this is where Kacchan tells him how insignificant and worthless he is. He physically can not bear to hear Kacchan reject him in every way possible!
But as he waits for Kacchan to start, to say what he needs to say, he finally focuses on him fully and Izuku can hear the anxiety going on around his brain, as if he's afraid? No it can't be, Kacchan isn't afraid of anything.
When Izuku says that Kacchan corners him, he means it literally. Izuku had been running away from Ochaco and her concern, accidentally finding a quieter area of the school. He didn't expect to run into Kacchan, who then took a hold of his upper arms to make sure he couldn't run.
Izuku manages to slip away anyway, using his agility and smaller frame to his advantage. But of course Kacchan would chase him. It would be hilariously terrifying, if Izuku wasn't intimately aware of his current situation.
"Stop running!" Kacchan grabs a hold of Izuku's wrist, just barely reaching before he can slip away again.
Both come to a halt, breathing heavily. Izuku avoids all eye contact with Kacchan.
"Izuku, talk to me." He asks— no, demands.
Izuku finally turns to face Kacchan, trying to keep his face neutral, but from what he's hearing and seeing, he knows he's unsuccessful.
"You haven't told any of us about the quirk, but it's clearly affecting you," Izuku stays stubbornly silent. No, he can't share about the quirk, and what else is there to share even? All his problems are in some way related to the godforsaken quirk.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine!" Kacchan snaps. He's been trying to keep calm, but he's obviously tired. Probably tired of Izuku and his drama, he doesn't want to deal with him anymore, so this is it. This is when Kacchan lets him know that he's not worth all this trouble, they're going into different directions in life anyway, so better to just cut it here—
"Izuku!" Kacchan once again shakes him slightly, to make him pay attention? To ground him? He doesn't know. "We're— I'm worried about you. Let me help you." He almost begs.
"You're pulling away, and maybe it's because you got in your head again about your self-worth," he says, with the softest voice he's ever heard. Izuku still can't meet his eyes, he might break down. "I can't watch you do this again! I can't watch you isolate yourself, when for years I was the one that did that to you!"
They both fall silent, not knowing how to continue.
A moment passes between them.
"Is it me? Did I do something?" Kacchan is getting desperate, and all Izuku hears of Kacchan's thoughts are distorted sounds, overlapping sentences, and just the feeling of hopelessness. How could Kacchan think he's in any way to blame?
"No." That's all Izuku can manage right now. There is no way he's gonna let Kacchan blame himself.
"Then what?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does!" Kacchan suddenly exclaims. He squeezes Izuku's arms tighter, as if afraid that Izuku might float away. "Damn it, Izuku! You promised you wouldn't do this anymore—"
"I'll get left behind!" Izuku's exclamation interrupts Kacchan.
Silence befalls them. Kacchan stops and takes a step back, hand dropping lifelessly back to his side, like he doesn't know how to process this. So Izuku keeps going
"I'm not enough to stand by your side!"
Kacchan stays silent through Izuku's breakdown, so he keeps going. "When we graduate, everyone is gonna go on to become a pro! You are gonna go on to be a pro! And you deserve it, of course you do, Kacchan, you've worked very hard but—!" He stops himself and takes a breath, he doesn't want to say it …
"It doesn't change the fact that all of you will go on to do incredible things, and I'll just be stuck here, never moving forward!
He takes a deep breath to calm down, but is unsuccessful. All of these feelings have been festering beneath the surface for a while, and now, everything's on the table.
"I've had a taste of that life!" His throat feels scratchy and it feels like it's getting harder and harder to form words. "I've had a taste of being a hero, having a quirk, standing by you…competing with you."
"And now, you're leaving me behind, and we'll probably only see each other during class reunions, if you even bother to show up to those!" Tears streaming down his face, Izuku realises that he has to take a deep breath to calm down, it only slightly works.
He's been holding on to these feelings for a while now
Kacchan's thoughts are louder than they have ever been. But before, when his thoughts got louder and more intense, they were positive, about Izuku. But now, everything Izuku hears is just filled with desperation. Kacchan lowers his gaze to the ground deep in thought.
'He thinks I'll leave him behind! He thinks he's going to be left alone! I did this, this is my fault! Everything's my fault! I didn't show him my love enough! I didn't do enough! I—'
Kacchan takes a hold of his chest, feeling a sharp pain in his heart. "You're breaking my heart, Izuku."
The tone of defeat in Kacchan's voice is almost enough to make Izuku want to take everything he said back. He won't meet Izuku's eyes, just staring at the ground, afraid that if he looks at Izuku, he will start crying and won't ever stop.
"How could you say it so casually. That I'd just leave you behind?" He asks, softly.
Izuku takes a second and really looks at Kacchan, tries to pay attention to his words rather than thoughts.
He's tired, Izuku doesn't need to be a mind reader to know that. The lack of information has clearly been weighing heavy on Kacchan. Izuku would do anything to ease that burden, but he can't, so instead, he opens up fully.
"I know that there's a future ahead of me, where you'll leave me broken and alone, scrambling to pick up the pieces!"
Kacchan is stunned into silence, and for the first time in weeks, Izuku hears nothing. No conscious thought about how cute Izuku is. No dramatic monologue about how he wants to squeeze his cheeks. Nothing.
All Kacchan does is stand there, completely still.
Suddenly he charges towards Izuku, so fast that he barely registers it. Kacchan cages him against the wall, towering over him with both arms, locking him in. Kacchan's thoughts are silent to Izuku, but his eyes are so full of rage, disbelief… hurt?
Kacchan looks deep into Izuku's eyes and seems to come to a very obvious conclusion that Izuku is not privy to. He barely has time to react when Kacchan presses his lips on Izuku's own, catching them in a frankly clumsy, but passionate kiss.
Kacchan's lips are so soft, and smoother than he expected— not that he particularly expected anything! He hopes that his own chapped lips won't bother Kacchan too much.
They keep going, until Izuku realises that he's not kissing back, but Kacchan doesn't mind it and deepens the kiss, telling Izuku to kiss back. Kacchan's arms move from the wall, slowly as if not to spook him, and wraps around Izuku's waist, wanting to bring Izuku closer. He wants to be so much closer to him.
Izuku brings his own arms to wrap around Kacchan's neck, and finally kisses back, pouring as much passion in it as he can muster. It's clumsy, and uncoordinated, and definitely showing their inexperience, but Izuku wouldn't change it for the world. It's their first kiss after all.
When they pull for air, Kacchan rests his forehead on Izuku's, breathless, looking deep into his eyes. "Please Izuku, don't pull away from me, my heart can't take it," he whispers, as if unable to say it any louder.
Kacchan's eyes are no longer full of rage or hurt, but uncertainty, affection, and… love? All those thoughts Kacchan was having when they were together—which was all the time—was because, "You love me." Izuku says. Not ever questioning it; he knows. He hasn't been this certain of anything for a while now.
Kacchan's eyes widen, not because he's surprised, but because he's been trying to make it painfully obvious for a year now at least. Izuku is just so oblivious! He couldn't figure out that someone likes him if it hit him in the—
Kacchan hears Izuku chuckle, bringing him back to the present. "I love you too, Kacchan." Izuku says, cupping Kacchan's cheeks and caressing the spot on his upper cheek. "So, so much."
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The following week's been calmer than it has been since he got hit by the quirk. Kacchan's love and admiring thoughts still overpower everything, but this time Izuku doesn't question them. And he's able to focus on school and work!
But, even though he could focus most of the time, Kacchan's extremely loud thoughts would still distract him—and sometimes startle him—each one getting louder than the last.
In the morning, when he'd slowly wake up in Kacchan's arms, slightly overheated, but it's okay. Waking up with Kacchan is amazing, so he can overlook the furnace situation that he's been subjected to.
Even half asleep, his thoughts are loud, and still only about Izuku. 'He's so cute! I love him! He's my treasure!' All in one thought, overlapping. But Izuku doesn't mind hearing such sweet thoughts from his boyfriend the first thing in the morning.
When they get down to breakfast, most of the class are still asleep. Kacchan goes to the kitchen immediately to make breakfast for Izuku and himself. For the past few weeks, Kacchan has been insisting that only he gets to cook for Izuku.
"Just sit there and look pretty," he said, holding all the love he could possibly muster in his eyes. "Let me feed you, Izuku."
Izuku's heart nearly beat out of his chest. Especially since those words were accompanied by thoughts of 'please let me cook for you for the rest of our lives!'. How could he say no?
At class though? Well, things have escalated. No longer can Izuku hear his own insecurities pointed out to him, no. Now they're either filled with extreme jealousy, or extreme affection. There's really no in between.
When Izuku was discussing with Sero about an assignment that they got paired for, Kacchan's jealous thoughts were overpowering everything Sero was saying. All he could hear was either 'I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him I'll kill him—'
Which makes Izuku fear for Sero's life just a bit, so Izuku tries to discreetly direct Kacchan's attention back to him, and suddenly it's a different tune. Not that the intensity or tone changes with Kacchan. Now his thoughts are full of his need to bite Izuku's cheeks, and about how he's gonna squeeze Izuku so tight that his bug eyes pop out, next time he's in his arms. It's sweet.
But after school time is definitely Izuku's favorite time to hear Kacchan's thoughts. They're infinitely louder, Izuku's heart is just so full that each second that they spend together, Kacchan loves it too.
Today, something changed though. They're in Kacchan's room doing homework, when Kacchan got a bit glassy eyed, as if he's not all there. Suddenly, his loud thoughts hit Izuku by surprise. It's as if the volume doubled suddenly!
'I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU PLEASE MARRY ME FUCK! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE—!'
Izuku nearly toppled over in surprise, startling Kacchan out of his thoughts. "You okay, baby?"
"Yeah—" he coughs slightly to cover the voice crack, but from Kacchan's face he knows he was unsuccessful. Calmer now, he answers.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Not to say that Izuku doesn't absolutely love it, hearing how much Kacchan loves him, no he loves it so much! He just feels like the quirk is taking the experience of hearing Kacchan telling him these sweet things himself. He just wishes the quirk would go away already, so he could hear it straight from Kacchan!
But no matter how he's told, Izuku feels so cherished, by the one he loves!
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Like the man told him all those weeks ago, everyone's thoughts are just going to get louder and louder until he's inevitably driven to insanity, or the quirk wears off. So far, it has been accurate, but there is actually no guarantee that the quirk will wear off. All the other affected people have killed themselves, before anyone had the chance to find out.
And like he noticed before, Kacchan's thoughts really drown most of it, but in turn, Kacchan's thoughts are loudest they've ever been! Even if they're proclamations of love, Izuku's head hurts so bad! He feels like the worst boyfriend, because Kacchan loves him so much, and Izuku wants to show him and tell him that he loves him so much too! He's so distracted by the volume by now. If he thought that it was difficult to focus on things previously… now it's fully impossible.
✦•┈๑⋅⋯⋯⋅๑┈•✦
By now his birthday has arrived! He didn't even realise, he's been dealing with the quirk for what feels like many months instead of weeks, so he would have forgotten his birthday, if Kacchan and the others hadn't been planning a party for him.
He tries to make sure not to show that he knows. They're working hard and he wants them to be happy! So he'll do his best to act surprised.
He walks into the common room, and acts so well he might as well make it a career—
"You knew, didn't you." Ochaco's voice comes from his left. He barely picked it up.
…or maybe not.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." He feels really bad about it.
"It's okay, we're here to celebrate you," Shoto says, coming from his right, along with Kacchan's threats to get away from his boyfriend.
After he's gotten gifts from everyone, eaten cake, and socialized an acceptable amount of time, he retreats to Kacchan's room with him. Well… more like, Kacchan drags him out of there.
But it's only now that he dares to ask a question that seems all too selfish. He just can't find it in himself to care, he wants to ask.
"You didn't give me a gift."
Okay, maybe not a question as much as an observation. But he wants to know, and he can't really get anything from Kacchan's head underneath all the love declarations, and promises to care for and cherish him.
Kacchan looks at Izuku for a second before grabbing his wrist. "Come." he says and basically drags Izuku the rest of the way to his room. Kacchan seems giddy, he probably put so much thought into Izuku's gift! The thought makes Izuku giggle, Kacchan's the best, after all.
After arriving at Kacchan's room and closing the door, he turns to Izuku, suddenly nervous, normally sweet thoughts overpowered by fear of rejection.
'What if he says no…'
"Kacchan—"
"Izuku," he interrupts. "Please, let me finish speaking before you say anything." His tone is serious and Izuku isn't sure what to expect.
Kacchan takes a deep breath, his eyes darting around the room, before settling on Izuku. "For the longest time, you made me feel weak," he begins. Izuku could hear a slight trembling in his voice, but before he had the chance to analyze it, Kacchan kept going.
"I couldn't stand it. You were always so much more of a hero than I was, so strong in a world that was against you. Larger than life." He says, and smiles at that, as if remembering something.
His arms are restless, unable to figure out where to put them; what to do with them, while he pours his heart out. "And after everything, I've learned that the feelings I had towards you weren't envy, or bitterness, but something more. Something life changing."
By now he's pacing the room, "I couldn't name it for the longest time, rather acting on my impulses."
He stops in front of Izuku, "But I know now." he says and comes to stand right in front of Izuku, he takes his hands into his, cradling them like they're the most precious treasure he's ever held.
Looking deep into Izuku's eyes, wanting— no, needing to show how serious he is, "You're everything to me, Izuku. More vital, than the air I breathe." He says as he raises his hand to Izuku's cheek.
"Brighter than the sun that lights my way." Voice softer as he traces the freckles on Izuku's face, eyes wanting to look at them, but he stays strong and keeps them in place.
"My true north. Showing me the way, even though I didn't always deserve it." He whispers the last part, as if saying it quietly makes it truer.
Kacchan's voice trembles and he somehow finds the strength to keep going, "I can't keep going in this world without you, it's just not possible."
"So, Izuku," Kacchan steps back to drop to one knee. He pulls out a ring box from his pocket and Izuku is stunned speechless. This isn't something Izuku saw coming! He couldn't hear it, Kacchan wasn't thinking about it.
Come to think of it. He could only hear Kacchan's words, not his thoughts. And as Kacchan opens the ring box to present Izuku with the ring, a beautiful silver ring adorned with green and orange stones, he still can't hear Kacchan's thoughts. But he sees everything in his eyes, the love, adoration, devotion. All these emotions overwhelm Izuku.
As Kacchan asks the question, Izuku does his best to listen, even though he is fully crying at this point, unable to keep all the emotions at bay.
"Izuku, I know we haven't been dating for that long, and we aren't really ready to get married yet, but—"
He chokes on his words and tears up a bit, hopefully from all the feelings, and not a fear of rejection.
"But we have known each other our whole lives, you've seen me at my worst, but I want you to always see me at my best as well. And as long as I'm with you, it will forever be better than the last." Somehow he's able to get the words out without crying.
"This is not for an engagement, but for a promise." He tells Izuku, looking up at him, staring deep into his eyes.
"A promise that I will love you, stay by you, devote myself to you, and one day marry you." His declaration is so full of love and adoration for him that by now, Izuku is fully bawling. He can't believe that Kacchan would want to stay with him forever. After all the fears he had about Kacchan leaving him behind. Fears of being a burden to him.
Fears of a possibility that he might have to watch from the sidelines as Kacchan dates, falls in love, and gets married. Leaving Izuku behind, alone and brokenhearted. He's never been more glad to be so incredibly wrong!
Tackling Kacchan in a hug, he almost screams, unable to verbalize anything. He's so happy! Kacchan wants to be with him forever!
Kacchan laughs, locking him into a tight hug. He buries his face in Izuku's curls and takes a deep breath. He does it whenever he thinks he might be dreaming.
"So I guess that's a yes?" Kacchan asks, amused, but no less ecstatic. No longer weighed by his insecurities and fear of rejection from his love.
"Yes!" Izuku screams! He buries his face in Kacchan's neck. Wanting to be as close together as possible.
The future that waits for him no longer looks so bleak.