Chapter Text
"Can I come with you?"
The fingers around his throat loosen slightly. The figure beside him turns to face him, suspicion and confusion and curiosity warring on his scarred face.
"What." His scratchy voice is flat, his fingernails ghosting over his scarred neck.
"I..." Izuku pauses, trying to work up the courage to talk again.
The feeling of being suffocated had become noticeable after the Battle Trial and had only grown as the semester progressed. Questions weighed heavily down on him, knowledge he didn't want filling up his mind. The pity in Uraraka's eyes when the Quirkless were mentioned. Iida's speech on 'protecting the defenseless'. The rest of the class's dismissal of their existence. And Bakugou had made his opinion on Quirkless people crystal clear the past ten years.
He couldn't quite work up the courage to ask his teachers. They are pro heroes, sure, but they are also teachers. Teachers don't care. He could practically feel Aizawa's eyes on him, the nickname 'Problem Child' stinging every time it passed from his lips.
If he didn't have One For All, would he even be here?
The answer is no. It was clear when he faced All Might's overwhelming force in the Final Exams. His stomach still twinges in pain from where he was impaled. It's a new kind of pain, one that he takes in stride. He has to. Just like the ache of his jaw.
Bakugou never liked teamwork. Relying on others makes you weak. Relying on a weak Deku? Out of the question.
Except he's not weak. One For All rushes through his veins, and All Might's legacy rests on his shoulders, turning his hunched walk into a desperate crawl to some unknown finish line.
He may have All Might's legacy, but his past experiences have not been erased by his new, overwhelming power.
He wants to save people. All Might's power will let him save far more than he could on his own, but is it worth it? Over a century of accumulating power shoved into the body of a Quirkless teenager who refuses to forget.
His hands ache.
"I...need to breathe."
Home isn't an option. Mom doesn't need any extra burdens. Between his injuries and the villain attacks, she's already been considering transferring him to another school. Any more potential fatal situations and UA will be right out, and then All Might will be disappointed. UA is his alma mater, after all.
Shigaraki watches him, eyes glittering the same shade of red as Bakugou's. The blonde could never achieve this level of jaded anger, though.
"It doesn't need to be long. Just...take me with you. Please." The words feel heavy as they leave his mouth, and the rest of the noise of the mall seems to fade into the background as Shigaraki studies him.
After a moment, he stands, bringing Izuku up with him.
"Come on, brat. You fought the Hero Killer, right? Tell me about him. There's a café over there." Shigaraki jerks his head towards a relatively calm building.
Izuku's shoulders slump. Shigaraki was thinking about it, then.
Hand still around Izuku's neck, they enter the café. A short wait later, they're in front of a cashier who stares at the hand on Izuku's neck nervously.
"Cherry soda." Shigaraki looks at him.
Oh. I need to order.
"Black tea with milk please." He says, watching the cashier fidget with the tablet nervously as they watch them.
"Sir, are you okay?"
Shigaraki stiffens, looking over at Izuku, who plasters a sheepish smile on his face.
"I'm fine, it's just part of his Quirk. How much?"
Both parties relax and the tab is paid for by Izuku. They retreat to a table in the corner quickly, avoiding questioning gazes by sitting side by side. Shigaraki seems unused to the contact, but his expression remains neutral as he watches Izuku pull a pen out of nowhere and starts doodling on a napkin.
"You wanted to know about the Hero Killer?" Izuku asks, relieved to be hidden from the questioning looks.
The villain nods, looking annoyed.
"I've been getting a lot of NPC's coming in and thinking we were working together, and Kurogiri won't let me dust them. Apparently, they're good party members for the future."
"But you weren't working with Stain. I thought so." A wilted flower comes to life on the napkin.
"Really?"
"Yeah. He has a single-minded goal and your goal is pretty abstract. Plus, he's an All Might fanboy at his core. No way you'd get along." Izuku stated matter of factly.
Shigaraki nods along, surprised by how perceptive the hero brat is. He's right. In the end, Stain was a stubborn NPC who refused to listen to Shigaraki. He has no use for uncooperative party members.
"You're pretty smart. Do you know why they were more focused on Stain than me, then?" Shigaraki asks, watching the student's scarred hand lightly sketch out a burning candle.
Izuku thinks over it for a moment, pausing his drawing to tap the pen against the table.
"Well—"
"Here are your drinks! Enjoy!" The server chirps, then walks off brusquely, leaving the two occupants of the table to awkwardly reach for their drinks at the same time.
"I think you might not have made your goals clear enough at the USJ. Most of us were too...distracted to hear anything other than 'kill All Might'. From what I've seen, you want hero society as a whole to fall." Izuku grabs his drink as Shigaraki attempts to open his can with one hand while not disintegrating it.
Absentmindedly, he takes the can from Shigaraki and opens it, then slides it back across the table.
"I didn't need your help."
"No, you didn't." The green-haired boy agrees, sipping his drink. The suffocating feeling is starting to ease up, leaving an odd lightness in his chest.
They sit in silence for a long minute, both enjoying their respective drinks.
"So, why exactly are you asking me to kidnap you? Is being a hero not all it's cracked up to be?"
And there it is. Izuku isn't really sure how to explain the suffocating feeling, just that it presses down on him, a constant presence in his daily life. He can pin the exact day it started, but spilling All Might's secrets is off of the table. The man has been nothing but kind. This is Izuku's burden.
"...Almost a year ago, I made a deal with someone." Izuku finally says, finishing a tree that covers nearly half of his drawing space.
'A successor. Someone who can become an even better symbol than I ever was.'
The villain watches him, eyes tracking every movement and the distant look in the student's eyes.
"I thought it was a good idea, at the time. Now I think I've bitten off more than I can chew." The green-haired boy chuckles humorlessly, taking a sip of his tea.
Shigaraki watches him, noting the tension in his shoulders. He takes another sip of his soda, fingers twitching at the boy's neck.
"You're running away from your problems? That doesn't sound very heroic."
Izuku stays silent, finishing his drink instead of answering. It's not very heroic, but for once, he wants to perform his old routine. Melt into the crowd. Vanish. Just another civilian in a crowd of many. No legacy, no villains, no Quirks. Just...him. Izuku.
It's been so long since he's been called that by anyone other than his mother.
"Maybe it isn't. But I'm a human being. We're programmed to be selfish. I want a break. I need a break." He says, trying to get his point across.
It's Shigaraki's turn to be quiet, his soda still halfway full. They sit like that for a long time, before Shigaraki's phone buzzes.
When the villain reads the message, he huffs and drops his hand from Izuku's neck.
Surprised, the student watches Shigaraki stand and finishes his soda in one hand while he stuffs his other hand in his pocket.
"I gotta go. Later, brat."
With that, Shigaraki is gone, leaving Izuku alone in the booth.