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“Is Koichi alright?”
“He was really hurt,” Tsukauchi answers. “But it’s practically certain he’ll live.”
It’s the morning after that villain unleashed hell upon Naruhata, and that’s only over because of the number one hero. If All Might showed up any later, then…
Soga doesn’t want to think about it.
“At least the villain’s dead,” Moyuru says.
Tsukauchi’s silence sends unease through the nerves of the three of them.
“Aw, come on. The guy’s status doesn’t matter, the thing that matters is we’re all fuckin’ alive,” Rapt states.
“He didn’t want to hurt anyone outside of Koichi and the old guy,” Soga finds himself saying without second thought. “We could have let him go after Koichi. We could have ended all of this if Koichi had died.”
“You wouldn’t be able to live with that,” Moyuru says.
“...”
“Soga, come on, we know you,” Rapt continues.
“What matters is that he and the girl are safe,” Tsukauchi tells them.
“Yeah,” Soga says. “Yeah, that’s what matters.”
“When’re you gonna apologize for getting Koichi and Pop into all of this?” Soga asks.
“I didn’t expect the villain to go after them like that,” Knuckleduster replies.
“Well, he did, and he’s still out there as far as All Might and the police are concerned. You owe it to them.”
It’s been three weeks. Both Koichi and Pop are fine, minus the girl’s lack of a left eye. Soga can’t help but to wonder what would have come of them had healing quirks didn’t exist. He doesn’t know why he’s so paranoid. He never cared about them before.
Soga wants to tell himself that it’s simply due to bonding with Koichi in order to clean up a situation that Knuckleduster had left behind, but there’s something that whispers and claws in the back of his mind that those thoughts aren’t the truth.
“I guess you’re right,” the former hero says, derailing the downward spiral Soga thought he was going to fall into.
“At least you weren’t known as being the All Might-sorta hero type.”
“That was never my style.”
“I heard that Miruko interned with you, though. She hit the top ten on the last hero chart.”
“I’m proud of her. Then again, I didn’t leave her with loose threads hanging.”
“... I wasn’t going to let you die. Not when you never came back to talk to Koichi,” Soga states.
“You care about him a lot more than I remember,” Knuckleduster observes.
“Foiling Number 6’s plans together will do that to ya. Real fun bonding experience - there’s bees that possess people and walking bombs resembling people, all topped off with an insane man at the head.”
Knuckleduster lets out a snort in response.
“You and Koichi work well together,” he says.
“... Yeah, we do.”
“Look, Soga, if you’ve got feelings, act on ‘em. You’re stupid otherwise.”
“And who gave you the ability to deal out romantic advice? Tamao doesn’t seem like she’s particularly into that.”
“Nobody did.”
Soga can’t help but to smile at the honest and serious comment.
“I should check up on him, see what trauma you’ve left behind for him,” he says to the older man.
“It can’t be all trauma.”
“Eh. We’ll see if you’re right or wrong on that topic.”
Koichi’s life has been… interesting over the past month, for him to say the least. Kazuho had been taken from him, and he’d got her back, only to get caught up in a fight with an opponent that would give All Might a run for his money. He’d also met All Might properly - apparently Tsukauchi knew him quite well - after that villain had burnt out - even though the number one hero was too late to save the day himself.
What matters now is that Kazuho’s safe, and he’s safe. Two hundred years ago, wounds like those would have taken his life with either ease or amputations. Quirks really are incredible.
The thought of course derails itself back to that night, and everything he’d accomplished. He had been praised by the likes of the police and heroes for his actions, for keeping the enemy away from the hospital for so long. But even with all of that, even with Soga’s insistence, even with encouragement from Midnight…
The Crawler is dead now. Career-wise, that is. Three years of guarding the streets, and finally his vigilantism’s illegality had caught up with him. It’s a strange feeling to not be able to go back out - it had become his whole life.
Tensei and a couple other Pros who heard of the situation have invited him to work at their agencies. Once upon a time, Koichi was shocked to even receive one invite. Now, he has enough that he’s got to take time to pick and choose the best offer.
That’s something he wants to put to the side, though. For now, he just wants to enjoy the fact that he’s alive. Unfortunately, his leg had taken permanent damage, but it’s nothing major. Well, other than having a limp for the rest of his life. As far as scars go, it isn’t awful in the slightest.
He figures that he should probably put his musings of his life aside, and focus on making the grilled cheese he’d started on. Last time he’d made them, they’d all been severely burnt, and Kazuho had affectionately scolded him for making the apartment smell shitty.
There’s a knock at the door.
Can’t be Kazuho, he thinks. She has no respect to knock. But his sandwich is going to catch fire if he leaves it for even a second with his luck, so he sighs.
“I’m making grilled cheese, let yourself in!” he exclaims.
“Heya,” Soga says, upon entering Koichi’s living space.
“Oh, hi!” Koichi exclaims, looking back at Soga with one of his dumb smiles.
“Focus on the sandwich so you don’t burn it,” Soga tells him in a deadpan tone.
“Uh, what?”
“Just. Grill the cheese, I guess. I dunno.”
There’s silence between them over the next 30 or so seconds, before Koichi flips his food onto a plate and turns the stove off.
“Hi, Soga,” he says. Soga stares back at him, with a fixed gaze.
Koichi can’t help but to notice his eyes are the same color as that of the villain’s…
“You’re thinking about the fight, aren’tcha?”
“Wait, what?” Koichi asks, snapping out of his thoughts.
“Pop told me too. ‘You look like Number 6 with your eyes. At least you don’t run around in hero cosplay 24/7.’ I mean, if that’s what it is-“
“… So she decided to throw shade on me?”
“She decided to throw shade on the both of you. Shame the one who deserves to be mocked will never hear it.”
“I wish I’d been able to get through to him.”
Soga averts his gaze, going silent. Koichi wants to speak up, wants to say something, but he knows that he’s said a statement nobody wants to hear about.
“You should eat your grilled cheese before it’s cold,” the other vigilante mutters.
“Uh, okay,” Koichi agrees, and picks up the sandwich.
There’s nothing but the sound of chewing throughout the room as he anti-climatically eats a grilled cheese.
“Y’know, Knuckleduster told me to come visit you,” Soga states once Koichi is done.
“Huh?”
“Goddammit, when are you gonna stop responding to everything with startled noises?”
“Er, I-“
“You did it again.”
“You made me think about it!”
Soga laughs, and grins at Koichi.
“I knew you were gonna do it.”
“God, everyone’s turning into Pop,” Koichi says. He walks up to Soga’s side, which initiates another moment of awkwardness.
Soga tilts his head, confused.
“… Um. I’m gonna go sit down,” Koichi states, making a b-line to his bed.
“That limp’s more prominent than I realized,” Soga says.
“Oh, come on!” Koichi exclaims, sitting down on his mattress. “Would you rather I have lost the whole leg!?”
“No. That’d ruin your chances at achieving your dreams.”
Why does he care about that? I’ve never mentioned it to him, thinks Koichi.
“Thanks for caring,” Koichi awkwardly says.
“You’re welcome, I guess.”
The silence starts up once again. It’s just part of the conversation at this rate.
Likely fed up with the repetition of the situation, Soga comes up to Koichi and sits next to him.
Koichi looks up, the two of them caught in each other’s gaze.
“Uh, hi,” Koichi says, tilting his head. “Why’re you over here?”
“To check on you.”
“I mean, like, sitting next to me. Sorry if that’s a weird question or anything.”
“Look, how sensitive are you about your leg? If I fucked up about it, I’m really sorry.”
“It’s nothing to be ashamed of! You didn’t offend me or anything.”
“Good, because Pop would have punched me.”
“You think she’d actually punch you?”
“Maybe, I don’t ever know what’s going on in her head.”
“She wouldn’t punch you.”
“Good to know.”
Koichi, without thinking, leans to rest on Soga’s shoulder, the same way Kazuho would do with him. Surprisingly, Soga wraps an arm around him, but doesn’t make eye contact.
“That’s nice of you,” Koichi says.
“Eh, whatever. I like you.”
“You what?”
“Uh, nothing, I-”
“Soga!” Koichi exclaims, with a stupid grin formed on his face. “You just said you like me.”
“Oh, come on, no I didn’t!”
Koichi has done a lot of stupid things in his life, but kissing Soga on the spot right now is far from one of the stupidest.
“Woah,” Soga says, pulling back. “That was-”
“Abrupt? I’m sorry! I don’t know what got into me!”
“No, that was great,” he finishes. “Tch, of course this would happen.”
“What?”
“Falling in love with the guy I tried to stab. Exactly what Rapt and Moyuru would get on my ass for.”
“They haven’t already?”
“No, they have.”
“Huh,” Koichi says. “Well, they’re right. I love you too, on record.”
“Uh…”
“Too much too soon? Soga, I-”
“No, no. I love you too. I’m just really bad at this. Never really had a lot of people care for me growing up.”
“You’ll adjust,” Koichi says softly. “I know you will.”
“As if I haven’t already?” Soga asks. Before Koichi can respond, Soga is kissing him again, pulling him close. Koichi hugs him, and buries his face in Soga’s neck.
“I love you,” Koichi murmurs, unable to think of anything else to say.
“I’m not gonna get to go home tonight, am I?” Soga asks.
“I don’t want to keep you here if that’s not what you’re okay with…”
“Nah, I’m fine with it,” Soga says with a grin. “Come ‘ere.”
The two of them snuggle up against each other, with a tight hold keeping them together. As far as weird surprises go, this sure as hell beats whatever the fuck his fight against that villain was.
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” he says quietly, enough that Koichi can barely hear. “Thanks for saving everyone.”
“And I’d do it again to protect you,” Koichi hums, burying himself further in Soga’s hold. He knows that if there’s any real truth in the world, then it has to be those words. That’s just how he rolls.