Archive of Our Own ^beta

Izuku wants to keep exploring the place, but he supposes he should be waiting in line as well...

"What's your name, cutie?"

Suddenly, a girl with beautiful pink hair and skin appears next to him; she's carrying a black book in her hands and reading down as if she's looking for something.

"Midoriya Izuku," he mumbles, eyes glimmering with excitement and curiosity; he tries to control his own voice though.

"Sorry, cutie, but this is not your time," she winks before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him away from the line of people. "Besides, your soul is still clearly attached to your physical body and that's why you're still feeling everything that happens up there."

Izuku touches his wet hair and realizes he's freezing, although he doesn't feel like he's drowning anymore, perhaps he's on the shore...

"What's your name?"

"Ashido Mina," she smiles again, pleased for some reason.

"What should I do now, Ashido?"

"Why don't you help me here while you wait for your soul to return to your body?"

"Of course!" Izuku beams, already walking behind her; he's desperate to learn how everything works down there.

***

They go through the line asking their names and sometimes listening to their stories; some of them make Izuku tear up so he starts making flowers crowns so they smile before boarding their respective ships.

"So you're not completely mortal, I see," Ashido mumbles with curiosity.

"No. I'm a demigod, a minor deity I suppose," Izuku mumbles, looking at his hands. "I didn't even know my power still worked here."

"ASHIDO! WHY ARE THE SOULS WEARING SHITTY FLOWERS CROWNS?"

The man yelling looks very young; he's blond with spiky hair, he's wearing dark cloak and even darker clothes underneath.

"They're not shitty!" Izuku protests then, offended. When the other gets closer he realizes he's way taller and stronger than him. "I made the best for them!"

"Ha?" Finally, the blond notices him, looking down at him like he's some sort of irritating thing he's stumbled upon. "Who are you?"

"I'm Midoriya Izuku! What's your name?"

"You don't know who I am?" The other huffs, looking offended.

"He's a lost soul waiting to go back to his body, of course he doesn't know you, Bakugo," Ashido mumbles, trying to hide her amusement. Then, looking at Izuku, she adds: "He's the king of the Underworld."

"Really?" Izuku forgets his irritation and gets closer to the confused god. He starts beaming. "Oh! So what kind of powers do you have? I mean I suppose you can move from one place to another whenever you want, but how does that work exactly? Do you visit the mortal realm often? Do mortals see you? Why do you–"

"Stop babbling, nerd!" Bakugo narrows his eyes, getting irritated. "I can't understand anything!"

"Sorry, that usually happens when I get excited..." Izuku scratches his left cheek, feeling a little bit embarrassed. "I can't help it, everything here is so interesting..."

Suddenly, Bakugo's expression softens. Then, his eyes roam all over Izuku's body.

"You're soaking wet..."

"I was drowning, Baku–"

"That sounds horrible coming from you! Don't call me that! Call me Katsuki!"

"Kacchan?" Izuku can't listen to him very well now; he feels a pull...

He's going back.

"No! Katsuki! Honestly, Deku..."

He finally goes back to the mortal world; the girl he saved pulled him out of the river.

Her name is Uraraka Ochako.

"Thanks for saving me."

"It looks like we saved each other, Midoriya."

***

The next couple of times he doesn't appear at the docks, but inside of a castle, usually in the throne room.

He's not sure why, but he doesn't mind actually; he likes to explore everything and the castle is absolutely fascinating.

There he meets Kirishima and Kaminari, another minor deities like himself that help Bakugo rule the Underworld; they're always so nice to him.

However, Bakugo doesn't like when finds him chatting with them and usually carries him over his shoulder and sits him over one of the armrests of the throne, fortunately the seat is very large for Izuku to sit comfortably.

The king assures him he's very annoying, but he listens to whatever Izuku has to say and answers to each and every one of his questions.

One time he ends up almost freezing to death in the top of a mountain because he was trying to save a boy and when he's back in the Underworld he can still feel the cold spreading through his bones.

"Tch!" Bakugo rolls his eyes. "You truly are a minor deity, can't even resist a little bit of cold?"

Izuku pouts, prompting the king to chuckle before he puts his own black cloak over the young man's shoulders. It works for some reason; perhaps it's just because Bakugo can control everything that happens inside his realm.

"Thank you, Kacchan!"

"I just did it because somehow you're even more annoying when you're cold, Deku!"

***

The next time he doesn't feel anything and he knows that he's about to die for real; he's glad because the pain he was feeling up there was unbearable.

"Oi, Deku! Shitty hair says that... What is it?" Bakugo stops smirking the moment he notices Izuku's tired expression. He helps him climb up the throne and doesn't say anything when the green haired boy leans to rest his head over the king's shoulder.

"I don't want to talk about it," he mumbles, but that only increases Bakugo's concern.

"ASHIDO! BRING ME THE BOOK!"

The girl appears suddenly and hands Bakugo the book; she must've read it before because she keeps eyeing Izuku with worry in her yellow eyes.

Letter by letter his name starts being written in dark green ink.

"So I guess I should head to the docks now, right? I don't want to miss my ship."

"Stay, you can board it later," Bakugo mumbles, looking back at him with concern and something else Izuku can't recognize. He puts a hand on his knee like he wants to keep him there, next to him.

"Really? I thought if you lost your ship you couldn't to board it again. And you'd have to stay here forever."

"Things change, nerd..."

"Bakugo, you shouldn't–"

"Shut up, pinky!" He snaps at her, cheeks turning slightly pink before he turns his head to look at Izuku again. "Tell me what happened..."

"I..." He feels the pain or perhaps just the memory of it; it's like the horn of the creature is piercing into his stomach again.

But then the name in the book vanishes and he doubles over in pain before he sees the blood.

"Deku!" Bakugo screams, pulling the young man closer to him. Izuku has never seen him so desperate before. He looks like he's panicking. "What happened?"

"The minotaur tried to kidnap a woman... I had to do something!"

"A MINOTAUR? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Bakugo is angry, but Izuku can tell he's not actually mad at him.

"Can you m-make... the pain stop? I can't anymore, p-please... Just end my life already, I don't want more pain," he sobs. Perhaps he wouldn't have made an effort to go back if the woman was still in danger, but he remembers she managed to get away. Which was the reason why the minotaur got so mad at him in the first place.

Suddenly, everything goes black for a moment and the next thing he knows is that he's back in the mortal realm... Back in his body, bleeding over the beautiful flowers he was making grow before everything happened. But he's not alone; Bakugo kneels next to him and starts healing his wounds using only his palms, Izuku feels heat coming from them in waves well... more like tiny, harmless explosions.

The pain and the wounds vanish in the blink of an eye.

"How?"

"I can even bring something back to life if I want to," Bakugo mumbles absentmindedly; he's too used to answering Izuku's questions he doesn't even think before doing it. "But I'm not supposed to."

"Thank you, Kacchan!"

The king doesn't smile though, instead he strokes Izuku's cheek before he rises up.

"I'll be right back."

He disappears in black smoke, like the one usually an explosion leaves behind. When he returns, there's still fury written all over his features, his cloak is tainted with blood and his hands covered in it. He truly looks like the king of the dead in that moment.

"Don't come back to the Underworld," he hisses, hands closing into fists at his sides. "Do you understand? Stop risking your life like this! I don't want to see you ever again, Deku!"

A couple of tears fall from his eyes when Bakugo leaves... He's never felt so lonely before.

***

The ache in his heart disappears when he meets Todoroki Shoto, the son of one of the most powerful gods, the one who mortals claim can control the Sun itself.

He doesn't like to talk about his father though and Izuku doesn't actually care about that; he just likes to spend time with his new friend and since the man with mismatched hair insists on being with him most of the time, he ends up saving Izuku's life more than once.

It seems Bakugo's wish came true after all, because thanks to Todoroki, Izuku stops "visiting" the Underworld.

Perhaps it's for the best, he doesn't really belong there anyway and it seems it's not time for him to die yet.

"Thank you, Todoroki," he mumbles again before pulling his friend into a tight embrace.

"You're welcome," the young man mumbles, turning bright red; for a moment Izuku thinks the hug is making him uncomfortable and he tries to move away, but Todoroki pulls him right back into his arms and hugs him like he doesn't want to let go.

When he wakes up, Izuku finds himself surrounded by black smoke; he gets scared for his plants, but he doesn't have time to do anything because suddenly someone takes him in their arms and starts carrying him over their shoulder.

"Wait!"

"Shut up, Deku! It's me!"

"Kacchan?" Izuku relaxes as soon as he recognizes the black and orange robes and the spiky blond hair. "What–Where are we going?"

"Back to the Underworld, obviously," Bakugo huffs, even though he can't see him, Izuku can tell he's rolling his eyes.

The cloud of smoke surrounds them, the sound of an explosion follows and in the blink of an eye they're back in the place Izuku has never been able to forget.

"Does that mean I'm really dead this time?" He mumbles, lamenting he didn't have time to say goodbye to his mother or Todoroki.

There's a pause, it's just a couple of seconds, but it worries Izuku a little bit.

"Obviously," the King of the Underworld mumbles, although there's a bit of hesitation in his tone.

When they're back in the castle and Izuku is finally on his feet again, he remembers the reason why he's been so careful these past months is because Bakugo didn't want him there.

Well, he probably still doesn't.

"Midoriya!" Kaminari and Kirishima jump into his arms and Izuku hugs them close to his body because he must admit that he really missed them too.

They stop the group hug when Bakugo growls.

"What are you doing here?" Kaminari asks, looking a little bit confused.

"What do you mean?"

"He's dead," Bakugo tells them before Izuku can even open his mouth to speak.

Kirishima looks from Izuku to Bakugo with a little bit of concern.

"I see..."

"I won't be here for long I promise," Izuku mumbles then. "I know Kacchan doesn't actually want me here... So I'll probably take the next boat. That's what I have to do ri–"

He gets cut off when Bakugo takes him in his arms, sits on his throne and secures Izuku on his lap to look at him directly in the eyes.

There's a slight blush on his cheeks, he looks almost ashamed.

"I'm sorry about what I said that day," the King mumbles, Izuku is too surprised to speak, but Kaminari is not so he says something under his breath after gasping out loud.

"It's alright, Kacchan..."

"I like to have you here, Deku," Bakugo says, looking a little bit more vulnerable. He cradles Izuku's face in his hands gently. "Stay here."

"But I thought I had to board a ship..."

"You don't have to, please stay..."

Izuku blinks a couple of times, hearing Bakugo say please surprises him a lot.

"Alright. I'm glad we're still friends..."

Bakugo pulls him even closer and starts stroking his messy, green curls with his fingers.

"About that, I'd like to be more than–"

"What have you done?" Ashido appears, she's holding the black book against her chest and looking from Izuku to Bakugo like something terrible has happened.

"Shut up, pinky! I have everything under control!"

"But he's not–"

"Deku belongs in the Underworld," Bakugo almost growls, cradling Izuku in his arms protectively, confusing him even more. "So he'll stay here."

"I hope Shoto is okay with–"

"Don't mention his name here," Bakugo hisses, prompting Izuku to blink in shock; he had no idea he didn't like the other god.

"Todoroki, I had forgotten about him," Ashido shivers before taking a deep breath and narrowing her eyes at Bakugo. "You have no idea the trouble you're in..."

"I can handle it, pinky."

She looks like she's not sure about that.

***

"This is going to be your room from now on," Bakugo mumbles, opening the door that leads to a bedroom that's bigger than the house Izuku used to live in with his mortal mother. He needs to ask Bakugo later if he can send her a message somehow to let her know he's alright.

"Are you sure? This is... too much for me," Izuku knows that time doesn't matter anymore and that, according to Bakugo, he can stay as long as he wants before he decides to board the ship that will take him to the place he needs to be.

So he supposes there's no rush.

He feels a gentle hand on the back of his neck before he actually turns around to look up at Bakugo, who's smirking triumphantly now.

"You belong in here, Deku."

Izuku is not sure about that, but he decides not to argue with his friend, instead, his curiosity makes him rush towards a another closed door at the other side of the room.

"Where does it lead to?"

Suddenly, there's a slight blush spreading all over Bakugo's cheeks, he clears his throat and looks away for a moment.

"To my bedroom."

"Oh?" Izuku has never seen something like that. Why would someone need to build another door that leads to other bedroom?

"It's okay... It's just... I'm not going to open it, nerd. Don't worry... But if you need me..."

Izuku is even more puzzled by Bakugo's reaction, he looks flustered.

"These are the Queen's chambers," Ashido walks in with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Bakugo glares at her like he wants to kill her.

"SHUT UP!"

"Really? This is the room for..." Izuku looks around, eyes absorbing all the luxury in before he comes to the conclusion that it is indeed a place for someone of royal blood. "Maybe I should stay somewhere else..."

"NO!" Bakugo growls before trying to calm himself down. "I mean it doesn't matter, Deku. You can stay here."

"But what if you meet someone and you–"

"You'll be staying here, nerd," Bakugo cuts him off; Izuku knows that nothing will change his mind now.

"Okay..." He agrees, still thinking it's too much for him.

"It's not too late, Bakugo... If he comes back–"

"NO," the King snaps at Ashido, making her step back. However, she doesn't look like she's scared of him, just a little bit irritated. "I told you I can handle it."

When Bakugo is gone, perhaps he can ask Kaminari or Kirishima about how to send a message to another god... He doesn't want Todoroki to worry about him...

"Would you like something to eat, Deku?" For some reason, Bakugo looks a little bit desperate, almost like he wants his answer to be Yes.

Over the King's shoulder, he notices Ashido shaking her head, it confuses Izuku.

"I'm not actually hungry at the moment."

Besides... If he's dead he shouldn't feel hunger, right? Or maybe the dead eat just for the mere pleasure of it in the Underworld.

For the first time, Izuku feels like something is not right.

"I... There are a couple of things for you in the wardrobe over there. If you don't like any of them, you could tell shitty hair or dunce face..."

"Don't call them that!" Izuku scolds him lightly, forgetting for a moment that he's a King and they're both in his kingdom.

"Fine! Kirishima and Kaminari!"

Izuku nods, satisfied, and Bakugo pretends he's irritated, but the demigod can see the King is smiling, even though he's not looking directly at him.

Inside the wardrobe he finds a couple of clothes, they're beautiful and even though most of them are tunics, some of them look like dresses. However, it seems all of them are knew, it's like someone recently put them there.

One of them in particular catches his eye, it's a long light green tunic with a few golden details on it.

"Are you sure?" Izuku looks up at Bakugo, who for some reason blushes at the question. Although Izuku is too excited to think about it. The outfit is so pretty.

"Of course, nerd. Everything in there is for you," Bakugo says, surprising the young demigod for a moment.

"Really? Thank you, Kacchan!" He takes the one he likes the most and pulls him closer to himself. Now it's his time to blush. "Uhh... Would you mind? I'd like to..."

"Sure, Deku!" The King rushes out of the room in the blink of an eye; Izuku wonders why he's determined to look at the ground all the way out if the young man hasn't even started to change yet.

As soon as he puts the other tunic on; he realizes that his body feels too real. Or maybe it's just because he's actually dead this time? He's not sure, but he realizes that's not really important, not at the moment... What he needs to do is to find a way to send a message to his mother.

Shyly, the knocks at Bakugo's door.

"Kacchan, are you still–"

The door opens even before he finishes the sentence; it's almost like the god was just waiting for him to finish.

"Did you like–" Bakugo chokes, red eyes roaming all over Izuku, mostly over his exposed shoulders covered in freckles. His face is so red Izuku worries about him for a moment.

"Are you sick?" He asks, taking a few steps forward before touching his cheek and forehead lightly.

"SICK? WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT– Sorry, nerd, I just... I'm fine," since he apologized to Izuku, Bakugo has been trying to be more gentle towards him. "You look... pretty."

"Thanks, Kacchan!" Izuku beams, prompting Bakugo to get even more flustered.

"Would you like to... go for a walk around the palace?"

"Of course!" Izuku smiles back, taking the arm Bakugo's offering to him, suddenly feeling like a maiden for a moment. As soon as he finds Ashido, he'll ask her about ways to communicate with someone in the mortal realm.

***

Ochako has a friend she visits regularly since the day he saved her from drowning. His name is Izuku. According to him, he's a minor deity with little powers that he only uses to make flowers and plants grow.

She has always thought he underestimated himself, and she still believes he's destined to do something amazing. However, Ochako doesn't say that out loud anymore because Izuku doesn't believe her...

That particular day she brings him food in a basket so they can spend the day together. But she doesn't find him in the flower field he's usually in.

Instead, she finds Inko, the demigod's mother.

Ochako nearly drops the basket as soon as she realizes the woman has been crying.

"Are you alright?"

"Ochako, dear!" Inko says, trying not to sob. "I'm glad you're here... Have you seen my Izuku? He hasn't come home since yesterday..."

Ochako shakes her head, worrying and hating to be the one to crush Inko's hopes again. A couple of tears escape from the woman's eyes.

"I'm sure he–" she stops before finishing the sentence, there's no point in trying to cheer her up... They both know Izuku would never leave like that, without a word. He'd never do that to his mother or his friends.

Which means that something happened to him.

They go back to the woman's house and Ochako makes some food for the both of them, although the woman doesn't look like she's in the mood to do anything at the moment.

Ochako doesn't blame her.

Later that day, someone knocks at the door. Since Inko is too tired to move, Ochako opens the door for her.

"You must be Todoroki," the girl blurts out; she has never seen him before that day, but Izuku has told her a couple of things about the other boy. Besides, even though he looks like any other mortal, there's something about him...

Ochako can tell he's a god.

"Is Izuku here?"

"Shoto!" That's when Inko rises from her seat and rushes towards the boy. It's obvious they have seen each other before; Ochako is almost sure Todoroki has stayed with them a couple of times.

"What happened?"

Trying not to cry, Inko explains everything to the young god; Ochako notices that the temperature of the house decreases considerably.

"I'll find him," Todoroki promises, determined. "I'll bring him back."

Both Ochako and Todoroki leave the woman at home; the girl makes her a hot, sweet beverage and convinces her to stay in bed for a while.

"I'll find Iida first," Todoroki doesn't realize he's saying that out loud until Ochako asks him about it.

"Who's that?"

"Another god. The herald."

The girl nods, narrowing her eyes as she notices is getting colder outside; clouds are forming over their heads, but instead of rain, there's... snow falling over them.

It's impossible... It's not winter yet. This can't be happening... The plants, their crops... Everything will die.

"What's–" she stops as soon as she notices Todoroki's right fingertips covered in ice.

"I'm sorry... This is my fault. I can't quite control it, not when I'm extremely sad or worried..."

Ochako doesn't have time to think about the consequences; they can't stop it, at least she can't... Besides, she can't afford to worry about everything at once.

"We need to find Izuku," she mumbles, silently praying nothing happens, that it doesn't get worse.

She doesn't want to think what an endless winter would look like or how much damage it'd cause.

Izuku knows this kind of treatment is because he's with Bakugo, but it's still a little bit weird to have everyone bowing in front of them.

When they get outside again, Izuku finally notices that there's so much more to the Underworld than he initially thought. The palace is nice, but he has always liked to be outdoors.

They get to see a couple of souls roaming around before they get at the end of the line to board their respective ships. Bakugo rolls his eyes, although he still smiles when Izuku starts making flower crowns for them. He makes a particularly beautiful one for a little girl and gets a happy smile from her in return.

Bakugo is almost glued to him the whole time; a warm hand on his lower back, sometimes on his waist if the souls take too long thanking Izuku for the flower crowns. Most of them seem to be afraid of the King, but relax as soon as their eyes meet Izuku's kind ones.

He's fond of the kids, he sees a couple as he walks with his hand on Bakugo's strong arm. Some of them run towards him, grabbing his dress like it makes them feel safe. Izuku stays with the ones who seem to need company as they wait for their ships. Sometimes he holds their hand or carries them in his arms while he tells them a funny story about the mortal realm.

Ashido finds them with a group of kids, Bakugo is trying to entertain them by using his powers to produce small explosions from his palms while Izuku hums a song for them.

She looks conflicted: happy and yet worried at the same time.

"Time for us to go, children," she says, pointing at the next line near the docks. Most of them pout, but comply nonetheless, only after saying goodbye to Izuku and Bakugo of course, some of them even ask for a kiss on the cheek from the green haired demigod. "You're really good with kids, Midoriya."

"I like them," he mumbles sincerely, part of him lamenting he's never going to have his own children now. "Kacchan likes to play with them too!"

The strong hand goes back to grab his waist almost immediately. Blinking, he realizes he's being pulled against the God's broad chest.

"Probably because you asked him to," Ashido chuckles, ignoring the glare Bakugo throws her way. "He's so whipped–"

"Shut up, Pinky!"

Izuku realizes that even though Bakugo often sounds irritated or pissed, he actually appreciates his friends.

Again, the smile vanishes from Ashido's expression, just to be replaced with a frown, that's when Izuku remembers he had something to tell her.

"I was wondering if you could help send–"

She interrupts him quickly, looking over his shoulder... She makes a quick gesture with her hand as if she wants to postpone that particular conversation. Then Ashido looks at Bakugo again.

"This is clearly not a good idea," she says. "You should reconsider, perhaps if you let him go–"

"Come on, Deku!" Bakugo cuts her off, taking Izuku's hand in his and holding it like he doesn't want to let go of him. "I wanted to show you something..."

"But Ashido–"

"I'll speak to her later."

Izuku's concern gets forgotten as soon as he walks in the beautiful forest behind the castle. The place is dark, but there's some sort of blue light that makes everything look ethereal somehow.

He's fascinated; his hands itch to make the trees grow and touch the leaves to feel the life beating inside them.

"I like it!" Izuku beams, but Bakugo shakes his head, chuckling as he cradles the demigod's face in his hands.

"This is not what I wanted to show you, but I'm glad you like this place."

"What do you–"

"Dynamight! Come here!"

Izuku has no idea whom Bakugo is talking to until he sees the figure of a huge dog with three heads and six glowing eyes rushing towards them.

"Now, I know he might look scary, but–"

"You're such a good boy!" Izuku says immediately, taking a few steps closer towards the beast. "So handsome!"

The dogs starts wagging his tail immediately, allowing Izuku to stroke all of his heads, although he gets a little bit impatient when the demigod starts petting one at a time.

"That traitor," Bakugo mumbles, looking at the dog, although he seems more amused than annoyed at the scene in front of him.

"I've been here a couple of times!" Izuku narrows his eyes at the King of the Underworld, almost accusingly. "Why didn't you introduce him to me before?"

"You were in the limit of life and death all those times and didn't stay long," Bakugo retorts, getting closer to Izuku.

The demigod still pouts, but doesn't stay mad for too long because the dog is constantly demanding attention.

"Can we take him to the castle, Kacchan?"

"Deku..."

"Please! Just once!"

"Tch! Fine!"

"Thank you!" Izuku's so happy he gives Bakugo a kiss on the cheek, he's still so excited about the dog, he doesn't notice the way the god's face turns bright red or how gentle he uses his hand to touch the spot Izuku kissed.

***

It turns out the herald is a tall god with dark hair and sandals with wings on them. Ochako would be more surprised if she hadn't heard about that deity before.

They're back in Izuku's field when the other god calls him and it has gotten considerably worse outside; the place is slowly being covered by snow and Ochako is trembling with cold.

"Here," Todoroki turns around, making a flame appear out of nowhere with his left hand. The fire floats towards her and stays very close to her body the whole time; it works, the cold disappears in the blink of an eye.

"Thank you."

"You're his friend, it's my duty to protect you," Todoroki nods in return before turning around to face Iida, the herald.

Of course, Ochako tries not to roll her eyes because she's more amused than annoyed by the situation; it's funny how the god is constantly reminding her how much he cares about Izuku.

But he's right, she's Izuku's friend and she cares about him as well.

"I need you to gather information about someone for me, I need to know where he is," Todoroki tells Iida, eyes shadowing with concern as he speaks. "Or at least tell me if you heard something about him. His name is Midoriya Izuku and he's a demigod; he takes care of this field in particular."

"I know he's very kind and gentle with mortals; they love him dearly," Iida says, moving his hands up and down as he talks. "But I haven't seen him in a while. He's never called me before."

"It doesn't surprise me; he doesn't do many of the things he should because he thinks he's a minor deity," Todoroki frowns at his own words before adding: "I have told him many times that... Nevermind, I just need you to find him if you can."

"I'll try," Iida nods, looking back at Ochako with curiosity. "Wait... It's not winter yet. What's going on?"

"It's me, I'm afraid," Todoroki looks embarrassed. "I can't control it, my emotions trigger my right side usually, especially sadness."

"Is this because of Midoriya?"

"Yes."

"You mean this is going to turn into a permanent winter if we don't find him?" Iida asks, turning a little bit pale.

"I don't... know." Something in Todoroki's expression breaks, but it's very subtle. "I don't want to think about the possibility of not finding Izuku."

"Right, sorry," Iida nods, throwing one last concerned look at Ochako. "I think I should tell All Might about this."

Todoroki nods before Iida goes.

"All Might as in the King of the gods?" Ochako finally says, remembering that her mother mentioned she had been in his temple once; there's a huge statue of him there.

"The very same."

She knows that means trouble, although she's still more worried about finding Izuku than anything else.

***

Kaminari and Kirishima start playing with the huge three headed dog as soon as they're back in the castle. They're very much amused by the situation.

"I thought you said he was better in his forest," Kaminari comments, for some reason looking at Izuku before turning his head back to Bakugo.

"Shut up!" The god almost growls before pulling Izuku on his lap.

"I asked him to keep Dynamight here," Izuku says then, prompting Kirishima to grin from ear to ear.

"Of course you did, Midoriya," he nods, ignoring Bakugo's irritated expression. "We know he can't say 'No' to you."

After a while of listening to them arguing with Bakugo, Izuku excuses himself before going back to his room; the dog trots happily behind him.

"Deku..."

"It's okay, Kacchan! He can sleep in my room!" He says before giving Bakugo the opportunity to refuse. When he walks out of the throne room he believes he can hear Kirishima talking again.

"It seems that dog is better than you at this, Bakugo."

"If you don't shut up this instant..."

Izuku gets a little bit startled when he finds Ashido waiting for him in his chamber; the dog starts wagging his tail at her, but she seems to be in a hurry so she doesn't pay too much attention to the creature.

"You wanted to tell me something earlier," she reminds him and Izuku takes a parchment from one of his drawers, rolls it up and hands it to her.

"Can you send this to my mother? I just want her to know... what happened to me. I want her to know I'm alright and that I'll be waiting for her, when the time comes," he mumbles, getting a little bit teary eyed. He shouldn't be sad, this is not a permanent goodbye.

"Why haven't you called the herald?" Ashido asks, looking concerned.

"I don't think he'll listen to a minor deity," Izuku mumbles, cheeks turning slightly pink.

"You're not... Of course he'll listen to you!"

"I don't think so."

Ashido sighs, grabs a basket she had placed on one of the chairs and hands it to Izuku.

It's full of delicious food.

"This food is from the mortal realm, you can eat this," she assures him. "I'll bring you more soon, but don't eat anything else, okay?"

"Why not?" Izuku blinks back at her in confusion. "What's the matter with the food in here?"

"I don't think it'll be good for you," Ashido mumbles nervously, it's almost like she knows something else and is hiding it from him. "Listen... I know my King is an idiot, but he's not bad, you know?"

"I know!" Izuku says immediately, almost defensively. "Kacchan has been very kind to me all this time."

Looking away Ashido bites her bottom lip, her expression is full of intense worry and sorrow.

"What I'm trying to say is that he usually does what he wants because he's afraid of losing the things he loves the most. He doesn't stop to think of the consequences of his actions, but he really cares about you a lot."

"Well... He's my friend–"

"Just..." Ashido cuts him off, taking both of Izuku's hands in hers. "Think of how much he cares about you and try to forgive him. Perhaps not right away, but please keep in mind that he truly loves you..."

"There's nothing to forgive... He hasn't done anything wrong..." Izuku stammers, a little bit worried now.

"Just promise you won't forget what I just told you."

"I... promise."

Tenya can see the concern in All Might's features as soon as he tells him about the situation regarding the demigod, Midoriya Izuku.

"We can't have an endless winter. Everything will die if this stays the same."

Yes, that's exactly what Tenya was thinking about when Todoroki told him about his powers; it makes sense for him to have so much control on the mortal realm, since he's the son of a very strong god. But he knows All Might can't and won't let this to escalate even more.

"Midoriya is not dead," he suddenly says, surprising Tenya. "I've seen the boy before because his mother prays for him a lot in my temple. She's a nice woman and has asked me to keep an eye on him. And so I have. He's really kind to everyone and more powerful than he thinks."

"Do you know where he is, Sir?"

All Might sighs, looking sad. That's more than enough to know the answer, but the king of the gods still says: "Unfortunately, no. I wasn't looking at him when he disappeared. However, I know he is alive because I can feel his life force now. It's quite strong."

"So perhaps he just ran away?"

"Young Midoriya would never leave his mother... At least not like that."

"What do we do now?"

"Call all the gods and tell them to meet me here."

"Do you think one of them is involved in this, Sir?"

"Most likely. Hurry up, before winter gets worse."

***

Izuku feels bad for leaving the cute dog to sleep on the floor, but he's too big to sleep on the bed next to him. However, he stays for a while with him, until Dynamight relaxes before Izuku jumps on the bed and goes back to sleep.

In the morning a soft knock at the door wakes him up, Dynamight is wagging his tail excitedly, although to Izuku's momentarily confusion, the big dog is staring at the side door instead of the entrance.

That's when Izuku realizes it must be Bakugo.

"Just a second!" He says before quickly putting on a new dress. That one doesn't cover his back at all, but it's okay because the place is warm that day. "You can come in now, Kacchan!"

Bakugo gets "attacked" by a very happy Dynamight who ends up licking his cheeks even though the god tells him not to.

The scene makes Izuku chuckle and realize, that even though he misses the mortal realm, he really enjoys being in the underworld. It has started to feel like home, although he's aware he'll have to get on a ship eventually...

"You two are really cute!" He beams, knowing Bakugo doesn't like to hear those types of compliments.

"Cute? I'm anything but–" Bakugo chokes as soon as he notices what Izuku's wearing. He seems to have forgotten he was irritated a few seconds ago. "It looks good on you."

"Thanks, Kacchan!" Izuku says before turning around to start petting each of the dog's head. He gets a little bit startled when he feels a warm hand on his lower back for a moment. Bakugo has gotten used to put his hands on his waist very often, although this time it feels a little bit different because there's no fabric in between his skin and the god's palm.

"You also have freckles on your back," Bakugo comments. To Izuku's surprise, he's blushing to the tip of his ears.

"Yes," Izuku giggles. "I told you my body is covered in them!"

Bakugo seems to get flustered at that, but he doesn't move his hand away. It's okay actually, Izuku doesn't mind.

"Are we going to cheer up some souls today?" He asks, excited; he's already thinking about all the flower crowns he's going to make. "I can't wait to see the children!"

Bakugo looks at him fondly, he cups Izuku's face with one hand, making him feel small; the king of the underworld is very tall.

"That sounds like an excellent idea, but we must have breakfast first... You haven't eaten–"

"I have," Izuku cuts him off, pointing at the basket. There's still a couple of food inside, but not much. Everything was absolutely delicious.

For some reason, Bakugo looks relieved; Izuku thinks that maybe he was worried about him, although... He's not supposed to feel hungry, right? He remembers Kirishima explained to him that the people in the underworld still eat though, just for the pleasure of it; they still can taste the food after all. However, they only eat food from that place.

Now that he thinks about it, Ashido brought that basket from the mortal realm for him. For a second he thinks about asking Bakugo, but something tells him he shouldn't.

"Ha! I bet the food here is better than anything you have ever tasted, isn't that so, nerd?"

"Y-Yes!" Izuku says, feeling like a terrible person for lying.

"Well... I think we can see a couple of souls before leaving Dynamight back in–"

There's a knock at the entrance door. Bakugo narrows his eyes immediately and opens it with irritation.

"I hope it's important because I was–"

"It is," Kirishima cuts him off, looking pale. Izuku immediately worries and gets closer to him.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course, Midoriya!" He says, although he doesn't look okay at all. He's clearly nervous, almost afraid. "Everything's fine! It's just... There's someone who wants to talk with Bakugo in the throne room."

"Alright," Bakugo nods, looking suddenly tense. However, when he turns around he tries to smile at Izuku. "Why don't you go ahead and wait for me at the docks with Dynamight. I'll be with you soon."

Izuku nods, knowing it's probably none of his business, but still a little bit worried.

There's something going on.

***

Mina tries not to look nervous in front of the herald; he hasn't say a word about what he's doing there, but she knows. It's about Midoriya.

It has to be.

When Kirishima and Bakugo walk in the throne room, Iida moves his head down as a form of respect.

To Bakugo's credit, he doesn't look nervous, it's almost like he's bored, although Mina knows him and she can tell when he's not quite relaxed.

He must know what this is about.

"I have a lot of things to do here so spit it out," the King of the underworld grumbles like he usually does.

Iida rolls his eyes; he's used to Bakugo's personality at this point, even though he doesn't go down to the underworld quite often.

"All Might requests your presence. He has something important to tell you."

"To me?"

"To all the gods," Iida says.

"What does he want to tell us?" Bakugo huffs with irritation or that's the impression he wants to give, but he must be as distressed as Mina is at the moment.

"I'm not allowed to say. You must attend the meeting."

"Right now?"

"At noon."

"Tell the old man I'll be there."

Iida nods, although he grimaces when Bakugo refers to All Might as "the old man" however, he doesn't say anything about that. It's not the first time Bakugo calls him that.

When Iida goes... Mina feels like she can breathe again. Kirishima still looks pale though. She's glad they told Kaminari to stay with Midoriya because no matter how much she loves him, Kaminari is not known for keeping secrets, especially when he's nervous.

"Bakugo, this is your opportunity to let Midoriya go..."

"No," the king almost growls at Kirishima.

"Come on! You can still fix this!" Mina says, almost desperate and a little bit upset because of how stubborn and stupid that god is. "I'm pretty sure he doesn't know it's you, but he knows it's one of the gods already."

"You don't know if this about my Izuku," Bakugo growls, however, he starts pacing around the room like he's in distress.

"She's right, Bakubro..." Kirishima cuts in, with a worried expression on his face. "You'll get in trouble for this. Listen, even if Midoriya goes back, you can still visit him in the mortal realm and court him there!"

"No! That half and half bastard is gonna try to steal him from me!" The god retorts as his palms emit little explosions, he's getting angrier.

Mina knows he's suffered without Midoriya; when he thought the best thing for the demigod was to stay away from the underworld, but no matter how much Bakugo needs him, he can't get himself in this kind of trouble.

"Midoriya will find out eventually... And when he does he'll get mad at you," she hates to point that out, but Bakugo needs an emotional slap to do what's right. He needs to snap out of his madness.

The king's expression twists in pain, Mina doesn't like it, but he's her friend and she has to help him.

"He won't find out," he blurts out, stubbornly. Bakugo is so afraid of losing Midoriya he can't see the right path at the moment. "Besides, it's too late now because he ate something from my realm, which means he can't go back now. Those are the rules."

"Did you give him food? That's not manly, Bakubro, you should've told him."

"There was a basket in his room, I didn't actually give him anything..." However, Bakugo still looks guilty because he probably wanted Midoriya to eat, he wanted him to stay.

Mina knows that's her basket though, which means Midoriya is still free to go, but she can't tell that to the king of the dead at the moment.

"They'll find out..."

"They won't."

Mina sighs; she's not Nighteye, which means she can't actually see the future, but she's sure this isn't going to end well. Bakugo and Midoriya will end up hurt.

She knows her friend is not bad, but he had never been in love before and this feeling hit him way too hard for him to think of the consequences. Bakugo is so terrified of losing Midoriya... that he's doing everything the wrong way...

But she doesn't know what to do. She wishes there was a way to fix this.

"Do you like this place?" There's a little bit of concern in Kaminari's question, but Izuku doesn't notice it because he's too busy making a flower crown for a little girl who had been crying.

Izuku sits her over Dynamight as he cheers up another group of kids on his way to the docks; it's one of his favorite things to do: help the souls in the underworld.

"Of course I do!" He says, still looking ahead before scratching one of Dynamight's heads and taking the girl's hand before leaving her in the line to get to her boat. She's better now and even thanks Izuku for making her smile.

"Midoriya, I think..."

"We don't need you here anymore, Dunce face..."

"Kacchan!" Izuku says that both in surprise and to scold the god; he certainly didn't see him coming and got a little bit startled when he felt his hand on his lower back.

"Tch! Fine!" The blond rolls his eyes, making the kids around chuckle. "Fuck off, Kaminari!"

"Kacchan!" This time Izuku turns around to cover Bakugo's mouth with his hand, even though it's too late. "There are children here! Also... Kaminari can stay as long as he wants..."

"It's okay, Midoriya! I need to tell something to Kiri anyway!" He says, smiling, even though he still looks worried. "I'll see you later!"

More kids gather around Izuku, the girl has grabbed the fabric of his dress and is looking up at him in awe.

"Are you the princess here?"

"No, actually–"

"He's the Queen... my Queen," Bakugo tells her, prompting Izuku to blush to the tip of his ears.

The little girl and the other children giggle and Izuku realizes Bakugo is only saying that to make them happy. It doesn't mean anything.

"You're a very pretty Queen."

"Thank you, little one," Izuku mumbles, feeling a little bit shy under all the attention. He can also feel Bakugo's eyes on him.

Izuku decides to let all the children sit on Dynamight while he talks to other souls around; he listens to their stories and tries to comfort them as much as he can.

When it's time for the children and the first group of people to go, Izuku turns around to ask about Bakugo's meeting when he realizes that the King has been watching him this whole time.

There's a soft expression on his face, a fond glimmer in his eyes and such an intense expression that leaves Izuku flustered and speechless for a while.

"The girl was right, you really are pretty," Bakugo says, taking both of his hands. His voice is incredibly soft.

"Thanks... I–" Izuku gets cut off by a kiss on his cheek. Then, Bakugo presses their foreheads together. There's something sad in the way he moves and stares at Izuku that worries him...

"I have to go... But I'll be back soon, alright?"

Izuku nods, still too overwhelmed to speak.

"I just want you to know that... no matter what happens, I truly care about you..."

"I know, Kacchan. I care about you too," Izuku says, almost immediately, his heart is full and his cheeks have turned pink, but he's concerned as well.

Strong arms pulls him into a warm embrace that makes Izuku feel whole. He melts into the hug and laughs when Dynamight licks them both and Bakugo yells at the dog to stop.

This has started to feel like home too.

***

To say Tenya is worried is definitely an understatement, now that most of the gods are gathered around All Might, looking confused and irritated, he wonders how he's going to handle it.

Endeavor and Shoto are there as well and the Sun god looks already furious, even though All Might hasn't talked about the problem they have in their hands yet.

The King of the underworld has arrived too and the grimace on his face is that of someone who's already displeased with the current situation, although to be fair, he always looks like that.

The god of the shadows and night, Tokoyami, remains in a corner, silently waiting for everything to end; of course Tenya has no idea who's the god responsible for this mess, but he has the feeling that he's not the one.

"This is about Midoriya Izuku," All Might begins, however, before he can explain who that is, Endeavor growls.

"We don't have time to talk about insignificant mortals..."

"He's not insignificant!" His own son protests then, making him huff in response.

"I told you not to get involved with mortals!"

"I don't care what you think!"

Before the discussion can escalate, the god of wisdom and strategy takes a step forward; he always looks like a thin, very tired man with dark hair. He was one of the first gods, he taught Tenya and a couple of others how to perform their duties. The mortals who like to teach always pray to him.

"Midoriya Izuku is a demigod," Aizawa mumbles, surprising All Might himself.

"Do you know him?"

"I have seen him a couple of times," he says. "He's a problem child, but has a good heart."

"What happened to him?" Yaoyorozu, the moon goddess, takes a step forward, looking genuinely worried. "I've seen him too, running on the hills at night, he makes sure the fields stay full of flowers and the mortals' crops don't die so they have plenty of food during winter."

"He's gone," Shoto says almost fiercely. "And I want him back."

Bakugo looks like he's furious with the young god, but he's always angry at everything, so Tenya doesn't pay too much attention to that.

"His mother wants him back," All Might kindly says then.

"He's not dead, is he?" Jiro asks; she's not a goddess, but she got turned into an immortal being because she's Yaoyorozu's lover and the moon goddess takes her everywhere she goes.

Just then, everyone in the room turns to look at the King of the dead. Bakugo tenses for a moment before scowling at them.

"His name is not written in the book of the dead," he finally says, prompting Aizawa to narrow his eyes at him for a moment.

Shoto sighs, relieved.

"And yet he's nowhere to be found," All Might continues.

"I don't see why that's our problem," Bakugo huffs to which Endeavor agrees.

"The fields have started to get covered in snow," All Might explains. "And it's not winter yet."

"That's my fault," Shoto moves away from his father before he can grab his arm. "My power is acting up and I can't quite control it, especially when I'm overwhelmed by my own emotions."

"I'm confused–"

"He's heartbroken because Midoriya is gone," Midnight, the love goddess, cuts Jiro off, looking at Shoto like she understands. "That's why he can't control his power."

For a moment, the youngest Todoroki looks like he's very flustered, his cheeks turn slightly pink, but he tries to hold it back.

"You're a very powerful god and I know you're a good kid," All Might says, making Shoto look proud for a moment. "But if we don't find young Midoriya soon, you have to find a way to stop this or I'll have to take away your powers."

"YOU WON'T TOUCH MY SON!"

For a moment it looks like Endeavor is going to punch All Might in the face, but Aizawa and the other gods (including Shoto himself) step closer to him in order to stop him if necessary.

"If... we don't find Izuku and I can't figure it out how to stop this... I'll let you take my powers away."

"SHOTO!"

The young Todoroki ignores him completely and turns to look at All Might instead.

"Is that why you brought us here, to help him find Midoriya?" Tokoyami asks, intrigued.

"No," All Might shakes his head, looking almost sad and disappointed.

"He thinks one of us is responsible," Aizawa figures it out, surprising Tenya.

"I'm sure one of you is hiding Midoriya," All Might mumbles, looking from one god to another. Not all the gods are present, but Tenya has the feeling that the one who did it is right there. "And I want to give you the opportunity to set things right. You have one day to bring him back, but if you don't, I'll go look for him myself."

***

Izuku really wants to wait for Bakugo, but he's tired after spending all day trying to give some comfort to the souls waiting for their ships, so he jumps on the mattress and watches as Dynamight lies on the floor next to the bed, almost like he's protecting it.

However, he doesn't get to close his eyes, because someone rushes into the room. Izuku gets startled until he recognizes Bakugo.

The King of the underworld doesn't say a word, he just sits on the bed and takes Izuku into his arms, pulling him close.

"What is it, Kacchan? Are you alright? Did something happen?" Izuku asks with concern, running his fingers through the god's hair to calm him down.

"Bad day," he grumbles before looking up and taking Izuku's face in his hands. "Can I sleep next to you?"

He knows he's blushing, he can feel his face like it's burning, but Izuku keeps staring back into those piercing red eyes.

"Sure..." He stammers, reminding himself that they're friends. It's okay to seek comfort from a friend.

Bakugo smiles, almost relieved before he pushes Izuku back on the mattress and lies down behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist like he doesn't want to let go.

Feeling comfortable and warm, Izuku's eyes start closing on their own... He's falling asleep but he can feel Bakugo nuzzling against the back of his neck.

"I love you, Izuku. Don't ever forget that."

That has to be part of a dream... Bakugo sounds too soft... too vulnerable for his words to be real.

Izuku wonders what happened to him... He needs to ask him in the morning.

When Izuku wakes up, Bakugo is gone and he's not going to lie, that makes him feel a little bit cold and lonely for some reason.

The basket in his room is gone, there was still a little bit of food left he was hoping to eat in the morning. He's really hungry and when he looks down to see the huge dog with three heads wagging his tail, he decides that he can take Dynamight to his forest and find something edible for himself.

Izuku knows Ashido doesn't want him to eat something from there, but Bakugo is always telling him the food is better in the Underworld so it can't be actually bad for him. Besides, he's just going to eat a little bit, that's it.

***

Mina has never been more stressed in her life; the King hasn't actually told them what happened in the meeting with the other gods, but it must have been really bad because he didn't come back pissed like they all expected, but sad.

And now Aizawa just walked in the palace, looking like he's going to scold them all like he used to when he was in charge of teaching them how to perform their duties. Even though he's strict, he's a very caring god and Mina has a very special room in her heart for him.

"Sensei..."

"Not your sensei anymore, Ashido," Aizawa corrects her immediately, but smiles a little. "I have come to see Bakugo."

She nods and guides him all over to the throne room before she rushes to find that ridiculous boss of hers.

When she finds him right outside and tells him about Aizawa, his eyes darken with a deep sorrow; he must know what's about to happen.

"I know Midoriya Izuku is here," the god blurts out, not even giving Bakugo the opportunity to ask. "I haven't told All Might, but I will if you don't do the right thing."

The god of the dead grimaces, but he doesn't look irritated or pissed like he usually does... He's completely devastated and despite all the mistakes he made, Mina feels sorry for him.

"I was going to ask the reason behind all this mess, but by the look on your face I think it's love," Aizawa continues, prompting Bakugo to turn slightly pink. "Midnight knows more about it, but I have seen it a couple of times to know how selfish and crazy can be..."

"Shut up!" Bakugo growls, trying not to shake; he's yelling but he seems like he's in pain. "Just tell me what you want."

"I'm here to give you the opportunity to tell him everything and then let me take him back to the mortal world, with his mother."

"He's going to hate me," the King mumbles, he sounds like he's being tortured; he looks down so Aizawa doesn't notice the tears in his eyes, but Mina is sure the other god knows.

"I've seen Midoriya a couple of times and even though I haven't spoken to him directly, I don't think he'll hate you. He'll be disappointed and hurt because you lied to him, but he'll be even more if someone else tells him what you did."

"He's been consuming food in my realm so he can't–"

"I've been giving him mortal food," Mina cuts Bakugo off, expecting a furious reaction, but instead the god nods at her, looking completely heartbroken already.

It's devastating to watch.

"I'll bring him in a couple of minutes," he says before getting out of the room.

"He really loves him," Mina tells Aizawa then.

"I know."

***

He decides to keep the pomegranate in his dress as he hears footsteps in the woods; Dynamight is already roaming around happily and wagging his tail as soon as he sees Bakugo.

Izuku beams at him, but his smile vanishes quickly, just as he notices Bakugo is not grinning back at him. He looks sad.

"Kacchan? Is everything okay?"

The King of the underworld shakes his head, but he moves closer, pulling Izuku into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry, Izuku."

Getting seriously worried, Izuku pulls away to look into Bakugo's red eyes.

"What? Why?"

"It's just... Wait," the blond's voice trembles and even though he's fighting against them, a couple of tears escape from his eyes. "Let me do this... before I say goodbye, before you hate me."

"What? But–" Izuku feels himself blush as Bakugo presses his lips to his forehead and nuzzles against his cheek.

Then the god takes a deep breath as he keeps staring into his eyes.

"I lied to you."

Izuku refuses to believe it's something that bad, it can't be. Bakugo is overreacting, they've been friends for a long time...

"You're not... dead."

This is a really bad joke, the worst one. But it's not real, it can't be... Because if he's still alive–

"Why am I here then?"

"I brought you here," Bakugo grimaces, looking like he hates every single word that comes out of his lips. "You're..."

Izuku takes a few steps back then and this time he ignores the hurt expression on Bakugo's face, he's too shocked to notice anything that's not his own heart and his tormented thoughts.

"But if I'm alive, my mother is... She must be–"

"Devastated because she has no idea where you are," Bakugo forces himself to say, even though it hurts them both. "And it's my fault."

"Why?" Izuku starts sobbing, he can't help it. Dynamight whines and nuzzles his back, Bakugo tries to give him comfort too, but Izuku doesn't let him come closer. "Why would you do this to me? I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Bakugo says immediately. "I didn't do this to.... Listen! I didn't mean to hurt you. I just–"

"Friends don't do things like this to each other," Izuku mumbles as tears fall from his eyes. He's more hurt than angry. He likes Bakugo, he thought–

"I know!" The King takes a deep breath, looking almost broken. "I know! I got scared and I did something really stupid because I wanted to keep you here!"

"But you said you didn't want to see me–"

"I did," he cuts him off, grimacing in pain. "Because I'm an idiot, because I thought if I told you that you weren't going to risk your life again... But I missed you, I missed you so much and I heard that stupid Half and Half bastard was trying to steal you from me... And I panicked."

"Half and Half? What are you talking about?"

"Todoroki."

"Shoto is my friend!"

"I know, but he wants something more..." Bakugo sighs, shakes his head and for the first time his red eyes are completely open, exposed, vulnerable and there are so many emotions in them, Izuku can't read them all. "It doesn't matter. What I did was terrible and I'm truly sorry, Izuku."

He still doesn't understand, Bakugo doesn't seem to hate him and yet he kept him there and made him believe he had to stay...

"I want to see my mom."

Bakugo nods and offers his hand, but Izuku doesn't take it.

"Right... Just follow me, I'll take you to Aizawa."

Aizawa? Aizawa as in the god of wisdom and strategy? The same...

Everything is so confusing and painful, Izuku barely notices what he's doing. He just knows that in the blink of an eye they're outside the palace again.

"Midoriya," the god nods, startling Izuku a bit.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Aizawa... S-Sir."

They're in the throne room; Kirishima, Kaminari and Ashido glance at him once and then back to the ground.

They knew all along and no one told him. Well, Ashido tried to... a little. Suddenly her words make sense, the things she told him days ago.

"Izuku..."

"I need time to think," he mumbles, looking away from Bakugo. "I believe it's better if we don't see each other for a while."

"I understand."

Izuku turns to Aizawa who takes his hand.

"Will you take me to my mom?"

"Yes, but we need to pay a visit to All Might first."

All Might? The King of the gods?

Izuku is going to faint.

Izuku knows it's not his responsibility, but he can't help but worry about the children who end up in the underworld. He really enjoyed making them laugh and smile; some of them seem lost and scared but having someone telling them that they're going to be fine helps and he definitely enjoyed making flowers crowns for them.

He doesn't realize he's making a flower crown at the moment, making it appear suddenly, until he looks down at his hands. Izuku sighs, but tries to smile before putting it on.

It's not the same.

What about Dynamight, Kirishima, Kaminari and Ashido? They were very good to him as well. Although they never actually told him what was going on.

He misses Bakugo already.

Izuku shakes his head and tells himself this is for the best; his mother needs him, his field needs him and the crops of the people who work hard on them need him too.

He has things to do and so does Bakugo and his friends. And maybe they're better this way.

They're better apart. Although Izuku would like to talk to Bakugo again, to understand... He still doesn't know what was the reason why he did all that and Izuku knows he needs to find out.

He needs a better explanation.

"It's okay," he tells himself. "It'll be fine."

***

His friends visit him more often, especially Todoroki, although he looks different now, Izuku is almost sure he's still thinking about what happened.

He wishes he could let that go.

"I just..." The young god mumbles, looking down at his own hands. "I'm worried about you. What if he tries to do that again? What if he takes you and I won't see you again?"

"He won't."

Todoroki grimaces at his words and Izuku just wishes with all his heart he stopped suffering because of him.

"How can you be so sure?"

"He's my friend." At that even Uraraka quirks up a brow at him, he doesn't blame her, he doesn't blame any of them for their reactions. They don't know how kind and sweet Bakugo can be.

Although the thing that surprises him is that the words come out of his mouth without even thinking about them. Izuku can't help but smile because there's no doubt in his mind now, Bakugo is still his friend.

At least in his heart.

"How can you say that?" Todoroki is obviously hurt, however Izuku is not entirely sure why. "WE are your friends! How can you say the same of someone who outright abducted you?"

The word is like a slap on Izuku's face. Yes, it's true, no matter the intentions... But Izuku knows... (He saw it in his eyes) that Bakugo truly regrets what he did and he definitely deserves a second chance.

He has the feeling that even if he explained it to Todoroki he wouldn't understand.

"I'm tired... I'm going back home."

"Izuku... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Shoto." He whispers. "Goodbye, Ochako."

***

Uraraka pays him a visit the next day and it seems like this time she's the one who wants to talk about it.

"Listen, I'm not saying you should not consider him your friend. I just really hope that you have in mind that what he did was wrong."

"I know."

Uraraka nods and then after a while she sighs again.

"I'm not on Todoroki's side, but I understand why he says that. I mean, we were really worried about you, your Mom was too and none of us had a clue of what happened to you. I don't know what his intentions were or what he said to you, but it's still wrong."

Izuku nods.

"I know he did something wrong, but he apologized and I know he won't do it again."

Uraraka takes his hand and rests her head over Izuku's shoulder as they look at the flowers in the field.

Everything's going back to what it was... before.

However, Izuku's heart still hurts and he sobs because he can't help it.

Uraraka turns around with concern in her eyes and pulls him into a hug.

"Was it something I said?"

"No."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes, but promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I promise."

Izuku tells her everything, right from the very first time he met Bakugo.

"Wow. I didn't know the God of the dead was an idiot."

Izuku chuckles.

"Ochako!"

"He's not bad," she continues, ignoring him. "But he's certainly an idiot."

Her words immediately make Izuku feel a lot better.

"Where do you have the pomegranate, by the way?"

"In my room. It's just something to remember my time there, besides, I know it'll stay the same no matter how many days pass because it's from the underworld."

"What happens if you take a bite?"

"It's forbidden to eat anything from the underworld if you're still alive," Izuku explains. "I think I'd be back there if I ate it."

"So you also keep it in case you want to see him again," Uraraka narrows her eyes at him, making him blush.

Izuku hadn't honestly thought about that, but maybe she's right.

She sighs, before putting her arms around him.

"You're right, you shouldn't tell any of this to Todoroki. He'd get jealous."

"Jealous?" Izuku snorts, thinking she's joking. "Why? I don't think he wants to visit the underworld..."

"Of course not! I mean because he's in love with you too!"

In love? No, it can't be. Then his face turns even more red to the point where his freckles disappear for a moment, because there's something she just said that doesn't make sense–

"Wait. What do you mean he's in love with me too?"

***

When Mina doesn't find the explosive boss in the throne room, she knows things have gone from bad to absolutely terrible.

Carrying the book of the dead and reading over the last three names, she sighs.

Three little kids.

"He's overworking himself, isn't he?"

Kirishima and Kaminari are a little bit busy trying to convince the three headed dog to get out of the castle. But Dynamight keeps whining; he's been sleeping in the room Midoriya stayed in (the queen's chambers) and looking devastated.

The owner is going through the same. Although it's even worse for him.

"What do you think?" Kirishima sighs. "As if that could stop him from missing Midoriya."

"To be fair I miss our Queen too," Kaminari mumbles. Mina can't even roll her eyes at him because she feels the same.

It's just not the same in the Underworld without him. He'd know what to do with the kids.

"I'm going to pay him a visit..."

"Ashido–"

"I know what I'm doing!" Mina cuts Kirishima off and turns her head away in order to avoid looking at the worried expression on his face. "I just want to know if he's okay!"

And maybe find out if there's still a little bit of hope for Bakugo.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"You're making a fuss over nothing! It'll be fine!"

She has a bad feeling too, but she's determined to ignore it.

Mina knows she'll be fine, it's just another little visit to the mortal world; she's done that before and she can do it again.

However, she's still as careful as she can; the mortals sometimes are curious and she doesn't want her presence to be noticed, at least not yet.

She just wants to see Midoriya from afar.

The book feels heavy in her hands and she knows the little kids are wandering lost down there, but Mina needs to know, she must find out if there's hope for her explosive boss.

And then she sees him; Midoriya is taking care of his field, making things grow and work as they used to be, bringing life as he's supposed to do. The clothes he's wearing are different from what he was wearing in the Underworld, but they're also really pretty.

He's smiling and for a moment Mina hesitates, she wonders if this is the right thing to do. Perhaps Midoriya is happier and safer here; it's true that he helped a lot of people on the other side, but that doesn't mean he's destined to be there...

And yet Bakugo is very much in love with him and misses him to the point it physically hurts him.

She takes a step back, but it's too late: Midoriya has spotted her and now he's practically running towards her with a beautiful smile on his face.

Suddenly he pulls her into his arms and lifts her from the ground for a couple of seconds. Mina melts into the hug and realizes that even though she's worried about Bakugo, she also missed Midoriya herself.

They're friends.

"Tell me," Midoriya mumbles, cheeks turning slightly pink as he speaks: "How is he?"

Mina has to hold back a smile, because just at that moment she realizes that there's hope for the God of the dead after all.

"Well... He's grumpy, but when is he not?" She says and even though that makes Midoriya smile a little, the joy doesn't reach his pretty eyes. "He... misses you quite a lot and feels bad about what he did."

Midoriya looks away right before wiping a couple of tears off his eyes.

"I miss him too, I miss everyone," he whispers. "But I... Maybe this is where I'm supposed to be. I'm not dead yet after all."

It's so obvious that he wants to go back that Mina is tempted to encourage him... But, at the same time, she knows that he likes the mortal world as well; he helps a lot of people here.

"What about you and the others? What about Dynamight?"

Mina is hesitat to tell him the truth, but she also knows she can't hide anything from him either, because she did that once and he doesn't deserve that again.

She wants to do things the right way this time so she tells him the truth.

"Poor Dynamight!" Midoriya laments. "Oh please tell Kirishima and Kaminari to leave him in my... in that room if they can..."

Mina nods, knowing she'll have to talk with them in secret because... Bakugo will surely explode if he finds out.

"Okay... But I can't promise anything."

"What about the souls?"

Mina sighs, but shows him the three names in her book.

"Children?"

"Yes."

She can tell it hurts Midoriya and that he's tempted to go back, but he's struggling as well. It seems he's having an internal battle with himself because he shakes his head after a couple of seconds before making appear three beautiful flower crowns.

"Give them these and tell them they'll be fine," Midoriya whispers, wiping another couple of tears off his face.

Mina nods even though she doesn't know if it's going to work.

"I remember you."

The voice startles her, but fortunately she's already taken the crowns and hidden them before the god appeared.

Todoroki Shoto, the powerful and talented son of one of the most important gods. He immediately stands in between Midoriya and her as if he's trying to shield him.

Mina tries not to feel offended.

"You payed him a visit last time," Todoroki continues, glaring at her. "Right before he disappeared."

That young god is not only powerful but smart as well, which is very unfortunate for her.

"That doesn't make her responsible for what happened!" Midoriya protests, although he pouts, before taking one of Todoroki's hand in his.

"But maybe she knows..."

"Hey, Shoto," Midoriya cuts him off, but he's very sweet and gentle when he does, he even cradles the god's face in his hands and as Mina predicts, he melts right into the touch. "I told you that wasn't going to happen again, remember? I'm not going anywhere..."

Maybe Bakugo doesn't have that much hope after all...

Although Mina refuses to believe that.

"Besides, she has a lot of things to do..." Midoriya gives her a look and she understands immediately that it's better for her to go.

It's more than obvious that Midoriya hasn't told his friend, perhaps none of them, what happened, at least not all of it.

He pulls Todoroki into his arms and although the god returns his embrace softly, it looks like (for a moment) he'd do anything to keep hugging Midoriya forever.

Todoroki glares at her over Midoriya's freckled shoulder and Mina knows that he's making connections in his mind... He knows something and he is not going to let it go.

Which means she's in trouble.

***

Todoroki stays with him for a while, he seems to have relaxed a bit, especially after Izuku sits under a tree and allows his friend to lie down next to him and use his lap as a pillow.

He doesn't bring Ashido up again, but Izuku is still worried about what happened.

"Do you like this place, Izuku?" He asks suddenly, staring up at him as the green haired demigod runs his fingers through his mismatched hair.

"Of course I do!" Izuku chuckles as he points around him. "This is my field and I'm very proud of it!"

"No, I mean..." Todoroki takes his hand, surprising Izuku a bit and making him turn red when he presses a kiss to his palm. "I mean the mortal world."

For some reason the sentence makes him nervous, he feels like it's a trick or something like that. Part of him is tempted to tell him all about the underworld and the things he saw there that Izuku loved... But then he would have to tell him about what happened.

And it seems like Todoroki is not ready to hear that, at least not the whole story.

"Of course I like the mortal world!" Izuku says, which is entirely true.

"Is there no other place you'd rather be?" As he says this, Todoroki intertwines their fingers together, he's very gentle, but for a moment Izuku has the feeling that his friend is afraid to let go of him.

"No," he mumbles, but this time he lies.

"I'm glad," Todoroki smiles, before rising into to a sitting position again. He wraps his arms around Izuku and pulls him closer to his chest before kissing the other's cheek. "It's... I'm scared of losing you again."

"You won't. I told you I'm not going anywhere."

"I know."

Instead of keeping him company for a couple of hours, Todoroki stays the whole day with him in the field and even walks him home when it's dark again.

He kisses Izuku's forehead as a goodbye.

"I'll come back tomorrow," he says before shaking his head. "Well, I have something to take care of first, but I hope it doesn't take me long."

Even though his friend is smiling, Izuku suddenly has a bad feeling...

***

It's not the same without Midoriya around, but the flower crowns do cheer the little kids up a bit. Mina even finds herself chuckling when later that day Kirishima and Kaminari get excited about the messages Midoriya sent them.

And then Bakugo rushes inside the castle and steps right front of her like a desperate man or desperate god, if she wants to be more accurate about it...

"Is Izuku back? Is he here?"

Mina blinks a few times, confused, but then–

"I saw a couple of children with flower crowns... New ones."

"I'm sorry... I–I payed him a visit. He gave me the flowers for them."

Instead of getting angry, like he would years ago, Bakugo nods, almost devastated; his shoulders fall and it's obvious that he misses Midoriya more than anything.

"Is he alright?"

"Yes."

Mina can tell Bakugo is aching to ask more, to ask if Midoriya said something about him... If he misses him, but he shakes his head slightly and turns around to go back to work.

It's heartbreaking.

Which is why she decides not to worry him even more, although she has the feeling that she should mention about what happened with Todoroki, because it seems like it could be a problem.

She just hopes she's wrong.

That morning Izuku goes back to his field; taking care of the plants and flowers that grow there gives him purpose and helps him relax.

That's exactly where a desperate woman finds him; he's tending to his most precious flowers when she approaches him, looking quite desperate.

"Please, please... young man," she mumbles, looking down the ground. "They say you're a god, please help my crops grow!"

Izuku would like to tell her the truth: he's just a demigod with little powers, but he knows humans care little about those things; she just wants help.

And fortunately, that's something he can do.

It's easy; Izuku has always been connected to nature in some sort of way that he doesn't have to make too much to encourage the crops to grow.

The family invites him to stay and have lunch with them and even though Izuku has a couple of things to do, he's not sure he can say 'No' to them.

However, that's when he sees him through the window, the one the family has in their home kitchen that has the view of the field they live close by.

Izuku rushes outside to greet him.

"Aizawa-san!" He chuckles happily. "It's been a while!"

The woman who asked him for help runs out the door, right after him. She looks with curiosity at Aizawa.

"Are you another god?"

Aizawa is not a social deity and Izuku knows it; he likes to avoid any sort of contact with mortals and other gods as much as he can. However, he's very good at protecting people in his own way.

Although it's still weird to see him there.

"I'm just a man in trouble that'll have to steal this young god from you," he tells her, Izuku is surprised to watch him lie to a mortal, but he supposes it's because he doesn't like the attention.

"Oh... Okay!"

The woman and the family say goodbye to them, assuring Izuku he's always welcome in their home. When they're out of sight, Aizawa takes his arm and makes them both appear in Izuku's field.

"What is it?" He worries for a moment, looking at the god with a frown; something must've gone wrong...

Aizawa rolls his eyes and pokes Izuku's forehead gently.

"Stop that right now," he sighs, rolling his eyes. "I just wanted to see if you haven't gotten yourself in trouble again."

As the concerned expression appeared, it vanishes quickly from Izuku's face, being replaced by a huge smile.

"You were worried about me?" Izuku beams, tearing up a bit. It's weird to have someone like him caring for him... His own father left him and his mother when he was just a baby.

"I just don't want you to cause any trouble," Aizawa says, looking away and crossing his arms over his chest.

It's okay, Izuku is happy to have him there. He spreads his arms.

"No, no... You know I don't do hugs..."

It's too late, Izuku pulls him into his arms, purposely ignoring his protests, although, just like last time, Aizawa doesn't push him away.

"I'll make you a flower crown!"

"No, Midoriya..."

He allows Izuku to put the crown on his head and since the green haired demigod tells him the flowers will never die, Aizawa promises to wear it every now and then.

"How are you feeling?" He asks after a while, prompting Izuku to look back at him in surprise. "I mean... How are you truly doing? Are you... happy?"

Perhaps it's the sincere expression on Aizawa's face or the softness in his voice when he asks, but Izuku feels like he can't lie to him.

"I miss the Underworld... I miss Kacchan..."

"I see," Aizawa mumbles, ruffling the young demigod's hair.

"But I'm fine!" Izuku assures him. "I know this is where I'm supposed to be!"

Aizawa sighs, but doesn't make another comment on that.

"You truly are a problem child, aren't you?" He says, trying to look irritated, but Izuku notices he's holding back a smile.

***

Mina is at the dock, checking the book while looking around to see if the souls are ready to board their respective ships, when it happens.

Kaminari appears next to her, not exactly startling her because she's used to it, but surprising her, especially because he looks quite stressed at the moment.

"What is it?"

"A god has arrived."

She feels cold, even though it should be impossible, but she swears a shiver runs down her spine for a moment. It could be anyone and it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but she has the feeling this is about their dear Midoriya.

"Does Bakugo know?"

"I'm scared to tell him." Kaminari admits, prompting her to roll her eyes.

"Well, you have to... I'll see who it is and bring them to the castle."

"I'll go to Kiri first!"

She's about to protest, but she feels the new presence right away; it's too warm to be Aizawa or Yaoyorozu or even Iida...

She approaches the river of the dead; the liquid that runs down is not quite water, but it's also not air... It's a mixture of the two.

Behind the tall figure that's in charge of moving the boat is the god that Mina didn't want to see in the Underworld.

"Hi, Todoroki! I saw you yesterday!" Mina blurts out, trying not to sound as nervous as she feels. "You must've missed me! Haha!"

Of course he doesn't smile in return, there's only a neutral expression on his face that makes Mina feel more uneasy.

"I want to have a meeting with the King of the Underworld."

"Why? I mean... You have never paid any visits to my boss before so–"

"You know why I'm here."

Mina tilts her head to the side, trying to look innocent.

"No, of course not." She says, lying through her teeth. She knows Todoroki is not 100 percent sure it was Bakugo who took Midoriya; he's just trying to make her say it first.

For a second, the left side of his head lights on fire, but Todoroki takes a deep breath before running his fingers through his own hair to extinguish it.

"It doesn't matter, just take me to him."

There's a rebellious part of her that wants to protest, but Mina knows she doesn't have a choice there.

"Okay."

This is her fault.

At least Bakugo is in the throne room by the time they walk inside. Todoroki looks at him in the eyes, before frowning.

"Since you're in my domain, I think you should tell me the reason why you came," Bakugo growls, forgetting every single lesson his father taught him about being polite to other gods or at least try to be.

Well, Mina understands... a little bit. Todoroki is the reason why the God of the Dead decided to take Midoriya to the Underworld in the first place, because he's perfectly aware of the nature of Todoroki's feelings for Midoriya.

"Did you take Midoriya that time? Was it you the one who abducted him?"

Bakugo grimaces in pain at the word, but doesn't look away from the other god when he answers.

"Yes."

It's not like his expression changes at all, but there's something in Todoroki's demeanor that suddenly looks terrifying for a moment.

"If you do something like that again, I'll come back for him myself."

"I'm not going to do that, half and half!" Bakugo growls, absolutely pissed. "But not because of you! My Izuku doesn't deserve it... when he comes back it'll be because he wants to."

"He won't be coming back."

"Are you sure about that?" Bakugo smirks, prompting the other god to close his hands into fists. "Because he likes this place."

"He likes the mortal realm better."

"THAT'S A LIE!"

Mina sighs, knowing those two idiots are not actually talking about realms anymore...

"If that's everything you wanted to say, then I'll be glad to walk you back outside," Mina finally cuts in. Yes, they're both acting like kids, but she's still on Blasty's side.

"That's all I wanted to say," Todoroki nods, before heading outside on his own. "He doesn't belong here."

"YOU DON'T GET TO DECIDE THAT!"

When the other god is out of sight, Mina watches as Bakugo collapses on the throne, looking devastated.

"But what if Izuku doesn't want to come back?"

It's a question he obviously doesn't want the answer to, so Mina doesn't respond, but now she knows what she must do: she's going to tell Midoriya what happened.

Spending time with a friend really helps him feel much better. Uraraka has been visiting him lately, which Izuku truly appreciates; they're often in the demigod's field or inside his house because his mother and Uraraka get along quite well.

That morning they're in the field and Uraraka is trying to make one flower crown with her own hands (she insisted) while she listens to Izuku talking about all kinds of plants and what they're used for.

"So I can make something to treat wounds with these flowers?" Uraraka asks, fascinated.

"Yes, if you combine them in the portions I told you and leave them in a jar for a couple of days. The paste that comes from them could be used on injuries and it prevents them from getting infected."

"That's amazing. I try to make some myself."

Izuku nods, always happy to help people. When he's about to add something about the red lilies he spots Ashido in the distance. He gets happy and a little bit sad at the same time: seeing her makes him think about Bakugo and how much he misses him.

"Hi! How are you doing?"

"I need to talk to you," she says immediately, completely serious, eyeing Uraraka for a moment.

"It's okay," Izuku says. "She's my friend, she can stay."

Ashido nods, before Izuku makes the introductions. Although the expression on Ashido's face makes him worry a lot.

"Okay," she takes a deep breath. "This is what happened..."

When she's done, Izuku is concerned, but a bit irritated too. He doesn't like when others try to choose for him.

"I'm going to talk to Shoto," Izuku assures her. "And I'll make sure he doesn't do anything like that again."

"I'm sure Todoroki did it because he was worried about you," Uraraka cuts in.

"Blasty is worried about you and he misses you a lot," Ashido suddenly says, prompting Izuku to look back at her again. "You should go talk to him too."

He should... But there's no way to go back to the Underworld except by taking a bite of that pomegranate. Is the right thing to do? Isn't he supposed to stay here? Besides, he's not sure what could happen next. If he takes a bite will he be able to return to the mortal realm?

What should he do?

"Talk to Todoroki first," Uraraka says then, earning a slightly irritated expression from Ashido. "Let him explain himself."

"You're right." Izuku agrees, feeling sad suddenly because he also wants to see Bakugo. "I should listen to what Shoto has to say first."

***

He spends the next day thinking about what happened, about how much he doesn't want his friends to fight each other or to argue with each other because of him.

Bakugo is still his friend; the time he's spent away from the god has made Izuku realize how much he enjoys his company. And even though it doesn't make things right, he knows Bakugo is truly sorry about it.

And yet, Izuku feels like he needs to talk to him again, to understand why he did what he did that day.

He needs to go back because he's almost sure Bakugo still feels so bad about what happened he won't agree to meet Izuku in the mortal realm.

"Kacchan..."

Izuku is so immersed in his own thoughts, he gets quite startled when he hears someone approaching him; footsteps against the grass, fabric making contact with plants and flowers...

Todoroki is in his field now. It seems he has no idea Izuku found out about what happened because he looks as calm as always.

He takes a couple of steps closer, his hand ready to touch Izuku's cheek, like he always does, but gets surprised and a little bit hurt when Izuku moves out of the way.

"Izu–"

"You went to the Underworld to threaten Kacchan?" He asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You mean Bakugo?" Todoroki narrows his eyes, he's clearly upset now. "I just told him to never do that to you again. That I'd come for you–"

"I told you he wouldn't. You shouldn't have done that, Shoto."

"How can you trust him after what he did?"

Izuku narrows his eyes as well, taking more steps back. Even though Todoroki notices it, he doesn't make any attempts to close the distance between them.

"We have talked about this already," Izuku reminds him, getting irritated too. "He's sorry and I trust him."

"Well I don't."

"That's okay, but you should trust me." He sighs, trying to calm himself down; he's not usually like this, but he's so overwhelmed by his own emotions he can't help it. "Besides, I didn't ask you to do this. There's a reason why I didn't tell you about Kacchan in the first place."

"I... I'm sorry," the young god finally mumbles, looking down. "I still don't like him."

"I know," Izuku takes a deep breath, surprising himself by how tired he sounds.

"Are you going to see him again?"

"I will... someday."

Todoroki wants to protest, he clearly doesn't like the idea (if the smoke coming from the left side of his head is any indication) but he manages to control himself and nod.

"Are you angry with me?"

He looks so sad, Izuku can't help but soften immediately.

"No, I'm not. But I didn't like that you went there without telling me and tried to decide for me."

"I understand that and I'm truly sorry."

Finally, Izuku feels himself relax.

"Can I get a hug? Please, Izuku..."

"Sure," the green haired demigod nods. He tries not to gasp when Todoroki pulls him into a tight embrace; the young god breathes into his soft curls and nuzzles against his cheek.

Izuku worries for a second because it looks like Todoroki doesn't want to let go.

"Well... I need to go back. I promised a young couple I'd take care of their crops today," Izuku says, pushing Todoroki away, although he tries to be gentle.

"Can I see you tomorrow?"

"I... I'd like to be alone for a while. I need time to think," Izuku mumbles, noticing the way Todoroki grimaces in pain.

"Okay... I understand."

Once he's alone again, Izuku looks up at the sky, feeling like there's something wrong, although he convinces himself it's just him projecting his negative feelings into the near future.

Or at least he hopes that's the case.

Izuku is nervous, there are many gods he's never seen before and he's not sure they'll be happy to see someone like him in the Olympus.

Noticing his distress, Aizawa puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles at him. It helps him relax until he notices a lot of them are looking in their direction.

"Trust me, they're just staring at the flower crown upon my head," the god of strategy sighs, like he's tired of it already.

"If you want I can–"

"No, I told you I'd wear it," Aizawa cuts him off. "The crown is pretty; they're just staring because I never wear things like this."

"Did you make them?" A goddess Aizawa introduces as Yaoyorozu approaches Izuku with a mortal girl behind her; the girl looks shy.

"Y-Yes," Izuku nods, realizing that the goddess is smiling at him.

"Great! Can you make one for me and my girlfriend?"

"Sure!" The green haired demigod perks up, feeling a lot better already. The mortal girl's name is Jiro and even though she's shy, Izuku realizes that she's a very good person.

Izuku doesn't notice Aizawa's absence until he's done with both flower crowns, but when he does he's starts getting a little bit concerned at least until a pair of muscled arms lift him from the ground with ease.

"Young Midoriya! I'm glad you decided to attend!"

It's difficult to believe that All Might himself wants him around.

"Thanks for inviting me!" He chuckles, feeling himself relax almost completely.

"I saw that you were making this flower crowns for my guests and I want one too, young man!"

Izuku nods happily and with a little bit of amusement as All Might has to kneel on the ground for Izuku to place a flower crown upon his head.

"You should let him spend time with younger gods," Aizawa comments, startling Izuku a bit when he appears with a glass of wine in his hand.

"Are you calling me old, Shota?" All Might laughs amusedly; it's one of those laughs that sound like thunder, but in a good way. He puts a heavy arm around Aizawa's shoulder while the other god rolls his eyes. "You're right, he should make friends."

Izuku is about to say that he's more than happy to spend time with the two of them, when a god with dark clothes and a shadow following him around approaches him and introduces himself as Tokoyami Fumikage.

Izuku likes him and his shadow too; they're very friendly towards him. Jiro and Yaoyorozu join them a little bit afterwards and finally Izuku has the opportunity to talk to someone who can understand him.

"It was difficult at first," Jiro admits, looking around shyly. "Being the only mortal here is a little bit intimidating, but most of Momo's friends have always made me feel welcome. I think you'll be fine."

Izuku nods and can't help but notice that even though Yaoyorozu is distracted talking with Tokoyami about something else, she takes Jiro's hand in hers and intertwines their fingers together.

"Besides, it's fine because Momo is always here for me," she says, cheeks turning slightly pink at her own words.

"I'm glad you have someone who loves you that much," Izuku mumbles sincerely, feeling happy for her.

"What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to worry; they're good gods," Jiro whispers next to him and then, after a little bit of hesitation, she adds: "Of course, there are exceptions, but you shouldn't think too much about them."

Izuku can't help but worry nonetheless, but gets easily distracted by the sound of a voice he had missed a lot.

"Izuku!"

Despite everything that happened, he turns around with a huge smile on his face as soon as he sees Bakugo.

"Kacchan!"

Izuku is not entirely sure who approached whom, but now they're right in front of each other; Bakugo's initial soft smile disappears in that moment before he looks at the ground.

"I'm truly sorry for what I did to you, Izuku."

It breaks the demigod's heart to see his friend like that; he looks absolutely devastated, like he's in pain.

"You already apologized for–"

"It's not... it wasn't enough," Bakugo cuts him off, shaking his head. "I took you from your Mom... None of you deserved that. And listen, it's okay if you don't want to see me again, I understand; I'll leave if you want me to so you can enjoy the party, but I needed to see you to apologize properly, Izuku."

To Izuku it's been way too long without seeing him; he's missed him a lot and has had time to think about what happened.

He smiles and when he realizes Bakugo can't see him, he cradles the god's face in his hands to make him look up at him.

"I've already forgiven you, Kacchan." He mumbles sincerely before pulling him down because Bakugo is so tall, finally pressing their foreheads together.

"I don't think I deser–"

"Do you want to dance, Kacchan?" Izuku cuts him off before the blond can start feeling terrible about what happened again. The music is already filling the room and the green haired demigod can see everyone dancing around them.

"Yes."

"I'm keeping my eyes on you," Aizawa warns Bakugo, glaring at him and startling both Izuku and the god of the dead in the process.

"I understand," Bakugo nods, looking from him to Izuku. And then, after a couple of seconds he adds, with a smirk: "Is that a flower crown, sensei?"

"None of your business!" Aizawa huffs, prompting Izuku to giggle. "Besides, I told you not to call me that, I'm not your sensei anymore."

"Oh! Do you want a flower crown, Kacchan? I can make you one too!" Izuku says happily, although he isn't sure why Aizawa looks amused out of the sudden.

"I'm not sure it fits my style..." Bakugo stops when he watches Izuku nod.

"Okay, I understand!" He smiles, trying not to look too disappointed.

"I changed my mind," he mumbles after a second. "You can make me as many flower crowns as you want, you little flower nerd!"

Izuku giggles, noticing that his heart feels warm and fuzzy again; it's been a long time since he felt something like that. He had missed that feeling a lot.

He makes a special crown for Bakugo, with orange flowers that look really good on him, considering he's constantly wearing black clothes.

"There!" Izuku takes Bakugo's hand when he's done, pulling him towards the dance floor. "Now let's go!"

Bakugo is blushing, but Izuku doesn't think too much about it, especially after he feels the god's hands on his waist.

"I bet I look ridiculous," Bakugo comments, although he doesn't really look that upset. Izuku notices a glimmer of amusement in his red eyes. "I have a reputation! How am I going to look intimidating with flowers on my head?"

"Trust me, Kacchan, you still are intimidating!" Izuku assures him, noticing the frown upon his face. However, he can't stop himself from smiling.

"Then why are you laughing at me, flower nerd?" Bak-Katsuki says, trying to look irritated, but it seems Izuku's smile is contagious.

For some reason, Izuku can't see him as Bakugo anymore, not even in his head. They've been through a couple of things together. He's just... Katsuki now. But it's alright because Katsuki calls him by his first name anyway.

"I'm not laughing!" Izuku chuckles as Katsuki spins him before pulling him closer to his chest.

"You're such a terrible liar, Izuku," but the other god is grinning from ear to ear now. "Well, at least one of us looks good with flowers on their head. But... you have always looked beautiful anyway."

They both slow down and Izuku can't help but blush to the tip of his ears at the compliment. Suddenly, he's more aware of their proximity and his heart is beating incredibly fast now...

"Your flowers are blooming."

Blooming? Izuku blinks a couple of times. Why are the flowers upon his head blooming now? Are they reacting to his emotions?

"What is he doing here? He doesn't belong in here!"

Izuku is not sure if he's entirely grateful by Endeavor's interruption. But Katsuki is definitely not, considering the way he pushes Izuku behind himself while he growls at the other god.

"What do you mean he doesn't belong?" Aizawa bares his teeth at the Sun god, surprising Izuku with his reaction; he usually looks calm and collected, even in stressful situations.

"I invited him," All Might says firmly, almost like he's daring Endeavor to say something else while keeping a hand on Aizawa's shoulder. "He's always belonged here."

"He's not even a–"

"Shut up, old man," Todoroki snaps at his own father. He keeps glaring at Endeavor until his eyes meet Izuku's. However, his expression doesn't soften because he also notices the blond god in front of him. "What are you trying to do to Izuku, Bakugo? Let him go."

Everything turns into chaos right afterwards.

"FUCK OFF, HALF AND HALF!"

"Don't talk to my son like that!"

"I don't need you to defend me, old man!"

At least they're not physically fighting each other, but the sight of everyone yelling has started to make Izuku feel distressed. This is his fault; Endeavor is clearly angry because Izuku is in the Olympus.

"You belong here," Aizawa's voice startles him; Izuku wasn't expecting to have the god at side again. But the hand on his shoulder is definitely reassuring.

At that, Katsuki also stops growling at Todoroki and gets closer to the demigod instead.

"Are you alright, Izuku?"

"I'm fine, Kacchan. Maybe I should go–"

"That'd be for the best," Endeavor says at the same time everyone else cuts Izuku off with a loud: "No!"

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave," All Might speaks then and for a moment Izuku thinks he's talking to him, but then he realizes he's actually looking directly at Endeavor.

"Me? How dare–"

"Well, you certainly deserve it, after ruining everything with your presence," Aizawa comments with a venom in his voice Izuku didn't believe he was capable of until now. He always looked so calm and collected before.

"Not like I wanted to be here," the god huffs, glaring at Izuku again. "Let's go, Shoto."

"I'm staying, if All Might allows it," Todoroki says instead, ignoring his father's outraged expression to look at the King of the Gods and then at Izuku with a pleading expression.

"Just behave," Aizawa cuts in, before All Might can say anything else. "And the same goes to you, Bakugo."

"What? But I didn't start it–tch! Fine!"

Izuku feels a little bit uncomfortable, thinking about how everything could have been avoided if he didn't–

"Stop that, Izuku," Katsuki whispers, leaning closer to him before pulling him into his arms. "I know that face. You deserve to be here more than he does."

"As much as I dislike to agree with him," Todoroki tells him, ignoring Katsuki's grimace. "He's right, Izuku."

"Thank you," the demigod smiles, looking around himself and noticing that All Might and Aizawa are nodding too. "You're very kind to me."

"I'd like to dance with you, Izuku."

"Not in a million years, you half and–"

"Careful, young man," this time is All Might who interrupts Katsuki. "I can kick you out too if I want."

"Tch!" The god of the dead grimaces before crossing his arms over his chest. "I was dancing with Izuku first."

"He's right, Shoto. I'll finish this dance with him and then I'll dance with you!"

Todoroki nods as Katsuki growls and pulls Izuku closer to him again.

"Why do you want to dance with an extra like him?"

"He's my friend," Izuku whispers before giggling when Katsuki puts both of his hands on the demigod's waist. It feels good because Katsuki's hands are always warm.

"Your flowers are blooming again," Katsuki observes, although now he sounds very pleased at that.

Izuku's face turns pink in seconds; he's not exactly sure what it means, but he knows the flowers upon his head are reacting to his emotions.

His time with Katsuki ends up too soon for his liking, but Izuku knows he needs to talk with Todoroki and he's going to use their time dancing to do that.

"Hi," Todoroki mumbles as soon as Izuku is in his arms. He looks flustered, although Izuku is not sure if it's because they're finally dancing or due to Aizawa's warning glare he's throwing at him at the moment.

"I'll be keeping an eye on you too!"

"I understand," Todoroki assures the other god, looking a little bit more pale, prompting Izuku to chuckle.

However, Izuku stops quickly. Silently reminding himself that he shouldn't be smiling at the moment. He needs to have a serious conversation with his friend.

"Stop accusing Kacchan of trying to hurt me, Shoto," he whispers, not knowing how else to initiate that particular conversation. "You were rude earlier; he was just dancing with me."

"I'm sorry," Todoroki sighs, making Izuku spin once and smiling after hearing him giggle.

Alright, turns out it's a little bit difficult to have a serious conversation like that.

"Just don't do it again."

"I don't trust him."

Izuku knows he can't make both his friends like each other, no matter how much he wants them to get along.

"Even if you don't, spending time with him is my decision to make. No matter what you think about what happened before," Izuku says. "I forgave him a while ago."

For a moment it looks like Todoroki is about to protest, but he just nods instead.

"It won't happen again."

Finally, Izuku relaxes into his arms and lets his friend pull him even closer.

***

It's not like they start getting along, but at least they tolerate each other while Izuku is with them. He has decided that he danced enough (at least for the time being) and now he just wants to spend time with his friends.

Katsuki is right next to him, he's a little bit grumpy, but at least he knows when to behave. Izuku is just happy to have seen him again because the truth is that he missed him a lot.

He's also making new friends in the Olympus, which is a plus and something he didn't think it could be possible before.

Now that he doesn't have Endeavor glaring at him the whole time, Izuku can finally say he's enjoying himself.

"Can I pay you a visit soon?" Katsuki leans closer to whisper next to his ear; Izuku blushes at the proximity, but when he recovers, he finds himself nodding.

"Of course!" He giggles, feeling suddenly very warm inside. "I'd love to show you my field now. I think you're going to like it!"

Now that things are going well, Izuku thinks that maybe he should give Katsuki the pomegranate back; it clearly doesn't belong in the mortal word, because it hasn't changed in the slightest since Izuku took it, but at the same time he thinks it'll be better if he keeps it for a while.

Smiling softly, Katsuki pulls Izuku into his arms; at first the demigod thinks the blond wants to dance again, but he just holds Izuku against his chest for a couple of seconds.

At least until Todoroki clears his throat and Katsuki growls at him over the green haired demigod's shoulder.

Izuku rolls his eyes, but instead of worrying, this time he just chuckles and pulls away from Katsuki to look at his other friend.

"What is it, Shoto?"

"I want a flower crown too."

"Sure thing!" Izuku says, happily getting closer to him. Behind him, Katsuki growls. "Kacchan!"

Izuku gets to dance and spend time with a lot of people; Iida turns out to be an excellent dancing partner, but he has so much fun when Yaoyorozu and Jiro decide to dance with him at the same time.

"Glad you're enjoying yourself, young man," All Might startles him by appearing behind him at some point.

When he turns around he notices that Aizawa is talking with Katsuki and Todoroki and both gods are staring at the ground almost like they're being scolded.

Izuku decides to join them, but All Might puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"They'll be fine. Besides, I think it's important to let them have this conversation with Shota."

The demigod nods, just slightly worried now.

By the end of the night, Izuku is completely relaxed again, mostly because both Katsuki and Todoroki haven't yelled at each other in a while and Izuku gets back on the dance floor two more times: to dance with All Might and Aizawa respectively.

It's the most fun he has had in a while.

It's time to go back to his field, but Izuku doesn't lament it because he actually had a great time in the Olympus.

Todoroki and Katsuki both want to take Izuku home and start arguing about it until Aizawa steps in and says that the three of them can take Izuku back to the mortal realm.

The moon is still high in the sky and the field Izuku has been taking care of for most of his life looks like it's been covered in silver thanks to the moonlight.

"Thanks for dancing with me, Shoto," Izuku puts his arms around the young god and then adds, in a whisper: "Stop picking fights with Kacchan."

"Fine. But I still don't like him."

"Same here, half and half!"

"Kacchan!"

Todoroki has to go, but he promises to pay him a visit again soon; he doesn't look happy about leaving Izuku with Katsuki, but relaxes a bit when he notices that Aizawa is still there.

"Thanks for taking care of me!" Izuku beams, taking both of Aizawa's hands in his. "I had a good time!"

"I barely did anything and it's not like I was taking care of you, problem child," the god argues, but he's trying really hard not to smile back at Izuku. He looks a little bit flustered. Izuku has noticed that he likes to appear cold and detached, but he actually cares a lot about everyone.

He pulls Aizawa into a hug and gives him a kiss on the cheek, even though he has no right to see him as family Izuku likes to think that his father would do the same for him, if he hadn't left his mother.

This time Aizawa smiles back at him, even if it's just for a few seconds.

"Fine. I'll leave you with him, but you have to promise you'll behave," he narrows his eyes, glaring at Katsuki over Izuku's shoulder.

"I'll only stay a few minutes." Katsuki says. And to Izuku's surprise, he seems like he's actually listening to Aizawa.

He wonders then what exactly he told Katsuki and Todoroki back in the Olympus.

"If you need me, just say my name out loud and I'll come," Aizawa says to Izuku. "And don't get in trouble!"

"I'll try!" Izuku promises, giggling as he watches Aizawa rolling his eyes at him before disappearing.

A gasp escapes from his lips as soon as he feels Katsuki's arms around him. Izuku would like to see his face, but the king of the underworld is hugging him from behind.

"What is it, Kacchan?"

"I missed you."

"I know... you told me. And I missed you too."

"But you still have no idea how much it hurt."

Finally, Izuku manages to turn around into Katsuki's embrace. He cups his face with both hands and notices the tears in those red eyes.

"You can visit me as many times as you want, Kacchan."

The god nods, smiling fondly at him before burying his face in the curve of Izuku's neck. This time, Izuku knows the flowers upon his head are blooming again.

He feels really happy at that moment, maybe his flowers react to his happiness.

"I won't screw up this time, Izuku."

"Stop being so hard on yourself I–" the demigod stops and his cheeks turn slightly pink when he feels Katsuki's lips pressed against his forehead.

"Goodnight, Izuku."

***

"Okay guys, let's pretend we don't care about what happened because otherwise he won't tell us a thing!" Mina says, already trying to get Kaminari and Kirishima away from the entrance to the palace.

Of course her friends are terrible at pretending they're distracted in their daily activities; Kaminari is whistling, moving around the throne room in the most ridiculous attempt to look busy, while Kirishima is trying to calm Dynamight down.

At least the three-headed dog is giving him something to do. Now, if their boss comes back in a good mood, he'll easily dismiss his friends weird behavior.

But if something happened in the Olympus...

The door to the throne room opens with a loud noise and for a moment Mina worries about Bakugo, until she notices that he's trying to hold back a smile.

Dynamight rushes towards his owner, wagging his huge tail happily and the king of the underworld spreads his arms to hug one of his heads at a time.

Something must've gone really well for him to be in such a good mood.

"Did you see Midoriya?" Kirishima can't help but ask as Kaminari drops all pretense and runs towards his usually explosive boss to hear the whole story.

It's not very common to see Bakugo smiling freely, but that's exactly what happens then.

"I danced with him." He can't help it; it's like the grin is fighting to stay on his face.

It's ridiculous how in love he is, although Mina doesn't blame him: Midoriya is truly adorable.

"Tell us everything, Bakubro!"

He does and it seems that everything went well, to some extent. Mina feels angry when she hears that Endeavor tried to get Midoriya kicked out of the Olympus, by the way Kirishima frowns and Kaminari starts insulting the Sun god it seems they think exactly the same.

At least All Might and Aizawa were there for him. It seems the sweet demigod has two Dads now, but the most terrifying one is Aizawa.

And, of course, it seems that Todoroki is not going to give up on Midoriya anytime soon.

It's okay, Bakugo can deal with that. Besides, it looks like Aizawa doesn't disapprove of him otherwise he wouldn't have let Bakugo dance with Midoriya.

"When is our queen coming back?" Kaminari asks, looking very excited already; even Dynamight knows what they're talking about because he wags his tail again.

"Not anytime soon," Bakugo grumbles, looking slightly less happy, prompting Kirishima to cover Kaminari's mouth so he doesn't say anything else. "I'm not going to ask him to come, not after what I did."

"But you can visit him, right?" Mina blurts out before she can stop herself; she's way too invested in their relationship not to worry about what happens to them.

"Yeah," Bakugo grins. "The nerd said I could see him again."

"Great. We can work with that."

"What do you mean 'we', Pinky?"

"Oh, calm down, Blasty!" She rolls her eyes at the way he suspiciously stares in her direction. "We all know you could really use some help when it comes to wooing our sweet Midoriya."

Instead of exploding, Bakugo chooses not to protest or argue for once, which means he really wants a little bit of help.

"Do you think I have a chance?"

"You do, but you need to be patient," Mina says carefully. "The next time you visit you have to bring him a gift."

"A courting gift," Bakugo smiles, immediately understanding what she's trying to say.

"Exactly, show him how much you care about him."

"Sweep him off his feet, Bakubro!"

Mina just hopes Todoroki doesn't get the same idea.

He puts the flowers on his crown back on the field; they attach to the ground like they have never been away from it.

Izuku stares at them and then wonders about what happened in the Olympus; he's still not sure exactly why his flowers were blooming every time he danced with Katsuki.

What does it mean? Although his heart beats like crazy inside his chest and he feels all warm and fuzzy inside every time he thinks about it.

It's alright. He can figure it out another day; right now he has to go back to his mother and tell her he's completely fine.

His mom gives him a hug that lasts a couple of seconds and a kiss on the cheek before she starts making dinner for the both of them.

With a grin on his face, Izuku decides to tell her only part of what happened there (she doesn't need to know about Endeavor at all).

***

He's glad when he sees Uraraka the very next day; they hang out for a while and walk towards the stream where they met for the first time.

Despite how terrified and scared for her he was that day, Izuku remembers the day with a fond smile on his face, not only because he met her, but due to the fact that he visited the underworld for the first time.

He misses his friends from the underworld and Dynamight too, but he also misses the place; mortals have a very negative concept of the underworld, at least the majority of them. They think of it as a place for suffering and sadness, but it's nothing like that at all.

Sometimes the pomegranate in his room looks too tempting... even though part of him knows there'll be consequences if he takes a bite.

"Are you alright?" Fortunately, Uraraka's voice snaps him out of it.

"Yes! Uhh... sorry!"

"It's okay, you don't have to apologize... it's obvious that you were thinking about something else, but it's fine." Uraraka makes a dismissive gesture with her hand, although she still looks a little bit worried.

Feeling a little bit flustered still, Izuku decides to tell her about his time in the Olympus. There's a mixture of emotions on her face, but she listens patiently from the beginning to the end.

Then proceeds to curse Endeavor in such a way, it makes Izuku blush; she definitely knows a lot of unique and creative swear words that she knows exactly how to use.

"Your goth Dad should've kicked him out himself," Uraraka comments out of the sudden, making Izuku choke on air.

"My what?"

"I mean the god of strategy," Uraraka explains. "He obviously cares about you. All Might too."

Izuku shakes his head even though it pleases him to hear that... however, he knows they're not... they probably have more important things to do than to care about him.

"Now, about that flower crown," she continues, looking not that pleased this time. "Obviously I don't know a lot about your kind of powers or gods and demigods in general, but if they react to your emotions then I think you might have a crush on the underworld grumpy god."

As soon as she says it, Izuku's face turns into an interesting shade of red and his heart beats like it wants to get out of his chest.

However, he refuses to believe it. Katsuki and he are friends again; he'd probably ruin their friendship with his ridiculous feelings.

Besides... flowers blooming doesn't have to mean that exactly, maybe he just lost control of his abilities because he was busy dancing with Katsuki.

There's nothing else to it.

"I'm still team Todoroki, by the way."

Izuku blinks back at her in utter confusion.

"What? Team Todoroki? Shoto is my friend too!"

"That's not what I was trying to say, but it's fine."

She changes the subject and walks back to Izuku's house with him; she's good friends with his mom now and wants to pay her a visit too.

Inko convinces her to stay for lunch.

***

He doesn't have time to think about what Uraraka said (or maybe he doesn't want to) because Katsuki appears in the field a few days later.

Izuku doesn't notice, but his lips immediately quirk up into a huge smile and he rushes towards Katsuki like it's been months instead of days since they last saw each other.

"Kacchan!"

The god of the dead smiles back at him, although he looks a little bit flustered out of the sudden. He rubs the back of his neck with one hand as he makes appear something with the other.

"Here. For you," he mumbles as he hands Izuku a dark rose. "This is a flower that has grown in the underworld... it doesn't change and it'll never die."

Izuku understands nature, especially plants and flowers and he can feel the energy coming from that rose; it's older than most of the things around him.

He's absolutely fascinated and happy with his gift. He knows he doesn't have to use his abilities on that one to keep it fresh. The pomegranate is just the same...

"Thank you!" Izuku beams before jumping into Katsuki's arms. "I love it!"

When he takes a few steps back, he realizes that Katsuki's cheeks are slightly pink now.

"You're such a flower nerd," the god says, staring fondly at him.

They sit under the shadow of a tree and Izuku listens as Katsuki tells him how Kaminari, Kirishima and Ashido are doing now; he's seen Ashido a couple of times since he left the underworld, but it's nice to know a little bit more about the other two.

"How's my sweet Dynamight doing?" He asks then because he can't help it; he misses the hell hound terribly.

"He keeps whining because he wants you to come back," Katsuki admits as his cheeks turn even more red for some reason. "You have bewitched him and now he can't live without you."

He says the last bit as he stares into Izuku's eyes, the green haired demigod feels his face warm suddenly and his heart beats inside his chest in a way that would make him worry if he was completely mortal.

"Maybe I-I could pay him a visit someday," he mumbles, feeling flustered. Why is he so nervous? This is Katsuki... his friend.

"He'd love that."

The god of the underworld leans closer and takes Izuku's hand in his, prompting the demigod to blush even more.

"Hey, nerd. You're doing the thing with the flowers again..."

Izuku feels confused for a moment (he's not wearing a flower crown this time) but when he turns around he realizes that he made the flowers around them bloom without even noticing it.

Maybe Uraraka is right, he probably has feelings for Katsuki and that could be a huge problem because Izuku refuses to ruin their friendship.

He needs to do something about it.

There's no need to panic; Izuku is sure it's nothing to worry about. Katsuki is back in the underworld now and even though Izuku already misses him, being away from him will do him good.

Now that he's almost sure he has a crush on his friend, the demigod can deal with it; he doesn't want to ruin their friendship so mention it to him is out of question.

He just needs to convince his heart that Katsuki is his friend and nothing more. Which will be easy because Izuku knows the king of the underworld will never want someone like him as his significant other.

That day he gets himself busy; he tends to his field and walks towards the village and the houses nearby to see if anyone needs assistance with their crops.

He visits a couple of families, most of them recognize him as a god and sometimes pray to him, even though Izuku has told them he's just a minor deity.

After a couple of days of trying to help as many mortals as he can, Izuku gets a visit from his friend Todoroki.

It's obvious he still feels bad for all those times that tried to pick a fight with Katsuki because he doesn't look at Izuku in the eye; it's almost like he's afraid of not being welcomed.

"I told you I forgave you already," Izuku mumbles with a soft smile on his face. "Just don't do it again!"

"I promise I won't be the one who starts it again," Todoroki assures him, which is not exactly what Izuku was hoping for, but at least it's progress.

They relax for a while; Izuku keeps checking on the oldest trees to make sure they don't die and makes sure to heal one that had been struck by lightning.

"I want you to meet my family," Todoroki says after a while, looking slightly nervous. His cheeks have turned pink, but this time he makes sure to look directly at Izuku.

Izuku gets nervous too, but he can tell his friend really wants him to go see his family, that he can't help but agree to it almost immediately.

"Great. Let's go."

Right now? Izuku looks at himself and tries to fix his hair a little before taking Todoroki's hand in his.

He just... hopes they're not like Endeavor because if that's the case then they won't like Izuku either.

***

Turns out Fuyumi, Todoroki's older sister, lives in a little house among mortals, which is a good sign in Izuku's opinion.

Or maybe he's just being hopeful.

Not only Izuku meets Fuyumi, but also Natsuo (Todoroki's older brother) and Rei, his mother.

"I'm so glad to finally meet you, Izuku," Rei smiles, holding both of the demigod's hands in his, making him feel flustered. "Shoto talks about you all the time."

"Mom, please!" Todoroki says, face turning into an interesting shade of red.

"He really does," Natsuo nods, ignoring his little brother's frown. "Izuku this... Izuku that..."

"Natsuo!"

Even though, Todoroki looks embarrassed, as soon as Fuyumi starts giggling, his shoulders relax immediately. Natsuo says something else about Todoroki coming back after meeting Izuku for the first with a smile so huge, it confused everyone that day.

Suddenly everyone bursts into laughter; Izuku does too because he can tell Todoroki's siblings like to tease him, but they clearly care about him deeply.

Izuku is suddenly really glad that Endeavor is not the only family Todoroki has.

They have dinner together; Fuyumi is a great cook and Izuku can't get enough of her food.

"I really hope you come pay us a visit again, Izuku," Rei says before pulling the green haired demigod into a hug.

"And I hope you can consider us family someday," Fuyumi adds, making Izuku blush.

Honestly, it's like none of them are related to Endeavor at all, which is a good thing.

"I'll take you back home," Todoroki mumbles with a worried expression as he watches Natsuo trying to say something too.

"Thank you so much for your hospitality!"

***

By the time they're back in his field; Izuku feels a lot lighter. The problems he had a couple of days ago seem really small now. Surely, nothing to worry about.

"I had a great time, Shoto," he says, trying not to overthink everything this time.

"Me too," Todoroki mumbles, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know they all adore you already."

Izuku blushes, but he makes a dismissive gesture with his hand anyway. Of course his friend would say something like that, even if it's not true.

"They just met me."

Shoto looks away, turning slightly pink as he says something unintelligible, something Izuku doesn't quite hear.

"Shoto..." Izuku stops when Todoroki takes his hand and kisses the back of it gently.

"I have to go, but I'll be back soon with a gift."

Before Izuku can tell him there's no need to give him anything, Shoto disappears with the last light coming from the horizon.

Trying not to smile too much, he remembers the black rose Katsuki gave it to him a couple of days ago.

Why are his friends suddenly giving him gifts?

Perhaps he should give them something back too.

Izuku suddenly wishes there was a way to communicate with Ashido directly. He still is going to try to contact Iida and even though he talked to him in the Olympus and found out he's a very nice god, Izuku still feels like he's not in the position to ask him for a favor because Izuku is just a demigod.

But he has to do it because he wants to deliver gifts to the immortals who were nice to him while he was staying there.

He has made a natural chewing toy (three actually) for Dynamight; it'll repair itself so the cute hell hound can play with it as many times as he wants.

He has a lot of flowers and flower crowns for his friends and a very special necklace for Katsuki. That one doesn't have any flowers but leaves, orange ones because Izuku has always thought that's Katsuki's color.

It also has a very special type of thorn for protection; Izuku designed it himself and applied a little bit of his powers to make it harmless to the user.

By the time Iida answers to his call, Izuku is nervous and slightly blushing.

The messenger is nice; he's a powerful and very efficient god who's polite with everyone so Izuku is not flustered because of him.

He's nervous because he hasn't gotten over the crush he has for the king of the underworld.

And, if Izuku is being honest, part of him hasn't made a real effort to get rid of it because having a crush feels nice and warm; it's like endless spring inside his heart.

"That's it, Midoriya?"

Izuku has to blink a couple of times in order to focus on the god in front of him.

"Yes, just tell her I'd like to see her," he nods, smiling at Iida before handing him a flower.

"There's no need!" Iida assures him, moving his arm up and down repeatedly. "This is basically my duty. You don't have to give me anything in return!"

"But I want to because you're my friend now!" Izuku insists, beaming at him.

"Oh... okay. T-Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

***

Izuku doesn't expect her to respond the same day, much less to visit him herself just a couple of minutes later.

He gets startled when she appears on his field, but gets over it quickly and rushes towards his friend to hug her.

"I'm glad to see you again too," she chuckles, pulling him a little bit closer before taking a few steps back. "Everyone misses you."

"I miss them too," Izuku nods, beaming as he adds, quite excited: "Would you take me to the underworld to pay them a visit? It doesn't have to be today..."

"I'll take you now!" She grins back.

"Really? But I don't want to... I mean we can schedule so I don't interrupt–"

"Nonsense!" She cuts him off, taking his hand. "You're always welcome in the underworld! Anytime!"

"Okay. Let's go then."

There's a sensation of familiarity as soon as he opens his eyes and realizes he's back exactly where he met Ashido for the first time.

It's been a while and he'd be lying if he didn't admit he missed that place more than anything... or maybe it's not just the place.

For a moment it feels like home.

"Do you want to go to the castle?"

"Not right now," he blurts out, looking around excitedly. "I have a lot of flower crowns for the little kids! Let's find them!"

As he did back when he first stayed in the underworld, Izuku spends a lot of time finding kids and putting flower crowns upon their heads to cheer them up.

They start calling him Queen, like the other ones did. He's still not sure why children always mistake him for the Queen of the underworld.

"Maybe they sense that we need a Queen," Ashido mumbles after Izuku says that last bit out loud and he can't help but blush when his friend winks at him.

"But I'm not..." He stops suddenly; the painful idea of Katsuki looking for and eventually finding some pretty goddess to marry crosses his mind.

Izuku shakes his head. No, it's fine; Katsuki is his friend and he deserves to be happy, he should be happy for him as well.

He really needs to get rid of his silly crush on him.

"Are you alri–"

"Izuku?"

"Kacchan!" As soon as Izuku says his name, the god of the dead rushes towards him and takes him in his arms as if they hadn't seen each other in ages.

"I thought you hated this place..."

"I don't," Izuku pushes him gently so he can see his face. "I told you I wanted to go back!"

"You did, but–"

"I brought you a gift!" The demigod cuts him off because he doesn't like to see him sad. He knows his gift will cheer him up. "Look! I made this necklace for you. It won't hurt you and you can use it as protection against–"

Katsuki puts it on immediately. He looks from the gift to Izuku like it's the best thing that could have happened to him.

"Is this in response to the gift I brought you the other day?"

"Well, of course..."

Katsuki's face lights up. He looks really handsome when he's absolutely happy. He takes Izuku's face in his hands and presses their foreheads together, prompting Izuku to blush.

"I'll give you your second gift soon, Izuku."

Second? Why would he give him a second gift? Izuku is suddenly confused but he doesn't have time to ask about it because Katsuki pulls him closer again and makes them appear inside the castle.

"Dynamight has missed you a lot."

Just right after he says that a huge hell hound comes running down the stairs, wagging his tail. He must've picked up Izuku's scent as soon as he entered the castle.

"Oi, be careful!" Katsuki warns the dog.

"It's alright, Kacchan!" Izuku smiles right before Dynamight reaches him. No, he doesn't manage to push him to the ground because Izuku is way stronger than he looks.

He can help but chuckle as he tries to give all three heads the attention they deserve and as much pats as Dynamight wants.

After a while Izuku finally gives the dog the toy he made for him.

"Midoriya!"

Both Kirishima and Kaminari embrace him at the same time, prompting Izuku to grin.

"I've missed you guys..."

"Are you going to stay?" Kaminari asks, almost hopeful.

"I just came to pay you a visit."

"Alright, that's enough," Katsuki growls, before pushing Kirishima and Kaminari away from Izuku.

When he feels Katsuki's hand on his waist, Izuku is glad he doesn't have his own flower crown on him otherwise it would have given him away. His cheeks turn slightly pink though.

"Come on, Bakubro... don't be that possessive! Midoriya is our friend!"

"SHUT UP!"

Izuku can't help but chuckle as soon as he hears them arguing and notices Ashido rolling her eyes at them.

He had missed this. All of it. And he has the feeling that even though he knows he has to go back to the mortal realm soon, this time it'd be even more difficult to leave his friends.

The next day, Izuku finally sees his friend Uraraka after a while; he has a lot of things he wants to say and it seems she does too.

The messenger of the gods has been visiting her lately; they're good friends now.

"Iida is a good guy," she tells Izuku with a huge smile on her face. "The three of us should hang out."

"That's a great idea," Izuku beams, glad to see his friend happy. He knows Iida is great because he's been nothing but kind to him; Izuku even danced with him once in the Olympus.

"We'll make a proper plan later," she says, making a dismissive gesture with her hand. "Now tell me what you've been doing..."

Izuku starts by talking about Todoroki's family; his siblings and his mother and how they all seemed really happy to meet him.

"I'm glad his father wasn't there," he says after a while. "I think he hates me."

"That doesn't matter!" Uraraka says, narrowing her eyes at the mention of Todoroki's father. "The only thing that matters is what Todoroki feels about you. Although it's really nice to have his family's approval as well."

Indeed. Izuku is glad they approve of him as Todoroki's friend.

"Has Todoroki told you something... important lately?" Uraraka asks, with a curious yet amused expression on her face.

"Important? I don't think so..." Izuku says, getting slightly worried for a moment. "He just wanted me to meet his family."

She looks disappointed at that, but she recovers quickly and keeps asking about his life.

When Izuku excitedly tells her he went to the underworld and visited his friends, the girl doesn't look that enthusiastic anymore.

"I saw Kacchan again!" He says, grinning from ear to ear at the memory. "And Dynamight was as cute as always!"

"The giant hell hound?" She asks as one of her brows quirks up, incredulous. "That's what you're calling cute?"

"You'd say the same if you met him!"

Uraraka chuckles, but she kinda admits that she could be persuaded if Dynamight is indeed a good boy. Izuku knows she can't go to the underworld, but maybe he can take him here so she can meet him one day.

"What about the... flower thingy? Does it keep happening when you're around the god of the dead?"

"You mean flowers blooming?" Izuku mumbles, blushing at her words. They're sitting on the grass; Izuku has one hand on the ground and as soon as she mentions Katsuki, flowers bloom around him.

"Nevermind. No need to answer, I get it now," she says, looking around as her friend's blush spreads down his neck.

"I'm fine. It's okay. I'm sure it'll go away," Izuku stammers, getting slightly nervous.

Uraraka sighs, clearly not that happy about the situation, but she doesn't say anything against it.

"Maybe you should tell him."

"What? No!" Izuku squeaks, flustered. "It'll ruin our friendship!"

"You don't know that." Uraraka rolls her eyes, looking at him as if she's talking to a very dense kid.

Izuku shakes his head and even though she doesn't agree with him, she decides not to argue with him anymore.

"What about Todoroki?" She says tentatively after a while.

"What about him?" Izuku asks, tilting his head, a little bit confused.

"How do you feel about him?"

"I like him, he's a very good friend!"

For some reason, it seems like that's not the answer Uraraka is expecting, but she smiles back at him.

"I see." She says. "But if, one day, he says he needs to tell you something important, please listen to him carefully, alright?"

"Alright," Izuku nods. Of course he'd listen to anything Todoroki wanted to tell him, that's what friends are for, after all. Although he has the feeling that Uraraka knows more than what she's telling him.

***

Izuku has noticed that he's happier now; he goes to take care of his field early in the morning, helps the people who live nearby with their crops, heals creatures in need and ends up near the river with a huge grin on his face and a melody inside his heart.

By the number of times he has thought about Katsuki, he suspects his crush hasn't vanished yet like he planned. Maybe a time away from the god could do him some good, but the truth is that Izuku doesn't want to stop seeing Katsuki.

There must be another way.

He's kneeling on the ground, taking some water for his flowers when he perceives a light out of the corner of his eye.

Izuku turns around only to drop his vase and gasp when he sees Endeavor in front of him.

He looks taller and more intimidating than when he saw him at the party, but perhaps it's because Izuku is kneeling at the moment.

"I wanted to talk to you," the god doesn't look happy and Izuku starts getting nervous; he rises from the ground quickly and decides to face Endeavor. "I want you to stay away from Shoto."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why? This is what I want!"

Izuku knows (by all the things Todoroki has told him) that Endeavor loses his temper easily, but it's one thing to hear about it and another one to actually see it.

The god growls and is covered in flames for a moment; Izuku takes a few steps back and feels his heart beating in such a way that Izuku feels like he's getting sick.

"You're not better than a simple mortal; my son shouldn't be spending time with someone like you."

Despite being scared, Izuku refuses to let him win.

"That's his decision to make, not yours."

Endeavor growls again; Izuku worries about the trees around. His flames could permanently damage them.

"Please don't come any closer."

But Endeavor doesn't listen; instinctively, Izuku protects his face with his arms and he hears the god hiss.

"I thought you were a useless demigod."

Izuku blinks as he moves his arms away and he notices that thorns have grown from the ground and they're all around Endeavor's body; they aren't piercing his skin, but if he moves they could probably hurt him. One of them is pointing directly at his chest, right where his heart is.

Izuku didn't know he could do that.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

Endeavor rolls his eyes, looking disappointed again and sets the thorns on fire to free himself.

But the thorns don't disappear, they don't move; they look just as fresh and healthy as they did before the fire.

When Endeavor realizes this he stops and only then he starts looking worried.

"RELEASE ME THIS INSTANT!"

"I don't know how!" Izuku closes his eyes, trying to ignore the way Endeavor is yelling at him, but it's difficult.

He should call someone. Then, he shakes his head, not wanting to bother anyone but also because he doesn't want them to see him like this.

Izuku looks down at his own hands, wondering if he's actually dangerous.

Suddenly, the messenger is there and Izuku realizes that Endeavor probably called him. He looks from Izuku to the sun's god before smiling at Izuku.

"It's alright. I know whom to call."

Iida doesn't seem scared of him, so Izuku feels a little bit better. Endeavor is still pissed.

In the blink of an eye, another god appears.

"Aizawa, look at what your stupid–"

"SHUT UP!" The other god growls, baring his teeth at Endeavor before turning around to look at Izuku with a calm expression on his face. "It's alright, Midoriya. Everything's going to be fine."

Aizawa puts both hands on his shoulders and Izuku feels a lot better immediately.

"You are safe. He's not going to hurt you. I'm here, I won't let that happen," Aizawa assures him, pulling him into his arms.

Part of Izuku wants to tell him that the only dangerous one there is him, but he realizes, as his body relaxes into the embrace that he was scared of Endeavor.

There's a grunt and they both turn around only to watch the thorns receding and going back to the ground, like they were never there.

Endeavor looks back at Izuku now that he's free; Aizawa puts himself in the middle of the two while he glares at the other god.

"You're not as weak as I thought you were," the god observes, ignoring Aizawa. "But that doesn't mean I approve of you for my son."

"GO!" Aizawa growls and even though Endeavor doesn't look intimidated, he does as the other god says.

Izuku doesn't know what to think. He didn't know he had that kind of power, but it worries him not being able to control it.

"Am I dangerous? I don't want to hurt anyone."

"You're not dangerous, Midoriya. You just need training. I can train you."

Izuku smiles and pulls Aizawa into another hug; this time, the god doesn't protest and hugs him back.

Izuku invites Aizawa over to his house again and the god can't refuse because lately he can't say 'No' to anything the green haired demigod tells him.

"I'll stay a couple of minutes. Although I do have to talk to your mother about your training."

Inko likes Aizawa, mostly because she knows everything that god has done for her son, so she's very kind to him whenever he pays them a visit.

As soon as she sees him, she starts making tea for the three of them. Aizawa sits at the table and waits for Izuku to finish telling his mother that he wants to train.

"Train?" Inko gets slightly worried; she usually associates that word with a future conflict, otherwise why would he require training? "Is it something wrong, Izuku?"

He hesitates for a second. He considers telling his mother about Endeavor, but she has nothing to do with that and telling her would only worry her for nothing.

Besides, Izuku is almost sure Todoroki's father won't do anything like that again.

"I want to be able to protect myself."

Inko looks back at him; she knows him really well and is sure that there's something more to it, but she also finds the response reasonable enough.

"Alright, just don't get yourself in trouble," she says, right before pulling her son into her arms. Then she glances at Aizawa for a moment. "I know you have done a lot for him already, but please take care of him."

Aizawa nods, with a soft smile on his lips.

"About that, Mrs Midoriya... the first couple of weeks of his training will be here, but later I'll have to take him to the Olympus at least for a few days. Are you okay with that?"

Inko nods.

"Of course. I trust you. I know you really care about my son."

Aizawa stays there for a while and then he goes out with Izuku to explain to him some things about his training.

Actually, Izuku is very excited about it and nervous too; just a few hours ago he had no idea he could do more than making flowers bloom or taking care of trees and crops.

"I'll come back here every day for your training. I also have to talk to All Might about this, although I think he'll like the idea. He mentioned something about training you too."

Izuku gets flustered; he's so happy now. Turns out All Might have been thinking about him too! Maybe he's not that useless as a demigod as he thought he was.

"Although he's definitely not going to like what happened with Endeavor."

Narrowing his eyes with concern, Izuku takes a step closer to Aizawa.

"Do you have to tell him?"

"He has to know what happened," the god says, getting slightly angry as he remembers everything. "Besides, Endeavor needs to understand that there are consequences... he doesn't have the right to do whatever he pleases just because he's a god, especially when he's threatening another one."

Izuku nods, accepting Aizawa's decision. He then smiles and hugs him again before he leaves.

Aizawa rolls his eyes, but he hugs him back.

***

The first few days are difficult; Izuku has no idea how to focus enough to make the thorns appear again.

"That's because you were scared," Aizawa explains. "You unconsciously channeled your power in order to protect yourself. That's good in extreme circumstances, but at the same time, it's dangerous. When you let an emotion dictate what you do or how you react, you lose control over yourself."

Izuku nods, remembering being scared of himself too; not knowing how to pull back the vines.

"When you do something with a clear mind, you have control over your own actions."

Then Aizawa decides to stop focusing on the vines and asks Izuku to help trees grow for a while and explain out loud how he does it.

It's strange at first; he's so used to it he mostly ignores the steps in order to achieve what he wants.

"I can feel this tree's energy," he explains, surprised by his own response. "I just give it more to accelerate the process of its growth. I visualize it in my mind."

Aizawa nods and just observes what Izuku usually does on a normal day in his own field.

The next day, he asks Izuku to make a couple of vines grow from the ground. This time, Izuku is a little bit more prepared for it.

It's like any other plant; nature is Izuku's friend, it has always helped him when he needs it the most.

He just needs to be kind and ask gently.

The demigod takes a deep breath, and focuses on what he can see in front of him. Slowly, a vine grows from the ground and stops when it gets as tall as Izuku. But it's only one and it doesn't have thorns on it.

"Good. That's progress," Aizawa smiles at Izuku, looking proud. "Now, you have to do that at least ten times more. It's okay if it doesn't have thorns, at least for now."

Izuku ends up exhausted, but he's happy about the results; not all of the vines are as tall as him, but he manages to get one to curl around a tree. Although, he thinks it was mostly luck, but he gets excited about it nonetheless.

It's not going to be easy, but it's satisfying when he manages to get something right.

***

After a week Katsuki comes to pay him a visit while he's in the middle of a training session; the vines he's managing to make grow are not taller than him, but they have a couple of thorns now. Izuku can even make the vines move a bit.

"Oi, Izuku!"

"Kacchan!" Suddenly, the vines start growing flowers and the flowers bloom the closer the god of the dead gets.

Aizawa's brows quirk up with curiosity as he looks at Izuku and the green haired demigod immediately blushes to the tip of his ears.

Izuku wonders if Aizawa knows what's going on; he's probably the smartest deity in the Olympus. He must know something's going on.

"Alright, I think it's enough for today," Aizawa mumbles, looking from Izuku to Katsuki.

"Aizawa is training you now?" The blond god asks, a little bit surprised. "Why? Are you alright, Izuku? What's going on?"

Izuku hasn't talked to anyone about Endeavor; the other day Iida told him All Might had an argument with the other god. And said he hadn't seen All Might so angry before; he didn't know what they were arguing about, but he managed to hear All Might telling Endeavor not to get closer to Izuku again.

Izuku doesn't want Katsuki to get angry on his behalf; he doesn't want to cause any more trouble.

"I want to be able to protect myself." He says exactly what he told his mother.

"Alright, but... I just want you to know I'm here for you too, if you... need help," Katsuki is usually proud and confident, but that day he looks particularly flustered.

Izuku finds it endearing; a couple of flowers bloom around them and Katsuki notices, looking at them with curiosity.

"I'll leave you alone for now, but I'll come back tomorrow," Aizawa says then.

Izuku nods, making the vines go back to the ground as his cheeks turn slightly pink again.

Katsuki takes one of his hands and stares into his eyes with a soft smile; his cheeks are pink too.

"I missed you, Izuku."

Izuku can't help but jump into his arms; he pulls him close to give him a hug and realizes that his crush on him is getting worse. And yet he doesn't let go of him.

Spending time with his Katsuki is one of his favorite things in the world; Izuku loves to have the god in his field, even if it's just for a while.

"I brought you something, Izuku," Katsuki whispers, looking slightly flustered again.

The demigod wants to tell him that there's no need to bring him stuff, his company is more than enough to make Izuku happy, but he also can tell that giving him gifts is important to Katsuki for some reason.

"Here."

Izuku gasps; the dress Katsuki is holding is not only beautiful it looks like it belongs to a queen.

"Are you sure?" He blushes again, taking the dress and looking at it closely.

"You don't like it?" Katsuki looks worried now and a little bit sad. "Sorry I–"

"No, no!" Izuku pulls it closer to his chest before Katsuki can take it away. "I love it! What I meant is... isn't it too much? For someone like me–"

The king of the underworld doesn't let him finish, he cradles Izuku's face in his hands and looks back at him like he's the most precious thing in the world.

"You deserve everything you could possibly want, Izuku."

The green haired demigod notices that he's tearing up, but it's too late to stop it now. This is not fair, how is he going to see Katsuki just as a friend if he keeps saying things like that?

"You're such a crybaby," Katsuki grins, wiping Izuku's tears off with his thumbs.

"This is your fault!" Izuku smiles back. "You say the sweetest things!"

Katsuki turns slightly pink then and Izuku is glad he's not the only one flustered for once.

"I say ridiculous shit all the time because I love you! I can't help it!"

Both of them freeze at Katsuki's words, Izuku has to pinch himself in order to make sure he's not dreaming.

"Shit! I'm sorry, Izuku! I was planning to confess my feelings for you in a different way. I wanted it to be perfect, dammit! And I wanted to make sure you felt the same. It's alright if you don't–"

Without realizing what he's doing, Izuku pulls Katsuki into his arms and presses their lips together. It's a very quick kiss that lasts a couple of seconds because Izuku panics, mostly because Katsuki doesn't move at all.

"I'm sorry, Kacchan! I should've asked you first!"

Face completely red, Katsuki shakes his head and blinks a couple of times; a wide smile quirks the corners of his lips up and it makes him look like he's absolutely happy.

"You don't have to ask, Izuku."

"Really? But you... I mean you d-don't have to either–"

"Nice, because I wasn't going to." Katsuki grabs Izuku by the waist to pull him close again. The demigod barely has time to gasp and blink when a strong hand grabs him by the chin and makes him look up.

That's when Katsuki kisses him. The hand on his chin moves away quickly and grabs the back of his head for better control; Izuku sighs into the kiss, almost in surrender, right before Katsuki begins to move his lips against his.

He's a hungry kisser; it's almost like he needs to taste every corner of Izuku's lips before his tongue pushes inside his mouth.

He really doesn't mean to moan like that, but he does, much to his embarrassment, although he can feel Katsuki's smirk against his lips as soon as he hears it and only encourages him to keep kissing Izuku.

Katsuki's fingers slide down Izuku's bare back and the mere contact of his fingertips sends shivers through his spine.

"I love you so much, Izuku," the god whispers, lips finally moving away before he presses them against the demigod's cheek.

"Kacchan..." his face is still burning and he's not completely sure what he wants to say now; the lips over his skin are very distracting.

When they find his neck, Izuku closes his eyes and sighs happily. He hopes Katsuki doesn't leave a mark.

"I've always wanted to kiss the freckles on your shoulders," Katsuki confesses in a whisper. "I'm pretty sure I have dreamed about it."

And he does just that, and Izuku is glad he always uses dresses that leave them exposed. When the fingers on his waist press harder and Katsuki tries to pull him even closer, Izuku suddenly remembers that they are in the middle of his field.

So he pushes Katsuki away, gently, but the king of the underworld still pouts at him.

"What are we going to do now?"

"I've been trying to court you for a while now, Izuku," Katsuki mumbles and then he gets slightly surprised when he notices a lot of flowers in bloom around them. "Did you do this?"

Izuku nods, cheeks turning slightly pink, looking away from Katsuki.

The god makes him look back and smirks almost triumphantly, even before he says anything, Izuku knows he has finally realized what's going on.

"Is this because of me?" He can't even hide how pleased he is with the situation. He looks full of himself.

Izuku nods and Katsuki puts both arms around him, lifting him from the ground as he embraces him. He looks so happy about it.

"I want you to become my queen," Katsuki whispers, pressing their foreheads together. "But I know you'll need time to think so... can I keep courting you? Officially this time?"

Izuku beams at him; even though he's worried about what will change in his life when they get married, he can't help but feel excited about being courted by the one he loves.

"Yes."

Katsuki kisses him again and pouts when Izuku pushes him away and reminds him they both have a lot of things to do.

"We have to tell everyone," Katsuki says; it seems it's very important to him that everyone knows for some reason.

"I'll let my mom and my friends know first," Izuku says, hoping his mom approves of it.

"Then we have to talk to Aizawa and All Might," Katsuki adds, although he doesn't look very enthusiastic about it.

Izuku wonders why; those two have been nothing but kind to him, he's sure they'll be happy for him as well as his friends.

He can't wait to tell Uraraka and Todoroki about it.

***

The conversation with his mother is not easy, mostly because he has to explain he's now being courted by the same god that kept him in the underworld for a while.

But Izuku is honest about what he feels and explains the whole story to his mother and how sorry Katsuki was afterwards.

After a while, a couple of bread with cheese and a nice cup of tea, Inko rises from her seat and hugs Izuku.

"I trust your judgment, but you have to bring him here; I'd like to meet him."

He immediately agrees and much to his relief it seems like his mother is willing to give Katsuki a chance.

For a moment, he thinks he'll get to tell Aizawa first (because he's there almost every day to train Izuku) but Uraraka ends up paying a visit to him that very evening.

His friend guesses it almost right away; Izuku can't see himself but Uraraka notices the soft blush on his cheeks, the glimmer in his emerald eyes, the smile that lights up his whole face and she knows this has to be about love.

When he finally tells her she sighs, but she manages to smile at him after a couple of seconds.

"I'm happy for you, I truly am," she says then. "Because it was clear for a while that you were in love with him and even though I didn't like what he did, he must be actually nice if you talk about him like that."

Uraraka relaxes after a while and asks Izuku about the kiss, teasing him a bit when he turns completely red. Then they talk about Izuku's training and what happened with Endeavor because she had no idea; Izuku hadn't seen her in a while.

"Please don't tell anyone about that; I don't want to cause any more problems."

"Don't worry, my lips are sealed," she promises with a kind smile. "Although I think Todoroki deserves to know how awful his father truly is."

"I'm sure he already knows that without me telling him what happened," Izuku argues back, prompting Uraraka to chuckle.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Based on what Todoroki has said, his father is awful most of the time."

She looks away for a moment right before sitting under a tree; Izuku sits next to her. She looks quite tense again.

"Have you told Todoroki about the courtship?"

"Not yet, but as soon as I see–"

"Wait." Uraraka cuts him off, looking concerned. "Just... maybe you should wait a little bit. You need to think about how to prepare him for the news; this will be painful for him."

"Why? What do you mean?"

"Seriously, Izuku?" Uraraka rolls her eyes before pinching the bridge of her nose.

"I mean I know Todoroki doesn't like Kacchan, but he promised to at least be civil around him from now on," he mumbles, still confused about his friend's reaction. "I know he won't like the idea of Kacchan courting me, but I don't think it'd be painful for him. That sounds a bit extreme..."

Uraraka's lips part on their own as if a few words wanted to escape from them, but she closes her mouth quickly before shaking her head.

"Just... please wait and try to think about how to tell him kindly, alright?"

Izuku nods and she manages to relax somewhat, although the concern is still clearly written all over her face.

She's probably overreacting. Todoroki will eventually understand after Izuku explains to him how he feels about Katsuki.

Before he can think about what he's going to tell Todoroki, Aizawa appears for Izuku's daily training.

"I think it's time to take you to the Olympus; Toshinori wants to train you too."

Izuku can't stop himself from beaming; Aizawa had told him that All Might wanted to train him, but it was difficult for him to believe it at the time.

Well, it still is.

However, it's a good thing that he's going to the Olympus because that way he can tell them both at the same time about the courtship.

He goes home quickly to say goodbye to his mother and promise her to be back at night.

The Olympus looks a little bit empty now that there's no party, but it's still very impressive and beautiful to look at.

There's some sort of garden with a golden apple tree in the middle of it all; Izuku can't help but stare at everything and notice how much life is in every inch of it.

He can feel it everywhere.

"Midoriya!" All Might is very different from Aizawa; he greets Izuku like they have known each other for ages and hugs him in such an enthusiastic way Izuku's feet stop touching the ground for a moment.

"You're going to crush him!" Aizawa scolds the other god after a while, although Izuku feels completely fine.

"It's a pleasure to see you again!" The demigod beams, slightly flustered.

"Are you ready to test your power against me?" All Might grins, posing like one of those statues the mortals have on his temples; he flexes his arms, showing off his muscles.

Izuku gets immediately nervous; he doesn't think he's ready to test his abilities against the king of the gods.

Aizawa rolls his eyes before standing in the middle of the two.

"No. There's not going to be any of that; we agreed." Aizawa sighs, looking like he's about to have a headache. "First, you're going to watch him train on his own so you can see his progress so far."

The fact that he's going to be aware of them watching him makes Izuku feel even more nervous, but he tries to focus.

He needs to know what kind of life grows in that garden; the plants and flowers are not used to Izuku's presence, but they welcome him anyway.

Izuku is not sure if it's because he has had a lot of practice or it's that life is buzzing with energy there, but it's easier to control. He manages to catch Aizawa once with vines, although he makes sure not to use thorns.

All Might puts a hand under his own chin and just as Izuku waits for him to point out everything he's doing wrong, he smiles and claps his hands together once.

"Let's eat!"

If he doesn't count that time at the party and when he was in the underworld, Izuku is almost sure he has never seen that much food on a table before.

Gods don't need to eat, but they still enjoy the taste of food. That's why a lot of the offerings mortals made to them are meat, grapes and sometimes wine and juice they make with their own hands.

"You have done an amazing job with the boy, Shota," All Might says after a while, making Izuku relax somewhat. However, when he turns around to face the demigod, he looks slightly more serious: "Even though you are obviously working on your technique and have better control over it, you still hesitate a lot, Midoriya."

Izuku turns slightly pink before looking down; he knows he's right.

"Don't be afraid of your own power, young Midoriya. I promise it won't betray you or consume you like you seem to believe."

Aizawa quirks a brow at the other god, almost as if he's quite surprised by his wisdom.

"And don't hesitate to use it on Shota!" All Might chuckles before giving the other god a slap on the shoulder that almost makes him fall face first over his own plate. "He can take it!"

Aizawa glares back at the blond god, but when he turns around to look at Izuku, his expression softens considerably.

"He's right. You shouldn't hesitate."

"Let's go back to training!"

"Wait," Izuku cuts in, looking at both of them. "I need to tell you something first."

He gets slightly nervous when he notices Aizawa's worried expression and All Might's excited grin.

"Kacchan is courting me!" Izuku blurts out, knowing that if he doesn't say it as soon as possible he never will.

"He's... WHAT?" All Might doesn't seem that happy about it. "But you're too young for that!"

Even though the god doesn't seem to agree with that, Izuku worries a bit more about Aizawa's eye twitching. He hasn't said a word, but it seems that whatever he's thinking is definitely nothing good.

Maybe he should've waited a little longer to tell them.

***

It's been a while and Aizawa is still pacing around the room; Izuku is not sure why he doesn't seem to like the idea of Katsuki courting him.

"It's okay!" All Might says then, he's not completely happy, but it seems he has come to terms with it. "I mean, young Bakugo is not bad! He doesn't like to come here often, but I know he takes care of his realm and the people in it quite well!"

Izuku is ready to agree and tell him how kind and gentle Katsuki actually is, but he realizes that All Might is talking to Aizawa.

The other god pauses, pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a deep breath before looking back at him.

"I know, I know," Aizawa sighs. "I don't have anything against Bakugo and he seems to have learned his lesson after what happened the first time, but..."

"You don't want Midoriya to suffer because you care about him," All Might says, surprising Izuku. "I care about him too."

The demigod feels the tears in his eyes before they start sliding down and he realizes he can't stop them.

Izuku already knew they cared about him; they wouldn't be there at the moment if that wasn't the case, but now he thinks that he doesn't quite understand how much they care. A couple of years ago, Izuku firmly believed that his mother was the only one who could care about him like that.

It seems he was completely wrong and he's never been happier to be wrong before.

He jumps into Aizawa's arms first, but this time the god immediately hugs him back.

"You still have to bring Bakugo here because I want to talk to him, alright?" He says after a while.

"Sure!" Izuku beams before giving another hug to All Might.

"Actually," Aizawa adds, almost like an afterthought. "I think it'd be better if he meets us in your mother's house in a couple of days, if your mother is okay with it."

Izuku nods, knowing his mother will agree.

"Great!" All Might cuts in, cracking his knuckles. "I have a couple of things to say to young Bakugo too!"

Even though they kinda said they're okay with the courtship, Izuku gets slightly nervous about the upcoming meeting, but he doesn't have time to think about it too much because Aizawa puts a hand on his shoulder.

"You still have to train, Midoriya. It's time you use your powers on Toshinori."

Right. Another thing to be nervous about. At least it takes his head off the courtship for a while.

Then he realizes that he's not a good opponent for All Might; the god defeats him every single time without breaking a sweat.

It's going to be a long day.

As Izuku thought, his mother is more than happy to have not one, but three gods in her house. There's still a couple of days left, but she's excited already.

"Should I cook something for them?" Inko wonders, looking at her pantry. "What do gods like to eat?"

"Gods don't need food," Izuku tries to explain to her. "It's not necessary, but it's okay if you want to."

She starts mumbling to herself while walking around the house and Izuku finally realizes where he got that habit from.

Since there's still time left and his mother doesn't look like she needs help, Izuku goes back to his field.

The training with All Might was so hard, Aizawa gave Izuku a day off.

He is really happy with his progress so far. He practices a little bit on his own before he starts tending to his trees and flowers. None of the people who live nearby have come to ask for help so he guesses they should be okay for now.

He goes to the river for a while; a couple of bunnies approach him and look up at him with curiosity before hopping back to their burrows.

Izuku turns around the moment he hears the sound of footsteps behind him and relaxes immediately when he sees Todoroki approaching him.

"Shoto!" Izuku beams, waving his hand at him as a form of greeting. "It's nice to see you again!"

This is it. This is the day he tells his friend about Katsuki's courtship. Izuku is aware that he might not react positively to the news because Todoroki doesn't like the other god that much, but he's sure that at least he'll be glad once Izuku tells him how happy he is.

However, his smile drops as soon as he notices Todoroki's expression; he looks murderous and yet Izuku is sure he's not mad at him.

"What happened? Are you–"

"Did my father hurt you?" Todoroki is finally in front of him and he puts his hands on Izuku's shoulders gently, but at the same time it's like he doesn't want to let him go ever again.

So he knows about what happened with Endeavor.

Izuku shakes his head, trying to calm him down.

"No, actually... I think I almost hurt him because I got scared. I'm so–"

"Why were you scared?" Even though Todoroki can see Izuku is alright, he grows tense nonetheless. The demigod notices that his body temperature increases out of the sudden. "Did he threaten you? Why was he here in the first place?"

Izuku is getting more and more worried about him and he instinctively takes a step back.

"Shoto, it's okay! All Might talked to him already!"

Todoroki shakes his head.

"What did he say to you?"

Izuku has the feeling he won't let go of it until he tells him what happened so that's what he does.

"I think he doesn't want me to be your friend," he says after he finishes. "But don't worry, I'll be your friend for as long as you want me!"

Todoroki's expression softens a bit and he pulls Izuku into his arms.

"I'll always want you. I'll always like you and love you."

Izuku melts into the embrace, happy his friend feels better and is about to invite him to his house when Todoroki takes a few steps back.

His demeanor has completely changed again; the concern makes Izuku freeze.

"Shoto? Are you okay?"

"I'll be as soon as I have a 'word' with the old man," Todoroki says; his voice has never sounded so cold before. "Don't worry, he won't bother you again."

"What? Wait, Shoto!"

It's too late; Todoroki is gone and now Izuku just hopes that what he told him is true, that it's just a conversation with his father what he truly wants.

But he has a bad feeling about it.

***

Izuku decides to call Iida immediately; he tells him everything that happened and asks him to inform Aizawa and All Might about it.

They will know what to do, he's sure of it.

"Are you alright?" Iida asks then, after he assures him they'll both get the message.

"Yes, don't worry about me!" Izuku smiles or at least tries to because he's still worried about his friend.

It's his fault; he's already causing trouble to someone else's family. Maybe Endeavor is right to want to keep him away from his son.

The rest of the day is not easy for him; Izuku can't focus completely on his tasks, although he tries to. He knows he can't do anything from where he is and the other gods are probably taking care of the situation at the moment.

Perhaps he made another mistake by telling them, but Todoroki's expression worried him deeply and Izuku had the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

He really hopes he's wrong about that.

After a couple of hours, he decides to go back to his house, but then Aizawa appears in the field. As usual, Izuku runs towards him and gives him a hug.

It seems the god is getting used to it because he hugs him back without hesitation. He also ruffles Izuku's hair softly.

"Todoroki and his father are okay; they had a fight, but since Endeavor refused to use his powers against his son, they fought like mortals do."

Izuku has seen mortals fight; that doesn't sound good either.

"Toshinori stopped them on time," Aizawa assures him, like he's reading Izuku's mind and knows how far his concern goes.

Izuku nods, feeling terribly guilty about it.

"It's not your fault," the other god assures him, stroking his hair again. "Enji has no right to tell his son what to do. Todoroki's an adult now, besides, his father lost that right a long time ago."

"Todoroki has told me a couple of things about his family and his father, and he sounds awful, but I still think I should have–"

Aizawa cuts him off by giving him a look and Izuku shakes his head. He shouldn't feel guilty.

But he does... a bit.

"There's something else I wanted to tell you," Aizawa continues, distracting Izuku from his own thoughts for a while.

"What is it?"

"Don't tell Todoroki anything about the courtship. At least not at the moment."

The genuine concern on Aizawa's face confuses Izuku a bit. Sure, it's not like Todoroki will love the idea, but Izuku doesn't think he cares enough about it in a way that could affect him.

He'll get over it soon.

"At least wait a couple of days," Aizawa suggests. "Until this situation cools down a bit. I'm sure he needs to discuss a couple of things with his family at the moment."

Aizawa is right. Todoroki needs to focus on his own family first.

"I won't tell him anything. I promise."

It's finally the day in which Aizawa, All Might and his mother will talk to Katsuki about the courtship; honestly, Izuku is a little bit nervous about it.

To distract himself and after sending a couple of messages to Katsuki with Iida's help, Izuku helps his mother cook.

"Is he handsome?"

"Mom!" Izuku blushes to the tip of his ears, but he's not annoyed at all, just a little bit embarrassed.

Inko starts chuckling at his reaction and Izuku smiles back at her immediately; moments like these make him realize how lucky he is to have someone like her as his mother.

"So?"

Feeling his cheeks getting warm again, Izuku nods; he can't hold back the grin on his face.

"Yes, he's very handsome," he also looks intimidating sometimes, but he's not going to tell her that.

"I'm so happy for you, Izuku!"

"Thanks, Mom!"

All Might and Aizawa arrive first. Even though they look like they're going to a some sort of funeral; they smile at Inko and are very respectful and kind to her.

Actually, Aizawa smiles a lot more when he's around her, which makes Izuku happy.

Then, just as the two gods help Inko set the table, Izuku feels Katsuki's presence outside the house and he immediately gets out of there to greet him first.

He's so glad to see him he jumps into his arms without a second thought, making Katsuki smile back at him as he wraps his arms around the demigod.

"I missed you, Izuku!"

"Missed you too, Kacchan!" He giggles before giving his boyfriend a kiss on the lips.

Katsuki blinks a couple of times, before his face turns slightly pink. He tries to chase Izuku's lips, but the green haired demigod moves away a bit.

"Are you ready to see them?"

As Katsuki puts Izuku back on his feet, he grimaces; it's one of the few times Izuku has seen him acting nervous. It's endearing.

"It'll be fine, Kacchan!"

"Maybe if you give me another kiss it will be."

Izuku giggles, but he leans closer to press his lips against Katsuki's, but this time the king of the underworld takes control of the kiss, and it turns into something more passionate than he planned.

There are hands on his waist now, slightly squeezing and pulling; Izuku's chest is completely pressed against Katsuki and they both refuse to stop kissing the other.

Someone clears their throat, which prompts Izuku to jump away from Katsuki in a second.

Aizawa is standing right there, a deep frown on his face and arms crossed over his chest.

He doesn't look particularly pleased.

"Midoriya, your mother needs your help," he says. "Why don't you go back inside? Bakugo and I will join you in a couple of minutes."

Despite knowing Aizawa is not that happy at the moment, Izuku gets on his tiptoes and kisses Katsuki's cheek before doing as he's told.

Katsuki looks tense, but it's obvious he wants to make a good impression.

When Izuku gets inside, he finds himself face to face with All Might.

"He's here," he comments, smiling in a weird way as he pulls Izuku into a hug.

"Don't be too harsh on him."

"I won't, I just want to make sure he's worthy of you!" All Might assures him, cracking his knuckles, like he's getting ready for a fight.

Suddenly, Izuku understands why Katsuki is that nervous.

***

Izuku thinks it goes relatively well, all things considered; his mother gives Katsuki a hug and asks him to take care of her son.

It's too soon for that, but Katsuki takes her words seriously and promises to think about Izuku and what he wants first.

"I'll try to make him happy and I'll always protect–"

"Easy there," Aizawa cuts him off, grimacing, next to him, All Might narrows his eyes slightly. "You aren't getting married yet."

Katsuki nods, looking nervous, but it's obvious that he's trying really hard to make a good impression. Izuku finds it so cute, he leans closer and gives him a kiss on the cheek.

Inko smiles at them both and Izuku giggles as the King of the underworld turns pink. He moves his head around to stare at him with so much fondness, Izuku can't stop himself from blushing too.

Aizawa rolls his eyes at them.

"I feel like it's pretty clear at this point, but let me tell you again, just in case, young man: if you hurt him..." All Might doesn't finish the sentence, but Katsuki nods like he understands completely.

"I made dessert too!" Inko says then as Izuku takes Katsuki's hand in his and intertwines their fingers together.

Both Aizawa and All Might volunteer to help Inko clean everything and Izuku knows that even though they genuinely want to help her, it's also a way to leave him alone with Katsuki for a little bit at least.

"Let's go outside!"

Katsuki nods and takes Izuku's hand again, staring at him in a way that makes him think that he'd do anything Izuku asked him to. But maybe it's just his imagination.

"I told them not to be too harsh on you, but they're–"

"I understand," Katsuki cuts him off then, looking sad and full of regret out of the sudden; he pulls Izuku into a hug and breathes into his curls. He closes his eyes, enjoying every second of it. "After what I did to you, they're right to act so protective. I get why they don't trust me completely yet."

"I don't think that's the case, Kacchan," Izuku mumbles, nuzzling against the god's chest in return. "They just worry a lot. But... I'm grateful for that, I hadn't had anyone else, besides my mom, worry about me like that."

His eyes start watering; he shouldn't be that sentimental, he's ruining the moment and–

"I'm glad they care about you the way they do," Katsuki whispers before kissing the tears off his cheeks. "But don't forget that I'm here and I would like to take care of you and protect you too, even if you don't need it."

"Kacchan..." Izuku is glad he feels the same, otherwise the demigod will be in a lot of trouble falling in love all over again with his friend.

They're on the same page now.

Izuku tilts his head up to kiss the god on the lips and it seems Katsuki had the same idea because he meets him halfway. There are warm hands on his hips now and the lips kissing Izuku's are desperate and hungry.

A tongue licks his bottom lip gently and when Izuku opens his mouth in surprise, that tongue thrusts inside as Katsuki's fingers tighten their grip on Izuku's hips.

When they pull apart, they're both gasping for air and Katsuki looks around only to find all the flowers in bloom.

He looks so smug, Izuku turns red... again.

"It seems like you really enjoyed that..."

"Stop, Kacchan!" Izuku pouts, hitting him softly on his shoulder. He's so embarrassed; he needs to learn how to control that.

"It's okay, nerd. You know I like it, right?"

Izuku is about to say something, but Katsuki starts kissing him again...

However, he doesn't get to do that thing with his tongue again because a huge hand on Katsuki's shoulder stops him and pulls him apart from Izuku.

All Might is smiling, but he doesn't look happy.

"Were you kissing him or eating him alive?" Aizawa hisses, getting closer to Izuku and inspecting his face with concern.

Now Izuku thinks they're both overreacting a bit.

"Your lips are swollen," Aizawa comments, voice cold as ice.

Izuku groans as he cover his face with both hands.

"I'm courting him!" Katsuki argues, getting irritated.

"That doesn't seem like proper courting," Aizawa narrows his eyes.

"You know what?" All Might grins, already doing some stretching exercises. "Let's spar, young man! If you win, we'll leave you a few minutes alone with young Midoriya. But if you don't, we'll be your chaperones for the rest of the day."

"It's a deal!" Katsuki smirks, like a feral god; Izuku knew he was going to agree, but he's not sure he can win against All Might.

And... he doesn't.

However, Izuku enjoys his date with Katsuki, even though All Might and Aizawa keep an eye on them the whole time. He even gives his boyfriend a peck on the lips before he goes back to the underworld.

Despite thinking they're being overprotective, Izuku is thankful for Aizawa and All Might because for the first time, he feels like he's part of a family.

Between his training and the courtship, Izuku has been really busy lately. Aizawa takes him to the Olympus more often to spar with All Might himself; it's honestly really exciting.

Katsuki spends his days off with Izuku and also pays a visit to Inko every now and then; his mother enjoys talking to the King of the Underworld, and Izuku can tell she doesn't do it because of him. She genuinely likes Katsuki.

Aizawa and All Might like him too, Izuku is sure of it; they're just too busy being overprotective to remember it.

However, despite the frowns and the suspicious eyes, they allow the two of them to spend time alone together because they can also tell how much Katsuki loves Izuku.

So, all things considered, everything's going quite good in Izuku's opinion; he's very happy.

He just misses his friends.

Aizawa gives him a few days off. The first one he spends it with Katsuki in the underworld; he gets to visit him every now and then in that realm.

He's glad he never needed the pomegranate; he's not entirely sure what will happen if he takes a bite of it. Maybe it's time to give it back.

He'll do that next time. At the moment it's safe in his bedroom.

"Dynamight!" Izuku chuckles, hugging every single one of that lovely hound's heads. They're big enough for Izuku to use both arms around them.

He makes a couple of flower crowns for each one of his heads. The hound looks quite happy with them; Izuku does that every time he pays him a visit. Dynamight seems to like all types of flowers.

"He's supposed to look intimidating, you know?" The God of the Dead often watches when Izuku plays with the hell hound. He's trying to sound irritated, but his fond expression betrays him.

"He can still look intimidating," Izuku argues as the huge hound wags his tail.

"If you say so, flower nerd."

"It's time to say Hi to the kids!" Ashido cuts in, carrying that heavy book of her in her arms. The one that has the names of all the people arriving to the Underworld that particular day.

She's excellent at her job and a very good friend too.

Without realizing it, that part has become Izuku's job too, at least whenever he's in that realm; he doesn't mind it. Actually, he enjoys making little kids happy.

Contrary to most adults, the kids' souls get lost, confused, and scared when they appear down there; Izuku does his best to make them feel a bit better.

He also likes to chat for a bit with Kirishima and Kaminari; they're always making him laugh, mostly because they like to make fun of their boss and mention how besotted he is every time they can.

Izuku ends up in Katsuki's bedroom by the end of his visit. They mostly kiss, but the kisses have turned a lot desperate and hungry lately.

It's even worse (better) when they're on his bed and Katsuki is on top of him.

"Is this okay, Izuku?" Katsuki asks, voice turning deeper, lips slightly red because of all the kisses he has given to him in the last hour. His hand is sliding up the demigod's leg before squeezing it.

"Yes, Kacchan," he whispers the name, sounding very pleased with what's going on.

Katsuki seems to love his legs, especially his thighs. Maybe that's why he always gives Izuku side slit dresses; he likes when he can see at least one of Izuku's legs.

He keeps kissing Izuku's neck, the demigod is sure he's leaving a few marks and that he'll have to use the dresses that actually cover his neck for a couple of days.

He doesn't want Aizawa or All Might to see the hickeys.

Izuku has become a little bit bold too; he loves Katsuki's broad shoulders, he especially enjoys feeling his muscles under his fingertips whenever he gets to stroke them as Katsuki keeps kissing him.

"I love you, Izuku."

"I love you too, Kacchan."

There's a knock at the bedroom door that makes Izuku gasp and turn completely red before he gently pushes the god off him.

Katsuki growls.

"It better be something important otherwise I'll kill you!"

"Sorry to interrupt your sweet time with the Queen, boss!" Ashido's amused voice comes from the other side. "But a couple of confused souls are causing trouble outside and they're scaring the kids!"

Katsuki gets off the bed immediately, followed by Izuku.

"Stay here," the god says, voice turning a lot softer as he looks at Izuku again. He takes both his hands and kisses them. "I'll be right back."

Still, Izuku follows him outside and he regrets it when he notices Ashido's eyes staring at his neck and the marks on his leg.

She seems to be enjoying herself.

It's even worse after Katsuki vanishes and leaves the two of them alone.

"Aizawa is not going to be happy with me if he sees those," she mumbles, pointing at Izuku's neck.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm supposed to keep an eye on you two when you're here," she explains with an amused smile. "I'm your chaperone!"

Izuku chuckles, although he does roll his eyes. Of course Aizawa told her to keep an eye on them.

He really does think of everything.

***

On his second day off, Izuku spends it taking care of his field. Uraraka promised to visit him and drink tea with him.

It's been a while since he's seen his friends; the absence of one of them is completely his own fault since Aizawa told him not to talk about Katsuki's courtship in front of him.

So far Uraraka is the only one who has listened to Izuku gush about Katsuki, but she has told him several times he should tell Todoroki as soon as possible.

With those thoughts in mind, he walks down to the river to check on the plants there and make sure all of them enough nutrients from their surroundings.

"I'm glad to finally find you here."

Todoroki's voice doesn't startle him, but it surprises him a little; he wasn't expecting to find him there at that particular hour.

"I've been visiting your field a couple of times this week, hoping to find you," his friend smiles, mismatched eyes glimmering with joy. "But I haven't been lucky until today."

"Sorry, I've been busy," Izuku blushes, feeling slightly guilty for not saying the whole truth.

"I know you're training with Aizawa and All Might," Todoroki grins, taking a few steps closer to Izuku. "I'm glad. Iida has mentioned you have made a lot of progress lately."

The blush spreads down his neck at the compliment; Iida is honestly too kind, Izuku doesn't think he has worked that hard to deserve such kind words.

Besides, he hasn't only trained these past weeks; he's been hanging out with Katsuki a lot.

"My family has missed you. They want to see you again."

"Tell them that I hope to see them soon," Izuku mumbles immediately, feeling bad about that too. "By the way... how is everything at home?"

The demigod presses his lips tightly for a moment, regretting asking that question.

"I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that–"

"It's okay," Todoroki cuts him off, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You can ask me anything you want."

Izuku nods, soft smile tugging the corner of his lips up again.

"Do you have time now?"

"Sure!"

They sit next to the river side as Todoroki talks about the discussion he had with his father. Nothing has actually been resolved between the two, but at least Endeavor won't get close to Izuku again.

"You didn't have to, you know that, right?" The demigod says after a while. "I... that's why I've been training. I can take care of myself."

"I know. But that man has always tried to control every single aspect of my life," Todoroki says, taking a deep breath. "And I'm tired of it. I wanted him to understand that he couldn't make decisions for me anymore."

"You're right," Izuku nods, smiling at him. "I'm really proud of you, Shoto!"

For a moment, it looks like Todoroki is about to reach a hand out to him, but he reconsiders and moves it back.

"What about you? Is the training hard?"

"Absolutely!" He chuckles, prompting Todoroki to laugh with him too. "I mean, we're talking about Aizawa and All Might!"

"I should've guessed. Aizawa used to train me too, and it was anything but easy," he grins as his shoulders relax completely before looking into the demigod's eyes.

"I have to tell you something, Shoto," Izuku begins, feeling nervous out of the sudden. He shouldn't. Todoroki is his friend; he'll be happy for him!

Besides, it looks like things with his father have gotten better so Izuku doesn't see why he should keep hiding information from him.

"What is it?"

"Kacchan started courting me!" He blurts out with a huge smile on his face. "I know you don't like him that much, but he has a good heart and I think we'll be... uhh... Are you okay?"

Todoroki is not moving anymore; he's not even blinking, Izuku is not entirely sure if he's still breathing.

There's no trace of that happy smile on his expression, the one he had just a few minutes ago; he looks like he's in pain.

"Is this... please, tell me you're joking."

"I'm not. I'd never joke about something like that!"

Todoroki looks paler now somehow; a shadow obscures his eyes, and his hands start shaking a little.

"Shoto?"

A bad feeling spreads over Izuku's spine like a shiver as he watches Todoroki's hands shake before closing into tight fists.

"Listen... I know what you think about him," he says again, trying to find the right words to calm him down. "But he has apologized more than once for what he did, and he loves me, he truly does. Maybe if you try to spend time with the two of us, you'll get to like him. Perhaps you two can become frie–"

"I doubt it," Todoroki says then, a bit cold. "Izuku... he's not good for you."

This time, the demigod feels slightly irritated at those words. He knows his friend is just being overprotective, but Izuku can take care of himself.

"He is," he says, more firmly this time. "Besides, I can make my own choices."

Todoroki's shoulders fall, almost in defeat, and Izuku feels immediately bad because he looks hurt. He doesn't want to hurt a friend.

"I wish you loved me more."

"I do love you, Shoto! You're my friend!" Izuku takes a few steps closer, he puts one of his hands on his shoulder to pull him into a tight hug, but then Todoroki's eyes notice something on his neck.

He freezes, mismatched eyes looking almost murderous for a moment. Izuku stares at him in confusion until his friend pulls the fabric of the dress a bit down with two fingers to see his neck more clearly.

That's when Izuku remembers what he did yesterday. His cheeks turn bright red in seconds.

"What are those?"

He doesn't like the tone of Todoroki's voice at the moment; he sounds so cold, he has never used that voice in front of Izuku before.

He looks angry.

"Uhh... I'm not hurt," Izuku takes a few steps back, and Todoroki blinks a couple of times in response, looking sad out of the sudden. "Kacchan likes to kiss my neck. I told him not to leave marks, but he–"

"Marks?" Todoroki echoes, but he looks like he's not entirely there. His mind is lost, thinking about something that's hurting him.

Clouds quickly cover the sky; the wind turns cold, and Izuku worries about his plants and the people's crops.

"Shoto? Are you okay?"

He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry, I need some time for myself. I need to think..." He mumbles as he looks up to the sky and realizes at the same as Izuku, that it's not rain what's about to fall over the demigod's field. "I apologize for this. But it's too late to stop it now. I promise everything will go back to normal tomorrow."

Snow in the middle of summer. This is not good.

"I'll come back for you, Izuku."

He walks away, leaving the demigod confused and sad. But he doesn't have time to think about Todoroki's reaction, he needs to protect his field and the people's crops from the snow.

***

A couple of hours later, Izuku finally returns home; it's freezing outside, the snow has covered everything by then, but he managed to save the crops of the people living in the area and his own field.

Turns out he can use his new abilities to create domes made of strong vines with thorns and make them so thick they don't let the snow in.

He promised the people everything would be back to normal in the morning, but they had to stay inside their houses for the night.

"I was so worried, Izuku!" His mother comes out of her bedroom, looking even more concerned as she notices the redness on his hands and feet. "You must be freezing! Go take a warm bath! I'll make you hot tea."

Izuku thinks about telling her that since he's a demigod the weather doesn't affect him that much, but he decides to better do as she says because she won't stop worrying no matter what he says.

"Why is it snowing? This is not... normal," she mumbles, mostly to herself as she places a cup in front of Izuku.

He's warmer now and is glad he can use winter clothes at least for the day because that means he can cover the hickeys better.

"I think it's my fault," he admits, thinking of his conversation with Todoroki. Trying to save his plants from the cold bite of the winter was a good distraction, but now that he's done he's left with his own thoughts again.

"But I thought you couldn't control the weather."

"I can't, but Shoto can." Izuku sighs before telling everything that happened to his mother.

"Oh, sweetie..."

"I thought he was going to be happy for me," he pouts, feeling sad and confused. He didn't like the way Todoroki left. He's worried about him. "I mean, I know he doesn't like Kacchan, but I didn't think he'd react the way he did."

"He just needs time, Izuku," Inko assures him, giving him an encouraging smile. "You have to give him some space, but he'll come around eventually after he realizes this is what you want and what makes you happy."

He smiles back, glad to have talked to his mother; she always makes him feel better.

"Besides, I think his reaction is perfectly normal," she continues, puzzling Izuku again. "After all, he just got his heart broken."

"What do you mean?"

"Izuku," for a moment, Inko looks at him like she did when he was a child and the answer was right in front of him; she used to say that sometimes it looked like he didn't want to see it on purpose. "Don't tell me you don't know that boy has been in love with you this whole time!"

"What?" No. Of course not. His mother is clearly mistaken. Todoroki is not in love with him!

"Listen. Your friend is in love with you and you just told him someone else is courting you. So it's obvious he's upset, but he'll get over it," she says, putting a hand on Izuku's cheek. "But, don't forget this: it's not your fault. He would have found out one way or another."

Blinking a couple of times, Izuku takes another sip of his tea; it's difficult for him to believe what his mother just told him. Part of him refuses to, even though a few things Todoroki has done in the past make more sense now.

Perhaps he should talk to him again, later, when he's ready. Right now, Izuku needs to give him space, as his mother suggested.

Izuku looks at the snow falling outside his house through the window and feels bad nonetheless; maybe if he knew about this sooner, he would've chosen his words more carefully.

Is Todoroki truly in love with him?

Izuku has no idea what to think of it. He just hopes he's alright, wherever he is at the moment.

***

"Going to the underworld right now is the worst idea possible," Fuyumi says, looking genuinely worried about her brother.

"I just want to punch something," her younger brother mumbles, looking miserable. "And punching Bakugo seems like a good idea at the moment."

"I don't think Midoriya would like that," she argues, trying to calm him down. "Look at what happened last time."

Shoto slides down to the floor and sits there for a while, resting his head against the cold wall.

The fact that it's snowing outside is not a good sign. There are a few issues she has to try to fix, and she honestly has no idea where to start.

"Listen, there's nothing you can do if... if Midoriya only sees you as a friend," Fuyumi whispers, choosing her words carefully. She genuinely likes the demigod, and it's obvious her brother is head over heels for him, but none of them can do anything if his heart belongs to another.

"Bakugo Katsuki doesn't deserve his heart," Shoto hisses in pain.

"Maybe you should try to move on... I know it seems impossible now, but give it a–"

"I don't want to."

Fuyumi takes a deep breath and looks up at the ceiling; she doesn't know why she does that, they all are gods, there's no one else she can pray to for answers, even though she'd like that.

"Alright... you can also try to be completely honest with Midoriya and tell him about your feelings," she says after a while. "You can even court him too, and let him choose at the end of the courtship, but you have to be aware that could lead to more heartbreak later."

Because he can still choose the King of the Underworld after that, and Shoto will be miserable again.

"I know, but I still want to try."

"Fine," she nods, albeit reluctantly. "And you also have to try to control your powers better because if I'm not mistaken, All Might said he could take them away if he thought you couldn't handle them anymore."

"I know. Don't worry, everything will be back to normal tomorrow."

Fuyumi bites her bottom lip to stop herself from saying something else because she's still worried. However, she nods nonetheless.

"I still want to punch Bakugo though."

"Please don't."

Shoto assures her he won't, but Fuyumi is not so sure he'd be able to resist if he sees the other god again.

At least their father doesn't know about this yet. It'll make things worse if he finds out.

The snow stops falling after a while. Izuku thinks that maybe it means Todoroki finally calmed down a bit (he really hopes that's the case).

Looking through his window, he tries to remember the conversation he had with his friend and find a more gentle way he could've said it, but he's not sure he can.

If his mother is right, he completely understands his reaction. It's obvious he needs some space, but Izuku wishes he could talk to him again.

He knows they can still be friends or at least he hopes so.

A knock on their door startles both Inko and Izuku; she's closer to the door, but the demigod is faster and opens it before she can move closer to it.

On the other side of the entrance stands his friend Uraraka, wearing winter clothes, although she still looks like she's cold.

"Come in!" Izuku urges her, closing the door behind his friend quickly.

Inko gives her a hug and starts making more tea for the three of them.

"Are you alright?" He asks, a bit concerned for his friend. "What are you doing here? Isn't your house a bit far from this place?"

"It is," Uraraka concedes, looking a lot better now that she's inside the house. "But this weather is crazy and I knew you'd have answers or at least a plausible explanation of what's going on. I remember that last time something like this happened, Todoroki was the one who did it because he missed you."

Izuku is grateful for the tea his mother puts in front of him; he takes him in his hands so the warmth helps him tell Uraraka the whole story.

"I told Shoto Kacchan is courting me."

"Oh," she mumbles, eyes opening wide before nodding. "I see now."

"I have to go to my bedroom. I need to rest," Inko says then. "Darling, you can stay as much as you want."

"Thank you, Midoriya-san."

Izuku knows his mother is doing that to leave them alone, and he appreciates that. Even though he told his mother most of it, there are things he can only tell Uraraka.

After his mother leaves, Izuku recounts everything that happened, even when Todoroki saw the hickeys all over his neck.

"Uhh," Uraraka grimaces, probably imagining the other boy's reaction to it. "He probably hated that."

The demigod bites his bottom lip, still blaming himself, even though there was no other way; Todoroki would have known one way or another.

"Do you think he's going to confront Bakugo?"

"No," Izuku shakes his head. "I think I made it clear that was the last thing I wanted."

There's still the possibility of his friend not listening to him and doing that anyway, but he hopes Todoroki is not that upset anymore to do something like that.

Uraraka is not that confident in Todoroki's good behavior either, but she nods anyway.

"Give him some space," she says, after Izuku tells her how much he wants to talk to him again. "His heart just got broken after all."

"You too?" The demigod blurts out. He can't help it. "My mom also thinks he's in love with me."

Uraraka rolls her eyes, but takes pity on him and gives him a few strokes on his back to make him feel better.

"I bet you were the only one who didn't know. It was obvious!"

It seems that being oblivious has caused a lot of damage to the people Izuku loves.

He takes a few sips of his tea; trying not to think about all the things that could go wrong when there's another knock at the door.

When Izuku sees Aizawa in front of him, he can't help but hug him. This time the god doesn't hesitate and pulls him closer, probably feeling that's what Izuku needs at the moment.

"I suppose this is Todoroki's doing," he guesses, stepping inside the house. He nods at Uraraka as soon as he notices her.

"It's my fault," Izuku admits. "I told him about my relationship with Kacchan."

"Toshinori and I were expecting something like this to happen," he says, sitting on a chair next to the demigod. "At least it was after the whole Endeavor's mess was over. Don't blame yourself, Midoriya. You can't control Todoroki's feelings for you."

That's it. Izuku doesn't have any other choice but to believe it now; Todoroki has been in love with him for a while now and somehow he never noticed it.

He doesn't know how to feel about it, he loves his friend, but he's never thought about him like that.

"It'll be fine," Aizawa says after a while, probably noticing Izuku's demeanor. "He'll get over it eventually."

The demigod tries to smile. He's right. Maybe Todoroki only has a crush on him, something that will disappear soon.

Perhaps they can go back to being good friends.

"Now I have to go check on him," Aizawa says, rising from his seat. This time, he's the first one to pull Izuku into a hug. "Just in case he's thinking about doing something stupid."

Izuku really hopes that's not the case. He wonders if he should go to the underworld to tell everything to Katsuki.

He needs to know.

***

The next day, the snow starts to melt; Izuku has gotten news from Aizawa, but he supposes everything when well, otherwise he would've heard about it.

Before leaving yesterday, Uraraka told him he should wait for Todoroki to approach him first, that he needed to process things at his own pace.

It's alright. Izuku is going to the Underworld that day anyway. It'll help him think about other things. He can spend time with his friends.

He's still not used to calling the messenger of the gods every time he needs to, but Iida has assured him he doesn't mind.

"Can you take me to the Underworld?"

"Is this about Todoroki?"

"Do you know about that? About what I told him?" Izuku looks up at him, surprised. He blinks a couple of times and feels his cheeks turn pink at the thought of the whole Olympus finding out about it.

Iida nods before taking him by the arm.

"How?"

"Well, it's kinda my job to know what's going on."

"Oh, right! Sorry!"

"You don't have to apologize for that," Iida smiles, trying to calm him down. "I get why you don't want others to find out."

"Do you happen to know what happened to Aizawa? Did he pay a visit to Shoto?" Perhaps that's something he shouldn't be asking about, but Izuku is still worried about his friend. Although the nice weather outside must mean he's feeling better already.

"He did," Iida says after a while. He's probably considering if he should talk about that with Izuku or not. "Mostly because he has to make sure Todoroki can control his powers. Last time something like this happened All Might warned him he should be careful, otherwise he could take his powers away."

"All Might can do that?" Izuku takes a step back, feeling a little bit overwhelmed with all that new information.

"He can."

"But why would he say that?"

"Endless winter can completely destroy life on the mortal realm. All Might has to protect the living creatures here," The messenger informs, looking way too calm for Izuku's liking.

"When he told that to Shoto... I mean the first time it happened... wast it because of me?" The demigod asks, almost afraid of the answer, even though he knows it already.

"That happened when you were missing, yes. Todoroki was very emotionally affected by it."

"And now they said I just broke his heart," Izuku mumbles, feeling the weight of his own words on his shoulders. What is if All Might takes Todoroki's powers away because of him?

He doesn't think he could ever forgive himself if that happened.

Iida shakes his head, stroking the demigod's arm gently.

"It's not your fault, Midoriya. All of us have to learn how to control our own powers. You must know this already, that's why you're training with Aizawa, right?"

Izuku manages to smile, feeling a bit better; maybe that's why Aizawa went to see Todoroki, to help him control his powers.

He's in good hands; Izuku is sure Aizawa is the person his friend needs at the moment.

"So... you want to go to the Underworld?" Iida asks, mostly to distract Izuku from his anxious thoughts.

"Yes. I want to see Kacchan again."

And tell him everything.

Iida takes him to the dock, and Izuku thinks it's perfect actually, so instead of looking for his friends, he walks towards the souls waiting in line for their boats.

He finds a few children lost and scared; he talks to them for a while, takes them by the hands and leads them to the line of people.

Some of them gladly take the flower crowns he's offering them, others ask for a flower bracelet and one of the girls for a necklace. Izuku smiles and gives them what they want.

Sometimes they ask for a hug.

"What's on the other side?" A girl asks, shivering in fear, grabbing Izuku's hand like she doesn't want to let it go.

He doesn't know, but Ashido has told him about it. All souls go beyond the sea when it's their time to leave.

And they never have to be alone again.

"You'll get to see your family. I'm not sure who'll be there, but you'll recognize them when you see them."

The girl smiles and finally lets go of his hand before heading back towards the line.

Izuku feels a little bit sad watching her go.

"Nice to see you again around here, sweetie," Ashido smiles, touching Izuku's shoulder gently.

"You too," he grins back.

"Boss is in the castle, in his office, actually... there are a few souls coming today, and he's trying to figure it out where they belong to."

"Maybe I should come back another time when he's not that busy."

"Nonsense!" Ashido says, already pushing him towards the castle. "He needs to take a break, and the only one who can make him actually listen is you. Come on, go ahead."

If he needs to rest, then Izuku is not sure if he should talk to him about what happened with Todoroki.

As he walks in, he finds Kirishima inside, and he's the one who guides him all the way to the study.

He opens the door without even knocking, and Izuku can hear Katsuki's irritated huff as his friend walks inside.

"I told you not to–"

"I'm sorry, I can return tomorrow."

The god snaps his head up as soon as he recognizes Izuku's voice; he's sitting at his desk but rises from his seat in a second the moment his eyes meet Izuku's.

They don't even notice when Kirishima leaves.

Katsuki immediately pulls the cute demigod in his arms before kissing him on the lips.

Even though Izuku relaxes into the embrace, he tries to pull away a couple of times in order to speak.

"I'm serious... I can leave if–"

"No," Katsuki growls before pressing his lips against Izuku's neck. "I always have time for you."

"Then let's sit on the couch," he whispers, determined to get the god to rest for a while at least.

Katsuki's smirk reaches his red eyes as he takes Izuku in his arms before walking towards the deep red couch at the other side of the room.

"That's a great idea."

Izuku can't help but giggle as his boyfriend helps him sit and immediately presses against his right side; they both curl up together.

It's really easy to forget about his problems when Katsuki keeps kissing him like that, but then he begins to leave marks on Izuku's neck and shoulders he immediately remembers Todoroki and his reaction to his relationship with the King of the Underworld.

He's wondering if he should tell Katsuki about it when the god stops kissing him suddenly and cups the demigod's face in his hands.

"What is it, Izuku? I know that face. Something's bothering you."

He bites his bottom lip and notices that his lips are a bit sore, probably from all the rough kissing; he tries not to chuckle when he notices red eyes following the movement of his lips. He knows Katsuki is trying to fight the temptation to kiss Izuku again.

"I told Shoto you were courting me, and he didn't like it."

At the mention of Todoroki, Katsuki's demeanor changes immediately; he looks a bit pissed now.

"So what?" He hisses. "He doesn't have to like it; it's not his business."

"I know," Izuku agrees, nuzzling against his boyfriend's cheek to calm him down. He knows Katsuki is not mad at him, but he doesn't like to see him that way; especially because he knows it could lead to conflict. "But they have been telling me that I broke his heart. Did you know he was... is in love with me?"

Katsuki rolls his eyes before pressing a soft kiss to Izuku's temple.

"Of course I knew; he was as subtle as I was."

The guilt spreads all over Izuku's chest again; part of him is aware that this is not exactly his fault, but it doesn't stop him from silently scolding himself for being so oblivious.

"You can't control his feelings or how he manifests them."

Izuku feels soft kisses all over his face, and his heart immediately beats in a more happy way, until the last thing Katsuki said sparks something in his mind.

"Do you know about the snow then?"

"A few souls have been talking about that," the god whispers, running his fingers through Izuku's hair. "I found it weird, but now it makes more sense."

He doesn't realize he's pouting until Katsuki bites his cheek gently.

"Kacchan!"

"Stop looking like a sad puppy then!" He huffs, pinching the other freckled cheek. "That is not your fault either. Half and Half shouldn't be so shitty at controlling his own power!"

This time, it's Izuku the one who bites him, but it doesn't seem to have the desired effect because Katsuki only smirks in return and pulls him even closer.

"So... Is he going to come and fight me or something?" He asks after a while, still grinning. "'Cause I'm fucking ready to kick his ass!"

"No, I told him not to," Izuku says, shivering after feeling one of Katsuki's hands on his thigh. "And you better behave too, Kacchan!"

"Fine!" The god agrees reluctantly before leaning to give Izuku another kiss on the lips.

They both get quite distracted after that.

***

Izuku doesn't find out anything about Todoroki, at least not directly; he has to try to get information from Aizawa every time they meet to train.

He can tell his teacher is getting slightly irritated with the questions; Izuku knows if Todoroki hasn't reached out to him it must be for a reason, but he truly worries about him.

He's still his friend after all.

"I just want to know if he's okay!" Izuku pouts, feeling the concern spread down his spine. "Right. Sorry... I'll try to send him a message later."

Aizawa sighs, sits on the ground, and pats the spot next to him, so Izuku sits too. The demigod smiles and immediately rushes to his teacher's side.

Despite his irritation, the god eventually smiles back before ruffling Izuku's green curls.

"He's getting better at controlling his own powers," Aizawa says after a while, speaking a bit slower than usual, like he's trying to choose his words carefully. "But I don't know how he's doing emotionally; he doesn't talk that much."

"How does he look? I mean, compared to how he did a week ago." Izuku mumbles, a bit hopeful, or at least trying to be. "He must be getting better. Time always heals!"

The god presses his lips together, grimacing at whatever he's thinking at the moment, which is not exactly a good sign.

He looks at Izuku before shaking his head.

"Don't send him a message, and don't go see him, at least not yet. He needs more time."

"But–"

"I don't think he has healed yet, at least not completely," Aizawa says after a while, narrowing his eyes, mostly with concern. "And seeing you again so soon won't do him any good. You need to be patient, Midoriya."

"I just want to talk to him, make sure he knows we can still be friends."

"I don't think he's ready to hear you only want to be friends with him."

"But he already knows Kacchan is courting me!" Izuku argues, confused. Todoroki must know the two of them can only be friends.

"Gods, just like humans, are very complex creatures, Midoriya," Aizawa reminds him, still looking a bit worried about the situation. "Just give him more time. Trust me, another week or a month means nothing to him. He still needs to get used to the idea, so he doesn't do anything stupid later."

Izuku can tell Aizawa is truly worried still; he's not sure why, he has gone to the underworld multiple times that week, and Katsuki has assured him he hasn't heard from Todoroki in a while.

Which means he's not looking for trouble or planning to do something reckless.

"Alright, I'll wait a bit longer," he mumbles after a few seconds.

Aizawa nods, but he doesn't relax completely; Izuku can see the tension on his shoulders as he moves closer to him.

"And if you need anything, just call Iida; he always knows where to find me," he reminds the demigod.

"I'll do that," Izuku says, mind wandering back to Todoroki. It's going to be difficult for him to wait because there are so many things he'd like to tell his friend, even though he's aware he needs to give him more time.

He just hopes his heart is healing already.

The weather has gone back to normal completely, and Izuku is sure or is trying to convince himself that it means Todoroki is also getting better.

He knows they can go back to being friends, and he'll realize that his feelings for Izuku were not that deep in the first place. Maybe he'll find someone who'll help him realize that even faster.

As he promised Aizawa, Izuku doesn't try to contact Todoroki. Instead, he trains even harder and visits the Underworld more often.

Spending time with Katsuki has helped Izuku realize how much the god cares about him. He keeps giving him courting gifts, and by the look of it, it seems the courtship will turn into an official engagement soon.

He can't wait.

Things have changed a bit between them, in a good way, although it has made it difficult for them to behave like two people courting should.

They start with gentle kisses, but lately, those have been turning into something more really quickly. They end up in bed, half-naked; Izuku's body covered in new bruises, especially on the neck and sometimes on his thighs, and Katsuki with a few scratches on his huge arms and back.

When they have to leave the bedroom, Izuku turns pink upon thinking about all the things he does with his boyfriend. It's surprising how much his body usually craves for more.

"We have to go to the Olympus to formally announce our engagement, but I'd like to talk to your mother first," Katsuki whispers against Izuku's shoulder before pressing a kiss against his freckled skin.

It's finally happening. He's going to marry Katsuki.

"You're such a crybaby."

"I am, but you love me anyway."

"Of course I do, baby. I love everything about you." Katsuki says, not even trying to hide his devotion for him. "So... when do you want to get married?"

"Spring," he says without hesitation, already imagining all the flowers blooming and the green trees on the surface. "Can we marry on my field?"

"Actually," Katsuki smirks, grabbing Izuku's face to press a hard kiss against his lips before continuing: "I'd like to have two ceremonies; one on your field and another one here. What do you think?"

"I love the idea, Kacchan!"

Izuku kisses him again, and he's suddenly glad they're in the throne room this time because they both know anyone can walk in at any moment, and that helps them behave a bit.

***

Izuku decides to make a quick trip to the Olympus by himself first; Aizawa and All Might have been taking care of him for a while now and he knows that the correct thing to do is to inform them about Katsuki's plans as soon as possible.

He doesn't expect to see the king of the gods pout as soon as Izuku gives him the news.

"Engagement? Already? But you're too young!" the god pulls Izuku into a very tight embrace.

"Don't crush his bones," Aizawa manages to push All Might away before facing the demigod with one of those looks that seem to be able to read souls. "Are you sure about this, Midoriya? It's okay if you're not. Bakugo won't get mad if that's the case. But if he does-"

"I'm sure," Izuku nods, smiling fondly at the god; after spending a lot of time with him, he now can tell when he's just being overprotective. "He makes me happy."

Aizawa sighs.

"Fine." It looks like he wants to say something else, but he gets interrupted when All Might starts tearing up. Aizawa rolls his eyes and tries to get out of the way, but he's not that fast and the king of the gods ends up hugging Izuku and Aizawa at the same time.

Izuku tears up too.

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Don't make it sound like a goodbye," Aizawa scolds him. "We'll still be keeping an eye on you."

"I know, I know," Izuku chuckles, feeling genuinely happy.

***

His mother doesn't cry like last time, but she does get really happy when Izuku tells her Katsuki is going to ask for his hand in marriage soon.

She's already planning to cook a nice dinner for them, even though Izuku assures her it's not necessary.

They talk about Katsuki for a while that morning; Inko seems to like the god and considers his love for her son genuine, which is more than enough for her.

"However, if I thought you didn't love him back, I would have told you to end things already," she says firmly. "But I'm glad that's not the case. I can see that you love him too. So I really hope you two are very happy together."

Katsuki is right, Izuku realizes as tears escape from his eyes and slide down his cheeks: he truly is a crybaby.

"Don't cry, Izuku! You'll make me cry too!"

They both calm down after a while, and Inko decides to ask about the ceremony. Katsuki and he haven't discussed details yet, but Izuku is sure the wedding will be in his field.

He's going to make sure every single one of the flowers is blooming that day.

***

When Izuku sees a sudden flash of fire in the middle of his field, he thinks Endeavor has come back to yell at him again and he gets prepared for a confrontation, but when the fire fades away and he realizes it hasn't actually damaged his plants, he notices that the figure in the distance is not exactly like Endeavor's.

"Shoto!" Izuku waves happily at him, and takes a few steps forward until he sees that his friend is not smiling.

Todoroki is the one who closes the distance between the two of them, and Izuku feels a little bit odd for a moment. It's not only the fact that he's not smiling; there's something else about him that makes Izuku worry.

"I see you have a better control of your powers now," he blurts out nervously because he doesn't know what else to say.

"I also have become stronger," Todoroki says, moving one of his hands and making snow appear in seconds, only to be replaced with fire. "Aizawa is a good teacher. I owe him a lot."

"Listen... Shoto, I-"

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Izuku. It's my fault for not telling you how I felt sooner. Besides, an apology wouldn't make me feel better."

The demigod doesn't know what to do; his friend is still clearly hurt. For a second, he thinks about giving him a hug, but he reconsiders it even before he takes a step closer. His hands fall to his sides.

"Is there anything I can do?"

Finally, Todoroki smiles, but his expression is cold, he doesn't look like the god Izuku met a few months ago.

"You could break up with him."

"I can't." Izuku replies immediately, a little bit startled by the request. Then, because he wants to make things clear, he adds: "I won't. I love him."

He knows he has to be honest with his friend, but the way Todoroki grimaces at the last words, make the demigod feel bad about it.

He's hurting his friend again.

"Why do the bad guys get everything they want?"

"Kacchan is not a bad guy!"

"He abducted you." Todoroki says simply, and even though they have talked a couple of times about it, Izuku knows he can't deny that.

"Yes, he did. But it was a mistake, and he apologized for it."

Todoroki closes his eyes for a couple of seconds, like he's trying to focus on something inside his head, like he's having battle with himself. Then, when he opens them again, there's something different in the way he looks at Izuku.

"Can I have a hug?"

For a second, Izuku has a bad feeling and it takes him a while to convince himself to get closer to Todoroki. He's not sure if it's the way he's smiling at Izuku or the way he spreads his arms at him, waiting to embrace him, but there's something that makes him hesitate.

It's ridiculous. Todoroki is his friend, and he probably needs him. It's the least he can do after all the heartache he has caused him.

"Sure!"

When he's about to take another step forward, he hears someone calling him.

"Midoriya!"

Both of them look at Uraraka, who's running towards in their direction. Todoroki puts his hands behind his back and moves away from Izuku.

"I'll see you again, Izuku."

He disappears in a flash of fire again; he hears Uraraka gasp, and he doesn't blame her for it. It's quite impressive.

"Was that Todoroki?" She asks, concern clear in the tone of her voice. "I barely recognized him. There's something different about him."

"Yeah." Izuku concedes, feeling terrible again. "And it's probably my fault."

"It's not your fault!" It's the first thing Uraraka says as they both sit comfortably under the shadow of one of his many trees.

Izuku tries not to let the negative thoughts consume him, all the guilt and hurt that have also come with his relationship with Katsuki.

But he loves Katsuki; he's glad they're together now, and he's sure they can be happy together. Sure, they have different personalities, but they understand each other and are able to solve his problems by constantly talking about it.

There's also the physical part of their relationship; Izuku can't deny they're very compatible in that aspect, and they both love to kiss and give pleasure to each other. They haven't gone all the way yet, but he knows that it can happen at any moment. And he's definitely not opposed to it.

However, no matter how happy that makes him feel, there's also Todoroki. He's a very good friend of his, and even though it wasn't Izuku's intention, he did end up hurting him nonetheless.

"I'm not sure about that," he admits after a while. The girl next to him sighs and rests her head on his shoulder. It makes the demigod feel a lot better, even though it's just for a second.

"It's not," she insists. "I know this is not enough to convince you, but I truly believe that. You can't control other people's hearts."

"No. But I wish I could heal them."

"Unfortunately, you can't do that either," she adds. "That's something that has to come from within. Right now, Todoroki has to accept that you won't be anything but a friend to him."

Izuku sighs and looks up at the clear sky from the gaps among the tree's leaves. The sun partially reaches his face, making him feel a little bit better with its warmth.

But his moment of peace doesn't last long; as he closes his eyes, he remembers his encounter with Todoroki from an hour ago.

There's something that worries him about it, but he can't quite tell what it was.

"He's different," he finally mumbles, not quite satisfied with the word, but at least trying to acknowledge what he felt earlier.

"I mean, I couldn't see him up close, but I felt that too," Uraraka admits, leaning even closer to Izuku's side. "I barely recognized him."

Even though it's ridiculous, Izuku shivers at the memory of the look in his mismatched eyes.

"What did he tell you?"

"Well, he's still not happy about my relationship with Kacchan. He thinks he's the bad guy because of the mistake he made when he abducted me. But Kacchan asked for forgiveness a long time ago."

Uraraka remains completely silent for a couple of seconds before asking something else: "Do you think he'll go try to challenge Bakugo?"

"I asked him not to, but I'm not sure he'll listen to me now."

"Before I arrived, what were you two talking about?"

"He asked for a hug," Izuku says, trying not to let his voice tremble, even though thinking about it makes him feel uneasy. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

"Really?" Uraraka says, concern clear in her own voice. "He looked rather... tense. But maybe it was just my imagination!"

"Yeah!" Izuku chuckles nervously. "I mean, that's what I thought too! Maybe he just feels lonely. I should pay him a visit soon."

Suddenly, Uraraka turns her head around to look at him and grabs him by the arm; she's gentle but determined.

"Don't do that. At least not until you tell Aizawa and All Might first. Please, Midoriya, promise me."

"I promise," he mumbles, bad feeling spreading down his spine.

He just wants everything to go back to what it used to be so he can celebrate his new engagement with his friends.

But he supposes that'll take a while.

***

Uraraka doesn't leave him alone, and she also doesn't waste any time and calls Iida herself.

"I don't think it's that necessary–"

"I think it is. I have a bad feeling about this, and your Dads should know as soon as possible."

Izuku turns slightly pink at her words as the messenger of the gods appears in the sky, wearing his winged sandals.

"My Dads? All Might and Aizawa are not my Dads!"

"And yet you knew I was talking about them..."

Iida floats closer to them and looks from one to another before smiling kindly at the two friends.

"I know it's not my business, but I can assure you they both consider you their son."

Izuku freezes on the spot; his eyes are already feeling a bit watery, but he can't help it. He knew they cared about him already, mostly because of the amount of time they dedicate to him and the fact that they want to know about Katsuki's courtship, but he didn't want to assume it was due to a deep affection.

"I'm sorry, Midoriya!" Iida says, already waving his hands up and down. "I didn't mean to say something to make you upset!"

"It's okay," Izuku assures him, genuinely smiling at him and wiping his tears off with the back of his hand.

"Don't worry," Uraraka cuts in, patting the god's back gently. "You didn't say anything wrong. Those are happy tears."

"Oh!" Iida blurts out, visibly relieved. Then, his expression turns all business before speaking again: "What do you need me for?"

"I'd like to talk to Aizawa and All Might. It's... about Shoto."

Iida nods, narrowing his eyes with worry.

"I detected his presence in this area about an hour ago, and since I know this is your field, I assumed he came to talk to you," he says, lightly tapping his chin with his index finger. "I... I wasn't sure that was the right choice, given the circumstances."

The demigod wonders what he's exactly talking about and what he knows about Todoroki and his family, but decides not to ask; that's only information the messenger of the gods should have.

"That's all?"

"Y-Yes!" Izuku stammers, hoping that request doesn't bother them. "But only if they have time to talk! It's not that important!"

Uraraka steps closer to Iida after rolling her eyes at Izuku; she ignores him when she adds: "It is."

It seems Iida believes her completely because he leaves in a second and comes back in a few minutes; startling both Uraraka and Izuku, who were collecting flowers for the girl's family.

"They say you should come to the Olympus immediately."

Uraraka is about to hug Izuku and wish him good luck, but Iida stops her.

"They want you to come too."

"What?"

***

Izuku has never seen Uraraka so nervous before, but Iida assures her they just want to know her opinion on the matter because she's the demigod's friend and also has spent time with Todoroki.

"I felt just like you the first time I got here, but it's a really nice place," Izuku says, holding her hand tightly to soothe her. "There's nothing to worry about. Besides, I'll be with you the whole time!"

"I'm a mortal, Midoriya," she reminds him. "I'm not supposed to be here."

The sweet green haired young demigod shakes his head, pulling her closer to himself in case the fast travel made her dizzy.

"There's nothing wrong with you being here. They invited you, didn't they?" He adds, feeling his friend relax against himself. "Besides, I'm just a minor deity, I probably belong more in the mortal realm than-"

"You know I don't like when you talk about yourself that way, Midoriya," Aizawa's voice behind them startles them both immediately. But what surprises them the most, after finding themselves in the ballroom, is that All Might is there as well.

"I told you already! You do belong here, young Midoriya!" He grins from ear to ear before looking down at Uraraka. "And any of your friends as well!"

Before the King of the gods can have the opportunity to give Izuku a bone-crushing hug like he usually does, Aizawa is already prepared to put himself in between them to stop the blond god before doing anything. It has become some sort of a routine among the three of them.

"Now," Aizawa says, with a more serious tone. "Tell me everything that happened with Todoroki. Because he wasn't supposed to see you, I told him he wasn't ready."

That's... news to Izuku, and a very surprising one as well. Why would Todoroki ignore the advice of his mentor just to see him?

"I knew something was off!" Uraraka blurts out, like she can't help herself.

Izuku silently agrees with the last part of her statement; something's off about this whole situation.

When Izuku tells them everything about his encounter with Todoroki, All Might starts pacing around, slightly confused about what happened. That's not a common reaction from him; the King of the Gods is a very action-oriented type of deity who'd rather face the problem immediately.

The fact that he's still thinking about it means he's not sure how to act in this type of situation. Izuku understands him completely because even though he had a bad feeling around Todoroki, the god didn't actually do anything wrong.

However, Aizawa's reaction is what worries him the most; the god is completely still with a shadow in his eyes and a concerning frown upon his face. He's not happy at all.

"I told him he wasn't ready," he repeats, but the tone of his voice is even colder this time.

All Might finally stops then, and his sudden movement startles Uraraka a bit because the young woman takes a step closer to Izuku, grabbing his arm for support.

As the blond and tall god moves closer to them, he crosses his arms over his broad chest.

"You said he asked for a hug?"

"Y-Yes." Izuku stammers, remembering the moment. Aizawa notices his nervous reaction and puts a hand on his shoulder to help him relax a bit.

"Did you want to hug him?"

The demigod considers the question, he knows the answer already, but he feels bad for thinking about a good friend like that. Because, despite what happened, he still considers Todoroki his friend.

"He's my f-friend," he mumbles, careful with his words. "I have hugged him before many times, but there was something about the way he looked today that felt... off."

"Did you hug him?" All Might asks then, with a weird, neutral expression on his face.

"No," Izuku shakes his head, and he realizes he feels as relieved now as he did when that didn't happen. "Because Uraraka arrived then and called my name. Shoto then said he'd see me again before leaving."

At that, both gods tense a bit, but try not to show it too much.

Then, Aizawa turns his head towards Uraraka, she blushes a bit, clearly nervous to be looked at directly by a god, but doesn't look away.

"Why did you interrupt them?"

Izuku notices his mortal friend flinching next to him, like Aizawa said something that was on her mind.

"How did you know I did it on purpose?" She asks, blinking in surprise, but then shakes her head to dismiss her own question. "Never mind. I did it because, even from where I was standing, Todoroki looked weird, he was tense, and I don't know why, but I felt a sudden urge to get to Midoriya quickly."

Aizawa doesn't say anything to that, but he does smile at her, which is weird coming from someone with a serious expression all the time.

"Thank you," All Might says to Uraraka then, confusing her and Izuku even more. "You are a very good friend."

"Iida," Aizawa says, and in a second, the messenger of the gods is right in front of him. "You have to let Bakugo know that Todoroki could go to the Underworld at any moment. And... that he could be hostile."

Iida nods before disappearing. Izuku immediately turns to look at both gods.

"I don't think Shoto would fight Kacchan..."

"I hope not," All Might says then. "But we can't be sure."

No. The demigod refuses to think about his friend that way; he'd never do something like that. Izuku knows he's a bit angry and hurt, but with time he'll calm down and even stop thinking about him that way.

"I'd like to tell Kacchan what happend myself," he says then, he knows his fiance has an explosive personality and he'd probably interpret the message as a threat from Todoroki.

"That's okay, but you can't be without any of us, especially in the mortal realm," Aizawa mumbles, gesturing towards All Might and himself.

"I think that's a bit extreme," he says carefully. "I mean Shoto would never hurt me."

"We're not worried about him hurting you, young Midoriya."

That confuses Izuku even more, but All Might doesn't say anything else, instead he turns his head to look at Aizawa and have a silent conversation with him.

"I'll try to find Todoroki and talk to him," Aizawa says after a while.

"Then, after we take your nice friend back to the mortal realm, we'll go pay a visit to young Bakugo," All Might says with a smile on his face.

Izuku nods, although he can't help but think of the expression Todoroki made when he asked him for a hug; even though he doesn't believe he'd do anything bad, that expression made him feel uneasy, although he can't still say why.

***

It's a whole new experience to visit the Underworld with All Might, they have to reach the castle through a different path because many souls could recognize him and either thank him for everything he's done for them or ask him for things.

Ashido is the first one to see them, always with that big book of hers in her hands. She gets a bit flustered when she sees the King of the gods right there, but she tries to calm herself almost immediately.

"I'm glad to see you both."

Izuku pulls her into a hug before, a bit nervously, asking for Katsuki.

"Did he get Aizawa's message?"

"Yes," by the look in her eyes, it seems the God of the dead didn't take it that well. "He's not happy with Todoroki at the moment, and he was very worried about you. He was determined to go look for you, but Kaminari and Kirishima managed to calm him down."

"Where is he?" All Might asks then, prompting Ashido to look up at him.

"Pacing around the throne room."

Just as Izuku thought.

"Can we see Kacchan?"

"Of course, sweetie. Both of you are always welcome here."

The demigod tries not to rush inside, but as soon as he makes eye contact with Katsuki, he walks quickly, however since the explosive god is doing the same, they meet in the middle of the throne room.

Katsuki embraces him like he hasn't seen him in years and breathes in the flowery scent coming from Izuku's green curls before he starts kissing him all over the face.

The demigod starts giggling, until they hear All Might clearing his throat behind them.

Reluctantly, Katsuki puts Izuku down, although he gets slightly surprised to see All Might there.

"What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Young Midoriya is going to tell you about that," All Might says with a smile, not even blinking at Katsuki's rude behavior.

"Are you hurt?" The way the god's tone changes the moment he looks at Izuku again, always makes him smile, despite the circumstances.

"No... It's just," Izuku bites his bottom lip, he's not sure why it's suddenly so difficult to speak now. Nothing actually happened. "Shoto paid me a visit."

The moment he mentions the other god's name, Katsuki narrows his eyes. However, Izuku tells him everything, like he did with Aizawa and All Might.

Katsuki tenses immediately, but he doesn't growl, at least not yet. He pulls Izuku into his arms. He hasn't told him about what Aizawa said, but the God of the dead guesses it anyway.

"So you'll be following Izuku in case Half and Half appears again," Katsuki tells the older god, who nods.

"We'll take turns," All Might explains. "Shota is very protective of young Midoriya as well."

"You can stay here," Katsuki offers. "You'll be safe."

"I have to take care of my field and I can't leave my mother alone, Kacchan," Izuku replies gently. "Besides, Shoto will never hurt me. I don't know why you all worry so much about that."

"Maybe not," All Might concedes. "But based on what Aizawa told me about him last time, he's a bit affected by his father's attitude and now your engagement with young Bakugo."

"He'll get over it soon," Izuku tells the two gods, but none of them seem to believe him. Katsuki even pulls him closer, but the demigod doesn't protest because he feels like he needs Katsuki's warmth more than ever.

***

They both stay for a while in the underworld; All Might grants them a bit of alone time by following Kaminari and Kirishima around the castle.

"Remember what All Might said, Kacchan," Izuku says, putting his arms around his fiance's neck as he sits on his lap. "If Shoto comes here to challenge you to a fight, don't agree to it."

Katsuki grimaces at that, and Izuku knows it's very difficult for him not to accept a challenge; it'll probably make him feel weak.

"It's the smart decision, Kacchan," the demigod insists, nuzzling against his cheek, prompting Katsuki to relax a bit. "Just call Aizawa if that happens."

"I'll think about it," he promises, which is at least something.

"I don't think he'll do that though," Izuku adds, and for the first time, he's not sure if he truly believes that or it's what he desperately wants to happen. "Shoto is not like that. He's just hurt at the moment."

Katsuki makes a face that tells Izuku he wants to say something not so kind about Todoroki, but he shakes his head at the last minute.

"Let's stop talking about Half and half."

They do, mostly because Katsuki starts kissing Izuku in a way that makes them both forget about their problems for a while.

They stop when they hear footsteps getting closer.

"It's time to go, young Midoriya."

Even though he knows Izuku is completely safe with All Might, Katsuki insists on following them to the mortal realm and even spends some time with Inko as he helps her make a nice meal for everyone.

While they're both distracted in the kitchen, Izuku decides to tell All Might something that's been bothering him the whole day.

"Even if Shoto is dangerous," which honestly the demigod refuses to believe. "The whole point of me training with Aizawa and you was for me to be able to protect myself. You... you didn't act like this after Endeavor tried to confront me."

All Might smiles gently at him and puts one of his hands on Izuku's shoulder.

"We worry about you constantly. And we have no doubt you're very capable of protecting yourself," he explains. "But this is a different case. You never trusted Endeavor, therefore, every time you see him, you're prepared to fight. But you still trust and believe in young Todoroki, which can make you very vulnerable around him."

Izuku blinks a couple of times because he had never thought about it that way, and despite all the warnings from other people, All Might is right: he still trusts Todoroki.

He's his friend. He's not going to do anything that ends up hurting Izuku. He just needs time.