A Friend Lost

"—Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"

Deku smiles weakly and edges away. "I should go." He shuffled awkwardly out of the room. Katsuki huffed in frustration. The kid was dead set on being a hero. Why did he insist on tailing behind him the whole time and dreaming of being a hero when he was quirkless? Katsuki sighed quietly. His friends chattered and laughed over the little green-haired boy's misery. Katsuki ignored them and stormed out of the classroom.

That afternoon, the hurricane that was the hedgehog-esque boy thundered home.

"Katsuki! Quiet down, we have a guest!"

"Shut it, old hag!"

Mitsuki, his mom, huffed and sipped on her tea as her son stomped upstairs.

Inko looked at her strangely. "I don't know how you do it, Mitsuki. Katsuki's so loud and... I don't really know how to describe it. How do you control him?"

"Patience and a whole lot of peppers," the blonde woman responded. "Izuku must be a lot easier than him."

"Ah, vastly," Inko laughed nervously. The two of them chatted politely in the living room while Katsuki sulked in his room, scrolling through his phone idly.

Meanwhile, Izuku was sitting on a roof, still reeling over the fact he had just met Allmight. However, his heart still hurt. Allmight had told him what everyone else had for years.

You can't be a hero without a quirk.

But that thought was interrupted by another. Katuski's words from earlier.

"—Just pray that you'll be born with a quirk in your next life and take a swan dive off the roof!"

Izuku sat on the wall keeping people from falling from the roof and scratched at his neck from the anxieties in his heart. "Maybe he's right," Izuku muttered. "And if even Allmight thinks it's not worth it, then maybe it isn't." He leaned his head back nervously. A horrible, depressive wave of misery wrapped itself around his lungs and tightened like the tentacles of a squid around a particularly tasty fish trying to get away. Against all odds, he began to cry, the kind of choking sobs that press down on your chest and don't let you breathe. Tears dripped down his face like rain. All he wanted was somebody to give him a hug and tell him everything was okay. The scratching on his neck got stronger. He buckled over, feeling as tough someone has stabbed him in the chest, the distinct feeling of an open wound fraying at the seams. His illusion was falling apart, and his dreams had been crushed under Allmight's heels.

Why am I still here if I'm just in everybody's way? The boy wondered, inching closer to the edge. He pretended that the great distance between him and the ground wasn't there. He leaned back a bit, pretending that the great distance between him and the ground wasn't there. What if there was an accident? He could imagine the news articles now. Young boy falls from building, he thought. Guardrails improved. He started to lean forward again. No, that's a terrible idea, he started to think, then a little something in the back of his head started to speak. Heroes are around, right? Like that one over there. They can save you, right? Izuku felt sick, but the thought had a point. It would be fine, right?

Right?

The door to Katsuki's room slammed open. Katsuki almost jumped out of his skin. "The heck?"

His mom didn't say anything, but her eyes were frantic. Finally, she said something. "We have to get to the hospital."

"Why?"

Inko stumbled into the room, tears in her eyes. "Izuku fell from a building. Some people found him on the street in a pool of blood and called an ambulance. They think he tried to kill himself."

Katsuki felt sick. "What?" His mouth went dry and his stomach tried to revolt. Was this his fault?

"He just got out of surgery, but the doctors don't think he's going to make it." Katsuki's eyes widened and face paled, his angry expression falling. He scooped his jacket off his bed.

"Let's go," his mom said quickly, gesturing for him to follow her and Inko. The three of them ran downstairs, shoved on their shoes, and hurried to the train station to get to the hospital. The ride was quiet, but Katsuki couldn't relax. Tears pooled in his eyes, but they didn't fall. Rather, he didn't let them. They dashed off the train when the train stopped at the stop closest to the hospital. They were taken to Izuku's room a few minutes after talking to the receptionist. Inko hurried into the room, but Mitsuki and Katsuki hung by the doorway. Inko was hanging onto Izuku's hand, had scooted a chair next to the hospital bed, and was chattering to him. Izuku opened his eyes weakly, turning his head to his mom, giving her a tired smile.

"Hi, Mom." Inko started to cry. Izuku noticed Katsuki and tried to push himself into a sitting position, somehow managing it through squeaks of pain. "Hey, Kacchan," he squeaked.

"Hey, nerd," Katsuki mumbled, his hands in his pockets. "You look like crap." Mitsuki nudged him forward and Katsuki pulled another chair up to Izuku's bedside, next to Inko. "You're not gonna die on me, okay?" His voice cracked. Stop that, voice, He thought. "You're supposed to grow up to be a hero like me."

Izuku smiled sadly. "That was never gonna happen." Tears welled up in Katsuki's eyes. He took the wrist of the hand Inko was holding.

"Quit it! Just stop it! You're gonna get through this! Why would you make it this far just to give up?" He hit the armrest of the chair he was in. "The stubborn nerd I know spent fourteen years chasing a dream everyone told him would never happen! You're not giving up yet!"

Similar tears appeared in Izuku's eyes, but his smile didn't falter. "You know, I met All Might today," He murmured gently, closing his eyes.

"Lucky idiot." Katsuki let out a short, quiet laugh.

"Saved me from a villain. I asked him if I could be a hero without a quirk." He let out a short, choppy breath, and he started to cry, trying to hold his smile, which was more of a grimace. "He said no." He coughed, a few droplets of blood hitting the blanket. "And—And I thought about it, and figured if even Allmight—He believes in everyone, if he—he doesn't think it's worth it, then maybe—maybe it wasn't—" He let out a hacking coughing fit that interrupted a sob and the rest of his sentence. Katsuki squeezed his wrist. The green-haired boy didn't react.

"Damn nerd, why'd you do that?"

"I don't know what happened- everything is a blur, I don't remember!"

"Deku-"

"It was stupid, it was stupid!" Izuku started to hit the bed with his other hand in between shouts. Inko squeezed his hand.

"Honey, save your energy—" Inko started.

"I'm not ready to die, Mom," Izuku whisper-shouted." He squeezed her hand as tightly as he could. "Don't let me go." He leaned his head against the wall, letting out a tired sob. Later, at night, Inko and Katsuki had fallen asleep in their chairs. Someone nudged Katsuki awake. It was Izuku, visibly tired and squeezing Katsuki's hand with a strength the blond didn't know the boy had.

"Deku?"

"I'm probably not going to make it." The green-haired boy's cheeks were stained with dry tears.

"Yes you are, you're gonna go back to school and knock it out of the park and be the annoying little shit I've known for years."

"I need you to promise me something. Well, two somethings."

"What?"

"I need you to be the best hero you can be. Be number one, like you always said you'd be."

"What's the second thing?"

"Take care of her when I'm gone, okay?" He smiled weakly and looked at his mom, who had her head and arms rested on the bed. He widened his smile. A few tears dropped from Katsuki's eyes.

"Why are you smiling if you're so sure you're gonna die?"

"Well, Allmight never lets anyone know how scared he is. " Izuku leaned over to his mom and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Mom," He whispered. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand, which Inko had brought, opened something, and typed something else into it. He shut it off, grabbed a sticky note, scribbled something on it, and attached it to the screen. He set it on the nightstand again, screen facedown. He leaned his head back, let out a sigh, and smiled softly. Izuku relaxed his shoulders. "I think I'll get some rest. It's been a long day." He took Katsuki's hand and squeezed it tightly. "I'm so tired."

"No, stay awake!" Katsuki pleaded. "You're not leaving me!"

"I'm sorry, Kachan."

"No!"

Izuku whispered something to the air that Katsuki could just barely hear.

"I'm sorry, Mom."

His eyes went dull.

Katsuki let out a gut-wrenching scream.