------------------------------------------
- years later -
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"Breaking news—This just in! Pro Hero Shoto has apprehended yet another criminal! This one seeming to be a member from the League of Villains!"
Izuku smiles as he watches the news on his television from the comfort of his couch.
He's truly blessed.
"Izuku, don't you have work today?"
"Nope," Izuku says, "It's a Saturday, Mom, remember? I don't work on Saturdays."
Mom blinks. "Oh, yeah."
Izuku sighs dreamily as he continues to watch the news.
I'm so proud of you, Shoto. He thinks to himself warmly. You're living out your dream.
Well, so am I, in a weird way.
Never thought I'd become a college professor one day.
And a professor of philosophy, of all things.
But here we are.
"Izuku, what are you daydreaming about this time?" Mom asks in amusement.
Izuku looks at his mother with nothing but warmth in his eyes.
He beams.
"Oh, just the man who swept my feet away."
------------------------------------------
Twenty minutes later, Izuku decides to go out for a walk.
It's a nice day. The sun is bright, the sky is clear, and the streets are safe.
Well... not completely safe.
Izuku palms the stun gun hidden in his satchel.
But safe enough.
Izuku stretches his arms up toward the sky with his fists clenched.
He relishes in the warmth of the sun, relishes in the children playing freely in the streets.
Relishes in the knowledge that he's not useless, even though he's not a Hero.
There's so much to be thankful for. There always has been.
His mother.
His father, even though Izuku hasn't seen him nor spoken to him since he was a child.
His colleagues from work, who are nothing but supportive and loving to Izuku.
His boyfriend.
Izuku's cheeks flush.
His boyfriend.
Shoto.
Shoto.
Izuku slaps his cheeks with both his hands.
Shoto...
Izuku sighs.
Shoto.
As Izuku's cheeks burn, he pulls out a box from his pocket and stares at it.
It's empty.
But it won't be, by the end of today.
He just needs to find the proper ring.
------------------------------------------
Every now and then, Izuku reflects on the events that have brought him to where he is today.
—Today isn't going to be one of those days.—
No. Today, all he'll be thinking about is his future.
A future with the love of his life.
Shoto.
The Hero of Izuku's dreams.
Izuku pulls out the ring he's bought today from its box and holds it up around the sun.
It envelops the sun nicely.
It's a nice fit.
But it'll look even better on a finger.
------------------------------------------
As Izuku walks home that day, he's suddenly caught off-guard by a scream.
"Hey! Give me my purse back, you thief!"
Izuku blinks and turns around.
Izuku's jaw falls open.
From a distance, a man dangles a purse over a woman's head as two men hold her from behind.
"Or what, you'll cry?" The man dangling the purse jeers.
"Hey!" Izuku shouts as he rushes over to the scene.
The man dangling the purse looks at Izuku.
Red eyes meet green.
"Just what do you think you're doing?!" Izuku shouts.
"I'm taking what's mine," The man with red eyes says, "What's it look like?"
Izuku snarls. "Let her go."
'Why are those red eyes so familiar...?' A voice whispers in Izuku's ear, but he ignores it.
He's too angry by this sight of injustice to listen to it.
Izuku pulls out his stun gun, and points it at the man in question.
"Let her go." Izuku repeats.
"Now."
The two men holding the woman laugh.
The man with red eyes clicks his tongue. "Still trying to play the role of a Hero, aren't we, Izuku?"
Izuku glares. "How do you know my name?"
The red-eyed man scowls.
Izuku doesn't cower, though. "I asked you a question."
"Kacchan, maybe we should—" One of the men starts.
"Shut. Up." The red-eyed man spits.
Izuku flinches.
Wait...
Did...
Did he just say Kacchan...?
"Kacchan" looks at Izuku.
Izuku takes a step backward, but doesn't waver.
He's not scared of this hellion, whoever he may be.
"Answer my question!" Izuku shouts again, and dammit, he's this close to shooting all of them.
"You really are an idiot, Izuku."
The woman then seizes control of the situation; she grabs her purse from "Kacchan's" hands and runs away.
But the trio of men don't run after her.
Izuku clicks his tongue.
He may not have a Quirk, but—
Red eyes cut into green.
"You really don't know who I am, huh, Izuku?"
Izuku narrows his eyes, his grip on his gun tightening. "Should I?"
"Kacchan," one of the men starts again, "maybe we should—"
"SHUT UP, OR I'LL BLOW YOU TO SMITHERINS!"
Izuku blinks.
That voice.
Oh.
Izuku drops his gun.
Stunned.
"Kacchan?" Izuku squeaks.
