Bakudeku/Dekubaku Oneshots

Ending and a New Beginning

Tomura Shigaraki is dead. All For One is dead along with him. It’s all finally over.

Izuku should be happy. He should be ecstatic . He should be whooping for joy– they all should, after everything class 1A has been through. But no one utters a single word as the dust settles on the battlefield, as all their eyes drift towards their classmate and their hearts collectively shatter into pieces.

Izuku saw it, the moment it happened, and as he stares at the boy dressed in orange and black, he can’t help the tears that start to fall down his face. He could do nothing but watch, as Shigaraki’s hand grabbed Kacchan’s forehead and a moment later, the explosions emanating from his hands withered and died, permanently.

They won the war, but Katsuki Bakugo, Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight himself, will never be the same again.

In the aftermath, Izuku can only watch him. There are police to deal with, and other heroes, and the remaining villains who need to be taken into custody. He aches to be next to Kacchan above all else, to pull him aside and try anything he can think of to make this better, but he’s pulled into a sea of people before he can even get close to him.

Nothing can wipe the look on Kacchan’s face from Deku’s brain, though. He’s never seen the other boy look so utterly lost – not once in their entire lives. It makes him wonder whether anything he does will make this okay.

Deku rushes to Kacchan’s side the moment they return to UA, when they can all finally breathe again and the chaos dies down. He reaches for him, intending to do… Well, he doesn’t know what, but something , anything to help. There’s a million thoughts running through Izuku’s head, a million comforting words and actions that he thinks about offering before realizing that none of them would likely do a damn thing to soothe whatever Kacchan is feeling.

Izuku’s spent his whole life chasing after Katsuki Bakugo, but now he feels further away than ever. They’ve come so far this year, but now Deku can’t help but feel like he’s right back at square one.

Eventually, when they’re all huddled in the common room of the dorms, seated together around the couches and trying to process what happened, Izuku makes his way over and sits by Kacchan’s side. The other boy has been silent since they got back, and now he’s sitting off to the side like he’s trying to make himself as small as possible. It’s so unlike him, and Izuku knows the entire class is at a loss for what to do.

He’s never seen Kacchan look so… fragile. Like he’s a glass statue that’s about to topple over if anyone so much as gives him a gentle nudge.

But Izuku has to try , so right there in the common room, he sits by Kacchan’s side and waves the others away. He knows they mean well, but Kacchan is one of the most private people he knows. Especially if he’s hurting.

Deku reaches for Kacchan’s hand. He still has no idea what to say, but something right at the core of him needs his friend to know that he’s there.

But Kacchan flinches before Izuku even touches him. “Not… Not now. Not yet.”

The crack in his abnormally quiet voice makes Izuku feel like someone reached inside him and physically pulled his heart from his body.

Kacchan escapes back to his room before Izuku can say anything else.

-----

Three days pass. Kacchan hasn’t said a word to anyone, and eventually he stopped leaving his room entirely. The entire class is upset– Izuku can tell. They spend a lot of time in the common room, collectively putting their heads together and trying to figure out how to help. They lean on Deku, and Kirishima and Kaminari for answers, but no one can figure out how to intervene in a way that won’t make Kacchan feel even worse.