Who Are You? Who Am I?

A very short oneshot, reaching a word count of 961.

"Kacchan!" Izuku shouted before he pushed his childhood friend out of the way. The fear enlarging Katsuki's eyes was the last thing he saw before a hard object hit the back of his head.

Izuku came to with a throbbing pain in both his head and leg. His body felt excruciatingly heavy, beckoning him back to slumber, but a short sniffle poked at his curiosity. He craned his neck, wondering who was crying.

A blonde, teary-eyed boy was pressing a black cloth against Izuku's bloody leg. Catching the awakening boy's eye, he looked the other way.

"You're an idiot... I could've blasted those rocks away," the blonde mumbled.

Izuku blinked in confusion before responding. "Blasted? S-sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying." He shuffled his weight to his backside to get a better view of the other boy. "Who are you?"

The blonde turned to him, looking horrified. "W-what? You're joking, right? Deku, this isn't funny."

"Umm... Is 'Deku' my name? I don't remember much. Sorry..." he trailed off, his gaze drifting lower. There was a deep cut on his leg, but thanks to the pressure the other boy was applying, the bleeding had long stopped. Surely this blonde beauty was not a foe if he decided to take care of his wound.

"Sooo... What's your name?" Izuku asked, hoping to break the awkward atmosphere with the friendliest smile he could make. But judging from the red-eyed boy's reaction, it seemed his grin was more creepy rather than welcoming.

The blonde hesitated; his expression softened in which Izuku deemed it somewhat unnatural. "Your name is Izuku Midoriya. Mine's Katsuki Bakugou... But you can call me 'Kacchan'." Katsuki felt his cheeks grow warm upon mentioning the last bit.

"Grrrreat!" Izuku exclaimed and clapped his hands together. "This means we're really good friends if we have nicknames for each other, huh?"

Izuku saw the corners of Katsuki's mouth slightly curve upwards. It made him feel a tingling sensation of glee like he had accomplished a huge feat, and before he knew it, he was giggling nonstop. However, just as quick as the laughter had surfaced, a wave of vertigo swept over him. He groaned and clutched his head as Katsuki reached his hand out, uncertain but hoping it would somehow subside the pain.

"We're gonna have to get you to Recovery Girl, pronto." Katsuki quickly opened his flask and passed it to Izuku who almost missed his own mouth while attempting a waterfall. "My explosions might accidentally have the cave collapse on us, but do you think your Quirk can get us out of here?"

"Collapse? My Quirk? " Izuku repeated, looking around. It didn't occur to him as to where they were, but they were most definitely trapped; there were boulders piled on one side of the enclosed space. Izuku was only aware of the lack of light when he had to squint at the glowing brightness peeking between the crevices.

"Yeah. Do some of that cool stuff," Katsuki said, smirking and waving his hands around.

The green-haired boy nodded and stood up, feeling the sting on his leg intensify. "Uh, so what is a 'Quirk'?" he questioned, air quoting the unfamiliar term.

"Fuck. You forget that too?"

Katsuki approached the entrance and glided his hand down the hard, rocky surface. He tried to think of ideas to get out without having to use their Quirks, but they would all be foolishly futile attempts. The boulders were much too heavy to lift, and there was nothing they could use to break them. This left Katsuki with only one choice.

He turned back to Izuku with a smirk and crossed arms. "I suppose your crash course starts now."

Katsuki face palmed himself after bearing witness to Izuku's weird expressions for the last few hours. "I told you to concentrate, not to look like you're taking a shit."

Izuku exasperatedly flung his arms. "Well, maybe I am!"

"Ugh, why do I even like—" Katsuki caught himself and walked away, suddenly seeming interested in tossing little pebbles through the small spaces between the entrance boulders.

The other boy didn't seem to notice as his headache had returned. Massaging his temples, he went to take a drink. "Does anyone even know we're here?" Izuku asked. He sat on a flat rock, leaning his head against the rough interior wall.

A stone was flung at the cave entrance, passing the opening without making a sound against the boulders, indicating it flew all the way through. "Hah! Hell yeah!" Katsuki chuckled. "I mean, no. I don't think they know." He trudged towards Izuku and sat next to him. "We were ambushed and separated from the class by the League."

The green-haired teen smoothly propped his head on the other boy's shoulder. Katsuki flinched but made no response to push him away.

"Then while we wait, tell me a story. Who is the League... And who am I?"

On any other day, Katsuki wouldn't be in the mood to explain, but he does it anyway because the author doesn't feel like recapping the whole series at 1 AM.

As Katsuki described their childhood, Izuku's drowsiness grew heavier. Pretending to be pro-heroes, racing to each other's house to play video games, and participating in Quirk-related school events seemed out of this world. All of it sounded nostalgic yet unfamiliar like they were old tales about another universe.

Izuku wasn't able to catch all of Katsuki's words once he started to hear a faint ringing sound. But he heard Katsuki elaborate on the origin of his nickname. "It sounds like Dekiru, meaning 'you can do it', so hang in there until help comes."

Izuku managed a sheepish grin. "Thanks, Kacchan," he whispered, right before the last of his consciousness slipped away.

A/N: Thanks for reading! The ending wasn't supposed to sound angsty. I just kind of wanted to have an ambiguous conclusion. 

This is to celebrate Twin Stars Week which I found out the day before yesterday, so this prompt is actually one day late, but I hope y'all still enjoyed it :)

Twin Stars Week 2020
General Prompts DAY 4: Injury
Published: July 28, 2020