3:16 AM

Rivals bound by history, their blades carve matching scars into the rink, their names inseparable in rankings, and to the world. Skating made them extraordinary. It also hollowed them out. Every program is flawless. Every jump is dangerous. And every win costs them a little more of the love that once made skating feel like freedom.

Izuku skates with longing buried beneath precision, every movement careful, as if wanting too much might send him crashing down. He always aimed for perfection, melting his emotions in the cracks of the ice under him. Katsuki skates explosively, aiming for record breaking heights. He's daring the ice to break beneath him, reckless and burning, furious at a world that keeps demanding more.

Through late-night practices, shared exhaustion, and the raw vulnerability of falling in front of someone who truly sees you, they begin to remember why they ever stepped onto the ice in the first place.

"Aren't you scared I won't catch you?"

"I do not fear the feel of falling, I wanna fly. I need you to be my wings, Katsuki."

AO3: soulfultams