The Beginning of the end
The battlefield lay silent, a graveyard of shattered dreams and extinguished flames. Where once the air crackled with the electricity of hope and determination, now only the acrid stench of defeat and loss lingered. Izuku Midoriya, the boy who dared to dream, knelt amidst the detritus of war, his body a canvas of bruises and gashes, each a testament to the price of victory.
In his trembling hands, he cradled the remnants of Katsuki Bakugo's gauntlets, the last tangible pieces of a rivalry that had defined his journey. The leather, once supple and responsive to Bakugo's every command, now lay charred and lifeless. Izuku's fingers traced the contours of the metal, feeling the lingering warmth of explosions that would never again light up the sky.
The silence was deafening, a cruel mockery of the cacophony that had filled this space mere hours ago. Izuku's emerald eyes, once brimming with determination, now stared vacantly at the horizon. The world had tilted on its axis, leaving him unmoored in a sea of grief.
All For One lay defeated, his reign of terror brought to an end. But the cost... oh, the cost was beyond measure. Izuku's body bore the scars of battle, but it was his soul that bled freely now.The taste of victory turned to ash in Izuku's mouth. What use was saving the world if he couldn't save the one person who had always pushed him to be better? The irony was not lost on him, Bakugo, who had once told him to jump off a roof, had sacrificed everything to ensure Izuku's survival.
Footsteps approached, hesitant and unsure. Uraraka and Todoroki, their own faces etched with grief, stood at a distance. They were specters from another life, one where hope still burned bright and the future seemed limitless.
Iida, ever the voice of reason, broke the silence:
"Midoriya," he said, his words a lifeline in a sea of despair, "we need to leave. The area isn't safe."
Izuku's response was barely a whisper, a broken sound that seemed to come from the depths of his shattered heart:
"He should be here. He was supposed to survive this too."
Todoroki, seeking to offer comfort, stepped forward:
"He fought so we could win. Bakugo wouldn't want you to stay here and—"
"Don't." Izuku's voice cracked, raw with emotion. "Don't tell me what he would've wanted. He's gone because I couldn't save him."
Guilt, that insidious poison, coursed through Izuku's veins. All Might's words echoed in his mind – the price of heroism, the necessity of sacrifice. But this... this was too much to bear. had made a pact, hadn't they? To stand at the top together, to push each other to greater heights. Now, Izuku stood alone, the mantle of heroism feeling heavier than ever before. Time became a blur, a meaningless parade of moments that Izuku endured rather than lived. The world celebrated their victory, but for Izuku, each cheer was a reminder of what had been lostIn his mind, the final battle played on an endless loop. He didn't know what to even do or say. Bakugo was his bestfriend, his everything.
Alone in his room, Izuku sat before Bakugo's gauntlets. They rested on his desk, a shrine to a fallen comrade. His hand hovered above them, afraid to touch, as if contact might erase the last traces of Bakugo's presence.
"You idiot," he whispered, tears carving paths down his cheeks. "How am I supposed to do this without you?"
Grief threatened to consume him, but deep within, a spark of determination still burned. Bakugo had given everything for this victory – to squander it would be the ultimate betrayal. Izuku's fingers finally made contact with the gauntlets, feeling the cold metal beneath his skin. He made a silent vow. He vowed to carry Bakugos memory with every step, To become the hero they both had dreamed of, and ensure that Bakugo's sacrfice was not in vain.
As dawn broke on a new day, Izuku stood at his window, Bakugo's gauntlets clutched to his chest. The world outside continued to turn, oblivious to the void left in Bakugo's wake. But for Izuku, every sunrise would be a reminder of the friend who would never see another morning.So much had been left unsaid, so much tension left between Bakugo and Izuku. Izuku's tears fell silently, each one a eulogy for the future that had been stolen from them. Izuku never knew how much he truly did care about Bakugo until his death. He knew that he cared about him but not this much.
With trembling hands, Izuku donned his hero costume. Each piece felt heavier than before, weighted down by the responsibility of living for two. As he fastened Bakugo's gauntlets to his own arms, he felt a surge of determination mixed with sorrow.
From this day forward, every victory would be for Bakugo. Every life saved, every villain defeated – all of it would be a tribute to the friend who had given everything for the greater good Outside, the city was already beginning to rebuild. Cranes dotted the skyline, their mechanical arms reaching towards a future that Bakugo would never see. Izuku watched from his window, feeling like a stranger in a world that had moved on too quickly. They all moved on from what happened, everyone but the people who actually knew Bakugo. Everywhere he looked, memories of Bakugo lingered.The school grounds where they had trained together,The streets they had patrolled as fledgling heroes, The quiet corners where they had shared rare moments of understanding. Everything and everyone reminded Izuku of Bakugo. Each sight was bittersweet reminder of what had been lost and what could have been.
Izuku's feet carried him through the city, his body moving on autopilot while his mind remained trapped in the past. He found himself at the foot of UA, the school that had shaped them both into the heroes they were meant to be. The campus was quiet, still bearing the scars of recent battles. Izuku's fingers traced the cracks in the walls, each one a testament to the sacrifices made within these hallowed halls.
As he walked the familiar paths, Izuku's mind wandered to the legacy Bakugo had left behind. It wasn't just the victories or the flashy quirk – it was the indomitable spirit, the refusal to ever back down.Izuku realized that he now carried not just One For All, but the essence of Bakugo. Bakugo was the closet person to Izuku and Izuku was the closet person to Bakugo. Izuku wanted to carry Bakugos ideology and Bakugos dreams and everything.
It has now been a couple of days since Bakugos death. The world has been quiet, too quiet. All the days we're going the same for Izuku, like if they were on autopilot. Going through the mtoions of Waking up, Going to school, Doing training, Going back to the dorms, And then back to sleep. But deep down, nothing really did feel real. Izuku stopped socializing as much, he never spoke unless spoken too. Everyone in the class looked like they didn't give a fuck about Bakugo's death. It looked like nobody was feeling how Izuku felt. Sad.
He kept waiting for someone to burst through the door and tell them it was all a mistake, that Bakugo wasn't gone.
Izuku knew deep down that Bakugo was gone, His Kacchan.