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The Blame Game

Chapter 20

Notes:

Epilogue!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Every story has an end, but every end is a new beginning.

The third-years of U.A. graduated, but Yuto stayed throughout the summer to get a hold of his quirk. As Izuku promised, he trained him, but he had help Shoto, who once struggled to control his fire side after denying it for most of his childhood and teenage years.

Naturally, Katsuki refused to let this pass quietly, so he kept showing up at training, too. He found his own student in the form of Grayson, who of course lingered for the sake of his best friend.

As fun as those few months were, Yuto eventually got a hold of his new quirk and deemed to reach full potential, so the school gave him his diploma and hero license. And then, like the summer breeze, he and Grayson were gone.

Izuku stood alone in his classroom, watching the world slowly die as autumn crept in.

“Classes are long over, sensei.”

Frowning, Izuku turned around to find Katsuki leaning against the doorway, fully decked in his hero costume. “Kacchan! I told you to stop calling me that.”

“Does it make you feel weird?” Katsuki slunk into the classroom. “Sensei?”

Izuku clapped his hands over his ears. “Kacchan,” he whined.

Chortling, Katsuku placed his hands on Izuku’s hips and pulled him closer. “You sad about your favorite students leaving?”

“Yeah,” Izuku said, because there was no point in lying. “But I also know I’ll see them sooner or later on TV. They’ll be great heroes.”

“Of course they will. You taught them.” Katsuki rubbed his waist. “They’re gone, but there are new ones in. Don’t forget about Eri.”

Izuku couldn’t help his smile. Indeed, Eri was finally a freshman at U.A., and Izuku couldn’t wait to watch her grow.

“You’re job isn’t done. It will never be done. But that’s how you like it, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. There’s lots of work to be done still… but not today. Let’s go home? You’re done with patrol, right?”

Izuku didn’t have a shift today. He had been splitting his time between being a teacher and an active hero; he’d had to sacrifice some classes to be able to take on more hours of patrol. It was doable. He just needed to get used to it. Especially since he was busy with other stuff — that biweekly vlog of his had gotten popular, and he was often asked to do talks and speeches.

The toughest part out of all of this, however, was that Katsuki had his own specific patrol route as dictated by Best Jeanist, so even though they were both heroes, they weren’t exactly doing things together. Izuku was technically operating under the All Might Agency — no one knew it existed, but it did. The obscure office handled paperwork and documents and projects, but since All Might retired, they had been merely handling his finances and copyright stuff.

Technically, patrols were fine. Izuku didn’t need Katsuki with him on patrols. It was just that nothing about this felt like what he envisioned when they said ‘heroes together.’

“Speaking of patrol.”

Izuku looked up at Katsuki questioningly.

“I’ve mentioned I had long-term plans. In my spreadsheet.”

“Yes…?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking very closely about one of them.” “What is it?”

“I don’t want to work under Jeanist forever, Izuku,” Katsuki said. “I want to be fully in control of my life.”

“You want to start your own agency?” Truthfully, Izuku had been waiting for this day. He didn’t think Katsuki would work under Best Jeanist forever either.

“I want to start an agency with you.”

Izuku’s eyes bugged out. “Me?”

Katsuki scowled at him. “Of course, you. Who else?”

“Yes,” Izuku quickly said, because he’d been thinking of this, but the concept seemed so difficult. All the paperwork, the money, the renovations, the staff they had to hire, the patience and discipline they needed to have… and yet he wanted it anyway. If he was doing it with Katsuki, how bad could it be? “Let’s do it. What will we name it?”

“I thought about merging our names but it felt tacky, so then I thought of something that we both share.” Katsuki paused, then scratched the back of his head. “All Might.”

Confused, Izuku asked, “You want to name our agency All Might?”

“No. Just ‘Might.’ I’m Dynamight. You’re All Might’s successor. So…”

Izuku tested it on his tongue. “Might. Might Agency. Please deliver the documents to Might’s.” It was quickly growing on him, and he had to admit, it made so much sense. It made him giddy. Plus, perhaps this way, All Might wouldn’t be too sad about Izuku leaving his agency. “Kacchan, I really like it! I think we should ask All Might, though. His office building is called Might Tower, even though no one really knows it, it might still cause confusion.”

“About that. I maybe did already? Because when I thought about ‘Might,’ I thought about how it could be us kinda continuing his legacy, and I had to ask if he would let us do that. It’s a big deal, you know? It’s his name.”

“Yeah.” Izuku nodded. “What did he say?”

“Well — I’ll just take you to him. Come on.”

Katsuki drove them out of U.A., and it took Izuku ten minutes to realize that he knew the route.

Sure enough, Katsuki parked them in front of the All Might Agency, which was nestled in central Musutafu.

“Guess I’m going to work,” Izuku joked.

The air felt strange, when he went inside. Quiet. There was no staff around, and not a single phone was ringing. The All Might Agency did not look like anything people might expect from a legend — a three-floor space that was simply furnished and could be mistaken for any regular office building.

Waiting for them in the empty lobby was All Might. He seemed eager to see them.

“You’ve told him?” All Might asked Katsuki.

“Yes,” Katsuki replied. “Naturally, he loves the idea. I told you he would.”

Izuku opened his mouth, but before he could speak, All Might started sobbing. Izuku couldn’t really understand what he said after that, except for certain phrases like ‘his sons,’ and ‘his legacy,’ and ‘would be honored.’ So he could put things together.

“I guess you don’t mind,” Izuku said, unsure. “Might Agency, how does that sound to you? I really like it…”

“I’m all for it, my boy,” All Might said, wiping his eyes. “Please. I would be so honored if you do this.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t have any biological sons. And I never really minded that. I’ve always been married to the job. Besides, given One For All and All For One… it was dangerous.”

They all knew what happened with Shigaraki and his father, and more importantly, his grandmother.

“But as I grow old, I find myself looking at my life — at everything I’ve achieved, and gained, and collected, and stocked up. When I die — and we never know, that can be tomorrow or in another ten years—”

Izuku burst into tears at the thought of All Might dying. “No! Don’t say stuff like that!”

Katsuki sighed tiredly and rubbed Izuku’s back.

“I’m sorry, my boy,” All Might said, contrite. “I have no plans of dying yet. I only mean to say — I think of you as my son. I know you know that. When I die, you will come into possession of all my assets, but what about my ideals?” Walking forward, All Might placed one hand on Izuku’s shoulder, and the other on Katsuki’s. “You carry my ideals. Both of you. And I trust no one else to carry the flames of my legacy. I would very much like to see this before I die.”

Horrified and uncomprehending, Izuku whispered, “Assets?”

And Katsuki said, “Well, it’s gonna take a while to get things together, so you better not die.”

“Ah, well. There’s a reason I called you here.” All Might gestured around them. “If I give you my agency, will that help? It is already called Might Tower after all. Truthfully, it would make more sense for it to be called Might Agency.” He smiled. “My only request is that you hang up a portrait of the three of us on your wall.”

Half an hour later, Izuku watched All Might walk out of his — their? — agency, shellshocked. “He just… gave us his agency.”

“I honestly thought he was just gonna give us his blessing,” Katsuki said, sounding just as stunned. “I need to adjust my spreadsheet.”

Izuku couldn’t help himself — he laughed. In disbelief, more than anything. “We’re really doing this, huh?”

“We were going to do it one way or another.” Katsuki rubbed his chin, eyes calculating. “Maybe this way, I can bump up some other plans…”

Biting his lip, Izuku said, “Kacchan?”

Katsuki focused his gaze on Izuku’s face. “Yeah?”

“I’m starting to see the life I used to dream of.” A cozy home, a fulfilling job, peace of mind, his own hero agency, and Katsuki. “The one I thought had died.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, no, it is. I’m really, really happy. But also…” Izuku tried to identify the feeling. “A little sad? Like we’re reaching the end of something?”

Katsuki’s face cleared. “How many times do I have to tell you? There won’t be an end. When we achieve a dream, we make more dreams. That’s what growing older is about.” He began walking towards the doors. “Now, come on. We have to figure out dinner.”

Izuku followed Katsuki out, and hung back by the doors as Katsuki fiddled with his costume sleeves. The days were growing colder, and he was probably starting to fret about his quirk.

“Besides,” Katsuki muttered, almost to himself, “I still intend to be the number one hero. Stupid Deku… nothing’s over yet. I’ve barely started.”

Heart achingly full, Izuku watched Katsuki, thinking about what he said. ‘That’s what growing older is about.’ Izuku supposed that in many ways, he never dreamed past of what he thought he was allowed to. Becoming a hero already seemed like such a reach, and achieving it felt like he just won the fight of his life.

And now he got to dream of more? He could be happier than this?

‘You have a whole life ahead of you, Izuku. You can still figure things out. You can do anything.’

Izuku thought of the rings he’d been eyeing whenever he passed the jewelry store during their weekly dinner dates. Did he dare reach for that, too?

“You’re right, Kacchan,” Izuku said, feeling a thrill settle in the back of his chest. “We’ll start our own agency, get to number one,” get married, “and hopefully adopt a cat. And a dog. Lots of stuff to do.”

“Yes. Precisely.” Shaking his wrist in satisfaction, Katsuki looked over at Izuku and held out his hand. “Come on, Deku. We need to figure out dinner.”

Smiling, Izuku took his hand. “Right with you, my hero.”

They dreamed together on the way home.

Notes:

I don't remember if I said this, I meant to but I might have forgotten -- this whole concept was inspired by the actual reality TV show 'LOL: Last One Laughing,' in which 10 or so professional comedians are placed in a house together and none of them are allowed to laugh. I watched the Philippine version earlier this year, and it was so fucking funny, I still laugh when I think of it. Yes, I watch too much TV. Arguably, it's part of my job.

Writing this was pretty much just therapy for me but thank you so much for sitting along for the ride. I loved reading your comments, and appreciated every kudos. It's been months, but I still can't believe MHA is done. Despite all my whining, I love the ending so much — I love 25-year-old pro-hero Katsuki, and I love teacher Izuku. Do I wish it was more fleshed out? Yes, all these facts can co-exist. Thank you, Horikoshi!

With that, I take my bow. I never say never, so who knows, I might write BKDK again one day, but TBH, I'm already so happy with how their story panned out canonically. I'm satisfied with this.

Thank you again for reading, goodbye!

11/16/2024 author’s note: Thank you to each person who left sweet, encouraging comments for me to read while I was publishing this (and shortly after it was wrapped up)! Unfortunately, due to a completely unmanageable inbox and some storage issues, I will have to close the comments section (for this, and at least 30 others of my completed works here). Please know your kind words made a writer very happy! ILY

Notes:

How do I tell my 2018-2020 self that BKDK would vindicate me one day? I still can’t believe it. I had to write something for them, I just had to. It was long overdue.

11/16/2024 author’s note: Thank you to each person who left sweet, encouraging comments for me to read while I was publishing this (and shortly after it was wrapped up)! Unfortunately, due to a completely unmanageable inbox and some storage issues, I will have to close the comments section (for this, and at least 30 others of my completed works here). Please know your kind words made a writer very happy! ILY