Work Text:
Men are not born equal. After 8 years, Izuku Midoriya knew that well.
The clock on his bedside table said it was past midnight. Despite laying down about two hours ago, he had not been able to fall asleep.
He sat up on the edge of his bed, running a hand through his hair. Setting a hand on his thigh, he stared at his scarred palms, the memories of how he got them running through his head.
Most of them he’d received from his final battle with Shigaraki. The day he had given up one for all. He doesn’t regret it, no. If anything, he’s glad he was able to save someone, even at the expense of his own dream.
He told everyone he was content without it, that was true. But…he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss it.
Being able to have a taste of what everyone else experienced was more than he could ask for.
Hell, being able to be a hero for 3 years was so much more than he deserved.
He looked over at his desk where the metal suit was, which was given to him by his former classmates. He was forever grateful to them for giving him a piece of his dreams back.
On the days he wasn't teaching, he was out collecting data for the suit. He loved the suit, that much was true. Even so.. he missed it.
It was like there was a pile of ashes in the place where One for All used to burn inside of him. The ashes felt like weights sometimes, remnants of what he had if not for the physical proof on his body.
‘Deku becomes a hero again! This time, he’s quirkless?’ The billboards would say.
Could he even accept being a hero without having a quirk?
That’s all people cared about with the heroes. Hell he was one of them. What’s this new hero’s quirk? Is it powerful? How does it work?
And yet…he had the name and the body…but not the quirk. He was glad to be able to be back in the frontlines and be able to do something with himself.
Sure his body was still strong, but how could he ever compare to everyone else. What would happen if the suit broke? What would his friend's effort be for? Nothing-?
He set his head in his hands. “I wouldn’t be worth it…” he whispered to himself. Behind him, the sheets ruffled. “Izu-kun….?”
He raised his head and looked at his girlfriend. Her hand lifted up to rub her eye with the heel of her palm. “It’s okay, Ochako…go back to bed…”
The brunette sat up and gave him a look. “No it’s not. Something’s bothering you.” Deku looked back at his hands, turning his head away from her. “It’s nothing sleep won’t help with.”
His girlfriend knew he was trying to push her away, just as he tried two years before. "We'll force the issue.’’ Her past self had said.
Crawling out and over the blankets, she sat beside him. Her hands covered his, though she was careful not to activate her quirk. He watched as her hands covered his scarred ones, as if she was holding his fears.
“We promised to tell each other when something was bothering us…and I can tell something’s bothering you.” She said.
She didn’t want to be too forceful with him, but sometimes he needed a push.
Carefully he intertwined his fingers with hers. He stared at the wall in front of him. “I shouldn’t even let this be bothering me…it’s too selfish.” He shook his head.
She leaned forward towards him and removed one of her hands from his. He looked back at her, confused. Uraraka lifted her hand and cupped his cheek, her thumb slightly sticking out.
His green eyes widened at the gesture and blushed. She chuckled. “It’s okay to be selfish Deku…you know ... if neither of us were selfish we would probably still be single.” She smiled softly, tilting her head.
“Yeah…but….this is kind of different.”
“What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath and lowered his eyes once more. “One for all…” he sighed. “I miss it.”
His girlfriend blinked. “It’s not that I’m ungrateful for the suit or anything like that-“ he quickly added, shutting his eyes.
“It’s okay, Izuku.” She said. He opened his eyes and looked at her again. He saw just how genuine she was in her eyes.
“One for all was important to you, yeah? So of course you’d miss it. I mean…from what you’ve told me…with growing up quirkless, I’m sure losing it might’ve been harder than gaining it.”
“It’s okay to be selfish about that, I think.” She continued. “I mean…you never truly got to mourn it with how focused you were on becoming a teacher.”
The green haired teacher blinked back tears.
He wondered to himself how he got so lucky with her. How someone as special as her could let him be so selfish.
“So mourn the dream you gave up to save everyone.” She dropped her hand from his cheek and opened her arms for him.
Falling into her embrace, Izuku let himself miss his dream and those that came along with it. They sat like that for a while. Basking in each other's warmth and being.
“A-and….” He said into her chest before sitting up. He rubbed his tears away. “I’ll celebrate the dream you all have given me.”