"Time to wake up sleeping beauty," I heard Kacchan hum from close by. I groaned to let him know that I heard him but he just kept playing with my hair, softly tickling me until I started to giggle at the sweet affection. I can't help smiling at the use of the sweet Welsh he was speaking in. I'm glad that whenever we are alone anymore we pick a different language to talk in. It helps me feel more free to actually talk about what I want to talk about and not worry nearly so much about everyone else.
"Kacchan, I'm tired," I whined but I still turned towards his hand, hoping to snuggle with him just a little bit. Man I hurt everywhere. I let out a groan and a hiss as the tenderness made itself known. "Even my bones hurt," I grumbled out loud but I only heard him sigh. Another hand now resting on my side while the first was still playing with my hair.
"You always have to make me worry, don't you?" He grumbled but he didn't really sound mad, just tired.
"Sorry," I frowned, it's not like I tried to let all of this happen. I really did try for us to just have a normal school life this time, I swear!
"Did I miss our match?" I asked, finally opening my eyes and I could see that I was in the medical room that Recovery Girl had to fix my arms last time around.
"No, our match isn't for another hour, it's the lunch break," he motioned towards the food trays next to him but I made a face. "Yeah, I figured. You never could eat after you get hurt."
"I would argue but we both know it's pointless," I sighed and he chuckled.
"At least you know," he gave me a soft smile.
"Mmm, I love you," I hummed, reaching up and playing with his hair.
"You damn well better with how much shit you put me through," he rolled his eyes before I noticed something pass across his eyes.
"What is it?" I asked worried about his silence.
"Did you ever think about having kids? You know, before all this," he motioned around us but I know that he means before we were sent back in time.
"Yeah but as we got older I figured it was probably for the better that I didn't adopt. After all, it's not like I had a partner back then," I lowered my eyes and just focused on his calloused hands.
"Do you remember the first time I saved you, when my heart stopped?" He asked, his fingers fidgeting and I raised my eyes to look at him closely but nodded, knowing he would see me even though he wasn't looking directly at me.
"Turns out my body can carry a baby, but after that day… Well, it wasn't an option anymore. But now," he looked up and I could see something in his eyes again. I bolted upright as I realized what he was getting at.
"You mean-?" I stopped almost afraid to ask.
"I mean technically we would need to wait a couple years still but… Yeah. We could, one day," he gave me what I can only describe as the softest smirk I've seen in all the years we've known each other.
"Damn it," I groaned and he looked up, shocked. "Now I really don't want to wait," I explained and he laughed, relief washing over his features.
"How many years have we known each other now?" I mused out loud. "I mean, including, you know."
He nodded slowly thinking it over, "Pretty much since we were born so a little more than thirty-one years now."
"Ha," I laughed out loud and he turned his focus back to me. "You're not allowed to die on me again. I just might destroy everything if you do. I almost did last time," I smiled at him.
"Gasp, the Deku, number one hero of the fucking world Deku, destroy anything? Because of me? Say it ain't so!" I punched him in the arm and he kept laughing, eventually I started laughing with him.
"Stop," I whined. "You make me feel old!"
"Ha, old man," he teased.
"You're older than me," I reminded him and we were laughing again.
"So how are you feeling now?" He asked after we finally stopped laughing at stupid stuff and I took a minute to actually think about my condition.
"I think I'll be good for our match, so long as nothing else happens," I groaned as the words came out.
"You had to go and jinx it didn't you? You do realize that we are walking magnets for Murphy's Law right?" He groaned and I mumbled an apology. "It's fine, just get your ass over here so I can hold my lover," he demanded and I giggled before doing just that. Now feeling hungry we started to eat our lunch.
"I am still worried though," Kacchan whispered as I put our trays back down again, I turned my focus back on him again. "What if after everything is done we wake up to find that all of this is just an illusion. What if none of it is real?"
I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, "Then we make it real. Everything that we can anyway. It's not like we are all that old." I gave him a teasing smile and I felt him relax against my back.
"I love you, Deku," he whispered and I hummed, turning so I was sitting across his lap so I could hug around his shoulders while he held my middle.
"I'm still not going to go easy on you," I teased him and he barked out a laugh.
"You damn well better not!"
***
"Begin!" Midnight announced and Kacchan and I launched ourselves at each other. His explosions go off in every which way to try and distract me from whenever he gets close enough to actually land a blow but now that I'm younger it is a lot easier to use the martial arts that I learned in my previous life. Of course it felt a little awkward thanks to not actually doing it in this life but because I'm so young my muscles are a lot more flexible than before not to mention that I didn't get hurt like before. I spun around and let OFA flood my system and the area around us crackled to life from the green energy sparking to life.
Kacchan was flung back and was almost thrown out of bounds and if not for him using his quirk to stop himself the match would have been over already.
"Want to play it that way do you?" Kacchan smirked and I saw him take a stance that made me want to groan. The fact that he switched from Welsh to German was expected. He loves how aggressive the language sounds even when you're talking about nothing important at all but why in the hell did he ever learn drunken kickboxing in the first place? He fights with his upper body most of the time!
"Two can play that game!" I called back while mirroring his stance and switching languages with him. Two can play alright. The only real difference is the fact that I spent years using my legs instead of my arms thanks to hurting myself in high school the first time around. Sure I might not be that solid with it now but I still have more experience with it than him. So even without muscle memory I still have the reflexes.
"What is going on? Have the two of them actually studied mixed martial arts?" Present Mic asked in the microphone but Kacchan and I just kept fighting, switching from stance to stance as needed to block or deflect as we went. Using our quirks where it made sense to. All in all, it was a pretty flashy fight, not as flashy as when we were fighting against Todoroki but still.
"Fucking cheater!" Kacchan snapped when I started using float after I jumped out of his reach. I smiled before releasing the quirk and using gravity to help land a punch.
"Is this an all out brawl? I thought they were friends?" Present Mic asked, sounding confused. Then again I guess we are both competitive to a fault. Maybe our fight was more flashy than I thought? I guess a lot of the stage has been destroyed but it's been so long since we could just let loose and NOT worry about property damage.
"BLACKWHIP!" I called out and Kacchan's eyes widened right before the thick black rope slammed into him, and again, almost knocked him out of bounds but instead of letting me drive him out he dropped to the ground and let Blackwhip go over him instead.
Instead of returning however I kept it out and used him like an extra arm and sometimes as a springboard to fling myself back at Kacchan.
"Try my quirk," I heard a voice suggest and suddenly I saw a shadow image of Kacchan running at me and using a feint, a punch to the ribs only to swing a leg up and kick my other side instead. I reacted to the kick, surprising Kacchan when his feint didn't work. "Be careful, if it's overused it will give you a nosebleed," I nodded at the voice and kept fighting and it was difficult to control, most of the time just happening without any input from me but it was tolerable.
"Hey, if you're going to use hers then use mine!" Another voice screamed, this one sounding like a child and I felt my stomach churning before I even knew what it was.
"What the fuck?" Kacchan demanded, reverting back to Japanese thanks to the shock. I basically spit fire and he barely managed to dodge it.
"Too many voices," I groaned rubbing at my head but I shook the thought away. I can still fight.
"No you should use my quirk!"
"No mine!"
"Can't you all see that mine is obviously better?"
Maybe I can't. My head is pounding and from being lifted into the air only to plunged back down to earth was excruciating all on its own. Then add to it the side effects. None of them were thinking about the side effects at all and only thinking about how cool or how much stronger they were and just how many people are in my head now?
"Will you all just shut up?" I demanded, swaying on my feet. I don't even know how I'm standing still. The last one has sent me whirling in a mini tornado and I was barely keeping my lunch down as it is.
"No more quirks, now isn't the time to be-" I started when a voice that made my spine tremble spoke up in a quiet voice.
"You love him right?" He asked, amused but he didn't wait for an answer. "Then you can use my quirk but it comes at a heavy price, one that I think you will both be happy to pay," he chuckled and I could feel myself going pale.
"Who-?" I started to ask but in the next moment Kacchan and I were surrounded in darkness. Kacchan tried to use his quirk as a light but it didn't work. Oddly enough I could see him perfectly, as if he were still in the bright daylight but he was crouched down in the defensive made me wonder if he could see me at all.
"Kacchan?" I asked and frowned. My voice sounded playful, like I was taunting him. I don't like it but I also couldn't help it. "Do you know where I am?" I asked the sing-song in my voice, only growing more playful. I could see Kacchan growing pale as he crouched down to try and hide from wherever I happened to be.
"Boo!" I giggled in his ear and he flinched, sending an explosion at me only to trip and if it wasn't for the fact that I was in the way he would have fallen out of bounds. Crap, how do I turn this quirk off? It feels like I'm hunting him, like a cat with a mouse and I wasn't going to let him go until I had my fun.
"Oi! Deku, what the fuck are you doing?" He demanded, again setting off explosions but it doesn't actually seem to help, in either the fight or to calm him down. What exactly is this quirk doing? Or rather, what is it having me do?
"Deku I swear, if you don't get us out of this, this, whatever the fuck it is then I will rip you a new one!" Kacchan was reduced to childish threats but I couldn't help whispering in his ear.
"Is that a promise? Or a request?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper on the wind and I saw his whole body freeze up and the shiver that ran through him. The very tip of my nose grazed his neck, letting him know exactly where I was but he didn't move, couldn't move.
Suddenly the quirk ended with me several steps away and I was confused until I felt something wet on my mouth. I reached up to see what it was only to find blood trailing out, not only my nose but my mouth and eyes too.
"Sorry Kacchan, too many voices," I apologized and he whipped around at my voice only for me to collapse where I was. I could feel myself start to tremble and shake and the voices were getting louder, demanding that I used their quirks, to let the world know that they haven't disappeared yet. That they are right here and I could feel my body start to heave, thankfully not actually throwing anything up yet but it was coming.
"Quiet!" I begged but none of them paid me any attention at all. "Stop!" Still nothing.
"SILENCE!" I screamed and finally they all seemed to take a breath and I could finally breathe. "I can't-" I started but everything was going dark.
"Looks like time is up. The price for my quirk is calling," the quiet yet deadly voice chuckled and all the other voices stayed silent. "Don't worry, if you're precious previous holders can't keep the other souls in line then I will," was the last thing I heard before I couldn't hear or see anything at all.
I woke up to Kacchan supporting me on the awards platform but I also remember him being chained up again when he kept refusing to accept the first place medal shouting how our fight was interrupted and shouldn't count but I couldn't stay standing and he had to use a leg to catch me from just collapsing right there but then nothing at all.