Timeloop Trouble

Chapter 40 - The Coward's Way Out

Izuku yawned as he leaned onto Kacchan's shoulder, barely able to stay awake as images flashed across the tv screen. Being able to just lay back and watch movies together wasn't something they were able to do on a regular basis. Not when Kacchan was a rookie hero making a name for himself by working his ass off, and Izuku, who was studying to become a doctor at university. Their lives were a busy mess, but at least the Hero Commission let new heroes rent their condos for cheap, so they had their own place to come home to.

The League of Villains never really amounted to anything in their high school years. No, Shigaraki had trouble recruiting and retaining members from what Izuku heard, so All For One's plans had been shoved back a few years. Which was not ideal, but also no big deal when you've been waiting for literal decades already, so Izuku was sure they'd pop back up eventually. All Might still retired though, so Izuku knew Jikan was still working away on that machine of theirs. Ah well, they can try to make his spark bigger, make it last longer as much as they wanted to. They'd never be able to reignite the flame of One For All within him, not as long as Izuku carried it with him.

Which was a whole other thing to deal with.

"Oh! This is my favorite part!" Nana exclaimed.

Particularly the vestiges...

"Shush, I wanna hear the villain monologue," Yoichi said, shushing her. Izuku yawned, again, glancing aside at the ghosts of the past that lingered around them. It was a good thing Kacchan wasn't able to see them, even if their presence made him uneasy at first. He got used to the air hanging around Izuku, though. Jokingly calling him haunted every now and again when the vestiges acted up by manifesting outside of his dreams. "Look! I knew they didn't actually betray the hero! They were just waiting for the right time to backstab the villain and save the city from-"

"You're mumbling, Izuku," Katsuki grunted, cutting Yoichi off. Right, then there was that. Kacchan couldn't see the vestiges, but he did hear them. It was only sometimes, at irregular intervals, with no real connection between incidents. So Izuku had no idea what caused it other than One For All growing stronger and therefore creating a stronger connection between them.

"Sorry," Izuku muttered, watching the hero save the day as the villain tragically fell off the edge of the building during their fight. He knew the post credit scene would show the villain getting up again, though. 'TO BE CONTINUED' written in big bold letters across the screen. This wasn't the first time he'd seen this film, even if it was the first time he'd watched it in this version of their lives. "I think I'm gonna go to bed. Got class early tomorrow."

"Hngh," Katsuki let out, just to let Izuku know he heard him as he crawled up from the couch, ignoring the various complaints from the surrounding ghosts.

"No! Stay up a little longer, please! There's still the next episode of-" Lariat whined as he floated next to him. Izuku pointedly ignored him as he stopped by the fridge, looking at their schedule for the week. Yes, they had it up on the fridge. It was easier to manage that way, okay?

"You've got a day off tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Katsuki said as he shut down the tv, earning even more whines and complaints from the previous holders.

"I was watching that!" Nana exclaimed, furious, but Katsuki didn't seem to hear her.

"Thought we could go on a date in the afternoon since you don't have classes then," he continued as he made his way over to his boyfriend. "You know, going to that new hero themed cafe you've been ranting about so much lately? Thought it was about time we go check it out."

"I'd love that," Izuku smiled, pecking him on the lips before they made their way to bed, both tired from working all day long. He sighed as he closed his eyes, happy to lay there surrounded by the warmth of the person he loved. This was the life, wasn't it? This happy peacefulness, this warm bliss. It's really a shame this kind of happiness wasn't meant for him. Izuku hated the fact that he knew this would come crashing down sooner or later, that reality would catch up to him, that fate would find a way to ruin everything he built.