Parallels comes out November 1, let me know if you have questions
A draft slid into Katsuki's bedroom, trailing the windowpane, flooding the air with cool. In the dead of winter, many would mind such a thing. Not Katsuki. He always ran hot. Even more so when your legs straddled his hips, weight sitting atop his thighs. The remnant sounds of your kisses filled the room, sheets rustling as you shifted.
Katsuki ran his hands up and down your body, seeking warmth beneath your shirt. Palms, softened by constant ignition, trailed from the slope of your back, up your spine, wrapping your rib cage. The boy breathed heavy, exhausted enough to let you lead, nowhere near exhausted enough to resist your affections.
You and him were the last two downstairs after dinner. Aizawa headed to bed, the rest of the class drowsy from their meal. Busy doing dishes, Katsuki brought the final batch to you.
The sight was so familiar yet foreign, he felt like he was looking at an old photo. Your hair dried frizzy, tufts in need of brushing. The gray peeked out from your skull beneath the black. In a long-held ritual, he stalked over, let his hands rest at your waist, his lips meet the nape of your neck.
You smiled at the nostalgia, leaned back into him. The moment your head rested on his shoulder and he met your eyes, a smile lit your face. Katsuki could only sigh at the sight. Finally home to him. Finally there, unburdened by sorrow, fear, hate, or distance.
It took him all of two seconds to lock his door, rip off his shirt, and pull you to him once you were in his room. After some heavy petting over your clothes, some heavy making out that left your lips swollen and your necks marked, you pushed him down on his bed.
For all your teasing, you remembered to be gentle. On his scars, on past injuries healed unkind, you laid featherlight kisses, finger drawing circles over the flesh.
The connection- him underneath as you set the pace- not even a storm could've taken away from it.
A few I love yous were exchanged.
Every time, Katsuki held you close.
Every time, both of you laid breathless, skin to skin, lips to lips, nothing in the world left to tear you apart.
"When this is all over," He said, his chest heaving up and down against yours. "I'll take you on that plane ride."
Sweat stained the sheets, his fingers drawing circles over your shoulder bone, the others on your hip. Still catching his breath, he kissed you once, let his head fall back against the pillow as he swallowed.
A chuckle rumbled in your throat. You wiped the sticky mess of hair clinging to his forehead, picking the strands apart.
"Where?" you whispered, pecking his nose, his cheek, his chin.
"Anywhere."
"Katsuki Bakugo," You scolded, raising one eyebrow, a sly smirk betraying your act. "Are you planning to leave me on a desert island?"
"Don't tempt me." He groaned, making you laugh as his breath tickled your neck, tongue coaxing your collarbones.
"It's fair," You admitted, still laughing. "After all, I put you through."
"I'll strand you there with me, how's that for a punishment?"
Perfect, you thought.
Comfort spread through your sated soul. The frigid laid outside the covers enveloping you both. Legs intertwined, the heat was shared in your tether.
When Katsuki eventually finished his work on your skin, settling back into the bed, you took him in. That red shining in the night, clean cut of his jaw, puffiness of his cheeks. The flustered shade of his face, his wandering eyes, you took it all in. Everything in him that'd at once grown and stayed the same from the moment you found each other in that classroom near a year ago.
"I still remember how rotten you were when we met," you whispered, pursing your lips, smiling silly. "So grumpy and uptight."
"Were?" He said back, blinking slowly.
"Still are," you cooed, dragging two fingers over his cheekbones, your past with him flashing in your eyes. "But not really."
He kissed you again, showed you just how happy he was that you returned to him.
"We could go back to that hotel room ya know," you said, swearing you could hear the rain beat down even as the night sky was clear of clouds. "Watch old movies and read our books and wrestle till we get noise complaints."
Katsuki separated from you, let his nose brush yours. His thumbs coursed back and forth beneath your pretty eyes, palms cupping your jaw.
"We will," He whispered.
"When this is all over?" You asked, smiling.
"When this is all over."
Katsuki held you close the whole night, at once, holding onto a future that would come to grow with you like this, with him, forever.
***
A single city. A single hospital. That was Hawk's intel. The attack would be the first of thousands if heroes didn't act. An army of 100,000 soldiers meant a response with equal force was due. Heroes from all over the country gathered, standing behind the number one hero in arms.
Shigaraki and his army would not prosper. Not while UA, the commission, or any pro had anything to say about it.
Edgeshot and Fatgum led one division. Along with pro heroes, ready to evacuate an entire city, Momo, Kirishima, Jirou, Sero, Mina, and many others from class 1-B stood strong.
Midnight led another on the front lines, Kaminari and Tokoyami in stride. Kaminari was more fearful of being so close to the action, but the thought of his friends, of Jirou waiting for him was enough to hold his head high and follow his Sensei.
Burnin' was just east, Shoto, Deku, and Katsuki all with her.
Endeavor, Aizawa, and Miruko led the last division. Beyond the frontlines. To the hospital. Pro heroes by the dozen at their back. They were there for one thing and one thing only. The head of the army. And the doctor giving him his power.
"There're heroes in those foothills!" Burnin' yelled back to her heard of heroes and UA students alike. "We're gonna back them up and help evacuate the city!"
Todoroki, Bakugo, and Deku straightened. No one knew what was going to happen for sure. An earthquake? An attack? Whatever it was, they were kept in the dark about it. Which in hindsight, might've kept them safe had things not gone so horribly out of hand.
Back at the hospital, Endeavor charged on first, his heroes ready for battle. Their capes, suits, and quirks came alive in the wind pushing them forward. Beside them, one student alone treaded their sides. But she seemed just as determined as the rest.
Atomic? You called. His power ebbed and flowed through your veins, birthing a grey, silver glow.
I'm here. He said. Never till now did you have so much faith he was telling the truth.
Like a suit of armor, he sheathed your body in his presence. Any danger that came your way would be deflected. Whether he had to ignite the oxygen or tear apart the earth beneath their feet, no one, nothing, not even a bullet would knick your skin.
Are you ready? You asked.
No. The quirk admitted. With the help of your hero costume, a relic of a thing, you felt so much more freely, with so much more confidence too. Atomic bound to it as well, mapping without even having to be told. But I'm here.
Good, you said, comforting him with your tone like a gentle hand to a dog's trembling back. That's all I need.
Even before reaching the hospital doors, Endeavor leaned down spoke to you with a hushed tone.
"Do you think we can disassemble them with these efforts?"
A stupid question really.
"No. They've become too powerful." You answered, thinking of the sheer mass of people you once witnessed cheering on Shigaraki from his stage, broken bodied, and crying when you turned around. "It's not just students and civilians who are in danger anymore." As if you could see your friends and classmates, you looked over your shoulder at the disappearing scenery. "They shouldn't be using them for this, even the initial stages. No one here is ready for this."
"You are." You looked up, met Endeavor's gaze. "And I trust you."
His words of affirmation wouldn't have been of much comfort any other day. But you were about to detain a doctor responsible for the death and destruction on a scale unheard of. After that, you and the rest of 1-A were meant to disperse, go back to a safe perimeter while the pros took care of the army.
But something in your gut twisted at the thought of Aizawa and Enji taking on this army alone. As such, you gave a curt nod, took the gesture for what it was.
"Thanks."
Back at the frontlines, Burnin' stayed hot on her comm. When Endeavor gave word, she and her division went into action.
"They're moving in. That's our cue!" Burnin' was always Endeavor's right hand woman. She knew her job and she knew to protect her interns and civilians alike. "Move to your assigned sector and get those civilians out of there!"
Deku jumped, readied One for All as it flickered green around him. Shoto followed on his ice, Bakugo propelling forward. They raced down the hill and to the low lying city, with no idea lied in wait.
The hospital doors slammed open to let in the flock of heroes. Miruko took the lead, jumping into the action while Endeavor evacuated the patients and personnel.
"We have to surround the doctor!" Endeavor yelled. "Find him!"
Before anyone had any time to so much as storm the halls, search the rooms, turn the hospital inside out, you shut your eyes, placed a hand to the ground.
"Atomic."
With the sound of his name, the power mapped with enough speed and precision that he could locate something as minute as a needle in seconds. The moment he was called you opened your eyes, put out an arm to stop Endeavor from walking any further.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothin," you hunched your shoulders, waited a few moments.
The ceiling began to crack overhead, Endeavor and other heroes jumping at the sound, readying themselves for a fight. With the weight of Atomic's decaying bonds, the ceiling crumbled, in only one area, about the size of a plump human being.
With a shriekish scream, the doctor fell, or rather was pushed, to the first level of the hospital. Rubble thumped with him to the ground, quite literally at Endeavor's feet.
"There ya go," you smiled up at him, pointing with an offering hand.
Heroes behind you stared wide-eyed, blinking. None more than Endeavor himself. Yeah, the country was about to go to hell, but you always had some sort of surprise up your sleeve didn't you?
Enji darkened remembering your stories about how that doctor treated you as a child, tricked your parents, tried to extract the quirk from your body test by test, went as far as to track you down and put you in the hands of the very man who made you kill and took your memories.
"The man behind the nomu and the devil's right hand, huh?" Endeavor stepped forward, staring down the doctor struggling to stand. "You're finished. Y/n!"
You straightened, waited for his following orders while the rest of the heroes searched the patient halls and labs.
The number one hero grabbed the doctor by the collar as he squealed in fear. Looking back at you he bowed his head. "Thank you for your help. Go join the others. And stay safe."
"Wait."
Your eyes flickered about the space, as if you could see- no- as if you could feel through the walls, sense everything on every level of the hospital. Atomic glowed, travelling through every seemness of energy he could find. It took you a moment to realize he was afraid. It took you not even a second to realize why.
"Tomura," you breathed, snapping to face Endeavor. "He's here."
***
"Get moving! Don't hold everyone up would ya!?"
Bakugo rounded up civilians with the rest of his class. Deku and Todoroki stayed close, helping the elderly onto shuttles that would round them out of the city.
He wasn't stupid. He knew something was coming. Something bigger than any of them. This wasn't some field trip or training exercise.
When Endeavor separated you from him, worry fluttered in his chest, sat there as an ache not knowing if you were safe or not. His faith eleveviated that hurt only for so long as he stared over the mountain sides, in the direction of the hospital.
"Here you are ma'am, watch your step." Deku did all he could.
No one in the city was panicking because everything was going according to plan. 1-A was used to the pressure, the pros as their side helping as much as they could.
The sun stayed high in the sky, illuminating what was soon to be a city with no casualties. The thought calmed his nerves as the boy jumped around, making sure streets were empty.
He checked on Uraraka, Todoroki, Tsu, Bakugo even. They all seemed fine enough, Bakugo a bit on edge as always, but he was doing his job.
It was fine. Whatever was happening, they'd get everyone to safety and then themselves and the pros would take care of the problem in no time.
That feeling of fine didn't last long. As Deku smiled at his working team, a wave of dread crawled up his spine, sent a shiver through him.
He's coming. Something said, inside his heart, inside his mind, like a flurry of electricity. Deku froze, All for One flickering beneath his skin.
"Thank you so much, young man!" Bakugo helped an old woman onto the shuttle with a group of elderly. "Here," she said, handing him a pastry. "Have a chocolate bun,"
The boy rolled his eyes.
"That'll just make my mouth dry! Forget that crap and get going!" He waved them all on, Todoroki flicking his shoulder.
"Bakugo, be nice."
"You just want a freakin bun for yourself, don't you!?"
Todoroki didn't answer, instead furrowing his brows at the sight of his friend all frozen up in the center of the street.
"Midoriya?" He called, stepping up to his side. "What is it? Are you alright?"
He's coming! Deku gasped, a voice yelling inside his head, one he didn't understand. You have to stop him!
One for all? No it couldn't be. The users only ever spoke to him in his sleep, otherwise it was through feelings and urges. This sounded like a voice in his head. Someone he'd never known, but felt like he knew.
Atomic?
An earthquake like rumbling shook the earth. It came from the mountainside. Sounds like claps of thunder and newborn avalanches.
Everyone looked to the horizon, up. Where the sound originated.
"The hospital," Deku breathed, stepping back as people began whispering to one another. Their walking turned into running as they rushed to the shuttles. There were still more people left to evacuate. But Deku couldn't move a muscle. He could only stare as he felt One for All seize his body.
Bakugo and Todoroki stared at the same sight. The hospital was a singular building. It lied on higher ground, looking down at the city's scenery. It was an old thing, stone built, reinforced on the inside, surrounded by greenery. From their distance, it didn't seem like much more than a dot so far away.
Y/n, Katsuki thought, his hand trembling at his side, the ominous feel of quiet washing over in aftershock.
You were in there. Endeavor was in there. So was Aizawa and so many other heroes.
After those sounds from hell, silence spread thin over the land, a soft breeze that smelt of stone and fire casting back Deku and Bakugo's hair. That silence didn't last either.
When the earth around it began to cave in, crumble, a line of destruction trailing down the hill like a string pulled taut, panic spread with it.
Suddenly, everything was turning to dust. Everything.
"Everyone run South! Now!" Burnin' called, her interns still frozen in place finally moving at her order.
This wasn't an earthquake, nor an avalanche. Everything decayed beneath their feet, a power unlike anyone had ever seen taking the stage. The noise was deafening, screams of citizens running away at the sight was barely audible over buildings beginning to fall, dust rising, the wind betraying its heroes as it spread the contents through the air...
***
Tomura had undergone weeks of agony. He'd been submerged in a tank, drowned, brought back, and drowned again. Now, he floated there, in the doctor's god forsaken labratory, a mask to supply him oxygen was he slept, All for One's quirk slowly transferred to his consciousness.
When Miruko found the lab within the hospital, hundreds of Nomus were set free. Endeavor and other heroes followed in suit to protect her, but their strength was hard to match.
It was only when you set foot in the lab and Tomura was woken up that everything went to hell. It was the second your eyes met. Red meeting the emptiness of gray. You and Tomura stared at each other. And then the world began to crumble...
Atomic! You called, everything shaking around you.
You were blinded, so much dust rising to the skies, the sounds of an earthquake making your ears bleed.
Heroes started to run the other way, grabbing whoever they could save, taking to the skies, doing anything to stay alive as everything destructed bit by bit. You were isolated.
I'm here! Atomic called, as if out of breath, trembling with fear.
He'd mapped the whole hospital, but everything was decaying too quickly for him to correct while staying present. He could barely even track the particles in the air with so much dust. Everything was too much. Tomura's presence, the heroes yelling, the people screaming, the city down bellow seconds away from imminent danger- what was he supposed to do!?
Calm down, you said, standing still, breathing steady. Calm down, I'm here too.
Endeavor got separated from you from the shockwaves. Aizawa and Present Mic were knocked back too. Miruko had gone. All you could see were Tomura's eyes staring back at you, more power behind them than ever before.
Did you see Tomura?! You asked, the faint image of his back still in your mind before everything combusted.
It's not Tomura! It's All for One! It's too strong! It's All for One!
It was like an explosion radiated off Tomura's body when he was pulled from the tank. Now that he had All for One in his veins? His aura overshadowed even Atomic's. The power whimpered, feeling small, as if he would be eaten alive by the very quirk that first tried to take him.
He's not too strong! You corrected, seeing flashes of the man who made you kill, the man who took your brother and made him into a monster, the man who made a power who only wanted a name into such a fearing creature. You saw him in Tomura's eyes when he was pulled from the tank and you saw him now flying in the dust. He's weaker than you think. Remember that he needed you. He still needs you. That means you're stronger than that stupid quirk of his!
All for One made me. Atomic cried, wrapping your body in that protective sheath to keep any debris or force from moving you. The hospital had yet to completely crumble, but it was close. He created me-
No! He didn't! You already existed Atomic. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. He may have put the pieces together, but you're your own being. Everyone always says I can't personify you because you're just a quirk, but you're not. I'm quirkless. Tenko and I were both born quirkless. You're as much a person as every past user of One for All, okay? You have a name. I gave you a name!
Atomic froze at your words. If he had a body- it would be tear-stained, shaking in fear perhaps, cowering- but it would also feel warm in the heart. It would be hugging you, shielding you from whatever danger came your way.
But I failed you... The power spoke. I failed Nana.
People fail everyday. For a moment, even as everything felt like it was decimated- even as dust, dying trees, walls and floors torn apart, and rubble turned to ash in the wind- you felt as if Atomic stood right in front of you. I still have faith in you. Just like you have faith in me.
This is your chance, Atomic. You said, cupping the energy's face in your hands, remembering the first time you reached up and felt his color. You don't have to hate or fear All for One anymore. We can defeat him. You and I. Together.