Chapter Text
Izuku has no idea where he is. He’d been on a team mission with his guild party, but he’d looked away for just a second and they were gone.
At first, he thought that maybe they were playing a joke on him. After all, they were an established party and he was the newest to join. But trying to contact them did nothing.
Now, he has nothing to do but wander with no destination. It doesn’t take long until he can’t even pinpoint which direction he’d come from.
The dungeon isn’t incredibly dangerous, but Izuku is just a healer. He’d been brought along for support but what is he supposed to do when there’s no one for him to support?
He pulls at his turquoise hair and sighs. Maybe it’s simply time for him to find a rock to sit on and give up? He has some food but it definitely won’t last him more than a few days.
But the last thing he wants to do is just give up! This was supposed to be his fresh start! He wanted to become a great healer and learn how to support people well.
Also, dying because of starvation would be so boring.
Before he can hit the hay, he hears a grunt come from the distance. He sprints off in its direction and looks everywhere to try and find where it came from. However, there’s only silence on his path forward and no hint of the noise or what had made it.
He enters a makeshift gateway between two enormous rocks that are both larger than him. Izuku doesn’t want to think about what would happen if they suddenly fell on him.
Past them is a long tunnel that’s rippled along the bottom. The pathway is damp with small pools of water. As he hurries through, small drops of water fall onto his shoulders. Izuku just shakes it off and continues on.
There’s another grunt and he tries to go faster. But speed has never been his strong suit.
Yet, his efforts are not in vain as he does reach the source eventually. He finds a boy with light orange hair which is held back in a spiky ponytail. He’s dressed in barbarian attire.
The boy is in battle and holding off a dragon with his long, flat sword. The dragon is around eight feet long and standing on its hind legs. It has two bright green crystals right below its eyes. The boy is laying on his back and the dragon's front talons are pressed against his blade.
Izuku is barely thinking when he runs in and steps in between the two of them. He’s done a lot of strength training so he manages to shove the dragon just a bit. It’s enough for him to pull the boy up and get him to a safe distance. However, Izuku is not left completely spared.
The dragon’s talon has scratched down his arm – it left a bloody mess of flesh and muscle. He doesn’t let it phase him and casts a few healing spells in a row. Then he looks at the boy he pulled out from there. He doesn’t look happy.
“You’re a healer but you don’t know how to properly support? Seems pretty useless to me,” he snarks.
“Hey,” Izuku snarks back, “I could have left you for that dragon back there, but I didn’t. Sorry I’m not ‘perfect,’ it isn’t like I’ve had a lot of time with this title,” he scowls.
The boy groans, “So you’re a total fucking greenhorn? Figures. No wonder you ran in like that.”
Izuku grits his teeth, “Is this really the time to be arguing about this? I’m gonna guess you’re a warrior? How about I cast some buffs on you, then you attack again. Even though I’m a healer, I can still support you in other ways.”
“Tch, doubt it. I don’t need your stupid fucking buffs, I can do this alone.”
“Yeah, and that’s why you’re three seconds away from keeling over,” Izuku mutters under his breath before casting a few healing spells on him as well as strength and speed buffs. With that, at least he’ll have a chance against the monster.
The guy barely recognizes what Izuku did before he takes off after the dragon, he leaves a cloud of dust in his wake and Izuku futilely tries to shoo it away so he can watch the fight.
He takes a few steps closer and gets the chance to clearly see what the boy had taken into the fight. Like most barbarians, he’s shirtless. But much of his skin is covered by the red cape swinging behind him. It’s a wonder that the dragon hasn’t used the cape to throw him against a wall. Along his belt, there’s a few pouches – of what, Izuku remains clueless about.
The barbarian is running circles around the dragon, but has only landed one or two efficient hits. Even still, Izuku can tell that it won’t be enough at this rate. He may be new to healing, but he’s no stranger to battle.
Izuku grabs a long dagger from his boot and heads closer to the battle. With his blade, he won’t be able to do much. But all he needs is to give the other guy an opening. Hopefully, he can distract the dragon for long enough.
With that resolve, he enters in while the dragon is facing away from him. When the barbarian takes note of him, he looks angry but Izuku doesn’t really care. It’s not like he has much to lose. He’s only been in his guild for a week and has yet to make any friends. He certainly doesn’t have a death wish, but he’s quite apathetic about his current situation.
His shoes barely make a sound as he slides over the dirt floors towards the dragon. The warrior is stuck using his sword as a makeshift shield once again – it’s the perfect time for Izuku to make for the dragon’s belly.
He sidles up to the giant lizard and, about two feet below where its unmoving wings attach to its body, Izuku jabs in his blade. He barely makes it an inch past the scales but he’s proud to have made it even that far.
His plan was successful and the dragon rears its head in a roar before turning to snap at Izuku. Even with teeth coming, Izuku keeps his calm and backs up. His instincts easily take over.
The dragon swipes at him and the warrior takes that as his chance to strike. When the dragon reaches out its front arm, the warrior goes under and positions his sword. A combination of the warrior’s strength and the dragon’s natural descent downwards has the blade sinking into its soft belly.
The whole body shudders and the dragon falls downwards. The barbarian shrugs off the weight and backs up. Izuku is lying on the ground at this point, clutching his scratched torso. They both watch as the dragon’s bright scales fade to a dull color as the temperature leaves its body quickly.
The scratch on his torso isn’t truly worth healing at all, but he goes through with it anyway before he sits up.
Meanwhile, the barbarian goes over to the body of the dragon and yanks out the green crystals beneath the eyes. Izuku expects him to take both of them for himself but instead he chucks one of them at Izuku. He fumbles with the crystal for a bit before it comes to a rest in his hands. Looking down at it, the power of the crystal becomes apparent.
The blonde wastes no time in absorbing the crystal into his chest, an orange glow coming from where it made contact with his skin. He knows barbarians don’t have easy access to magic – only able to get it from these magic crystals – so it’s a rare sight. It barely takes the man any time at all to position his sword and in a quick swing the sword turns a bright red. Orange lightning trickles up his arm for a second before disappearing. The sword stays hot. When he slices at the dragon’s corpse, it easily cuts through the scales and Izuku can smell the flesh burning.
That was pretty sick.
Wasting no time, he absorbs his own crystal and feels a boost of energy.
But other than that energy, he can’t notice any difference or feel out any possible abilities. Maybe he’ll just have to wait to notice them?
“I’m Ka- fuck, Kohaku,” he corrects himself, almost giving up his True Name.
Izuku smirks up at him, “Who’s the green horn now, Kacchan ?” he teases.
Kohaku looks like he wants to kill Izuku, “If you use that in front of anyone, I promise that I will kill you,” he threatens. Izuku finds he likes teasing Kohaku.
“Fine, fine. I get it,” he assures the other, “I’m Denshi, by the way.”
Kohaku scoffs, “You’re more like a Deku than anything, useless ,” he spits out.
Izuku grits his teeth but doesn’t let anything show on his face, “Whatever you say Kacchan, but don’t expect me to ever heal you again with that attitude.”
“Well don’t expect me to ever ask for it! You healers are all the same, dependent and needy.”
Soon after that, he decides that he should just leave. His party has vanished into the mist, probably dead, and he has no other reason to stay here. He’d leave the dragon corpse to Kohaku to reap the benefits and start over. A new, stronger, party would likely serve him better. Maybe he’d actually make a friend.
However, once he leaves, it isn’t long until he hears footsteps chasing after him. But when he looks back, Kohaku is walking at a steady pace, “Aren’t you gonna strip the dragon for parts?”
Kohaku shrugs, “I got a few, but scales are in low demand right now.” Izuku doesn’t necessarily keep track of stuff like that but figures Kohaku has no reason to lie to him. “And,” the blonde keeps talking, “it’d be pathetic if you died while leaving the dungeon.”
“Who’s the needy one now? I think I’ll be fine on my own,” Izuku says confidently and keeps walking. Kohaku has come to a stop behind him and Izuku wouldn’t be surprised if he got a bit emotional about this interaction but the barbarian catches up with not much emotion shown on his face.
Until, “Your blue hair is stupid,” is all Kohaku says.
Izuku whips his head around to stare at Kohaku, “I didn’t exactly pick it out myself? Jeez, you’re impossible.”
The rest of the walk out of the dungeon is relatively quiet up until they reach the last room. It’s a large hall with barely any light shining. Kohaku has his sword bright red to light the way but it doesn’t do much.
Izuku’s ears pick up something and his head shoots in its direction, “Did you hear that, Kacchan?”
“There’s nothing there. Maybe your big dumb elf ears are just being stupid.”
Izuku narrows his eyes and glares at Kohaku, “Is all you’re capable of being rude?” he barks at him. It was a mistake because out of nowhere a small monster comes up and latches onto Izuku’s arm, refusing to let go – attempting to get as much blood as possible. Izuku grabs its furry body and yanks it off. It leaves him with a long, deep gash from where the teeth pulled against his skin. He lets out a hiss from the pain but before he can cast a spell to heal it, there’s a flicker of green lightning around his whole body and the skin knits itself together.
“Damn, that could be a handy skill,” Kohaku admits and Izuku would agree if he couldn’t already heal himself.
He hadn’t heard of any skill like this before. Sure he was new as morning light, but a skill that worked automatically was nigh unknown. Even Kohaku, with his fiery sword skill, had to activate it by himself.
Automatic effects only ever came from equipment. He doesn’t think anyone would believe him if he told them this was a skill. Maybe joining a new party wouldn’t be as easy as he had hoped.
“Deku, it’s about time,” Kohaku yells at him.
Izuku just hangs his head and walks over to the idiot he’s been doomed to work with, “Yeah, yeah. Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready, what took you so long anyway?”
Izuku wonders if he should tell the truth. He’s been gone from the town for around half a week with little warning, “I was on a trip visiting my mom,” he settles on. It’s not a lie. But he’s definitely leaving a bit out. Like about Toshinori…
“Oh,” Kohaku seems a bit subdued for a rare second, “Is she okay?”
“Hmm? Yeah, she’s fine. I just hadn’t seen her in a while.”
“Are you close with your parents?” Izuku finds himself asking. Kohaku doesn’t strike him as that type of person. He seems like he grew up independent and like he’d leave the house the second he could. But Izuku hardly knows the guy so, who knows?
“Closer than I want to be. That surprise you or something?”
Izuku can’t hide the smile that comes on his face, “Only pleasantly.”
Kohaku’s face goes red and Izuku laughs, just a little bit. In seconds, Kohaku has tackled Izuku and puts him in a headlock. One of his hands is firmly grabbing Izuku’s ponytail and it almost tickles his scalp, “You little fucker, I’ll get you back one day.”
Izuku squirms out of Kohaku’s grip and puts his arms up as a surrender, “I give, I give. I promise, I think it’s sweet that you visit your parents, Kacchan. You’re just too cute sometimes,” he says lightheartedly. It’s true. When he manages to tease Kohaku, the barbarian’s hair sticks up in anger and he’s very quick to blush.
“You idiot. Ugh, are you ready or not? Let’s get this stupid fucking mission over with,” Kohaku grumbles while walking away.
Izuku quickly catches up to walk side by side with his unwilling partner, “Hey, at least there’s a good reward! How do you wanna split it, anyway?”
“You can take all the stupid elf shit and I’ll take the gold,” Kohaku barks with a grin.
He’s more fine with his deal than Kohaku likely expected. The ‘stupid elf shit’ is all stuff he can use to boost his magic but there’s also something to help him with strength and stealth, “Sounds good to me. Now, let’s kick this ogre’s butt!”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Izuku yells in frustration.
Beneath him, Kohaku chuckles dryly, his voice comes out hoarse and there’s blood trickling from his chin, “Haven’t heard you say that before,” like he thinks it’s amusing.
“You idiot, I can’t believe you’re laughing right now. And why did you take that hit? It was coming towards me!” Izuku laments. At least he has an automatic healing factor. Kohaku doesn’t have anything like that. And now, Izuku bites his lower lip as he looks down at the damage. There’s a giant puncture wound in the lower right of his abdomen. It’s gruesome and hard to look at – it pushes Izuku to use more of his magic. As much as he can.
It isn’t working. At this rate, Kohaku will die.
They had gotten too cocky. Both of them had been rushing through quest after quest – pushing each other to their limits and never faltering in the face of monsters. Izuku had become something of a tank with how much he’d improved his healing factor (which of course was a result of getting hurt so much) and Katsuki’s blade could cut through anything and leave some nasty damage behind.
The two of them worked like a well oiled gear, picking up where the other lacked and always focusing on the goal. But then, of course, Kohaku had to go and fuck everything up. Izuku could have healed from this!
If there was just something more he could do…
“If you die on me, there’ll be no stopping me from hunting you down in your next life,” Izuku threatens. It doesn’t go over as he thought it would.
Kohaku just smiles and grabs at Izuku’s hand, “You better,” he grins.
Izuku gasps at the contact. He knows what to do. The magic surrounding his hands comes to life with green lightning even though he’s not injured. Kohaku’s hands light up similarly with orange sparks. The glow is reflected in Kohaku’s wide eyes, “What are you doing?”
Kohaku attempts to pull his hand away from Izuku but the elf’s grip is too tight, “I have no idea, but I sure hope it works,” is all he says before pushing his magic even harder. The sparks grow stronger and Izuku watches in amazement as the wound begins to close. However, the daggers Izuku keeps pinned all over his body are starting to heat up and burn him.
He doesn’t stop.
At this point, their two skills are so highly charged and wrapped around them that Izuku can almost sense that they are being pulled together. At the very least, it looks like Kacchan’s face is getting closer so maybe Izuku is the one moving towards his friend?
He presses his hands against where the puncture wound had been. Kohaku’s armor is still messed up so it’s easy to find. Otherwise, Izuku might not have been able to find it because the skin is completely sealed back together aside from a slight pucker of the skin.
“This is crazy. How do you feel, Kacchan?”
Kohaku lets out a laugh and it’s as strong as always, “I’m fine, you fucking maniac. I can’t believe you took out that Naga all by yourself.”
Izuku wants to cry but he refrains and snipes back at his friend, “It was easy once you were out of the way, Kacchan,” he jokes. But really, he barely remembers the experience. It had been mostly adrenaline and his regeneration that kept him going. There were a few close calls here and there but Kohaku had been the only thing on his mind. He couldn’t lose him here.
Kohaku wastes no time in sitting up and punching Izuku’s arm in a playful manner. However, Kohaku is strong enough that it makes Izuku sway with the force. The squat isn’t exactly his most stable of positions. Izuku is the first to stand up and he offers his hand to Kohaku.
The barbarian hesitates before putting his hand in Izuku’s. The elf pulls on his arm and Kohaku is finally standing up again. It seems nearly impossible that he actually recovered from that. Izuku supposes their skills are pretty special.
“Let’s get out of here,” Izuku says, and Kohaku leads the way out.
It’s late and the town is nearly empty. Most everyone – adventures and townspeople alike – have gone to bed. The only people who are up are at the pub. Izuku has no idea if Kohaku is there, but out of boredom he decides to go. Usually, Kohaku is an early sleeper but at the very least he could maybe find some interesting conversation with someone.
He enters the pub and his eyes immediately start looking for orange hair. There’s another elf sitting at the bar but no barbarians in sight. Izuku’s shoulders slump but he walks in anyway. You can always find out useful information at the pub. Maybe he could find a good next-quest for him and Kohaku.
He finds an empty table and sits himself down. With how crowded the pub is, it’s inevitable that someone will come to sit with him. Before that, however, Izuku orders a pint and tries to relax. Obviously, the alcohol doesn’t affect him, but it definitely helps him blend in.
Within minutes of getting his drink, a large orc comes to sit next to him, “You’re certainly a new face around here,” he says. His voice is gruff and it sounds like he desperately needs to clear his throat. Is he purposely making his voice lower? Izuku has to wonder.
“Haha, yeah, I guess I am,” Izuku says, “Do you come here often?”
The orc leans closer – he towers over Izuku – and huffs, “I’m here every night.”
For a second, Izuku is a little bit bewildered by the orc’s actions. Is he trying to hit on Izuku? If so, he’s being very clumsy at it. But that also means Izuku could potentially milk him for information, “Oh, really? So you must hear a lot of interesting things, huh?” Izuku asks, feigning interest and making his voice a bit higher.
Izuku doesn’t understand why adventurers ever try to get together, it never ends well. But, he supposes that being with Kohaku wouldn’t be the worst. Though they started out their partnership at each other’s throats, they’d grown into a fond rapport. And behind Kohaku’s prickly exterior, there might be someone as soft as his nickname implies.
The orc falls for his feigned interest hook, line, and sinker. “You wouldn’t believe half the shit I’ve heard,” the orc brags. Izuku leans in closer, his arms, resting on the table, “But groups of adventurers have been going missing in search of this sword. It’s guarded by a horde of goblins and a demon king called ‘All For One.’”
“Woah, that’s some pretty wild stuff. What’s so special about this sword anyway?”
“Other than how impossible it is to get?” The orc barks out a laugh, but Izuku doesn’t think it’s very funny, “They say it has some deep lore around it, you know how these adventurers get – they’ll jump at the slightest hint of any possible clues.”
Izuku laughs, high and airy, as if he isn’t one of those adventurers. He’ll definitely say that his interest has peaked, “Do you know where it is?”
“You aren’t thinking of going are you? A small thing like you would barely last a second against All For One,” the orc says.
Izuku shakes his head and waves his hands, “What, of course not. I’m just curious,” Izuku insists.
“It’s on Might Mountain, in a kind of hidden place but,”
“The fuck are you doing here, Deku,” Kohaku growls from behind him, seemingly coming from nowhere. His partner’s hand has slammed down on the table and he’s leaning over Izuku’s back. Kohaku’s necklace brushes against his neck.
“Ka- Kohaku, I thought you were asleep and I got bored,” Izuku says.
“Don’t assume stupid shit, you’re coming with me,” Kohaku snaps. He flips a coin onto the table to pay for Izuku’s drink before he yanks Izuku out of the chair and starts walking out of the pub.
The orc calls after them, probably complaining or saying something dumb, but Izuku isn’t focused on him. Instead, he’s looking at Kohaku’s determined face as they march out.
Kohaku keeps dragging him forward until they’re at the edge of the forest. Just far in enough that no one will hear or approach them, but not so far that any monsters will attack. “Since when do you go to the pub, Deku?” Kohaku demands to know.
Izuku just shrugs, “I dunno, I was bored and you’re usually asleep by now. Why do you even care? I got some pretty good information and could’ve gotten more had you not pulled me away!” Izuku says. Kohaku seems to have a talent for riling him up and it’s shining through now more than ever.
Kohaku sputters for words, “I care because-“ He looks into the forest and doesn’t continue. Izuku doesn’t know if he wants him to. “Fuck, it doesn’t matter. What were you and that damn ogre even talking about?”
“A secret quest! But apparently, everyone who takes it on ends up dying,” Izuku says, pursing his lips. It’d be tempting if he wasn’t so scared to lose Kohaku. Kohaku was his first friend here. He knew that the bond they had was one that couldn’t be replicated with anyone else.
“We should do it,” Kohaku asserts.
Izuku is bewildered. He knows Kohaku is bold and sure the quest sounds interesting, but they could lose each other as a consequence. And what then?
“Kacchan,” Izuku starts, his voice wobbles, “If we do it- I can’t lose you.”
“Then we’ll share our True Names. What can we lose then? Even if we die, though we’ll come back differently, I know I’ll be able to find you. No matter what,” Kohaku says. He’s leaning against a tree with Izuku trapped in the middle.
Izuku whines, low and needy, he’s embarrassed by the sound but he focuses on Kohaku’s eyes. They burn so strongly and he seems so confident, “I want to, but-“ he sighs. The first and last time he told someone his True Name, it didn’t go well. To say the least, they harassed him. “The chances of finding each other is so slim – some would say it’s impossible. It could take years.”
“Can you just trust me?”
Izuku’s lips stay shut. He’s been hurt so much, but what he has with Kohaku is new. He’s never felt this way before. It’s like something out of a fairy tale book. But he’d also thought that about the last person.
“Let’s do the stupid quest, okay? And if things get hairy, we’ll tell each other.” Izuku promises.
“Then when should we do it? Cautious little fucker,” Kohaku mutters.
“Tomorrow. Because after that, I’ll be gone for a bit again.”
His nerves are making him shaky but he nods his head, determined. They can do it.
And if they can’t, he’ll just have to trust Kohaku to find him.
The dungeon is layered. There are rooms upon rooms leading to the final boss. Each room would close off the entrance the second they stepped foot in – essentially trapping them every step of the way.
He and Kohaku take their time. They make sure to catch their breath every time they finish a room and are meticulous about collecting all of the loot left behind. They don’t dare approach the dead bodies of past adventurers or strip them of their accessories. It is a surprisingly common (and awful) practice among adventurers.
The extra time they take also gives Izuku time to regenerate and heal Kohaku. Though the other adventurer often tries to resist the healing, telling Izuku to save his energy, the elf tends to worry a bit too much.
However, the whole time there is a slight tension hanging above them. Their True Names are on the line here. Izuku has felt Kohaku’s eyes on him the whole time as if he was making sure that Izuku wasn’t going anywhere.
Now, more than ever, Izuku’s heart is beating faster in the company of his friend. And it isn’t just because of the never ending battles.
His hands are sweaty – making his daggers harder to hold – and his throat is dry – which makes it hard to call out to Kohaku during battle. Suffice to say, his feelings were making everything ten times more difficult.
It was fine to struggle with it on his own, but then Kohaku, of course, had to make a comment about it, “Is something up? You’re not nerding out over all this stupid shit. I’ve counted seven All Might references that you’ve barely glanced at.”
They’ve just finished their battle with Shigaraki Tomura. A battle so difficult they had to be nearing the end of the dungeon. It was also the first human villain they’d encountered in a dungeon before. He’d made a big deal out of making sure he prevented the rise of the next All Might (impossible, no one can match All Might).
“I guess I’m just worried about what’s to come,” he says. Izuku’s not sure if coming out with his true feelings would be wise, so he leaves it at, “I like what we have now, but I’m getting this bad feeling that the next battle is going to mess it all up.”
Kohaku stops his task of removing all the hands from Shigaraki’s corpse; he’s putting all of them into a large sack just in case they have loot inside of them. “Would that be so bad?” he snaps.
Izuku sighs, “No,” he says honestly, “But it still scares me.”
It seems that neither of them know what to say to that.
After a few seconds of silence, Kohaku makes a decision, “No matter what the fuck happens next, I’ll tell you my True Name by the time we’re done with this dungeon.”
“What?” Izuku half yells, “Kacchan, that’s,”
“I don’t give a shit. You’re too weak to ever use it against me. And if you try, I’ll just beat your nerd ass to the ground.”
Izuku giggles, “I guess Kacchan is pretty strong,” he jokes. Kohaku puffs up his chest as if Izuku needs any extra proof. Just by listening to Kohaku’s voice, it’s obvious how strong he is.
Kohaku grabs the rest of the grabable loot from Shigaraki and then ties the bag up. It’s swung over his shoulder but Izuku knows he’ll drop it when the second battle begins. “You ready, nerd? Or are you actually gonna do your usual inspection to make sure you didn’t miss any lore?”
The elf swallows down his anxiety and saddles up next to Kohaku, “I’m always ready!” he cheers.
Kohaku scoffs at his mirth and they go to the exit. It’s a huge set of double doors. They each grab one of the handles and it glows green and orange at their contact. Pulling it open reveals a great hall – one that doesn’t seem architecturally possible. The space almost looks infinite. Is this caused by magic?
There’s a gust of wind that pushes them in and Izuku stumbles forward but doesn’t fall. Next to him, Kohaku has also managed to keep his balance. The doors slam closed behind them but they manage not to flinch at the force. The same wind that had urged them forward caresses Izuku’s face and encourages him to look up.
Floating high in the room is what must be the root of the problems. His face above his mouth is a deformed mass of skin and he has two horns sticking out from his head signifying that he’s a demon. There’s a wicked grin carved out of his mouth and he beckons them to approach.
The two adventures get into a fighting stance and prepare to charge. Yet, as the demon is so high up, they are stuck unable to make the first move. Izuku can already tell that it’ll be a precarious fight.
Kohaku moves forward closer to the demon and Izuku follows close behind – his daggers ready at his side.
When the demon makes his move, it’s a harsh and brutal attack.
Izuku understands why so many adventures fell to this demon with every attack. The demon has an arsenal of magic at his command and can use it flawlessly. Izuku tries to taunt the magic into coming towards him, with his regeneration there isn’t a lot that can truly hurt him. Meanwhile, Kohaku attacks every time their opponent strikes.
Halfway through the battle, Izuku can feel that they’re starting to make progress. It seems that the only magic the demon is lacking is healing magic, so every strike they land on him is there to stay. Izuku has also reconvened with Kohaku every so often to place a healing spell here and there.
Unfortunately, the demon has been taking note of that and stops directing his magic at Izuku. Instead, Kohaku is suddenly taking the brunt of the demon’s magic.
The two of them are separated when the demon takes his last stance – his last chance at success. He holds a broadsword high at his side and it’s aimed at Kohaku. There’s still quite a distance between them so Izuku takes off running at the same time and positions himself in front of his friend – his dagger in front of him.
The demon readjusts his stance at the sight of Izuku but the elf prepared for that as well. When the two collide, he manages to stick his dagger straight into the heart of the demon causing a fountain of that black blood to leak from his mouth.
But this collision is not his win. Because the demon’s broadsword has plunged straight into Izuku’s abdomen. Already, the elf can tell that the blade isn’t normal. He can feel an evil coursing through his body starting from where he was impaled.
The demon gives one last evil smile before falling backwards, pulling the sword with him to the ground. Izuku gets to watch the sword split in half before he falls backwards himself. Unlike the demon, he has someone to catch him.
Izuku ends up cradled in Kohaku’s arms. He looks up at the barbarian – the man’s orange hair is dirty and his face smudged with blood. But Izuku still thinks he’s beautiful. Izuku takes in the rest of his appearance and sees a gash of similar size to the blade in Kohaku’s stomach. Right, he had been behind Izuku. It makes sense that the elf wasn’t the only one affected.
The elf grabs hold of Kohaku’s wrist by instinct using the rest of his strength. His regeneration skill isn’t sparking at his own wound, but maybe he can use it on his friend, his partner.
“Deku, what the fuck are you doing. I’ll be fine,” Kohaku yells, trying to wrench his arm away to no avail. Izuku just mutters healing spells under his breath and watches as the green and orange lightning begins to surround the large gash on Kohaku.
His health is leaving him fast. Before he goes, he has to tell Kohaku his True Name. “Listen to me, you’re going to get out of here and then you can look for me, okay?” Kohaku is shaking his head frantically and cursing Izuku out all the while, Izuku pays them no mind, he knows how this will turn out. His skill wouldn’t work on him even if he tried. He can feel it, “But first, my name is I-“
“-zuku,” he says softly with no one to hear him. Because, on the screen, his character lays dead and a large ‘GAME OVER’ flashes on the screen.
How is he supposed to find Kacchan now?