Izukendo for prompt 17, please?
Prompt: “Stay With Me”[Aged up characters, character death, Angst]
It started with a smile. Kendo flashing a smile and raising her enlarged fist in a challenge. "Think you can keep up with me?"
And Deku smiling as he mimicked her gesture, "Guess we'll see."
It built on sweat and tears, camaraderie and friendship and saving each other's skin, smiles and quips and slowly circling closer and closer together.
It ended here: With Deku pushing his quirk too far against too many enemies. With Kendo having a broken leg, holding her arm that was bleeding from a bullet wound that canceled her quirk. With Deku bleeding and bruised; purple, red, blue, gasping out her name. "Itsuka."
She pulled herself to his side, more angry than sad and trying to hide it. "I'm here."
"I don't... I don't think..." his voice was small and pained. She'd never known Deku to be those things. Never knew him to give in to pain, even when he should, never knew him to be small. This was bad. He wanted her to know how bad it was, didn't want to say it. Despite his best efforts, Deku wasn't All Might. He wasn't invincible and it was too late to really learn that lesson.
"I know, I know," she told him. She wanted to punch something. The villain that shot her, the Nomu that pushed him too hard, herself for being careless, him for being reckless. But she wasn't even in the condition to make a decent fist.
Her eyes met his. She didn't know if he would make it. Didn't know if she'd recover in time to carry him, if she could make it on one leg. She tried not to frown, not to scream, to lock her frustration away. She was so angry! But that wouldn't help her right now and he didn't need that from her.
So she smiled as best she could and said, "Izuku."
"Stay with me?" he asked. Weak and vulnerable and hopeful.
Carefully, as gently as she could, she cradled his bruised hand in her own. "Always," she told him, because she wasn't sure she'd get another chance.
He smiled at her through bruises and pain. He didn't speak again, just closed his eyes, content with her presence and promise.
"Stay with me?" she whispered to him a few minutes afterwards, but she didn't get an answer.
