Word count: 840
Warnings: (Past) Major Character Death
Summary: At a time in his life where hope seemed to be a ghost of the past, Izuku stumbles upon a latent quirk that shows him another ghost.
Pairing: None (Platonic BakuDeku, for now at least)
Chapter 1
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“Deku! Oi, Deku! ... DEKU!!!”
A head of curly green hair suddenly jolted up only to be smacked with a thick manila folder stuffed full of official documents. Wincing at the pain he looked up to the now-familiar sight of the ghost of his childhood friend smirking down at him. It wasn’t hard to deduce that he’d fallen asleep at his desk yet again, what more with work on top of him this time. It’s wasn’t a rare occurrence.
“Finally,” Katsuki’s ghost breathed out a sigh, “You know it’s a miracle you made lead detective, even with my help.” The spirit shook his head before helping himself up onto the wooden desk feeling absolutely no remorse as he made more room for himself by sweeping off stray papers.
“Kacchan, it’s not fair that you criticize me for having a messy office when you make your fair share of the mess.” Truth be told there was absolutely no reason that paperwork was now strewn about. It had been discovered years ago that Katsuki could not only interact with simple objects in the living world but could also phase through anything he chooses.
“Think of it this way, it’ll get your ass out of that chair.” The other’s words were as smug as ever. All the Police Detective could do was sigh in response. He didn’t even get the chance to respond before his office door was being opened.
“Hey Midoriya, you up?” The sight of shoulder-length black hair, tied back in a small tail, came through the crack in the doorway. Red eyes caught sight of the detective sitting at his desk which prompted a sharp-toothed smile as he stepped into the office the rest of the way. Enter Kirishima Eijiro, head of the K-9 unit for the Musutafu police department.
“I'm up,” Midoriya responded, (making an attempt at) running a hand through his mess of hair, “Sorry Kirishima, I hope you weren't waiting for me to wake for long.”
“Don't sweat it,” The shark-toothed smile widened at that, “Everyone knows you work your ass off here every day. It's no problem if you ask me. I was just heading in this direction and was asked to hand off some files for you the tech guys pulled up. Wanted to make sure they made it inside your office at least.”
Izuku gave his thanks and took the requested information off the K-9 officer's hands. With that, they both parted ways with a promise to talk off the clock some other time. As soon as Eijiro was out of earshot the detective let out a held breath and his posture slumped as he relaxed. He set the new file of papers to go through aside before once again resting his head in arms he'd folded atop the desk.
“I had that dream again Kacchan,” He mumbled aloud. That in itself made the ghost freeze up. The two had this unspoken agreement between them not to talk about the day Katsuki had shown up again or the two-week-long gap between when the blond had died and when he came back. While they wouldn’t actively talk about it, both of them were well aware of how sensitive a topic that time, and dreams of it, could be even as a little over a decade had passed.
At a loss for words for once in his (after)life, Katsuki made no moves to reply in any way. The tense silence was only broken moments later when Izuku let out a breathy chuckle. “I’m glad Kacchan woke me when he did. It would have been bad if I’d been caught napping again.” It was what was left unsaid that they both knew mattered much more than being found sleeping on the job.
Katsuki had no memories when he’d first appeared. Seeing the look of confusion on the ash blond’s face at a, once, all too familiar nickname hurt Izuku almost as much as it had the day of the incident. Almost like losing Kacchan twice. Over time, he’d expected the apparition to simply disappear, thinking it was nothing more than an illusion his brain cooked up in a panicked attempt to bring him some sense of comfort. Only when the memories started slowly coming back months later did Izuku realize that not only was this real, but he finally found out that he wasn’t quirkless after all.
“Tsk, yeah well, leave it to a shitty nerd to keep hanging onto the past. I'm here now idiot; and it's not like I could leave, even if I wanted to.” The grumble and scowl on Katsuki hadn't changed, but the years had rounded out some of his edges. His vocabulary was one thing he stubbornly refused to change, even if he was getting better emotionally. Still, though he didn't say it explicitly, Izuku understood the meaning.
“Sorry, I know it's scary. But I'm here, and I don't want to go again.”
“Thank you Kacchan,” The smile shown to the specter may not have been the widest, but it was genuine. After resting in the soft atmosphere of the moment he picked his head up and set to work. He had mysteries to solve, people to find, justice to serve, and outlaws to arrest.
