Archive of Our Own ^beta

The first thing that you become aware of once your brain stops shaking in your head is that you’re on the floor. The hot, burning concrete of the sidewalk is covered in broken glass, and your legs are completely unprotected in this short skirt you’re wearing. 

Which is kind of a weird detail because when did you ever wear skirts like this? 

Whatever happens next is kind of a blurred sequence of events; being helped by pro heroes and then rushed to the hospital, having all your vitals taken and asked a bunch of questions that you can’t think of the answer to for whatever reason, hospital staff running around with notes and papers and bottled fluids as they throw around words like “slight concussion” and “amnesia quirk” and “unable to safely reverse” or something. 

How much of that pertains to you, you can’t be sure. But when they ask you if you know how to get home, and you name both your apartment near the university campus and your family’s address in your hometown, they tell you that you’re currently in neither of those places. In fact, you’re miles and hours away from either of those places. And the address listed on your ID card is one that you have never seen before in your life. 

Now you’ve got a few questions. 

The doctors have already deduced that you were hit by an amnesia quirk, but no one knows to what extent its effects are. So you try your best to get a grip on where you currently are in your life, mentally. 

Last you recall, you’re in the middle of your senior year in college, studying business and currently interning for a popular clothing brand company. And although it is a paid internship, you still have a part-time job at a bar on most weekends, and certain weeknights when you don’t have school the next morning. You’re currently living with one of your friends from school, Suzuki Elena, and your current boyfriend’s name is… Hiroki? Or wait, did you still have something going on with Ren? Shit, anyway— 

But apparently, none of those people were your emergency contacts on your file. They do manage to find someone who’s listed as your partner and lives in the city to contact, but the man who eventually comes to pick you up is definitely not anyone you know. 

And quite honestly, you don’t even know how you would know a man like this. He’s tall — that’s the first thing you notice, that he takes up the entire room with his height alone. His aura takes up something else entirely, what with his muscular body and powerful stride, he’s clearly someone who’s been through and knows a lot about life. 

And on top of all that, he’s pretty dang handsome. Even though he’s got more of a cute face with that smattering of freckles across his cheeks, he’s got a modelesque posture and muscles for days. But he still has kind, green eyes that show nothing but concern for you as he approaches you when you enter the lobby. 

“[Name]! Are you alright?!” He gasps, clutching your shoulders with a strong grip that you just know could easily crush you if he so chose to. “I— I heard you got hit with a quirk and now you… you have amnesia?” 

“Uh, yeah… That’s kind of the gist of it.” You shrug, unable to look Tall, Freckled, and Handsome right in the eye. “So, I don’t mean to be rude by asking this, but what is your name?” 

His face stutters for a second, blinking at you once before shaking it off and taking his hands off of you, “I see. So you don’t remember me? Like by name or face or anything?” 

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m guessing we must be pretty close if you were listed as one of my emergency contacts.” you say. 

“No, don’t be. I suppose it’s understandable for this specific situation. Though I’m just surprised that your amnesia seems to extend that far back.” He says thoughtfully, holding his chin. 

“Far back?” Your eyebrows furrow, “How long have we known each other?” 

“For about five years now.” he answers, “Two of which we’ve been dating for, actually.” 

“We’re dating? ” Your eyes widen and you can’t help how rapidly you’re blinking to process what you just heard, “Like you, and me. Are together. Romantically.” You gesture with your hands just to make it extra clear. 

“Yes, that’s right.” He chuckles, bright emerald eyes flashing with amusement, “My name’s Midoriya Izuku. Though you sometimes call me by my hero name, Deku.” 

“Hero name? You mean you’re a pro hero? ” You tilt your head in even more confusion. Is he lying to you? He could absolutely be lying to you since this is basically the first time you’ve met him, as far as you know. 

“Yeah, I am. We uh, we actually kind of met through my job. I had to save you from a collapsing building and then— well actually I didn’t remember that I saved you, but I happened to drop by a bar that you were working at at the time and you thanked me for saving you. So I guess that’s kind of the time that we ‘officially’ met since that’s what I actually remember— Not that you’re not memorable or anything! It’s just, you know, with being a hero sometimes all the people caught up in the fire kind of blur together, but yeah— anyway,” he finally takes a pause to clear his throat. Which you’re pretty thankful for because his words were starting to slur together with how quickly he was talking. 

“So uhm, yeah, well, I kept coming to the bar and we would talk and stuff and… yeah, I guess the rest is kinda history?” He smiles with a boyish shrug that is way too cute for a guy built with that many muscles. “You know, I guess if you include the part where you almost got killed one night because you were targeted when people thought you were my girlfriend — which you weren’t at the time, so I felt awful about you getting hurt because of a misunderstanding, but that kinda helped me realize that I did care a lot about you and well, yeah, you are my girlfriend now so all’s well that ends well, but uh— You… don’t remember any of this, do you?” 

No, you do not. Honestly, it all sounds batshit crazy to you. For all your life, even in a superhuman quirk-based society, you have never run into much drama or trouble. This all sounds like a whirlwind that doesn’t match up to the life you knew at all. The only part that sounds like it could actually be real is that he met you at the bar you work at. 

“It’s… a lot to take in.” you nod, trying to be understanding. But how can you truly understand that you met this smoking hot pro hero guy and almost got killed before you decided to go out with him through word of mouth? “Maybe uh, maybe I can like, I don’t know, go home first. See if my surroundings jog my memory or something like that.” 

“Yeah! Yeah, of course! Let’s go.” He leads you towards the hospital entrance before opening the door to a sleek, but compact sports car. Or what looks like a sports car, at least. You don’t recognize this logo at all. 

Midoriya chats your ear off for the next five minutes trying to verbally catch you up on what’s going on in your life, but it all just sounds like a cram session before an exam being narrated by a horse race commentator. 

From what you can gather of his babbling, you were actually hit by a child’s memory-altering quirk when he was scared by the villain that had been robbing a storefront. Supposedly, you ran in to protect him since his mother had her hands full with her other baby in a stroller. But when the villain broke a window, the boy screamed and his quirk activated and some other stuff happened that you couldn’t decipher from Midoriya’s rapidfire narration. 

Although he wasn’t the one present at the scuffle, it was another hero on patrol nearby who thankfully took care of everything. And from what he’s gathered, you were the only one who suffered any major damage from the incident. 

“The mother and child are answering questions for the police right now, but unfortunately, since the boy is still young and doesn’t have a firm grasp on how to use his quirk, everyone figured it would be best not to have him try to mess around even more with your memories.” He explained. “And no one in his family actually has a similar enough quirk to offer aid, either.” 

He also told you not to worry about work and that he called in to let your company know that you were caught up in a villain attack during your lunch break, and that you would likely need the rest of the week off because of your situation now. And that apparently you work for a hero support company now?? What happened to your business degree? Were you even using it? Also why did you even choose to move to a completely new city to work in what sounds like a totally different career than you had planned? How much time has passed from your senior year anyway?? 

“Uhm, Midoriya-kun,” you interrupt, “I’m sorry, but do you think you could… slow down a bit? That’s a lot of information and I still kind of feel like I just leapt through time, so… Yeah, just, one thing at a time. If you please.” 

“Right! Yeah, sure. Sorry.” He chuckles, squeezing at the steering wheel before taking a turn off of the freeway. “I don’t mean to keep rambling. I guess— maybe I’m just nervous. I feel like I’m trying to impress you all over again.” 

Now that’s something to think about. That this buff, handsome, pro hero guy is trying to impress you . Even if you don’t remember this guy or a thing about your relationship with him, he clearly has at least five years of history with you already. You almost feel bad for leaving him hanging in all of the memories he must have built with you. 

“Anyway! You can just take it easy for the rest of the day.” He says as he drives into a gated apartment compound and into the underground parking lot beneath one of the tall condominiums. 

“Okay.” you agree, looking this way and that to try and get an understanding of your surroundings. 

You really can’t stop looking as Midoriya leads you to the sleek elevator, through a nice polished hallway, and into a spacious and… colorful apartment. While most of the furniture is quite simple and warm and earthy, the walls are decorated in what looks to be hero art and merchandise. 

At least half of the space has this All Might theme going on, but there are several other colors splattered about the room too. Along with figurines, murals, and picture frames that incorporate what you’re guessing to be Midoriya’s hero persona. ‘Deku’ he had said. You’re guessing that some of them were probably just gifts or commissions from artists, seeing all the signatures turning up in the room. 

You’re wondering if Midoriya just brought you over to his place instead of your own, but there are clearly spaces all over the apartment that signify that someone else also lives here — probably you. The shoe closet on one side of the genkan holds more heels and boots and sneakers than you’ve ever owned in your life. And they’re rather different from your taste, so you’re wondering how your style has evolved over the years. 

When you check the bedroom closet, it’s kind of the same story. A lot of brands, styles, and colors that you wouldn’t have seen yourself wearing but you suppose are still nice in their own right. When you change into a simple t-shirt and shorts you find, you can at least give credit to your older self for picking good quality stuff. 

The bathroom also has a designated space for what you assume to be your skin care, makeup, towels, and robe. It’s a rather silky number that you would definitely have had to save up for if you were still in college. All the makeup is stuff you could never afford in these quantities either. You must either be balling with this career switch or you are actually a pro hero’s sugar baby… 

“Hey! So there’s still some leftovers from last night that you can heat up if you’re hungry.” Midoriya says from the kitchen when you return to the living area. “I actually have to get back to work but you’re obviously free to explore the house and see if you can ring any bells.” 

“Okay.” you nod, thanking him. 

“Alright, I’ll be back as soon as I can tonight. Take it easy, okay? I lov—” He moves in for what you think is supposed to be a kiss, but stops just before he can get too close and just squeezes your shoulder instead. Clearing his throat, he says, “I hope this won’t sound too weird for you, but I— I love you.” 

It definitely feels out of place, but when he says it with that handsome face of his, your body reacts anyway with the heat crawling up your face. “Y-Yeah, uhm. Thanks.” 

Smooth. 

“Thanks for… for bringing me here. And taking care of everything.” You reply, “I’ll try to see if I can regain my memories.” 

He smiles at you fondly before giving you one more squeeze on the shoulder and taking off. You hold your breath and stay frozen on your feet for another few seconds after he closes the door before sighing and starting your investigation. 

The first thing you do is dig around in your bag that Midoriya had carried up for you. There are a bunch of documents that you have no idea how to read, typical items like water, makeup, an umbrella, wallet, and— Aha! Your phone. 

First thing you see on the screen is a picture of you and Midoriya smiling into the camera with a sunny, warm background of what looks to be a bay behind you both. You have no idea what your passcode is, since the one you used in college doesn’t work, but luckily it unlocks with your fingerprint so you can at least dig around and see what’s going on in your digital circles. 

You try your emails first, since that’s put at the front of your homepage, but none of the subject lines make any sense to you, nor do the contents of the emails. So you just mark the ones you checked as unread again before going to check your social media. Only to find that most of your accounts are now private. 

Interesting… maybe it’s because you’re dating a pro hero and you want to keep all the pictures you posted of him and all these other people you don’t recognize out of the public eye? Not a bad move, future you. Privacy can be hard to maintain when you’re dating a public figure. 

Speaking of which, how popular is this guy anyway? You mumble out your search as you type it into your browser, “Pro… hero… Deku…” 

You get over a million hits right away, seeing that he has a website, several fan pages, a hero wiki page of his accomplishments and partnerships, countless news articles about him, and— 

‘Midoriya Izuku, best known by his alias Deku, is the current number one pro hero in Japan. Deku has been consistently ranked by the Hero Billboard Chart JP at the top spot since 20XX through cases solved, popular—’ 

You go back and reread that first sentence. 

‘Midoriya Izuku, best known by his alias Deku, is the current number one pro hero in Japan’ 

‘Midoriya Izuku, Deku is the number one pro hero in Japan’

‘The number one pro hero in—’ 

‘ Number one pro hero—’

Your phone lands on the floor with a heavy clunk as you blink and try to process it again . And then you’re running around the apartment in search of— in search of what? What kind of proof would he have in his own home about his hero status? 

When was Endeavor knocked out of the top hero spot anyway? Did he retire already? And what about all the other top twenty heroes that were lined up to take that spot next? 

After digging around in both his and your closets, the different rooms, the kitchen cabinets, the home gym, the home office, and still coming up with nothing incriminating, you return to your phone because you can’t get the password right on what you assume is your own laptop. 

The next hour is spent searching and scrolling for information to help you get an idea of what’s happening in the world. And holy fucking shit, has a lot changed. First of all, you seem to have lost at least six years’ worth of memories, judging by the time stamp of the last social media post you actually remember sharing. And secondly, all the photos saved in your phone since then seem to illustrate a fairly wild life compared to what you were living before. 

And oh— yup, it seems that you and Midoriya are definitely lovers judging by all the freaky videos and photos you have saved in a hidden folder. You feel like you’re being invasive as you play a video of him hammering you into a bed and kissing you like you’re a reverie, but— technically you’re not!! This is your phone and clear proof that he and you are really a couple. 

Still though, how you managed to trap a guy who’s supposed to be a number one hero, looks like that , and has a schlong big enough to be a weapon is… Yeah, clearly things have changed, and you’re going to have to figure all of that out. 

Several hours later, Midoriya returns to find you sitting at the coffee table with a bunch of photo albums and notebooks open as you flip back and forth between your calendars and diagrams to figure out how all your social circles connect and what you do for your job. “Hey,” he joins you on the floor and takes a look at your written list of friends, laughing, “Are you trying to study your own life?” 

“Well, yeah. There’s not much else I can do.” You sigh, sitting with your back against the edge of the couch, “I called my family earlier, and they helped a bit. Took a walk around the neighborhood too, but it still feels like my first time around here.” 

Midoriya’s chuckle is deep and warm, and it feels like it vibrates through you as he presses his arm against yours, “Well, it’s very like you to work your hardest at something even though you don’t understand it yet.” 

“I’m doing it to try to understand it,” you sigh, “But just seeing all the evidence and making the connections doesn’t mean that I can reform the memories out of thin air. I can see how close we’re supposed to be through the pictures, and the texts, and the way my family talks about us, but…” you trail off as you look over at him, trying to find something that you can grasp onto. Something, anything that makes a connection between him and you in your brain. 

“But you can’t feel it.” He finishes for you, sounding disappointed. 

“It’s not that I don’t want to!” You say immediately, “I do. I mean I really do want to piece together what’s happened in this whole time skip in my head. It’s just… none of this makes any sense to me yet.” You sigh as you sink a little deeper into the soft rug. 

“No, I understand. It’s no one’s fault, least of all your own.” He says, pausing before eventually deciding to place his arm around your shoulders, “Is this okay, at least?” 

His arm is thick and heavy with muscle, it warms your entire body even through both your clothes. And while this feels like it’s your first time being touched like this by a man who still feels like a beautiful stranger to you, it’s nice. He has a comforting presence. So, “Yeah. It’s okay.” 

“Great.” He smiles, voice melting as he scoots in closer, “Because I could really use a hug after the day we’ve had.” 

You can’t even begin to think of how to respond, so you just hum in agreement, leaning slightly into his embrace. For the rest of the evening, he asks you to lead him through your investigations, and he gives you his own summaries of events as you show him the different people and pictures you find on your phone. 

He helps you sign into your laptop and makes you laugh a few times with some of the outrageous stories he tells, though you’re honestly suspended even higher in disbelief as he talks about how you were involved in each story. How you seemed to get caught up in some of his friends’ antics as well as your own. As wild as it seems, it sounds like it’s a good time. 

But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re all stories to you. You don’t recall any of them, let alone feel like you were there for any of them. So after you both decide to call it a night and he invites you to bed, you pause at the door. 

“Uhm… Actually, would it be okay if I took the guest room for tonight?” You feel guilty for even asking. This man, whose life you’re a part of, and is probably used to falling asleep with you by his side every night, is looking at you with slight shock in his eyes. “Just! Just for tonight. I— You’ve been great to me, Midoriya-kun. I’m really thankful for that. But I still feel…” 

“No, it’s totally okay.” He reassures you, the flash of emotion in his eyes earlier nowhere to be found now. “I know this must still be pretty overwhelming. I wouldn’t want to force you to sleep with a stranger after you’ve just been thrust into what feels like a new life.” 

“You’re not— You’re not a stranger.” You try to say, but no one would be convinced with your delivery. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not upset.” He smiles, the freckles stretching across his face like little stars. “But why don’t I take the guest room? You can sleep in our room and see if it helps… trigger anything. Like a smell or a texture that might prompt some sort of familiarity.” 

“Are you sure…?” You ask. You’d feel bad for kicking him out of his own bedroom. 

“Yeah, it’s worth a shot, right?” He taps you gently on the arm before grabbing his clothes and things. Somehow, as casually as he goes about it, it still feels kind of sad to watch. He almost doesn’t look as tall as he did earlier. 

“M-Midoriya-kun.” You say, trying to think of something to say. Something that could reassure him. But you’re drawing up blanks as he turns around and just observes you with those bright, warm eyes. 

He walks up to you to hold your shoulder and place a soft kiss on the top of your head, “Don’t worry about me, okay? I’m here for you.” 

“O-Okay…” you whisper, unable to use your voice with his broad, hard chest just hairs away from your face. 

“I love you.” He murmurs, hugging you by the waist, your face actually making contact with his chest now. It’s as muscular as it looks, but still soft enough to cradle you.

“I— I uh—” You what? You love him too? You just met him! And as hunky and hot and sweet as he is, you still don’t really know him. That would be rude to say when you don’t actually mean it. 

“It’s okay.” He says, kissing your head again. And something about his voice makes your heart thump a little too hard against your chest. “I told you don’t worry about me. Take your time.” 

“Thank you… Midoriya-kun.” 

He chuckles as he finally lets you go, “Still not really used to hearing that.”

“What?” You freeze. That’s right, he’s your boyfriend. There’s no way that you’d still be calling him by his surname so formally at this point. But… making a switch doesn’t feel right. What did you even call him anyway? 

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” he waves it off, grabbing his clothes and walking into the hall, “Goodnight, [Name]. Let me know if you need anything.” 

“T-Thank you…” you say one last time before plopping onto the edge of the bed. 

Something tells you that this isn’t going to get easier. 

*

Over the next few weeks, you spend a lot of time just trying to learn about yourself through your surroundings. You go to your workplace, meet these people who laugh as they introduce themselves to you, even though you’ve supposedly been working together for a few years now. They try to show you the ropes of your job, tell you how you’re pretty good at it and apparently have a reputation for being crazy efficient. So while everyone is able to cover for you while you take a bit of leave, they certainly won’t be able to work at the same speed without you. 

As it turns out, you did find some use for your degree even though you’re now working in a hero support company because you help out with the business and logistics side of things. There’s still a lot of things that you don’t get, but everyone you seem to work with is quite nice and friendly. You apologize for inconveniencing everyone with your sudden leave of absence, but they all wave you off, telling you not to be so formal about it, and say they’ll try to meet you up for lunch sometime. 

According to your calendars, you also seem to do a bit of volunteer work as well, so you had to let those organizations know about your predicament. Luckily, you didn’t have a totally necessary role in all of them, so they would do fine without you for a while, but you’re almost surprised to find how embedded you are into these local communities. This city still feels completely foreign to you. 

You go out with Midoriya a few times to hang out at a bar or grab a meal with some of his friends, who you’re guessing are also your friends. And from all the stories Midoriya had shared with you about them, they at least seem to be true when you meet all his fellow pro hero friends in person. Everyone has this special aura of confidence about them, a charisma that you just don’t find in the average citizen, which is yet another surprising thing to you because you’re supposed to be friends with all these people too?? 

You even made a trip down to your hometown to try and jog a few more memories, but nothing has been coming to you outside of where you currently are mentally. You still have no idea what you did after graduating, no recollection of the stories your family tells you about the incident that led you to Midoriya, and you certainly had no idea they could be so approving of a partner you chose… 

They all love Midoriya, and are rooting so hard for you to get married at some point, which absolutely blows your goddamn mind because marriage ??? You still feel like you just met the guy! 

And even though that’s not the case, you can’t shake the feeling, so you have to break it to your family that marriage is not even on the table for the time being. It’s already hard enough to see how big your little cousins have gotten compared to the image you had of them in your head. And some of your older cousins have kids now??? So now you’re suddenly an aunt too?? 

It takes a while for everything to not feel like a constant whirlwind anymore. When you return to the city and tell Midoriya about it, he’s nothing but supportive, always offering you a distraction or some peace whenever you need it. 

Even though he’s actually not home all that often because of his job, he tries to be there for you as much as possible, calling you at least once a day to hear your voice or see your face through video. He still tries to slip in the ‘I love you’s but he’s become a little more sparse with them, probably trying not to overwhelm you or pressure you into a response. 

You appreciate it, you really do, but none of this changes how you really don’t feel any connection with the ‘you’ that you’re supposed to be in this timeline. It’s almost weird how absolutely nothing has sparked a memory for you yet. If you could at least recover one thing, even something small, then you’re sure that you could start to unlock more… 

But a good two weeks pass by and you’re still stuck in the same mental state as you were when you were hit with that quirk. Even with the doctor’s appointments and fMRI scans and searching for other professional solutions, you haven’t grown an inch from where you are. 

However, that can’t stop you from living the life that you’ve already set up for yourself, so you start trying to work again. You start with small tasks, learning from your seniors and your colleagues and sometimes even the interns that you had been training before all this happened. Little by little, you start to pick up on the rhythm of things, at least. 

You meet up with all the friends who message you, telling the same story over and over again about your memory loss, and listening to them talk about their relationship with you. Sometimes they even bring you to a place you would frequent together in hopes of helping you jog a memory or two, which you wholly appreciate but usually never gain much insight from. 

And things get kind of real when Midoriya asks you to visit his mother with him. It’s already a bit of a task to remind yourself every day that this guy is actually your boyfriend. But meeting his mother? Who you’ve apparently already known for several years now and get along really well with?? It’s beginning to hit you that this relationship really is quite serious. 

You feel kind of bad because you’ve still been kind of distant with Midoriya even though you let him put his arm around you, or sit pressed against your side, and even let him give you a forehead kiss or something. And you’re slowly getting used to it, but it’s still not completely natural to you yet. 

You can only hope that things aren’t as awkward with his mother. 

Luckily for you, they aren’t. Midoriya Inko is an absolute sweetheart with a smile even kinder than her top hero son’s. Now you know where he gets such a friendly face from. 

She feeds you generously and acts like everything is totally normal despite how this is kind of your first time meeting her. But with how warm and familiar she is, you can’t help but get comfortable. She clearly cares a lot for her son, and in extension, for you. And for the first time in a while, you don’t feel all that out of place. 

In fact, a few hours in, she’s broken out the baby albums, and you’ve both got your heads bent together over the adorable pictures of baby Midoriya, who was apparently an All Might fanatic since he could talk. 

“You know, he used to run to me every day after coming home from the park, begging me to turn on the computer to watch the same All Might video.” She chuckles after turning to a page that was just a collection of All Might fanaticism; Midoriya holding an All Might action figure, Midoriya wearing his All Might onesie, Midoriya showing off his All Might trading cards, posters, and cups. 

It’s kind of an adorably unexpected side of him, this little fanboy. It makes him feel more human than just the ‘Number One Pro Hero of Japan’ you’ve seen him as so far. 

“Mom, please…” Midoriya groans as he brings over a tray with the tea he was preparing. 

“Oh, it’s fine, Izuku. [Name]-chan already knew all of this and she was fine with it, so she might as well find out again.” Inko says before turning back to you, “After all, she’s still the same person, even if just a bit younger again.” 

“Thank you, Auntie.” You chuckle at Midoriya’s defeated sigh as he sinks down to sit on the floor adjacent to the coffee table, handing out the tea cups before taking a bite of a cookie he brought over. 

This is nice. It feels… not normal , per se, but relaxed. Like a rare chance to settle down and take a breath after such a chaotic few weeks of trying to relearn your entire life. You’re grateful to have this moment of reprieve before it all starts up again. 

“Oh! Look at this one!” Inko brings your attention to another page, where there’s a photo of Midoriya in his high school uniform, smiling nervously as he clutches onto the straps of his backpack. “This was just before the first day of school. What a whirlwind of a time that was!”

“Wow…” you blink at the awkward teenager in the photo. He’s almost completely indiscernible from the hulk of a man who sits on the floor beside you, or the undefeatable hero you’ve been researching on the internet, or the cheerful little toddler just a few pages back in this photo album. 

“I… kind of like this photo.” You say with a small smile.

“Oh, do you? He had a bit of a more unremarkable look during this time, though.” Inko says, although she looks down fondly at the photo. “Had to fight tooth and nail to be paid attention to.”

“I think that’s the charm of it.” You ponder aloud, “It feels like I’m just seeing a regular boy. Like, someone who also has doubts and worries and stiffness like anyone else would. To think that he’s going to become the number one pro hero in the future is… comforting?” 

You wonder if that’s the right word to describe it. You do feel a sense of comfort, but it’s also mixed with excitement over the potential that one has no matter how humbly they start. If this plain, unassuming teenage boy can build himself up to be the nation’s top hero, you can imagine how inspirational his story must be. 

When both the Midoriyas are silent and staring at you with their matching wide, green eyes, you blink as you look between them, wondering if you’ve said something wrong after all. 

“Uhm, sorr—” 

“How funny!” Inko smiles at you with a chuckle, “You said the same thing when I first showed you this picture!” 

“O-Oh, did I?” You say, chuckling nervously because you don’t know how else to react to that information. For some reason, it’s making you feel sheepish. 

“Yes. You really are the same person at heart, aren’t you, [Name]-chan?” Inko says with a gentle hand on top of yours, “You know how to appreciate the everyday things in people. Even with my son who’s too amazing for his own good sometimes. It’s good for him, I think. Brings him back down to earth.” 

“Mom…” Midoriya whines somewhat indignantly, although you do see him looking away with a slight flush to his cheeks for some reason. 

“It must be tough on you, [Name]-chan.” Inko squeezes at your hand. Her grip is warm, welcoming as can be. “I hope everything falls into place for you soon.” 

“Y-Yes. Thank you, Auntie.” You bow your head politely, still unable to comprehend your relationship with her, but knowing very clearly that she cares deeply about her son. And she approves of how you care for him too. 

It kind of kindles something in you, makes you want to keep their smiles safe and warm. Clearly, you’re very important to them. So it’s only natural that you should figure out how important they are to you. 

*

You’re doing your best to be affectionate with Midoriya. The guy clearly needs it from the way he constantly has to stop himself from bowling at you with his open arms. Sometimes you let him, just because you could use some of the affection yourself. But you still continue to sleep in separate rooms every night. 

It’s been almost a month since you lost your memories now, and while you’re slowly starting to be useful again at work, and you’re texting most of your friends regularly now, there’s still this weird line you feel like you can’t cross just yet with Midoriya. A line that you feel could possibly either change everything for the better or worse. And you’re not sure if it’s a risk you should take just yet. 

You hug pretty regularly now, and he kisses you on the cheek, or the top of your head, or your hand sometimes. But you have yet to share anything that you feel like real partners would. Because as attractive as he is, and as good a boyfriend he’s proven to be, and how he clearly has hoards of people who love him, you’re still just getting to know him. 

To you, you’ve known this guy for a few weeks. You learn as much as you can by watching all the videos of his hero work you find online, or reading articles about some amazing cases he’s solved, or even going as far back as to watch his old performances at the UA Sports Festival, since he apparently went to high school there. 

Yet, as much as you learn about the guy, there isn’t the same depth to it as getting to know all this information firsthand, from accumulated history. You know he’s amazing, anybody can see that from oceans away. And while you would have no qualms about dating him or even sleeping with him, he clearly looks at you with an emotional weight that you still can’t understand. 

He’s been through a lot, which you can guess is normal for someone who’s a top pro hero. But clearly, he’s been through a lot with you too. And sometimes he comes home looking like he has so much to tell you and share with you, but you don’t understand a thing he’s saying. He always brushes it off and tells you it’s okay with a smile on his face, but clearly he’s hiding something deeper; be it disappointment, sadness, yearning, loss, or hope. 

Maybe it’s part of his tendencies as a hero to reassure you that things are alright even when they’re falling apart, but you can still see the small instances where he’s hurt. Where he wants or needs you, but you can’t read his usual signals or give him the love that he needs with your whole heart. This whole thing is hard on you, but now it’s becoming far too clear that it’s much harder on him. 

When he comes home one night, looking more ragged and sullen than usual, and bringing an air of solemnity into the house, your only instinct is to meet him at the door and lead him to the couch. You offer to make him some tea, but he just holds your hand and keeps you there with him. 

“Sorry, I just—” he shakes his head, squeezing his eyes shut, as if trying to hide from an image that he can’t escape, “I’m a little shaken. We lost a lot of people.” 

He had been on a mission out of town for a few days and texted you this morning that he would be back after all the debriefings. You had seen the news. It was one tragic happening after another — a band of water quirk-based villains had flooded half of an entire city, and the waves they created were powerful enough to create another tsunami days later when rescues were still happening. There was especially a lot of damage when the water hit a few power plants. On top of all that, it seemed that some of the villains had managed to slip away in the fray of victim rescues and disaster control. 

There were viral videos going around of Deku saving people by the dozens, emerging from collapsed buildings and muddy waters like All Might himself back in the day. But even with all his heroic prowess and the help of many other heroes on the scene, he’s still so beat up after witnessing all of that. You can’t imagine what it must be like to have to see so much death, or feel responsible for all the lives that you might have been able to save. 

Midoriya puts a lot on himself, so you know that he’s probably taking the brunt of the numbers personally. He’s the face of the hero world, so people are as quick to throw blame as they are to shower praise when things go wrong. And while he tries not to let that affect him, you’ve learned enough about him to know that he feels an unfathomable amount of responsibility. 

You don’t know how you could have been dating someone whose presence carries most of the country, but you’ve got to do something. He needs someone. He probably needs you. And future you is probably way better at this, but you’ve got to at least try. 

“Hey, come here.” You tug him closer to you, and despite his hesitant eyes, his tired body falls into your embrace immediately. And his arms curl around your waist as he releases the longest breath of relief you’ve ever heard in your life. 

You hold him like that for a little while, just stroking his back and his hair and he breathes in your scent from your neck and keeps your torso completely enclosed in his thick, wiry arms. It’s nice to feel close to him, and like you’re able to bring him some kind of comfort. You think it’s going to just remain like this until he eventually falls asleep, but once your nails scratch lightly against his neck by accident, he gasps and digs his face deeper into you, almost purring. 

Well, that’s a good sound, right? Since he seems to like it, you do it again, along the same spot before eventually spreading your touch to other parts of his neck and behind his ears. It’s only when Midoriya lets out a low groan into your neck that you realize that might have been triggering something other than comfort. 

“I’m sorry— Sorry, but can I just—” Without further warning, he grips your thigh that isn’t pressed against his and lifts you with graceful ease over his lap. Your knees are digging into the plush cushion of the couch in your straddle, and he pulls you so close that your legs have to spread out further so that your chests and stomachs can meet. “Sorry,” he mumbles again into your neck as he wraps his arms around you again. 

For the record, he does sound kind of sorry, although he’s enjoying the body contact far too much for you to believe he actually feels it. Plus, you can’t go on and pretend that you don’t enjoy the close contact too. It’s… really nice to hold someone intimately like this, to feel like you have someone to anchor you to the world but still give you a sense of being outside of yourself. 

“Don’t be sorry.” you whisper to him, hoping he hears that you mean it beyond this couch, “Don’t be…” 

He sucks in a wet and shaky breath before pulling you even closer, though you didn’t think it was possible. You’re crushed so tightly against him that you can’t tell his and your own heartbeats apart anymore, but you don’t have the heart to ask him to loosen up. So you just continue to rub his back and stroke his neck and hair. 

Until what feels like ten minutes later, he lets up. He finally takes a breath of air that is not saturated in your scent and lets you sit back a few inches. He doesn’t move to let you sit back on the couch though, so you just stay there straddled on his lap, letting him stroke your hips and thighs and sides with his huge hands. 

And then he starts talking. He dumps as much of his emotional weight as you can handle, apologizing several times throughout for putting this on you, but you urge him to keep going. You can listen to all these horrid things that he’s saying but he’s the one who actually lived through all of it, seen and touched and smelled it with his own body. And you know that he just has to get some of it out. 

You know he has a therapist that he sees regularly, so you wonder how that person can handle so much of this information all the time. Your heart would break every day hearing these stories, and you know that this is all only a chunk of Midoriya’s feelings. 

While you’re no therapist and you can only listen to so much, there’s still something else you can do to quell his running mind. You’re his girlfriend, after all. And the way he keeps looking at you as he touches you with such heavy tenderness tells you he only wishes he could have that back. 

So when he finally takes a pause to rest his forehead against your sternum with a sigh, you cover your hands on his jaw and ears to pull his head back. He’s giving you a quizzical look that melts into one of longing as you stroke your thumb along his cheek. 

His jaw tightens beneath your palm, and his body grows stiffer beneath you. You can tell he’s fighting you, fighting himself, trying not to scare you since you still don’t completely understand your relationship with him. But it’s okay. You know at the very least that you can trust him, so you decide to extend your hand out to him for once. By leaning in for a kiss. 

You know this can’t be your first kiss with him, but it still feels like it for you. And who knows, maybe it might feel like the second first kiss for Midoriya too. But it’s filled with a lot of emotion that you didn’t know could be exchanged through breaths of air and nips of teeth and soft little noises of surprise. 

Midoriya kisses you back. Of course he does, he can’t possibly help himself after he’s held himself off from you for the past several weeks. And now that he’s caught in such a vulnerable place with you in his lap, you doubt even the strongest man alive could push you away. 

He does though, maybe because he is the strongest man alive, but he does it with obvious difficulty. It’s like he’s coming up for air after being submerged underwater for a little too long. But he can’t look away from you, can’t escape your patient, inviting eyes or his own desire to dive right back in. And the same goes for you — you can’t bring yourself to look away from him even if you wanted to. 

Seeing Midoriya, the number one hero, panting and silently begging for you with his eyes is a sight no one could dream to behold. You’re not entirely sure that this is real, honestly. But you brush your thumb against his cheek again, just to check that he’s real, and he closes his eyes with a deep, sedative sigh — like he’s trying to bring himself back down to earth. 

He takes hold of your hand in his, not enough to pull off his face but enough to squeeze you gently, “You don’t— You don’t have to,” he says, swallowing a shaky gulp, “It’s enough for me, that you’re just here. And listening. And where I can touch you. It’s enough.” 

“Is it, though?” You tilt your head slightly, leaning in close once more. You let your lips linger just a hair away from his, almost teasing him. And you can see him press his lips together in restraint. “It’s okay, Midoriya-kun. I’m here for you.” 

He blinks at you with desperate eyes before pressing his forehead to yours with a sigh, one that weighs heavy on your ears with relief, thankfulness, and worry. But he takes what you silently offer him and holds you by the back of the neck to kiss you again. 

This time, it’s a bit different from the first one. His kiss is hungry, begging, searching, but most of all, it’s deep. Way deeper than you can begin to comprehend. It’s like he’s trying to speak all of his accumulated emotions for you into your body in another language. One that you’ve only just begun studying. The way Midoriya kisses and touches you feels like a literary classic, filled with nuances and historical context and deep, underlying messages that you don’t yet have the knowledge or capacity to analyze. 

But you read it anyway. You let him kiss you and touch you and squeeze you as much as he needs, and for the most part, you enjoy it. The soft, helpless sounds he makes against you are impossibly cute for a man of his size and power, but it only makes you want to hug him closer. 

“Fuck,” he swears when you press your hips into his. It’s a funny thing to hear, coming from him. He doesn’t swear all that much, so he must really be fighting something. But he pulls you right back in for another searing kiss, like a man deprived of water. 

You take that as a sign to do more, so you roll your hips against him with more intention this time. You never imagined that you would get to fuck a top hero, but this is the situation you’re in and maybe you could both use this. 

That’s not what Midoriya seems to think though, when he pushes you away with a tight grip on your shoulders. He’s panting as he says, “Wait, wait. Just—” he takes a slower, deeper breath, “You don’t have to. Really. I mean it.” 

“It’s okay, Midoriya-kun. I really don’t mind.” you gasp out, more out of breath than you expected to be. 

“No, it— it doesn’t feel right to… to do it this way.” He looks away, “You clearly still don’t remember me, and… I don’t know, I feel like I would just be using you if we did that.” 

He does? How… chivalrous of him.

“You really don’t have to think so hard about it,” you say, combing your fingers through his curly hair, “I would still do it with you even if we weren’t a couple.” 

“That’s the thing though,” he sighs, pulling away from your hand before looking at you again, “You’re in a state of mind where we’re… still not a couple. It wouldn’t feel the same, and I— I don’t know if I could handle that.” 

“Midoriya-kun…” 

“I’m not saying I don’t want to. Because I do, I really, really want to.” He squeezes his eyes shut for a breath as he says it, “I miss it. And I… I miss you. But I don’t want to force you to act like someone that you aren’t. Or haven’t become yet.” 

Well, that’s too bad. You were actually getting kind of excited about seeing for yourself what he can do outside of those hidden videos in your phone. But he has a point. You shouldn’t rush anything until you’re both comfortable. 

“Okay.” you say, bringing your hands back into your lap. 

“But if it’s alright with you…” he says, stroking your hip softly, “Can I join you in our room tonight? Just— you know, for the company.” 

“Yes, of course.” You nod, climbing off of his lap and holding your hand out for him. 

He accepts it with an appreciative, yet sad smile as he follows you into your bedroom. The bedroom that you were both supposed to sleep in before you suddenly kicked him out along with your memories a month ago. You’re a little nervous about all of it, even though you’re clearly closer to him now than you felt when you first got hit with the amnesia. 

“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something first? Or drink a cup of tea?” You offer. While it’s well past dinnertime for most people, it’s not terribly late just yet. You would usually stay up a bit longer, but if Midoriya is tired and wants to fall asleep beside you, then you don’t mind. 

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.” He smiles tiredly, grabbing his pajamas from a drawer. “I’ll just take a quick shower and then I’ll turn in.” 

“Of course.” You nod, mindlessly walking with him to the bathroom. As if he needs an escort or something. But you do catch yourself when he’s about to close the door and gives you a curious look and laugh, so you clear your throat and excuse yourself. 

While he showers, you brew him a cup of tea anyway, and prep a few ingredients to make a hearty breakfast for tomorrow. You can’t get that helpless look of despair out of your head. That smiling face that everyone sees on headlines, spread all over the internet, on hero merchandise in the stores… It must take a lot out of him.

As much as your heart hurts for him, it kind of humanizes him for you. Tells you that this man has vulnerabilities too. Basic needs and emotions than any man does. And while he has a more complicated relationship with them — especially when dealing with you — he’s still a man who needs and deserves support. For some reason, you feel touched that you can be that support for him at times like this. 

After placing the mug of hot tea on the nightstand beside the bed, you change into your own pajamas and get to brushing your teeth in the bedroom’s connected bathroom that you’ve been using. Once you’re finished, you return to the room to find Midoriya quietly clutching the hot mug close to him like a treasured toy. He looks rather emotional as he lets the steam from the mug rise and curl around his face. 

“Hey,” you greet him. 

He takes his time looking up from the tea to meet your eyes, giving you the most satisfied smile you’ve seen since you met him. “Hey. You made my favorite.” he says, lifting the mug. 

“Hm? Ah, mint is your favorite?” you smile as you make your way towards the bed. 

“Yeah, it is.” he nods, although you notice just the slightest fall of his smile, “You, uh, you used to make it for me a lot after long days. On nights kind of like this.” 

“Oh,” you say, blinking but trying not to falter too much in your step. Had he been hoping that you had regained a memory by that coincidence? It just happened to be one of the teas in the cabinet that you knew to have more relaxing effects. But you feel like if you said that, it’d bring him down even more. “Maybe I picked it subconsciously?” 

“Maybe,” Midoriya chuckles lowly, without much humor but not completely devoid of hope. Maybe he wants to believe it even if he doesn’t completely. “Anyway, thank you. It’ll definitely help me sleep a little better.” 

You hum in affirmation before wordlessly sliding under the covers on the other side of the bed. It’s not small by any means, but Midoriya is just quite a sizable man. He’s taken out whole armies with just a swing of one arm, so you can only imagine how you had shared a bed with a man whose limbs were instrumental weapons. 

But he doesn’t let you think too much about it when he puts the emptied mug aside with a hearty sigh, then slips under the covers to press right up beside you. After turning out the lights, he wraps an arm around your waist and presses his nose into your hair as he pulls you slightly closer to him, murmuring, “Is this okay?” 

You gulp quietly before turning on to your side to face him, resting a careful hand on his upper arm before replying into his chest, “Yeah, it’s okay.” 

“Okay,” he mumbles one last time before settling into the bed more comfortably. Neither of you say much more, and you have no idea who falls asleep first, but it feels nice to share your bed with him. You can’t say that this is entirely for him anymore, since you’re enjoying the warmth and solidness of his body. 

You actually are woken up a few times through the night when Midoriya wakes up gasping, or even yelling once, from a few bad dreams. But you’re quick to shush him, remind him where he is, ask him if he needs anything, and let him hug you tighter in his arms until he falls asleep again. 

Even though it happens a few times throughout the night, you don’t mind the exhaustion. It’s overtaken by concern for his heaving breathing and violent heartbeat — and occasionally, the spark of his quirk activating. You wonder if he has trouble sleeping like this on regular nights, overloaded by the thoughts and emotions that pile onto him from his job. 

By the time morning comes, you wonder how many hours the both of you have actually gotten. You get out of bed first to make that breakfast you had been preparing for, heart heavy and head filled with worry over Midoriya’s state of mind. Maybe you should persuade him to call his therapist before he returns to work, which will undoubtedly be soon. There’s never any time to spare for a number one hero. 

“Wow, that smells delicious.” A soft, scratchy voice brings you out of your thoughts. Midoriya steps right into the kitchen with you and places a hand on your hip, the gesture a bit more natural now. “Do you need any help?” 

“I’ve got it. It’ll be done soon, so why don’t you just start off with some coffee?” You suggest, nodding your chin toward the fresh pot on the counter. He hums and leaves a slow, sleepy kiss in your hair before going to retrieve his coffee. 

You have to admit, it was incredibly sweet. And seeing Midoriya first thing in the morning in his dumb pajamas and a sleepy, but relaxed look on his face warms you from the inside. Although he must not have had the most peaceful night’s sleep, there’s definitely less tension in his shoulders than there was last night. 

It takes you a while to plate everything, since you were really going all out with this full course Japanese breakfast with about five different dishes to accompany the rice. But Midoriya ends up helping you after all, without you even having to ask. He brings all the dishes to the table after you plate them and when you finally get to the table yourself, everything is laid out perfectly. 

“This looks absolutely amazing, [Name]. Thank you.” He smiles fondly at you. 

“Of course. You can’t start healing your mind or your heart if your stomach isn’t in working order first.” You smile back. Midoriya chuckles before he says his thanks for the food and digs right in. 

And goes absolutely in on everything. Humming at almost every bite and straight up moaning a few times. He can’t seem to stop complimenting you and you can’t stop chuckling at how happy it seems to make him. You wonder how often you would make him breakfast like this now? Hopefully, your cooking has improved over the years as you gained more knowledge and experience, but he seems rather satisfied with your cooking even at your skill level now. 

Maybe it’s the fact that you did this for him at all. He isn’t often home by the time you get up, so you’ve just been preparing simple meals for yourself in the morning. Sometimes if he has time to cook breakfast for himself, he’ll leave out a portion for you too. But now that you have a morning to take it slow and enjoy each other’s company with your food, you can understand why he might feel happier. Even you are getting more energy from seeing him stuff his face so enthusiastically. 

He takes it slow for the rest of the morning, helping you with the dishes, vacuuming around the house, and just finding reasons to stay close to you. And when he gets dressed and prepares to head out for work again, he leaves you with a long, warm hug and breathes you in with a kiss to your head. As if he’s trying to drag out this moment for as long as possible, as if you won’t welcome him back the same way once he leaves. 

So you try to at least reassure him as you hug him back, “Come home safe. I’ll be waiting for you.” 

It seems to be the right thing to say, because he holds you tighter upon hearing the words. Until the pressure between your chests starts to crush you a bit, but you continue not to say a thing. You can handle a bear hug after the job and night he went through. 

“I’ll try to be home for dinner.” He leaves you with a kiss to the forehead, which does admittedly make your heart pound a bit in your ears. 

After he closes the door, you sigh to yourself, wondering where things could possibly go from here. 

*

He doesn’t make it home for dinner. In fact, he only manages to message you about his whereabouts after 10 P.M., apologizing and telling you he’ll be back by midnight but that you can go to sleep first. 

You wait up for him anyway. Even if you wanted to sleep, you doubt you would be able to after knowing the night Midoriya had previously. You can’t imagine him being totally recovered after just a day, so you wait for him with the excuse that it would ease your own mind seeing him come home. 

And when he does return home, he looks more than touched. He almost looks like he’s about to cry again when you have another cup of mint tea ready for him when he comes out of the shower. And his eyes look like they’re just about ready to bug out of his face when you offer, “Why don’t you sleep here again tonight? I can’t imagine you’d be fine alone already.” 

“Is that really okay?” He asks, face cautious but eyes glimmering. 

“Yes, of course. Come on.” You pat the spot beside you on the bed, which he sinks into immediately with a grateful smile. 

He holds you again that night as you both fall asleep, and there are significantly less nightmares than last night. Although he wakes up gasping once or twice, he calms down rather quickly when he feels you in his hold. You don’t even have to fully wake up before he’s calmed himself down and snuggled his face back into your neck, apologizing. 

“Don’t be. I’m here.” You remind him with a groggy, sandy whisper. “And you’re here with me. It’s okay.” 

You don’t need to say much more than that as he takes in your scent with deep breaths to lull himself back into a relaxed state. “Thank you,” he always whispers back, kissing your neck or your jaw or your head — always needing to be close and affectionate, but not wanting to cross the line. 

You let him sleep with you again for the next several days until it becomes a routine and he doesn’t have to ask or look guilty when bedtime comes around anymore. It becomes an easy habit to wait for him to come to bed and say goodnight with a warm hug and an innocent kiss somewhere near your face. 

It’s nice. You’re acting a little more like a couple now when you’re together, and you’re more comfortable around him. But somewhere, in the back of your mind, you feel like that’s not enough for him. There’s still a wall between you and Midoriya and you’re not sure who’s the one holding it up anymore. 

While you were wary about having him as a boyfriend earlier, for obvious reasons, you’re much more comfortable with him now and more than willing to explore your relationship with him even if you can’t remember how you got together. But Midoriya still seems to hold back quite a bit with you. The difference between when he warmly hugs you goodbye during the day versus how tightly — almost desperately — he holds onto you when he’s half asleep is absurdly substantial. 

You know he wants more, know he needs more from you. But he wants it from the you who’s completely intact, who has all the pieces of the story, who understands who he is to you and why he loves you. And loves him back for all the right reasons. 

Unfortunately, you can’t give him that at 100%. But you know he needs more than evening cuddles and homemade meals. His friends do their best to keep him happy outside of work and his therapist occasionally emails you with possible feedback to help with Midoriya’s well-being, but you can tell he wants more. Yearns for it, practically. He looks at you with a wistful longing in his eyes far too often for you not to notice. 

So one night, you ask him to take it further. 

It’s a rare chill night for him, where he got to come home early and eat dinner with you. You both sat close together to watch a movie and had some tea before washing up for bed. It’s only when the lights are off and you’re lying beside each other, facing one another, that you place a soft hand on his face and say, “Midoriya-kun?” 

“Yes?” 

You say nothing more, you just kiss him. He sucks in a sharp breath from his nose in surprise, but returns the kiss excitedly despite his slightly shaking hands on your hip and neck. You haven’t kissed like this since that night he got home from that tough mission, battered and broken from the inside. But back then it was about comfort, now it’s more about exploration. 

And kissing him feels good, it feels right, in a way. Your hands glide up his chest and down his side and around the curve of his back, touching his scars and searing yourself on his skin. He’s so warm and his temperature only goes up as you continue to kiss him. He moans when you bring a hand down and squeeze at his upper thigh. 

You’re rather interested in his reaction and eager to learn more about where to touch him, but he pulls back with some frantic panting, “Wait, wait— [Name], I— we shouldn’t.” 

“We shouldn’t?” you ask, just out of curiosity, not because you actually plan to stop. 

“I, I— no?” he sounds unsure, and you bite back a chuckle. “We— we’re— It just… it’s not right?” 

“How do you know?”

“How do I— What?” He sounds even more stumped than a second ago. “How do I know?” 

“Yes, how do you know?” you repeat, “How do you know it’s not right?” 

“I— I just, I don’t feel… I don’t know. It just feels like something we shouldn’t do under these… circumstances. You’re not completely aware of everything because of your amnesia, and it’s just… it doesn’t feel right.” He sighs, though his hands stay rested on your body, occasionally twitching with something that you suspect isn’t nerves. 

“But what if it is?” You retort, as softly as possible as you run your fingers through his curls. It’s clear that he wants you but you don’t want to force him into anything he’ll feel guilty for later. “How will we know unless we do it? There’s a reason I’m dating you and living with you and choosing to be with you as my future self, isn’t there? I… must have fallen in love with you.” 

His pulse starts beating faster beneath your palm that you’ve been resting on his neck, and even in the darkness of the room, you can see the longing in his face through the moonlight that makes it into the room. It’s as transparent as can be. He wants this, and he’s this close to giving in. 

So you give him the last push he needs, “So… so just show me how you would love me. I wanna know.” 

He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath through his nose before looking at you again, “Okay. Okay, I'll show you.” 

But he does far more than that. How he loves you is beyond just touching and kissing and sex with a partner. He loves you tenderly, achingly, vivaciously, puts his all into making sure not an inch of you goes untouched, unloved, unappreciated. He kisses you like fire and pumps into you like water, makes you crave him like air… 

This is far beyond the realm of… anything, really. You’ve never spent a night so sweet in someone’s hold like this — obviously not that you can remember, at least. Midoriya pampers you in a way that would make the most spoiled princess rage with envy. And it makes you want to cry that a man like this could love you so much. 

Maybe he was right… How he feels about you just might be something beyond your comprehension in this state. You can’t even begin to understand where all this devotion and love comes from… And you can’t even try to match up to it. His connection with you goes far beyond physical boundaries. 

Even when you’re both finished for the night, he holds you tight and close like he might lose you in the next minute, like he’s expecting to be punished for giving into his desire. But as the minutes roll on, and you massage your fingers through his now damp curls, his breaths return to normal and his arms lighten up a bit to a more breathable cuddle strength. 

Then he meets your eye, gazing into you with what must be deep, profound, and likely over analytical thoughts running through his head. You only offer him a small, grateful smile in return, showing him that you did nothing but enjoy the experience. 

“You know,” he starts, voice surprisingly clear for how much emotion he just laid out for you, “We almost broke up once.” 

“Really?” Your eyes widen.

“Yeah,” his eyes turn down for a moment as he starts rubbing at your back with his hand, “It was around our first year together, and you would be so upset whenever I ended up in the hospital. It always scared you real bad. Scared both of us. And one day after I almost died —again— you said you didn’t know if you could handle it.” 

“I did?” You say, in a small voice. As much as you would believe that to be a viable reason to break up, it breaks your heart to hear that you almost left Midoriya when you’ve seen him so torn up before. Did you really have the guts to think about breaking up with a man like this? 

Honestly, you feel like hurting this sweet, wonderful man would cause you far more pain than dealing with the fear of losing him. Because while both choices are less than ideal and bring pain, one of them is a choice. And to think that you would ever choose to abandon someone who cares so deeply for you… No, you couldn’t. You wouldn’t.

And you didn’t, right? You were still with Midoriya now, weren’t you? You surely must have known better, or realized what a mistake you would be making if you ever went through with that. 

“You did.” Midoriya says, “And I didn’t blame you one bit. Still wouldn’t, even now. I love you, and I would do anything for you. But being a pro hero makes it hard to always reassure you. Neither of us will ever know if each time we say goodbye to each other will be the last. And I would never force you to deal with that fear every day. It’s always your choice. It still is.” 

His kindness just ebbs out of him in streams, and it breaks your heart a bit to think that he’s possibly accepted the loneliness that comes with his job. And if you were around for so long and he still loved you like he just showed you in this bed not twenty minutes ago, then maybe he thought that he finally found someone to battle against that loneliness with. He found someone who chose to stay despite everything. 

And now… well, you don’t even know who you truly are with him yet. 

You want to love him back. You might already love him back, but it’s clearly not the same to him. He wants all of you, including the parts that are lost. He clearly still misses you even when you’re right here beside him; all the jokes, the history, the banter you’ve built up as friends. And those aren’t gaps you can just fill with secondhand stories and photo albums… 

“Midoriya-kun…” you sigh. 

“Hm?” he shifts his head on the pillow, looking up at you with curiosity and concern. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not… the one you’re in love with. Who I am mentally feels ages different from who you must be in love with.” You sigh again, tilting your own head to match his eye level again, “It just… doesn’t feel fair to you. To have to babysit someone who’s supposed to be your partner. Your equal.” 

He blinks at you thoughtfully, but doesn’t hesitate to say, “I fell for you for a lot of reasons. You have some amazing qualities that you still have even now when you’ve lost over half a decade’s worth of memories. If that doesn’t prove that you’re still the same person, then I don’t know what does.” 

You want to believe him. You do, but you still don’t feel like you have the full picture in your head. So for now, you decide to do away with what you can’t have and enjoy what you currently do. 

“You sure know how to reassure someone, hero.” You smile, burying your face into Midoriya’s neck for now. 

He chuckles back, tightening his arms around you once more, “It’s part of the job.” 

*

You try to fix it. 

While you were just strolling about trying to see if any bits and pieces would connect in your head before, you’re trying to actively find solutions now. Trying to go back to work and figure out what your job is and how it works, revisiting places you supposedly frequented in the last five years to try and jog some memories, you even reached out to the family of the boy whose quirk hit you and made you lose your memories in the first place. 

However, even with all the research and pleading you’ve done, pretty much everyone was against letting the boy try to fix your memories, since he still had no control over it. And with his track record, he’s only ever made people lose memories, never recover them. So the risk of it all was a no-go. 

There was a young hero student that Midoriya practically considered a niece or something, according to his friends, who has some sort of ability to rewind things. But unfortunately, she’s never worked with something as specific as only memories, since the effects of her quirk were usually mostly physical. 

Midoriya brought you to visit her upon your insistence, so on an afternoon that he had off, he took you to his alma mater, UA High School. And although this was what you thought was your first time seeing Eri in person, apparently, she already knew you.

“It’s great to see you again, [Surname]-san!” The girl with candy red eyes, a large horn on one side of her forehead, and the most pinchable cheeks you have ever seen on a teenager, greets you with such a bright smile after Midoriya. 

“H-Hello!” You reply, surprised. 

“Ah, right. Eri-chan…” Midoriya says and explains your situation yet again — he’s probably had to go through this as many times as you have. 

“That’s right! I heard about that on the news!” The girl gasps softly, “It must be hard on you right now, [Surname]-san.” 

“Thanks for the concern.” You smile with the default answer whenever you’re shown compassion for your situation. It’s nice and all, but it doesn’t change anything about your current mental gap… 

So after getting seated in one of the teacher’s lounges, you get down to business and ask her if she’ll be able to help you. Midoriya helps explain a few of the technical details that you don’t have a complete grasp on, and Eri listens with an attentive ear. 

However, as somewhat expected, she doesn’t have such dynamic control over her quirk yet to be able to do something like tamper with something as sensitive as your brain waves. She’s never tried anything like that before on anyone, and she says she doesn’t want to risk any more repercussions than you’ve already suffered. 

“I’m really sorry, [Surname]-san. I’ll do my best to hone my quirk to be able to help, but right now, I don’t think it’s best to touch your mind before I’ve trained properly.” She apologizes. 

As much as you appreciate her caution, you can’t hide the disappointment in your body language once she tells you. Even Midoriya gives you a sad look as he puts a comforting hand on your lower back. 

“But! Uhm, don’t worry too much.” Eri pipes up, giving you a dazzlingly reassuring smile that reminds you all too much of someone else… “I know Deku-san will stay by your side no matter what. I’m sure everything will fall into place.” 

The kid had the sweetest, brightest eyes that just might trick you into thinking she and Midoriya might actually be related somehow. And you’re powerless to the cute, teenage version of the same forest green expression you’ve grown so used to falling for, so you couldn’t do much besides return the smile. 

You and Midoriya both thank her, with him promising that he’ll contact her again soon, before she and the principal see you off. And while you had been holding it in as much as you could, Midoriya clearly still notices your disappointment as you sulk on the way back home. 

He tells you not to get too discouraged when you get started on dinner upon returning home, even though it’s still a bit early; you just want something to keep you busy. But even as he keeps up a positive exterior, you can tell that he's a little saddened by the new dead end too. He was probably hoping even more than you were that Eri would be able to help get your memories back. And honestly, you would do anything to see him in a more natural, happy state around you.

You keep telling yourself you’re not only doing this for him — you’d like to get that chunk of your own life back, thank you very much — but you can’t deny that seeing Midoriya happier is one of your prime motivations. He looks so effortlessly joyous in all your photos and from all the stories you hear, but they barely resemble the quieter, careful man you’ve been living with so far. 

What if he feels like he can’t be himself around you while you don’t completely have your memories intact? You’d feel absolutely terrible if you made him uncomfortable in his own home. More than anything, you just want to see him as he is, without holding back any part of himself. 

Even on that night when he finally gave in to his moral chivalry and had overwhelmingly passionate sex with you, you’re sure that that was really just a portion of how he really felt. Even as he held you tight and lost himself inside of you, you could tell that he was still tense somewhere, some way. That he was still holding back part of himself. And to think that he still has that much love for you hidden away in his heart but doesn’t want to discomfort you with all of it is just… far too selfless. 

You know you still have yet to understand all of those feelings he has for you, but you find yourself willing to accept all of them anyway. There’s so much to this amazingly complicated guy who’s by your side, and you want to know about all of him. Whether it’s too much or not. 

Maybe that’s how you know you really have fallen in love with him. While living with the man for the past two months and sharing a bed with him for the past couple of weeks has certainly escalated the situation, how could you not? 

Aside from the fact that he’s kind, humble, a top hero, super popular, packs enough muscle to cause a city-wide earthquake, and has a freckled smile that makes him unfairly loveable, he’s been nothing but thoughtful and supportive of you since this whole incident happened. He’s been patient despite having to relearn all of your boundaries, and honestly quite the angel in how highly he regards you and never blames you for whatever he’s feeling due to complications from your memory loss. And yet, he loves you so thoroughly whenever you ask him to. 

If you didn’t fall in love with this man, you don’t think you could ever fall in love at all. 

“Hey,” He says, interrupting your vegetable chopping, “It’s still a bit early, so… do you want to, maybe go out for a bit? Like on a walk or something?” 

Out? For a walk? That’s kind of a rare suggestion. While he has made time for a date every so often, he doesn’t often have time for something as leisurely as a walk. He’s the number one hero and all that jazz. But you suppose that just because you still haven’t gotten your memories back doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your boyfriend to your best capacity. It’s better than staying inside and sulking, at least. 

“Alright.” You say, putting the veggies into a container to cover up and put aside for now. 

“Great,” Midoriya smiles warmly at you, “Why don’t you change into something comfortable?” 

Just five minutes later, you’ve got on a casually cute outfit and a fresh layer of lipstick, while Midoriya looks expectedly handsome in his dark t-shirt and jeans. “Let’s go,” he holds the door open for you after you’ve both got your shoes on. 

However, he doesn’t lead you to the ground floor like you expected, and hits the button that will take you to the very top floor. And you just silently follow him out of the elevator and up the emergency staircase until he opens the door to the roof of the building. 

You would guess that he came here to watch the sunset or something, but the sun isn’t due to set for at least another hour tonight. When he comes close to you and puts his hands on your hips, your mind goes in a completely different direction — though if he wanted to do that, couldn’t he have just stayed inside? 

But then he says, “Hold onto me, okay?” 

“O-Okay?” you stutter out automatically, your arms swinging around his neck as he swoops an arm beneath your knees and catches you with the other one beneath your back. 

You barely have time to yelp before you feel a slight tingling against your body, like electricity charging just beneath Midoriya’s skin as it starts to… glow a bit, and little flashes of green-tinted lightning start to spark around his entire body. Is he… activating his quirk?? You’ve seen it in videos online before and maybe once or twice when he woke up from a bad nightmare, but feeling it pressed right against your skin is like— there’s an immense, building pressure that’s about to go off, like a bomb. Like you’re in a hazard zone. 

Midoriya’s hair even flutters a bit with the charge of his quirk, but his voice is as sweet and calming as always. “Hold on,” he reminds you. 

And just as you’re adjusting the grip of your fingers around his neck, Midoriya lowers his stance into a crouch — pushing his hard chest closer to you — before fucking leaping right off the goddamn roof!!

“Aahh!!” Your scream is short-lived as the wind pressure pushing your face into Midoriya’s chest shuts you up. You feel Midoriya land as softly as possible while carrying the weight of two people, but you only get a glimpse at the completely new roof you’ve landed on before he’s jumping again to the next. And in less than a minute, your shared condo that you were literally just standing on now looks no bigger than your own finger. 

“M-Midoriya-kun!!” You gasp, looking up at him as he continues hopping around like some super rabbit with a rather relaxed expression on his face. “This— This is so crazy!!” You want to scream, but somehow it comes out as a laugh. Despite how your heart is beating wildly in your chest, you feel incredible. You’re literally flying on top of the world right now. Right in the safety of his arms. 

“Right?” He chuckles, then makes a particularly deep crouch before jumping twice as far as his average jumps so far. And while midair, he adjusts your body in his grip to hug you more upright against him, reminding you again to hold on while he only holds you by the waist with only one arm this time. 

His other arm is whipped out to shoot some long, black, almost ominous looking tendrils out of his wrist and hand. And those long black ropes fly far enough out to latch onto some tall building in the distance that Midoriya uses as a steer to change direction and cover the extra distance that he couldn’t jump. 

You’re probably shouting something the entire way as the ropes fade from his arm and he shoots out another net of them to the next sky anchor — a transmission tower. And Midoriya is just chuckling happily back at you, squeezing your waist tighter to reassure you as he continues swinging and landing and jumping and swinging again… until you end up falling towards the ground until you land in a cloud of dust and sand. 

When Midoriya lets you down to stand on your own feet, you need a moment to steady yourself before turning around to see that he’s brought you to a beach. It’s rather empty, what with the chill of autumn starting to come in. But you do see a few stray couples or families hanging out by the water that splashes onto the shore just several meters away. 

“Shall we walk?” Midoriya offers his hand out to you.

“Well, after a commute like that, I guess I could go for that.” You pant out a laugh, heartbeat still somewhat recovering from that sky ride. You take his hand anyway, letting your fingers interlace. 

Midoriya laughs as he leads you in one direction, “Sorry, I guess I should’ve given you more of a warning. But after the way we met the first time, it seemed like you just got used to it over time.” 

“That’s right, you saved me from a collapsing building or something, right?” You recall him saying.

“Yeah, I did.” He smiles, swinging your hand a bit in his as you walk, “But you handled it a lot better than my first time being shot into the air. Both that time and this time.” He chuckles. 

“Oh yeah? And when was the first time that happened to you?” 

“Back in my third year of middle school, actually. All Might had just saved me from a villain and was going to turn him in, but I had latched onto his leg as he jumped and pretty much flew across half the district.” Midoriya chuckles at himself, rubbing a finger under his nose. 

“You clung onto the number one hero as he jumped into the sky? I didn’t think the fanboy in you would have gone that far.” You tease. 

Midoriya laughs again, “Well, it was the first time I had ever seen him in the flesh. And I was still quirkless at the time, but I still had the deepest desire to become a hero… I just had so many questions for him.” 

That’s right… He was quirkless for most of his youth. It had only manifested right before he started high school and got into UA. You remember seeing how recklessly he fought in some old videos of the UA Sports Festival back in his first year. 

You also know from reading online biographies and even some fan-compiled hero analyses that Deku has quite the origin story. Of course, nobody had the exact details, and you got some of the inside scoop from Midoriya directly when the topic came up on occasion, but you know that All Might had the biggest hand in Midoriya’s hero career. Even without knowing all the details, it’s clear that All Might is one of the most important people to him; as a hero, a mentor, and a father figure. 

“Well, I’m glad you got to have them answered.” You smile as you squeeze his hand back, “I feel like my own pile of questions grows every day, but I at least have some sort of hope or faith that my memories will return to me. I can’t imagine how it must have felt to dream about a future as a hero when you were quirkless.” 

“There was a lot going on in my life at that time, and deep down, before I met All Might, I really did have the feeling that I wouldn’t get a chance to chase after my dream of becoming a hero.” Midoriya says as he looks at the ground, then turns back to you, “But you’re still doing your best even though you don’t know when you may get your memories back. You have faith, and you’re doing all you can, which is amazing.” 

Your face drops a little when you see that slightly forced positivity makes its way into his smile. You’re sure he’s used to it by now, always having to reassure the public and everyone he saves with a confident smile, but you’ve seen him close up enough to know when it's being forced. 

“Midoriya-kun…” 

“You’ve always been kind of courageous like that, you know?” He chuckles, facing forward again, brushing his thumb against the back of your hand. “I didn’t know it was you at the time, but I did remember you stopped panicking right after I set you on the ground from the collapsing building. You just caught your breath and immediately started helping evacuate other bystanders without anyone asking you to.” 

“I did…?” You clearly don’t remember this, but that does sound impressive of you. 

“Yeah, you did.” He laughs, squeezing your hand, “Honestly, I think that courage is part of what attracted me to you. I saw it in you in all the little things; when you were dealing with troublesome customers at the bar, when you jumped right into a brand new job and town far from what you always knew, when you’d just glare down all the paparazzi trying to invade your privacy once people knew about us… When you’d… just hold me without judgement whenever I vomited all of my emotions at you after a hard mission… Heck, you even lost your memories because you were trying to protect a young boy.” 

His eyes get this slightly faraway look, like he’s captured by memories. Memories that you should both have… 

“So… you consider being a decent person as courage?” you ask with a raised brow. 

He chuckles again as he brings his eyes back to the present, to you. “Anyone can have decent intentions. But to act on them takes courage.” 

It sounds like a sad observation he’s learned over the years of saving people. You know from his past that he’s had a rough road, and that the public even turned against him at some point. It breaks your heart to think about how a man so pure of heart and heroic in soul would be misunderstood that way. 

“With or without your memories, though, that hasn’t changed about you.” He reminds you with a smile, a softer, more genuine one this time. “And… I love that about you. I love you, a lot.” 

You can feel your eyes tearing up a bit as you bite your inner lip. Because your immediate reaction is to tell him the same thing, even though you don’t really understand it yet. Even though you don’t have all the pieces back. Even though… you do think you love him, too. 

But even with things as they are now, that doesn’t make your feelings any less real, right? So the least you can do is tell him. 

So with a deep breath, you start, “I uh… I—” 

“Ahhh!!!” 

“Is that Yuta? Yuta!!!”  

“What is that thing?!!” 

“Quickly! We need to save him before—” 

You’re interrupted by a few distant screams in the background, near the beach shore. Both you and Midoriya snap your heads over to see some… abnormally strong waves in the ocean. Even with the high tide around this time of day, the water shouldn’t be strong enough to wash anyone in. 

But clearly, there’s a boy somewhere close to twenty meters out into the water who needs help. Midoriya’s body sparks immediately with green electricity, and he only mutters a quick, “Be right back” before dashing off into the water to save the boy. You had only just blinked and he’s already diving into the water. 

As expected of a top hero… 

However, in the distance somewhere towards another end of the beach, you can see a few tiny dots wading further out into the sea as well. The other handful of figures in the sand are probably their concerned families who immediately start running into the water to save them as well. 

Clearly, something is not right though, when you see that they get swept in by the waves much faster than you’d believe their feet or swimming could carry them. Is there something in the water causing all of this? 

You see that Midoriya is already returning the drowned boy to his family on the shore, so you cup your hands around your mouth to call out to him, “Midoriya-kun!! Over there too!!” You point with your entire arm to the other civilians being swallowed by the water. 

The pro hero has already disappeared from where he was just standing to save the others. You jog towards the water, looking this way and that for any other victims in the distance. Although you can’t see far or move fast enough to make a huge difference, you can definitely tell that the waves are… growing . In both height and width. And starting to… take shape??

The family that just got their son back is frantically trying to calm him down but if they don’t get out of there within the new ten seconds, you’re sure that they’re going to be pulled right back into the water. 

“Hey!!!” You shout, running towards them, flailing your arms wildly, “Get out of there!! Quick!! The water is getting closer!!!” 

One or two of them notice you and turn around to see what you're flapping your arms at behind them before they gasp and start shouting, trying to frantically pack up their stuff. But you don’t think there’s really any time for that. The water has formed into the shape of a huge, clawed arm now and is seconds away from slamming right into the shore. 

You can see that they have more kids than they can carry per adult, so you run faster and shout at the family to get moving as you swoop in and snatch up the six-year-old whose ankles were being licked at by the still rising tide. 

“Forget the stuff! Run!!” You shout at the family as you sprint back towards the shore with the kid in your arms. 

Luckily, they heed your advice and drop their beach bags in favor of picking up the rest of their kids and running with you back towards the city. Everyone in your immediate area seems to be running out of the danger zone, so you’ll have to trust that Midoriya is fast enough to evacuate everyone else along the beach. 

However, when you hear a young, adolescent scream from behind you, your heart drops in panic and you can’t help but turn around. And you find exactly what you had feared. That huge arm that had raised out of the water like a tower must have dropped onto shore before scattering out into several smaller arms to extend itself on land. And it managed to latch onto the ankles of what looks to be a middle schooler. 

As the boy shouts and claws uselessly at the soft sand, he gets pulled right back in towards the ocean. You look around and see that Midoriya isn’t in sight, so he must be somewhere much further down the beach by now. 

With a curse, you drop the kid in your arms and tell them to hurry and follow their parents before dashing after the teenager. You can only run so fast in the sand, but the water limbs that have got a hold on the boy are moving just slow enough for you to catch up to him before he’s swallowed into the mouth of the ocean. 

He reaches out for your hand just as you extend it to him, and with you’ve latched onto his wrist with both hands, he covers his other hand onto your wrist to hold on to you. You pull as hard as you can as the boy shouts in what you hope is just panic and not pain. 

“Can you kick your legs?!” You say through gritted teeth, as you try yanking at him. 

He grunts and groans, but shakes his head, tears starting to form in his eyes. You try your hardest to dig your feet into the sand to get a better grip to yank him out of the water’s hold, but it’s only getting stronger. What a stubborn son of a bitch. 

The water arms are dragging you closer to the sea again, your heels carving parallel lines down the sand as they drag you and the boy closer. And in what may be an absolutely stupid move, you drop the kid and rush forward several meters to kick at the shaft of water holding onto the boy in hopes of breaking it. 

And miraculously, it works! The water that had formed hands around the boy’s ankles spills into the sand like liquid naturally should and the boy clumsily scrambles to his feet. You help him regain his balance as you run with him back towards the shore.

Until you trip yourself. 

“Fuck!” You shout, as another blanket of water washes over the entire lower half of your body and drags you straight into the air like a crane instead of across the sand. 

In your rapidly moving peripherals, you can see the boy who you had just helped staring fearfully up at you, torn at what to do, but unless he’s got a flying quirk or something, there’s no way he can help you now. 

“Go! Run!!!” You shout at him, waving your arms towards the shore. 

And for better or worse, the boy sniffles and listens to you, running towards the shore frantically before the water can shackle him again. 

You, unfortunately, are much worse for wear as you’re carried through the air much more violently and wetly than you were when you were in Midoriya’s arms. And from the nature of the water’s movements right now, you can tell that you are about to be dragged down into the ocean until you drown — or possibly worse. 

But for some reason, just before you can sink under to your murky death, your lungs screech out, “IZUKU!!!! HEL—” 

You’re submerged before you can finish, and you are now realizing it would have been a more practical idea to breathe in as much air as you could when you could have. Because now you can only swallow in a throat-burning amount of salt water when you try to breathe. 

Fuck , it hurts. And while the water feels more freeform in here than it was on land, it still has a very intentional grip on your entire body that keeps you from surfacing for air. You can’t think, your ears are starting to hurt, your nose and throat burn, everything is—

Perhaps you blacked out for a moment, because the next thing you’re aware of is breaking water and into the surface. You can’t recall when Midoriya had wrapped his arms around you and pulled you out. 

Unsurprisingly, he has enough kicking power to jump straight into the air and land a safe distance away from the water back onto shore. You’re coughing salt water out of your nose and mouth, your body unable to make room for air until it’s gotten all the sea water out. Your hair is all over your face and you’re cold as heck, but Midoriya’s warm hand patting on your back and strong voice calming you down soothes you until you’re about to suck in a bottomless breath of air. 

“Oh my fucking god,” you cough, your throat still hurting. “What— hrrgh. What was— that-hh?” 

“The Coast Guard seems to have been chasing after the escaped villains from last month’s tsunami attack. From what I’ve gathered of the situation, it sounds like they were just about to be surrounded and captured by some of the patrolling maritime heroes, so they tried to capture a few hostages as a diversion.” Midoriya explains rapidly, nodding towards a small group of what looks to be sea creature or water quirk-based goons, beat up and bound together in a pile. “I think we caught all of them, but to think that they made it all the way out here to this part of the sea after they flooded the city up north…” 

Midoriya stops himself before he can start on one of his mumbling tangents again to look at you, “But luckily, no one was too hurt. Except for you…” 

“I’m fi—” you’re interrupted by another cough attack before sitting up and trying to get it all out, “I’m fine. Really. I’m glad no one was hurt.” 

“Ma’am…” A cracked, teary-sounding voice makes you look up. Ah, it’s the teenage boy you had helped earlier. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t help you… even though you ran out to save me…” 

“Ah…” You say as you recall what just happened. Honestly, it’s quite crazy that this all happened in the span of about five minutes. Is this what life is like for you nowadays? “Don’t worry about it. I’m totally fine. I got our country’s number one hero here to save me.” You try to joke, elbowing Midoriya beside you with a laugh. Or an attempt at a laugh, because you start coughing all over again. 

“There you go again, spending all that courage…” Midoriya shakes his head as he pats your back. He praises the boy for being strong and coming to apologize, as well as not to worry because he’s here. Eventually he returns to his own friends with a teary-eyed nod and Midoriya helps you to your feet. “Are you really okay?” 

“I could use some drinkable water, but you know, I'm as good as I can be for someone who was just kidnapped by the ocean.” You attempt to joke, pushing your wet hair out of your face and wringing some of the water out of your shirt. 

Midoriya is just as soaked as you are, though his curls are still as puffy as usual. His t-shirt clings to every single outline of body, tracing over the dips and curves of his pecs, abs, and arms with dark, wet fabric. You’ve seen him shirtless before, and yes you’ve even had him inside you before, but this is still putting a number on you. You don’t know how future you could have gotten used to this even over several years. 

“Hey, when you… when you were pulled into the water, do you… remember what you called me?” He says, eyes hesitant to meet yours. 

“What—? What did I call you?” You can’t even recall saying anything in the middle of the chaos. 

“You called me Izuku.” He bites his lip, like he’s nervous about what you’re going to say next. 

But now that he mentions it… “Oh, I guess I did. Well, it is your name, isn’t it?” 

“Yes, you’re right. It is. It is, but… you haven’t called me that since you lost your memories.” He says. 

Once he says it, you realize that he’s right. You can’t remember calling him by his first name at all since you made this mental jump into the present. It felt a little too familiar to you, especially since he didn’t specify what to call him when he introduced himself to you. He did bring it up once that ‘Midoriya-kun’ was a bit foreign-sounding to him, but you didn’t feel like you knew him well enough to jump into ‘Izuku’ or anything just yet. Heck, you didn’t even call him by his hero name because you didn’t even know him as a hero yet. 

You can’t explain it, but you guess it just came out. Nothing else was really going on in your mind other than needing help. Needing his help. And kind of just… trusting that he would come if you called out for him. 

“I guess it was easier to say at the time?” You shrug, unable to offer a proper explanation, because it’s not like any memories came back to you. 

“Yeah, maybe so.” Midoriya gives you a small smile. It looks a little sad, but mostly relieved, likely because he’s just glad that you’re okay. 

So you both shrug it off and get things settled with the authorities on site before he jumps and swings the both of you back home for a hot shower. 

*

You wake up engulfed in fresh sheets and the smell of your boyfriend’s sweet, warm skin, just the way you like it. Your body is a bit tired but somehow still thrumming with energy, a needy kind of energy. And you know just how to treat it. 

With a lazy roll onto your side to face your gorgeous, angel-faced boyfriend, you slide a leg up across your bodies until it’s planted right between his thick, wiry thighs. And you’re lying on top of him with your face pressed into his pecs and your legs squeezing at the hot, muscular leg between them. 

Naturally, you start humping at it, rubbing your warm crotch in small, little jerks against him as you kiss all over his chest and collarbone until he starts stirring. It feels so good, so good to have so much man to hold. You know he would just cover you up in his limbs and keep you safe from anything. 

You love him so much. He feels absolutely perfect against the apex of your legs as you just start riding his thigh with quick breaths and feverish desire. He finally stirs with a low groan, his arms curling around your body to fold you into his body, his leg propping up a little higher to make it easier for you to ride it. He hums right into your ear when you suck at his neck in thanks. 

“Mm… ‘Zuku…” you whine, begging for attention with deeper rolls of your hips. The heat feels amazing even through the layers of your clothes. 

“[Name]...” he grumbles, voice and eyes still heavy with sleep even as his fingers squeeze at your hips. It takes him a few moments to wake up, but once he can open his eyes properly and take a deep breath through his nose, he looks down at you with a slightly amused, yet slightly confused expression. “What’s gotten into you this morning?” 

What kind of question is that? You’re horny. He would usually just get to the program instead of teasing right in the morning but you can play along, “Hopefully you.” you chuckle into his neck, giving him a few kisses, which he sighs to. “Come play with me, Little Might.” 

For some odd reason, he freezes. He’s completely immobile beneath you, yet his hands grip your hips even harder, “W-What did you just say?” 

“Mm? Wassuh matter, ‘Zuku?” You try to kiss the tension out of his body, but you notice something’s off. He’s not relaxing. If anything, he grows even stiffer beneath you… Is something wrong? 

Suddenly you’re pushed up into a sitting position, held away from your boyfriend at half an arm’s length so he can look at you with… tears in his eyes? What’s with that? “D-Did you— Are you…?” 

“Am I what?” You blink, the heat between your legs slightly subsiding as confusion sets in. 

“[Name], do you… remember?” He asks, almost in a plea. 

Remember…? 

Wait. 

Yes, you do remember. You remember that you had lost your memories up until… yesterday? 

Yesterday… after almost getting drowned at the beach, you came home exhausted and just knocked right out after showering off. You didn’t even bother with dinner but… 

Suddenly, it’s like a fog has cleared. Like a long and heavy rainstorm that had been clouding your vision has stopped overnight and finally made the shapes of your memories visible again. And now you have them back, it’s hard to understand why you couldn’t make them out in the first place. 

That’s right. You had been on your way back to work from lunch break that day when some villain just broke right out of an electronics store and all but threw the several boxes of things he stole onto a van parked across the street. 

There was a young boy who was almost caught in the fray so you ran in to pull him aside. He yelled and… must have set off his quirk in your direction when the windows broke and scared him. And then… and then you went to the hospital and couldn’t figure out how to navigate your own life and had to inconvenience a lot of people and you made your boyfriend sad and— 

Your boyfriend. Izuku. He’s already got tears spilling out of his eyes and while he looks somewhat hopeful, there’s also a doubt tinged in his face from all of the false signs that he’s been reading in the past two months… Oh god… The images of his face for the past several weeks when you hadn’t remembered him flood back into your mind like a broken dam and your heart aches. It aches so, so much. 

Just thinking about the sheer amount of words or feelings he must have been holding back around you has your own eyes stinging. But right now, the first thing you need to do is reassure him. 

“Izuku…” you wrap your arms around his neck in a tight hug, “Izuku… I— I’m so sorry.” You didn’t realize it but you’re already crying, the tears spilling down your face and your arms that you’ve got wrapped around him. “I’m so sorry I forgot you!” 

“Hey, hey… Don’t worry about that. It’s not your fault at all.” He reassures you, but you can hear how choked up his own voice is. “But… baby. Do you really… Do you really remember? Everything?” 

You nod hurriedly, desperately, rubbing your cheek against his hair as you long for him to be reassured, “Yes, everything.” You choke out, “I’m so sorry…” 

He’s about to say something else, but you pull back and cup his face in your hands, share a brief but deep look of recognition in those wet, emerald green eyes before surging forward for a kiss. You try to translate all of your feelings of remorse, guilt, sadness, longing, hunger, and love to him through this kiss. 

You want him to know that you know exactly who you are at this moment. That you’ve finally gotten all the pieces back. And that you know exactly who he is. 

The man you want to spend your life with. The man you’ve given all your body and heart to. The man who’s saved you more times than you can count on two hands. The man who gets you into danger because of who you are to him… 

The man who danced around you for a good two and a half years before he finally bit the bullet and kissed you after saving you from a fairly close call with death when you got kidnapped on the way home from visiting his agency one day. It’s funny because sometime just earlier that week, you had accepted that he was a top hero who just wouldn’t have time for a relationship and had pretty much given up on pursuing him. 

The man who cries easily, cooks badly, dances like a pro, eats like a kid, and loves you more than anything… 

You cannot believe you forgot this man… You cannot believe—  

You have to pull back for air because crying is making it hard for you to take proper breaths. “I’m sorry, Izuku… I’m sorry I forgot…” You sniffle, “I love you so much…” 

He wraps his strong, comforting arms around you once more, pulling you impossibly close, yet not close enough, “I love you so much, too. I really, really love you.” 

“I never want to forget you again…” You sob into his neck. 

The two of you just sit there for a while, soaking each other in enough salt and tears to compete with your incidental dip in the ocean yesterday. 

The memories saturate your brain like the summer heat after a heavy storm. Whatever was clouding your mind and dampening your memories for so long finally made way for your emotions to reignite. Your passion, your dedication, your love for Izuku and the life you’ve built together floods your body like a heat wave. And it soaks your skin and fills your lungs to the point of heat stroke. It overwhelms you. 

You take some much-needed time to douse the fire by melding your body against Izuku’s. His movements are slow, hesitant, but once you get him naked enough, he no longer feels any need to hold back. 

He has a constant hold on you, never letting more than one hand leave your body as he ruts, rolls, or slams into you. His voice is needy, unhinged with desperation as he cries through his orgasms, endlessly confessing his devotion and love for you and sobbing when you tell him the same. He drags and slams you into an orgasm, and into another, and another until the heat has cleared and you’re both sated enough to speak properly. 

“I missed you so much.” He kisses your forehead as he shimmies you into a deeper cuddle, “I mean, I know you were here the whole time, and of course I’m not saying that you weren’t you when the whole thing happened, but I guess I didn’t feel like all of you was here with me and— Not to make it sound like you weren’t a whole and complete person before me, but it was just a little hard for me to figure out all over again how much of me to give you without overwhelming you after everything that happened because I just— I love you so much and the last thing I’d wanna do is make you uncomfortable because some random stranger just came up to you and said he was your boyfriend and expected everything to be handed to him just because he was aware of everything when you so clearly weren’t and I—” 

As adorable as you find his mumbling, you have to shut him up with a kiss. He doesn’t need to be overthinking all of that stuff now that you’ve got all your memories back. 

“I missed you, too.” You say simply. “I love you, Izuku.” 

He takes a deep inhale, eyes tearing up again as he pulls you in for another restless hug. 

About half an hour later, you’re both seated at the table with breakfast as you try to get used to normalcy again. 

“What do you think triggered it? Getting your memories back, I mean.” Izuku asks before taking a bite of his omelet. 

“I don’t know…” You hum in wonder, “Maybe a slightly traumatic event like getting caught up in another villain attack was enough to get some of the dormant brain chemicals moving again.” 

“Oh… that’s a good theory. Maybe we can go get another fMRI scan done to see any changes.” Izuku says as he starts going off about all the possible effects or changes your body may have gone through to trigger the return of your memories. 

“It’s funny though,” you smile to yourself as you break off another piece of your own omelet, “Even though I forgot about us, I fell for you all over again.” 

There’s a short pause in the conversation before Izuku takes your free hand and brings it up to kiss your knuckles, a gesture of his unstoppable devotion. 

“I’d make you fall for me as many times as it takes to keep you with me.” He says before kissing your hand again, “I love you more than anything.” 

Your heart flips and you can only smile back at him, “I know you do.”