Chapter Text
The two of their bodies moved with electric, efficient energy that stood them on their feet. The villain was weakened, his body stumbling to the left as Izuku clocked his jaw with a right hook. Katsuki watched as his rival punched again. And again. Until the villain looked near unrecognizable. At first, Katsuki was eccentric.
This patrol should be over anytime now. The villain was on the ground, practically Izuku’s punching bag. Plus, the green haired nerd didn’t look half-bad right now, sweaty and messy. His hand wrapped tightly around the villain’s forearm to secure him tightly to the floor. Katsuki walked towards his panting body, raising a fist towards Izuku, grinning like an idiot. Then, a laugh escaped from the distance.
His wrist froze mid-pump. Izuku, too, froze, his hand now limp on his side. It wasn’t Izuku’s or Katsuki’s laughs. Instead, it was the villain, laughing like a machine under the gaze of the dark clouds as if he wasn’t the color of a plum and didn’t just get beat beyond recognition permanently.
Both of the hero’s faces fell. The laugh was eerie. Not manically. Not awkwardly. Just… laughing. It was like something was almost funny. What could possibly be funny?
The air suddenly twisted into something uneasy, something uncomfortable. The laugh only grew louder as the confusion on their faces deepened and they were now visibly getting freaked the f–k out.
In a blink, Katsuki launched himself forward in a blast of heat and smoke, explosions cracking sharp against the concrete alley walls. The villain stumbled back, still laughing, palms glowing with a strange, pulsing violet light. What was wrong with this guy?
Izuku quickly followed, the thought unsaid in his head. Why was he laughing? What is going on in his head? How could he find anything remotely funny right now when he was defeated and now seen as a burden to the LOV?
The questions lingered, floating in his head like fireflies in a jar. He paused in his step as he got lost in thought and an utter perturbing knot caught in his throat. It’s like this villain knew something that he didn’t. They didn’t.
“Snap out of it, nerd!” Katsuki called to him, throwing large and dangerous sparks of scorching energy out of his hands in an attempt to knock the villain from his high. His eyes met Izuku’s now green glowing ones as he looked at him over his shoulder. His agitation only grew when Izuku stumbled on his way over.
Picking himself up, Izuku followed Katsuki. They’d cornered him between two abandoned buildings successfully, their bodies centimeters apart. Minor robberies, escalating property damage, erratic quirk usage.. This jerk had it coming. However, it was nothing they couldn’t handle. Nothing different. It was supposed to be routine field training under Aizawa’s supervision.
Katsuki lunged in, his burning palm reaching to pin the villain’s arm against the oddly cold brick wall that ended the slightly claustrophobic area.
And that was when it happened. The violet light flared as quickly as it disappeared. There was no explosion. No shockwave. Just complete unadulterated silence that made the tight atmosphere even more awkward. It lingered more intensely as Katsuki’s expression tightened with anger and confusion.
Izuku’s breath caught itself. Why did it suddenly get so–
“Why did you stop moving, idiot?!”
He froze. That wasn’t his voice. Who was that? That? That wasn’t him. That wasn’t what he said. Did he just get interrupted in his own head?
It indeed wasn’t his voice. It was Katsuki’s. Izuku’s head turned slowly, the realization still processing in his head. The sight he was met with was an equally shocked, stiff Katsuki that couldn’t close his bugged-eyes to save his life.
He looked stunned. Almost.. Horrified?
“Why the fuck can I hear you?” He growled . But Katsuki’s mouth didn’t move. His face was frozen in this shook, weirded-out expression, not even attempting to talk.
Izuku was officially flabbergasted, and right now, felt like he was naked in a public place. It felt invasive. It felt weird. It felt unnatural. His own rival could hear his thoughts.
“I–” Izuku’s hands wrapped around his head, shaking it disbelievingly. “Kacchan, I–”
“Are you deranged? Don’t say it outloud, you idiot!”
“I’m not–!”
“And you’re panicking. Stop panicking.”
Izuku froze slightly at the revelation. His heart pounded loudly in his ear, hard in his chest. This was a total nightmare. His own rival, his bound-to-be enemy could practically read his mind? Katsuki already knew enough about him. What more could he learn?
“I’m not panicking!” He spoke half-heartedly. His head was still reeling from unmentioned thoughts in his head. What if he saw him remembering an embarrassing moment? Or if he was showering? Or if he was touching—
Katsuki looked in his eyes with a disbelieving look, his bulged out eyes softening slightly. Izuku’s eyes latched onto him at the realization that his thoughts were coming in and out of his head rapidly. Katsuki internally facepalmed at Izuku’s bluff. Even in situations like this, Izuku decides to be stubborn. His body language is practically screaming ‘I’m scared and confused’.
“You’re definitely panicking, dipshit!”
“I am not!”
Both flinched at that. Neither of them had spoken those last two phrases outloud. Instead, their thoughts were mingled into each other’s, now able to have conversations in their heads. This was nearly as similar as DMs, but instead of them being on their phones, it’s in their minds.
The villain, still looking like he’d gotten run over, takes advantage of their hesitation, wrenching his chest upwards. He pushed hard against Katsuki’s loosened grasp successfully and was trying to make a run to the left.
Katsuki reacted first on instinct, his arms pushed towards his back. His palms phased from his normal skintone to bright hues of oranges and yellows. Katsuki opened his hands wide, using the position to project himself towards the villain.
Izuku shook his head back to the real world. His legs tightened, preparing himself for the chase. Then, he took off, the turquoise energy from OFA floating menacingly around his torn hero costume.
“Left flank Kacchan–he’s reaching—”
“—I know where he’s reaching! I have eyes!”
It was too loud. Too overwhelming. Too uncomfortable. Too much.
“He’s going to trigger it again—”
“—Then don’t let him!”
Using Katsuki’s words as mental elevation, Izuku ducked under the flying punch the villain attempted to swing at him. He swept the villain’s legs, black whip snapping tighter against the villain’s knees. Katsuki’s explosion detonated inches from the man’s hand before the violet glow could flare again.
The devastating blow left the villain unconscious on the floor, the violet glow now dimmed to a depressing and hollow black, pulsing weakly.
Time seemed to stop for a second. They stood in deafening silence, the only sound being their uncaught breath. Smoke drifted dangerously towards the seas. Concrete was crumbled, cracked, destroyed. Everything stilled abruptly. Except for one thing.
“Why is your heart beating that fast?”
Izuku’s breath hitched. He knew something was wrong. Definitely, whether that be the mess in his head or the uneasy urge to punch the villain to oblivion. And he sure wasn’t hiding it well.
“Something’s wrong”, he mouthed to himself.
“Something’s wrong.”
The two staggered from each other like matching reflections. Of course he saw. Not only could he hear his thoughts, but apparently could see every small thing he thought he was slick with. It’s annoying, but honestly a little comforting that Katsuki could pay attention that well, considering his attention-span.
A gust of wind passed through the tense night, a figure dropping from the rooftop with a soft grunt. It was Aizawa, his scarf retracting and eyes holding an almost subtle red glow.
His mouth pressed into a thin line. Aizawa’s eyebrows furrowed at the confused and annoyed glances they were giving each other.
“What happened?” His gruff voice called out.
Izuku opened his mouth to argue. So did Katsuki. The two glared at each other warningly, a silent ‘don’t fuckk this up’ following as understood between them.
“Don’t tell him I freaked out.”
“I didn’t freak out!” Izuku stammered uselessly, seeing Katsuki look at him as if he’s an idiot.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow at the outburst. He hadn’t said Izuku freaked out. In fact, he was previously thinking the opposite. Clearly, something is wrong.
“You’re making it fucking obvious. Now he knows something is up.”
“I did not–”
They stopped again, turning their heads to Aizawa’s intimidating stare. It was clear he knew something was totally wrong. And he definitely wouldn’t drop it until it’s been said.
Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. “..Explain. Now.”
Izuku swallowed hard, another lump caught in his throat. He didn’t do anything bad. If anything he was doing the right thing. With a deep breath, he looked away sheepishly and opened his mouth.
“Sir, I think the villain’s quirk—” He stopped, knowing damn well he was full of bull. Izuku knew something was wrong, and this quirk definitely did something. They can hear each other’s thoughts for goodness sake. “—definitely did something,” Izuku corrected weakly.
Katsuki looked like he wanted to crawl out of his own skin. Out of all people this could happen to. It just had to be him.
In an attempt to save both of them from embarrassment, he muttered, “I can hear him.”
Izuku nodded helplessly. It was clear Katsuki was willing to do anything to get them out of this situation right now. “We can hear each other.”
Aizawa’s face twisted in confusion and light-hearted frustration. “You mean verbally.”
“No.” they said in unison. Their eyes hooked onto the ever-so-slightly softening expression of Aizawa, having nowhere else to look that wouldn’t make this situation any more awkward. A silence fell behind the synchronization. It spoke louder than any words could, all three understanding the confusing situation slowly.
“This is a nightmare.” Katsuki muttered in his head.
“I wish it was.”
Katsuki’s expression turned outraged. His head turned to Izuku’s, a scowl deepening on his face as his neck tilted back to look at Izuku sharply.
“STOP THINKING SO LOUD!”
Izuku jumped, his eyes meeting Katsuki’s, knowing it wouldn’t help. He put his hands up defensively and shook his head.
“I CANT HELP IT!”
Aizawa sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose and putting his other hand on his hip . Years of doing this and the only thing that pushed him to his limits besides villains were the two strongest heroes being forced on a mission together.
“Recovery girl. Now.”
____________________
The infirmary was too bright. It was messing with their heads, only adding to the terrible mixture of everything going on right now.
The two were led to a room surrounded by needles and IV’s. The room had a faint chlorox smell that stung Izuku’s nose painfully. It had a white noise that was more terrifying than calming as Recovery girl came around to start the mandatory exams.
Izuku sat on one bed and Katsuki sat on the other, their bodies only creating a distance of a few feet. They were angled away from each other like magnets forced into the same polarity.
After numerous scans and testing their physical vitals, she paused. Her eyes lingered on the neurological readings she conducted. They were… strange.
She looked up at the boys with an unreadable expression, but it sure had thoughtfulness in the mix. “The quirk appears to have created a temporary psychic tether,” she said. “A shared cognitive channel.”
“What?” Izuku groaned internally.
Ignoring his audible (but shouldn’t be) groan, Katsuki glanced at Recovery girl with an interesting amount of attentiveness. “So we’re stuck in each other's heads?”
She facepalmed slightly, fixing the white-rimmed glasses on his eyes before continuing her analysis. “Yes,” Recovery Girl confirmed dryly. “You are, for lack of better phrasing, stuck in each other’s heads.”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened. “For how long?” he demanded. It better not be fucking long.
She adjusted her glasses again as they swooped down to her nose. “Unknown. The villain’s quirk seems unstable. It may dissipate in hours. It may take days.”
“Days?!” Izuku slumped in his bed, making a small, distressed noise of defeat.
“Absolutely fucking not.” Katsuki crossed his arms over his chest.
He rolled his eyes in poorly chambered frustration. Katsuki caught onto the weird noise Izuku slipped out, shooting him a glare and causing his face to heat up with anger.
“Quit spiraling.” He warned.
“I’m not–!”
“You’re thinking of every embarrassing interaction you’ve ever had.” A pause. “Pissing your pants? At eleven?”
Izuku’s face turned an impossible shade of pretty pink, his freckles sticking out even more over his flushed cheeks. This is indeed a nightmare.
Katsuki’s eyes widened slightly at the new expression. He knew the nerd could get embarrassed. But it never got this bad. This? This is like an evolved middle-school Izuku who just got kissed by a girl. Did he really think he was that much of a total a–hole?
The green haired boy needed to say something. Something that would get him and Katsuki out of this embarrassing situation as quickly as possible.
“…You think about me that much?”
Another silence came over. Not only in real life, but now in their heads too. Izuku stopped breathing completely, watching Katsuki freeze. He hadn’t meant— He hadn’t meant for that to—
Katsuki turned sharply away, ears red and face flushed even more than Izuku’s.
Recovery Girl cleared her throat without noticing the tense interaction that just occurred mentally. “Until it fades, you’ll need monitoring. And proximity.”
They both snapped toward her.
“Proximity?” Katsuki repeated dangerously. This can’t be real. No way would he be anywhere near the nerd, especially if he could read his thoughts.
“Yes. If the tether stretches too far, it may cause neurological strain.”
Izuku felt his stomach drop. We have to stay near each other. And there’s no other option.
Katsuki’s thoughts suddenly turned very, very quiet. It was empty and lifeless in his head, his face falling. This wasn’t like him. It almost scared Izuku how silent he was.
And, somehow, that was much worse than it ever could’ve been