CHAPTER 1: TURBULENCE

The sound of the roaring engine was deafening as the cockpit shook from another impact. Izuku felt how gravity suddenly crushed his torso as his co-pilot abruptly steered the machine high into the sky.

"WHAT DOES THE FUCKING SCAN SAY DEKU?", another brutal change of direction rattled the flight deck as they narrowly avoided another missile.

Instead of answering, Izuku had to quickly cover his mouth, the motion-sickness hitting him hard and his face turning a few shades lighter. Oh no. Not now.

"I SWEAR TO GOD, IF YOU BARF AGAIN, I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET IT!", Bakugou's enraged screams made his ears ring in a familiar way and magically forced the remains of his lunch back down his throat.

"Quickly, Izuku proceeded to press the right sequence of buttons to check the digital map, his eyes immediately latching on to the red dots that represented the enemy's forces. His fingertips glided efficiently over the smooth surface of the tablet.

"Five of them are coming from behind and another one is just beneath us. It's trying to highjack our network. You need to-"

"SHUT UP, I KNOW WHAT TO DO", Izuku flinched before he felt his stomach drop once again as Bakugou suddenly steered the aircraft straight towards the enemy ship beneath them, a mad glint tinting his fiery red eyes.

"KAACHAN, STOP WE ARE GOING TO CRA-"

"HAHAHAHA, TAKE THAT YOU FUCKING ALIENS!"

And everything faded to black.

"Congratulations, you failed the simulation", their teacher Aizawa drawled as the door to the fake cockpit opened and a stream of light flooded the tight space. Aizawa was wearing his usual white scarf, motioning for both students to get out of the machine after making sure that Midoriya did not sully the expensive equipment, again.

"Tch.", Bakugou quickly got up, his steps aggressive, as usual.

Izuku, for his part, was wobbly on his feet and took a little longer to join Aizawa and Bakugou outside. Bakugou was already tapping his feet, impatient. He only spared Izuku a brief glance, his gaze conveying exactly what he thought about wanna-be pilots that could not take a little bit of Bakugou's take on 'aviation acrobatics'.

Aizawa caught the dirty look and only sighed.

"Midoriya. Bakugou. Explain.", the tone of his voice unconsciously made both boys stand up straight.

"My co-pilot did not report the positions of the enemy fleet in time, which forced me to improvise and put us both in a dangerous situation", Bakugou stated, his expression bored, "He also could not focus on his task, because apparently, he felt sick.", Izuku instinctively looked down in shame, the motion-sickness still sticking to the back of his throat.

"And that is why you decided to force a crash, which would have ultimately lead to both you and your co-pilot to die in action?", Aizawa's voice was cold like ice as he stared his student down, but Bakugou held met his gaze without any hesitation.

"The prior failure of my co-pilot to provide the necessary information would have either way lead to our capture and eventual death. Instead of endangering other agents by possibly disclosing sensible information to the enemy, I choose to sacrifice my and the life of my incapable colleague."

The silence that followed after Bakugou uttered those words was heavy. Izuku felt a hot wave of shame wash over him from head to toe. Bakugou was right, if this had not been a simulation, but reality, Izuku would have to take responsibility for their deaths. He was well aware of this bitter truth.

Aizawa eventually nodded.

"Midoriya, your turn."

Izuku could not even raise his head, the weight of his repeated failure crushing him.

"I could not fulfill my task as a co-pilot to Katsuki Bakugou, which ultimately lead to not only the failure of the mission but to our deaths.", at least he managed to keep his voice steady. Aizawa sighed again.

"Alright, enough. You are going to repeat this simulation next week, and if there are no improvements in your teamwork, especially on your part Bakugou,", his eyes narrowed slightly the moment he noticed Bakugou's frown becoming more pronounced, "You will both be on maintenance duty until I decide to give you another chance.", Bakugou was already opening his mouth, ready to protest, but before he could utter even a single word, Aizawa cut him off, "Dismissed, go back to your quarters."

And with that, he turned on his heels and exited the hangar, leaving his two students behind.

As soon as the sound of the door closing reached their ears, Bakugou was on him, grabbing Izuku by his collar and shoving him against the hard metal of the simulation machine.

"Fucker… Are you doing this on purpose? You are such a joke, why the hell are you even trying if you can't handle even a little bit of turbulence?", the cold metal was digging painfully into his back and Izuku couldn't hold back a low whimper.

"K-Kaachan, I'm s-sorry, it hurts, L-let me-"

"Let you go? After that shit you pulled on me? Twice?", Bakugou leaned in, invading his personal space, his red eyes swimming with frustration and anger, "I don't know why you're trying to sabotage me Deku, but I sure as hell won't change my mind on becoming a pilot and I don't fucking care about your opinion", Bakugou took a step back and swung Izuku to the side while still holding onto his collar. Izuku tumbled to the floor, scrapping his palms in the process, "When will that finally get through that thick skull of yours?", sending Izuku one last look of pure disgust, Bakugou turned around and made his way out of the hangar.

"Kaachan,…", Izuku whispered, knowing that even if he heard, the other would not turn back for him.

After the door to the hanger closed on him once again, Izuku just laid there, spreading his arms to the side and staring up at the cold ceiling. His chest hurt, he still felt sick and the insides of both his hands were pounding as the blood quickly rushed towards the scrapped patches of skin, trying to mend the injury.

Izuku only wanted to help, when would Kaachan finally understand that? His last chance was the simulation next week. If he couldn't control his physical reactions by then, he would only drag his friend down. He didn't follow him all the way to the Interspatial National Defense Ministry just to end up sabotaging Kaachan's plan of becoming a defender of the Earth. He was here for a completely different purpose. If Kaachan wanted to dedicate his life to saving human kind, so be it. However, Izuku had other goals. While Kaachan was busy protecting the earth, Izuku would be the one protecting his childhood friend.

Izuku wanted to become the protector of Katsuki Bakugou.

Oh, how Kaachan would hate him, if he heard him say that.

The thought made a little smile appear on his face as he sat up slowly.

But first, he would have to take care of that little motion-sickness problem of his…

A/N: Hi! Thanks for reading. Space!Izukatsu for the winz. How was it? Is it worth continuing? Feedback is appreciated :D See ya!