Izuku sat with his back resting on the flat stone. The sun was bright and warm, and the wind was gentle as it passed through him. He smiled up at the sky, content to let the time pass by.

Footsteps sounded and Izuku smiled up as Katsuki Bakugo came to a stop in front of him. But the other boy did not notice him. He looked right through Izuku to the grave he rested against, inscribed with a familiar name: Izuku Midoria. Katsuki's face was carefully blank as he stared at the stone. Izuku's smile dropped when he noticed Katsuki's hands shaking.

Katsuki did this everyday; he would go out of his way to visit him before school and some days he'd stop by again as the sun was setting. He would just stand there with his blank look for a couple of minutes, then huff and storm away.

Izuku watched sadly as his childhood friend left. He couldn't understand why Katsuki did what he did, after all, he'd been right. All he had to do was jump, and lo and behold his quirk manifested. He called it Ghost. The major downside was that no one could see him, but he was learning to control it and soon, he may even be able to talk to Katsuki again.

Izuku stood—or floated—as Katsuki turned the corner and headed to school. It was time to practice.

Oo-oO

"Damnit," Katsuki kicked an empty can and sent it skittering along the sidewalk.

It had been a month since it happened and everyday he regretted what he'd said. If he hadn't been so stupid, none of it would have happened.

But—but why?! He couldn't help but ask. He'd been telling the nerd what to do for years. Why did he listen then? Of all the things, why did he latch onto that? One stupid thing . . .

He hadn't meant it. It just slipped out before he knew what he was doing. And then . . .

"Damnit!"

Oo-oO

"You were right, Ka-chan."

No.

"I did it!"

Why?!

"I jumped."

Stop it!

"It's okay, Ka-chan. I'm okay. You were right. Everything's okay now."

No it's not, dumb ass!

"We can't meet yet, but I'm getting stronger. Soon we'll be able to talk properly."

Leave me alone!
"Soon . . ."

. . .

He gasped as he sat up in bed. His heart pounded in his chest and he shivered at the memory of the nightmare. It was the same one he'd been having for a while now, only worse.

He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face into them to hide the tears from his empty room. Izuku was speaking to him, calling for him to join him. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about it. After all, did he really deserve to live after pushing someone else to stop?

"Soon," the dream had reassured.

"Soon," Katsuki repeated as he curled into himself even more. Maybe . . .

. . .

Izuku frowned as he watched Katsuki cry. He hadn't meant to make him cry. He was trying to reassure him. It was better this way, why didn't he understand? He'd gotten better at projecting his thoughts into dreams but physical apparitions were still beyond him. But he didn't give up.

The next day, Izuku was there to smile at Katsuki as the living boy stopped in front of his grave. He stood there a moment with his carefully blank face, staring hard at the name carved into the stone. Then he did something he hadn't done in the month since it happened. He spoke to him.

"Alright, listen here you stupid nerd," he ground out. Izuku stared at him, captivated. Although his face was blank, but voice was stained with the emotions he was desperately trying to keep in check.

Katsuki took a deep breath and glanced around to make sure no one else was around to see him talking to some stupid rock. "I'm sorry," he finally said, his teeth grinding together in frustration as his eyes pooled with tears. "I didn't mean it, any of it. But this isn't all on me! It's your own damn fault for being an idiot! You're not supposed to take me seriously! You're supposed to fight back and keep going! It's what you always did," his voice tapered off and he clenched his hands into fight fists. "No matter what I would say or how I'd push you around, you always got back up. So what the hell happened?" The anger flashed in his eyes again as he glared at the head stone. "What the hell happened!? Why the hell did you suddenly decide to listen to me?! You stupid idiot. . ." He stopped as his voice hitched and he fought back the sob building in his throat. "Now look at you. Look what happened. . . What I made happen . . . I—"

He choked back the emotion and dropped to the ground cross legged.

"I'm the idiot, aren't I?" He asked no one as he buried his face in his hands and leaned forward.

"Ka-chan. . ."

"Shut up, stupid Deku," he whispered back. "I don't want to hear it."

"It's not your fault."

"Yes it is," he buried his face deeper into his hands. "I did this." He looked up, looked right through the ghost boy to the cold grave stone. "I did this. . ."

Izuku tried to speak to him, but he wasn't strong enough. The few words he'd managed to pass along did nothing to sooth Katsuki. Instead, he stood in front of the grieving boy and place an ethereal hand on his head as he sat there. It wasn't much, but it was all he could do at the moment.

Because Izuku didn't blame Katsuki. He'd been right. All Izuku had to do to awaken his quirk was die. He could still be a hero. And one day, he'd get the chance to thank Katsuki face to face.