Halfway to the Moon

Epilogue

  Almost there, Izuku encouraged himself, straining to hang the last of the streamers. The tape wouldn’t stop clinging to his fingers and a side table prevented him from getting into the corner so he had to lean over; he was so close but his toes were slipping, the rug barely having any grip on the wooden floor, and he could feel himself losing his balance—

 

 —and suddenly the streamer was being removed from his outstretched fingers, a bony hand lifting the decorative paper and hanging it with ease.

 

 “Ah, thank you, All Might!” Izuku breathed, letting his aching calves relax as he laid his feet flat on the ground once again.

 

 All Might smiled at him, resting a hand on his shoulder. “No problem! And please, Izuku, call me Toshi now. We are family, are we not?”

 

 Izuku smiled, wide and genuine. “Right, Toshi!”

 

 “Are you done with the decorations yet, idiot?!” Izuku jumped at the muffled, but loud, voice. “These dishes aren’t gonna carry themselves!”

 

 “Sorry, Kacchan! Yeah, we’re done!”

 

 “Don’t worry, my boy, I’ll go help him. Why don’t you go help your mother set up the table?”

 

 Izuku nodded, skipping on over to the archway that connected the hall and living room. Joy overflowed within him as he took in the sight: his mother, all laughs and giggles as she joked with the Bakugous, the proud ‘Congratulations!’ scrawled on every banner, the silly party hats and balloons littering the floor that lit up the room with more color than Izuku had ever seen. He felt on the brink of either exploding into a poof of golden confetti or collapsing in a pool of happy tears— one of the two.

 

 He made his way over to the table, greeting his teary-eyed mother who immediately pulled him in for a hug.

 

 “Oh, Izuku, I’m so happy for you!” She sniffled as Izuku pet her hair. “Getting into your dream school! You should be so proud of yourself!”

 

 “You gave my son a run for his money with all those rescue points!” Mitsuki chimed in, roughing his hair up good-naturedly. Izuku laughed nervously, he hadn’t even known rescue points were a thing at the time.

 

 Masaru came to stand next to him as well, placing a much gentler hand on his head. “You’re going to make a great hero one of these days, Izuku.”

 

  “And a great son-in-law!”

 

 “A-A-Aunt Mitsuki!” Izuku squealed in embarrassment, wriggling his way out of all their arms so he could throw his arms over his rapidly reddening face. Then a callous hand was yanking them away.

 

 “The fuck did you say this time you shitty old hag? Deku looks like he’s gonna die of embarrassment!”

 

 “What makes you think I said somethin’, huh?”

 

 “You’re always sayin’ some nonsense!”

 

 “Ah, I smell food!” Inko interrupted, giggling softly. “Is the table set, then?”

 

 “Young Bakugou and I just finished!” All Might appeared in the door, motioning for everyone to come eat. Izuku breathed a quiet sigh of relief as everyone’s attention was successfully averted from him, hooking his arm with Kacchan’s as he followed the mouth-watering aroma of katsudon spicy dumplings.

 

 He was walking on air as he traversed the house, shining eyes lingering on the bright, pristine pictures lining every wall, adorning every table top, smiling back at him with all the brightness he’d missed out on during his childhood.

 

 And at the table, he took a seat next to his mother, who pressed a kiss to the cheek of his life-long idol. He watched his childhood friend-turned-bully-turned-boyfriend shouting across the table at Aunt Mitsuki, dressed in a ‘kiss the cook’ apron that dashed any ounce of intimidation he otherwise might’ve had. He ate, and laughed, and smiled without care or worry because for once, he wouldn’t have to fall back on false hope. He’d have to work hard, harder than anyone else, but his future was bright. These memories were his to share, to keep, to look back on during long nights. These people were his family. This was home.

 

 “Hey, Kacchan.”

 

 “Uh?” Kacchan grunted, heaping a generous serving of Katsudon onto Izuku’s plate.

 

 “I love you.”

 

 Kacchan’s eyes widened, his porcelain face pinkening. He scoffed and swiveled around to grab another plate, but Izuku could see the smile threatening to overtake his scowl as he replied.

 

 “I love you too, I guess.”

 

 Yeah, he was home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank all of you so much for all of the amazing support. I had such a fun time writing this, and I sincerely hope you had just as much fun reading it :'))

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