Tuesday, 11:30 PM

Deku's phone rang first. They were just clearing up after a late supper when it rang.

"I'll get the dishes. You never wash them right anyway," Katsuki said.

"Thanks, Katsuki," Deku replied, giving his boyfriend a quick peck on the cheek before picking up the phone. On the other end, his senpai began shouting urgently about the League of Villains. Just then, Katsuki's phone rang too, and that's when Deku knew there was trouble. Whatever the League of Villains was up to, it was big, big enough for both their agencies to be calling them in after-hours to help out.

The emergency was Nomus. The exact number was unknown, but there were plenty of them. And villains. It was like the time in Hosu City with the Hero-Killer Stain, only many times worse. Heroes from all over would be flocking to reach the city, but before that, everyone who could fight was needed, and needed now.

"Katsuki, I'll be heading out first," Deku called, having changed into his uniform while still on the phone.

"Hold on a sec," Katsuki said into the phone, then called out "Izuku, be careful, okay?"

"You too," Deku called. And then the door was shutting behind him and he was off, running towards the city proper. Now that he was outside, he could hear distant crashes, and he could see flames as well. At the rate things were going it wouldn't have been much longer before he and Katsuki noticed the commotion on their own.

Back in their apartment, Katsuki looked at the dishes in the sink and sighed. With the way things were, he really couldn't afford to delay heading out to help at all, but he really did hate to leave a mess. Oh well. The world wouldn't end from dirty dishes. However, it might become a much worse place if he didn't do his job. With another sigh he went to get changed and head out himself.

x

Wednesday, 2:45 AM

There was work to be done everywhere. People were trapped in damaged buildings, they were being held hostage or attacked, villains were looting stores, they were destroying whatever they could, they were hurting whoever they saw, and the Nomus- the Nomus were doing what they did best. There were even some heroes who had devoted themselves solely to removing injured heroes from danger before they got killed. Even still, bodies were piling up: civilian, villain, and hero alike.

Even after hours of every hero within shouting distance fighting for all they were worth, the situation had barely changed. There was just too much to do, and to make things worse, many times Kurogiri of the League of Villains had a way of coming to the rescue when villains were in danger; either whisking them to safety or moving the hero or heroes they'd been fighting to a disadvantageous location.

Kacchan was beginning to feel the strain of fighting for so long. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. But the villains had to be tiring too, right? So as long as he outlasted them, then everything would be fine. He could do it. After all, he could hardly stop fighting before Izuku, and Izuku would surely hang in there until the end.

Kacchan moved to explode the villain he'd been fighting, only to find himself falling through one of Kurogiri's warp gates. He threw himself forward, guaranteeing Kurogiri wouldn't close the gate with him halfway in it still, and caught himself, taking in his new location and what was going on around him.

He'd been warped by Kurogiri twice already that night, and both times had ended up being dropped into situations that would have spelled certain death for a lesser hero than him. This time was different. No one was moving to attack him. He wasn't in any immediate danger. Was Kurogiri tiring too, and had messed up?

A scream sounded ahead of Kacchan, and he raced forward, charging into an alleyway. He took in the sight of two Nomus, bending over a trio of children. He sprang onto a dumpster and leapt at the Nomus, using explosions to go even higher, and flipped in midair, using another set of explosions to go shooting downward at the Nomus. He set off another explosion just before he plowed headfirst into one of them, changing directions and attacking at the same time. The Nomu gave an animal scream and reeled backwards, and Kacchan took the opportunity to throw a blast at the other Nomu, just before it grabbed one of the children.

As the second Nomu also stumbled back, Kacchan grabbed the smallest child and yelled at the other two "Go!", running towards the open end of the alley to escape. He'd evacuate the kids first, and then he could worry about the Nomus.

They reached the open space of the main street and Kacchan released a long blast into the air, sending flames high upward in a flare of sorts. Hopefully someone nearby would see it and come for the kids. Hopefully a hero and not a villain. In the meantime, he would make sure they stayed safe. He was a hero after all.

Kacchan released the child he'd been carrying and turned to make sure the other two had made it out alright as well. The were just behind him, panting, but unharmed. Except behind them…

"Move!" Kacchan yelled, lunging forward and tackling them just in time to avoid being whipped by a tentacle from one of the Nomus. It seemed the Nomus couldn't wait. If he wanted to protect the kids, he had to finish off the Nomus.

Kacchan surged upright, ignoring the crying children, and charged forward into battle. The one that he'd hit first still seemed to be in pain from his attack, so he blasted it again and went after the other, which seemed to be the bigger threat. He dodged another tentacle, blasting it as he did with enough force that it was severed. He kept an eye on it, just in case it would still move on its own or reattach itself. It did neither. Good. He could handle this.

He had blasted off another three tentacles when he sensed something behind him. He started to turn, but just then the tentacle one threw itself at him, and he had no choice but to blast it. As he did so, he felt something enter his lower back, just right of the spine. He looked down, unsure if he'd been run through completely. He didn't see anything sticking out of his front, but then again, he could already feel whatever had stabbed him being pulled out. He turned and sent out an explosion, knocking the Nomu he'd ignored backwards before it could stab him a second time. But then something wrapped around him, and he went flying as he was thrown by yet another tentacle. He landed by the children.

His vision was starting to blur, and he knew he must be bleeding a lot. He was really in trouble, and those kids were too since the Nomus were coming this way. He had to protect them. It's what Izuku would do.

Izuku…

Kacchan had only blinked, and yet the Nomus were right there now, and the one that had stabbed him was swinging its arm, which was more of a blade than an arm now, and he knew it was going to cut the children in half. He had to stop it.

The explosion hit the Nomu at the same time as the ice did. The other Nomu screeched and fled, and Kacchan sighed with relief. They'd be safe now. And he could rest a bit…

"Bakugou! Bakugou!" someone shouted, and his eyes snapped open. What was he thinking, he could rest? There were still other villains and Nomus out there, weren't there?

"Shut up already, you half and half jerk," Kacchan growled. "Hurry up and get those kids out of here."

"Ingenium is already taking care of it. Come on, we need to get you to-"

"I'm fine. Just do me a favor and freeze this up, will you?"

"What do you mean, you're fine? You've been stabbed!"

"No shit. But I can still fight, if you stop the bleeding for me. So freeze it, cauterize it, I don't care how, just help me out! We can't let the city get overrun!"

"I don't think that's a good idea. You really should-"

"I really should go do my job! And you should do yours, too! We're heroes, and that means we should be stopping the villains and saving people, right? So let's do it already!"

"I really don't know what Midoriya sees in you," Todoroki muttered.

"And I don't see why he's friends with a jerk like you!" Kacchan snapped, then howled as Todoroki's flames seared his back where he'd been stabbed. A moment later, ice covered the same area, increasing the burning he felt. He grit his teeth and fought to stay conscious. It would be just like Todoroki to have him evacuated if he passed out. He needed to stay and fight. He was a hero!

"Has the bleeding stopped?" he asked through his clenched teeth.

"For now. But it could start up again at any time. You really need to-"

"Thanks," Kacchan said, and got to his feet. "Later," he said, and headed off. Behind him, he heard a loud noise, and he knew Todoroki wouldn't be able to ignore whatever it was. Up ahead, he could see a villain smashing a window. There was work to be done everywhere. In the past three hours, that was the one thing that hadn't changed.

x

Wednesday, 6:30 AM

It happened all at once. Suddenly there were heroes all around him, reinforcements finally arriving, and the villains and Nomus fled in that same instant. Deku fell to his knees, exhausted. How many hours now had he been fighting? How many hours now since he'd last gotten any sleep?

Deku fumbled for his phone. First thing first: he needed to call Katsuki. Knowing that guy, he'd probably be angry Deku hadn't been calling him to say he was okay at least once an hour. Katsuki was good at finding silly things to get angry at like that; it was his way of worrying. Deku couldn't help but smile. He couldn't wait to get home. Katsuki would probably beat him there and complain about him taking so long. Or maybe he'd complain that the sun was already coming up. Was it that late already?

Deku absently pressed the button to call Katsuki. It began to ring.

And it kept ringing. And ringing.

Katsuki was never one to let his phone ring for very long. He insisted all ringtones were annoying. Deku was beginning to get nervous when Katsuki finally picked up.

"Ah, Katsuki-" Deku said, but was interrupted by the wrong voice.

"Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu-chan's voice asked.

"Tsuyu-chan? Where's Katsuki?"

"Midoriya-chan, I think you should get over here fast. Bakugou-kun is hurt pretty badly."

"W-where?" Deku asked, then added "are you?"

"I'll text you the location in just a moment," Tsuyu-chan said, and hung up.

Deku waited anxiously for what was probably only 20 seconds or so, but felt like an eternity. Finally, his phone dinged, and he opened it up to see a location flagged on a map. Despite his exhaustion, he instantly powered up One For All as much as he could handle at the moment and raced off, needing to get to that place as fast as he could.

The medics were already there when Deku arrived. There were people lying around all over the place in all sorts of states of disarray. Several were tied up, meaning they were villains. Some were heroes, some were Nomus. One of the Nomus was in pieces. A few of the heroes and villains stared at nothing with lifeless eyes. It was a bleak scene, and it was not the kind of place Deku wanted to find Katsuki, not when Katsuki was "hurt pretty badly".

Deku spotted Tsuyu-chan and a couple other former classmates over by a cluster of medics, and crossed the distance with a single bound. He pushed his way towards the medics, and then wished he hadn't.

Katsuki was propped on his side, and the medics were looking at a wound on his back. It was puckered oddly, like it had been burnt, and oozing. That was the first thing Deku noticed, but then he took in the various other injuries: cuts and gashes, burns and bruises, and a wrist at an awkward angle. Both of Katsuki's gauntlets were missing, presumably knocked off by a foe that wanted to limit the range of Katsuki's attacks.

The medics maneuvered Katsuki onto a stretcher, and Deku got a good look at Katsuki's face. It was just as battered as the rest of him, and a sickly ashen shade that made Deku weak in the knees.

"The main concern seems to be blood loss," a voice said. Deku looked up to see the hero Ingenium, who was his former classmate Iida.

"I'm so sorry, Midoriya," said another voice. Everyone sounded like they were far away, but he turned to see Yaoyorozu standing right by him, one arm across her stomach and clenching the other with unease. "When he asked me for a bandage, I thought it was for someone else. Really."

"Yaoyorozu, it's not your fault," Iida said, then added in a lower voice "Nor is it Todoroki's, though I doubt anyone will be able to convince him of that."

"Todoroki? What's he got to do with it?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Midoriya," Todoroki said, approaching. He got to his knees and went into a dogeza.

"T-Todoroki-kun?" Yaoyorozu asked. Deku stared blankly at his prostrated friend, still in shock at the condition Katsuki was in. His Katsuki, reduced to that. It was unthinkable. Katsuki was strong. There was no way he'd lose to anybody. And yet…

"I found him just after he was injured," Todoroki said. "I tried to tell him to go see a medic but he insisted he could fight and asked me to cauterize or freeze the wound. I thought maybe he would lose consciousness and I could take him to a medic then, but he didn't and then there was a collapsing building and while I was handling that I lost him. If I hadn't listened to him at that time…!"

Deku had heard enough. He turned abruptly and walked away from his classmates. He could hear them calling after him, but he wasn't listening.

x

Over the next two days, Deku received more and more apologies: Uraraka saying she hadn't known he'd asked her to make him lighter because he was having troubles moving already, Kirishima saying they'd been fighting together for a while, and if they had just stuck together this might not have happened, several others saying the same thing, Shinsou saying he should have used his quirk to make Katsuki stop fighting, and countless others. Almost everyone had seen Katsuki at some point after he'd been injured. None of them had stopped Katsuki from fighting.

When it was already Friday and Katsuki had yet to wake up, Deku felt like he was going to shatter. At this rate, Katsuki might never wake up. He might even d- no, that was too horrible a thought. There had to be something Deku could do. Anything.

But the only thing Deku could think to do was blame people. Blame everyone who had apologized. Blame everyone who hadn't. Blame the heroes who had come 3 hours too late. And blame himself for not waiting for Katsuki to get ready.

And then, Friday evening, Deku's phone rang. He jumped at it, hoping, as he'd been hoping for days, that it was news of Katsuki's recovery.

"Is this the hero Deku?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

"Y-yes," Deku stammered. Was it the hospital?

"I understand you are currently awaiting news on the condition of one Bakugou Katsuki."

"Yes. Is he-"

"He won't wake up."

Deku fell to the floor. No. He didn't want this news.

"At least, not the way things are. He was stabbed by a Nomu who's quirk is a powerful toxin. We hold the antidote to that toxin. No one else has it."

"You're not from the hospital, are you?" Deku asked, voice trembling ever so slightly. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Indeed not. I am calling on behalf of one known as All For One."

Deku felt his heart quiver in fear. He'd heard of All For One from All Might. All For One was dangerous, and evil, and if he had the antidote that Katsuki needed then Katsuki was in trouble, because there was no way All For One would ever use it to save him.

"Normally we would not bother to contact one such as yourself, however, All For One believes that we could make a deal with you," the speaker continued.

"What kind of deal?"

"One of mutual benefit to us, where your dear friend could survive."

"What do you want?"

"We want many things, Midoriya-kun. But what we will exchange for Bakugou's life is simple: join us."

Deku bit his tongue to keep himself from immediately spitting out a negative response. He had no desire to be a villain. But if he said no, what would happen to Katsuki?

"Just so you know, your friend has only survived this long by getting regular small doses of the antidote. Should those doses stop…"

If Deku said no now, Katsuki's death would be on his hands. He couldn't do it. But he couldn't bring himself to agree.

"Still hesitating? Understandable. But is being a hero really such a great thing? It didn't save him, did it? He still got hurt, despite the fact that he's a hero, and despite the fact that there were heroes all around. And not one hero stopped him from getting further injuries. Heroes won't protect your friend. But we will. Come join us, and All For One will personally guarantee that Bakugou Katsuki will be safe." The more the person spoke, the more his words seemed to ring true to Deku. Hadn't Deku thought it himself these last few days, that so many people could have saved Katsuki and yet hadn't? This person was absolutely right. Heroes were worthless. They needed to go. But there was still just one issue.

"What guarantee do I have that you'll keep your word?" Deku asked.

"The League of Villains is acquainted with someone who has a quirk called Oath. If he witnesses an agreement, anyone who breaks that promise will suffer severe consequences. We will have him witness an agreement between you and All For One, should you join us. But keep in mind, this is a limited-time offer."

"I understand. I'll…" Deku hesitated. But no, there was only one way he'd be able to live with himself. "I'll do it," he said, and felt an instant sense of relief. Becoming a villain was a small price to pay for protecting Katsuki.

"Welcome to the League of Villains, Deku.