Notes: I feel like this entire story has been building up to this morning, but it's not even the end of the mystery. Chances are I'm going to end up combining this with some Kacchakoctober in order to finish it. That's just the way life works sometimes. Things get bigger than you intend and this world I've created is something that I truly enjoy writing and love. (Side note: I forgot to update this fic on here, holy shit. Bad author, bad.)
Day 6: Sunset
Uraraka was only six when she found out she could enchant almost any object to fly. It didn't have to be a broom necessarily, although those were the fastest. She didn't know why and her parents couldn't tell her either, so she never questioned it. Still, people ogled her oddly whenever they saw her flying around on a mop, so she tended to stick with the usual broom. It was fun to play to harmless stereotypes, if only because people were always startled. She'd parked her broom a few times when she first moved to the city. The reactions she received still made her laugh to this day.
There was no time to laugh right now though. The swiffer jet was a rocky ride at best and she had trouble keeping control over it, but luckily the full moon gave her a boost of power to wrestle it into a fast ride. She shot through the dark sky, ignoring the cold bite of the wind stinging her cheeks. With one gloved hand holding onto her hat and the other gripping the handle of the jet, she flew like a comet or perhaps a missile seeking a target.
She had to get there in time. She had to reach Bakugou. She honestly didn't know what she would do if she didn't. Losing Sero tonight was already a deep cut to her heart. She couldn't handle another one.
It took too long to get there. After enchanting the jet, she had cast a spell that would show her the way to Bakugou's cabin. She knew the town, but not its exact location. A green orb glowed ahead of her, a guiding star, and she flew toward it at breakneck speed, never once stopping to consider where it might bring her. The last vestiges of the sun shined on the horizon, beautiful hues of orange and pink lighting half the sky as purple and black chased it.
Once upon a time, sunsets had been her favorite time of the day. She felt like the world transformed into something completely different once the sun went down and the moon came up. There was something so peaceful and soothing about it that reminded her of the beauty of the world. Maybe it was an illusion, but she always felt closer to her magic at dusk. She felt more powerful at night.
Now, determined as she was, fear rattled in her mind and grief gripped her heart. She was chasing the sunset and it was winning. Daylight waned along with her certainty that she could save him.
When the cabin finally came into sight, relief washed over her, only to be cut off when she saw the flickering lights heading toward it. She wasn't the only one going after Bakugou. Just as she'd feared, an angry and scared mob powered by misconceptions and wrong information had formed. She could see the wavy lights of flashlights along with actual torches. People this far out of the city tended to be a mixture of both modern and old times. The main difference between then and now was that many people would be armed with both guns and knives made of silver.
By the time she reached the cabin, the mob was nearly upon it. She could hear their fearful shouts. The frantic energy that radiated from them was powerful in itself. People didn't realize the magical energy that could build up in a crowd, especially one that ran on such high emotions like fear, anger, or excitement. Just as a man threw a rock through a window, Uraraka pulled hard on the jet, forcing it to come to a halt. A few people in the crowd had already spotted her, having noticed the green orb hovering over the building.
The rest came to know her presence when she released the enchantment on the jet and she dropped from the sky like a meteor crashing to earth. She slashed her hand through the air to create a gust of wind that served to both soften her landing and also knock the crowd back. Some people staggered and struggled to stay standing while others were blown on their backs and a few of the flames were snuffed out.
Standing up straight, Uraraka tossed the used up jet to the side and held up a hand. "Stop!" Despite the fact that she'd only been riding, she was still breathing heavily. A seemingly permanent shiver had made its home in her body, but that didn't stop her from standing her ground alone against the mob. Many of them looked flabbergasted that a young woman had dropped out of the sky and commanded them, but it quickly turned back to anger.
"Get out of the way!"
"Who do you think you are?"
"We've got a right to protect ourselves!"
"We don't want a murderer in our community!"
Uraraka dropped her hand and formed it into a fist. "He's not a murderer."
"He's a werewolf!" someone else yelled. "What's the difference?"
If the mob thought they were angry, it was nothing compared to how Uraraka felt right now. Fury built up inside of her like an inferno, making her feel ready to explode at any moment. Who knew what would happen if she did? Her magic sang in her blood, begging to be released. Lightning crackled from her fist as she slid her wand into her other hand.
"What do you call this then?" she demanded, pointing at them.
"Justice!"
"Protection!"
Uraraka scowled darkly. "It's murder!"
A woman holding a shotgun stepped forward. "He killed someone. That's what we were told. I've got three children. We only live five minutes down the road. I'm not having that beast anywhere near my family."
"He didn't kill anyone," Uraraka countered. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. She wouldn't be able to kill the frantic energy in the air if she was emotional as well. "Listen; I know that you're scared and angry, but it's important that we all remain calm. This is a very vulnerable time for all werewolves. Charging in there to kill him will only make things worse. Someone will get hurt while he's defending himself and then you'll find even more problems on your hands. Let's just wait until the sun comes up and then we can figure something out."
"What gives you the right to tell us what to do?" a man demanded.
"I'm a detective," Uraraka explained. "I'm in charge of the case he's been accused of being involved in, but I'm telling you all right now that he is not a suspect. He's an innocent civilian who has done nothing wrong."
"No werewolf is innocent," the man said coldly. "They all have blood on their hands."
"And you won't if you kill him?" Uraraka retorted.
The woman with the shotgun shook her head. "Why should we listen to you anyway?"
Another man stepped forward, this one in a police officer's uniform. It appeared as if the local police had blended into the mob so none of them felt out of line. This was justified in their minds. "You don't have any jurisdiction here. Step aside!"
"'Sides," another woman added, "you're a witch! All witches are tricksters. You're lying to us! Who's to say you're not working with him?"
"We're just protecting ourselves!"
"And I'm protecting him!" Uraraka yelled back. A loud boom resounded in the air, like a cannon had gone off. People shouted and dropped to the ground, but there was nothing to be afraid of. The sound had been more for dramatics than anything else. It might've busted a few eardrums if they were too close to the spell, but it wouldn't do any serious damage. She did not want to hurt anyone.
But she would. She would stand her ground. She would let them attack her before she moved. The only way they were going to get to him was through her. They wanted to be afraid of something?
They could be afraid of her .
"Get out of the way, witch!"
"Move or we'll move you!"
Uraraka raised both of her hands, her wand in one and holding out her open palm with the other. "Do not test me. If one of you tries to get past me to him, I will not hesitate to stop you."
"What can you do?" a man questioned dismissively. "You're so small. You can't stop us all."
A sneer more reminiscent of Bakugou slid onto Uraraka's face as she growled, "Try me." They didn't know what she was capable of.
The sun was setting, the last of its light hanging on by a thread. A scream from behind her cut through the tension, pained and crazed, and her heart leaped into her throat. The transformation was beginning. He could probably hear their shouts, but he wouldn't know what was going on. How angry was he? How confused? How scared? He was at his strongest and weakest. It wasn't right. He shouldn't have to do this alone.
At least tonight he wouldn't.
This time, when someone threw a rock, it was aimed at her. She dodged it easily. When another scream tore through the air, the mob started shouting frantically and pushing their way forward again. There would be no stopping them. They would do their best to tear through her. They could try.
The woman aimed the shotgun at her. It was shaking. "Move or I'll shoot!"
"I'd consider your children before you do that," Uraraka warned her. She had no intentions of killing anyone, but purposely attacking an officer of the law would land the woman in jail at night for the best. That was if Uraraka was feeling kind, which, to be honest, she wasn't. Didn't they see the tears in her eyes? Could they not see the pain on her face? She wasn't going to lose anyone else - not tonight, not ever. She had to protect them all, but she would start with Bakugou first.
One more painful scream was bad enough, but when it transformed into more of a howl near the end, the mob exploded with fear. The woman cried out in fear and squeezed the trigger, more out of being startled than with actual intention. The buckshot didn't hit Uraraka though, purple ripples appearing in the air in front of her as it struck the magical shield she'd created earlier. They didn't even penetrate it.
"You can't fight all of us," a man threatened, aiming a rifle at her.
Uraraka considered them. Maybe he was right. She could take them all on. Chances were that she could even take them down, but not without a few casualties. She didn't want to do that though. As furious as she was with them and their unfounded beliefs, she understood where they were coming from. After being raised their entire lives to believe werewolves were violent and evil, they had been worked into a frenzy under false assumptions. They were afraid for their families and their lives.
"You're right," Uraraka decided, "but I don't have to."
Drawing on the energy of the full moon that peeked out from behind a cloud, Uraraka swished her wand in a pattern that she'd done only a handful of times. It took a lot of energy out of her, but powered by the moon and her own emotions, she knew that she could do it. She'd never cast such a powerful barrier spell this large before, but if she did it right, no one would be able to follow her inside or get out. A gust of wind spun around her like a tornado, her hair flicking against her face and her long jacket wiping in the wind. It shoved the crowd back, knocking people off their feet and forcing every torch to go dark.
The second she released the spell, a loud explosion cracked, so strong that the ground shook and the cabin rattled. People screamed and threw themselves down, weapons and flashlights tossed aside. There was a circle in the ground surrounding the cabin, as if someone had dug a moat around it. The most notable thing was the transparent purple dome that hovered over the cabin as if it had sprung from the ground. It separated her from the mob. When one person bravely touched it, they were rewarded with a zap that forced them to jump.
"There," Uraraka breathed, closing her eyes. Sweat dripped down from her temple. "Now you can't get in - and he can't get out."
And she was locked in here with him. What was it that Deku had said? Get out if things got too bad? That wasn't going to work now. She would have to think of something else if things went south.
One of Bakugou's half screams/half howls pulled her attention back to the cabin. She heard a tear that sounded like a support beam breaking. In his panic over hearing the mob outside had he started to break free of the chains? She didn't know. A part of her was terrified to find out, but a stronger part of her felt like this was something she had to face. Could she help him? Could she calm him down? She didn't know. Maybe not. It wasn't like she had much of a choice now.
"Don't go in there!" a woman cried out.
Uraraka dropped her hands to her side. "It's fine." It shouldn't have been possible, but now that she'd created the barrier, a sense of peace had come over her. She'd protected Bakugou and kept the mob from getting harmed. Whatever happened to her tonight, she had done that much. "He won't hurt me."
She turned on her heels and ran into the cabin, the crowd screaming in horror and the sun setting fully behind her, taking away the last vestiges of her safety away with it.
To be honest, Uraraka wasn't sure what kind of sight she would be met with. She'd spent plenty of moments picturing what Bakugou's werewolf transformation would be like. Of course she'd heard stories and she'd seen pictures in books and movie depictions. She had a feeling that the latter could never truly capture the horror that encapsulated it. Bakugou liked to pretend like nothing hurt him, but how could this not? His entire body had to break and reform into a different form entirely and he did this once a month.
Upstairs, the cabin looked normal, but the door to the basement seemed to rattle with his screams. She ripped the door open and was immediately assaulted with the smell of blood once more, except this time it was fresh. It was Bakugou's. She ran down the stairs, thinking that she could handle whatever she saw, but when she reached the bottom, she was halted in her tracks. Her blood froze at the sight that greeted her and the air sucked out of her lungs, cutting off the scream she'd almost let escape her.
Bakugou hung in the back of the basement, shackled at his wrists and ankles by metal chains. They must have been charmed to restrict him until the full moon was gone, the only form of magic he'd allow himself to be touched by. The shackles dug into his skin, causing blood to drip down his wrists and onto the floor. A large muzzle to fit his transformed snout covered half his face. What was truly horrifying was that he was half-transformed, reminding her painfully of Sero's body on his floor. His legs and feet looked more like a wolf's, muscular and hairy, his claws digging into the dirt. His body shook and writhed as the moon worked its way through him, bones snapping and crunching as they manipulated his physical structure.
He looked like a horrifying monster, but when his eyes snapped open to reveal red irises, Uraraka couldn't stop herself from letting out a cry. Whatever he looked like now or would become, he was still him. He was still Katsuki.
"NO!" he roared, his voice sounding double. It was like it was him and the werewolf talking as one at the same time, their voices overlapping. "NO, GET BACK! GET OUT OF HERE!"
"I-I can't," Uraraka gasped. "There's a mob outside. They were going to kill you. I couldn't-"
"I DON'T CARE!" His screams shook her to her core, making her tremble. She heard what he wasn't shouting: Better me than you. She didn't believe it. She didn't care what anyone said. He wouldn't hurt her. Werewolves were victims of their own lycanthropy. It was said they couldn't control what they did in their werewolf form, but she didn't think it was entirely true. There were be more recorded werewolf attacks, more deaths. "GET OUT!"
His words tapered off into an unintelligible howl.
"You won't hurt me," Uraraka said quietly. "I know you won't."
"I can't-" Bakugou shook his head, a snarl working its way out of him, more wolf than man. "I can't control this, Uraraka. I can't!"
"Yes, you can!" Uraraka shot back. "You're stronger than this!"
"Please!" Bakugou begged. It broke her heart. She'd never heard him sound like this before. He was furious and devastated, but mostly he was scared. He sounded like...like a wounded animal, a wolf with its leg caught and shattered in a bear trap. His face had started to change now, manipulating his voice even further, his teeth now sharp enough to rip through flesh. "I'm a monster! I can't- YOU GOTTA GET OUT!"
Even though her legs were shaking, Uraraka took a step closer to him. He shied away from her one moment and then jerked on the chains toward her in the next, growling like a beast. "You're not a monster!" His eyes were still red, but they were hungry for blood. Had he ever attacked someone? Had he ever bit or slashed at a person before they could escape? She thought of the scars littering his body. Did he only tear himself apart? "I'm not leaving you, Bakugou. You don't have to do this alone."
As she lowered her wand and other hand, Bakugou shook his head back and forth. She watched in unbridled horror as his face began to reshape itself, transforming into the familiar wolf snout. Eventually his screams turned into barks and howls, no longer human. His fingers cracked and grew longer, his nails turning into sharp claws that could shred her to pieces. Werewolves weren't like regular wolves. They could be up to three times bigger and much stronger as well. They were said to be wild, crazed creatures, but all the stories she'd read, even the myths, had them hunting down their prey, which took intelligence.
"If you have to…" Bakugou managed, his voice mangled and barely understandable. "Kill me."
Uraraka sheathed her wand. "Never."
There was a moment where everything went silent and Uraraka held her breath. Bakugou was still, his fully transformed werewolf body slack in the shackles. If they hadn't been attached to the wall, he would've been collapsed face first onto the ground. They had been tight before, but now they were painfully so. He could pull and bite on them all he wanted, but she saw the intricate engravings on the metal. They would not release until the moon was gone.
He jerked his head up and connected eyes with her. Instead of the usual red, she was met with bright yellow. She couldn't find a single hint of Bakugou in them, only the wolf.
A loud snap jerked her out of her stare and she realized in shock that the chains holding his wrists had been ripped clean from the wall. The shackles were charmed to keep him tied up, but the same could not be said of the nails dug into stone. Maybe he'd never had reason to fight so hard, but with fresh blood right in front of him, the werewolf inside found the strength to break free. With his hands now free, he ripped the muzzle from his face and tossed it aside. Despite her belief that he wouldn't hurt her, fear clawed its way up her throat and her feet started to back away.
Before she could scramble back up the stairs though, he tore the remaining chains connected to his ankles from the wall and leaped forward. His front paws connected with her shoulders and slammed her back on the dirt ground, knocking the wind out of her lungs. The back of her head hit the ground causing black spots to burst in her vision. Disoriented, she could do little but gasp for breath and try to wiggle out from underneath him, but the werewolf shoved his paws down on her, his claws tearing through her jacket.
Uraraka stilled underneath him, struggling to breathe as the werewolf examined her. She pressed her trembling lips together as his snout pressed against her, his nose snorting with each sniff he took in. It was like he was savoring the smell, taking in the scent of her fear. How long had it been since he'd experienced something like this? Even though she was afraid, each snort of his nose against her skin was ticklish. She jerked when his wet nose pushed up her shirt to expose the tender skin of her belly that he could easily tear open. She was entirely exposed to him. It would be like nothing for him to take her, rip her apart, kill her.
Had this been what the victims of the murder case felt like? So vulnerable and weak? She'd never felt like this before. The urge to cry bubbled up inside of her, but she held it down. She had to believe that he wouldn't kill her. If she didn't believe that, then what good was she?
"Bakugou?"
A low growl built up in the back of the werewolf's throat. Freakishly long and muscular, he hunkered over her, his grip on her shoulders almost possessive. They were paws and then they weren't. In a strange way, despite obviously being a wolf, a werewolf still had the shadow of a man's body. He could walk on his hind legs or all four. It was scary to see one on screen walking like that, but to have one salivating over her was something else.
Slowly, his snout trailed up, over her ribcage, between her breasts, across her clavicle until it stopped at her neck. Once there, he opened his jaw and hot breath blew across her exposed skin. She couldn't stop herself from shivering as he gave her a wolf's grin, eager and all too wanting. This wasn't the violent frenzy she had been warned about, but it was no less terrifying. He pressed his nose right up against her skin, his tongue licking up to her pulse point to taste her sweat that adrenaline and fear had produced. His elongated fingers wiggled on her shoulders, claws digging into her further to the point where he almost broke skin through her jacket.
When he opened his jaw further and leaned down so that the crook of her neck was in his mouth, Uraraka lifted her hands and pressed her palms against his furry chest. He stopped, his teeth grazing her skin and saliva dripping down on her. Warmth bloomed in her palms. Fire magic was not her forte. It turned on her more often than not. She didn't want to hurt him. Likely it would only serve to piss him off even more and then she would really be in trouble, but she didn't know what else to do. Tears pricked at her eyes and slid down the side of her face.
"Please, I don't want to do this," Uraraka cried softly. "I've seen enough death already tonight. I can't handle more." He didn't move, didn't so much as blink. All he did was hold his jaw over her, panting heavily with desire. She closed her eyes. She didn't need to see in order to use magic. It was in her blood. Surely he could smell it on her. "I don't want to hurt you. I won't. You're stronger than this. You're more than this. Please, come back to me, Katsuki. Listen to my voice and come back to me."
The werewolf began to tremble atop her, as if it was physically hurting him to restrain himself from tearing into her. He growled and then whimpered. His claws dug into her, this time piercing her skin, but she bit her lip to keep from crying out and he didn't bite down. After a minute so long that it felt as if it had stretched many moons, he pulled away from her exposed neck and blinked down at her. She looked him in his yellow eyes and could've sworn that she saw Bakugou then. It was only a flash, but he was there, trapped inside the beast. Prying his fingers from her shoulders, he stepped back and off of her until finally she was completely free from him.
He'd stopped himself. He hadn't hurt her. As much as the wolf in him had craved to bite down and tear into her, Bakugou had held himself back.
When Uraraka sat up, she held onto one of her shoulders and winced. Contrary to popular belief, only a werewolf bite could turn a person into one of them. That didn't mean a scratch was harmless. She watched as the werewolf closed in on itself, staring back at her with hungry eyes. The night wasn't over yet. Somehow looking tired and sad, his gaze swung from the chains hanging from his wrists and ankles and back to the wall and she knew what he wanted her to do. She couldn't feel any relief, only the exhaustion that came with too many clashing emotions.
"Okay," Uraraka said quietly, "if you think it's necessary…" The werewolf nodded his head. "I can do that."
Pulling herself up on very shaky feet, Uraraka pulled her wand out. The spell came to her easily, but it still tugged on her heart to watch the chains lift themselves up back to the wall. She mended them with a magic so strong that not even another witch could undo them, much less a bloodthirsty werewolf. He let himself get hung up, his body sagging in the chains. It wouldn't be long before he started to fight them again, but this time, he would only hurt himself. Once her work was done, she stumbled backward until the back of her legs hit the stairs and she collapsed onto them.
"Go," the werewolf managed to garble out, or at least she thought that was what Bakugou said. It was hard to tell. Were werewolves capable of speech in their fully transformed form?
Uraraka wiped away the tears staining her rosy cheeks, but nodded her head. He was ashamed and humiliated. He didn't want her to see him struggle to break free and attack her. She knew that he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to hold himself back a second time, but it made no difference. The chains would hold this time. He would never be able to break free again, not with her magic holding him back.
As she dragged herself up the stairs, his desperate howls started to follow her. By the time she was on the first floor, she could barely stand. She shoved the basement door shut and collapsed against it, sliding down to the floor and hugging her legs against her chest. Outside, she could still see the glow of her magical barrier and hear the mob shouting furiously behind it. Her phone began to buzz in her pocket, probably a phone call from Deku or Tsu wondering where she was. She let it ring and dropped her head to her knees as sobs wracked her chest.
Ignoring the shallow marks on her shoulders, as relieved as she was that Bakugou hadn't actually hurt her, she could not revel in it, not when she knew that the morning would be rough. Something had happened in that basement, something neither of them could comprehend right now, and something had happened in his apartment that she did not want to accept. When the sun had set, it had changed everything. When it rose, the world would be different. She just didn't know how.
