Chapter 15

Uraraka set the cups on the table, there wasn't much they could do except return to the house where they were staying. She glanced between Katsuki and Professor Bakugo, the lingering feeling that she didn't quite belong to this conversation moving closer and closer to her conscious mind. "I'll go wake Todoroki, he's probably up by this hour." She whispered, standing, but hoping that they really didn't hear her or would acknowledge her. She wasn't sure quite yet what they were going to do about Professor Bakugo. But at this point in time, he was a current danger to Katsuki.

"You've got to come back! Your mother and I have missed you so much! I can't-I just can't believe you're alive." Tears that would drown a fish in its own tank rushed out of professor Bakugo's eyes as he sat across from Katsuki, likely going through a scene that he thought over in his head over a thousand times only to know that it was just but a daydream. Knowing that because of some psycho he would never have even the last chance to bury his son. But now in his eyes, his son was sitting right across from him, moving as if nothing had ever happened in the first place.

Her voice turned to a hushed whisper, "I'll go get Todoroki." Before moving into the other room. He was asleep, but he would be able to help figure out the problem.

Seraphina stood near Todoroki's door, one of the books from the library in her hands, "It's a grimoire. From an ancient and powerful witch, but it doesn't seem to be taken from a witch…it almost seems like a gift." Seraphina glanced towards her, "Oh, sorry, I'm mumbling to myself in the hallway, you're probably curious now ain't ya? Most of the books in the library are either prison worlds or have a decent amount of damage on them. This one does not and only contains healing and barrier spells. It's the kind of book I would give as a gift to a newbie witch. Probably for the birthday right after they get their powers."

"Interesting, I'm actually going to see Todoroki to discuss a problem with him," Uraraka paused, a hand on the door, "Do you know how to help?"

Seraphina shook her head, "It's probably best not to help him. At this point…he might turn rabid being allowed to roam free after such a long confinement."

Uraraka bit her lip, "Rabid?"

"You know, like a blood-binger? It's a common trope in all the vampire lure for a reason. It's that dangerous that even humans with little to no psychic ability instinctively try to get away from someone who's gone rabid or is on a blood-binge."

Uraraka nodded, glancing towards Todoroki's door. Katsuki might not have seemed as level-headed to someone who had just met him, but there was no way that Katsuki would allow himself to lose control of himself to such an extent that he wasn't able to control himself. "I think he would be alright. I trust him."

Seraphina coughed, "It's not about trust."

Uraraka shut the door behind her moving to Todoroki's bedside, sitting on the bed, "Hey, Todoroki? How are you feeling?" Seraphina said the rest of getting rid of the curse would basically be like a human sweating out a fever, Uraraka reached over for the cloth.

Todoroki shot out of bed one hand grabbing her arm, eyes wide, and the other glowing.

Uraraka glanced towards the floor, doing her best not to let her eyes slide towards the glowing hand raised at her, "Sorry…I was just trying to change the cloth."

Todoroki shook his hand attempting to get the fire to dim out as she slid her frost-covered underneath her other hand, "It's alright. I thought the Witch of the Forest would tell you it'd be dangerous to go in here."

"She said it'd basically be like a fever, but she probably didn't realize that I would scare you. You know having the atmosphere of mostly a human after all."

Todoroki nodded slowly, before glancing towards her, "It's not often you come into my room, what's wrong?"

Uraraka looked at her hands, attempting not to fiddle with them, "Katsuki's father is here. He wants to take him home."

Todoroki took a breath, inhaling deeply, before glancing towards the perilous stack of books that would soon need a mountain climber for a librarian stacked next to the bed lamp. "We should let him go, then shouldn't we?"

"It's important to be with his family. But-he's going to get hurt….I'm sure he already knows…I'm sure he was hurting already. But I can't-"

Todoroki's door swung open, "Don't you two make decisions for me."

Uraraka glanced towards Katsuki leaning on the door, "I know what happens to vampires with intense emotions, I know what happens to those that try to stay with their families or explain. He's been pressing me for answers for how and why."

Uraraka nodded, "Then what are we going to do?"

"You two are going to do nothing. I will take care of it." He shook his head before returning to the kitchen where he could clearly hear Seraphina attempting to entertain Professor Bakugo.

"He's trying to ease your worries in his own way."

"Do you think he's happy? To see his father?"

Todoroki leaned his head back against the headboard, "I don't know, I'm not much of one to speak on families. And he's never told me himself about his family. I tried to offer him a condolence to find his family and explain the situation once."

She glanced towards him, the look on Todoroki's face as he stared towards the ceiling telling her that the result would be less than amicable.

"He told me not to bother, it would only make matters worse."

"His father seemed just concerned."

"He was worried about what his mother would think. He said that his mother was a lot like him, but she's louder with her opinions. Likely would've complained that he lost the fight."

"He died, how can- how would a parent be so cruel?" Uraraka curled her fingers through some fabric. It was just too cruel to imagine. That not even in death was he able to escape his mother's judgment or concern about her harsh words.

"Sometimes people are just people. Even if their blood, sometimes, they're just strangers. Strangers that happen to share your DNA." His voice was soft, gentle, as though he was speaking words, truths, his truths, that he had to break to himself thousands of times before.

"Alright, I'll go see if they need anything."

Todoroki nodded, "If anything goes wrong call me."

Uraraka nodded, moving towards the kitchen, Seraphina stood in the hall, her fingers paging rapidly through the book in her hands and satchel filled with grimoires, "I'm leaving tell the Demon of the Forest I said thanks for the books, I'll return them when I'm ready. I'm going to fight to expand the territory the people at the edge have been driving me nuts for days." Seraphina smiled, not having moved a single inch from the spot she was in before she entered the house.

"Will do."

"Also," Seraphina sighed, turning Uraraka's arm over, "Be more careful. He may seem like he has his powers under control and he's not quite timid. But he carries an anger that only some would understand."

"I'll take your advice, but I won't stay away."

Seraphina laughed, handing over a wet washcloth, "Run that under some cold water and gradually get warmer so you don't burn yourself. Also, that officer you met yesterday? He wasn't an officer at all, don't keep looking for Officer Jenkins found his body in a sewer a couple days ago, just keeping looking for his presence and stay away from it."

"I'll make sure to keep that advice too…but how am I supposed to catch them then?"

Seraphina scoffed like she was looking at a child, "You want to deal with supernaturals based on human law? You're talking to the wrong person on how supernatural law works." Her eyes lingered towards Todoroki's door, "It's not as stringent, but we try to keep a decent balance around here, but it's not going to be the same. I hope you have a good long talk with those in charge and about our rules before you try to catch them."

Uraraka nodded, wrapping the cloth around her arm before beginning to move to the kitchen. A shadow leaning over her, Uraraka glanced towards them.

Katsuki sighed, likely looking over the frostbite beginning to cover her arm, "I'll tell him to be more careful."

"Do not mention it. I kept it hidden for a reason. Don't tell him."

Katsuki leaned on the wall, observing a house that he had observed likely a thousand times in his nearly two-year imprisonment of the building, "My dad wants me to go home."

Uraraka swallowed attempting not to let her concerns bubble to her chest, not to let the concerns that were beginning to overflow affect his decision, "Are you going then?" She couldn't meet his eyes, she wasn't ready, she didn't want the answer. Anyone would want to go home after two years. Especially, after two years of taking care of two strangers.

"Yeah…" He paused, before glancing back to the other room, "Did you want to go with me?"

"I can't leave Todoroki here by himself. Not after everything he's offered us and everything he's done for us….not after that incident…not until I fix it."

"We're just going to visit. I need someone to drive us back if we stay too long, can't exactly try to drive while trying not to sizzle."

Uraraka laughed, he wasn't making eye contact but staring into the other room. With any other tone she would've thought that he was just watching his father fiddle with the mug in front of his hands, "Are you speaking from experience?"

A barely noticeable blush sprung to his cheeks, "Hey, it's not like anyone else wouldn't have attempted it already."

"So, can you go outside if you're wrapped in those curtains?"

"It's not much of a journey. Can't see anything so there's no point."

Uraraka nodded, "I'll come along."

"I'll tell Todoroki we're leaving; we should be back tonight."

Uraraka moved, lowering herself to sit across from Professor Bakugo, "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was your son."

Professor Bakugo let out a small laugh, his hand clinging tighter to the mug, "You know? That question you asked when I first handed out the project makes a lot more sense now. How did you come to live here?"

Uraraka glanced at the table, maybe one day her mouth would run dry of answering this question and begin to refuse to work, "I was being chased. They helped me."

Professor Bakugo nodded, "So, are you like the other two?"

"Supernatural? Who knows?" She shrugged as Professor Bakugo seemed to give a knowing nod.

"Sometimes the world is just like that."

Bakugo threw a bag over his shoulder, "Alright, let's get this over with."

"You're going to see your mother. It's been a while."

Katsuki shrugged, before turning to lead them out to the car, "Did he need anything before we left?"

"Make sure we locked the door."

The lock was already underneath her hand as they slid into the car. For most of the drive they were silent, Professor Bakugo would sometimes offer a word or two, or ask them how long they could stay for or ask what was in the bag Bakugo had brought with him but he was frequently answered with a grunt or a half-answer signaling that Katsuki wasn't ready to reveal any of this information to him. It didn't take long for them to get to the Bakugo's house, Katsuki shuffled the bag over his shoulder, almost protectively sliding it behind him, before glancing up towards the house. If a passing stranger were to jog by, they would assume that he was staring at the building in disgust or contempt. But Uraraka knew what it was, it was longing. He wanted to go home. His father slid out of the car looking between the two of them as Uraraka hit the buttons on the car keys.

The front door swung open, "Where have you been all night!" Mrs. Bakugo snapped from the front steps. If one were to assume that males usually take after their mother, they would likely be right in this circumstance, she appeared exactly how Uraraka had expected Katsuki's mother to look like. Anger blazed in her eyes as she darted down the stairs, "And where in the world have you been! You get your butt in here before you wake the whole street!" She snapped, dragging Katsuki into a neck-lock and up the stairs into their home, her mouth full of words berating him for disappearing and worrying him. As much as Uraraka was sure that he was strong enough to make her let go, he was letting her drag him along.

Uraraka took a shaky step towards the house, "It's alright, come in." Uraraka nodded towards Professor Bakugo, unsure if she was being invited in as a guest or the perpetrator of the whole situation. A glass of whatever liquid was in the house was slammed down in front of her as Katsuki sat across from her, his parents on each side, "Where have you been? And you better tell us the full story and the truth! I can't believe you had us worried sick! Do you know how often the police come here to update us on your so-called tragic case? I can't believe you would go out of your way to stage your death. This better not be for a girl you never seemed like that," Mrs. Bakugo glanced towards her, "And she seems like the type that would drag you back here after learning your story." Mrs. Bakugo grunted, pulling knots from her hair and an elbow on the table, "And while you're at it tell me where Izuku went, Mrs. Midoriya has been worried sick."

Uraraka swallowed, Mrs. Bakugo would never receive the answers that she wanted.

Katsuki's hands clenched, tightening around the fabric of his pants, his voice a soft mumble, "I couldn't protect him."

"Huh? Speak up!"

"I said he's fine! I'm sure he just wandered off and got himself lost!" Katsuki snapped, before glaring back down at the table.

Mrs. Bakugo scoffed, "You two knew this city like the back of your hands, I'm sure two years is more than enough to constitute lost." She sighed, slamming some food onto the table.

"Don't waste the food." Katsuki sighed, pushing the plate back towards her.

"You've been missing for two years and you're going to tell me you're well-fed? Fine. Starve on my account, it's not like I wanted a meal with my son anyway."

Mrs. Bakugo slammed a plate in front of her, "It's not poisoned, so hurry up and eat."

Uraraka nodded, as Mrs. Bakugo placed a hand against her head, "So, you're telling me not only did you come home after not sending even a letter for two years straight, but also don't know where little-Izuku is?"

Katsuki's eyes darkened. He knew where Izuku was, but no one at the table was going to like the answer. The red sparkle in his eyes glimmered, almost seeming to sparkle as the next words he spoke came across huskily, "Don't worry about where Izuku is. It won't do you any good."

Mrs. Bakugo suddenly went quiet, returning to her dishes, setting one out for Professor Bakugo as he slid into his seat from the other room. Uraraka glanced towards Katsuki as he shook his head, as if a way to say don't mention it.

Mrs. Bakugo made some grumbling noises, as Bakugo picked up an empty plate that Uraraka was unsure where he had gotten it from, "I'm done, I'm going to wash the dishes." He mumbled, before excusing himself from the room, dragging the bag he had brought with him behind him.

Mrs. Bakugo sighed, "Listen, I'm sure from your perspective it sounds like I'm a bad mother…I was just…worried. I thought I lost my son. I am relieved he's alive, but he disappeared one night and never came back. The next morning the police were on my doorstep telling me that he and the neighbor's child were dead. I couldn't even bury my own son; they had no bodies." She paused, recollecting the plates. "I have a lot of emotions right now, and this is the only way I'm able to really express them. But I promise I care for my son. If he's alive I'm sure the neighbor's son is," But he wasn't. "I just want to know what happened….and why he didn't come to me for help."

Uraraka nodded, resisting the urge to put her hand on top of Mrs. Bakugo to comfort her, "I'm sure he has his reasons. Everyone does. But I think they each need time to deal with what they need before they come to terms with it. He'll come around when he's ready."

A small smile tilted on her face, "I don't know who you are, but I'm sure my son trusts you very much to bring you back here when it was going to be such a rough night. Please keep letting him rely on you."

Uraraka nodded, "Of course." She glanced towards the kitchen, barely visible through the crack in the door, Katsuki holding his arms as he stared out the window, a form of anger and regret lingering in his eyes, "I'll go get him to rejoin us."

Mrs. Bakugo nodded, letting her go to the kitchen.

Uraraka approached quietly, placing a hand gently on his arm, "hey-"

She felt a small jump under her arm that she wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't touching him, "Guess witches are good at disguising their presence too, but who knows what prey they would want with that skill."

Uraraka let out a small laugh, "Go back to your mom. She doesn't mean her harsh words."

A sigh escaped him, "She does. Growing up Izuku was significantly weaker than most children, but he clung to me like a bunch of burs in the woods." Katsuki sighed, washing the dish that he likely had grabbed from the kitchen cabinets to appease his mother after whatever he had did to her to make her quiet about Izuku. "He was with me….the night…" Katsuki paused, staring at the water running throughout the sink, "that night." He turned the knob.

"Your parents didn't seem to think he was with you, maybe he could still be alive? Or like you?'

"Did you not hear the part about significantly weak? He's dead." The sink knob bent slightly underneath his pressure as he released it, "Todoroki gave me some instructions for us to get out of this mess."

"This mess? That's your family in there."

"My very human family. Do you not know what happens to vampires that stick around with their human family? They kill them." Katsuki reached for the hefty bag at his ankles, throwing the strap back over his shoulder, "Let's get this over with."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to erase their memories, the sooner the better."

"You died! You could at least talk to her for a while!"

"She wouldn't understand! She never does!"

"You're similar to her in that regard where you can't say what you mean! Go tell them you missed them and care for them!"

"What am I supposed to tell her? By the way mom I have no idea where Izuku is, pretty sure he's dead, it's my fault and by the way I lost the fight against a serial killer? Oh, one more thing, I'm dead." Katsuki's eyes blazed and were in pain at the same time. But they blazed with the words that he had thought to himself a thousand times, but never wanted to physically hear. Uraraka's eyes slid to the open kitchen door.

Mrs. Bakugo stood the plates unsteady in her hands and confusion painted clearly on her face, "Katsuki, what do you mean? You're standing here right now." Tears were pricking her face as though she had somehow known the answer the whole time. The reason the cops had shown up at her door two years ago, the reason there was no body, the reason he hadn't come to visit. "I forbid you from leaving with that girl, you're not going anywhere until you explain everything in detail."

Katsuki ran a frustrated hand through his hair, "I was going to start with dad because I thought he'd be easier," he muttered shuffling through his bag. Uraraka took a breath knowing better than to look down, knowing better than to look in the bag. But she needed to. There was no stopping her from watching what he was about to pull out of the large duffle bag he had brought with him. The red bag unsteadily sloshed in his hand as Katsuki took a large swig, a darkening red running down the side of his mouth before he turned to his mother, not bothering to wipe off the red lines that smeared across his face.

Mrs. Bakugo swallowed, crossing her arms, her voice shook, "Whatever you're planning on doing you will do no such thing. You will stand there and explain yourself."

A soft hollow laugh came from Bakugo as he reached for his mother, locking eyes with her, "You had a little too much to drink, had a nightmare and woke up to having a very similar dream to your husband not that you would admit it. If you ever meet someone that looks like me in the streets or in public you will not call his attention to it, but instead insist you and your husband go the other way knowing full well that if your son was to actually come back to life it would only be a trick and a lie. It would hurt just as much. Now, go to bed knowing that this nightmare was a blessing and a warning."

Mrs. Bakugo nodded, turning before walking towards her own bedroom. Katsuki's eyes glowed, in the way a glowstick glowed after it was broken. And behind his eyes he was hiding how positively bright that glow was about to be.

"I guess I'll go see my dad now."

"Make sure to say goodbye this time."

"I was never supposed to get the chance to say good-bye. That's the way this world works. When you're dead you don't get that chance to say good-bye. When you're dead, you're just dead."

Uraraka grabbed his arm, struggling not to press her hand into his arm muscles, but also not pull him back to look her in the face, "And here you are standing here, with a second chance to do just that. Say good-bye. It'll be alright."

The tension in his arm loosened although his voice didn't betray it, "I'll consider it." Before he moved to the other room. Uraraka took a breath, trying not to listen, doing her best not to hear Katsuki's voice crack as he said the good-bye to his father that he never thought that he would get. Not to listen to his father pleading with him, knowing full-well what was coming next. And not to listen to the soft padding of Professor Bakugo returning to what he would be to her, just professor Bakugo. Her elective professor who she had met by chance.

Katsuki came in, swiftly picking up the bag and keys before clomping down the stairs, swiftly out the door as though the house itself was what was burning him. Uraraka followed steadily behind after cleaning the glasses and any signs that guests had been within the house, locking the door carefully behind them. Katsuki stood there, the light reflecting on him as he stared towards the streetlamp, likely a string of curses of its existence teasing him so, one hand on his hip and the other running through his hair full of frustration. Guilt ran through Uraraka for thinking it, but with the light showing his skintight shirt rippling up his back muscles, he looked good. Guilt ushered its way back for her. "Hey, it's going to be okay." She whispered nearing him.

"I know that!" He snapped, trying to hide all of his give away quirks that he was mad. He didn't dare to turn to face her, he had left the blood caked to his face to scare his mother so that from the depths of her subconscious she wouldn't even try to search for him. "It's just, it's just" His hand ran back into his hair as his voice trailed off.

Uraraka took a breath, leaning against the car and pulling him against her, "It's going to hurt, that's normal. But until you're ready rely on us."

Uraraka wished she had an umbrella, Katsuki's head stuffed into her chest, and rain poured down Katsuki's face dripping onto the sidewalk.

It had been late into the night when Katsuki and Uraraka returned home, they quickly made their way to their rooms, not without Uraraka moving to Todoroki's to check to see if he was awake, check his fever muttering about how she was unsure if that was the right temperature and plans to ask Fuyumi in the morning. Todoroki slid out of bed not long after. He carried himself against the wall wandering what they had attacked him with that he was so weak for so long. It shouldn't have been much longer now, especially that the fever was beginning to break. It had gotten the Witch of the Forrest in enough of a frenzy for her to come along to see him. Surely, she was just after whatever form of magic they had been using to add to her collection. And the debt they owed her through a favor.

Todoroki attempted to ignore the fact that they had come home smelling like each other. They had gone to Katsuki's house, he needed to acknowledge that fact that Uraraka was going to smell like the Bakugo's either way. And that it was going to be a rough experience for the both of them. As much as he wished he could've gone with them, something told him that Bakugo's pride would've never allowed him to do as such. Todoroki moved to where the noise in the house was coming from, the kitchen. Katsuki was likely still outside his room in an attempt to distract himself.

"Katsuki? Are you alright?" He moved to the kitchen, the satchel he had taken with him completely empty, the sound of Katsuki dry heaving from the kitchen, causing him to open the door faster. Todoroki felt his shoulders relax seeing Katsuki with his hands pressed to the kitchen sink, but tense again when he looked at his surroundings. Katsuki spit out blood into the kitchen sink. Bags of blood laid around the kitchen floor, each completely empty. Todoroki swallowed attempting to resist the logic that was boiling in his head. "I didn't realize you had gone through all of it, it's been a while I'll get you more."

Katsuki fell to one knee, attempting not to damage the counter, "Don't look at me." He snapped, red caking his face.

Todoroki swallowed. Those blood bags were typically a year's ration for him. And he had drunk it all within the fifteen minutes that they had been home. There was something wrong. Todoroki glanced towards the bags at Katsuki's feet, they weren't what he typically used to collect blood either, "Where did you get this blood?"

"You gave it to me, in the hall." Katsuki's fingers dug into the floor, the starting signs of an addiction vibrating through him. The typical vampire's blood-levels were lower than a human's, which meant faster intoxications. Todoroki had read about the coaxing smell of a human's blood. How it was positively addicting to most vampires. He would have to. Todoroki breathed the remaining scent from the floor in. Human. Todoroki swallowed, hearing Uraraka pad to the kitchen door, he pushed his hand against it as she began to try to open it.

"Hello?"

"It's just me, I got a little sick. Don't come in here." Todoroki croaked, miming for Katsuki to be quiet, but his human-heart strummed against his chest. Upon hearing Uraraka's voice, Katsuki's eyes glowed significantly brighter than he had ever seen. Whoever had thrown human blood into his bag and whoever had disguised themselves as him was going to pay for throwing his house into chaos. Katsuki crashed against him, as Todoroki threw him back towards the other side of the kitchen. Several things clattered from the cabinets.

"Are you okay? It's okay, it's normal, I'll come in and help you clean up."

"It's alright, don't worry, just go get a drink of water from the bathroom."

"Are you sure?"

Todoroki glared towards the book sitting on the table, "Positively." It wouldn't be the worst world to put him in, and it was now vacant. He snatched the book up off the table, struggling to grab Katsuki before slamming his face into the book and slamming the book closed as fast as he could against Katsuki's struggling.

"I'm coming in." Uraraka glanced around the kitchen her eyes wide, her mouth agape as she searched for the right words to ask, "Where's Katsuki?"

Todoroki glanced down towards the book in his hands, knowing he only had himself to blame. He shouldn't have brought a human back into his house in the first place. He knew what the right thing to do was. He had a promise to keep to her. But the more important one was the promise he had to her safety. He would need to tell her to leave. Uraraka was ankle-deep in blood bags and yet she was looking for Katsuki, concern on her face, instead of properly placed fear. Todoroki shuffled up from the floor, the book not leaving his clutches, nor his side until he figured out how to help him, "Uraraka, I'm afraid there are a couple of things that we need to talk about."