A/N: You walk into this fic with your food, blanket and tissues ready to go. You think you've been through all the ups and down and there isn't a steeper fall on this rollercoaster than the drop that you experienced in the earlier chapters. However, you feel uneasy this time as you look at the chapter's name. Kyuuka smiles brightly as she thanks Luna once again for betaing. She steps to the side, revealing an even larger fall off an even bigger cliff—but this time there were no stops.
Song: Icarus - Bastille
Chapter 24 - Flammable
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When Izuku opened his eyes, he was met with an empty bed and the rattling wind banging against the windows. He only briefly noted the strangely strong winds that pushed against the glass as he woke himself up in the early dawn.
The freckled man sat up slowly and he stretched in hopes of waking his sleep riddled body. He could smell the heavenly aroma of breakfast downstairs and hear Katsuki blasting his morning playlist loudly.
Green eyes peered at the clock and sheepishly smiled when he realized his boyfriend let him sleep in—but only slightly.
The love making session from the night before had thrown his already wild curls into even more chaotic disarray. Katsuki hadn't been satisfied until he had taken Izuku apart over and over, even insisting during one round that Izuku stand up, bend over and grab his own ankles as he was taken from behind.
Izuku got out of bed and walked down the stairs. He followed the sound of the music as he admired all the photographs of them on the wall. When he fully stepped all the way into the luminated kitchen, there he saw his perfect vision of happiness and his heart swooned.
Katsuki was already dressed in his uniform while he sang out loud to himself. The stove was ignited, and a black skillet laid on top of one of the iron grates full of mixed vegetables. The blond didn't register his boyfriend behind him as he secretly fed a piece of chopped carrot to Akira who was in a begging position at his feet.
"I saw that," Izuku snickered as Akira happily ran off with the healthy treat. "She's going to start to get the hint you're a pushover if you keep feeding her every time she gives you those big puppy eyes."
Katsuki turned around with an expression that Izuku could only describe as bright as the morning sun. His signature smirk and sharp ember eyes were already wide awake.
"I guess I'm a sucker for big, bright puppy eyes, huh?" Katsuki smirked wider. "Morning, bunny."
"Good morning, Kacchan," Izuku hummed as he approached the taller man. He leaned up on his tippy toes from behind Katsuki's broad shoulders to gently rest his chin on the other's shoulder. In a teasing manner, he wrapped his arms around Katsuki's waist and lifted his hands to give Katsuki's chest muscles an affectionate squeeze. "And good morning to you guys too!"
Katsuki shook his head and Izuku could feel the warm vibrations of the elder man's deep chuckle in his chest.
"Ha ha. Very funny," the blond said with a dry laugh. He focused his attention back on the skillet and flipped a couple of the white cauliflowers.
"Hey, I'm a man of equal opportunity love," Izuku grinned as he stepped back and leaned on the counter next to the other officer. A bright grin spread across his face, shining up at Katsuki. "I would hate for your pecs to know I don't love them with all the effort you put into chest day."
"Trust me,they know. You give them plenty of praise every time I workout and get to the bench presses. You getting in my lap as a way to spot me is a dead give away."
"It's clearly the safest position for every party involved," Izuku retorted with a playful air. He poked at Katsuki's side and received an empty glare in return. "Plus, I know you like it. It feeds your ego to lift that barbell while I'm straddling you."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Katsuki said through his half smirk but he didn't deny Izuku's statement. He shooed Izuku back with his hand to refocus on cooking. "Now, what did you want as a side for your plate?"
"An egg will be fine. I'm not that hungry," Izuku replied with a smile that was returned.
"One egg coming right up," Katsuki parroted. "Now go take your cute ass upstairs and shower so we can eat and leave. I let you sleep in a bit since I kept you up until 2:00AM but we need to hurry to the station today."
"Yes sir. I'm on it, lieutenant!"
Izuku winked at his lover and began to walk away but not before the elder man gave a swift slap to his backside.
. . .
The two lovers put on their coats to head outside, Izuku dressed freshly in a new jacket that Katsuki had bought him. It was a simple navy peacoat with golden buttons. His rose-embroidered bomber jacket was officially given away to charity when Shouto asked him about it one day.
The greenette had awkwardly explained how it came to be in his possession during their new found 'family dinners' together. Without hesitation Shouto told him he should give it away—rid himself of the jacket to bring about better energy. Katsuki quietly agreed and offered to buy a replacement.
After that Izuku decided to give the beautiful jacket to charity, feeling bittersweet about it. But parting ways with the article of clothing did free up a part of him that still felt tangled with Touya.
And now wearing a jacket that Katsuki bought him, Izuku was happy that Shouto spoke up. This was better—it felt better.
On their walk over to the precinct, Katsuki explained how the final post-Ground Alpha murder was being wrapped up after six long weeks. All the officers at U.A had been tied up in trying to track down any leads that way but Dabi and Nine had covered their tracks flawlessly.
The news articles started referring to the incident as 'The Red Dawn' because of the staggering number of murders that had been reported during sunrise.
But now, six weeks later, it was finally all coming to a close.
Izuku declined to attend the capital punishment of the Shigarakis during this time. He couldn't find it in himself to be a person who enjoyed the loss of life in others, no matter who they were. But it did give him back a tiny fragment of peace knowing the dangerous men could no longer inflict pain on others.
Now it was time to get Dabi.
During the six weeks, the team had exhausted each murder case until it only left them with one more option: attempt to snuff out where Dabi planted his home base.
"I've decided to go straight for finding his headquarters," Katsuki explained in a serious manner into the chilled air. "Yagi advised a less aggressive approach but Dabi is too dangerous and he's been sitting peacefully too long. His arson attacks are taking longer in between them because they get bigger each strike. Whatever he's planning on next is sure to be close to hellfire and we need to prevent it."
Izuku nodded, thinking about the man in the gas mask. His skin crept with a distinct, uncanny chills that only Dabi could evoke. It was cold, strangely familiar and as terrifying as The Red Dawn. The young detective's mind wouldn't allow him to forget the vivid image of the masked man slowly bringing his finger up to his lips as if covering up a blood-stained secret.
The couple arrived inside the precinct and Katsuki's first order of the morning was to call everyone assigned to the arson case into the debrief room. All the colorful U.A officers filed in one by one, Kirishima and Mina gave him a quick hello and Momo gave him one of her soft smiles.
Shouto came in, dressed fully in his patrol outfit for the rest of the day and sat directly next to the youngest detective. They conversed casually as Katsuki fully slipped into his commander's role. Izuku sat quietly as the blond officer pinned a large map of the entire Shizuoka City province to the board with Shizuoka City and Yaizu already crossed off with red 'X's.
"Alright, let's get started," Katsuki's assertive voice called as he backed away from the map. Off to the side were photographs of three arson incidents thus far pinned up.
The bank on Kaze Ave. The three houses on Ichirizuka Street. Then finally, the entire block on Uchi Street.
Izuku felt a darkness spill into his core as he stared upon the petrifying destruction in the photos. Every building had been seared all the way down to the ground and left behind a mark as black as Dabi's heart. A strange painful pull was stirred inside his chest as he gazed upon the Uchi Street photographs. He knew somewhere in the grey ashes were all the last remains of his parents that Dabi had ripped away from him.
In that moment, Izuku decided Katsuki was right to go straight for Dabi's head before he could do any more damage. He imagined it as if Katsuki was cutting off a King Cobra's head before it could have the chance to sink its fangs in a victim and release deadly poison.
"We're going to try to snuff out where this bastard is hiding," Katsuki said with a stone like expression. "All the leads and witnesses say his base isn't in Shizuoka City or Yaizu and after exhausting all the murder cases for clues, doing this is our best bet."
The blond walked up to the map with a red marker and boxed off the large land mass in between Shizuoka City and Yaizu.
"After giving it some thought, I think the most logical explanation is that Dabi set up his headquarters somewhere in between Yaizu and Shizuoka City," Katsuki said as he pointed to the marked off area. "He needs quick access to both of his territories, so I doubt he's too far since he likes to do the dirty work himself."
"That's a lot of places, Bakugou," Iida mumbled as he walked up to the board. "What if he's not even in this area? He could've set up his headquarters on the outskirts of either Shizuoka City or Yaizu."
"Well then, after we examine the cities within this red box we can start to look elsewhere. But I have a hunch a man who needs to get around quickly is going to be closer than we think."
"I think the Lieutenant is right," Izuku said this time, cutting into the talk. "If we try to pinpoint where he could be, it would be most logical he chose a place of equal distance. I know the distance between Shizouka and Yaizu is about twenty four kilometers, but you have to take into account all the forest reserve areas since they can't build a headquarters there."
The longer he looked at the map, his mind started making vivid interconnections of the two cities and he could picture some of the different places in between he had been. It wasn't before long that he was lost in his own mind, staring at the map and muttering to himself more than the other detectives.
"So...that means it won't be whichever town is exactly twelve kilometers from Yaizu and Shizouka," Izuku said thoughtfully with his hand over his mouth and eyebrows creased deeply. "We have to find a place that's not twelve kilometers, per se, but a place that still maintains equal distance. But we have to think about the railroads blocking pathways. Then there's the curve of the shore line and also what would be less conspicuous and what place would be easy to hide in plain sight after The Red Dawn so probably not larger cities—"
Denki's low whistle snapped Izuku out of his thought process.
The green eyed detective blinked a couple of times when he pulled himself back and tore his focus off the map. He glanced around and everyone was staring at him in both a surprised and impressed manner.
A proud smirk was pinned on Katsuki's lips.
Izuku gave an apologetic smile and leaned backwards. "Ah, sorry for rambling. I tend to do that a lot."
"Get up here, Midoriya," Katsuki called. The commanding officer gestured to him to come to the front of the room with a knowing smirk. Izuku raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"Me?" The flustered greenette pointed to himself just to be sure.
"Yeah, you." Katsuki nodded and gestured with his hand again for Izuku to stand up. "Use that big brain of yours and find me what the dead center could be with all those variables in mind. That's the first place we'll start looking."
Izuku bubbled with new nerves. He had never been called up during a debriefing before but he nodded and muttered a soft "okay." Katsuki's encouraging gaze kept him from feeling too queasy about making a possible mistake in front of his squad as he grabbed the red marker from the elder man.
The freckled detective took a deep breath in as he looked at the board in front of him and all the different towns and cities. He took into account again all the variables he listed, crossing off towns that were either too close to Yaizu or Shizuoka city and crossing off the forest preserve areas. His hand worked fast as his brow creased deeply in concentration when he started quickly jotting down calculations on the surface.
Too busy running all the numbers in his mind, the young detective missed the impressed looks from everyone in the room and the wide, proud grin that fanned across Katsuki's face.
Izuku mumbled one last number to himself and dragged his hand north. His pen landed on a singular black dot.
"—Here," he said finally, and everyone quickly stood up to see.
But when Izuku pulled back his hand and revealed the name his heart stopped. All the air in the room stopped moving and his throat became tight at the traffic jam of words as he gazed upon the location.
"Kuromata," Katsuki said the name for him as he looked at the lines and numbers Izuku scribbled on the map. "It's exactly thirty kilometers north from both Yaizu and Shizuoka City. Good job, Midoriya. I had a feeling you'd be the best to figure it out."
But instead of replying, Izuku stayed overcome by silence.
The young detective stepped away from the map and capped the pen. His gut twisted painfully as he failed to conjure up words on his tongue. All the memories of him and Touya flooded in without proper warning and all he saw was himself and Touya, sitting side by side in the dense forest. He saw those turquoise eyes staring sadly at him.
"When all this All For One business is all said and done and when we figure this out—which we will—let's make good memories here."
"Like what?"
"If we ever get engaged, let's take our engagement photos here. I-It would be nice to have a more forestry theme to them, right? Something fresh out of a fairytale."
Too lost in his own head, the youngest detective didn't sense Shouto shift to stand beside him. The tall sergeant tilted his head curious as he assessed the marked up map as well.
"It seems like there's two other cities in the vicinity," Shouto commented while pointing to the other close names on the map. "Fujieda and Kozeto both come in close second if he wasn't able to exactly get dead center."
"I'll fucking take it," Katsuki said with a shrug. "We'll investigate Kuromata, Fujieda and Kozeto tomorrow. I'm dispatching teams of three and I want you all in these cities before the crack of dawn to begin investigations."
Everyone nodded and Izuku glanced down at the ground trying to shake himself of Touya's ghost. It felt like the weight of his dead lover always seemed to haunt him.
"I want you all to try to pick up on anything suspicious. I mean anything," Katsuki continued, staring at all his subordinates earnestly. "If there's something that doesn't feel right to you, trust your gut and write that shit down. You hear me?"
Izuku mulled over Katsuki's words, picking them apart in his head the longer as his eyes locked onto the tiny black dot on the map. He studied the characters that spelled out Kuromata in bold, black ink and his stomach felt nauseated.
"Clear as day," Kirishima said with a grin and gave a thumbs up. Mina smiled and gave one as well.
"If nothing comes back up in these three towns we're going to keep going until we do find something in other towns before he can strike again," Katsuki explained. Izuku watched as the fire in Katsuki's eyes danced and flickered as the commander looked at the photographs of the damage done by Dabi. "We're putting an end to this shit."
"Got it, Lieutenant," Momo spoke up. "What are the teams?"
"Yaoyorozu, Iida, Sero. You're on Fujieda," Katsuki said while pointing to each person with his pointer finger. "Kirishima, Kaminari and Ashido, you're on Kozeto." Then finally Katsuki turned to Shouto and Izuku. "Todoroki and Midoriya, you're both with me. We're going to Kuromata."
Shouto and Izuku both nodded, and quickly Katsuki caught the pensive mood flowing off Izuku because of the lack of words.
Green eyes darted off to the side in a contemplative manner, wondering if he should even bring up Touya of all people. He danced around the notion of confessing that Kuromata was supposed to be his and Touya's special place—then he fathomed how that would sound to both Katsuki and Shouto.
He bit his tongue on it despite the small nagging feeling in his head. He had to draw the line of professionalism and personal matters like Katsuki and Shouto did so effortlessly. Mentioning that Kuromata was where he and Touya were supposed to be engaged didn't feel professional. It felt disrespectful to both Katsuki and Shouto and even went beyond blurring the line of work and personal issues.
So Izuku stayed quiet.
The meeting continued with Katsuki leading and giving specifics on how to approach gauging the cities and then Izuku compiled a list of other possible cities in case the three they chose turned out to be dead ends. He listed them from most likely to least and they realized they could possibly cover more ground by teaming up with Monoma's squad—but Katsuki said that was for another day.
One by one all the officers shuffled out of the room with their notepads leaving behind a pensive Izuku staring at the map. Shouto was beside him taking down his last notes and Katsuki on Izuku's other side, studying the side of Izuku's freckled face.
The youngest detective shook his head before turning to the sergeant in the room with a kind smile. "Are you okay with third-wheeling with us, Shouto?" Izuku asked, trying to distract his mind.
Shouto turned to him with a kind, close lipped smile. "Of course I mind third-wheeling. I am clearly a fourth wheel."
Silence dropped between the three of them.
Izuku's face scrunched up in confusion and Katsuki did a double take and frowned deeply. Shouto blinked, perplexed by the lack of laughing.
"What? That was a joke. It's supposed to be funny," Shouto explained and Izuku found himself snickering lightly as he replayed the bad joke in his head and found himself unable to understand it.
Katsuki opened his mouth and raised his hand at the youngest Todoroki in exhaustion. "How the hell was that supposed to be funny, half and half?"
"Because it's ironic," Shouto said and looked between the two others as if it was plain as day what he was trying to say.
"What...what was the ironic part?" Izuku asked slowly, trying to hide his smile over how awkward Shouto really was. He found it amusing to know one of Shizuoka City's 'top bachelors' was always rather oblivious in everyday life.
"The irony is you both know I don't mind spending time with you two as I couple, I wouldn't have started coming over for dinner once a week if that was the case. And I am the fourth born of my family, hence I am the fourth wheel."
Izuku busted into a fit of laughter and Katsuki gave a deep sigh while he pinched the bridge of his nose. The lieutenant closed his eyes, crossed his arms and grumbled a curse under his breath.
"Shouto," Katsuki said in a tired manner. "I say this as a comrade in the nicest way I know how: you have a lot of talents, but humor sure as hell isn't one of them."
"What are you talking about? I have a great sense of humor," Shouto proclaimed. Izuku watched the youngest Todoroki huff and cross his arms like he was offended before gesturing to the green eyed man. "Izuku laughs at my jokes all the time."
"What fucking jokes are you talking about? I've known you since I was nineteen. I've never heard you say a single damn joke in my life."
"I said a joke last week," Shouto said. "When I compared you and Akira's hair to being similar in texture. Izuku laughed at it." Red eyes turned to Izuku confused and the greenette grimaced. Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and gave a small shrug.
"Uh, I truthfully thought you were just making an observation," Izuku said in a shy voice as Shouto's face started to look like a kicked puppy. "B-But it was sort of funny! I was going to test if Akira's dog shampoo would work on Katsuki one day out of curiosity."
"The fuck?" Now it was Katsuki's turn to look at Izuku unamused. "When the hell were you going to do this—"
"—So you don't think I'm funny?" Shouto cut Katsuki off, looking at Izuku very seriously.
"Of course he doesn't, you weirdo," Katsuki barked as he gathered up his papers. He folded the map up tightly and took down all the photographs. "Izuku is just too nice to tell you otherwise—but I ain't. You're not fucking funny."
"Izuku, is this true?" Shouto asked in a voice that made Izuku's flight activate. There was no way he was going to be the one to tell him.
"...Um, I think I hear Ochaco calling for me." Izuku turned his face away, sucking in his lips to strain his laughter as he shuffled out of the room quicker than Shouto could stop him.
"Midoriya! Wait! I would like an answer—"
. . .
The rest of the work day was spent with all the officers going about their routines. Everyone helped citizens that came into the precinct and were dispatched on calls. The curly haired detective took two extra dispatch calls to avoid answering Shouto's pestering about if Izuku found him humorous or not. Izuku didn't have the heart to tell him when his friend made a face that was too close to Akira's begging expression.
When the day's end finally came, Izuku and Katsuki found themselves sitting on their couch preparing themselves for their investigation in the morning.
The blond had his glasses on looking over all the photos of Kuromata on his laptop while Izuku was making detailed sketches of both Dabi and Nine from his memory and witness testimonials. The artist read over each witness' description of the deadly duo until he felt like he had somewhat pieced together images of both men in his head.
As he was drawing Dabi's portrait, Izuku found himself drawn into it like a near black hole. He tried to stay focused but all he could see were the gruesome burns on the man's neck that matched the stranger from the bar in Yaizu. Then he felt the way the Dabi grabbed his wrist and touched his earring. And finally, he recalled the black painted wolf mask that obscured his face.
As he was breathing to life the image of a man he'd never fully seen, Izuku felt his hand begin to make strangely familiar strokes the second he began to draw Dabi's eyes.
Izuku paused.
The young artist studied Dabi's sharp eyes that he had drawn and glanced towards the witness description to double check himself.
"Are you okay?" Katsuki's voice called to him, drawing him back to reality. "You keep spacing out."
"Y-Yeah," Izuku whispered and put down his pencil slowly. He shook his head and buried the small impossible comparison deep inside of his mind. "I'm fine. Just focused on making sure I get these portraits of Dabi and Nine correct. There's a couple of misalignments in a few of the witnesses, like where Dabi's burn lines begin and end exactly."
Katsuki nodded, seeming like he accepted the information until he slowly closed his laptop. Izuku made a confused hum when Katsuki pursed his lips and turned to him with a concerned look.
"What was that quietness earlier in the debriefing room after you circled Kuromata?" The blond man asked directly, not beating around the bush. "Did I make you uncomfortable by putting you on the spot? I had just wanted to give you a chance to shine and get comfortable with talking more in debriefings, sorry if it was too forward."
"Oh, no! Not that at all," Izuku quickly clarified. "I'm actually really happy you pushed me to do that. It felt good to be useful to the team when I'm one of the lower ranks. You're the first superior I've had that actually pushes me to be better and I really love that about you." Izuku hoped that was enough to satiate his lover, but of course Katsuki had his sixth sense already honed in.
"So nothing was wrong then? You kept staring at the map as if there was some invisible writing waiting to appear."
Izuku glanced down at the portrait of Dabi in his lap and toyed with the gears inside his brain. "To be truthful, I was just thrown off by something personal. It has nothing to do with the case...but it made me feel weird."
"Like what?"
"Remember how I said before I came up with the bomb plans, Touya had taken me to a large forest to relax and try to calm down?"
Katsuki hummed thoughtfully. "Briefly. There was a lot to take in but I remember the gist of it, yes."
"It was in Kuromata," Izuku whispered, finally saying the name of the town after avoiding it for so long. The word felt strange to say after nearly four years. Katsuki's eyes went wide at the connection and winced when a crestfallen expression landed inside of Izuku's viridian eyes.
"Shit, I'm sorry, 'zuku. I didn't realize."
"It's okay, it was a minor detail and easily forgettable," Izuku said with a shrug. He leaned his head back against the couch and stared up at the tall ceiling above their heads. "I guess that's why I was off put. I hadn't thought about Kuromata in years. Touya always referred to it as 'the forest he called home' because he spent so much time there when he was homeless."
Katsuki didn't say anything as he took off his glasses and placed the item on the wooden living room table in front of the couch. Izuku watched the blond turn his whole body towards him but didn't mutter a word.
Crimson eyes studied him closely as if Katsuki knew he wasn't finished.
"It was where we were supposed to be engaged," Izuku confessed, treading carefully. He saw a flash of trepidation in Katsuki's eyes that quickly was buried. "W-We never actually got engaged, F.Y.I. We had only discussed it a couple of times and planned out a small timeline."
"That makes this really bittersweet then," Katsuki whispered, eyes skirting off to the side. "Is that the landscape I saw in your old college sketchbook then? The one where you...had the bruises," his lover's voice trailed off at the end.
"Yeah, actually. That's the one," Izuku whispered as something clicked in his mind.
The artist rose from the couch to walk into the small art studio around the corner and pull said sketchbook from his bookshelf. He walked back into the living room and flipped through the pages. He quickly passed by a half-completed portrait of Touya and his own grim self portraits of himself with dark bruises covering his freckles.
He stopped when his hand turned to the very last page in the book. The old pencil drawing looked just like the last time he saw it. It was scratchy, sporadic and rendered to the best of his abilities four years ago. Both sets of eyes studied the massive entangled foliage on the page and how vines wrapped around the abandoned bridge.
"Can I say something freely?" Katsuki said slowly.
"Of course, Kacchan," Izuku nodded with a smile. His lover reached over, delicately took the sketchbook out of his hands, closed it as he set it on the table in front of them.
"I think it's always good to look back on memories. To feel fond of what you've experienced, but it becomes dangerous when you dwell too much." Katsuki started his speech as he spoke slowly. "I know what you went through was fucking awful, and I will never tell you how to grieve. But I do want you to be able to live happily one day where the mention of something related to Touya doesn't bother you this much. I think..I think you are still holding on to parts of him and not letting go fully."
Izuku averted his gaze because Katsuki wasn't wrong. He felt the weight of Touya's golden hoop earring against his lobe more clearly.
He thought about what he saw in Touya's file and how happy his ex looked next to the dead body of a police officer. The freckled detective was still coming to terms with the tainted image of Touya in his mind after he held the redhead on top of a pedestal for saving his life.
But Katsuki was right.
Maybe Touya kept reappearing in his mind again and again because there was still a part of him that couldn't let go all the way.
"You're right," Izuku said as his eyes averted downwards. He reached out for Katsuki's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry. I know this is weird for you, being my boyfriend to hear me talk about my dead ex. I was just caught off guard by the fact I'm going back to someplace I never thought I was going to go to again."
"It's okay, I get it," Katsuki said with a smile. "How does that make you feel to be going back there with me and Shouto instead of Touya?"
Izuku prodded his tongue against his cheek as he thought about it.
"I don't think there's any word for it," he settled on, brows creasing deeply. "It feels like I'm stepping through some time loop that shouldn't be open. Like an accidental glitch in the system and I can't help but feel weary about it. A large part of me wants to close whatever glitch this is and never step foot there again—but the other half of me almost wants to go back. See if it's the same.
"But there's another part of me that is angry," Izuku hissed through his clenched teeth. A feeling in his chest tightened as he gripped Katsuki's hand more. "I think I'm angry with myself because after all of these years I'm upset I still feel like this over something so simple. Shizuoka province has so many forests in it. Why should it matter that I'm going to the one Touya was attached to?"
"It matters. Don't undermine your emotions like that."
Izuku felt his discomfort put at ease the longer ember colored eyes stared into his. There Izuku found trust, understanding and patience. He calmed down before muttering a soft apology.
"I-I shouldn't be saying this to you. I'm sorry," Izuku whispered. "I should've saved this one for my therapy session on Wednesday."
"You can talk to me about anything. Even the past chapters of your life while we're building the new one."
"It has been a pretty good chapter so far," Izuku laughed at the metaphor. "You always make me feel so calm and balanced."
"Missing puzzle pieces remember?" Katsuki smirked widely as he playfully flicked the silver charm hanging from Izuku's wrist. "You complete my puzzle as much as I complete yours."
Izuku smiled and felt all his unease gently put away as he focused on Katsuki.
Katsuki was the present. Katsuki was kind, understanding, and loved him. Katsuki was someone who soared above the crowds and fiercely protected those who needed him with invisible wings that spanned as large as his personality and fierceness.
He was more than a good person; his heart was as golden as his hair.
And Katsuki was alive—Touya wasn't. Touya was the past.
In that moment while studying Katsuki and Akira in their newfound home, the green eyed man decided to take his lover's advice. He was going to actively take that final step to put Touya behind him once and for all. No matter how bitter the feeling.
Later that evening, the blinds in their warm home were shut and Katsuki passed out around 9:00pm on the couch. Izuku found himself awake and alone watching a movie in the dark. He opened his college sketchbook that had been placed on the table next to his new one and flipped the small book to a very specific page.
Sitting on the white page was the half finished pencil portrait of Touya. Green eyes glanced at his newly rendered portrait of Dabi and it felt like an invisible entity moved his hands for him. He aligned the two portraits next to each other and noted how similar the eyes were in shape.
Witnesses even said Dabi had blue eyes.
The only difference was Touya's eyes were full of love and Dabi's were cold and blank. Izuku exhaled roughly because he felt like maybe he was going crazy seeing similarities between the two drawings—it was a long shot. But the similarities were there, however small they may be. He could see them with the shape of the faces being the same and how despite having entirely different hair colors, they both had messy spiked locks.
However, the differences between the portraits were louder and stood out more.
Dabi's burns and piercing were so intense—menacing. They covered the majority of his face and the stoic expression felt as though the arsonist was staring at him like a deadly wolf. His pitch-black hair was cut shorter on the sides and he had an air about him that was deeply disturbing.
When Izuku studied Dabi's portrait it evoked nothing but disgust.
But when Izuku glanced at Touya's smiling portrait, void of piercings and burns, he felt a mix of emotions. Hurt. Confusion. Residue fondness.
Green eyes drifted into another, unnamed yet familiar emotion the longer he thought about Touya and what he saw in the redhead's file. What was inside the red folder was the truth. It was the harsh, cold truth that was screaming in Izuku's ear to face reality: he had cared for Touya, but Touya was never a good person. The redhead didn't care for others.
His heart panged emptily.
"Why does it always keep coming back to you?" He murmured softly.
. . .
When the morning came, Katsuki and Izuku dressed in plain clothing and put their badges in the wallets for a casual clothes appearance. Katsuki wore a black sweater and jeans, while Izuku dressed in a dark blue turtleneck and black jeans. They laced up their winter boots while putting on matching red hats. Each officer's gun was concealed under their winter jackets as they headed out of the apartment towards Shouto's car.
The sun had yet to rise, and the sky was a desaturated blue. The birds chirped as the smell of crisp morning dew filled the air that Izuku always loved.
Katsuki opened the door for the passenger seat as Izuku climbed into the back. Once comfortable, the green haired man closed his eyes to relax and lean his head back on the leather interior of Shouto's car. The entire ride to Kuromata was peaceful as he listened to the sound of the car's engine and other vehicles passing them by.
Katsuki and Shouto discussed the early morning, and how the weather was slowly creeping back up to a higher temperature. Izuku smiled gently listening to Shouto poke fun at the fact Katsuki didn't own a car.
"I'm just saying, a motorcycle is a little impractical if you don't even drive it during winter," Shouto commented. "I have both a bike and a car, why haven't you invested yet?"
"Get off my case," Katsuki grumbled. "Spring will be here in about a month and my baby Ground Zero will be back in commission in no time. I'll buy a car whenever I see fit, otherwise I prefer walking places."
Izuku could hear the cocky smirk on his lover's face.
The greenette leaned against the window, the glass was slightly chilled against his skin as he watched how the cityscapes they passed by slowly progressed into the countryside. Large skyscrapers were replaced with thick trees and mountains covered lightly in half melted snow the higher into the mountains they drove. Izuku's ears popped with the change in altitude as they came closer to the town that was wedged into a mountain's valley.
When they arrived at the entrance of Kuromata, it was somehow exactly the same as he left it nearly four years ago.
Shouto parked the car to the side of the dirt road when the pathway ended on a cliff, indicating it was all on foot from here on out. All three detectives slowly got out of the car with their bags to stare at the vibrant visual in front of them.
"Wow," Shouto whispered, his eyes taking in the breathtaking sight. "This is beautiful."
"Yeah...it is." Katsuki agreed while he stared down at the large land of forest beneath them. Izuku said nothing as they all three walked to the edge of the cliff to gaze downwards at the small town of Kuromata. Inside the nook of the valley, Izuku could see the town area. The people below their feet were as small as ants and there was endless forest stretching beyond the horizon.
Each detective studied the lush land in front of them noticing different details as the golden sun rose.
Katsuki first saw the large river that was in the distance. He could see it from above the cliff ledge and he saw how the water ran smoothly through the town and disappeared into the distance, melting into the greenery.
Izuku noticed the small buds on the trees near them. He saw how they struggled to grow in the frigid cold and he briefly wondered what type of flower they were.
Shouto noticed the changing winds. The air in the mountains was heavier and it blew fiercely. The trees shook with the fierce breeze that brought in a warm temperature from the south and a cooler zephyr from the north.
But all three detectives noticed the rising sun that slowly pulled itself up from the blue horizon. Evocative warm colors of bright orange, red, and yellow poured over Kuromata and the trio standing above its grounds.
When the hot sun was shining down on all their faces, Izuku felt a shift in the air.
Katsuki was the first to make a move. "Let's get the ball rolling."
Both Shouto and Izuku nodded and followed the blond leader down into the valley towards the town. The steps down were made of old stone and spoke to the preserved cultural aspects of the smaller town. They walked over the river on a tiny stone bridge that had painted red railing until they passed straight into what seemed to be the bustling marketplace.
Men, women and children were already up and about in the small town, completing trades, chores and shuffling goods between each other. Izuku caught a small breeze of a mouthwatering aroma of food from the yet-to-open restaurants prepping their stock for the day.
They strolled into the marketplace and immediately Izuku's eyes went wide at how full of life the townspeople were.
"Where should we start?" Shouto asked. "This is a rather larger place that I anticipated."
"Let's just start asking some of the sellers questions. Purchase food or whatever to come off as friendly," Katsuki answered as they blended into the dense crowd.
The trio went stand to stand asking the various people if they had seen any suspicious activities around town recently or a flooding of newcomers. Izuku watched how some people answered truthfully.
"No, I don't think I have, sorry."
"Haven't seen anything suspicious to be honest. Too busy with trying to sell my fish."
"Nothing out of the usual, here. May I offer you some freshly imported roses?"
But then Izuku noticed the unusual skittish behavior of others. Their eyes would skate to the side or scrutinize the three men in front of them. Even asked what their names were. One restaurant owner closed his doors when he saw them approach after word had gotten around about the trio asking very specific questions.
Katsuki sighed when they came to the end of the marketplace with no new leads. "There's something wrong in the way some of these people are acting guarded. The other half seem like they really don't know—but something is off here."
"I agree," Shouto muttered, putting his hand on his chin. Izuku glanced over his shoulder to see a young man stare suspiciously at him. "They probably know we're cops by now. Maybe we should split up? Seems more approachable and less suspicious that way."
"That's actually not a bad idea," Katsuki murmured while pulling out his phone. "Let's meet up back here in three hours, okay? Tread lightly and don't show anyone the sketches Izuku did of Dabi and Nine unless you think they can give you a lead. We don't want to trip an alarm. Izuku, you go around to the residential area, Shouto you wait for the restaurants to open and question the owners. I'll go look in the business district."
"Got it," both Shouto and Izuku said in unison, then the trio split their separate ways.
. . .
Izuku walked in the cold air alone towards the residential area that was lined with tiny houses. They were made of wood and sometimes stone with various plants and statues in the front. He went door to door knocking with a polite smile, sometimes getting turned away but overall people seemed more open to answering questions when he was by himself.
About an hour into the questioning, he arrived at one particular red door. It was a small cozy house on the outskirts of the residential area and sat closely to the thick forest. Izuku knocked and waited, but his eyes wandered behind him to stare into the forest that seemed to swallow the light and casted dark shadows.
When the door answered, he was met with an elderly woman several inches shorter than him. He smiled sweetly at her before he introduced himself.
"Good morning, ma'am. I'm Detective Midoriya from Shizuoka City and if you have a moment to answer some questions, I would be greatly appreciative," he said while showing his badge.
"Oh, a young police officer!" Her voice encompassed a delightful smile. "Please, come inside to ask your questions. It's too cold outside."
Her hair was long and silver, pulled back into a tight bun. Delicate crow's feet sprayed from her eyes and melted into the creases in her face when she gestured for him to come into her home. She clutched her purple cardigan closely to her small body as Izuku walked inside.
The freckled detective sat down in the small home in the wooden chair and looked at all the different green plants hanging around. He noted the three cats sleeping in the windowsill that were soaking up the warm sun beams. On the walls were photographs of what seemed to be her in her youth and photos of a girl guessed to be the woman's daughter. She had warm brown hair and large brown eyes as big as the moon.
"This is a lovely home you have," Izuku bright smiled as she sat down with tea. "Everyone here is up very early."
"We're a town that rises with the sun," she laughed, filling Izuku's cup. "Please call me Chiyo, Detective Midoriya. Now, what questions did you have?"
"My partners and I have reason to believe there might be some suspicious activity happening here relating to a very dangerous man we're trying to find," Izuku explained softly. "He's known for deadly arson and was responsible for the Red Dawn event that happened six weeks ago."
"Ah, that day. What a tragedy, I heard about that from my daughter, Luna. She works in Shizuoka City," she whispered. Her brown eyes glanced at the photos on the wall of the family. "If we're being honest, after that day I did notice an influx of new people coming in and out. Never seen them before. Felt like they blew in with the winds of the changing season."
"What were these people like?" Izuku pushed, his attention perked at the first person to mention something out of the ordinary.
"They don't speak to anyone. They kept their heads down and they had an odd air about them. I see them come in and out and they've been working on something inside of the woods," she whispered like it was a secret. "I found it peculiar because they dressed rich but they seemed heavily interested in doing whatever they were doing in the back of the woods."
Izuku shuffled in his seat and pulled out his sketchbook, turning to the two pages that held Dabi and Nine's sketched faces.
"Would one of these men happen to be familiar to you?" Izuku asked. The elderly woman reached down in her cardigan's pockets to pull out her glasses and hummed. She nodded and lifted to a finger to point to Nine's face.
"This fella. He comes by the market a lot and he's the one that always takes those people in the back of the woods," she confirmed. "I haven't seen this one. I would remember a face that burned."
Izuku felt happy with the lead but a pang of disappointment filled his chest by the fact Nine was identified and not Dabi. But at least this meant they had a confirmation of the two criminals being in town.
"Thank you so much!" Izuku perked. "This was incredibly helpful. Did you happen to hear about what they could possibly be doing inside the forest?"
"No, but I'm as suspicious as you are," she hummed while sipping her tea. "Every time I ask one of my neighbors they don't know anything. This is why I don't like city folk bringing in their city folk ways."
Izuku gave her a gentle kind smile as she continued talking, going off topic.
He listened to her and jotted down notes that he felt like might be helpful for later. As he drank down the warm spiced tea, his green eyes couldn't help but keep glancing out the window to the dark, dense forest.
. . .
Katsuki had told him to stay within the residential area for questioning but when Izuku left the woman's house, he couldn't help but keep glancing backwards at the dense forest. The canopy of the trees were tightly packed together, casting a deep, black shadow and it nearly felt endless as no light could get in.
Izuku looked over his shoulder and made a mental note to apologize to Katsuki later as he started to walk towards the forest. He allowed himself to be engulfed into the shadows as he stepped foot into the frozen soil of the dark forest.
His heart hammered in his chest because deep down part of him was being called to the forest due to his past with Touya—but another half wanted to know what exactly the woman was referring to.
Izuku carefully ducked under branches and treaded lightly the deeper he went into the forest until he reached a familiar clearing. It was the ledge where he and Touya had sat down the night before Izuku hatched the plan that spiraled his life out of control.
There he stood, alone. He glanced around at the dead plants on the ground that were frozen with the frigid winter. The snow blanketed the ground, covering the train tracks Izuku knew were underneath.
The young detective's ear twitched at the sound of the running river beneath him as he peered downwards over the edge. There he saw the rushing tides working their way downstream, unforgiving in their rapid currents. The fall off the edge was as steep as he remembered.
He looked down at the snow covered train tracks and kicked the ground lightly to push aside the snow just to see if they were the same as he remembered. But when the snow was shuffled to the side, it revealed a strange silver wire embedded in the ground.
Izuku's face scrunched up in confusion and he slowly bent down to examine it further.
He used his gloved hand to clear the area and saw the small metal wire go further and further towards the bridge that led deeper into the dark woods. He made a mental note how it looked new. Unlike the metallic surface of the train tracks, it was void of any wear and tear or reddish rust.
Eyes the same color as the trees trailed up to stare at the abandoned train-tracks spanning across the large river. He stared intensely at the other side of the forest and squinted to see if he could see anything in the condensed darkness but only blackness stared back at him.
Curiosity prickled at his nape and Izuku made a move to walk across the tracks, but the second he took a step on the bridge, the wind howled in his ear like a warning.
Izuku clenched his teeth and shivered unwillingly when the cold air struck hard against his ears. He quickly snapped his hands up to his ears to protect them from the unforgiving winter winds.
But his body truly froze when he touched the small golden hoop earring in his ear.
"You are still holding on to parts of him and not letting go fully."
Katsuki's words echoed clearly and Izuku felt his body fall slack as he lightly toyed with the small metal item he had grown attached to.
Let go.
With a shaky hand Izuku reached up and unhooked the golden hoop from his ear and stared down at it in his gloved palm. It felt heavier than it seemed, weighed down with all the fond rose colored memories it encompassed.
"Angels have green eyes, who would've guessed?"
"I love you, Izuku. You mean the world to me."
"...Would you marry me at that point?"
"We'll figure this out. Then when we do, I'm going to propose to you and we're going to have our happy ending."
The winds howled louder and Izuku clutched the golden hoop earring in his hand to prevent it from being lost to the wind.
The freckled young adult squeezed his eyes shut when a sudden pain struck like lightning in his ribcage. His chest heaved when the waves of grief crashed against his heart once again and he choked back a sob. The tides of his sorrow broke against the shoreline of his core when he reopened his fist and eyes.
This time he was able to clearly see past the rose-tinted veil he always viewed Touya through.
"Why the hell did you make me do that in front of people, Izuku? Just fucking listen to me next time."
"—Because you fucking deserved it this time!"
"You're so goddamn weak that I have to take charge because you can't do it for yourself."
"Good. Maybe it needs to hurt for you to finally fucking listen me."
Izuku clenched his teeth when a repressed emotion sitting deep inside of him fought its way up to the surface.
It had been laying dormant for years, forced down over and over by all the false, loving ideals he wrapped Touya inside of all the time. The feeling grew as he thought about the reality of Touya. The real Touya he saw in that folder. He thought about all the things he was promised but never was given—all the lies and destruction that was brought into his life.
All the broken promises were like shattered glass. They were sharp, dangerously fractured shards that Izuku bled his palms every time he tried to pick one up. He tried with all his might to force all the pieces back together because he always wanted to believe Touya.
He always believed in Touya.
He believed when Touya promised he wouldn't hit him again. He believed Touya when the redhead promised he wasn't involved in drugs a second time. He believed Touya when the redhead said he knew what was best. He believed Touya when the other told him he was overthinking his isolation. He always put his faith in Touya but the only thing he received in return were dark secrets. None of what he was promised was ever going to be true.
Touya knew he was lying but promised him empty ideals to keep him caged.
The emotion boiled hotter until Izuku allowed himself to feel it fully for the first time. It was a fierce emotion that Izuku always felt too guilty to feel. He told himself he couldn't feel it over and over because of how things ended.
But the longer he stared at the tiny reminder in his palm, Izuku's nostrils flared. He balled his hand into a tight fist until he felt his fingers dig painfully into his skin. The orphan reeled his arm back, harnessing all his hurt, anger and frustration and threw the last of Touya's memory as far away from him as he could.
The tiny item caught the light as it dropped down into the river and was carried away with the tide. A single tear slipped out from Izuku's eyes while he watched the river far below his feet take away the last of Touya.
Three words Izuku wanted to say to his past lover years ago stung against his tongue when he spoke next.
"I hate you."
. . .
Izuku walked out of the forest feeling both lighter due to finally allowing himself to feel all of emotions freely and somewhat disgruntled by what could've been on the other side of the bridge.
He dried his tears and refocused on the main reason he found himself back in Kuromata. The young detective searched carefully around the woods for any more odd metal wires, but the only one was the one leading deeper into the forest across the bridge.
He stared at the other side of the suspended railroad, unsure if he should venture inside. But when he heard a loud shuffle come from the other side of the bridge, goosebumps rose under his clothes. Izuku backed away without a question.
He deemed it unsafe to go alone and quickly he made his way out. The freckled man worked his way out of the woods, following the pathway of sunlight to the other side and resumed his questioning while keeping in mind what he saw. He talked to several other witnesses who said the same thing as Chiyo did. They reported a wave of men coming in and out of Kuromata and they doing something inside of the forest that no one knew of.
Izuku toyed with the idea of Dabi's gang making The Incinerator deep inside of the woods, discreet and out of sight. It made sense and it was plausible.
When the three hour mark hit, Izuku made his way back to the marketplace. Waiting for him in the sun was Shouto and Katsuki talking casually but looking very serious.
"Did you guys find anything?" Izuku asked out loud as he walked up to his squad members, but he was quickly hushed by Katsuki.
"We'll talk in the car," the lieutenant said in a low voice. "I don't think it's safe to discuss it publicly." Izuku nodded in understanding when he could feel eyes on the back of his head.
The trio walked slowly back up the valley to the parked car until they were safely inside, out of ear shot. Izuku watched Katsuki snap his seat belt in the passenger seat and how Shouto quickly turned the key in the engine and hastily drove the car back down the mountain side.
"Well, I have to give it to you, Izuku," Shouto said with a fond smile on his face. He looked back in the rearview to the youngest detective. "I think you nailed the location correctly on the first swing. It's impressive."
"Yeah, he did. Those bastards are definitely here," Katsuki hissed, resting his chin on his fist as he looked out the window. "Several people I talked to said that about three years ago a shady looking guy with burns came into town and bought out one of the old buildings in the business district—and get this, fully in cash. Then that pyro bought an old, forgotten train station that's inside of the woods that someone's grandfather owned a long, long time ago. He's been building his roots here for a while."
At the mention of the old forgotten train station, Izuku leaned forward thoughtfully.
"I talked to a couple people in the residential area and one woman identified Nine and confirmed something odd is going on in the woods and I found this weirdly new looking metal wire. So that aligns with what you found," the green eyed detective spoke. "What did you find, Shouto?"
"I talked up a couple of the sellers in the marketplace. One restaurant owner said that he's been seeing shady looking men come around to his establishment and talking with his grandson," Shouto said. "They offered his grandson an internship, but when the grandfather asked the details, his grandson was vague about it."
"This almost feels like a smoking gun," Izuku whispered, astonished. "Well, all we need now is to come back with a warrant and search that building in the business district and that train station in the woods right? Then we got our guy?"
"More or less, but yes," Katsuki grinned. "If we can time it correctly and manage to get a search warrant while ensuring both Dabi and Nine are in Kuromata, then we have ourselves a possible clear shot for taking Dabi clean out of the game."
"Then let's do it," Izuku said sternly. He could only pray that they would figure out a plan to corner Dabi and Nine before they maneuvered out of their clutches like AFO used to do for years. "When we get back to the precinct let's devise out a way to zero in on them carefully."
"Go team," Shouto said with a smile while his eyes stayed trained on the road. "I have to say, I think this calls for a celebration involving some Midoriya style homemade cooking," he hummed happily at the end. "Izuku, can you make the teriyaki salmon again? I still think about it a lot."
"You really want to eat up all our groceries, don't you?" Katsuki grumbled while he studied the mountains. "Plus, it's my week to cook anyways. I'll fix the damn salmon after work."
Shouto frowned and cut his eye at Katsuki as if the blond was lying. "Izuku, you're still letting this man cook?"
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Katsuki said with a frown and whirled around to the other officer driving. Izuku suppressed a tiny chuckle.
"It means I'm pointing out the obvious," Shouto said with a sly smile. "Izuku is clearly the chef between the two of you. You never packed a lunch for four years. Plus, you call throwing unreasonable levels of spice on food 'cooking'."
"Spicy food is amazing and just for that comment, I'm making spicy salmon. Fuck you. You're just a coward with weak genetics."
"No, I'm a normal human being with a balanced amount of taste buds. I watched poor Izuku's eyes well up with tears two weeks ago last time you cooked."
"He was crying because he loves me so much, dipshit. It happens frequently."
Izuku felt himself smile as he leaned back into his seat's headrest. He allowed himself to bask in the successful headway they made as the other two officers went back and forth over Katsuki's preferred level of spice.
The wind blew outside and Izuku watched the trees bend to the will of the changing winds. He sat quietly listening to the song Shouto put on and smiled when the sergeant badgered the lieutenant into singing along to the song in good spirits of a successful day.
Katsuki begrudgingly hummed along to the song with his arms crossed. Izuku giggled softly while watching the two exchange playful banter. In that moment, while it was only the three of them laughing, Izuku's creative mind compared Shouto to the strong changing winds that kept reappearing.
The heterochromatin detective was always swiftly adapting to his environment and he was both quiet like a gentle breeze or forceful like a tornado when he needed to be. Izuku shifted his attention to Katsuki and the visual of water appeared in his head.
He thought about how well wind and water worked together to create a hurricane—an unstoppable force of nature almost.
Jade tinted eyes then looked out of the car window thoughtfully, staring down into the valley at the town of Kuromata disappearing in the distance.
. . .
When they arrived at the precinct, Shouto made a comment about how windy the week had been when a strong breeze came in and knocked Izuku's red beanie off his head. Katsuki had caught the hat with ease before it could fly away and pulled it back over the shorter man's thick head of curls.
They walked into the building and Katsuki went to call everyone to come back while he started planning out a debriefing on what was gathered. Izuku and Shouto sat in Katsuki's office with the lieutenant casually as the day bled into night until Katsuki caught sight of the lack of the golden hoop in Izuku's ear.
"You lost your earring," Katsuki said slowly while his red eyes assessed the freckled detective's face carefully. At this Shouto's attention was piqued as well and he turned curiously to see Izuku's pierced ear barren.
"It fell in the river," Izuku answered with a soft gaze. "Drifted away with the changing tides. But it's okay, I'll just buy a new one."
Shouto shrugged and took the answer at face value and gave him recommendations for jewelry shops but Katsuki's eyes were trained intensely on his face. Slowly a knowing, tender, understanding half expression blossomed into the blond's handsome features like the upcoming spring.
"You let it go?" Katsuki asked with the double meaning behind his words clear. Izuku nodded while maintaining eye contact.
"I let it go."
Katsuki smiled.
The rest of the evening the three of them spent it in the precinct with Ochaco, trying to devise a plan to narrow in on Dabi and Nine. It wasn't until several hours later when the other two teams of three came back, but when they did all their faces were muddled with confusion.
When Kirishima came onto the floor, he headed straight for Katsuki's office where the trio was located.
"Hey guys. Do any of you know why there's a hoard of paparazzi outside the precinct?" Kirishima whispered wearily.
Shouto, Izuku and Katsuki all exchanged confused stares and shook their heads. Izuku slowly stood up from Katsuki's couch to walk over to the office window to peer outside and, just like Kirishima had described, a swarm of reporters and news vans were gathered at the entrance of the precinct.
"That's odd," the green eyed detective commented. "They weren't outside when we came back a couple hours ago. Did something happen?"
"Not that I know of," Kirishima shrugged but the look of concern never left his face.
Izuku examined all the reporters' heads from their position on the seventh floor, completely oblivious to the dark figure that lurked in the shadows elsewhere pulling invisible strings.
The man with cyan eyes as cold as ice hummed as he lifted his right hand that was decorated with a blue, red, and green ring respectively. He flicked a single domino that triggered the fall of an intricate pattern he had carefully set up. Each domino fell exactly into its rightful place and began the start of a chain of events that would inevitably leave a single man to drown alive in his regrets.
Izuku opened his mouth to express concern when several more news vans pulled up, but the booming voice of Toshinori interrupted him.
"Monoma? What is the meaning of this?" Toshinori yelled over the rattling of metallic chains and keys. "Why would you get this type of warrant—"
All the figures standing inside of Katsuki's office whirled around when what felt like a stampede of footsteps suddenly stormed the floor and headed straight for them. Unfamiliar officers with cold expressions etched into their frown lines swarmed Katsuki's office and everything spiraled out of control when Monoma came into the office.
His blue eyes were ignited with palatable hatred, disgust and blame.
"What is going on here?" Katsuki hissed as he threw a challenging glare to the other lieutenant who returned the heated stare tenfold.
Then as quickly as a hurricane, everything was uprooted by the storm that overwhelmed the inside of the office. Officers in navy blue from the 1B precinct roughly manhandled Katsuki upwards and slammed him over the top of his desk. The sheer force of the action knocked the photograph of the whole squad together clean off Katsuki's desk with a shattering sound as the frame broke into tiny pieces.
Izuku's breath hitched and Shouto's eyes went wide as Katsuki's head was forced downwards onto the wooden surface and his arms were snapped behind his back.
"What are you doing?!" Izuku demanded. He ran up to the other officers, his green eyes frantically looked upon the scene—but suddenly Monoma's hand swiftly landed on his chest blocking him from coming any closer.
"You can't do this!" Kirishima yelled. "He's never done anything wrong—"
"—Bakugou Katsuki, you're under arrest for ten accounts of first degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder with the criminal Akaguro Chizome and tampering with evidence. You have the right to remain silent and the right to have an attorney at trial," the officer binding Katsuki's arms said as he expertly tightened a pair of silver cuffs around Katsuki's wrists.
The rattling of the handcuffs and words mixed together as the world bled into slow motion. Every officer in U.A fell into a suffocating silence as Katsuki was dragged out of his office in what felt like heavy shackles.
The moment blurred together with Katsuki gritting his teeth together, Izuku shoving Monoma away from him to chase desperately after his lover and Shouto quickly wrapping his arm around Izuku's waist to stop the unraveling freckled man. The tall sergeant ignored Izuku's protests and tried his best to calm down the struggling green eyed detective and keep him from running after the men leading the lieutenant out of the precinct.
Izuku's heart sank sharply as he watched the unfamiliar men in blue force Katsuki on the elevator unkindly. For a split second, red eyes met green as the elevator doors began shutting and Izuku saw distress leak into Katsuki's usually confident expression for the first time.
With a powerful start, Izuku broke away from Shouto and ran towards the stairs, ignoring all the calls of his name as he rushed down the stairwell. The Todoroki sergeant followed in hot pursuit. He called out Izuku's name and begged him to stop—but Izuku couldn't.
The freckled detective flew all the way down the seven flights of stairs quickly, ignoring the feeling of his eyes stinging with salty tears. When he reached the bottom, he flung open the door furiously only to see Katsuki being forced down the stone stairs of the precinct like a twisted walk of shame.
The blond winced and squeezed his eyes shut as blinding white lights flashed in his face and the swarm of reporters buzzed around him, invading his space. They drowned him in their sea of conspiracy theories and indistinguishable loud clatter of noise like a witch hunt. The crowd was roaring like they were ravenous for a sacrifice and Izuku didn't know what to do.
When Shouto reached the bottom he slowly stood beside Izuku wordlessly. He was stupefied at the chaotic visual in front of him as Katsuki was led to the back of a police car.
Acidic bile creeped onto the back of Izuku's tongue as he watched Katsuki's reputation catch fire like flammable, flimsy paper. Katsuki's golden wings were beginning to be swallowed by flames and there was no turning back.
The two lovers made eye contact again and ember eyes tried their best to be comforting.
"It'll be okay, Izuku," Katsuki called out over the loud voice swarming him. His expression hardened as the back of the police door opened. "Everything will be fine. Get home, okay?"
"Katsuki—"
But before Izuku could formulate a solid thought, the lieutenant was shoved all the way into the backseat and the door slammed shut.
Wide, dazed viridian eyes stared at the humiliated and angry look on Katsuki's face through the glass window of the squad car. Katsuki's eyes kept translating 'It'll be okay' to Izuku noiselessly when hot tears started to stream down the freckled man's face.
Then, all too quickly for Izuku, the men in blue got in the front of the car and drove off in possession of his singular staple of life. Izuku cried softly and muttered 'no' repeatedly in disbelief as he watched the car disappear into the distance until it was no longer visible.
His chest tightened, pulled, but above all it hurt.
Several footsteps walked up behind Izuku to join him and Shouto on the top of the stairs. The crying man slowly turned around to see every officer at U.A standing behind him. They all gathered around, stunned, at the turn in events. Everyone's expressions were riddled with mortification that translated how they all were utterly overwhelmed by what had occurred.
Then slowly out walked Monoma and several other officers of the 1B precinct.
At the sight of the all too apathetic glint in blue eyes, Izuku's anger flared uncontrollably. His feet moved on their own with the howling wind as he marched right up to the man he knew was responsible for the mayhem.
They came directly face to face, mere inches apart and green eyes were ablaze.
"What the hell did you do?"
End A/N: -pops bottle of champagne- Welcome to the chaos.
That's all for the catching up to speed updates! Thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing for those of you still out here! Next chapter is underworks and should be posted within a 1-2 week timeline. I will make sure to post directly after writing like I used to. ^^ So sorry again for posting on AO3 and then forgetting!
See you soon!