Bakugo was so preoccupied by the extra key in his pocket he almost missed the conversation of the whispering two men sitting across from him on the subway.
Although, he couldn't really be blamed. Along with the key came the memory of the kiss Uraraka planted on his jaw that morning. Even standing on her toes, that was as high as she could reach without him stooping down. She claimed it was a thank you, but it sure as hell felt more like a goodbye. One that he was hoping wouldn't be permanent.
Not that he actually said that outloud to her as she pressed the extra key into his palm and walked away with her duffel bag.
But maybe it was because she was on his mind that he overheard the hushed conversation.
"... that Uravity bitch."
At the mention of her name, along with the not very flattering label, Bakugo lifted his head to glare at the heavily bundled men who dared to utter her hero name. He could tell right away they didn't deserve to lick the crap off of her boots, much less say her name like that.
"Now that she's back at her apartment, how long do you think before we try again?" At the realization these were the same men that attacked her almost a week prior, Bakugo stood up abruptly with a shadow passing over his face.
Unfortunately for the perpetrators, they were so immersed in their not-so-secret conversation that they didn't notice the rage building towards them.
"Hijack said our target has changed. I know she's the boss, but doesn't it seem strange that we would just move on like that?"
"Seriously? I was ready to skin those pads off of her pretty little fingers myself this time. She can't float away if she can't activate her quirk."
"You what." Bakugo growled out darkly, barely holding it together at the thought of these sickos touching her. Just thinking about how hard they had to hold her down in order to leave those bruises on her arms made him sick to his stomach. And now, here they were, planning to do it again, but also leave her quirkless?
"G-Ground Zero!" They scrambled out of their seats and reached for their pockets for weapons, but weren't fast enough. Bakugo lunged and grabbed the two men by their throats, pinning them to their seats.
A bystander may have found his actions to be reckless, not knowing what the two attackers' quirks were, but they didn't know Bakugo. They didn't know that he had already analyzed their danger potential. One man had an abnormally large, bulbous nose, and the other had unbelievably long, thick hair. Even if Uraraka hadn't told Bakugo what she observed from her attackers that night, he would've surmised on his own that they relied on physical power to get what they wanted, not the strength of their quirks.
And anyone who knew Bakugo knew that he was unmatched in brute force.
"Oh, so you know who I am?"
They nodded fearfully under his palms, fully understanding the threat of his nitroglycerin slicked hands squeezing at their life force.
"Then you know exactly how easily I could blast you to bits right here, right now. No hesitation."
With his fingers digging into their pulsing throats, the two men couldn't even swallow their saliva in fear. It left them gurgling and gasping for mercy.
"We're gonna take a little detour over to the police station and you're gonna tell them exactly how and why you went after Uravity last week. Otherwise, I'll get it out of you in the ICU burn unit where they'll only marginally keep you alive for me to set you on fire all over again. Got it?"
Taking them for cowards who would value their lives over loyalty to whoever their master was, Bakugo didn't bother waiting for an answer and instead dragged them out by their necks off of the subway train at the next stop.
At one point, the one with the freaky hair tried to whip out a knife on Bakugo, but was swiftly met with a boot pinning his hand to the tiled wall of the underground transportation tunnel. The slam fractured his wrist upon impact and he managed to scream through the chokehold as the knife clattered to the ground. After that, neither of them dared to make another unauthorized move.
Bakugo used the big-nosed man to push open the door into the police station. Since this was not his regular area, the officers in the precinct stood slack-jawed at the surprise visit from the explosive hero.
"Hey you! Lock these two up for battery and attempted kidnapping." He shook the two, red-faced men in the general direction of the closest dumb struck officer. "And you! Get me Officer Takahashi from #23 on the line, now! Tell him Ground Zero has the villains from the Uravity case."
Once they had more details, such as who this loud-mouthed, blonde man was and why he was holding people by the throat, the officers jumped into action. The wheezing men were taken into quirk-resistant holding cells and processed with the scarce information Bakugo was willing to give them.
"They have all of that shit over at #23! Did anyone do their job and get a hold of Officer Takahashi?"
A squeaky receptionist cleared her throat and tentatively held out the phone to the gruff hero.
"This better be Officer Takahashi."
"Hello, Ground Zero. I heard you've made some gains on the Uravity case?"
"I caught the two discussing their plans for trying to abduct her again on the subway. No idea where the third one is, though."
"Ah, we caught him a couple days after the attempted kidnapping. He had some broken ribs from the fight against Uravity and couldn't stay in hiding any longer. We had hospitals on alert for the three of them so once he came in, we were just on the lookout for the two you nabbed today. Thank you."
"So that's it, then?"
"Seems like it. Once we get all of our materials in order, we'll be able to prosecute no problem. We will probably be in contact with you and Uravity in the next couple of days to iron out the details and put this all behind us for good."
"Does that mean there won't be any more surveillance stationed around her place? They mentioned someone called 'Hijack' who was operating the whole thing. Do your people know who that is and why they were after Uravity in the first place?"
"That doesn't sound familiar, no." Bakugo could hear a faint scratching over the phone, he assumed Officer Takahashi was writing down the name. "We'll be sure to follow the lead first thing tomorrow morning and keep Uravity informed. Whether she would like the extra protection or not, we'll leave the decision to her."
Knowing her, she would probably decline. That stupid, crazy, reckless woman.
"While you're there, Ground Zero, please be sure to fill out the paperwork documenting what happened on the subway."
"Damn. It's almost 7pm. I was on my way home too..."
"I know. I'm taking this call from home, with my family in the other room."
He didn't take into account how Officer Takahashi wouldn't be at the precinct all day, especially when he takes morning shifts. Well, Bakugo is nothing if not exceptional at his job. And that included cooperating with law enforcement.
Not one to give out apologies so easily, Bakugo settled on agreeing to fill out the proper forms before making his way out. They ended the call with a polite goodnight, from the Officer, not the brash hero. He let out a cordial grunt and hung up without another thought.
By the time Bakugo finally finished the paperwork and returned to the subway train, the sun was long-gone and he was over an hour behind his normal routine. Normally, he would've been home, finishing up the dinner dishes and catching up on the news.
Well, that was on a normal day. He supposed, in the past week, it would've been the two of them cleaning the kitchen together with her chattering on about what she did that day. Who she put away, what kind of funny things Hado got into, what kind of lunch she had. Useless stuff that seemed to weirdly enrapture him.
The jostling of his phone's vibration in his pocket brought him back to Earth. It was a text from the anti-gravity hero herself.
Round-face: I just got a call from Officer Takahashi. Thanks, Bakugo!
After the short blurb came a gif of a chibi Uravity spinning with the words "Thank you!" in big, red, bubble letters above the caricature. Huh. He wondered if his marketing team also had that kind of stuff for him.
Well, it didn't matter. There was no way he was gonna ask them and have them figure out that he had something like that on his phone. Should he delete it? Should he respond? How was he supposed to move on with his life if she kept throwing new things at him?
It wasn't like she was gonna be at his apartment to explain what she was thinking, sending him that cryptic message.
If there was one good thing that came from the hour-long disruption with those two criminals, apart from putting away the villains that attacked Uraraka, it was the delay in arriving home to an empty apartment.
With that reminder, the feeling of dread crept back in. The two sets of keys weighed heavy on his mind. Maybe he should've let her keep the extra one? She already decorated it with a rubber panda casing. But then again, that felt like a lot. That would be opening doors, literally and figuratively, that he didn't feel remotely ready for.
It wasn't that he didn't trust her. The last week proved how great they could be if he were to give in. She was… Perfect. But he was far from it. For all the bravado he put on, and all the ways he was fucking awesome, he also knew he could be a hurtful bastard. And if there was one good thing he could do, it would be to stay away from a girl like her.
But damn, did he want her.
And with that gaping hole in his chest, Bakugo trudged up the stairs to his apartment. He was so caught up in the mental debate about whether to text Uraraka back or not, he didn't notice the unfamiliar woman a few doors down from his apartment.
If he were in his right mind, he would've realized that there was no prior warning about another neighbor moving in.
He would've known that she was too concentrated on him over her suspiciously empty boxes to really be a new tenant.
And he wouldn't have crumpled to the ground in unwelcomed sleep, cursing the sharp pain in his temple as he tried to get a clear look at the attacker through his heavy eyelids.
Bakugo was mildly aware of the pressure on the sides of his head before he snapped into consciousness. His return was sudden, like someone flipped a switch and made him snap out of his sleep.
It was completely dark, but he could tell he was sitting at a table. The pliable, rough wood l was supporting his forearms. It surprised him, the fact he wasn't restrained. But he soon realized it wouldn't have mattered, his body was frozen in the seat.
"Welcome, Katsuki Bakugo."
His body automatically reeled at the woman's voice. Or, it would have if he weren't paralyzed. Only his immediate family ever addressed him by first name. Not even Deku or Kirishima had the privilege of calling him by Katsuki. So who the fuck was she to claim it?
And why couldn't he move his body?
The voice was close, somewhere behind him to his left. They must've been the one pressing something at the base of his skull, where his neck met his brain stem. His eyes would've adjusted to the dark in a few more seconds, but just as they were starting to make outs distinct shapes, a bright light flashed and blinded him.
With his body still paralyzed, his only defense against the assault was to close his eyelids. It did little to block out the splotches beginning to take over his vision. The thin and bony rod, a finger, he realized, eased at the bundle of nerves connecting his brain to the rest of his body. It allowed him to mobilize his neck and turn away from the source of light.
"Y-you must be Hij-j-jack." Bakugo threw out with difficulty. Along with the disorientation from the scorching light, his brain felt overall slower and muddled.
"I suppose I'm not surprised you were able to figure out as much." The voice sneered.
"You sh-sh-shhhhould find be-better henchmen. Onessss that aren't co-co… completely crappy and u-useless."
"And you should be wise to understand your situation and shut up." The finger dug deeper into his skin, making half of his face droop as the nerves on the right side stopped responding to his brain.
"Unnghhhh… Shhtth…" It looked like his vocal cords seemed to work, but his mouth wasn't able to form words.
Hijack. The name suggested an ability to wrestle control over another person. With the ways she was messing with his mind, Bakugo put together that she was able to manipulate the functions of brains with her fingers. So far, his mental acuity wasn't compromised, just his execution of tasks, such as talking and moving.
What about breathing? Or the beating of his heart? Could she command those as well?
Understanding the risks of further antagonizing the villain, he stopped the grunting. Feeling satisfied with the change in power, she eased her hold on him and allowed his facial muscles to return to normal. In fact, his whole body was buzzing with a light sensation of anticipation.
"Listen very carefully. Here's how this'll work. Your only chance of making it out alive, is to join us."
"Why the hell would I join you?" He was relieved to find his speech was back to normal. "You think I'll work for you? Go after other heroes?"
"Oh, no no no. I don't expect you to turn to villainy. Everyone knows how badly that scheme turned out years ago." With the League of Villains. The last time he was kidnapped. "What I meant was, you must join us… The freaks."
With the lightest of touches still lingering on the point where his spine connected with his skull, the woman walked around to face Bakugo so he could see her true form. She must've been wearing a wig to blend in at the apartment, because the top of her head was see through, her brain on full display. There was a thin outline of skin and bone, but they were completely clear, giving way to the grey-ish pink, bloody mass that resided in her messed up head.
And at that moment, Bakugo understood the connection between all the latest villains, the band of attackers hellbent on disfiguring and mutilating public heroes. They all had physical quirks that left them slighted by society. The large-footed woman, the man with the deformed nose, all of them. It made sense now.
"All you heroes think you deserve the honor of the job, like you somehow sacrificed something to get to where you are. Hard work, your time, your physical safety. All of that doesn't compare to the sheer luck you were born with. A quirk that is accepted by society, a body that fits in with the norm. Let's see if you're a true hero who overcomes the humiliation of being an outcast. Destroy yourself, and you live. Kill what is most valuable to you."
She was expecting him to somehow disable his quirk? Bakugo had to give it to her, the plan must've made sense in her twisted mind. For all those living in the shadow of glory that heroes were living in, it must've killed them to be constantly reminded of what they couldn't be. And the best way to get back at their objects of hatred would be to render them quirkless. Without his ability, without hands, It really would leave him a freak.
How many times did he torture Deku with the taunt that he would amount to nothing?
But then again, look at how he turned out. As aggravating as it was to watch the stupid nerd surpass him, it only proved that one's quirks and abilities didn't matter when it came to heroism. When it came to being successful and appreciated and good, these second-rate villains had no excuse.
Another reason to dismiss the crazy lady came in the form of a distinct yank at his thumb. Uraraka must've found out somehow that he was in trouble. Though it bothered him that she would have to come rescue him, he was glad it was her over anyone else.
"Piss off! You're messed in the head, lady!"
But instead of anger, her face turned to perverted delight. "Too bad. It's not up to you."
She released her grip and Bakugo felt his limbs return to normal for a split second before she thrust her fingers back into his scalp. This time, her fingernails clamped onto the skin above his ears and wiggled to reach a place deep in his brain. He could feel the exact moment she reached her destination.
His whole body broke out into sweat, but he had no desire to light it. Instead, his hands clutched at his impossibly fast beating heart and clawed at it, like the only way to stop the organ from combusting was to rip it out of his chest. The clamminess of his skin made his stomach roll with nausea and every sense was heightened. There was no point in talking or yelling because he couldn't breathe.
This was carnal fear like he had never felt before.
"The amygdala triggers your response to fear. Let it take over you." The woman whispered over him, but she might as well have been speaking into a megaphone with the way her voice was booming in his head. "Show me your worst nightmares and ruin yourself."
His eyes darted around desperately to find something, anything, to make it stop. His brain was not his own, it was a puppet being guided to do the unimaginable. To cut him from his reason for living. Grasping out for something to make this nightmare end, anything, his fingers curled around the handle of a knife.
"Yes! Let it consume you! You are only one of the many so-called heroes I've liberated. Release yourself from the burden of being worshipped by the mindless masses! "
The lady was full on cackling now. She must've truly lost her mind. But Bakugo couldn't fight against it. It was like he was trapped in his own head, watching everything his body was doing without being able to stop it.
"Take away what is most precious to you with your own hands, Katsuki Bakugo. Cut yourself from what you value the most!"
Tremors ran through his entire body as he raised the knife up over his head, where it paused. For a moment, he thought maybe he broke through the spell. There was a moment of peace in the panic, a glimmer of hope that he might toss the blade instead of feel its tip dive into his wrist. But the dread returned as the glinting metal made its plunging descent.
The horror turned to full bloom as he sliced through the red string.