What the hell was that.
What the hell was that.
What the hell was that.
Bakugou stayed in bed. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even register his alarm anymore. Everything he did seemed to backfire in the most unexpected ways, and everything that should have been straight forward had become convoluted and impossible.
He couldn't leave him alone, he couldn't talk to him, he could even restrain him without something going wrong. That last one's on you though.
His face scrunched up as tears pooled in his eyes. It seemed that he couldn't even stop crying anymore, much less prevent someone who wanted to die from committing suicide.
...
He was w̵̖͕̩̼̥͙̮̘̖͕̞̠̖̗͂ͪ̄̅͂̇͝o͉̱̜̟͈̭̳͚͍͆̈́̑͗̋̈́̒ͫͣͯͭͮ́ͤ͞͠ͅř̢͖̙̮̳̩͙͉̄̎̍ͧ̇̾ͬ̚ͅt̢̞͓̻̬̰̝̮̱̩͒͐̉̾̏̀̚̕͜ḩ̑̋̏ͬͪ̈͂͌̚҉͙͕͙̖͓͕̪̘̗l̸̰͕̝͇̜͇̣͖̽ͨ̊͛ͩ͠͝ͅe̛ͣ͐ͪ͌ͯ̽̑̏ͭ̌ͣ̾̐͏͔̺͚͎̱͇̣͓̳̺͍̲̗̦̙̯̗͡͞͠s̸̷̢̭̦͈̤͇͈̙̺̙̥̥͈͉ͦ͆̈́ͦ̆ͧ̽̐̊ͣͧ͆̋ͣ͗̽̆̂̈͜ͅͅsͧͭ̎͗̈́̉͏̞͓̳̥͈͜ͅ. No, he was ẅ̩͚̮̬̹̜̥͌ͦ͒̀͘͢ͅo̧̮̱̦͕͓͙̘̲̖̓ͦ͐̓̏ͣͯ͗ͫ̄͑͢͟ͅr̵̛ͪ̓ͣ͗ͣͫ͑̄̍̊ͬͧ͡͏̥͉͎͙̭͉̙̲s̸̱͙͍͖͍̞͎͔̙̪͈̰̬̤̰͒͐̄ͬ̃͘͜͡ȩ̷̺̪̗̼̝̮̱̫͍̻̲̋̌̂ͧ̑́̋͗ͫ̐̌͊̇̅̌̓ͥ ͧ̓̈́̑͑ͪ͏̵̣̝͈̬̲͈̺̺͉͚ͅţ̨̛̲̬̟̖̺̘̟̥̳͖͙̭ͩ̊̓̍̒͆͐ͩ̾̇̿͑͞͠h̨̽ͪ͐̊̑́͂́͊̐ͤ̀͑̔̋ͨ̉̚͝҉̜͍̻̖͚̙̝̤̜̺ͅa̷̢̧̡̹̗̠̠͑̄ͯ̀̎͋̔ͬ̌͂ͦ͝ņ̇̆ͦ̽̈́̌ͧ̍ͬ̄͊̔͐̄ͮ҉̭̤͎̠͈̘͈̯̭̗̦̲̟͖̥̗̀ͅ ̧͓͔͈͖̺̝̮̦̥̟̼͇̫̫̣͇͎͔̾͗̔̐ͨ̂ͭ̽ͤ̅͌̐͐ͣͧͧͯ̀͢͞͞u̪̣͙̼͙̯̺̫̭̳̜̤̩͙̲̦̒͂ͣ̌̋̂̇̃̔ͫ̔ͥ͒̔̂ͥ̐̀̚͟͢sͩ̇ͩ̈́̓͟͞͝҉͈͚͚̳̥͓̦̥͍̘͈̥͇̫̪̼ͅe̢ͣ̍ͫ͂̀͆̍͌́̄ͮ̈́ͪ̐͌̽̀̚͘҉̸̰̱̗̳͎̳̝̰͙̥̣͇͙͕̰͕ļ̽ͤ̽͟͢͝҉͚̰͓ͅë̴̡̛̙̦͎͉͇̱͍̻̭̜̞͉͎̭̮̞͖̫́̆̏̍̉̚̕͟s̢̛̟͎̠̮̭͕͇̥̝̞͙̜̘͓̬͙̑̎͑̎ͭ̌́̒ͮͥͤ̃ͬ͛͋̍ͅs̢̪͙̯̜̫̩͍͉̍̎̆̋ͬ̎ͫ͜.
...
With that final damning thought, he numbly got ready for school. As he went downstairs, his mother greeted him at the stairs. He didn't even notice her face morph from her usual angry into a concerned expression. He didn't even protest at her soft reminder, "Katsuki, don't forget your lunch money."
He took it from her with no protests, acknowledgement, or intention to use it before turning to leave. Just before he reached the door, his mother tried to get his attention again, "Katsuki, wait. You-" he interrupted her by shutting the door without his usual dramatics, "-forgot to turn off your alarm..."
She stood by the door for another moment, the alarm loud and blaring from his room, wondering what on earth could have caused such a drastic change from the angry son she had yesterday. The only thing that was odd was a strange weight that resided in her chest. It felt like sadness and shock, but she had no idea why the feelings lingered.
Bakugou merely went through the motions during school day. He didn't register all the concerned looks he received from the teachers or extras that tried to get his attention to no avail. Multiple people had worked up the nerve to suggest he go to the nurse, but as soon as they looked into his vacant eyes, any words died on their tongue.
By the end of the day, everyone was completely confused as to what was going on. By pure instinct alone, Bakugou quickly followed after Midoriya as he made his ritualistic escape from the classroom. Everyone got out of his way out of pure habit.
They speed-walked until they were a good four blocks away from the goddamned useless school. Midoriya wandered around aimlessly for hours, Bakugou trailing just far enough behind him so that he wouldn't notice. The sky grew dim, yet they were still walking. Although his legs were beginning to cramp, he couldn't bring himself to care.
Bakugou absentmindedly decided to check his phone for the time because it was getting dark, but he discovered his phone to be dead. He chucked it onto the road, it didn't matter, nothing mattered at all. But when he looked back up, he realized that he had lost sight of Midoriya. Something did matter. He sped up and looked all around, a dull panic being the first emotion to build up in his chest all day.
He knew that Midoriya couldn't have gotten far, but where?
He tuned out the traffic that had been a constant comforting noise that filled the silence and allowed himself to begin to panic. The adrenaline that began to flow through his veins focused his mind as he searched for any clues. Then there was a grunt and a small cough from an alleyway that was a block away. His vision zeroed in on that corner and he sprinted there with all of his might.
Just as he skid around the corner, Deku was impaled in the forehead by a small knife that protruded from a woman's finger. Bakugou stared in horror as Deku gave a slight smile when the woman pulled the knife out. He was frozen in his place when the woman noticed him and began to panic. She seemed to lose control of her quirk as she materialized several knives from her other fingers. She shook and her eye twitched uncontrollably as she took a step toward him.
He couldn't seem to force his mouth open to tell her to stay away, so he just stood there with his gaze transfixed on Midoriya bleeding out with a relieved smile on his face. Just as the woman was about to approach him, a man jumped down from a fire escape and landed on top of her. His weird scarf thing shot out and wrapped around her... to restrain her? The man's eyes glowed red as he glared at her while his hair rose as though it was defying gravity.
A Pro Hero?
The man, no, the hero quickly jabbed his fingers somewhere on her neck and the woman stopped struggling. Bakugou stood there confused for a minute before what had just happened finally caught up with his lagging brain. He threw up on the Pro Hero's shoes and passed out.
Bakugou woke up to a light tapping on his wrist. He blinked up at the sky in surprise, fully expecting to be greeted with his bedroom ceiling once more. Instead, a hero who looked like he was unironically ready and willing to sleep at any given moment had just saved him, and then he remembered that he had thrown up and passed out on the exhausted man.
For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to care about that like he normally would.
"Oi, kid. Are you injured?" the man, no, the pro asked him.
He sat up and clutched his head with one hand before shaking his head. It didn't matter.
"Then, do you know that kid?" Eyebags slowly crouched down next to him in an attempt to block him from view.
Bakugou nodded again. The pro looked around for a bit before speaking again.
"Alright, you probably don't know me, but I'm a pro hero. Eraserhead. Do you have a phone to call someone?" he softly reassured as he stood up.
Without a word, he grabbed onto Eraserhead's sleeve. The hero looked down at him, mildly concerned, though Bakugou didn't care at that moment. He just didn't want to be alone. He couldn't do this alone.
"What can't you do alone, kid?"
Ah, he said that out loud. So, he stayed silent to save his skin.
"Kid, I can help you, but only if you tell me what's going on?" Eraserhead insisted.
It was obvious to Bakugou that this man didn't know what he was getting himself into.
"Like I said, I'm a pro hero, I'm pretty sure I can handle this," the pro huffed in amusement with the slightest hint of concern appearing in his expression.
Shit, he couldn't even shut up and keep his thoughts to himself anymore. Ah, fuck it all. It's not like it would even matter, Deku was dead and the day would restart again regardless. Even if this fucker could stop the looping, Deku was dead. Deku shouldn't be dead. He had to stop it.
So he began tentatively, "You wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain it..." the man only motioned for him to continue, "I've been stuck in a time loop, and it's centered around that nerd over there dying."
There, that should get this hero off his back and then he could go sleep and try again. But then, a moment of silence persisted instead of immediate laughter or something, anything that showed disbelief or annoyance at a perceived "lie."
"Shit, kid. Do you know how it was activated?" that startled Bakugou into looking up at him in surprise. He shook his head in astonishment that the man didn't even question his statement like he had expected.
The man's expression tightened in concentration, "My quirk can erase quirks... but if this kid keeps dying, we might want to get him alive... But being on your own isn't going to help this at all."
This pro wasn't actually an idiot, he made a good point for someone who shouldn't even believe him in the first place. They both stared at the ground, deep in thought.
Eraserhead's head snapped up suddenly, startling Bakugou, "How many times have you already looped, kid?!"
All Bakugou could do was stare miserably at Deku's lifeless body.
"Fuck, fuck, okay," the pro hero pulled a scrap of paper and a pen out of nowhere and scribbled something on it, "Tomorrow then—today?—no never mind, that's unimportant. Tomorrow, meet me at this address at exactly 13:48. I should arrive immediately after you, but if not, wait for me. Explain the situation and we can try and make a plan. Then, if the plan doesn't work, you can keep trying to meet me and we can improve the plan."
Bakugou's words died in his throat as the hero—his new hero—gave him a piece of paper. Gave him hope.
"And kid," Eraserhead's tired eyes searched until they latched onto his own weary eyes, "If this is some prank, it's not like it would matter anyway, so don't worry about me believing you. It's a crazy world we live in, quirks make anything possible."
He punctuated the end of his sentence with an awkward head pat, one which Bakugou couldn't help but lean into heavily as tears began to stream down his face once more.
He closed his eyes in relief.
After, the police had arrived and took the perpetrator. Eraserhead gave his report, leaving out the time-loop problem entirely. Bakugou could help but feel relieved. He was also questioned and he answered everything with a bit of truth while leaving out the obvious. Even if it was only for a few hours, he didn't want to deal with any possibility of being called crazy. The police called his mother to inform her of what happened, though his father was the one who drove to pick him up. This was his lucky day apparently, his mom would have flayed him alive.
Apparently, as he discovered while talking to the cops, he and the nerd had walked a good half-hour drive's worth away from his house. The silence drew on in the car as his father didn't say a word. He couldn't stand the damned silence, so he opened his mouth to break it. Even a scolding was better than this.
"I shoul-"
"Katsuki I-"
They both began and stopped together.
Bakugou looked out the window, "You first."
His father looked mildly surprised, but still spoke, "I am worried about you, Katsuki," Bakugou clenched his teeth but didn't interrupt, "Your mother was about ready to beat your ass... Her words, not mine."
He stifled a snort.
"Was there a reason you were following Izuku in the first place?"
Bakugou let the uncomfortable silence continue and his dad pursed his lips.
"Was it... important?"
Still refusing to look away from the blinding lights of the city blurring by, he gave a hesitant nod.
His father took this in without looking away from the road, "Alright, do what you need to do, I'll handle your mother."
And for some reason, the weight on his shoulders seemed to lighten and his chest warmed.
Sure enough, as soon as they arrived home, his mother was waiting for them at the front door, ready to yell. Instead, his dad grabbed his mother by the arm and completely dragged her to their bedroom. Bakugou stood frozen in shock at the front door, his dad was never assertive like that. He was usually the type of guy to try and cool things down, but still leave things as they were. This was totally unexpected, but also exactly what his dad had implied he would do.
He shook his head and ran up the stairs quietly, skipping steps. As soon as his door was closed behind him, he locked it (just in case) and pulled out the scrap of paper that was now his lifeline. There was somebody that could help, that would help, and it was somebody trustworthy too.
For some reason, something about the thought of having a pro hero's support brought tears to his eyes.
He stared at that piece of paper, chanting the address tens—no, hundreds—of times to get it stuck in his brain. This paper would be gone, come tomorrow, so this was the best he could do. Memorize, memorize, memorize dammit!
As the night, with distant shouts and arguments echoing from downstairs, he became increasingly anxious. When the clock read 23:48, his heart practically stopped, and that awful, torturous feeling he had experienced last night was suddenly all he could think about. He wasn't sure when it would happen, but he had a feeling that it was going to be at midnight exactly. Sleep assistance medication wouldn't work in time, but he didn't think that he could handle whatever the hell that was again. His head hurt just thinking about it. As the numbers grew closer to the end of the day, his anxiety built up like a dam he couldn't contain. But as his anxiety grew, his inability to move made itself known.
At exactly 23:57, he couldn't take it anymore. He was going to loop anyway, right?
He forced himself to crawl to the nearest wall, and with all of his strength, bashed his head against it repeatedly. The pain built up until a particularly hard hit sent black fuzz shooting through his vision. One more hit, and he blacked out to the sound of something crumbling and distant shouts.
His eyes shot open exactly two minutes before his alarm clock blared, as they always did and always would. His mind felt blank and he tried to grasp at the address he tried to memorize yesterday. His alarm went off and all he could do was stare at the ceiling in growing concern. Shit shit shit! What was it?!
Bakugou shot up suddenly before exclaiming the address loudly in triumph. The echoes of a headache threatened to haunt him, but he shook it off. No, what was more frustrating was the increasing heaviness in his limbs. His own body seemed to weigh him down more and more as the loops went on, and he wasn't sure if it was a mental or physical effect, but he brushed his uncertainty off. That didn't matter, he had a better chance now that a pro hero had agreed to help him.
But that was in the previous timeline, there was always a chance that this hero wouldn't listen to him now. He had said it himself: he only agreed because it didn't affect him much if Bakugou had been lying to him. But Bakugou wasn't lying. And for once, that was the problem!
Still, this was his chance, and if it failed, he always had another shot. He could ask the man what would have convinced him and try again. Yeah, that would have to work.
"Alright. 13:48 at the address. This will work, and then I can finally end this clusterfuck of a nightmare!" he announced with determination. He stood with a grin on his face for a second before feeling embarrassed that he had just announced a thing like that out loud without hesitation.
To make things worse, "KATSUKI, I SWEAR TO ALL DEITIES THAT HAVE EVER BEEN WORSHIPED ON THIS EARTH, IF YOU DON'T STOP SHOUTING FIRST THING IN THE MORNING, I'M GOING TO BEAT YOUR ASS!"
His face grew hot and he restrained himself from dignifying her yelling with a response. He instinctively got ready for school, but he mentally kicked himself half-way through his routine.
He had to skip school
The only time that he could slip away without questions would be lunch, but with a quick mental calculation of the time it would take to get from the school to the cafe, he realized that their lunch period didn't allow him enough time to make it on the dot. Fuck, he had to skip.
He had done this on one of his earliest loops, though he couldn't seem to recall which one, but that was through manipulating his mother. Doing so without her permission would mean complete annihilation of his ass via his mother. That was not the way he wanted to die, thank you very much.
His mind was brought back to the previous night, when his father had stood up to his angry and "worried" mother. His father's acceptance and support was completely unexpected, but for once it almost felt like someone liked him for him, and not for what he was going to become. Now, he couldn't be sure if that was actually the reason, but it wasn't as though he could control what he felt. God knew he tried.
One of his mother's favorite sayings was, "It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission," but Bakugou couldn't help but wonder if that was really true, especially with how often she yelled at and berated him so often. Maybe... he should talk to his dad.
As he went downstairs, he exchanged a usual shouting match with his mother, but somehow made his way to his parent's bedroom without any questions. Once inside, he peeked into the connected bathroom, where he saw his dad getting read for work. Bakugou stood there for a minute, unable to formulate how to start the conversation without it being awkward.
After a few moments, Masaru noticed his son shifting awkwardly from the corner of his eye. He, without stopping his morning routine, spoke, "Katsuki, is there something you need?"
This startled Bakugou, and although it really shouldn't have, he had been on edge almost constantly for what probably added up to more than a week. He scrambled to compose himself, and this caught his dad's attention.
Fully stopping his routine, he gave his full attention to his son that appeared to be distressed enough to be awkward and silent. Looking at him directly in the eye, he spoke, "Did you need something?"
A few starts escaped Bakugou's mouth before he could say what he meant to say, "I... no, when will... well... can... have you... There's something I need to do," he settled on the most vague opener. Apparently that was going to be a theme for this conversation, but he hoped his dad would accept it and look past it.
At Bakugou's hesitation, Masaru's mind began turning rapidly, trying to comprehend what that could mean, "Is it something that your mother would be upset about?"
"...Yes..."
"Is it... something dangerous?"
"...It could be, for someone else, if I don't do this."
"Is it illegal?"
It took a few seconds of thought for an answer this time, "It could be, but... it probably won't be."
At this, Masaru swallowed nervously, "Last question then... is it... important?"
The same phrase that he was asked last night struck Bakugou deeply. This was his first answer without hesitation, "Yes."
"Alright, then whatever happens, I won't make you tell me. I'll handle your mother. Do what you have to."
And with that confirmation, he practically bounded out of the house with all the motivation in the world.
He was going to save Deku, and he was going to finally figure out what the hell was going on.