"Kaminari!" I called out to the blonde as class let out, following him into the hallway. "Can you help Todoroki and I with something?"
"Sure. What?" His voice seemed cold. His eyes were dull, his smile was gone. Not sense of joy at all in older boy at all.
"Well, I was wondering if you could help us clear out 'Ruki's things out of…. Keikao's place." No sense in calling that place 'Ruki's home. It's not his home, never was. Kaminari gave a small nod.
"Yeah. I can help. When?" I gave a sheepish smile.
"Now?" I asked, earning a sigh of slightly amusement.
"Yeah, okay." He agreed, starting to walk towards his locker.
He seems kind of down… Guarded, even.
"Kaminari…" I voiced, stopping him from walking ahead of me by jumping in front of him. "Are you alright?"
"Never better." Was the short reply I got. "When do we leave?"
"Kaminari. If you're going through something… You can talk to us." Todoroki made his voice heard and Kaminari sighed.
"Koruki almost killed himself. I was no help. I have no right to talk to anyone." His electric yellow eyes sensed nothing but sadness.
"It's not your fault! I was the only one he even informed!"
"That's no excuse, Midoriya!" Kaminari let slight rage course through him. "I told him I'd be there for him! I said, 'you can count on me' The last time we spoke, I told him to 'get better soon so we can hang out.' I asked him if he was feeling alright the day before. I asked him if he wanted to see a movie! I knew he was sad! I didn't say anything about it!"
"Don't blame yourself, Kaminari." Todoroki spoke up, his voice quiet.
"Yeah. Koruki's been like this for a long time… Him and I had talked about it before. I never actually though he would try to attempt it." I shook my head in shock, still not understanding how this could happen.
"Not even you noticed anything wrong?" I shook my head yes and he breathed out a small sigh of relief. I knew he meant nothing by it. He's just trying to understand why this was happening. Todoroki and I are filled in.
Kaminari doesn't know all of the details. We were there with him and knew what happened. It's not Kaminari's fault that he didn't get the text until this morning.
"Is that all that's bothering you?" Todoroki's voice was calm, as usual. But it was like he could sense something wrong with Kaminari. I can too. Something feels off.
"There you are!" Mr. Yamada ran up to us, smiling. "I have some good news. Koruki can come home tomorrow."
"Really?" I asked, excited.
"Aizawa pulled some strings, he's very persuasive… And scary. But I still married him." Mr. Yamada laughed at his statement. "Are you three headed to pick up his things?"
"Yes Sir." Kaminari responded.
"You got it, listeners. Be careful. Midoriya, you call me when everything's packed up." I nodded in agreement.
"Yes Sir." I responded, respectfully.
"Go on now. His stuff isn't going to pack itself." Mr. Yamada ushered us on, and we started walking to Kor— Keikao's place.
"So he's in police custody?" Kaminari asked and I nodded.
"Good thing too. If the police hadn't gotten to him first, I would have." I expressed, shaking my head at the thought.
Keikao drove Koruki so far down into darkness that he tried to kill himself. You can get arrested for that. And the abuse? If it goes right, he'll go away for a long time. I hope he does.
"Most child abusers unfortunately don't go away for a long time." Kaminari spoke up, earning our attention. "Usually three years, maximum. At least that's the case here."
"Are you joking?" I asked, with a nervous chuckle.
"Three years?" Todoroki asked, equally shocked.
"That's if you're lucky. Most sentences are 18 months." My shock turned to slight rage.
"18 months?! Keikao can't do only 18 months! He should be doing life!" My anger caused Kaminari to flinch back slightly.
Strange….
"Sorry, it's just…. I'm protective of him. He's my best friend." Kaminari nodded in understanding.
"I get it." His voice became quiet. "I've only known him for a short while, but I've become attached to him. He's an amazing friend."
"That he is." I agreed, studying Kaminari's behavior.
He flinched back when I yelled. That's a learned trait.
"Kaminari… Are you okay?" I asked, looking at him concerned. He smiled with a wave of his hand.
"Of course, Midoriya! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well… How do you know how long child abusers go to jail for?" Todoroki questioned. "You knew the maximum and minimum. Not even Midoriya or I knew that, and we can assume that's not a well-known fact that common people know."
"Well, I-I, I took a course that revolved around law in middle school. Is that so wrong?" Kaminari stammered, I furred my eyebrows.
"They have that?" Todoroki asked, looking at me.
"Yeah. All kinds of extracurriculars." I explained, eyeing him.
"Extra what?" I sighed, shaking my head.
"Oh boy." I whispered.
"Every school requires you to participate in extracurriculars." Kaminari commented, with a tilt of his head. "Yours didn't?"
"My Dad didn't want me to be in anything that could distract me from getting into UA." Todoroki commented and I nodded.
So that's why he has trouble communicating with other people, why he's so smart and why he doesn't really talk much. Those clubs taught you how to make friends, Todoroki didn't have that.
"That makes a lot more sense." Kaminari commented.
Before we knew it, we reached Keikao's house.
I unlocked the door with the hidden spare key and opened the door.
"Seems so normal…" I spoke up, looking around. "The house, I mean."
"Sometimes what looks normal is never what we think it is." Kaminari spoke up, being the first daring enough to walk inside. "You two coming or what?"
I sighed, shaking my head, and taking the lead, leading the two to Koruki's room.
"Wow," Kaminari stated, looking around the room. "I knew 'Ruki was into music, but wow."
He was right. Music was Koruki's biggest influence, it's no wonder he decorated his room the same way. Guitars mounted on the wall, along with a keyboard and a tambourine, probably the same one he used at the USJ attack, he had a record that was made like a clock, his bedsheets also had musical notes on them. And there was an ungodly number of musical instruments elsewhere as well.
"I should warn you," I began, standing on a chair to remove the guitars. "if any of these instruments get so much as a single scratch on them, 'Ruki will destroy us." The two looked at me. Todoroki looking more confused more than anything and Kaminari looked intrigued.
"Tea?" Kaminari asked and I chuckled, shaking my head.
"But…. There's no teapot here?" Todoroki questioned, causing me to laugh in response. "What's funny?"
"No, no, no," Kaminari laughed with me, shaking his head. "it just means gossip or personal information."
"But…. Why would we steal their tea?" I facepalmed.
"Oh boy…" Kaminari half-laughed. "You outta get out more." Kaminari started packing Koruki's books into boxes.
"But… I'm out with you?"
"Oh dear lord, forgive me for my sins!" Kaminari exclaimed before throwing himself onto the floor and screaming, resulting in a scared-looking Todoroki.
"Should I call an ambulance?" I shook my head, putting a tambourine into the box.
"Kaminari, get up. You're scaring Todoroki." I kicked his side with my shoe after he just laid on the floor face-down for a few moments. "C'mon, get up and help us."
"Ugh, fine." Kaminari sat up, letting out a loud sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "What was it like?"
I stopped moving things for a moment.
"What was it like…. Seeing him like that?" Kaminari was looking down, didn't dare look either of us in the eye.
"It was really scary…" I admitted, shaking my head. "I was the one who found him…" I admitted, earning Kaminari's gaze. "He was just lying there… On the bathroom floor." Kaminari hopped up, his honey yellow eyes meeting my emerald green ones.
"It's not your fault. None of this knew it was going to happen." Kaminari's voice was surprisingly calm. "I mean… This kind of thing is terrifying…. That little things like pills can take your life away…."
I looked at him, who still seemed far away.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked the same question from earlier, and he did the same thing. Smiled with a wave of his hand.
"I'm fine! more than fine! See?" He did a weird dance in the middle of the room. "I'm Denki! I'll always be fine." letting out a sigh, I nodded.
"If you're sure…"
"Of course! I'm great!"
I'm not sure if I really buy that…
I opened Koruki's desk drawers, putting the smaller things in small plastic tubs so they wouldn't get lost. I then opened another drawer, revolving around a lone book. It was a chocolate leather, tied around a single string.
"What's that?" Todoroki asked, carefully breaking down Koruki's keyboard.
"It looks like his journal…" I muttered, untying the string.
"Dude, should you be doing that?" Kaminari asked and I gave him a look.
"He's my best friend. We were potty trained together. I know his darkest secrets. I'm pretty sure he'd be fine with it." I explained, earning a shrug from the blonde. I opened the journal to the first page.
Dad was pretty extensive today. He's still not sure about me going to UA. Even more than me joining the music program. It's like he's still holding onto my mom or something. As little as I know about her, I know he wasn't happy about me getting her quirk. I hope it's just me being worried or something. I don't have any friends besides Izuku. And he's always been there for me. And Dad… If I happened to meet someone and somehow manage to get a boyfriend, he'd kill me. I know he would. He's threatened to before. He's not rash enough to throw me into a quirk marriage if I came out to him, but he would try and kill me.
Kill him? For being gay? That's insane!
I flipped through a few pages, the entry being a few weeks later.
Man, Dads starting to get suspicious about my sexuality. He's asking constantly if there's any pretty girls at my school that I'm interested in and I say 'no' every time. Sure, they're pretty, but I'm not attracted to them. I like boys. But if he found out, he'd use anything he could get his hands on to kill me.
I flipped to the next page, feeling weirder about these entries.
The USJ attack was terrifying. I tried to die. I wanted to die… When the lot of us got separated, and I was in the water for the first time… I didn't even try. Taken seriously, I can't swim. But even if I could…. I don't think I would've. I wanted to drown; the feeling of water stuck up in my lungs felt…Good to me? I don't understand it, but it gets harder by the day. Even harder to hide it from Izuku. And that new quirk thing… It was like I mind-controlled them. Even Mr. Yamada said that I could've developed a new ability. But not mind control…. Not like him. I don't want to be like him... Keikao's scary enough as it is…. I don't want to be compared to him. Hell, I don't want to be compared to my mother, but I'd rather be compared to the woman that I barely know than the man that abuses me daily. If he kills me…. It'll save me the trouble.
He was terrified that Keikao would've killed him… But he didn't care… He tried to kill himself during the USJ attack…
I flipped to the latest entry.
Fuck everything. Fuck me. Fuck him. Fuck my life. I'm done. I'm tired of living this life. Izuku… You're the one that ever mattered to me. I'm going to do it… I'm seriously going to die. Whoever finds this… Use this as proof of abuse of Keikao Kakasu. He abused his one and only son, driving him deep into a mental low state. Refused to give him any type of medication for it. Refused therapy. Refused anything that would ever help him. Hated him because of his quirk. Said he would rather have a quirkless bitch than a screw up son. Tell Izuku Midoriya, when he gets his ass in prison, tell him to say 'Fuck you bitch. That's what you get for murdering my best friend' I love you, my best friend. I'm sorry I put this burden on you. This is my last entry. May this be a example of Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story…... Sincerely, Koruki.
Tears formed in my eyes; I shook my head in disbelief.
"Midoriya?" Todoroki's voice snapped me back to reality. "Are you alright?"
I handed him the journal.
"Read the last entry…" I managed to squeak out, Kaminari stood next to him, reading over his shoulder.
"….. He wanted to use this as evidence for his death." Todoroki spoke up, surprised.
"God…." I shook my head, closing the journal. "But hey… We got written evidence now."
"So we got him?" Kaminari asked and I nodded.
"I hope so. For now, let's focus here. Is there anything else we need to pack up?"
"No. I already gathered his clothes. How many hoodies does one boy need?" Todoroki asked and I laughed, shaking my head.
"You have no idea." I told him, taking out my phone to text Mr. Yamada that we're ready to be picked up. "Let's get all this outside."
All of us each picked up boxes, making a few trips in and out, making sure we absolutely had everything.
I then pulled out my phone, texting Koruki. Yamada had informed me that he had given him a phone, so it's easier to contact him.
Me: Do you want us to put the stuff in your new room or do you want us to unpack it?
Koruki: You don't have to unpack it if you don't want to.
Me: It was a one answer or the other kind of thing, 'Ruki.
Koruki: Just put it in the room. Then I can reorganize my shit.
Me: Got it. How are you doing?
Koruki: Everyone keeps asking me that… Even Bakugou texted me.
Me: Kacchan? Really?
Koruki: Yeah.
Koruki: *Koruki sent an image*
Bakuhoe: Listen Theater Nerd! Don't you ever scare anyone like that again! You almost died at USJ; you don't need to die voluntarily!
Me: …You're being nice to me?
Bakuhoe: SHUT THE FUCK UP THEATER NERD! LOOK, YOU GOT AN ALRIGHT QUIRK! MAKE SURE YOU PUT IT TO USE!
Me: …...Alright then.
Bakuhoe: In all seriousness…. You really scared the shit out of everyone. I know we've never been friends, or even on good terms, but… God, just don't fucking do that again.
Me: I won't.
Bakuhoe: Good. Will you be at the sports festival?
Me: Aizawa said as long as I'm better, I can go.
Bakuhoe: Good. I'll kill you.
Me: Wouldn't expect anything less :))))
Bakuhoe: NO EMOJI!
Me: :((((((
I eyed the sent text in shock. Kacchan was actually nice to Koruki?
Me: Wow, he was actually nice to you?
Me: And Bakuhoe?
Koruki: I know, right?
Koruki: YOU'RE GOING TO LOOK AND ME AND TELL ME THAT I'M WRONG?!
Me: Weird…
I saw the car pull up and I put my phone away, helping Kaminari and Todoroki load everything into the car.
"Ready listeners?" Mr. Yamada asked once we were buckled in.
"Yes sir." Kaminari spoke up for us, with a smile.
"Mr. Aizawa?" I asked, pulling out the journal that I had kept close to me. "This is his journal… Its full of evidence of Keikao's abuse towards Koruki."
"Let me see…" Mr. Aizawa took the journal from me as Mr. Yamada drove.
"In every single entry, it mentions him being afraid of Keikao, that he'd kill him if he found out he was gay. And there's an entry that had to be written minutes before he attempted suicide." I choked on the last words, still not believing that it was real.
Aizawa nodded as he read through the journal.
"This is extremely helpful, Midoriya. We have photographic evidence due to Koruki's injuries, but this helped further our case."
"He'll get longer than 18 months… Right?" I asked, earning a concerned look from Aizawa.
"How do you know how long child abusers typically go away for?" He was surprised.
"I…. I heard from a reliable source." I admitted, not telling him it was Kaminari.
"Will he get put away longer?" Todoroki spoke up.
"We're going to do everything we can to make sure that happens." It was Mr. Yamada that spoke him. "In my opinion, these kinds of people should do longer than 18 months to 3 years. Its revolting that's how long they're put away…" I could tell Mr. Yamada was mad. The typically happy, loud, and go-lucky blonde had nothing but hatred in his eyes.
"He's right. And even if Keikao gets minimum time, we'll make sure Koruki is safe. He won't get near him. And that's a promise."
I remember holding onto those words for as long as I could remember. It made me realize that just how protective Aizawa was, not to mention Yamada.
They would do anything to protect their kids.