Izuku Midoriya smelt of sin. It radiated off of him like an ever present tide of debauchery and unspoken desires. Blood marked the sheets of his bed, the walls, the floor as if to directly show how devious he had acted. His green hair was speckled in the red of life while his arms stung from the effort of simply moving and in spite of this he was...disturbed.
Not by what transpired here or what he had done or had done to him in turn. No, instead there was something gnawing away at his mind which would not allow him to sleep. He tried to rest, only to toss and turn endlessly until his partner complained. It was then he began to use her, to sway and touch so that this annoyance in him would leave. As he thought, it had ended the focus for a small stretch of time.
He loved her, needed her and yet she made him so angry. Not at her or her eccentricities or her medical requirements. No, it was how she wasted her potential. There was so much good in her, so many amazing qualities, but never could she look at the larger picture, none of them could.
Looking down at her body as she lay asleep, Izuku took note of every scar, every bruise, every little patch of red skin worn raw by his kisses. Smiling, he ran a hand over her bare torso, making sure to commit the image to memory. His fingertips were sticky with her blood which had already begun to dry. Joy filled him at seeing how peaceful she was in slumber, he had done well which made him feel even better.
How many times did he ask? How many times did this annoyance creep up to where he'd demand in order to distract himself? Ten? Twenty? Sixty? Neither of them cared to make sense of it, yet he had half a mind to wake her up when the feeling returned. She wouldn't deny him, but somehow that made him feel...dirty.
They belonged to each other, they only had the other so never could they think of saying no. He knew he could have gone into far darker things with her and she with him. To have his flesh pierced and cut and slashed. She loved doing that...didn't she? Then why did she cry afterwards when he was bleeding? Why did she hit herself in anger when he was pale?
Didn't he also like it? Yes...no? He knew he loved her and as such he'd suffer if only to make her feel good and so he would feel good in return by the way her skin felt against him. His intent was never to "fix" her, she was who she was and all he could do was be there when he could. Yet she had grown so much as a person and he had grown in turn. He had helped her become better.
He had helped them all become better. And yet he still could not sleep because of that one blunder.
His smile faded in time until he was left running a hand through her blonde hair. For an instant he saw himself grabbing a knot of it and pulling so he wouldn't be alone. To have her shout, scream, laugh, cry or smile. Anything so that this worming anger would die. He pulled his hand away, there was too much love in him to do that. He'd never hurt her just to escape.
The green of his eyes lowered when he kissed her and left for the openness of the bar. Why...Why couldn't she...Why won't this pain die? Why does his face haunt him?
Nothing save for the bottles were there to greet him. No Dabi or Kurogiri sitting around to combat their own restlessness and nightmares. Izuku had the urge to grit his teeth, again he was angry but not at a person. His malice was towards fate, he had hoped to strike up a conversation with someone to stave off both the boredom and the pain, but even that small pleasure would be denied.
Silently sighing, he moved to behind the bar and poured himself a glass of rum before setting himself on one of the barstools on the other side. He had spent more nights down here then he liked to admit, but strangely he knew that was true of everyone else. There had been times where more than half of the League would simply sit silently in the night, listening to the soft music of the record player without ever saying a word.
There was a quality about the place that seemed almost...incorruptible. That for all the death and pain made here, it was still comforting in a way none of them could explain, like it was a harbor where the wayward could find peace. Taking a sip Izuku pondered for a moment on just how many other lost souls had dwelled here. How many other broken and lost people flocked to this place for peace and an escape from the harshness of the world? He knew they weren't the first and weren't likely to be the last.
He would miss this place when they had to leave. This was his home and it was hard to think of anywhere else as such. There came a creak of leather to his left, stopping his train of thought when a voice that once would have made him tremble spoke out.
"Having trouble sleeping again, my boy?"
Izuku shrugged, feeling almost glad for the company when he turned to face the other person.
"Afraid so Sensei. I've been having thoughts lately that I'm...unsure of what to do about."
The giant of a man sat next to him, his black suit pristine to a near obsessive level while his deformed face was unconcealed, staring back at the younger man kindly despite his lack of eyes with a drink in hand.
"Perhaps I could be of assistance, after all you don't get to become my age and not learn a thing or two."
Nothing was said for a long time as Izuku sipped his glass with the words bouncing in his skull. He met the gaze of the man, seeing only the sunken skin of what was.
"Have you ever cared for someone, someone you love dearly, so much so that you'd die for them and give them the world if they asked? Have you ever had someone like that learn who you are and then spit in your face after you offer to help them see what you see? To have them scorn everything you sacrificed to make the world a better place and call you crazy?"
He took another sip.
"Because that happened to me and now I can't...I can't stop seeing his face."
The original villain ceased to smile at what he heard, only staring into his liquor and down some of it.
"You can't stop seeing him in your head because you know you're in the right. That for all he's done to you, he's simply been led astray by propagandists and his own unwillingness to accept reality for what it is. And you blame yourself for it, you obsess over it because that is the one person you failed even when you had all this power. You couldn't make him see the truth so he bit the hand you extended. You keep thinking relentlessly "How can I save him?" day in and day out until you start to only focus on him, the one person you couldn't help."
The two men met each other's gaze as a question left the Symbol of Evil that sucked the soul from the younger villain.
"And you're thinking about trying again, aren't you?"
Izuku flinched involitarly, shifting in his seat from embarrassment rather than fear.
"Well...yeah. I know everything about him. I know where his family is, I know where his classmates are, I know his habits and fears, I know how he thinks, I even have his home address. It seems so easy to get a second shot at helping him, but...why am I so conflicted?"
A bottle refilled both glasses as All For One had something akin to melancholy on his features.
"Because you know you'll fail again, but you don't want to accept defeat. You don't want to let him go and fail the person who had been by your side from the start."
Izuku shrank back a little when a hand was put on his shoulder.
"You're intelligent enough to see that while your heart refuses to quit. That shows good character, but you should only act with passion when the odds are in your favor. I made that mistake centuries ago and it had haunted me until recently. Don't allow your regrets to be what drives you, you'll win by the end and that, when the whole world bends the knee to you is how you will be acknowledged by that person."
He smiled at the young man once again.
"They'll see reason then. As such you owe it to not only them, but everyone in need to grow into what you must. They will love you and from there you can save the whole of mankind."
Izuku clicked his teeth. He was uncertain about it, Kacchan was so close, all it would take is a minute and things could maybe be set right. Yet there was something about the old man he inherently trusted. Someone that powerful wouldn't need to hide anything and for some reason he felt like he wouldn't ever lie to him.
He nodded in affirmation, enjoying the sweet burn of his spirit until yet another question came to him, one he had thought of many times.
"Sensei, where did you find One For All?"
The giant's back straightened for an instant at that, nearly crushing the glass he held as his muscles contracted.
"Excuse me?"
A raised eyebrow was shot his way by the youth.
"I've been wondering, everyone said you gave the quirk to your brother, meaning it wasn't originally a part of you like your actual ability to steal the powers of other people is. Therefore, it had to come from an original source before you obtained it."
All For One said nothing for a time, his face unreadable as he contemplated something from his past. Again he sipped at the liquor, a certain emotion that caused his ruin of a face to show the minor signs of worry. He spoke after what had to be two turns of the clock and in his voice was an unease which bordered on fear.
"...I stole it from an old woman at the very start of the age of wonder. She was in debt to one of the groups I had funded back in the day and I was forced to come and collect. It was easy really, I had gone into this rotting hovel of a place in the backwoods of Niigata where there was nothing but forest around for miles. She was sitting on this old rocking chair, looking like death should have taken her long ago, smiling in a way no human should be able to."
He set his drink down with the same tenseness to him.
"She said...that she was waiting for me, to give me a gift that would purge the unholy from the world. Obvious lunacy, but at the time it caught me off guard enough that she could attack me. It was more reflex than anything else when I absorbed her quirk. Only...I felt it crawl into me instead of my body guiding it. The hag was dead once her power was gone, but I had this urge to look around her home and…"
The man looked at the face of the boy, placing a hand over his features and allowing the texture of his face to become memorized before removing his palm.
"When you received the quirk, what did it feel like?"
Izuku blinked, honestly not expecting the question.
"It was like...like every fiber in my body was pulled tight and had electricity flowing into them, as if it filled my whole being with energy that flowed like water."
All For One's shoulders raised up a bit, looking almost defensive at what was said.
"I see...tell me, do you ever have nightmares?"
Again Izuku bit his tongue, not willing to say anything about that.
"I'd rather not say."
The two stared at each other in a much more awkward silence.
"You know you can talk to me if you need to."
Izuku pursed his lips, unsure of how to take that.
"I know."
Still the quiet remained until the older of the pair returned some of his original mood, grinning fondly at the green haired young man.
"Since you have some free time, how about we get started on another movie? I trust you haven't seen Casino yet."
The grin was thrown back in kind by the former hero in training.
"How about Goodfellas? I hear that was a pretty good one."
A hand ruffled his curly green hair as they both approached a tunnel which had been made in the wall.
"Then that is what it shall be."
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"I'm telling you that you can't drink ten bottles of vodka in a row and not die of liquor poisoning."
"And I'm telling you I have and lived to tell about it."
Izuku said with a thumb pointed at his chest as he sat on the wood bench in his plain black hoodie.
"Oh yeah, how?"
Shinso shot back with a smirk that told how much he was enjoying this while he stood off to the side with his back leaned up against the concrete wall of one of the dorm buildings in his own plain grey sweatshirt.
"I was partying with my girlfriend and started drinking like a son a bitch since it was just the two of us in this abandoned warehouse and I shit you not I managed to drain sixteen bottles, granted it was this cheap knock off brand but still."
"How the fuck didn't you blackout then? You had to have been beyond smashed."
The former villain shrugged nonchalantly at the question, taking stock of some of the snacks they brought on impulse after he ambushed the semi-hermit.
"I did, woke up the next day with the worst headache I've ever had and her hand down my pants. There were empty bottles everywhere and they numbered over twenty so l had to have drunk half of that, at least."
Shinso shook his head comically, actually liking the stories this stalker was giving him.
"I don't buy it, my bet is that you just blacked out and made a mess."
Izuku rolled his eyes at the teen, not becoming too invested in proving this.
"Whatever, how's your little side study coming along?"
A red covered pocket notebook was suddenly in the mind control user's palm as he absentmindedly flipped through the pages.
"Nothing new aside from a few rumors of some yakuza getting their domes smashed open in Tokyo, so far he seems to be keeping himself to the western part of the country but I have no idea how he is moving around so much. My guess is that he has a teleportation quirk."
Izuku smiled knowingly at his captive, partly wanting to spoil the surprise and tell him it was him despite knowing he wouldn't react the same way Himiko did when he told her about his work. Even if he did the last thing he wanted was to get touched by tall, dark and sleepy.
"Maybe, from what I've heard a lot of people say he's some demon."
Shinso scoffed at the idea and shut his notebook with a slam.
"That's bullshit said by the losers who follow his ass. This guy is nothing more than some nutcase with a gun and that's it."
A raised eyebrow was thrown his way by the shorter student, one filled with mock curiosity.
"So you're saying you don't agree with anything this guy did whatsoever? Not even saving people from gangs and villains?"
"That guy took the law into his own hand and decided to play god with other people's lives. He isn't heroic, he isn't noble and he sure as shit isn't a good Samaritan. All he is a coward hiding behind a mask who a bunch of lost people living empty lives flocked to."
A warm smile settled over Izuku, this was proving challenging and he loved every second of it, but he knew he'd get the outcast to see things he way sooner or later.
"That's easy to say when you're nice and secure in one of the best schools in the world for free. I'd bet you'd say something completely different if you had to deal with getting preyed upon almost daily."
It was now Shinso's turn to roll his eyes, with far more disdain than beforehand.
"Whatever, the facts still stand that he's a killer."
Smugness couldn't begin to describe the rush of joy that Izuku got when he parried the claim.
"So is All Might if we're sticking strictly to the facts."
Disgust nestled in those purple eyes at that, his lanky arms reaching to fold across his chest in objection.
"He killed one guy who was so goddamn evil he literally started the trend of being a villain, to save your ass by the way. While this other guy takes the law into his own hands and caps whoever he wishes. Yeah so far he's only offended scum, but who's to say that won't change one day? At least with All Might there's government oversight."
Midoriya grinned with all the gail of a fox as threw out one question sure to spark some fire storm in the outcast.
"And you trust the government?"
The older boy shook his head at the assertion like it was the most ridiculous thing ever said.
"More than some quack in a mask."
A soda can clipped open as Izuku pointed a finger meaningfully at his peer.
"Some crimes can be justified if there's a large enough injustice and the government only looks out for itself. History shows that the largest threat to liberty and the people is always their own governments. Just look at world war two with the Soviets, Italians and Germans. They murdered hundreds of thousands without even pulling the trigger, this guy whoever only killed, what? A few crooks?"
A groan left the mind control user the more he listened to this, as such he reached into the bag and removed a can of orange pop from Izuku's stash.
"Try over one hundred if the rumors are true. Any-fucking-way, this is getting stupid. Shouldn't you be hanging out with your classmates instead of bugging me on the weekend? I mean they practically ripped the school apart looking for you, the least you could do is try to show up."
The greenete shrugged indifferently at his schoolmates, simply glad for the escape he provided.
"Hey they operated just fine without me for nearly two years so sticking to the outskirts with you on my day off shouldn't be world ending. Besides, who the fuck else do you have to hang out with?"
Violet eyes cringed a bit at that honest truth, but Shinso decided to let it slide.
"Touche douchebag, though I gotta wonder why the hell you insist on breaking into my room every Friday night like I'm paying you?"
Izuku stared down at the tracker strapped to his ankle like a light weight hunk of iron and scowled.
"It's better than having to make nice with those assholes and your place is the only way I can escape the golden boy."
He closed his eyes and sighed deeply upon realizing what he said.
"No, that's not true they're not bad people and Mirio does his best to try and be understanding, it's just...easier for me to be around you since we never really knew each other well before my life got fucked. Being around them is so exhausting because it's like I constantly need to try and act like my old self but it's hard to not lash out or say the wrong thing you know."
Shinso shrugged, not really getting what was said but cared enough to at least listen.
"I guess it would be, judging by the type of sickos that took you. It can't have been easy."
Izuku chuckled cynically at that statement, finding it both true and untrue at the same time.
"Ah at first, but you adjust one way or another. At least I didn't get chained up in a dungeon and tortured."
The two clearly wished to continue with their conversation however there came a sound of crunching dead grass from around the corner that caused them to pause. The cause of which would be known when Mina Ashido appeared with the biggest grin her drama queen face could manage while one other girl from class 2-A stood behind her with a little more reserve. The pink mutant was in her civilian clothes, consisting of a light tan jacket with white bits of fluff near the ends of the sleeves, black sweatpants and white sneakers. Her voice was as annoying as ever to the once wayward student when she spoke in that preppy "I'm an attention whore who needs all eyes on me" tone.
"Midoriya we've decided that today's the day you get back in the swing of things."
Her index finger was extended out towards him with one of her hands on her hips almost like he was caught in some major scandal made worse by the obnoxious grin she wore. Izuku rolled his eyes at the social butterfly, not insulted enough to take physical action since he didn't like brutalizing women and in truth she likely was trying to get him to open up, which in of itself was...sweet? He guessed.
Jiro stood behind the more outgoing mutant with her expression oozing awkwardness that every introvert felt when confronted with an uncomfortable social situation. She was dressed in a plain black hoodie labeled with a silver skull decal on the chest which paired well with the dark blue jeans and combat boots she wore. In a strange way Izuku found comfort in how at least something remained the same since he left.
Still he scowled at Ashido, ready to at least see if this wasn't some bullshit prank like Twice, Dabi or Compress would pull on him. In an instant his gaze hardened as he stood from the bench, hoping to be left alone.
"Oh yeah? And how's that?"
The pink heroine laughed in what may have been an attempt at a maniacal cackle as her hand flew forward and latched onto the boy's wrist, trying to pull him to the direction of the dorms while Izuku remained as unmoving as a statue under the piddly strength of the mutant. Turning her head around in a huff, the black irises regarding him with annoyance when her efforts proved futile.
"Come on we're gonna make a plan for you to get back to normal and we can't do that if you're just standing around here."
Izuku withheld a growl building in his throat. He understood he should at the very least humor the girl since was here to try and get back to "normal", yet part of him still held a lot of that learned hatred of the word "normal" from his time with Himiko. Shaking away the ridiculous pretense he gave Shinso a look, nonverbally asking the mind control user if he wanted him to stay.
The answer struck him a little, but he wouldn't hold it against him when the taller student waved him away(while also taking the snacks Izuku brought along with him) and vanished around the corner to parts unknown, leaving the Ninth bearer of One For All to begrudgingly be led back into his class dorm by the strangest looking girl of his peers.
Pristine alabaster walls surrounded him the deeper he was led to the common room of the A-2 building, there was strangely no one else in the usually populated space which was only made worse by how UA was under a "code red" security protocol. At first Izuku assumed this meant he was being carted away to some degrading surprise, yet he was pleasantly proven wrong when Ashido plopped him down on one of the twin sofas before setting herself down on the opposing seat next to Jiro, who looked even more uncomfortable than Izuku.
An expression of annoyance remained on the pink face of the acid heroine as her void black eyes studied the youth before letting out a huff, apparently at his very existence.
"Midoriya, you've been acting nothing but weird since you came back and it worries all of us, so I've decided it would be for the best if we chatted for a bit. You know, clear the water type thing."
He rolled his eyes at the curly haired mutant. "Alright, how's this for a start? You're a lazy, naive, busybody who gets up in everyone's business because you get ignored at home. Am I hitting the nail on the head?" He thought to himself as the more learned parts of his mind remained in control.
The firm cushions of the sofa accepted the curve of his back when he leaned into the furniture, casting a look to the sound user who for all the world appeared in mild distress as she tugged at her earjacks over and over.
"That's what Pinkie over here says, what about you? Do you have any particular reason to hunt down the resident lost boy?"
Jiro met his gaze and to his surprise there was honest desperation, not to the point of tears, yet she clearly was disturbed about something the longer they met eyes. She opened her as if to speak then closed it just as quickly, utterly unsure of what to say or how to say it until a knotted fist slammed into the cushions. The metal head had a sudden determination to herself that fitted the idea of a heroine far better then the meekness she showed. Still her hands covered her mouth as she went about weighing her words in the most non-abrasive way possible. Tugging her ear jacks one last time the sound user finally managed to speak.
"Midoriya, we all understand you went through some messed up stuff while those creeps held you hostage and nobody here blames you for it, but when Bakugou came back with his arms burnt to a crisp, carrying that guy who was sobbing like an infant...we were told things. Things about you and what you did."
She paused for a moment, gauging his reaction which was completely indifferent to the facts thrown his way. Leading her to grab at the sofa habitually to release some built up tension lingering in the air as she asked the other part of her question.
"Are they true? Did you really kill all those people?"
Izuku felt nothing at that, absolutely nothing. No guilt or shame or remorse, the most going through his head was perhaps sympathy for the two girls who looked horrified by his coldness. He shrugged.
"Yeah, I did. Bashed in most of their heads with my pipe, shot the fuckers that pissed me off, sliced the throats of whoever went against my code or I'd beat 'em to death with my bare hands if I wanted a challenge. What of it? I thought you guys saw the evidence reports, heck All Might was the first one to find Native after I capped him."
Both of the girls recoiled at his answer as he replied as if he were talking about the weather. It didn't phase him, not one bit. His body did not wince in guilt, his eyes held no shame. If anything he looked proud of what he did. Jiro shot up from her seat with the righteous indignation that only a hero could possess. It was now her turn to cast an accusing finger at the youth who remained uncaring.
"What the fuck!? After all that, all of that, you sit there and admit to it without a shred of remorse!? Midoriya, people lost their lives because of you and while you might have been forced into it, I know you wouldn't ever be this callous about the matter!"
Izuku flexed his fingers absentmindedly in the room. He wasn't mad at her, if anything he logically knew that she had a point, but the portion of his brain that dealt with that particular remorse had long ago been burned away. He kept his attention on his hand to keep the cutting glare he knew would crop up away from the girl.
"Jiro, do you know what kinds of people I hunted? The sorts of men and women I cut down with little more than a few plans and a mace? You've doubtlessly read the reports, seen the pictures, noticed my symbol being displayed on the bodies and for every mark I erased from this world they all had one thing in common. They were deviants and deceivers and slave masters and worse, each working to crush the human spirit under their disgusting machinations and those who suffered had no one to hear them scream for help. They had no hope, no reason to keep going other than fear."
His knuckles popped when memory after memory of blood rushed by him, granting him courage in the act.
"So that's why I did what I did. The downtrodden needed a figure to rally behind, they needed a symbol of rebellion against the monsters keeping them in the gutter and since I couldn't leave, I decided to take upon myself to be that. Not as a desire for fame or admiration, hell none of them even know my name, but for the simple fact that I made life a little better for them and to give them something to look to when the times are dark. That when they think the one lording over them is immortal, all they need to do is to look at the bloody smile carved into his cohorts and know that they too can bleed."
He blinked a bit once he finished, realizing he had been monologuing without meaning to, a fact the old man would have teased him about to no end if he was still alive. Now came some of the social shame that felt comfortable when he rubbed the back of his neck, looking awkwardly at the now shell shocked faces of his peers.
"Well that and I would have been killed if I didn't carry my own weight so it was the best option at the time."
Time slowed to a crawl when Jiro fell back to the sofa, her expression ripe with disbelief. Mina shared this with her hand covered over her mouth as they tried to process what was said. The punk rocker had a venom in her voice, one that nobody was sure if it was directed at him or the ones who brought him to that situation.
"Do you even know how many people you killed? The amount of lives you snuffed out?"
Again Izuku shrugged, his feelings a little more attuned to what they should.
"Not really, I never really kept track since Tomura did that for me."
The girls remained as stricken as before, although they seemed to be coming down from the initial shock since Mina was the one to fire back this time. Her face was a mire of emotions collected to a static mask that would have fitted better on Momo or Iida.
"Who's that?"
A hand combed through the curls of his hair, making him appear more innocent then he was. He smiled as a defense mechanism, knowing he was only digging himself a bigger hole with each passing word.
"Um...Handman. You know, Tomura Shigaraki. The guy who led the attack on the USJ?"
Jiro went wide eyed with indignation blazing like a torch. Her voice went beyond what was her usual control and Izuku was thanking whatever deity watched over him that she wasn't using her quirk because he'd be dead and deaf if that was the case.
"Shigaraki!? The same guy who tried to kill us all and nearly caused Mr. Aizawa to lose his arm!? That guy kept track of how many people you murdered!?"
He shrank back a bit at the edge in her voice and chuckled nervously.
"Yeah, he was kinda my boss so I had to report on that type of stuff, but I eventually flew off the handle so much that even he started to lose count."
His fingers tapped against each other nervously as he tried to think of something that could make the situation less unpleasant or barring that, bring it to a decisive end so he could slink back with what little remained of his reputation with these people he once called classmates. Then it hit him, he did have a way to bring this to an abrupt end without bashing their heads against the floor.
Looking at the pair he swallowed, knowing for a fact that this may have the opposite effect he wished, but it was all he knew to do.
"I have another way to at least know some of the number, not all of it, but some and I could show you if you want."
Jiro crossed her arms, indigente at the boy while the fire in her still blazed.
"How the hell can you show us something like that? Do you carry around a notebook filled with the number of people you wacked?"
Izuku pursed his lips as he stood from the sofa.
"Not exactly."
He turned to show his back to the girls and with a slight hesitation he lifted the rim of his sweatshirt, throwing it off when both it and the undershirt came off, revealing his bareback. What was on it was what could only be described as a canvas of scars which had long faded to pale white. However from the length of his shoulders down to the midriff of his back, right before the skin gave way to what appeared to be claw marks that made an unordered mess of faded pale in diagonal sweeps from left to right, was a neatly set of vertical scars no larger than half of one's pinkie finger which traveled the entire length of his back until the claw marks appeared. Every one of the verticals had been intersected diagonally with four other, smaller scars that went from the top of the mark to the bottom before a "new" vertical scar was seen. It was clear what this was and it shook the girls to the core.
It was a tally system carved right into the flesh of his back.
Two minutes, two whole minutes were needed to mentally absorb the monstrosity in front of them. So many things flew around their minds as the heroines looked. so many things to say, to ask. A part of them honestly wanted to reach out and hug the killer, another wished nothing more than to recoil in fear. However it grew to reach a level above that when Izuku pulled his shirts back on.
"It doesn't really account for all the hits, but Himiko wanted to commemorate the ones we did together so she'd take a scalpel and tack on another reminder once the job was done."
They blinked. That explanation only made it so much worse.
Mina leaned forward with her hands connected in a cradle as she processed the information.
"So this bitch would go out killing people, with you no less, and to commemorate the moment, she'd take a scalpel to your back and you let her do that? Why?"
She couldn't quite believe what she just said nor did she expect Izuku to blush like a bashful schoolboy.
"Well I didn't really have a choice in the matter since she'd keep bugging me about it and after such a big fight, your blood tends to get up and…"
Shame and a bit of pride colored him when he paused, suddenly aware of what he was about to say.
"She tended to get...needy when I was covered in sanguine."
Disgust played out clearly for all to see when the curtain fell on the things that suggested. Horrible, unspeakable things which dwelled only in their worst nightmares about what could have happened to him, except this was even worse. How much did that one sick woman bend his mind so much that he'd blush about getting cut? Jiro was speechless. Every retort she could think of was gone, each carved up in the mental picture of that blonde sadist having her way.
Mina on the other hand recovered rather quickly with a viperous hate laid flat in those dark eyes of hers. The smile was gone, only a thin line pursed across her lips. She cracked her knuckles in a way almost identical to what Kirishima would do with each individual joint being pressed as she asked something which took the other two within ear shot completely aback.
"So Midoriya I've been wondering what's been going on between you and Tsuyu. Ever since you got back you hang around her like a ball on a chain and that made me question if you have a thing for her."
Izuku couldn't quite figure out how to respond to such a question after revealing one of the more off color parts of his past. He wasn't embarrassed by the accusation, more to the tone of him not knowing what to say. The Rainy Day Heroine was a friend to him for sure and she was the least terrible to be around out of each of them, but he doubted it extended more than that.
"I don't think I do, why?"
The acid mutant gave a glance that cut right through him.
"Do you wanna know how she reacted in the aftermath of the training camp? She cried for days because she blamed herself for not acting in time and I mean it. Her eyes were bloodshot for weeks and she carried around this weight on her shoulders we could all feel just from being near her. Tsuyu's a sweet girl if blunter than a brick at times and she took your disappearance the hardest out of all of us at the start. She clearly cares about you and you seem open enough to share a bed with her, ergo there has to be something there."
He bit back a curse thrown at the slime user. Again here she was jumping to conclusions with not a clue of the context, yet she was a naive hero who never had a truly bad day in her life so what could he expect? Setting his ire aside, Izuku decided to give his two cents on the matter.
"Okay first off, I didn't sleep in the same bed as her, I slept on the floor. Secondly, I barged in because I kept having nightmares and she offered to help me. Thirdly, if I wanted her like that I...well frankly I don't know, the only person I've been with was not the most usual sort of person."
A pink finger was pointed at his chest as a smirk found its way to Mina once more.
"And that's exactly what I mean. You got so used to being around psychos that you lost all your social cues, meaning we need to help you to get re-socialized and what would be better for such a task then to pair you up with the most upstanding girl in our class?"
If this was nearly two years earlier Izuku would have been flustered to hell, yet thankfully those impulses were burned away, or rather sliced off in his misadventures. Leaving him to only raise an eyebrow at the ridiculous idea. He never got a chance to retort since Mina noticed his expression and continued before any interjection could be given.
"Think about it, Mop Head, there is potential for something to grow between you two and I'd personally trust Tsuyu to keep you on the path. Granted I'm not sure how she would react to the whole tally thing, but it would be good for you both. You get stability and somebody to lean on, she gets to work off that guilt she piled on for over a year and help you recover, it's a win-win for everybody."
"Or maybe I wind up messing her head up with whatever the hell is wrong with mine."
He answered back as he slumped more on the sofa, for once looking as tired physically as he felt emotionally.
"Look don't get me wrong I appreciate what you all try to do and it's not like I get off to the thought of stabbing you guys, but I have issues. Tsuyu is a great person and a good friend, yet...I really hate the idea of accidentally ruining her life because of my own BS. Besides where would we even start assuming I wanted to in the first place? Yeah she's easy on the eyes but for the longest time…"
Blood filled his mouth if only in memory when he felt the peite arms squeeze him while she begged for help, for him to hold her until the monsters left. His own arms wrapped around him impulsively like a blanket as he tried to hold someone who wasn't there until the memory faded away like the passing of a whisper.
"Do you know what it's like to be needed by someone? Truly needed by someone in every way a human being can require another? To support a person who needs you to simply stay alive, who deems your attention as the highlight of their day, who demands your intimacy so that the demons screaming in their head vanish? To have someone so in honest need of you for their salvation that you have to give yourself completely and totally, only to be given the whole of their being in return?"
His hands shook a bit as every scar across his body started to ache, almost to consciously remind him of her.
"Where you stop being just yourself and they stop being just themself until you lean on each other so much that life is incomplete without them."
A smile floated about him for a few seconds, lost in twisted, sweet memories as he retreated inwardly to the landscape of his mind before realizing where he was. The air grew uncomfortable the longer he met the eyes of the two heroines, this was not where he wanted the day to go. However the fates transpired to throw yet another hurdle his way, perhaps as recompense for his bloody way, which came in the form of a familiar yell that summoned memories of the earliest days of childhood.
"Deku, what the fuck!?"
Katsuki Bakugou strode through the corridor leading to the common room with his classical anger. He reeked of nitroglycerin and sweat as he threw a gym towel over his shoulder. His chest was bare, exposing his admittedly impressive musculature while he moved in nothing except gym shorts and sneakers. In an instant he closed the distance between himself and Izuku, grabbing hold of his collar like he had back in middle school.
"You've been gone ever since Friday hanging around that purple haired weirdo and this is the shit you talk about!?"
The former criminal chuckled nervously, torn from a lifetime of obedience and trauma to his relatively more recent impulses to attack.
"I was talking about-"
Spit flew right at his face when another shout was thrown, causing the grip on his collar to tighten.
"You were talking about that cunt who made you into a pin cushion, making it sound all lovey dovey or some shit!"
He raised a hand to object.
"I-"
Which was immediately answered with a slap across the face. The blow was quick, hard and without warning that sent the sound of scarred skin smacking against flesh bouncing off the walls.
"Pull your fucking head from your ass already! That shit's over, none of those losers can touch you again and I'll kill 'em if they so much as ring the doorbell! You can move on, you can live your life again, so stop romanticizing the fucked up things that happened!"
Izuku was not listening at that moment. The only thing he could hear was the sound of the noise coming to an end as his hands crumbled into tight fists. He knew it would land him in trouble, hell it may land him back in prison, but he had learned one thing above all else when the world was a hostile and deadly place. You don't ever allow disrespect to go unanswered.
Knuckle bone collided with Katsuki's nose like a wrecking ball, hitting fast and unstoppable as one hundred and eighty pounds of force drove through the cartilage, sending blood to splatter on the floor with a crunch. Had he the mental faculties at the time to process the goings on, the explosion hero may have expected to fall by a tiny margin, except he remained upright as fingers latched onto his blond hair, twisting the strands to bring on more pain as more blows racked his face and then his body.
From the belly he was hit right in the solar plexus which caused him to curl over as he was struck again and again before a blow was landed to his ribs, then to the side of the head which sent the world spinning, only for moments later to receive a headbutt to his already broken nose.
At last his hair was released right as Deku grabbed his wrist and twisted it, driving him down the floor as he threw all his body weight to the back of Katsuki's legs, forcing him down to the coffee table where a forearm was pressed against his neck while his head laid trapped on the cheap wood of the table, his arm still held helplessly in Deku's control.
The voice that whispered in his ear was not that of his old childhood punching bag or of the nervous do-gooder he grew up with. It was the sound of a killer who had no compunction against the act of ending his life if the need arose.
"Listen to me Kacchan, I understand that I was being inappropriate by sharing my feelings like that and I do care about you as a person and I do want to get better, but there are somethings I simply can't accept, chief among them being disrespect. You can say whatever you want to me, you can insult me, berate me, whatever, I don't care. Yet if you ever lay your hands on me one more time-"
He leaned in, his breath teasing teasing the ear as he spoke so quietly that even at this range it was hard to hear.
"I'll make sure you'll never walk again, do you understand?"
The trapped hero nodded as best he was able. Izuku added up the pressure on the joint, twisting it until a painful pop erupted before the hand fell limply in the air.
"Good. Now, I've dislocated your wrist, broke your nose and gave you a few bruises. You'll heal, so this is what you're going to do. You're going to get up, not say a word of any of this to anyone and report to Recovery Girl saying you hurt yourself in the training room. If the old hag has questions you say nothing, you get her to kiss your injuries and you leave me alone until I decide to meet you. Do anything else, say anything to anyone and I'll hurt in ways you can't even dream of."
Katsuki felt his arm go crooked against his back as the limb was winged and he was scooped up right before being shoved away, landing hard on the carpet. Pain flowed from everywhere as he got to his feet with blood still freely flowing from his nose. He wanted to shout, to hit back, to use his quirk even, but when he turned around with that anger freshly kindled inside him to drown out the fear, what he saw extinguished it with a bone chilling wave of fear.
Deku's eyes were...empty. There was no other way to say it, the windows to his soul were vacant of the stuttering goofiness that he possessed less than a minute ago, of the good, kind human being he knew all his life. Instead it was a calculating predatory thing residing inside him that gave off no emotion from those unfeeling, dead eyes. He had seen it once before, right when Deku killed those two thugs in that alley. The thing looking back at him was the Grinning Slasher and he could feel it watch his every step as he walked away with a primal shiver barely remaining hidden.