Warning: Due to the site messing up for a few days, it's entirely possible you didn't get to read the last chapter if you've been following this story as it updates.
Beta'd by kylekatarn77 and Poliamida
57. The Millstone
Wrath is no vice when it is inflicted upon the deserving.
-Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Bakugo looked down at the sleeping man. He looked almost beatific, sleeping the sleep of the innocent. Which was a damned lie. Fuhai Wairo was one of the crookedest cops alive.
"You sure about this?" Bakugo growled. He'd done it before, but still. It was a line to cross.
"He is the one," Mei's voice answered over the radio. "He knows where Isuku is. Izuku's arm is gone, I can't find him that way. Make the bad man talk, Katsuki. Make him tell us where Izuku is."
"I've got Midnight distracted still. You're in the clear," Shinso's voice added.
Bakugo looked to Uraraka, who was looking a bit green around the gills. She'd been floating Wairo's car for the past 20 minutes. She'd not hurled once. God she was hot. But this wasn't the time for that.
"Let him down," Bakugo said, his fingers twitching.
"Release!"
The car slammed down into the pavement of the back alley, causing Wairo to jerk awake with a start.
"-what? Midnight? Where'd she-"
Bakugo used an explosion to rip the door off the car and bodily hauled Wairo out of the car, flipping him over his shoulder and slamming him onto the broken pavement of the back lot they were in. The older man let out a cry of pain, and Bakugo immediately punched him in the gut.
"Start talking!" Bakugo roared.
"The hell is wrong with you," Wairo gasped. He looked up, daze. "Who are-wait, the Demon of Battle? The hell is wrong with you! You're a hero, and I'm a cop! We're on the same-"
Bakugo kicked the man in the gonads. Not too hard, he didn't want to kill him, yet, but hard enough to shut him up.
"You're no more a cop than I am a real hero," Bakugo hissed. "You know my name, I see. The Demon of Battle. Well. I'm your own personal devil now. Because man, you done messed up. And now I'm pissed."
"What...what is this?" Wairo gasped, curling up in a fetal position. "Why are you doing this?"
"He's not talking," Bakugo said, stepping back. "Come on. You get a turn, then I waste the bastard."
Uraraka stepped forward, taking out a combat knife from a holster on her leg, testing the blade on her finger and drawing a drop of blood. "Fine. I suppose it is your turn, anyway."
"What?" Wairo gasped. "You haven't even-why are you doing this? You're both heroes!"
"And you work for the yakuza," Uraraka said grimly. She knelt by Wairo, lowering the knife until it was poised above his nose, and his eyes crossed. "I think I should start with the nose. Soft tissues are easier to cut."
"No, start with the ears. You cut off his nose, and he'll have a harder time talking," Bakugo advised.
"That's true," Uraraka agreed, and she reached out, grabbing Wairo's ear, hard. "I'll start here."
"WAIT!" Wairo squealed, and immediately wet himself. "I don't even-what are you talking about? Who was kidnapped?"
"You know, you son of a bitch," Bakugo snarled, crouching on Wairo's other side. "Your boss, Kai Chisaki, the man called Overhaul, kidnapped Izuku Midoriya. And you're just the first bastard we tracked down."
"What? I don't know anything, I swear," Wairo protested, trying to inch away from Uraraka as she brought the knife down.
"Bullshit! You're his mole on the force! We know everything you shitstain, and we're going to take your pound of flesh if you don't tell us where Izuku is!" Bakugo roared.
"I don't know! I swear to God I don't know!" Wairo sobbed. "But he's probably at the main safe house! In the underground complex!"
"Talk! Now!" Bakugo ordered.
And Wairo did talk. As it turned out, he knew a lot. He babbled about the location of the underground maze, beneath a large property the Shie Hassaikai owned. He told them about the drugs Chisaki was making. He even talked about a mad plan to remove quirks from the world with the drugs and some other secret scheme, using the girl Eri's strange quirk.
"And good riddance to them, I say!" Wairo snarled. "I'm quirkless, and it's bastards like you who drove me to this! I could have been an honest cop, but with no quirk I could never-"
"I'm really tired of listening to you bitch," Bakugo snapped. "Shut up."
"Well that's it then," Uraraka sighed. She holstered her knife and made a disgusted face. "Ugh. I am so not doing this with you again. Get Shinso to do it with you next time. I feel dirty just thinking of torture and it makes me want to puke more than my quirk ever does."
"What?" Wairo gasped, blinking. "You mean, you're not going to kill me or torture me?"
"Obviously not. We're heroes! We'd never do something like that," Uraraka said, her voice dripping with disgust at the very notion. "Right, Katsuki?"
Bakugo paused, halting the kick he'd been aiming at Wairo. "Um, right."
"Good. Because I know you're a better person than that. Even if he doesn't," Uraraka said. Then she reached out and pulled him into a kiss.
For a moment, Bakugo forgot about the fact that he was weak. He forgot that he'd failed again. He even forgot that his friend, the one person who'd always believed in him and tried to be there for him even when Bakugo was at his weakest and most despicable, Izuku Midoriya, was in mortal peril. He just experienced being with Uraraka all over again.
"God you're so hot right now," Bakugo rasped when they pulled a part.
Uraraka giggled. "What, does violence turn you on or something?"
"It makes me horny as hell. You can't say it doesn't do the same to you," Bakugo said.
Uraraka blushed and looked away, then looked down at Wairo, who was studying them with a conniving expression. "Ugh. What to do with him?"
"We can't let him go," Bakugo said. He considered something. "Well. Maybe we can."
"Yeah, of course, just let me go. I won't say anything, honest I-"
Bakugo slammed Wairo back to the pavement, kneeling on his chest. He pulled out a pill, holding it up. It was just a grunt candy, he carried those with him all the time now. The docs said if he took too much ibuprofen it was bad for his kidneys, but he didn't think he was gonna live that long anyway. "You know, Izuku Midoriya is the boyfriend of Mei Hatsume. And she's real pissed right now. You know who she is?"
"The inventor girl," Wairo panted. "The quirkless one, they both are. Listen, Chisaki wouldn't hurt those two. He likes them, wants them for his plan he-"
Bakugo grabbed Wairo's jaw, forcing it open and popped the pill in. Then he slammed the jaw shut and plugged Wairo's nose. The man swallowed reflexively.
"She's real pissed. And scary smart. You know what that pill was?"
Wairo went very, very pale, and shook his head.
"Hell if I do either," Bakugo said with a sigh, standing. "But I know this much: if you don't get the cure in 24 hours, well, even I would get sick at the sort of things Mei would do to someone to get Midoriya back."
"She's crazy," Uraraka agreed. "We'd better leave. If it kicks in too soon, I don't want to be around to see the effects."
"What was it!" Wairo demanded, gagging. "What did you give me?"
"Nanomachines or some shit," Bakugo said with a shrug. "Don't bother trying to puke it out. Enough are in your blood already. They'll eat you from the inside out when she sends the signal. They're already multiplying. Totally invisible to any form of detection. Shit's scary. I saw what it did to that MLA guy who threatened her family."
Uraraka shuddered. "Oh god, don't make me think about that. That was so gross! I mean, he deserved it, but come on. Next time just let me kill someone the normal way. You know, crush them or something or blow their head off."
"You can't do this to me!" Wairo pleaded, grabbing Bakugo's leg. "I have a family!"
"No you don't, dumbass. We looked up your file. You don't even have a goldfish," Bakugo said with a derisive snort.
"I'd just hope you gave us good information, honestly," Uraraka said with a shrug. "The nanomachines will pass out of your system in a few days if the kill switch isn't thrown."
"I mean, Mei did throw it already," Bakugo pointed out. "She's gotta remember to turn that timer off. Dead man's switch. Like I said, that girl is scary, and I'm sleeping with you."
"True. But you didn't lie to us, right Wairo?" Uraraka demanded. She smiled sweetly. "Because, while I am morally opposed to torture, killing scumbags like you who let little girls get tortured and kidnap my friends? Well, my track record on that is clear. Just ask Chikazuka."
"I'm sure you'll see him in hell if you led us wrong," Bakugo laughed. "Best hope my girl gets to you before Midoriya's. Because at least Ochako is quick. Mei? Not so much."
They left Wairo behind, weeping in a pool of his own blood and urine. Bakugo pulled Uraraka into a one armed embrace as they walked and kissed the top of her head. "You were so amazing back there. Better than Shinso ever could be."
"Yeah, I guess. But I still feel dirty. I really do think torture is wrong, Katsuki," Uraraka repremenaded, pushing him away. "Keep that up and I'm rethinking our arrangement."
Bakugo grunted. "Hari sorta killed that anyway, didn't she? But if you can think of a better, faster way to get the information out of people like him, you let me know. I don't like doing it either. But when we need a demon, I'm the one to do it. Better me than someone else."
"I can't," Uraraka admitted. "I thought and thought of a different way, but...well, it worked. I hope."
"Torture isn't the most reliable," Bakugo said with a shrug. "People will say stupid shit to get out of it. But when you have someone dead to rights like that, and you run out of options? It's better than nothing."
"Yeah. Ok. I guess. It's just," Uraraka bit her lip, looking behind them. "I still feel bad about it."
"Because you're a good person. Unlike me," Bakugo said with a shrug.
"Oh stop it already. I am far from a good person, and you know it. I'm just like you, in the end. After all, I did just help you torture someone," Uraraka said with a sigh. "And if I'm being honest with myself? I'm glad we did it. To save Izuku."
"Heads up," Shinso said in their ears. "Midnight's headed your way."
"Don't sweat it. We got the information," Bakugo answered, touching a hand to the radio. "Don't worry about Wairo."
"Why not?" Midnight demanded, popping around the corner to confront the two teens. "What did you do to him, Bakugo?"
"He's alive," Bakugo answered, meeting his teacher's gaze steadily. "And we know where Midoriya's at. There's a little girl there too. You will not believe the shit that Chisaki has been up to."
"What did you do?" Midnight repeated, glaring at Bakugo. "I did not bring you along just to torture the man! That is not how heroes-"
"It's done," Uraraka said quietly. "And we're running out of time. Are you going to lecture us, or are you going to help us save Izuku?"
Midnight paused, and a look of weary grief came over her. "Oh God, Uraraka. What have we done to you children?"
"Made us into the heroes we needed to be to survive, and to save our friends," Uraraka said, her voice determined. "I'm not just a sweet little doll like everyone seems to think." She held up her hand, which was now covered in scars, the knuckles sunken from repeated breaks during brawls.
Midnight sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. "I told them you weren't ready. That no one was truly ready for what they asked of you." Their teacher opened her eyes and gave them a sad smile. "But I suppose it's too late for that. Well, at least the two of you have each other. I suppose Hari's ensuring you're not spending the night together?"
Bakugo found himself flushing. "Mind your own business!"
"You are my business, in case you hadn't noticed. But come. Time is wasting. Sir Nighteye has arrived and we're holding a quick conference to decide what to do."
They hurried back to UA, which wasn't far, meeting up with Shinso.
"Well?" he asked as he jogged alongside them.
"I'm not saying it twice," Bakugo snapped. "But we got what we need."
"You're certain he told the truth?" Shinso asked.
Uraraka shrugged. "If he didn't, he thinks nanomachines are going to eat him from the inside out. They won't, but I will find him and end his miserable existence personally. He helped Chisaki kidnap and torture a little girl, Shinso! Eri's been there for years, and Chisaki has been using her as a lab experiment the entire time! She's how they're making the drugs!"
"Drugs? But the MLA is- dammit." Shinso shook his head, gritting his teeth in anger. "Ok, explain when we get there."
They arrived at the UA main conference room, where most of the teachers had gathered, along with all of Class 1A, Mount Lady, Deadarms, Kamui Woods, and of course Togata and Sir Nighteyes.
Nighteyes was a tall, reedy man with green hair and glasses dressed in a gray suit. He was famous for being one of only two people to be taken by All Might as a sidekick: the other was Mirio Togata, who was Sir Nighteye's current protegee. His quirk was that of the oracle: he could see into the future, reading what would happen to anyone he used his quirk on.
"Well?" Nighteye asked as they entered.
"He talked," Bakugo stated, then quickly laid out everything that Wairo had told them.
"I see. You should have brought him back here so I could use my foresight on him," Nighteye said with a sigh. "I'd like to have known if he spoke the truth."
"Well use it on me then and see if we rescue Midoriya!" Bakugo snapped.
"You students will not be accompanying us," Nezu stated.
Before Bakugo and the rest of the class could explode, Mr. Aizawa spoke up. "The teachers, Sir Nighteyes, and Togata will be the ones to rescue Midoriya. The rest of you are too involved, and too green. I don't want a repeat of Feel Good."
"That's bullshit and you know it!" Uraraka shouted, slamming her hands on the table. "I saw people dying! I killed a man, for the love of God! And now you think I'm too delicate, too inexperienced?"
"No! I mean I don't want my students crying themselves to sleep for another month!" Aizawa roared in response. "That sin is on my soul already! And I am not dragging you further into it!"
"Then why him?" Hari demanded. "Togata isn't much older than they are!"
"I'm the heir, not them," Togata said quietly. "And Izuku needs me. I...I had a talk with Mr. Aizawa and the teachers. They know now. I'm sorry, Hari. I have to go. I'm the strongest one there is. I wish I could tell the rest of you, but...I'm sorry. It's not that I don't trust you, but this isn't my secret to share."
"Yes," Nighteye said absently. He studied Togata. "I will look into your future, I think. To see if this is the right course of action."
Togata started. "But you said you never wanted to use your foresight on me! You said that-"
"I know. But this is urgent. And you are the best hope we have of saving Midoriya," Nighteyes said, resting his hand on Togata's shoulder.
Bakugo simmered with rage, glancing at Uraraka. She jerked her head at Mei. Mei's eyes were red, but she tapped her earpiece once.
"We will rescue Izuku," Mei's voice played in Bakugo's ear.
He grinned, looking around at his classmates, who nodded. Yeah, right. As if the teachers could leave them behind! They'd have to fight to-
"NO!" Sir Nighteye roared, stepping back from Togata, his face pale. "You...you can't go, Mirio. You must stay behind, this-"
"I'm going!" Togeta snapped back. "I couldn't save Gran Torino, but I will save Midoriya!"
"It will cost too much!" Sir Nighteye snapped. "You're the heir to a legacy now, you can't just throw that away!"
"What's the point if I can't save my friends!" Togeta shouted back, his eyes growing wet with frustration. "What's the point of being a hero if I don't even try?"
The room fell silent as Togeta and Sir Nighteye glared at one another. Finally, Bakugo decided he'd had just about enough of it. "Look, we're going. Obviously, you saw some bad shit."
"I see the future," Sir Nighteye said, not moving his gaze from Togata's. "It cannot be changed. But this time...this time it HAS to change. I saw through Togeta.'s eyes. He will see every one of these students die. He will see me die. Then, after all of that, he will see Japan itself crumble into the sea, and perish."
"Well, that's if we don't come," Bakugo pointed out. "So damn well change that. It's easy. We go with you, and get the nerd and the little girl out."
Sir Nighteye turned to Bakugo, frowning. "What I see cannot be altered so simply. It WILL happen. I must find a way to-"
"Oh screw that!" Bakguo roared. "My life ain't written in stone, old man! So fucking what, you saw Togeta die if we don't go? So you have us go with, and he'll be fine!"
"Foolish child! You do not understand!" Sir Nighteye snapped, slamming his palm on the table. "My visions are absolute! Midoriya is already as good as dead! There is no sense in sending Togeta to his doom and ours!"
"I do not care if the world is destroyed, we will rescue Izuku!" Mei screamed. "I will go by myself if I have to!"
"You won't go alone Mei," Togata swore, glaring at Sir Nighteye. "I'm not standing by and leaving Midoriya to die! None of us are!"
Sir Nighteye grimaced and shook his head. "This is your destiny, boy and you-"
"Oh shut up, you pompous ass," Hari snarled. "He's not a boy, in case you hadn't noticed! He's the strongest damn hero in the room! All these kids are heroes! Why the hell is it suddenly vital they sit out? You were willing enough to throw them at the MLA when their friend's life wasn't even on the line! Now you're ready to just let Midoriya die, not even try?"
"Screw destiny," Bakugo agreed, giving Nighteye a vicious smile. "And fuck fate! What, you think the future is set in stone, old man? Well then, doesn't fucking matter if Togeta goes or not, we're boned. So let's just go down swinging."
Nighteye swallowed, glancing uneasily at the teachers. "What I saw...it could happen to you, Demon. What are you willing to sacrifice to save your friend?"
"Everything," Bakugo growled, leaning forward and slapping the table before Nighteye, causing a puff of smoke and leaving a burn mark. "If you think I'm going to let some horseshit vision determine my future, you're wrong. If Togeta staying behind can change things, so can us going. I'd like to see you try to stop us all."
"We will save Izuku," Mei repeated, and the rest of Class 1A nodded.
Mr. Aizawa looked sick. "This is going to cost you. Cost all of us."
The room stilled, and Bakugo felt his heart beat faster. Not out of fear. But out of eagerness. "So you're not going to stop us then? We're gonna fight?"
"Yes," Sir Nighteye said wearily. He looked up at Bakugo frowning. "Are you truly so eager to rush into danger?"
"I owe Midoriya a debt. As long as I haven't repaid it, I'm still weak. If I want to be strong, I have to save him. That's what heroes do," Bakugo declared.
Nighteye slowly nodded. "You...all of you, would do anything to save your friend? You are certain?"
"You're damn right I would!" Bakugo repeated.
.
"We all would," Uraraka agreed. "We're Class 1A. We don't leave our friends behind."
"We will save Izuku!" Mei declared. "You can't stop us!"
Aizawa looked pained, as did the other teachers. "This is the only way?"
"The only way," Nighteye agreed, resting his head in his hands.
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Bakugo demanded. "Let's waste these bastards and get Izuku back!"
"Not so fast," Nezu cautioned. "We need a plan of attack. And before you give me some trite cliche about having a plan, 'attack,' keep in mind we need to now both rescue Midoriya and this girl Eri. So we plan this out, carefully. And then we move in."
Bakugo growled, but controlled himself, and listened as Nezu outlined their plan. He was going to save them all this time. He was going to prove he was the strongest hero, and repay his debts. This time, Katsuki Bakugo would become a hero.