Enjoy.

Izuku gets dressed quickly. He's not exactly dressed in his work attire, with the button-up dress shirt nor the dress pants. He just put on a nicer shirt and some jeans. He steps out, grabbing his bag along the way, which contains his camera, flashlight, and badge.

Kirishima stands as he emerges from the hallway. Izuku gestures, "After you, let's go." Kirishima nods and leads the way out, opening his car and waiting as Izuku locks his front door.

Once Izuku is inside, Kirishima begins driving to take him to the location. Not one for silence, the redhead asks, "Have you had any more attempts recently? Do you think it's quieted down?"

"I think they're holding back on me for some reason. I'd typically get like three visits from criminals every month, at least. I haven't had any issues since coming back from the hospital. I don't think it'll be quiet forever though, so I'm waiting."

"Yeah, Bakugou was telling me about when he was your bodyguard for that case before the, uh, incident… We both figured you were used to the attempts. It must be nice to have a break from people trying to hurt you."

Izuku frowns, "I guess that's one way of looking at it." He's been so exhausted from expecting another attempt. It keeps him awake at night as he wonders why all the criminals are suddenly deciding to leave him alone. Maybe they're planning something worse?

Kirishima leans forward in the seat, "I think we're here. I scoped this place but couldn't find him."

Izuku eyes the old factory. It seems to be an old meat packing plant. The building forebodes with its black openings and ominous stature in the night. Izuku steps out of the car along with Kirishima and the two move to walk around. Kirishima mostly hangs back as Izuku pulls out his flashlight and looks around the grounds outside.

They come upon Katsuki's abandoned Jeep, and Izuku peeks inside and notices the papers in the passenger seat. He makes a mental note before continuing to the building.

He frowns as he searches about before leading the way in. It's a creepy building but Izuku and Kirishima have been in tougher situations.

The green haired detective makes his way sweeping the rooms and floors. He asks, "Did you notice anything when you were here before? Anything look different?"

"I just saw his car and ran inside but it was all dark. I couldn't see much and I definitely didn't get to see the whole place." Kirishima sighs as he follows Izuku, growing more depressed about the outlook for his friend.

Izuku finishes the first floor and heads up the stairs to the second. It's a two-story building, so it's not exactly a hard search. He continues walking about before a foul smell reaches his nose. He takes a step back, "Did you notice this smell before?"

Kirishima frowns, crinkling his nose, "No, I didn't notice it. I ran through here looking for anybody, I didn't stop for long enough."

Izuku follows his nose to a room with an entrance into a walk-in freezer. The smell is concentrated in this room, sticking to their throats so it's as if they're tasting instead of just smelling. He sees the old railings where meat used to hang and flashes his light on red markings on the floor. They're not easily recognizable symbols. He pulls out his camera to begin snapping photos. Burnt candles rest on a small table at the end of the room, just before the wall. He takes a picture of the large symbol on the far wall.

Kirishima feels his heart sinking, "What do you think, detective?" The symbols are ominous in the low light.

Izuku crouches by the altar, "I'm thinking we're dealing with a cult of some sort." He stares at the little golden bowl on the wooden table. There's a small animal head in it. Izuku can't make out the animal because it's missing its outer skin but it still has meat attached to the bone. He figures it must be some kind of rodent, probably roadkill.

Izuku nods to himself before standing, "Well, I think there's a case here. I'm gonna make some calls and we can get started." Kirishima agrees as Izuku pulls out his phone to begin calling people to the scene. Izuku leads the way out. He's seen people worship some crazy things, so it's not surprising to him, but it is worrisome. A hero goes missing in a building with cult symbols? In his experience, that doesn't bode well for the missing person.

Kirishima stands by while the officers flood the scene. He intervenes as they approach Katsuki's Jeep, holding up his hands, "Whoa! No breaking car windows, he'll kill you guys when he gets back!"

The officers agree to pop the door open, fearing repercussions. Katsuki is a known fiend. His hero persona is caustic and angry. Only the blond's friends know he's usually quiet, and more sullen.

Izuku personally searches the car when it's opened, helping himself to the documents and such. Why did Katsuki come here? The answer might be in the files he brought with him.

He reads a couple different files as a CSI guy runs up calling, "Good news, Midoriya-san! We got fingerprints on the bowl!"

Izuku shoots him a grin, "Great! Get it to the lab." He watches the investigator smile and begin to run to his car.

Kirishima steps beside Izuku, "What are you thinking?"

Izuku sighs, holding up one case file, "I think he was working this case, but I'm gonna make a trip to his hero office to ask around about his caseload and if anybody knows specifically why he came here."

"Right now?" Kirishima eyes the lightening sky, "Have you slept today? I was gonna head home and catch some Z's before starting this up again…"

"Time is of the essence." Izuku fears the worst has happened or will happen if they delay. Izuku has an inkling that someone's quirk may be at play too. He worries. He needs to know what kind of cult he's dealing with, but symbols can be hard to pin down at times.

Every single time that he thinks he's finally seen it all, some jackass or villain comes along to prove him wrong. He wishes he had seen it all, that nothing could surprise him anymore, but that's not the case. That's not this case.

Missing people are usually found. Though, sometimes they aren't found until a limb or a bone of theirs is discovered and identified. It's a sad truth, but it's the result of despicable people mucking about.

For this case, people noticed the guy was missing. He gets called in to help with the search of one Roger Terry; a guy that's maybe a couple years younger than him, earlier twenties. He's been reported missing by his college friends. At first, Katsuki figures that it's probably a run-in with a villain where no one could see. That's what he's used to, and what he would expect. Then he starts digging. He looks into the guy's connections: his friends, family, and his fraternity. Roger isn't exactly one of the elite, but he was well on his way with a quirk like Sunlight Electrification while going into the energy sector.

Katsuki sees the plentiful motives but then he digs past Roger's case while looking into his fraternity. The frat has had affiliations with three missing persons within the last year. This brings up more questions to the point where Katsuki is exposed as giving his undivided attention to the frat house.

He can smell the danger. The elite don't like when they're under scrutiny.

"Listen man, we didn't have anything to do with Roger's disappearance." One of the younger frat guys confronted Katsuki as he was poking his nose about the frat house.

"You're looking in the wrong place, bro." Another frat guy escorted Katsuki off their property.

As the hero was watching the house from the sidewalk outside, the president of the fraternity finally came outside with a guarded expression, "You're not welcome here, Ground Zero. We had nothing to do with Roger. If you have any further questions, you better come back with a warrant."

Katsuki was having a ball rattling the cages of these college guys. Most people can't withstand the pressure that the number one hero can apply. They all crack eventually, and he'll be there to see their slip.

Well, it wasn't long before Katsuki learned the relationships of the frat boys. One guy's family and connections, in particular, rubbed Katsuki the wrong way.

Why was he at the decrepit meat packing plant? He simply followed the car of his prime suspect. He didn't fear this suspect, he underestimated them and their family. They were all listed as Quirkless, but he realized that was wrong. He followed inside the building, quiet as ever, until his body failed him. All he remembers are two golden eyes peering at him from the dark.

When he wakes, he's in a fancy bedroom in a bed fit for royalty. Rich shmucks, he snorts as he sits up. He's wearing his same clothes and no restraints? What is this? Rubbing his wrists, he considers his predicament. To not have any restraints? They're either really powerful or really dumb, and he's already made the mistake of underestimating them once.

He moves to the window, deciding to make a break for it. He stares at the pane, and the outside. His hand reaches out, sparks igniting in his palm, but he stops. He breathes out, willing himself to open the window. It isn't even locked. Why won't his damn hand move?

Veins bulge in his face and neck as he strains himself to push forward. Why can't he move? Why won't his body do what he tells it?

He hears the door open and a man and some maids step through, "Ah, you're awake! I'm so glad."

Katsuki glares at the middle-aged asshole. "What did you do to me?" His words are laced with malice.

The brunet's smile is full of pearly whites. He's not a bad looking guy, but there's something sinister to him. Katsuki feels small in this man's gaze. "Sometimes it's better to not know, son. Now, now, you're our guest of honor. There's no need for any unpleasantness between us. The maids are going to take care of you, just let them handle it."

Katsuki growls, advancing on the bastard, his hands sparking. He stops a couple feet away, like some unspoken command halted him. He sees the shimmer of gold in the man across from him. "What is this?" His eyes narrow as he considers the situation. His body relaxes despite his mind racing.

"There's no need to feel panicked Ground Zero, come now, have a seat." Without meaning to, Katsuki does as he says.

"You're doing this? How?" Katsuki snarls at him, but not even his fingers twitch when he tells them to.

"As you already know, I'm Edward's father, Marcus. I did some light reading on you after we happened upon each other last night, Bakugou Katsuki. You have a wonderful quirk-"

"I don't give a fuck! You're going to pay for this! You piece of sh-!"

"Language, boy, you won't speak to me like that in my own home." Katsuki feels his lips lock. Marcus frowns solemnly, "I did hope we could be cordial, but I suppose not. As I was saying, you're the guest of honor for tonight. We usually treat our guests with the utmost care and respect but I see you won't cooperate without my persuasion. Such a shame, it's usually so much better if cooperation is maintained." Marcus sighs and leans down, "Look into my eyes boy." Katsuki feels his eyes drawn into Marcus' golden eyes. Their image sears into his brain and some unspoken command is imparted.

"Good boy," Marcus smiles pleasantly and pats Katsuki on the head. "Follow the maids now, son, run along."

Katsuki finds himself following the maids. He wants to scream and shout and blow the whole place up. What a quirk! Some kind of body control through eye contact? No fair!

Much of the day is spent with him screaming inside his own head. What is he supposed to do? What can he do? An elusive mind control quirk, following the villain path as they normally do.

The maids bathe him and honestly give him the royal treatment. He eats later in the day and is dressed in some kind of white suit. He's paraded around and his face morphs into a smile as he meets the guests of the family.

After two hours of being flaunted about, Marcus leads him to a back room, through the kitchen. It's a small room with chains hanging from the ceiling. Two burly men flank them as they walk.

Marcus follows Katsuki, whose body seems to just know the way. The hero stands at attention when they reach the dark room. Marcus tells Katsuki, "Dinner needs preparing. These two are my meat tenderizers. You're all muscle son, I'm sorry we have to do this…" He nods at the two and they approach Katsuki with purpose.

Fists pound Katsuki to the ground and he involuntarily spits up blood.

Once the rain of punches stops, Katsuki suddenly feels his control of his body. He spits, "Bastard," and gets his chin kicked and his lights knocked out.

Izuku gets a call as he enters Ground Zero's office from one of his CSI guys, "Midoriya speaking."

"Midoriya-san! I got a match on the fingerprints! I'll send you the details shortly. It seems this guy has some priors from when he was a teenager. He was involved with a missing person that was his girlfriend. The investigators really believed he was responsible but they could never prove that he killed her. It's really strange…"

Izuku nods, "I'll look at the files soon. I'm at Zero's office, anything else I should know?"

"Um, no, I have to do some more digging and I'll get back to you."

"Okay, talk to you later." Izuku hangs up as he nears the receptionist.

She smiles, "Can I help you?"

Izuku holds up his badge, matching her polite smile, "I'm sorry but could you direct me to whoever's in charge when Zero isn't around? I need to look over his recent cases and who had any idea of his schedule."

She nods at him astutely, "Of course, Detective, just let me call his second."

Izuku knows Zero's partner as Mirko, his second-in-command when he's not around the office. He runs the show but he lets Mirko operate under him. She's not as strong as she used to be since a war on the League of Villains went sour. It was a tragedy for all of Japan. His own mother died that day too.

Mirko greets him with a grin, "Detective Midoriya, and how are you? Follow me." She guides him to the elevator so they can go up to the top floor where the hotshots work.

"I'm hoping you can give me Ground Zero's itinerary or if he told you where he went last night or what case he was working?"

Mirko frowns, "I got a call from your guys that he's missing. He wouldn't go down so easy, I'm sure he'll turn up."

Izuku laughs; he's used to heroes acting so untouchable all the time. They tend to brush off the mortal peril of their fellows at first. "Red Riot was instructed to get a search going if he didn't respond by a certain time, by Ground Zero, mind you. That time is long past and here I am, getting the search started. I would appreciate your help."

Mirko rolls her eyes, "Right, well, he told me he was going to stake out his main suspect's house. He was working a missing person case. It was a kid with his whole life ahead of him, and the fraternity he was a part of looked really suspicious to Bakugou." Mirko chuckles to herself, "But he'd be fine because his suspects are a family with no quirks, regular people. It has to be something else."

Izuku's eye twitches, "Ah, because quirkless people pose no threat to heroes, is that right?"

The tips of Mirko's ears twitch at his tone and her smugness melts as she considers her audience, "Oh, I didn't mean it like that Midoriya!"

He holds up a hand to stop her explanations. He's heard it all before. "Enough, can you give me the address of the house he was staking out? Do you have any other leads?"

Mirko sighs, "No other leads, just Bakugou stumbling onto three missing persons associated with the frat in the last year."

"Okay, thank you for your time."

Izuku gets the address and heads back to the precinct. He searches the address for any emergency calls made in the area within the last year and doesn't find anything. There's nothing really suspicious about the place. The dad does have some suspicious priors, but he wasn't exactly charged with anything. Can he call for a raid? Something tells him he should check out the place first.

He parks a couple streets down and goes for a stroll near the house, it's still pretty early in the morning. Upon nearing the property, he peeks up at the window of the second story and sees Katsuki looking out. He stops in his tracks. The hero can't see him because of a tree blocking most of his view.

Izuku frowns. Why is Katsuki in the house of his main suspect in a missing person case? Izuku sees Katsuki disappear from his view. Something isn't right. Izuku has a bad feeling. He makes a call, "I need someone posted at this address." He lists the address for them. "Yeah, I need to know about any movement in or out of this house, okay? I want it for the rest of the whole day. Yeah, okay. Okay, thanks, bye."

Izuku leans on the trunk of the tree, mulling over the possible explanations. Katsuki isn't exactly the friendliest man, so Izuku doubts he's there for pleasure. Why would he be in there for business though? He can't be on good terms with the family inside, so why is he in there? Why hasn't he broken out? If he's not in trouble, wouldn't he have responded to Red Riot?

Right, he wouldn't abandon his car and phone if he were there of his own accord. There has to be some form of coercion. Izuku considers what he saw.

There were no chains or bindings. He has free reign of the house but he hasn't fought to get out? Is there some kind of leverage? He could be biding his time to save a hostage?

Izuku sees the scout pull up in their unassuming car. He nods at them and takes his leave. He continues considering the possible situations Katsuki might be in. The family is quirkless though, so how are they doing this? Hired hands? He stops, holding out his hand and staring at it. He's quirkless, but then not anymore? Are they hiding their quirks?

He sits in his car with a sigh, closing his eyes and resting his head back. What's his gut telling him? It's suspicious activity for the hero to not tell Red Riot that he's okay, so it's safe to assume he's not okay. Since he has free reign of the house, his enemies must be very confident in their ability to keep him. What would keep him? If not a quirk, what else?

Izuku opens his eyes and makes a call, "Oh, hi! Auntie, I know, I know it's been so long! I just wanted to make sure you were okay? Have you seen anybody suspicious hanging around you?" She answers in the negative. Izuku smiles, "I'm relieved, have you spoken to Katsuki recently? Do you know if he has anyone close to him, other than his hero friends?"

"Honey, what's with all this questioning? Katsuki doesn't tell me much about his personal life, and he rarely calls at all. What's this about? Is everything okay?"

Izuku hates to do this, "I'm so sorry to worry you, but I'm going to have a unit sent over to guard your house as a precaution. Please, don't worry, Katsuki was investigating last night and went missing. I've found him, but I just want to make sure I cover all my bases when we go in. I don't want anyone close to him to be in jeopardy when I go in. Any info you can give me will really help."

Izuku can hear her soft smile in her tone, "Thanks for watching out for him, sweetheart. I'm so glad you two are still looking out for each other. I know your mother would be so happy too."

Izuku swallows a lump in his throat. He holds his composure firmly. This is for business, he can't get so emotional right now. He offers a hard, "Thanks."

Mitzuki continues, "As far as more information goes, Kirishima-kun probably has the better idea of who's all in his life, dear. I hope that helps."

"Thank you, Auntie, I'll notify you when he's safe and when I'll pull the protection unit."

"Come visit soon, I'd love to see your face. I miss you, honey."

Izuku struggles, "I'll try… Alright, goodbye…" They hang up and Izuku breathes a long sigh. He's always avoided talking to Mistuki, she reminds him of his own mother. The ache never really left when it came to his mom. He left for the U.S. after he graduated from middle school, then his mother was killed at the end of his first year of high school.

Shutting his eyes to the memories, he takes a deep breath, willing the pain to leave his chest. He calls Red Riot next. The redhead informs him that Katsuki is all business and no play. He doesn't have any friends who can't handle themselves, or who aren't heroes.

Izuku gets the feeling that there's no one close to Katsuki that is in jeopardy. There might still be a hostage, but collateral damage is sometimes the unfortunate name of the game. They won't know until they go in.

Izuku drives back to the precinct to begin preparing for a raid. He's analyzing every possibility as his brain thinks up new scenarios. They're going in tonight. Izuku calls some heavy hitting quirks in and friends of Katsuki. This is going to be a complete and total win, the only kind that Detective Midoriya delivers.

The party is posh and lavish. The people who attend are elegant and regal. They're all eerily happy about something. Izuku watches inside a van with video feed of the front door. He wears a bulletproof vest over his white dress shirt. He hits the button to speak on his mouthpiece, "Mic Check, everybody read me loud and clear, over." He waits for all their responses, counting every person until they've reported in. After confirming everyone is on the same page, he tells them, "Chargebolt and Earphone Jack will say hello in 5. I want everyone in that room down. They have some way to keep Ground Zero on lockdown and if it's a Quirk I want them unconscious."

"Copy that."

"Until we confirm the identity and quirk of everyone in that house, everyone's objective is subjugation."

Red Riot's chuckle buzzes in, "We hear you, Detective, we all heard you during the briefing."

Midoriya sighs, his fingers tap his arms impatiently. It's always this moment right before that he gets impatient. It's the calm before the storm. He's itching for the inevitable change of plans. It's rare when it comes to his perfect planning but still a possibility. Did he miss something? Is he forgetting to take something into account? He won't know it until he knows it, and that gives him anxiety.

As the seconds wind down, he counts, "Moving in 10, 9… 2, 1, Go!"

He watches as the duo crashes into the house from opposite sides of different floors. Both are quick in subduing the party with their quirks. The rest of the heroes arrive as the indiscriminate attacks cease. They quell any resistance within minutes.

Midoriya exits the van and jogs over to the house. Jirou opens the door for him, smiling and winking, "Everybody's down, Detective."

Midoriya smiles, "All the rooms are explored and accounted for?"

Jirou leads him to another end of the house as loud slams can be heard. "Everything except this service room, it's got a heavy door and Red Riot is working on it. They'll get it open and we think Zero is being kept there."

Midoriya watches Red Riot slam into the steel door, denting it as he goes. Another hero steps up, stopping Kirishima with a touch, "Allow me a try," Tsukuyomi offers. Dark Shadow cloaks him for a moment before the creature slams into the door and blows it off its hinges.

Midoriya steps through the doorway with his gun drawn and shoulder to shoulder with Red Riot. They check in opposite directions. It is some kind of service entrance leading into a hallway. They move in opposite directions. Jirou calls, "There's footsteps in the right direction and someone to the left."

Red Riot moved left, nodding to himself at Jirou's information. He comes upon quarters with a service person brushing their teeth in a sink. He's quick to subdue the lone person, muttering, "Sorry, but we can't take any chances."

Izuku went right with Jirou and Tokoyami close behind. They follow the hallway to a swinging metal door, seeming to lead to a kitchen. Stopping before it, the three steel themselves before quickly springing out. Izuku is quick to take note of the situation, there are three long tables with ingredients laid out. On the farthest table in front of them are three chefs surrounding a human form on the table. Izuku's lip curdles as he sees the one in his direct sight with their knife already sliding through skin.

A warning shot rings out as Izuku roars, "Police! Put your hands in the air! Step away from the table and put down the knife!"

Two chefs quickly step away with their utensils dropped and stepping away. The third with their knife in flesh merely looks up from his work. His eyes narrow, not following orders.

Izuku barks, "Did you not hear me? Drop the knife or I will shoot!"

Some decision glints behind the uncooperative chef's eye as he pulls the knife and with expert control rushes to drive it into Katsuki's heart. Izuku is just as attuned to making quick decisions, however, and he fires multiple shots right at the chef's center of body mass. The man is blown away and Izuku trains his gun on the other two, "You two better cooperate now. Jack, Tsukuyomi!" The heroes apprehend the chefs and escort them outside and Izuku rushes to Katsuki's side.

He's quick to press his hand against the blond's jugular and feel for a pulse. It's weak and slow but it's there. He sighs, "I'm so glad." He sees the deep cut on Katsuki's outer wrist where the chef was cutting. He grabs a small towel to wrap it and he calls over the comms, "I need paramedics in here. Ground Zero has sustained many injuries."

He holds the wound and waits, his eyes trailing over the bruising and bleeding body of Katsuki's mostly nude form; nude except for a towel over his privates. He hates to think what would've happened if they had waited to act.

The paramedics rush in with a stretcher and Izuku helps them transfer Katsuki. He watches as they load him onto their van, vowing he'll head over as soon as he's finished here. A lot of police are assisting with identification and apprehension of the partygoers. The hosts aren't getting away with anything, it's just a matter of how much they can get on the guests.

After a lot of shenanigans, Izuku finally walks into Katsuki's hospital room. He gets an update from a nurse that they found narcotics in his system, keeping him under and impacting his blood flow. He doesn't appear to have any broken bones, just the bruising and cuts.

Izuku sighs as he sits in a chair, scooting it beside the bed. He leans on his palm, overlooking Katsuki with drooping eyes. The lack of sleep from the previous night catches up with him. He slumps haphazardly in the chair.

A voice breaks through his subconscious after a good night's sleep, "That looks uncomfortable."

Izuku's eyes blink open and he straightens with a groan as his body aches, "Ugh, it is uncomfortable." He rubs his eyes of the sleep, and blinks to adjust to the sunlit room.

Katsuki is propped up by the bed. He smiles awkwardly, "How long have you been here?" One of the hero's eyes is bruised and puffy. Other than that, the only other evidence of harm is the bandage around the cut on his wrist. He ended up needing stitches for the deep wound.

Izuku rubs his face and stands to move the chair back, "Just since early this morning, your friends were tied up at the precinct and I was finished for the night."

"Thanks…" Katsuki trails off as he examines Izuku's disheveled appearance. He's in his typical dress shirt and pants, though they're wrinkled now.

Izuku glances at his wristwatch, "I actually should get back to work and look over some things…" He turns away from Katsuki before pivoting back, "Actually, can I ask how they kept you? I saw you in the window yesterday morning. Why did you stay?"

Katsuki answers, "A mind-control quirk with Marcus. He's the only one with power like that."

Izuku nods, "Okay, I have all the proper precautions in place if that's the case." He smiles, "I'm glad you're okay. I'll send someone to get your statement later." Izuku leaves with that.

Katsuki watches him go, relaxing back into his bed. He surveys the bandages and wounds adorning his body. What an embarrassment. The number one hero should not go down like this, from something so... Small time.

He rubs his face, "Fuck, I'm so off my game." He stares at the bandage on his wrist. He's just been in a funk ever since losing Izuku to the League, maybe even before that. He's lost his focus. It's stupid.

Izuku seems like he's back on track, living his best life and solving cases per usual. Katsuki wants to ask what his secret is. As far as he can tell, Izuku is way more fucked up, but Katsuki seems to be the only one tripping. What's the deal?

Bakugou's train of thought is interrupted by a nurse entering with food. She tells him the doctor will be in soon to talk with him. He gets the 401 on his health, no broken bones, just some bruising, scrapes, and the deep cut on his wrist.

After the doctor leaves, the nurse walks in to tidy up, she asks, "When will your friend be back? Midoriya-san was his name?"

Katsuki nods, "Yeah, Midoriya, but he's not really my friend, more of a colleague…" Katsuki frowns as he moves food around on his plate.

The nurse smiles, "Oh, he was here since late at night, just walked in and plopped in that chair and went right to bed. Sometimes, you just know they care."

Katsuki scoffs slightly, "No, it was probably just professional courtesy. We don't even talk."

The nurse collects his finished plate once he's done, chiding softly, "I'm sure that's not all, darlin'."

She leaves and Katsuki is left to his devices. He checks the news for the story and finds himself unmentioned. He's slightly taken aback at how the media isn't covering that the great Ground Zero fell prey to some lowly cannibals. Is that how far he's fallen? The reigning number one hero isn't even newsworthy anymore? He shuts off the t.v. and sinks back into the bed, groaning at himself as he goes.

A familiar voice greets, "What's got you all twisted? How're you doing, man?"

Katsuki uncovers his face to his redheaded friend, Kirishima. His smile is closer to a grimace, "I'm peachy, just great…"

Kirishima frowns, seeing the torment behind Katsuki's smile. He pulls up a chair and apologizes, "Sorry I couldn't visit sooner, I was all tied up with statements and helping the police catalogue all the partygoers from last night. It was dumb work. Midoriya told me you woke up this morning and that I should try to visit today though. He's a real one..." Kirishima watches Katsuki's expressions. The guy doesn't get into the touchy feely bullshit, and he's a master of deflection, but Kirishima is attuned to reading his expressions after all these years.

Katsuki smirks, "Yeah, well, he couldn't get out of here quick enough this morning." Katsuki chortles in self-loathing.

Kirishima glowers at Katsuki's volatility. "Alright, seriously, what's your problem?" Kirishima asks, "Did Midoriya say something?" Why's Katsuki so ticked off?

Katsuki lays back, sighing, "No, I'm just being a dick… Let it go." He changes the subject from Midoriya, "Hey, what's the deal with the news? How come I'm not frontpage?"

Kirishima cracks a grin, teasing, "Ah, you're upset the media don't know. Did you want all your fangirls to bring you chocolates?"

Katsuki swings his pillow and whacks Kirishima once before setting it back behind himself, "Stay on track, asshole. What's the deal? They don't know? I thought my reputation was gonna be in the gutter this morning."

Kirishima chuckles, "Yeah, I guess Midoriya put everyone on a gag-order, didn't tell people who the victim was. The entire operation was all hush-hush. He only told the heroes and some higher ranking officers, trustworthy people... Dude, it's been crazy. We found out about the party when the police apprehended some people sent to dump your car. Apparently this cult is responsible for near twenty missing people within the last fifteen years and they're still uncovering more."

Katsuki's brows crinkle, "Oh." The gravity of the case is starting weigh on him. He's also starting to feel more like shit the more he hears about what Izuku did for him. Then again, the guy is just working the typical case. He is a top dog in the police for a reason. It's not like he's going above and beyond for Katsuki. With such a big case, it makes sense that Izuku would want to keep it quiet.

"I'm glad I went to the detective, though. I told him I thought you were in trouble and he just tagged along and didn't sleep until last night when you were here. I didn't realize you two were such great friends." Kirishima grins. He's happy Katsuki has another bro to rely on.

Katsuki laughs outright, however, "Ha!? We're not friends, we don't even talk! He's just being a good cop, backing up heroes, all that crap. The guy works multiple cases and doesn't sleep for days all the fucking time." Katsuki's not wrong.

"Wow, okay, maybe you should give the guy a little more credit? He's a good dude, a man among men." Kirishima smiles, "And he didn't have to come here last night instead of going home, explain that one, smart guy."

Katsuki folds his arms and thinks on it for a minute. He's pensive as he stares at the bed in front of him, raising a brow. Why did Izuku come here last night? That's atypical if he's just being a professional, right? He didn't come here for personal reasons though, did he? Would he? He doesn't even seem to like Katsuki though? He wouldn't have, there must be some other reason. It wasn't because of Katsuki.

Bakugou's thoughts are once again interrupted as a uniformed officer knocks on the open door, "Hello, good morning, I'm here to get a statement from one Bakugou Katsuki, though we're keeping you anonymous in the record. Detective Midoriya sent me." The officer smiles politely as he enters the hospital room, "Do you feel up to answering some questions, Bakugou-san?"

Katsuki nods, "Sure, go ahead."

Kirishima settles in his chair as the officer begins getting Katsuki's statement about the meat packing plant and what happened in the house, yada yada.

After he leaves, Kirishima stands, "I should probably get going too, bro. Mina and I have plans, and I blew her off last night to be part of the raid." He and Katsuki grip each other's hands while going in a bro-hug, before Katsuki watches Kirishima leave.

All alone again, he lets the drone of the television help him drift off to sleep.

A/N: I wanted to respond to a guest review that I decided to have removed. They'll know who they are, though I doubt that person will come back to this story, but in the event that they do, I just wanna say: Wishing death upon another person because they don't enjoy the same things as you doesn't characterize you as well-adjusted, it just makes you seem small-minded. I hope you can get over your spite, it really is just a waste of time and energy.

Now, with that said, let me just say generally that I'm perfectly fine with critiques on the story. If it ain't your cup of tea, then be an adult and kindly see yourself away. I'll happily listen to respectful feedback one might have, positive or negative. If you wanna spew hatred because people enjoy different things than you, however, I hope you know that you sound like a dumbass and I implore you to go whine to someone else.

Thank you to all my cordial reviewers, good or bad, I respect y'all. I appreciate any follows/favorites. Hope y'all enjoyed.