Countdown to Reality
1. Thank you to all for reading so far!
2. Let's start again!
Day 2. Dinnertime. Countdown 23: 22: 48
Bakugo Katsuki, Quirkless
He hated it.
He hated everything about it.
Seeing his name next to that word… fuck, he was just thinking about it and his stomach was making backflips!
Breathing through his nose, he pocketed it, and it felt heavy. Tons.
It was just a discount pass. It was not freedom!
Freedom absence suddenly also felt heavy, heavier than he would ever have suspected it could. That too, made his stomach do somersaults.
He brushed the thought away, along with the numerous other ones he did not want to explore ever again.
Ponytail pulled Deku's door cautiously, afraid of making too much noise. The moment it closed she finally dropped her irritating miss-perfect smile. "…I never thought it would be this hard to convince them." She said.
"They are breathing down our necks, these fuckers."
"They are worried, Kacchan."
He rolled his eyes.
His parents were way beyond that! If Yaoyorozu had not insisted on the fact that she also had a Quirk and wanted to discuss 'tips' to keep it under control – he had inwardly screamed at that lie – they would never have let them speak alone.
"The dinner will be ready in a minute!" They heard Deku's mother tell them from the kitchen.
"We don't have long," Ponytail whispered immediately. "Todoroki-san and Ashido-san… they are our priority. We can't let them in that situation!"
Great analysis, really!
"Do you have more obvious, wasting-time comments like this or are you done?" Bakugo snapped.
She recoiled a little and Deku sported an annoyed frown in response.
So damn useless too.
"Y-you are right." Ponytail admitted before Deku could butt in. "In my view, there are three places they might go: if it's U.A. they'll find my distress beacon. We could also watch Endeavor agency… and Todoroki's house entrance too. That's all I've got."
"So… we just wait for them to show up?!"
She looked at the tips of her shoes.
Was that a joke? For God…! "Pinky is pink and half-and-half got written: "I'm asking for problems" at least all over half his dense face! They'll never make it that far! They are not that good and you're not that stupid!"
"Kacchan!"
"Shut up! That's true!"
"Kacchan, we know all that. What do you propose?" Deku asked, stepping a little between him and Ponytail.
The point was, he had nothing to propose, and Deku knew it. Nothing better than her less-than-enough plan, but at least she came with an idea, with something. He did not.
He hated her.
He hated Deku.
He hated that stupid, useless card in his pocket… and they were waiting for an answer he did not have, and it felt… he felt…
Deku's phone rang, followed by Ponytail's. Both of them instantly checked what was happening, and Bakugo stayed silent, left out.
He really hated everything about that place. Phones, and people, and disappearing people, and IDs and…
"Kaminari!" Deku almost shouted. He managed to stop himself and stared at the door, checking if any adult's steps were getting close. "He is calling." He eventually whispered.
He put his phone on speaker, and the second later, Discount Pikachu's voice rose in the room.
"Hello… hello? Guys? Hey…! Let's be quick, the Endeavor tower closes in five minutes, and when they kick me out, Hagakure won't have a phone."
"Hagakure?!" They all asked at the same time, some with more stuttering than others.
"Yeah, our Hagakure! Long story short, she is doing fine, I found her, she found me, whatever. She has a job, and she works for a famous politician. And that politician…"
"Let me tell them!" A cheerful voice chipped in.
She did sound fine.
Whatever.
"I don't just work for a politician. I am her spy."
Ponytail blinked, her eyebrows slowly getting into a frown. Deku instantly took a serious face, and Bakugo shared his expression.
How?
He understood how successive events could have led to Deku's current life. He also did for most of them. He did not, for Hagakure.
Okay, her Quirk was useful for spying. However, she was fifteen, and never, in real life, had she mentioned any aspect of her existence being related to politicians. It could make sense, but it was not an obvious outcome. In his view, she was just on the edge of the "Not Coherent Background Team" where Kirishima and Kaminari stood.
"A… a spy?" Deku said disbelievingly.
"How in fuck did your shitty extra-double ended there?!" Bakugo shouted at the same time.
Both Ponytail and Deku made sign to stay silent.
He shot daggers their way.
"…oh, hello Bakugo-kun. I… I am not sure! It is not as if I can ask people around… the only person I talked to is my boss, and I have the impression she knows many people with useful Quirks. She pays me to spy and… my room is just next to the office, and I… I live alone. My family's gone."
Bakugo felt a shiver run along his spine. Invisible-girl voice had cracked and they heard Kaminari trying to console her. Deku also bit his lower lip, and Bakugo felt actually grateful to have both his parents weird, but alive and around.
"…about that politician connections'…" Kaminari started again.
"… She has connections everywhere! From gangsters to the police, and of course the government! She is a bad person!" Hagakure cut him. "Well, she's probably bad, but she is certainly powerful. She even plans to run for prime minister!"
"That's not the connection I wanted to talk about…!" Kaminari protested.
"She is even closely following what's happening to Todoroki-kun and Ashido-chan! I mean she is friend with the man in charge of this whole arrest mess!"
"…what do you mean?" Ponytail asked.
"I mean her last telephone call went that way: 'Hey, inspector, long time no see, how about a coffee some day? How's your sister? By the way… any advances on this prison break?' And then: 'Oh, it's my Small Hana! I missed hearing from you! I am free on Saturday… because, this arrest thing should be wrapped up by then, we are narrowing them". Did I also mentioned she answered: 'Saturday is perfect, I'll book something. Could you give me a call to keep me updated? I helped you last time… oh you're lovely! Thank you!"
Hagakure's imitation left them voiceless.
Ponytail's brain was obviously racing with Deku's to include that piece of information into their less-than-useless-plan.
Deku beat her.
"Hagakure san." He said in a very steady, very hero-like voice. "Do you think it's safe for you to stay with your boss until she gets more updates, and then communicate it to us?"
There was a long silence. Yaoyorozu eyes widened a little bit, and Bakugo had to admit. Deku could – sometimes – put his brain to good use fast, dammit.
"I… you suggest I should spy on my boss?"
"Yes. You told us she plans to run for prime minister. She must have enough power to get quickly the information she wants. It means she will probably get a call either when they are almost certain they can catch them, or just after they have, but no later than that… I hope so, anyway. If we can get that information from you fast enough, we can move to that place and help them. From what we know, wherever they are, it's around the city, so it's reachable. Then we can help. As Kacchan said, the people here are trained, and armed, and dangerous, but… they… are Quirkless, and they cannot expect us. Our advantages are not many, but we can do it. With you in the game, it's… possible. We have an opportunity."
He spoke too much, that damn nerd, but yeah. Right. He had a point, a good one.
"I…I could manage that… but after, I… I don't want to stay alone here. I really think she is a bad person!"
"Hagakure-san," Ponytail interrupted. "There are many rooms in my household we can use. We even have a small separate annex prepared for guests. Once we find Todoroki-san and Ashido-san, the three of you could stay there. That way you won't be alone."
"O…okay. I hope it works."
"We all do, Hagakure-san." Ponytail said in her terrible miss-perfect motherly voice.
Disgusting.
"Well, err, that's nice and all guys, but that girl, I also wanted to tell you about her grandma!" Pikachu stepped in. "You see, she is also a powerful lady, an old one but…"
"Oh! The grandmother!" Hagakure interrupted. "She is not nice either! When my boss had a meeting with a Yakuza today, she called her family just after. Her brother, her father, her grandmother… and the grand'ma she told her 'That's my girl, making the right deals with the right people!". A Yakuza boss, guys, how's that 'right people'?!"
"You sure?" Pikachu asked. "I thought she might be related to heroes!"
"That's stupid! The thinks Yakuza are good people!"
"No, It's not!"
"I tell you it is! I've heard her. Did you hear her?!"
"No, but…"
There was noise in the corridor and Deku turned his phone off at light speed. Pikachu and Hagakure bickering was cut short and the steps got closer. A second later, the door opened without warning and Deku's' mom stepped in.
"Dinner's ready." She said.
Kirishima was sitting in the car with his bag on his knees. He held it tight, as if it was a life jacket. He had not moved since the car had left the compound, and that felt like hours ago.
He felt a drop of sweat on his back. He had never felt terrified for so long before, and he could see no end to that torture. The driver – a man with snake like eyes – was doing his job quietly at the front, next to Chisaki, still looking and signing some paperwork.
Kirishima was doing his best to keep a brave face, to breathe in and out in slow conscious patterns. He was only achieving it thanks to Eri. He was seeing her tiny face between every breath... but he so wanted to be out of that car, away from this man, with his friends, in his school…
"Do you mind if I put some music?"
Kirishima almost jumped and stared at the old car radio on the dashboard as if it may be venomous.
It would be so weird not to nod. Chisaki was staring in the mirror.
He had to do it, but his head was so heavy, and shaky, and Chisaki would notice…
He had to do it, it was just a nod, not a murder request!
Kirishima breathed out, and feebly nodded. Chisaki smiled slightly under his mask, and man, that was creepy! His eyes were just two slits and he was looking like his snake-driver, or like a monster, or maybe it was just Kirishima demonizing him.
"You don't need to be so tense, you know. I'm not just the boss' heir. I'm also a normal person, just like you."
Was he thinking Kirishima was tense because he was impressed?
That was the most absurd thing ever.
"…but I should have anticipated it. Did that little bitch tell you horror stories about me?"
"H-horror stories?" Kirishima stuttered, hitting himself for asking. He did not want to know more horror stories about that insane villain! He did not want to know, talk, or anything!
"Right. You don't remember." Chisaki said. "Well, you see… Yuchiko and I, we don't really know each other, despite all the venom she spreads around. She has been away from the main house for about seven years now. It was by that time that I started to get to know her father really well so we never lived together. I even thinks that her departure was a trigger for her father to get to know me. She got jealous of our relationship and that was the start of her hate towards me. She didn't like it when her father told her he saw me as a son."
Kirishima kept his mouth shut. Chisaki making casual conversation was sickening.
"After that, I lived my life on my side, I grew up, and she also lived her life on her own faraway side. I have only a faint idea of what she has been spending her time on all these years, and she knows about my time even less, but since everybody in her compound seems to bear an inextinguishable hate towards me, I believe she must have spread a few rumors."
Like on how he tortured people, for example?
Or maybe on how he was ready to do anything for money?
Or… examples were too many to count and Kirishima stared at his knees in resolute silence.
"The worse thing is, I'm sure she does believe in these rumors. Before we had these pills, I'm sure she used her Quirk a lot more than she admits, but the problem is it's hardly perfect. She must has misinterpreted many things. But you don't know what her Quirk is, do you?"
Kirishima did not want to get involved in the monologue. Not at all. He would have preferred to focus on keeping his stomach inside his belly. He still made a 'no' sign with his head.
"It's called Eavesdropping. She can eavesdrops on anyone she has ever talked with, regardless of distance. But she can't eavesdrops on someone she has never talked to, so she often only gets half of the conversation, and the further the person is, the faster she gets tired, so she often doesn't hear the end. Still, it's troublesome, because if she had her Quirk right now, she could be hearing every word I say, and I wouldn't even notice. That's why her father decided to have some men checking she takes the pills every day."
Useful, powerful, and sort of dangerous. She would also be able to eavesdrop on Kirishima, if her Quirk worked. He had to be even more careful.
The music stopped, replaced by advertisement.
Chisaki stayed silent a few minutes, but Kirishima had almost preferred the monologue. The heavy silence above the presenter voice – announcing 30 uninterrupted minutes of 90's hits – was worse than he had imagined it could get. He knew Chisaki was looking at the road but he could not help but think the man was staring right at him.
Were his lies obvious? Was he going to be questioned? Was this the last day he was seeing his family?
His throat was getting tighter and tighter, and it was getting hot in that car, and hard to breathe too, as if the air was scarce and useless.
Maybe he would never come back to U.A.
Maybe he was never seeing his friends ever again.
Maybe…
"Hey… if you feel unwell, we can stop the car for a little while." Chisaki said and his tone was different, softer, experienced-doctor-like. "There are not that many passerby, we shouldn't be bothered."
Why would he propose something like that? To check if Kirishima would try something and escape? To trap him, somehow? To kill him and leave his body somewhere he wouldn't have to clean the mess?
Kirishima made another "no" with his head, feeling his ears drumming.
"You sure?" Chisaki insisted. "You don't seem well."
"I…I'm ok." He lied-stuttered-shook-spat, wishing for anything, anything. A friend, a magic stuff, a super Quirk, an All Might appearance. The waiting in that car was just too long, too close from Chisaki and…
"It's fine. What happened to you is rare, but we've seen other strange reactions. We are going to find out what is the problem, heal you, and you'll get your life back. It's as simple as that."
As simple as a lie.
And even if Chisaki was genuinely interested in his well being, there were no guarantees he would still be if he understood what his – himself and the fake-Kirishima – intentions were.
"Is there something you'd like? I mean to feel a little less tense?"
"I...no, there isn't." He stuttered.
Chisaki sighed, shrugged, turned the Lemon Tree sound down and stared.
"Hey, for real. I'm not going to eat you. Relax. We'll be there soon. You can call your parents, that damn Yuchiko if you want, any friend you remember. Everything is going to be all right. I'm here."
Kirishima slowly looked up.
That last sentence, in that man's mouth, just did not fit.
Chisaki was still staring, and his gaze felt less cold than it at been before… but it was probably just a coincidence and the smile under the mask an illusion.
Kaminari and Hagakure looked at each other. Or, it was more Hagakure probably looking at Kaminari and Kaminari staring where Hagakure was supposedly standing.
"I'll go back to my boss now. I have a locker with my phone. I can't keep it on me, but as soon as I have our information, I leave, I grab it, and I phone you all. " She bravely summarized.
"Give me your number, I don't have it… and if you don't want to do it, we will find another way…"
One tiny hand ended on his lap. "I'll do it, Kaminari. I can't… I don't want to be responsible for anything that could happen to them."
"You sure?"
"Yes… I am a hero too, you know."
He nodded, and Hagakure took his phone, writing her (mostly useless) phone number and her new address down.
"You should go back home Kaminari-kun. It's going to get dark and…"
"No, I am going to Todoroki's house. From what I understand, Yao-Momo spent her day creating IDs, she must be tired. Bakugo can't really leave and Midoriya cannot disappear on him…. And Kirishima is unreachable half the time. So, I'm going to volunteer to watch that place, Yao-momo wrote that one of us still should."
"Oh. Great." She gave him the phone back. "I'm actually proposing you to high five," she chuckled and he felt her hand grab his and slap them together. "There. Better."
He smiled. "See you soon?"
"You'll never see me," she joked.
Strangely, an image came back to him, as if he had seen her face. Once. Before.
In a dream, probably.
Last time they had dinner with their son outside their house was ages ago. Before. When he was still a normal, cute, annoying baby.
Bakugo Mitsuki liked it. She liked seeing her son sitting with them, next to a friend, despite the many things that went wrong during that dinner.
She would have loved the rich, nice, beautiful high-school girl to stay. She was such a gentle person, and she represented everything Mitsuki ever wished for her son. She was proof that life was possible with a Quirk.
Unfortunately, she left before dinner, explaining that her parents were also expecting her. It was a pity truly, because her husband would have been able to contain himself better if a stranger had been in the room.
Yet she did not, and Masaru questioned Katsuki as if he was accused of a crime. He wanted to know how he had escaped the police, what he had done with Izuku's phone, if he had been in contact with other people, what the rich girl tips were… everything.
For most part, Katsuki stayed silent. He just grabbed his spoon and chopsticks harder with each question, and Izuku gently answered some of them while tugging on his too long sleeves. Inko also asked questions, too many questions. The boys were getting annoyed and uncomfortable, and at some point, it was meant to…
"SHUT UP! Just fucking shut up!" Katsuki slammed both his hands on the table. "I escaped that fucking police by jumping through the window, and yes I would have used my Quirk if I had to, but I did not, because I am not stupid! I did not rob Deku of his phone and I did not contact anybody I shouldn't have! And I'm better than Ponytail, her tips were useless, so give me a damn break!"
He rose, pushing the chair so hard it fall on the floor, and Masaru also stood up, throwing his napkin on the table.
"Katsuki! Sit down!"
Of course, he did not. Masaru was about to shout again, but they couldn't have that, not a second time. Mitsuki grabbed her husband wrist and turned to Izuku's mother.
"Inko, can I use your room… I'd like to have a few words with my son, privately."
Her friend smiled gently and nodded, as if her agreement was just a formality.
"Brat, come here." Mitsuki ordered, also raising from her chair.
She was not sure he would follow her, but he did, and without complaint. Masaru sat back and Inko asked if he'd like some coffee.
Mitsuki switched the light on in Inko's room, and closed the door behind them. She sat on the bed, but he stayed standing by the door.
"Katsuki, baby…"
"Fuck you, stop it with this damn nickname!" He exploded without warning. "Can't you just call me an idiot, a brat, anything but that! I hate it!"
For one second, Mitsuki stared. Katsuki voice almost cracked, and the way he looked at her was weird, almost desperate. She stayed silent.
"…Katsuki. I…"
She did not understand.
There was something wrong, more wrong than usual.
Something he was not telling them.
"I…I am sorry." She said without thinking, and the words flooded out of her. "I am so sorry for what I've done, for destroying your life, for not having found a better solution, it could have been so much better, like that girl's life, and I understand you are angry…"
"SHUT UP!" He roared, "Don't fucking be sorry for any of that shit! None of it is your fault! I'm going to fix everything, so shut up!"
Mitsuki sat there, looking at him, at his hands closing and opening as if he wanted to desperately explode something.
He had berated with their repeated absences, hoping they would come back with a life for him. They never did. All solutions where always too dangerous, too expensive. All their attempts had failed.
Katsuki was not going to wait for them anymore, he was too close from exploding for that.
"Was that all you needed to tell me, old hag?"
No it was not. She wanted to ask him what was so wrong. She wanted to ask what hid behind all that anger, but she found out she couldn't. The words got stuck in her throat, and never escaped her lips.
"Can I see your ID?" She told him instead.
"No."
It hurt, more than it should. Did he believe she would do something to it? Keep it, break it… she felt tears coming back and Katsuki angrily shoved a hand in his pocket, and threw the card on her lap.
"Fuck! Stop being such a wimp, this shit his just plastic!"
She took it very carefully. Her son, her baby, he could go outside; he could take a train and enter a library… "I am taking you to a shopping center, tomorrow."
"Fuck no."
"You don't want to see how it looks like?"
Katsuki made a disgusted face, as if she had just said something truly obscene. "I know how it looks like!" He yelled.
"Yeah, sure you do, ba... brat. But this time it'll be real, not on a screen."
Her son took his face in his hands, as if he wanted to hide another spike of sudden furry. She chose to ignore it.
"You don't want to choose your phone by yourself?" She asked. Katsuki immediately stopped making a face. "If I choose for you, I could mess it up. I don't know which one you'd like to have."
"I can go without you!"
"You don't. I'm not giving you my credit card on the first day you ever go to a shopping center. That's any parent golden rule."
"Fuck you."
Mitsuki felt a hint of a smile coming to her lips.
"You never swear that much, usually. What is it? Are you scared to go to a shopping center?" Katsuki dropped his arms and looked tired. "I'll get you in the morning? Is that all right?"
"What? You are not forcing me to go back home right now?"
"Well… I did not completed my end of the bargain, so if Inko is okay, you could… but if you want to come back, it's okay too! Your father and I did not really start moving much things, we spent more time arguing, but you could take the couch, and we could move it to our office so you are not in the living room and…"
"I am not sleeping on the couch like a shitty guest!"
There was a silence.
"Katsuki… if you want, I could take contact with the Tsai family again and… we could arrange something."
"Who's that?"
Mitsuki felt another pang in her chest. The smile dropped back into nothingness. Katsuki knew perfectly well who were the Tsai. They had spoken about them for hours over the years. Yet, suddenly, he was clueless, as if it never happened.
The little ID in her hands wouldn't pass through a formal checkup. She still couldn't take him to a doctor.
"The Tsai… Katsuki…" She almost asked if he really did not remember, but she did not want to push the matter. Katsuki never really admitted there was something wrong with his head anyway. "They are these people in Taiwan. They make people cross the sea from Japan to Taiwan. It's really expensive and dangerous… but we could… we could afford it, and I think you are old enough to take that boat by yourself…"
The look of disgust intensified.
"No, fuck no. I am not a coward. I am not leaving. I am fixing this, I told you!"
"Katsuki…"
She did not finish that sentence. What was the point? He knew it, deep down. There was no fixing laws, there was no fixing a system in place for decades. She rose from the bed and slowly got closer to him. She opened her arms and hugged him.
He did not hug her back, but he did not try to escape either.
"Katsuki…" She continued, softly. "It's okay, just know that if you want, we can think about this option. From Taipei, you could take a plane and go to Switzerland or the Luxembourg… with money you could have a visa. It was too expensive before, but we could manage it now. If you want, we'll find a way, and we'll join you one day."
She put her hand in his hair, and he still did not move.
She could tell there was a maelstrom of emotions within him. Yet, the storm did not happen.
"I fixing this, mum." He whispered so quietly she barely heard it. "I swear. I am fixing this."