Soul Marked
Chapter Five
Broken
This first part was so hard to write guys, I had to force myself, I'm sorry for being gone for so long, but this second part, WOW, I have no words. It took me in and wouldn't let me stop until I finished it.
Throughout the second part I kept Selena Gomez's song "Back to you," on repeat! This song was truly my inspiration to write the last half. I'm even considering making it Kacchan/Koneko's anthem. Highly recommend listening to it while you read, I don't know why but it really spoke to me.
I apologize for being gone for so long but I am going to be writing the next couple chapters in a frenzy I swear, so expect an update around a week from now.
Please review! I try to respond to every single one of you.
Edited: July 19, 2018
This chapter was edited by my amazing beta: Whatisthiswitchery.
Izuka closed the door softly as she stepped into her house, her mother running from the kitchen where she had started cooking dinner.
"How was school?" Inko asked as she wiped her hands on her apron.
"It was different," Izuka said as she hung up her coat and backpack. Turning to look at her mother she gave a small smile. Carefully she kept her wrist from view, she just couldn't tell her mother yet. Her Mark with Katuski was just too strange, and broken, for her to feel excited about, and once her mother knew who it was, she would be happy. She'd demand to have Katsuki over for dinner and Izuka was just not ready to get into everything.
"Did you make friends?" Hurrying forward she followed her mom back into the kitchen.
"Yeah, I think I did," she said as she sat down in a chair at the table. "Iida and Ochako."
"Oh! A boy and a girl, how exciting! You'll have to invite them over sometime for dinner, it's been so long since Katuski used to come." At the mention of Kacchan she could feel her Mark begin to warm, a soothing feeling rather than the burning from earlier. "What happened on your first day?"
"We actually had tests for our quirks," Izuka said becoming more excited. "I placed eleventh and beat all of my grade school scores! There were so many cool quirks that my classmates have! A huge variation of them! And my teacher is Aizawa Shouta, Eraserhead mom! He can nullify any quirk! That girl I mentioned, Ochako, she can touch something and make it lighter! Things can float, it's like zero gravity! Then Iida has engines on his legs!"
She had begun to fangirl about her classmates excitedly while her mother listened attentively nodding her head occasionally and making sounds of awe.
Everyone stared in shock at Aizawa-sensei, he had just announced that he had lied, no one was being expelled, he just wanted them to be at their best. Around her people began to yell in surprise.
"Anyway we're done here, your documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom, give them a look." Aizawa then turned around and began to walk off, but not before giving Izuka a pass to the nurses.
After she was healed she went back to class, grabbing the paper that placed her in eleventh place, and her face lit up. Her practice had paid off, she didn't place in the top, but she wasn't at the bottom either. There was room for improvement and she was going to do it, she aimed for the top. In the top was a girl named Momo, and at the bottom Mineta.
After dinner when Izuka was getting ready to rest and unwind before bed she remembered needing to text All Might, having not gotten around to it earlier in the day.
'Does never having a quirk and then getting one affect the Mark process any? I think mine is wrong or broken? Do you know anything?'
Setting her phone back down she settled in hoping to hear back from him as she grabbed her night clothes. A 'Bing' went off announcing that someone had texted her.
'Meet me at the beach'
Rushing around her room she grabbed her hoodie tossing it on before pulling on her red converse. Throwing her curly hair into a high ponytail she shot out of her room.
"Mom!" she yelled out on her way to the front door. "My sensei needs to see me! I'm going to go meet them!" Even though Inko had never met this person before, she allowed her daughter to go. Her daughter explained that their job sometimes made it where they met up late at night, but that she would be home before curfew each time. So far, she had always made it back before ten and Inko didn't mind.
Having ran the whole way to the beach Izuka made it there before All Might, so she walked to the water's edge and sat down. A part of her hoped that her Mark was fine, that her and Katsuki weren't doomed, but she kept remembering that he had a Mark since they were kids.
"I have arrived!" a loud voice exclaimed as they came to a stop next to the small girl. Glancing up she saw All Might towering above her, a smile plastered on his face looking like he just got done doing hero work. In the next instant he deflated, smoke rising from his skin, and now was only a little taller than she was.
"Skeletor," Izuka said playfully with a wink as he sat down next to her. Huffing he lowered himself to the ground and then shoved at her arm. The force of the smack wasn't hard, but Izuka was small, so it sent her sprawling onto the sand. "Hey!"
"What's my name?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as she pulled herself back up.
"Yeah, yeah, Toshi," another smirk rising on her face but he let it pass, in his opinion better than Skeletor. As she settled back next to him he glanced her way, noticing how she played with the sleeve of her hoodie.
"So, you've got your Mark," he exclaimed gesturing toward where her hand was still gripping the end of her hoodie. "Isn't that exciting." Izuka dropped her gaze down to her lap, her eyes darting to the covered-up Marking. Her fingers lightly touched the material over where it lay.
"I think something is wrong with it, Toshi," she said softly, her voice weak. "I know I bonded with him, but he's had a Mark since we were kids. He couldn't have Bonded with me? Right? That only happens between people with quirks?"
Toshinori stared off into the ocean trying to find a way to answer her question.
"I don't know a lot about Marks, or how they work," Toshinori said with a sigh. "However, I was quirkless too when I was your age, and no Mark. I gained mine after being passed One For All." He pulled his sleeve up showing the white snowflakes that encased his wrist, all different sizes, and there on the underside of his wrist was the image of a torch. Izuka's green-eyes widened in surprise, he, All Might, was showing her an important part of him.
No Hero ever showed their Mark, it could uncover who their Bonded was, and put that person at risk. The fact that he was showing her meant that he trusted her. Completely.
"Toshi," she said surprised. "T-this." She couldn't even start her sentence. This was a huge sign of trust.
"Having no quirk and then gaining both shouldn't mess with the Mark. Destiny, or whatever it is that Marks people, Bonded you two for a reason. If something is wrong perhaps it has more to do with your relationship. People who have quirks bond with those who don't, it's rare, but it happens."
"He couldn't have Bonded with me, alright. I mean people who are Marked only show good emotions toward one another, even when they are mad. He hates me. There is no love, for friendship or otherwise." Her eyes had dropped from his Mark as he covered his back up to land on her lap once more.
"Perhaps you should talk to him, find out if it was you, I bet is was. Then fix whatever is wrong. The one thing I do know Izuka, is a broken bond is painful. For both parties. It wasn't meant for pain and anger." Izuka only nodded, her Mark hadn't hurt her since Kacchan had tried to attack her, but she didn't want to talk about that anymore. She was sure he had Bonded with her when they were kids, he had once liked her, but finding out she was quirkless had changed him. He hated her.
"So, you Bonded with someone?" she asked trying to change the topic from her. Toshinori once more stared at the waves, a faraway look glazed his eyes.
"That's a story for another time I believe, little Midoriya." The pain that laced his voice made her let it go, he didn't owe her anything, and he sounded so sad. She wouldn't force those memories back up. Placing her hand on his arm they both continued to look out at the ocean, both thinking of the people they Bonded with.
子猫
The next day Izuka had arrived at school. The start of the day was going over the usual classes, like English, Present Mic taught this one, and Izuka had grown even more excited. Then during the afternoon classes was when Hero Training started.
Izuka sat in her chair talking with the girl next to her, one that she had learned was named Momo. "Have you got your Mark yet?" Momo asked kindly as she leaned forward. Izuka's cheeks darkened at the thought as her eyes darted to where Bakugo sat a couple seats away.
"Yeah," she said quietly not wanting to attract the attention of her Bonded. She wasn't ready to have that talk like her and All Might have talked about. "I did our first day."
"Yeah, so did I!" Momo said with a smile. "I think there was a few of our fellow classmates that did." Izuka smiled at that happy to know that a lot of their classmates had been able to find that in someone else. "I don't know how well it will go though, he doesn't even seem to notice me." Izuka glanced over at Momo who looked upset as she stared down at her sleeve where she was sure the Mark was hidden.
"Oh?" Izuka asked trying to sound comforting. If she had Bonded with him then the guy would have already or will, it all depended on if he had payed attention to her yet.
"Yeah, he's just so aloof, and I can't ever tell what he's thinking," Momo said as her eyes danced across the room, not wanting to stare too long at who she Bonded with. "He's cold."
"Yeah, I can understand that," Izuka said her eyes darting back over to the blonde before she could stop it. Momo sent her a small smile but they weren't able to continue their talk because the door to the classroom door burst open and a familiar bulky blonde darted into the room.
"I have come through the door, like normal!" All Might announce stopping in the doorway and glancing over at the children inside. Izuka rolled her eyes when she saw him, that was such a non-normal entrance, but with All Might it was pretty normal.
Everyone around her grew excited at the prospect of All Might teaching them. The fact that the number one hero was teaching them wowed everyone. Izuka grew excited, he had never told her he was going to be one of her teachers, but figured he wanted to keep it as a surprise.
"This class is called Hero Basic Training!" He stepping fully into the room and posing. "It's a class that will mold and construct you into heroes! Today we will be doing Battle Training, so get into your costumes and let's go! No time to delay!"
Izuka looked up surprised that they were already going to do something so hands on and physical, but it made sense, they were only here for three years before becoming heroes, they didn't have the luxury to go slow. She could see how Bakugo tensed, but he was happy, she knew he was.
Drawing her eyes away from Bakugo that's when she realized he had said costumes, as in their hero costumes. At the mere thought Izuka grew excited! Her mother had gone out and made her a costume, one that was based off her own drawings, and she loved it.
"After you have changed, come out in ranking order to ground Beta!" All Might said before disappearing out the door, not waiting for anyone to scramble to get ready. Getting to her feet she walked with Ochako and Momo to the costumes waiting for them to grab theirs before they set off to the girls changing rooms.
"Oh, I'm so excited to wear this!" Ochako said as she practically jumped beside Izuka.
"Yeah, unfortunately it's going to be a little more revealing than I like, but my quirk makes it inevitable," Momo said a frown tugging at her lips. Izuka sent her a comforting smile as she patted her new-found friend on the shoulder as they entered the changing rooms. Izuka quickly pulled her's on. Glancing at herself in the mirror she looked back at herself wearing a light green jumpsuit with white accents on the side, the material hugged her curves, around her waist was a red utility belt, on her feet long black boots that went up to right below her knees. On her knees and elbows were black pads, and she wore white gloves on her hands. On her face was a mask that had long ear like fissures, that almost looked like a version of All Might's hair, and around her neck was a respirator with a smile drawn on it.
She thought back to when her mother had given her the suit, she had been on the phone with All Might, worried that she had been registered as Quirkless, how she would fix it, and get her costume form.
"Izuka, this may be too soon!" Her mother said while pulled out some material from a bag. "But congratulations for getting in!" Her eyes widened at the present, at full height she knew it would fit, her mother was good at those things. "I realize it's not the coolest."
"Mo-." However, her mother cut her off, needing to get this off her chest. Her face was downcast, a heartbreaking expression filling her features, as she stared at her daughter.
"I noticed your notebook open, you had fallen asleep at your desk, I looked. I-" Her voice broke as she took a step closer to her daughter, her similar green-eyes filling with tears. "There was awful things said by me, I-I always regretted what I said."
Words flashed across her mind's eye, her mother's voice saying she was sorry. She hadn't wanted to hear those words then.
"I had given up on you, Izuka, it was terrible of me, but you never did. You kept chasing your dream." Her mother pulled her into a hug, while Izuka limply wrapped her arms around her. "I'm sorry, my love. For now, on I'll be cheering you on with everything inside of me!" She pulled back and held up the material to her.
Izuka smiled at her reflection, it didn't matter if it wasn't cutting edge, or cool, this was her costume, and she was proud of it.
"Are you coming?" Ochako said turning around to glance at Izuka. Pulling up her mask she let it slip into place before nodding at her friend.
"Coming!" She raced with Ochako as they caught up to the rest of the class who were heading out to the training grounds. Izuka glanced around excitedly as she took in everyone else's costumes, they looked amazing! She couldn't wait to watch them in action, to see how they helped benefit the quirks and battle style. Her fingers itched to have her pen and notebook to begin writing down everything she observed.
"Well, my wards!" All Might yelled as he sighted the students making their way over to him. "It's time!" All Might raised his eyebrows at Midoriya's ears that looked familiar, he decided to tease her about it later.
"I wished that I had been more specific about my costume," Ochako said with a shy smile. "It's puffy and curvy, a little embarrassing. Yours looks cute though! I love your boots." She pointed at the shoes Izuka was wearing.
"Yeah, mom made mine, though I think the material is a little snugger than mom was going for," Izuka agreed. She pulled at the fabric and grimaced as it hugged her body.
A classmate named Mineta stared at the two girls just a couple steps away from Izuka. He began to shake and stare at them in amazement, his mouth lightly drooling.
"Being in the hero course is the best," he said with a thumb up to Izuka, causing her to become a little uncomfortable at his look. Izuka began to stammer as she took a large step back away from the purple haired guy. Bakugo who had unconsciously moved closer to Midoriya overheard what Mineta had said, small explosions went off in his hand as anger at his words clouded his mind.
How dare he think of that about Koneko.
His inner thoughts were barely audible growls as he began to walk over to the shortest member of the class. Izuka seeing an opening to leave the purple creep moved over to where Bakugo was quickly approaching as the Bond instinctively moved her in his direction. Having her so close clouded his mind with all the thoughts he had crammed in his head ever since finding out about her quirk and Mark. His anger for Mineta evaporated and his confusion and anger for her returned.
With a growl he moved away, not wanting to deal with her, he had to get his mind straight. Noticing that he was moving away from her Izuka get on moving heading toward a person in class she had never talked too, at all. His hair was strangely two colors but she knew that he hardly ever talked, and the only look he gave anyone was a glance of disinterest. He'd be safe to stand next to.
"Hello, Todoroki," she said kindly with a nod in his direction. His mismatched eyes gazed at her before he nodded, a small movement of the head.
"Now, we are to move onto phase two," All Might as he smiled at all of his students. "Most of the time you'll fight villains it'll be outdoors, but those most heinous villains will be fought indoors. Between people who are confined indoors on house arrest, and Black-Market deals, it's the cleverest villains that are indoors."
Izuka listened intently to All Might, but she couldn't help but to look over at Katsuki from time to time, more so when her Mark would burn. Kacchan didn't look happy as he kept glaring at Mineta and Izuka, herself.
"We will be splitting up into Villain and Hero teams, joining teams of two-in-two indoor battles!"
"So, there's no basic training?" Asui asks.
"Going and doing it is the best training, the only difference is you won't be fighting robots, but each other." Everyone began to explode with questions around Izuka as she listened.
"What determines victory?" Momo asks.
"Can I just blast anyone who gets in my way?" Bakugo asked a dangerous tint to his eyes.
"Will anyone be expelled like Aizawa-sensei said there would be?" Ochako asked nervously.
"How do we team up?" Iida asked raising his hand in the air.
"How fabulous is my cape?" Aoyama asked seriously. Izuka rolled her eyes at him, he was pretty self-centered so far but she hoped that wasn't who he truly was, they had only known each other for a short period of time after all. All Might began to try to calm everyone down, waving his hands in front of him.
"Calm down, my quirk isn't super hearing," he said with a shake of his head. "The plan is that the villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout, and the heroes have to go in and take care of it! Now, the heroes only have a limited amount of time to capture the villains or get the weapon. The villains will either capture the heroes or keep the weapon protected until time is up. Your battle partners will be decided by drawing lots."
Izuka instantly grew excited at the thought of their exercise today. "Yeah, pro's often team up with other heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies!" she said as she began to think how everything could possibly play out.
"I apologize for getting ahead of myself, I see now," Iida said with a nod of his head. All Might waved at them.
"Let's go!" Everyone quickly got paired up, Ochako and her were Team A, and glancing over at Bakugo she found that he and Iida were Team D. A part of her hoped that they weren't teamed up against each other, she really hadn't wanted to deal with that. She wasn't sure if she could truly fight against him, not with it being so soon after Bonding with him.
Ochako was jumping up and down next to her, excited that they had been paired. "This is going to be so awesome!" she yelled.
"Yeah, I'm happy to have been teamed up with you as well," Izuka said with a smile as she glanced over at Bakugo.
"The first Heroes are Team A!" All Might said pulling out the ball that had their name. "The villains are Team D!"
Between her strength and Ochako's zero gravity, she knew she could form some kind of plan so they could beat Bakugo and Iida. Her eyes moved over to Bakugo who looked pleased with the idea of who he was up against. She was happy that her mask covered her expressions, she wasn't extremely happy with this. It was going to be hard, that was for sure.
All Might explained to them what they needed to do and that if they took it too far he would stop it. Both teams walked off into opposite directions getting ready for the training to begin as they strategized.
Bakugo glared at the wall, his anger spiking. "So, she has a quirk." Iida turned to look at the blonde and nodded.
"Yes, a powerful one at that," he said as he turned back to looking at the bomb. "Though it's not practical. It seems to come at a great cost to herself."
Katsuki gritted his teeth as he waited for the training to start, his mind ablaze as he thought of the need to confront her, and this training gave him the perfect opportunity to corner her and threaten to tell him what he wanted to know.
She had lied to him, how long had she?
Was it all a lie from the very beginning?
His thoughts and feelings were pulling him in several different directions. It was truly hard for him to think straight, to rationalize whether or not his feelings were correct or if it could have been something she just realized herself. The bond and his own explosive emotions battled between one another and often than not they mashed in an imperfect jumbled mess that didn't make sense and was hard to think through.
"I don't think it's the best plan to go barging straight for Midoriya," Iida said as he turned to stare at his teammate. "Whatever bad blood is between you two should be dealt with outside of class time."
Bakugo had heard what he said but it was honestly already being pushed from his mind, a plan was already forming.
Izuka glanced up at the building knowing that somewhere in there was their enemies hiding the bomb that they had to apprehend or stop the villains.
"He'll come after me first," Izuka said gaining Uraraka's attention.
"Bakugo," she said tentatively. "He's the one that bullies you right?" Izuku stiffened at the words but nodded, it was true enough no matter how much it always hurt.
"It's true he's a jerk," Izuka said gaining strength from her words. "But he's truly amazing, his goals, his confidence, his strength, his quirk, he's stronger than me in every way possible. That's exactly why I don't want to lose to him, my determination may be a little stronger than his."
Ururaka stared at her, she wasn't sure if Izuka noticed but while he spoke of Bakugo she had begun to rub at her wrist. It was a normal enough action for the girl especially while Uraraka had known her but it was a habit that the girl only did when Katsuki was mentioned or around. What was curious was that it was the wrist everyone had their marks on.
The brown-haired girl shoved it out of her mind, not wanting to finish that train of thought. It wasn't her business, but if it was true she felt bad for the girl.
Both girls ran forward then and scaled the side of the building going through one of the windows at Izuka's insistence. Uraraka used her quirk to make them lighter so it wasn't much of a hassle.
"We'll have to be careful of the corners, we won't be able to tell if someone is on the other side until it's too late," Iuzka said and her teammate nodded in agreement.
As they walked Izuka began to fine tune her plan, it wasn't smart for her to use One for All right away, it still took a lot from her to regulate it, even though her control has gotten better, but she was afraid of hurting herself or someone else.
The idea that if she gave too much could actually kill Iida or Kacchan, and that last person was too much for her mind to comprehend so she quickly backed away from that line of thinking. A loud bang vibrated against the walls announcing that the first attack had come from the villains, and predictably Kacchan was going for an attack against her.
Sensing his movements Izuka only had a split second to react, her hand snatching out to redirect Katsuki's nearest hand deflecting it away from her face, as the rest of her body barreled into Uraraka causing both of them stumble to the floor a few feet away.
Bakugo crashed into the wall that had been behind the girl's, his hand that would have smashed into Izuka's face having not made impact. Midoriya was breathing heavily as her vision was blocked by the hanging fabric of her costume. Reaching up she dragged it down, ripping it from her face. He had barely grazed her but it ruined half of her mask.
The smell of burnt fabric burned her nose, but she pushed pass that feeling. "Are you alright?" Izuka asked.
"Yeah, he didn't touch me," Uraraka whispered. "You were right he came for you."
"Always were a nice dodger, Koneko," Kacchan said as he pushed himself from the wall to turn and stare at her. His eyes were wider than usual, the red more intense, the pupils nearly gone. An invisible force seemed to urge him forward, this was a different Kacchan than she was use too.
His body came stumbling forward, a desperate motion in the way he walked before his hand shot through the air. This was the Kacchan from the test, the one that only wanted to cause harm to her. His actions barely thought out, and he led with his right hand instinctively.
"I'll mess you up just enough to where it's legal!" Kacchan said the crazed look in his eyes heightened. Izuka knew Kacchan was bright, he thought things through, he was smart, but in this moment, he was being anything but.
Her hand shot out to grab the arm that was barreling toward her, an action that she had predicted and was ready for it. She used the momentum from his own body to raise him over her shoulder and then adding her own power slammed him into the ground. All this without using her quirk, it hadn't been needed, he had given her all the power.
The action still caused her to breath heavily, Kacchan was heavier than she was, and with the added momentum it's not an easy feat to throw someone up into the air with her tiny body.
"What the hell, Koneko," Kacchan griped as he began to pick himself up off the floor, the impact had actually hurt, his muscles tense and sore as he moved them.
"You're becoming predictable Kacchan," Izuka said as she began to work the pain from her arm muscles. Her eyes watching his every movement. "I analyze heroes that I think are amazing, who have greatness inside of them, in that notebook of mine. The same one that you blew up and chucked out the window. I won't be your worthless, pet, Koneko, forever Kacchan, I'm-" Her rambling stopped as she stared into his eyes, determination and confidence filling her emotions. "I'm the Koneko that will always do her best!"
These were not the words that Bakugo wanted to hear. The fact that she had just stated her intent to begin to move away from him, that she wouldn't always be around really grated at his nerves. It caused a paralyzing fear to grip his body before anger at the mere thought broke through the icy realization.
"You're always yelling out crap," Bakugo said as he steeled himself to stare into her glowing gaze. "Yet all the while you're scared, and that pisses me off!"
Tears began to build in her eyes, Bakugo would never understand, his feelings could never be ones of warmth. There was always something heated underneath his interior.
She steeled herself for the attack that was heading her way.
Her gaze darted to Uraraka knowing that this was the girls chance to get to the bomb. Kacchan would be to worried with her to care about going after the brunette.
"Go!" Izuka yelled at her teammate. "Go on ahead!"
The action of taking her eyes off her opponent ended up being a bad call as when her eyes fell back onto Kacchan they were met with a swift kick to the face. Pain exploded across her cheek as her face was whipped off to the right. A gasp escaped her lips along with a trickle of blood from the impact.
Tears began to build up in her eyes but she forced them down, she had to be able to see. As she stumbled from the blow her fingers reached toward her utility belt and grabbed the capture tape, knowing she had to end this quickly. Kacchan was much more powerful than her if she was going to avoid using her quirk until dire need.
He had the upper hand.
She began to focus completely on Kacchan, everything she had ever observed from him sprouting from her brain and allowing her to form a plan and avoid being hit once more. He came at her again this time using his right hook again, she dodged it easily by ducking under his hit and bobbing away.
As she dodged she went to wrap the tape around him, but he broke free. Putting some distance between them she knew she would need more tape, it wasn't going to hold him. He was raged only growing his strength as he wasn't trying to hold back anymore.
She needed to come up with a plan, she had to keep away from him as one hit could easily cause her to not get up again. The punch to her face had her still reeling from it.
His eyes widened as he went to attack again but Izuka had already disappeared around the corner, running away from him.
Izuka knew she could outrun him for the time being, it was easy enough to use her quirk in her legs to gain more speed. Bakugo as predicted was right behind her, the shock of her departure not lasting long.
"Don't fucking run!" he yelled from behind her. "Must have been a real laugh, tricking me all these years, I'm sure you had fun with that. Poor Bakugo, believing that I had no quirk. A real fucking laugh, jokes on me, right?"
He wasn't able to quite keep the pain from sounding in his voice.
Izuka flinched upon hearing it.
Pain. She had caused him pain.
"It doesn't matter in the end, I'm still going to crush you!"
He was gaining on her, he was too close. Spinning around mid-air Izuka manifested her quirk into the muscles of her left arm, striking out and upper cutting Bakugo. The force of it sent him spiraling backwards before hitting the ground hard.
Her breathing was becoming haggard again as she landed in a crouch and turned to stare at him wide eyed. He laid on the ground trying to gain enough thought in his head to push himself up again. The hit had caused pain to explode in his head and caused thinking to be hard over the roaring headache.
"I never lied to you Kacchan!" she yelled as the tears she had tried to keep away came flooding out. How could he have thought that! She couldn't lie to him, it was never an option. He meant too much to her, even when he was being a dick. He was still that four-year-old Kacchan who had looked at her with adoring eyes.
His eyes darted to her face upon hearing her say that. He blinked as he tried to think if he had heard right. There was a ringing in his ears, that earlier Izuka had been experiencing herself.
"I only found out about my quirk recently!" she said desperately. "That's why it hurts me."
Kacchan only shook his head as he began to stand up again. He couldn't believe her. If he did then he had been angry at her for so long, had twisted his feelings for her, over nothing.
"You lie!" he screamed his thoughts jumbled, his feelings a wreck. Nothing made sense, it all hurt too much. All he could do was lash out, it was easiest for him, it came naturally.
Izuka sighed as she wiped away the tears before using her quirk on her legs once more and disappeared, jumping off walls to move faster. She needed to get away from him, to meet back up with Uraraka. They needed to win this now. Things were becoming too complicated.
Bakugo took after her but she was gone, moving faster than ever before. His mind flashed to everything he remembered and what she just said. He had seen her wrist that day at the park, when it had been revealed to him. It was blank. She may have a quirk, but that didn't mean he was hers in her mind. The bond wasn't there.
He was confused.
His anger made sense.
Izuka leaned against the wall trying to gain her breathe and clear the tears from her eyes.
"Izuka?" Came a voice from her ear.
"What's wrong?" She replied back holding her hand up to her ear so she could push the button to talk back.
"Iida found me, I'm retreating."
"Where are you?" Izuka asked.
"Fifth floor, right in the center."
Izuka looked up realizing that she was just right above her own position. They were running out of time and if they didn't take action soon they would lose.
"Why won't you use it," Kacchan said rounding the corner, his left hand raising to aim at her. "Or are you mocking me, ne, Koneko?"
"Kacchan!" Izuka said whirling around to stare at him, her eyes wide in surprise. She had been right these turns were going to be dangerous. She hadn't noticed him there. "I'm not afraid anymore, Kacchan." Sweat ran down her face as she just stared at him. A smile cracked his face, warping it.
"I'm sure you know this already, Koneko," he said making the pet name sound sinister and threatening. "Considering you've been watching me, the sweat glands on my palms secrete something like Nitroglycerin. That's what makes my explosions. Assuming that they actually did what I requested for my design that fluid has been storing inside these gauntlets."
Fear began to grip her body as she heard the click. Her body stiffened, he planned to use that thing against her. She was going to truly be hurt by Kacchan, he wasn't holding back.
She barely made out Iida yelling into Bakugo's ear about killing her. That only made her fear that much worse.
"She won't die, I don't plan on hitting her directly with it!"
The explosion was amazing, it filled the area between them and kept coming for her. All Izuka had time to do was prepare for impact. Her arms rising to cross in front of her face.
A scream escaped her lips as she was hit, her body flying through the air. The feeling of burnt flesh causing another scream to fill the air. The smell of her flesh caused her to gag.
Her mark painfully began to burn her wrist, actual steam seeming to rise from it.
Sobs escaped her mouth as she made impact with ground and she forced herself to move past the pain to lean against her elbows. The action causing more pain.
"They gave you that," Izuka gasped fear resonating in her words.
"Use your quirk, dammit, Koneko!" His voice didn't sound the same to her ears, though she wondered if that was from the explosion. The ringing was causing her a hard time to hear anything over it.
As the smoke cleared she could see the form of Kacchan staring at her through the hazy surroundings.
"Awesome huh," he said that same weird sound to his voice. "What's wrong? You're not dead yet, get up, Koneko!"
Keeping her eyes on him she ignored his taunting, instead needing to know what was going on with her teammate. "Uraraka, what's going on?"
"Ignoring me as usual, ne!" His voice sounding more twisted with each word.
She responded to Ururaka as her eyes followed Bakguo. He had darted at her. Realizing she couldn't dodge she only prepared herself to counter attack another hit, but at the last moment he used an explosion to fly over her coming to land behind her.
Izuka tried to force her body to turn quickly but it was too late. An explosion was aimed at her back. Another scream ripped from her lips as she was pushed forward by force, but it hadn't been too powerful, Bakugo had made sure not to maim her with the action.
He was angry, his attitude taking over, but deep down, a part of him was watching closely that any of his hits weren't fatal. She would be broken, but not killed.
Following up he chased after her stumbling figure and grabbed her arm, spinning her around, and throwing her over his shoulder much like she had done earlier to him. A groan escaped her lips at the impact. Her whole body hurt. It was becoming excruciating.
Pulling herself up she knew he wasn't giving her time to think on purpose, she had to put distance between them. Her body shot forward, her muscles protesting with every action. It was only with pure will power that she was able to keep to her feet.
"Why won't you use your quirk!" Bakugo yelled at her as he approached her. "Why must you always mock me. Ever since we were kids, you always have! This just has been one long joke at the expense of my feelings. It never meant anything to you! I never meant anything!"
Izuka stared at him wide eyed as she pushed herself against the wall behind her. His words were causing her to shake. This was how he felt.
"You're wrong, Kacchan," her words shaking and weak.
"You look down on me! I'm nothing more than a joke that you laugh about behind my back!"
There was a desperate tone to Bakugo's voice now. He was beginning to break, to crumble right in front of her. Everything he was feeling was unraveling.
"It's because I care!" Izuka screamed at him. "You're amazing! You always have been this great force, you could do anything, that's why I need to beat you! I've always cared for you! You're such an idiot for not seeing that! I have to become better than you, to become the best, to win, so I can be strong enough for you!"
Her eyes glowed at him, those betraying tears never leaving. She was trying to force a smile on her face, she had to always smile, to prove that it was going to be ok. All she managed was a desperate plea of a look. It was pitiful really.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Kacchan yelled his eyes aflame.
Izuka raced forward forcing herself to see through the tears, Bakugo not far behind as meeting her in the middle.
For their future, this battle was completely necessary!
Izuka breathed heavily as she pulled back her left fist, her quirk activating in that arm. This was it, this had to work, this was needed. She put more force than she normally would in it. Bakugo pulled back his hand as well, his explosion building in his palm.
"Now Uraraka!" she yelled. Her fist that had been going to a straight line toward Bakugon diverted aiming up at the ceiling instead. Leaving a clear path for Kaachan's own attack.
The sleeve to her arm slipped down, revealing the Mark that he had so long ago, knew wasn't there before. The red contrasted greatly with her pale skin, leaving the design to burn itself into his mind. Even though her skin was mangled and bloodied the mark looked untouched, the skin there almost perfect like it had protected that portion of her body
The blast from both of their quirks resonated throughout himself.
Her free hand came up to block the blast but all it did was cause her already burnt arm to sear heavier. Her arm was worthless to her now but the words 'secured' was like heaven to her ears.
They had won.
She had won.
Bakugo just stared at her. His eyes blank, wide, staring hard at her shaking form. Sheer determination kept her on her feet as her body began to sway.
She wasn't going to be able to stay up any longer. Black dots were swimming across her vision. Her body was beginning to go numb. The pain that had been searing was fading away as her vision grew darker. She swayed, her foot went to counter balance herself, but the action through off her already terrible balance.
She was unconscious before hitting the floor.
Watching as Izuka's eyes rolled into the back of her head caused an ugly feeling to form inside of Bakugo. Her hitting the ground with a loud thud intensified it. His eyes continued to stare at where her sleeve was no longer covering.
The design left no imagination of what it could possibly be forming.
Those had been little explosions encasing her wrist delicately.
"The Hero Team wins!" resonated throughout the building.
Katsuki continued to stare horrified down at her body.
What had he allowed to happen.
his chapter was super intense guys, I really hope you enjoyed reading it. Also I need a couple name for these two. I'm thinking of using their nicknames for one another to do it. Something like, Kako, or Kokaccha. I don't know, so give me some ideas!
It seems like Kacchan finally said what has been on his mind and Izuka did as well! That encounter was explosive! Maybe from here they can start to repair? Find out next time on DRAGON BALL Z!