Depression (Relatively Speaking)
Katsuki almost yelled at Deku when he saw him in the empty seat. Instead, Katsuki leveled a glare in his direction, making Koda, just a seat over, quiver in his desk. Deku didn't even glance at him. He stared listlessly at his journal, with his pencil tapping against his cheek.
"Get your costumes and get on the bus," Aizawa said. "We're taking a field trip today."
Katsuki frowned at the hollow spaces in his suitcase where the gauntlets had been. Aizawa glared at him, as if daring him to complain. With an irritated growl, Katsuki filed into the bus with the rest of the extras.
The bus had ten seats, exactly enough to seat a class of twenty. When Deku came on, Katsuki had the only empty space left. Deku gave the space one longing look before turning away. He stood for the entire drive.
Round Cheeks gushed over the hero that greeted them. Izuku got a gleam in his eye, with an entire Wikipedia page worth of facts on his tongue, but one glance at Katsuki silenced him.
Katsuki tuned out the hero as they went over their rescue training. Rescues were for heroes too weak to take on villains. Instead, his attention wandered back to Deku. He was real, he had to be, to know things Katsuki didn't, but it didn't matter. Deku was a distraction, a parasite, clinging to him and dragging him into the mud.
Couldn't even die properly, Katsuki thought bitterly. How useless could he be?
Black mist engulfed the fountain at the center of the USJ. Aizawa reacted first, leaping in front of the students and unfurling his scarf.
The mist whirled around in a black maelstrom, and when it vanished, a horde of villains stood before them, grinning and brandishing their Quirks. In the center stood three clearly above the rest, a hulking, black-skinned monster with its brain sticking out, a grinning gray-haired man covered in severed hands, and the misty figure that had warped them all inside UA's walls.
Handsy looked around at the students and teachers. "No All Might? That schedule said he was supposed to be here. What kind of bugged quest is this?"
Thirteen strode forward and held out her hands. "All of you, get out of here! We'll hold them off!"
The misty figure glided forward. "Oh, you won't be going anywhere. I've already made arrangements for all of you."
Katsuki examined the villains. The two-bit cannon fodder only acted so cocky because they had an easy escape route. Take out the warp Quirk, and they'd be trapped like rats in a cage.
As the misty villain drew closer, Katsuki blasted himself forward, shouting "Die!"
His explosion went straight through the man's head. His misty face parted like water and flowed seamlessly back together. As Katsuki sailed past, he caught a glimpse of metal underneath the mist, anchoring the body together. He swiped at it, but the mist engulfed him.
"That was close," Katsuki heard before the mist swallowed all sound. For an instant that felt stretched out beyond comprehension, Katsuki floated in darkness. The darkness parted, and gravity re-asserted itself. Turning in mid-air, Katsuki landed in a crouch amidst a group of villains.
"Eh? Kurogiri only gave us one of the brats?" a villain sneered. "How are we supposed to have fun like this?"
A rhino-faced villain chuckled. "We'll just have to make this one count, won't we? I call dibs on breaking his fingers!"
A pair of arms stretched like springs towards him. Katsuki grabbed them by the wrists and yanked. The villain screamed as he flew forward. Katsuki kicked up, and blood spurted as the villain's nose crumpled.
As rhino-man charged, Katsuki whirled the unconscious villain. The springy arms stretched and wound around the man's legs, tripping him. Once he fell, Katsuki stomped his face into the dirt.
"You're all pathetic," Katsuki growled at the remaining villains. "What makes you think you can even come close to how strong I am?"
The villains, disquieted by how quickly two of their partners went down, gave each other worried looks. A snake-like villain shook himself and said, "It's just one kid! He can't fight back if we all come after him at once!"
Katsuki backed into a corner and braced his palms. Seven more villains crowded around him, yet none dared make the first move.
As the stand-off drew on, Deku floated in through the ceiling. He flinched and cowered away at the sight of all the villains, but not a single one glanced his way, even though he floated right in front of them. Realizing he wasn't in any danger, Deku drifted off to the side and gave Katsuki a worried expression. Katsuki felt his blood boil. Even beyond the grave, Deku was looking down on him. He'd show him how strong he is.
Katsuki grinned and said, "What's the matter? Chicken?"
The taunt drew angry glares from the villains. A woman with metal claws lunged for him. Katsuki ducked around the clumsy swipe and pressed his hands into the woman's chest. The blast knocked her into the ceiling, and she hit the ground with a limp thump.
The snake villain struck with his elongated neck, biting at him with long, curved fangs. Katsuki kicked up, slamming the man's mouth shut. Blood dripped as the man nursed a bitten tongue.
As the explosions echoed in the room, the villains warily backed away. "He can make things explode? What kind of Quirk is that?"
"She hit the freaking ceiling! How are we supposed to deal with that?"
"I got this." A deep baritone voice cut through the worried chatter. A hulking brute of a man, dark-skinned, well-muscled, with a brick for a jawline and a bald head, cracked his knuckles as he shouldered his way past the other villains. "Give me your best shot kid."
Katsuki ground his teeth. He glanced at the other villains, but they all watched the new arrival. "Your funeral."
He leapt forward and flung his most powerful blast at the man's face. As the smoke cleared, gray stone replaced the man's skin. Obsidian eyes twinkled as they glared down at Katsuki.
"That's all you got, shrimp?" the man's voice rumbled like falling boulders. "I barely even felt that."
The stony villain's arm lashed out. Katsuki ducked, and the wall behind him shattered into a shower of stone. A large chunk of rubble smacked into the back of Katsuki's head, drawing blood. Katsuki thrust both palms into the man's chest. His shirt blew away in scorched tatters, revealing rock solid abs underneath.
"Doesn't matter what you throw at me, anytime I get hit, my body turns to stone! You can't even put a scratch on me!"
Katsuki threw another explosion at his face. The villain grabbed his wrist and threw him at a wall. Grunting in pain, Katsuki hauled himself to his feet and wiped away the blood dripping from his nose.
"Kacchan!" Deku cried out. "You need to concentrate your blasts! Press your palms together and funnel the explosion out your fingertips!"
Katsuki stamped his foot and stood tall. "Shut up! I'm not going to let some weakling get the better of me, you hear? You're just a pebble in my path to the top!"
The villain slammed his two arms together, making a loud, grinding noise. "Big talk for a little kid. Why don't you try and prove it?"
Katsuki ran in and threw explosion after explosion, using more blasts to push himself away from the villain's clumsy swipes. With all the sweat pouring out of him, Katsuki's blasts grew bigger, but it only spread out the damage even more. Not a single crack marred the surface of the villain's marble skin.
"As cute as it is watching you tire yourself out," the villain said, grinning, "We've got a job to do. I'm going to finish this."
"Like hell you will!" Katsuki cupped all the sweat he could gather in his hand and blasted it into the man's face. A giant plume of smoke filled the room where the villain had stood. As the explosion echoed away, silence filled the room. The villains gaped at the sheer size of the explosion, and a few had even been blown away by the blast.
Deku, however, looked alarmed. "Kacchan, get away!"
Out of the roiling smoke, a stony hand slammed into Katsuki's gut. Katsuki wheezed as he hauled himself up onto one knee. A villain, emboldened by Katsuki's weakened state, kicked him in the side of the face. Katsuki rolled across the floor and hit his shoulder against a wall.
Katsuki's vision swam. A fuzzy shape stomped towards him, shaking the floor with each step. A cold, rough hand grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him in the air. Katsuki kicked at the villain and stubbed his toes.
"Any last words, kid?"
Katsuki spat in his face. The man gave a low, rumbling chuckle. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
A fist crashed into his head. Katsuki's vision went dark, and he fought for consciousness as his body crumpled to the ground. With trembling arms, Katsuki reached out and pushed himself off the ground.
"You're still kicking? Man, you're a stubborn one! You're more fun than I thought you'd be!"
Deku put himself in between Katsuki and the villain. Tears streamed down his face as he looked down at Katsuki. "Come on, get up! You can't die here Kacchan!"
"You're still looking down on me?" Katsuki mumbled. "You bastard."
The villain chuckled. "Kinda have to look down to see a shrimp like you. When I'm through with you, people will have to look a little lower."
"Please!" Deku screamed. "You're supposed to be the number one hero some day! Don't let him beat you!"
"What are you saying?" Katsuki asked. "All this time, mocking me, trying to be a hero even though you were just a pathetic, Quirkless Deku, why the hell have you always looked down on me?"
The villain scratched his head. "Guess I rattled that brain of yours a bit much. Time to put an end to this."
"Looked down on you?" Deku looked shocked. "I always looked up to you! You were amazing! You didn't let anything get in your way! For as long as I could remember, I always wanted to be just like you! So please! Please live!"
Flashes of Deku coursed through Katsuki's head as he pushed himself to his feet. Staring down as Deku protected the weakling he had put in their place, staring up from the riverbed at Deku's outstretched hand, scorching the notebook, saying the words 'why don't you jump off a building, maybe you'll get a Quirk in the next life'.
Roaring as loud as his lungs would let him, Katsuki pressed his palms together and ran forward. As the villain drew his arm back for another punch, Katsuki squeezed and forced the explosion out his fingertips.
"Armor piercing shot!" A sharp, staccato blast shot out like a knife. The villain's skin hardened and split as the blast cleaved through it like a wedge.
"Gah!" The villain grabbed at his shoulder. Blood seeped out of the crack above his armpit, where the explosion had bit deep into the petrified muscle. "You little shit! You'll pay for that!"
Katsuki's hands felt aflame from the recoil of that blast, but he forced his palms back together. This time, he aimed dead center in the man's forehead.
"I'm going to be the number one hero someday," Katsuki yelled, "And no worthless villain's going to stop me!"
Blood spurted as the explosion split the villain's face in two. The villain's obsidian eyes rolled back in his head, and he hit the ground with a ponderous crash.
Panting, Katsuki swayed on his feet. The villains, cowed by the stone man's defeat, hesitated before Katsuki's blood-streaked appearance.
"He's… he's on his last legs!" one villain cried. "He'll go down easy, watch!"
As he ran forward, Katsuki sidestepped the man's knife and slammed his palm into his chest. The explosion flung him hard enough into a wall to leave cracks.
"You think I'm tired? I'm just getting started!"
The villains fell like bowling pins as Katsuki crashed through them, flinging explosions left and right. Within seconds, every villain was on the floor, smoking from the blasts that felled them.
"Kacchan!" Deku yelled. "There's an invisible villain right behind you!"
Katsuki turned around. He saw nothing. Part of him felt self-conscious about taking advice from someone no one else could see or hear, but he blasted the space anyway. A chameleon villain, who had been camouflaged, changed color and passed out on the floor.
"So, you really are real," Katsuki said.
"You thought I wasn't?"
"No one else could see you. What was I supposed to think?"
"Oh." Deku's face brightened, and he asked, "So, um, does that mean you'll come visit-"
"Which way to the mist villain?" Katsuki cut him off.
"The warp Quirk? You shouldn't, you're injured, you need to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving until all those villains are beaten, and he needs to die first. So, which way?"
Izuku reluctantly led him down a flight of stairs to a rubble-strewn street. Every so often, Izuku floated off to scout out the area. After a few minutes of running, the buildings parted, revealing a vista that overlooked the fountain at the center of the USJ. A circle of unconscious villains surrounded Eraserhead, who stood panting, scarf floating around him. Handsy and his two underlings stood side by side, staring at the hero as he finished off the last of the cannon fodder.
"Perfect," Katsuki said. "I'll take them out and show our teacher I'm a real hero."
"Wait, Kacchan! Ochako needs your help!"
Katsuki glanced where Deku was pointing. Over in the landslide area, Ochako backpedaled, gasping for air and tinged green in her face, as four villains hounded after her. As he watched, a knife grazed her shoulder, drawing a long, bloody furrow across her costume.
"I don't have time to deal with extras. This is what she gets for playing hero when she's as weak as she is."
Deku gaped at him in horror. "Please, you have to help her! She'll die if you don't!"
"I'll see if she's still breathing once I'm done with Mister Misty over there."
Deku stood in his way, but Katsuki walked past, ignoring the shiver that ran up his spine. As he kept going, Deku called out, "Save her, and I'll never talk to you again!"
Katsuki turned around. "Are you serious?"
"That's what you want, isn't it? I won't go to class, or go anywhere near you." Deku knelt on the ground, blinking back tears. "Please. I don't want her to die, but I can't do anything! Save her!"
Katsuki glanced back at the villains. The giant black one was tossing Eraserhead around like a ragdoll. Over at the landslide, Ochako yelped as a rope wound around her ankle and yanked her to the ground.
Katsuki took another step towards Eraserhead. As he did, the memory of his exam results, of the teacher's scolding, came back to him. Katsuki gnashed his teeth and seethed with frustration. Clenching his fists, Katsuki turned and ran towards Round Cheeks.
A blast from his palms launched him up the rugged hill. Just as a knife descended towards Ochako's back, Katsuki collided feet-first with a villain, knocking the blade aside. Three more blasts took out the pursuing villains before they could shout.
Katsuki grabbed Ochako by the back of her costume and hauled her onto her feet. "You're not dead, are you?"
"No, I'm f-fine." Ochako gasped for air, and her legs barely held her up.
"Good. Stay here and don't get yourself killed." Katsuki turned back towards the plaza, just in time to see All Might throw a string of punches into the giant monster. With one final punch, All Might sent it flying through the roof.
Katsuki cursed under his breath as Kurogiri vanished with Shigaraki.
"Wow, that was amazing!" Ochako said. "We're safe now that All Might's here!"
"They got away," Katsuki muttered. "They wouldn't have escaped if he took care of that mist villain first."
Ochako eyed him warily and said, "Thank you, for saving me. I guess you're not as big a jerk as I thought."
"I'm not saving you a second time. Next time villains come around, you better kick their asses."
"I take it back. You're still a jerk!"
Katsuki had a retort on the tip of his tongue, but it never came. Exhaustion and blood loss finally caught up to him as the adrenaline from the villain attack wore off. The USJ spun around him as Katsuki fell forward onto his face.
The last thing he heard before everything went dark was Deku begging him to be alright.
A/N: it's good to be back! COVID knocked me down for a week, and I'm still coping with the last of the symptoms. Hopefully should be better within a few days.
In the meantime, I'll try to finish up the last chapter of this short story. I hope you've all enjoyed the ride so far, and thanks for waiting!