Hey guys, I'm back with a new chapter
Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia and any of its characters, these belong solely to Kohei Horikoshi.
Katsuki had been anticipating 'Em-Fumiko's arrival. He'd seen the photos the nerd had sent his parents and felt conflicted. When he'd learnt about Emiko's status, he'd expected a less smiley but still beautiful green-haired, green-eyed face filled with freckles. Not a clear-skinned girl with multicoloured hair and eyes! Her face didn't look anything like it used to, she didn't have her trademark smile and even her eyes had a different look to them… they were more guarded and were mostly empty. And he hated it! This new version of her grated on his nerves… he hated the fact that he didn't know anything about her anymore. She was a complete stranger since she didn't have her memories… and he didn't know how to feel about that.
She wouldn't remember her bad experiences with the villain but that also meant that she didn't remember him anymore. She wouldn't remember the love they'd shared as kids. Or the way they'd fight all the time only to make up with lots of kisses. Or the way they'd sneak away from the kids to just be alone together. Damn it all! It hurt all over again.
In fact, he didn't even know how to face the nerd anymore. He'd lost it when he'd learnt about the real reason Emiko left (he'd eavesdropped on his parents when they were talking with each other). He blamed Izuku for his cowardice and hated how the stupid boy dreamt about becoming a hero when he couldn't even save his sister from his mother's worries and fears.
In his opinion, the other boy had no right to dream about becoming a hero. But he'd also feel guilty for being a bad friend. There were times when he'd beat the bullies up when Izuku wasn't around. He'd warn them to stay away from the frail kid and threaten them with his quirk. The extras would listen to him for a few days but forget his warnings after a few days. He'd never stopped them when they bullied Izuku though… he'd just ignore the scene because he wanted the other kid to realize that they weren't friends anymore. They couldn't continue their friendship anyways… not when just looking at Izuku reminded him about Emiko and her disappearance.
And then she'd died. He remembered that day very, very clearly. It was the worst day of his life. He'd just returned home after beating up some bullies when he was greeted with his father's serious expression instead of his mother's loud acknowledgement. Just that had instantly alerted him about how terrible the condition was. He'd wondered if Izuku had ratted out him for not defending him against the bullies, but he knew the other kid was too kind for his own good. So, what had happened? Unlike his mother who was direct and to the point, his father preferred to coddle him and ensure that he was completely ready and in the right state of mind to take the news.
He'd found it annoying back then but whenever he thought about it now, he was glad it was dad who'd informed him about what had happened. His dad had informed him about Emiko's… death only when his mood had somewhat stabilized (he was tired and needed to clear his mind from the bullies and his dad ensured he was completely focused by the time had to tell him the dreadful news).
"Katsuki, dear boy, we need to go to the Midoriya residence in a few minutes… that's where your mother is right now. Before we leave, I've got something to tell you. It's… very important so please pay attention", Masaru spoke softly. "I am paying attention! Stop babying me and just put an end to all this suspense. I'm not a kid!", he hissed angrily. Masaru simply stared at him and patted his head, "We've just received the news today… Katsuki… we know how fond you are of Emiko and I'm sorry to tell you this, dear son, but… it seems that Emiko has died."
It took an entire minute for him to process that statement. His father's worry increased upon his silence, and he was repeatedly calling out his name. After he'd processed what his father had told him, he'd completely lost it. "That's not true, you shitty old man. Is this the hag's doing?! Huh?! Or did the Midoriya house lose their heads?! Why are you killing someone who's alive?! Do you think she'd die so easily!? You're wrong! She's alive! I know it! I would've felt it otherwise! She's not a weakling! I don't know why you're lying to me but I'm not going to accept this… this sick joke!", he'd screamed whilst exploding everything near him. He'd lost all control of his quirk that day.
Masaru had looked at him with pity in his eyes… something which only added fuel to his anger. He'd then screamed, until his throat felt raw, and his voice was gone. He'd passed out afterwards, according to his dad. Masaru had called Mitsuki and informed him of the situation. His mother had wanted to drop everything and check up on him, but the Midoriyas were in an even worse condition.
His mother was afraid that Inko would've unintentionally harmed Izuku and had decided to stay to make sure nothing happened. She'd then somehow managed to drag the Midoriyas to the Bakugo house because she didn't want to leave the mother and son alone until Inko's condition had stabilized. When he'd woken up later, he'd nearly exploded everyone who tried to approach him… everyone being his parents.
He'd overheard his mother trying to reassure Inko. "They haven't found her body yet. I don't think she's… gone, Inko. You have to stay strong for Izuku. And for Emiko too. You don't want her to be upset when she comes back, do you?", Mitsuki would say whilst patting her back and hugging her. Meanwhile, Izuku hadn't moved an inch. Masaru had tried to pry a reaction out of him, but the poor boy was in a state of shock. He wasn't paying any attention to his surroundings.
If Katsuki had paid more attention back then, he would've realized that his mother was sure that she wasn't dead either since she said, 'when she'd come back' instead of saying 'if she'd come back'. But what had pissed Katsuki off the most was how everyone had assumed she was dead. She was simply missing! He would've felt something if she were truly dead. But no! Everybody else except his mother was too much of a coward to see that. He'd hated the Midoriyas for giving up on Emiko so quickly.
Why couldn't her family believe the fact that she was still alive… when he… an outsider could?! If Emiko was out there somewhere and in need of help… she'd be so disheartened to learn that her family had given up on her. But it didn't matter, he'd decided. He wouldn't believe it… even if they'd found her dead body. He wouldn't believe it until his heart told him so.
He'd been so determined initially. Until they'd actually found her body. It had been badly mutilated. The murderer had been so vicious that they couldn't even recognize her anymore… they had to carry out a DNA test, which had turned out to be positive. He'd been too shocked when he'd found out… the tiny part of him that still insisted Emiko was alive had been trampled upon by the photo of the DNA result.
Until that part finally stayed silent forever. He'd bullied Izuku to vent his emotions. He hated the boy for giving up on Emiko, hated himself for doing the same and just hated everything in general. People were annoying, his parents were annoying, and everything that didn't happen accordingly was just annoying! Everything pissed him off! His attitude had worsened. His parents had tried to take him to therapy, but he'd managed to scare all of his therapists off. He'd been so angry at everything that he'd forgotten the source of it. If he remembered Emiko at all, it was followed by bone-deep hatred for the villain who'd killed her that badly! He'd kill the guy for doing that!
Until Izuku had informed the Bakugos about how Inko had been keeping secrets about Emiko from everyone. Katsuki had never been so elated in Izuku's presence before his announcement. The green-haired boy was finally ready to stand up for his sister. Emiko's family didn't completely reject her. She still had a brother to come home to… and she always had him. Everything that had once annoyed him to the core no longer bothered him. Those annoying little extras were now non-existent. Wimpy, stupid little dreamer Deku was just Izuku now.
Katsuki was now confused about his feelings for the other boy. He didn't feel like bullying him anymore… he wasn't mad at the other kid. In fact, he felt guilty for all the times when he'd bullied the boy… Izuku didn't have it easy either. The other kid had to deal with Inko's antics and bear the brunt of all that bullying. Even if Izuku didn't want to give up on Emiko… he couldn't say anything in front of his mom. It wasn't that Katsuki didn't know any of this before… he could only now understand and empathize with the other kid. It was as if his mind suddenly became a lot clearer after learning about her status.
He'd been eager and nervous about meeting her after all these years. Would he accept the new her? Of course, he would! There was no doubt about it. After all, he was no longer the five-year-old Katsuki either so it wouldn't be fair to reject the 'new' her just because she was different. What if she didn't like him? He didn't want to create a bad first impression. He'd decided to listen to some music to calm down. When he'd finally settled down a little, he'd sensed somebody entering his room. Was it the old hag or was it them? Before he could overthink the situation and embarrass himself in front of whoever it was, he calmly (he hoped the scene looked as cool as it did in his brain) opened his eyes. And it was them!
Fumiko was looking at him with a strange expression. Her eyes were narrowed… and her face totally gave away the fact that she didn't recognise him. He'd expected her to not remember him but to actually see that look on her face really hurt him. The fact that something like this managed to hurt his heart hurt his ego. And his bruised ego (it had been years – if he ignored the sludge villain incident – since his ego was hurt and it was very unpleasant) was slowly fanning his flames of anger. He'd calmed down considerably after he'd learnt about Emiko's status but that look of no visible recognition was maddening. Did she recognise Izuku? Did she recognise anybody else? Was it only him? Or was she like this with everybody else? He wanted to know goddamnit!
Before he could think about anything else, Fumiko instantly smiled and greeted him, "Kacchan! I remember you! It's good to see you again!" As soon as she'd smiled… it was as if a switch had been turned on. Everything else ceased to exist (including the nerd). It was just him and Fumiko. Even though her face looked as if it had undergone plastic surgery, her smile hadn't changed one bit. He suddenly remembered a five-year-old calling him 'Suki-chan' with the same smile. He felt his heart thump loudly against his chest and internally screamed at it to stop beating so loudly lest they were interrupted. He'd never heard words that sounded sweeter than 'I remember you' (other than their confession).
He had somehow managed to reply, "I-I-It's good to see you too Emi-Fumiko." She'd perked up at that and had started a conversation with him. Since she'd ignored Izuku… that meant she was feeling whatever he was too! This connection they had! It wasn't just him and his brain and his heart and the rest of him! Before he could feel somewhat smug about it, she'd dragged Izuku back into the conversation and started asking them about their classes and homework.
That had brought him back to earth. How was he going to deal with the nerd right now? How would Fumiko feel after learning about the way he'd bullied her brother and even told him to commit suicide?! At that time, he'd blamed Izuku for his cowardice and wished the other boy had never even existed in the first place. He'd immediately felt guilty about it afterwards, but he wouldn't take his words back, especially in front of the other two extras who thought were his buddies.
He suddenly couldn't face Fumiko anymore… he felt too ashamed to look at her. He tried to decline her offer to help him out in his studies whilst wondering if the villain had continued her education. He wondered if she'd sensed something wrong because she'd then given him a serious mini-lecture and had given Endeavour as an example which had shocked him. That was a huge claim there… to freely talk about the number two's terrible family life with so much confidence wasn't a small matter. How did she even learn about these matters in the first place? This just proved that the villain who kidnapped her wasn't an ordinary villain. He thought about her memory loss and realized she never forgot how to speak, or about other important matters.
She only forgot about things directly related to her, such as her name, her family, her friends and her captors. This looked a lot like selective memory loss. He freely spoke his mind and caught a look in Fumiko's eyes before it quickly disappeared. To him, it looked like approval… but why would she approve of his analysis? Unless it was true! He heard his mother's call for lunch and couldn't stop thinking about that look in her eyes as they ate. There seemed more to her than he'd initially thought.
After lunch, he'd begun solving his questions whilst thinking about everything that had been said during the meal. Everything felt highly suspicious. Fumiko was super smart, and she was joining U.A. to take the admissions test for the hero course. Emiko had been smart as a kid… but not super smart. What had she experienced for her brain's capacity to increase to this extent? And she never wanted to become a hero. He remembered how much the nerd wanted her to join him, but she'd always declined him. She'd always listen to him with a smile on her face (she was always smiling; it was a charm she'd sadly lost over the years) but she'd never give Izuku hope.
Nothing added up… was it because of the fact that she'd been kidnapped by a villain without getting rescued by a hero for years that she wanted to become a hero. No… it didn't seem like that during lunch. In fact, she didn't seem resentful towards the villain at all. Was it because she didn't remember him/her or because of some other reason? So many questions and no answers. He looked at her sleeping figure and was struck by how beautiful her sleeping face looked. Her face was so relaxed and peaceful. He remembered her giggling at him during lunch and felt his heart flutter. He was so screwed… it seemed that he'd never really fallen out of love.
Suddenly her phone rang, destroying the entire mood. She talked to some Melissa person and all his previous doubts about her intelligence (a part of him thought she'd been exaggerating or that the people who'd tested were stupid) vanished with all the technical terms that came out of her mouth. She'd then apologized and told them about why she was joining U.A. in the first place. It was sick… to think that she'd just fallen into another cage after escaping a villain. He suddenly felt a deep hatred for the HPSC and vowed to never become one of their lapdogs. He'd seen a glint of malice in her eyes as she talked about the organization and honestly… he couldn't blame her. To be monitored 24/7 sounded terrible. Though, Fumiko had somehow figured that out since nobody had told her anything about the monitoring in the first place.
How? Was it because the villain trained her to sneakily obtain classified information? What did the villain actually want from Fumiko? He first led everyone to believe that she'd died. Then trained and educated her. To do what? Did he want her to join their organization? Why? What could a quirkless girl offer him? What was he missing? Nothing made sense anymore…! Fumiko had answered some of his questions… only to give him even more of them. And it seemed that Fumiko knew more than the HPSC would've liked. Maybe whatever she was showing them was a façade. How could she trust him… they'd just met after nearly ten years. She didn't seem to be the sentimental type and briefly wondered if she was setting them up for something before dismissing that thought. But he'd get her to completely trust him, no matter what. She'd trust him so much that she would no longer try to hide anything from him because he'd love her that much! Even if she were one of the worst villains in history!
Author's Notes: Well, that's it for today. I actually wanted to add something new other than Katsuki's thoughts about the entire situation, but it took up a lot of space. I couldn't just skip it because… he's one of the main characters after all (the tritagonist of this story actually). Katsuki over here doesn't have an inferiority complex as he does in canon. His reasons for bullying Izuku are, of course, different due to an OC's interference. I think there's a high chance of him being OOC in this story. I hope I'll do him justice… because I like his character a lot. Do comment your views and I'll see y'all soon!