Chapter 3: What a mess!

Introduction

V/O (Kaminari[whining]): Bakugou needs to learn to chill! He is way too trigger-happy!

V/O (Kirishima): Dude, you sent him three hours away on an outing he was against in the first place, then made fun of him. Of course he was going to be mad at you.

V/O (Kaminari[exasperated]): Yeah, but he really seemed like he was going to kill me!

V/O (Kirishima): You just need to apologize to him, man.

V/O (Kaminari): I know that! Kinda hard though when he's avoiding you.

V/O (Kirishima): I think you're just avoiding him…

V/O (Kaminari[defeated]): Let's just get this over with...

V/O(Kirishima and Kaminari): Plus ultra.

Katsuki entered his room, shutting the door behind him. Despite his explosive nature, his room was quite organized and clean. Everything was neatly in place. Someone with no knowledge of Bakugou, upon entering, might even make some assumptions about his orderliness and his dedication to simplicity. These assumptions would be largely baseless, but their confusion would be wholly understandable.

He dragged his duffle bag-Hikari still inside-to a bit of open floor space and unzipped the bag.

"You can come out now," he said, his voice weary, as he shuffled off and went to take a load off his feet. Hikari sat up in the bag, her legs numb from being cramped in it for hours. She looked around the room in awe.

/So neat...not what I expected.../

There was a door to the bathroom on the left. On the right wall was an incredibly large bean bag-larger than Hikari had ever seen. It held the shape of a couch, though it looked as though it could be molded into anything. A low, light brown coffee table with a remote on it sat in front of the comfy-looking bean bag. Two seat cushions were tucked under the table.

/I wonder what kind of friends he has...I've only ever heard him yell at people who talk to him.../

In reality, it was odd for Katsuki to even have the seat cushions because he never had anyone over in his room.

Hikari continued to look around, fascinated. A television on a stand stood next to the door, facing the opposite wall as to be visible from the coffee table and bean bag. A small fridge stood in the corner between the bean bag and the television. Further down the room, next to the bean bag, lay a book-filled desk with a computer on it. The computer was a newer model; you could see all the mechanics inside it and it had a light scheme, which was currently set to variations of reds, oranges, and yellows. A worn down punching bag was tucked away in the back corner.

/So cool...technology has come a long way...and that punching bag looks like it's been beaten to death...poor thing...looks like it's ready to cry.../

His bed was in the opposite corner of the room. The headrest had shelves which held an alarm clock and a few small All Might knick-knacks on it. There was a running AC above his bed that seemed to have been running all day, making the room quite comfortable. He had a sliding closet opposite his bed. There was a rack set up along the wall between the bed and closet that held a variety of different weights, organized by size, with one noticeably absent pair of dumbbells left errantly out on the floor.

/There are so many...he must work out a lot.../

A huge, empty space in the middle of the room led the way to the large sliding door that opened up to his own balcony. He had the black and red curtains open, revealing a lone spider plant out on the rail.

Three All Might posters hung on the walls. One on the wall next to the bathroom, one above the bean bag, and one above the bed. Hikari stopped and stared at the poster above the bed.

/That poster.../

Katsuki dropped onto the bean bag, graceless and limp.

/Finally...what a crap day.../

Katsuki felt a wave of exhaustion hit him that almost put him out. He pushed his palms against his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up a little. He looked over to Hikari who was just staring at the limited edition All Might poster by the bed.

It was a special poster he got when he was eight years old. This poster was an All Might Crunch cereal prize where you had to collect all 10 unique stickers from the cereal box. There were only 10 of these posters in existence, meaning first come, first serve. Katsuki wouldn't shut up about wanting the prize to his mother and, ultimately, she gave in. It took 50 cereal boxes to find all the stickers. The only thing Katsuki was allowed to eat for the next few months was cereal, which was also the last time he ever bought and ate it; for some reason, he just couldn't see the appeal of it anymore.

"Hey, whatcha doing?" Katsuki asked.

No response.

"Oi...I'm talkin' to ya."

Silence.

Katsuki clenched his fist, how dare she ignore him? He stood up and headed toward Hikari, ready to punch her to get her attention. Just then, Hikari's stomach rumbled loudly, making him stop in his tracks. She sat motionless in the duffle bag, looking up at the All Might poster. Katsuki grumbled and turned, walking over to his fridge and grabbing a convenience store bento box out of it. He tapped Hikari on the head with the food container. She snapped out of her own thoughts and looked up at Katsuki.

"Here. You're clearly hungry, stupid."

Hikari stared at Katsuki for a moment before taking the meal. It consisted of rice, rolled egg, dumplings, and seaweed salad.

"Thank you," she said. Hikari placed the food on the table and slowly made her way out of the bag. Her legs felt tingly as they regained feeling. She pulled a cushion from under the table and sat on it. She tried to open the container, struggling.

"What were ya even thinkin' 'bout?" Katsuki was irritated that she had ignored him earlier.

"I used to have that same poster in my room before I got taken. I cried really wanting the poster that was advertised on the All Might Crunch cereal box. My father noticed and immediately took me to the store to buy as many boxes as it would take to get all 10 stickers. Mom was furious when she got home and saw we had 55 boxes of cereal, all opened and none eaten. She made us eat it for weeks. I couldn't eat it again after that!" Hikari chuckled before her face shifted into a solemn, sad look.

"Seeing you have this poster took me by surprise. Honestly, when I sat up I thought I was in my own room at home for a moment…" Hikari stopped trying to open her meal. Large tears pooled onto the top of the plastic container. She hiccupped.

"I wanna see my family...I wanna go home…" She started and couldn't stop crying.

Katsuki twitched.

"ARGH! Sorry I asked! Is the only thing you know how to do is cry?! Stop crying already!" Katsuki was angry, and it showed. He hated that it showed.

"WHY ARE YOU SO MEAN!?" Hikari's eyes shot up toward Katsuki, who had been looking down at her. Katsuki immediately felt his face get warm and water coming from his own eyes.

/What the hell!?.../

He glared at Hikari, tears welling up as he tried to keep them from falling.

"STOP USING YOUR QUIRK ON ME, ABDUCTED CRYBABY!"

"I'M SORRY, BUT YOU STARTED IT! YOU'RE SUCH A JERK! WHY WERE YOU EVEN LOOKING AT ME?!

"YA LOOK AT SOMEONE WHEN YOU'RE TALKIN' TO THEM, DUMBASS!"

"STOP CALLING ME NAMES!" Hikari started sobbing, she threw her head in her arms and onto the table. She was shaking, crying loudly now.

Katsuki turned away and took a seat on the bean bag. He buried his head in his hands, applying pressure to his head. It was drowning with so many different emotions. He could barely keep up with them. It was apparent to Katsuki she wasn't just angry, homesick and sad, there were so many more feelings he couldn't begin to understand. It was complex and overwhelming. There was a new feeling creeping through him: a twinge of fear, small but penetratingly visceral.

He clenched his teeth. This was the second time today he was forced to feel things. It was the first time today he regretted forcing Hikari to feel things.

/Grrr...I needa calm down…her last six years have clearly been worse than my last 24 hours.../

He sighed.

"Stop screaming, we're gonna get caught..."

"I'm not screaming, I'm crying, you stupid, hot-tempered jerk!"

Katsuki bit his tongue to keep himself from exploding at her again.

"Same 're too loud," he said, voice strained, holding himself back from yelling.

Hikari was glaring at him, her face red and patchy from crying. He had really pushed her to her limits.

Katsuki sighed angrily and wiped his eyes, trying to dry them though futile because the tears wouldn't stop pooling. He clicked his tongue.

"Look, I think you know ya can't go home right now. It would put your family in danger. This Despair bastard needs 'da be taken out first. I still needa figure out a way to tell the teachers you're here without them immediately sending ya to the police. While I'm workin' on that, don't waste your time crying over things that aren't in your control. Get stronger instead. I'll help you with that."

Hikari wiped her tears from her own face. Her expression softened.

"You really will?" she sniffled.

"Why else would I break the rules just to bring you here? Stupid crybaby!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Whatever...just eat before ya keel over."

As they continued to look at each other, Katsuki felt the slightest inkling of hopefulness

rise up in him, and knew that Hikari must have been feeling it, too.

. . . Meanwhile in the common area . . .

It was around 7pm. By now all the students had returned to their dorms. While most had gone up to their rooms, a few decided to hang out in the common area, talking about their day.

Kaminari was slouched on the couch, looking like he was about to become the couch. Kirishima sat next to him along with Tsuyu Asui, a classmate of theirs. Midoriya was on the other couch along with Hanta Sero, a classmate with a tape quirk, and Shoto Todoroki, a classmate with an ice and fire quirk. Kyouka Jiro and Ochako Uraraka, also classmates, were both in the kitchen making tea for everyone, which, once completed, they served.

"What's up with Kaminari? He looks like he's seen a ghost," Jiro asked Kirishima, pointing over at the slumped over, traumatized individual with her earphone jack. She handed tea over to Kirishima and Asui. She left Kaminari's on the table in front of him along with the small tray she carried the drinks on.

"Bakugou happened. We were all supposed to meet in Mayami City today to go to the beach. Kaminari zapped himself stupid last night charging all his appliances and texted Bakugou that we would meet in Manami City instead," Kirishima responded, taking the tea.

"Manami? Isn't that the port city hours away?" Uraraka chimed in, a look of surprise on her face. She had three drinks floating next to her, thanks to her quirk: zero gravity. She lightly pushed the drinks toward Midoriya, Sero, and Todoroki for them to take before releasing her quirk. Although it would have been easier to just hand the drinks over, she wanted to work on improving her quirk.

Midoriya took his tea and thanked Uraraka.

"No wonder Kacchan was terrifying at the gate when I arrived. He looked like he went through a lot….I wonder what happened in Manami City… he looked focused on something… and that look in his eyes… and he usually carries his bag..."

"You're muttering again, Midoriya. Anyway, there was nothing on the news about it today, though a big storm blew through. He probably got caught in it, ribbit," Asui commented, finger to her cheek.

"Yeah, he was soaked standing at the gate when we arrived back. There was also a faint funky smell in the air around him. He did have to spend at least an hour and a half there since the trains run so slow….and it didn't help Kaminari just kept poking fun at him."

Kirishima turned to Kaminari.

"You really need to apologize, dude."

"I know, I know! Next time I see him I'll make it up to him, but he really needs to chill out." Kaminari groaned.

"Man, you really did it this time," Sero laughed.

"Don't remind me," Kaminari responded, his head down.

"Maybe you should be nicer next time," Todoroki added.

"Like I need to be told that!" Kaminari retorted.

. . . Katsuki's Room . . .

Katsuki laid face down on the bean bag, burying his face. Again, he was waiting for the effects of her quirk to end.

/So...she can pass emotional feelings onto people...which probably means her quirk directly affects how the brain processes information...she can also pass on multiple feelings at once which is why I can't figure out what she is feeling, there are too many to go through...and when she is overwhelmed she can't control whether she passes them on or not...and only works through direct eye contact...it's like she forces others to feel what she feels...like forced empathy...what a pain...this is giving me a headache.../

Hikari stopped crying and ate in silence. Every so often she looked over at Katsuki, who was hiding his face from her-at least, that's what she thought. Boys aren't supposed to cry. It's what her father would always tell her older brother.

/I can't believe I yelled at him...and used my quirk on him again...he's done so much for me...I'd probably be back with Despair if he hadn't helped me...and I repaid him by torturing him…I should apologize.../

"Kacchan…I'm sorry," she said, putting the chopsticks down on the empty container. Katsuki jolted up. His eyes were red from rubbing them to death. He was taken aback by hearing 'Kacchan' come from someone other than Midoriya and a few times by Kaminari when he's joking around and trying to get a rise from Katsuki.

"Why're you callin' me that? Only the nerd calls me that!"

/Nerd?.../

Hikari thought for a second before she responded.

"You never told me your name. I heard someone... think you called him Deku? He called you Kacchan when we arrived here... I wanted to address you properly."

Katsuki thought for a few moments and realized she was right. He never did tell her who he was.

"It's Katsuki Bakugou."

"Then I'll call you Katsuki."

"Bakugou is fine…"

"I like Katsuki better."

Katsuki twitched.

"Whatever!" He got up deciding it wasn't worth another argument. He went over to his closet and looked through the clothing he had. At this point, Hikari's quirk finally left him. After a few minutes, Katsuki found what he was looking for.

"Here." He handed a towel and a pair of clothing to Hikari: a white t-shirt with the word "boom" written in Katakana across the front and a pair of jeans, with a belt.

"These are the smallest I have….you look that way and change. I'll be changing this way so keep yer eyes over there," Katsuki barked. He turned and started to change and dry off. Hikari turned around the moment he took his shirt off, realizing he wasn't going to wait for her to turn. She paused for a moment before doing the same.

Katsuki finished up, turning to throw his clothing in the hamper. He realized he forgot to ask if she was done changing-rather just assumed that she would be done before him. He was wrong. His eyes were caught on her exposed back as she was putting on the borrowed shirt. Her emaciated frame was covered fully in old scars and new lacerations. They screamed, "this is what six years of being captured by villains was like!" It caught him off guard. He had seen bad injuries before – many times before. But he realized injuries from those who had been tortured was something he had only seen in his textbooks. The glossy photographs and their descriptive footnotes of the damages done paled in comparison to the all-too-real and all-too-fresh wounds laid out like roadmaps on the back of a girl who was, frankly, all-too-young to have to have endured the torment. It made him sick to his stomach as he started to feel some instinctive, boiling hatred toward the ones who did this to her. Her actions up to this point finally clicked with him. He turned back around before she could.

"Ya done?" Katsuki asked.

"Yeah, I'm done," Hikari responded, looking at Katsuki's back. He turned to face her.

"Put the towel in the basket, your old clothing can go in the burnable trash." He didn't want her clothes mixed in with his. If he forgot, then it would be an awkward conversation as to why he had girls' clothing with him.

. . .

"Bakugou, I didn't know you were into that kind of thing…" Todoroki commented.

"That's hysterical, Bakugou-chan!" Kaminari laughed.

"Kacchan, I had no idea!" Midoriya said, genuinely interested, and yet, a bit terrified.

"You crossplay without caring what others think! So manly!" Kirishima said passionately.

. . .

Katsuki laid down on the bean bag, already aggravated by events that only happened in his head.

"Oh!" Hikari hurried over to the duffle bag on the ground, digging through it. Katsuki sat up quickly, wondering why she was going through his bag.

"OI! Why're you going through my things!" Katsuki scowled. He was about to get up, however, stopped when she pulled out the clothing and bathing suit he packed for the beach. They were dripping all over the floor. This wouldn't have been a surprise considering the monsoon they were out in earlier today, but that was hours ago and his bag was waterproof. There was no way they could be that level of soaked.

"...I was holding onto them so they got wet…I also cried all over them…if we leave them in the bag, they will get all moldy smelling…" Hikari said, standing up and looking around the room to where she could hang them to dry.

Katsuki sighed, aggravated. He stood up and threw out his hand toward her.

"Fork it," He demanded.

Hikari hesitantly handed them over.

Katsuki swiped them and headed out onto his balcony. He threw the clothing on the ground, before grabbing a pole that was lying down. He set it up on a stand at one corner of the balcony. He pulled a wire attached to the wall next to the sliding door across and connected it to the pole, making a clothesline. He hung the first piece of clothing onto the line. As he turned to grab a clothespin from a basket by the wall, Hikari came into sight, almost making him jump back and fall off the balcony. He didn't realize she had followed him, his face contorting to a scowl. She had grabbed some clothes pins and was standing up next to him, clipping the clothing that he just hung onto the line.

"This isn't a team sport…" Katsuki said flatly, as put the next clothing onto the line.

"It's my fault your clean clothes got dirty…" Hikari replied, applying the clip.

"I don't need your help," Katsuki huffed, putting the last of the clothing up.

"I can't just have you clean up what I ruined…" Hikari replied, applying the final clip.

Katsuki glared at Hikari who just looked back pouting.

/What's her problem?.../

/What's his problem?.../

Just then the two could hear a door being slid open. Katsuki pushed Hikari down, realizing before she could that the door was from the next door balcony. Hikari yelped, which was greeted with a harsh "shh" from Katsuki. Hikari held her mouth, and scooted herself along the wall of the balcony to be more hidden.

"Hey man! What are you doing up so late?" Kirishima laughed, coming into view.

/Late? Isn't it 9p.m.?.../

"What's it look like, shitty hair!? Hanging clothes to dry…" Katsuki replied.

"Oh. Sorry, I thought I heard you talking to someone…"

Hikari froze. Katsuki glared at Kirishima. He wouldn't have pegged Kirishima to have super hearing–though it wouldn't have crossed his own mind that they could have just been too loud.

"You should get your ears checked…you're clearly hearing things…," Katsuki finally answered.

"Haha, maybe. Actually, I was hoping Kaminari had gone over to apologize…he did feel really bad for sending you to Manami City," Kirishima rested his arms on his side of the balcony, almost trespassing onto Katsuki's. Hikari could see the very tip of red hair and felt her heart jump to her throat. If he leaned any closer, he would definitely be able to see the top of her head.

Katsuki took a step toward Hikari and grabbed onto the edge of his side of the balcony, his body leaning over her.

"Like he'd show his face after the crap he put me through today! Stupid Energizer Bunny would have to zap himself retarded to come talk to me right now," Katsuki gripped the balcony tighter. To Kirishima, he was definitely still pissed off at Kaminari. To Hikari, he was nervous that Kirishima would get closer and see her. They would both be correct in their assumptions. Both were equally stressing him out.

"Right…you need more time to forgive him. Totally understand, man!" Kirishima replied with a smile. He removed his arms from the balcony edge.

"Whatever!" Katsuki replied, looking away from Kirishima.

Kirishima laughed, before waving goodnight at Katsuki and returning to his room. Katsuki let out an aggravated huff before glaring down at Hikari, who looked up at him. To him, her face showed relief, gratitude, tiredness, and a bit of fear. After a few seconds he realized there was no way he would know exactly, to the T, what she was feeling from just looking at her face. It was her quirk…she passed her feelings onto him, again. He took a step back and crouched down, tousling his hair and groaning.

"...Are you okay?" Hikari said, in a quiet voice.

"Just freakin' peachy!"Katsuki retorted before getting up and storming back into his room. Hikari crawled back inside, before standing and shutting the door and the curtain. She watched Katsuki throw himself into the beanbag.

"Are you going to sleep?" Hikari asked.

"What's it look like!?... Shut off the light when you're done..."

Hikari frowned. He didn't have to be so curt. As she looked at him, she realized just how tired he looked.

/He looks so worn out….maybe my quirk affected him more than he let on.../

"You should sleep in your bed, I can take the bean bag."

"Shut up, I'm already laying here. I'm not gettin' up," Katsuki turned, showing no interest in continuing the conversation and really just to show he wanted her to stop talking.

Hikari stood there, staring at Katsuki. She sighed and went to turn the lights off before crawling into bed.

/So comfy.../

It took only an instant for Hikari to fall asleep. The room was so quiet Katsuki could hear her slow, rhythmic breathing which indicated to him she was no longer awake.

/How am I gonna get the teachers to agree to house her here.../

Before Katsuki could even come up with one idea, he had also drifted off to sleep.

. . . Middle of the Night . . .

"So...you lost her?" A man in his early 30s, cloaked in black, sat. His purple eyes were focused on the dominoes before him. His side-swept brown hair was neatly combed over. The cuffs of his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, showing a hand with manipulator's sticks tattooed on his forearm. His attention while addressing his subordinates was only on the dominoes.

"We are so sorry, Despair," the lanky man said, "it started to rain hard, and we lost sight of her…" The other man nodded in agreement. He was heavily built with the same tattoo on his arm.

"We took the trains to see if maybe she boarded one...but saw nothing." The heavy-built man added.

"Hmm? Is that so? You took so long. Here I thought you two were thinking about running away," Despair responded, adding more dominoes to his set. The two men froze. Despair was absolutely right. They both did think they could escape but decided to come back. The scarier part is Despair knew, and the two of them knew that.

"What's so scary about being here?" Despair's words cut like daggers as he turned one of his domino pieces around, making it face the opposite direction. He got up and walked over to the two men who stood in fear.

"Tell me, was it fun?"

"N-nn-no….it wa-" The lanky man started to respond before he was impaled through the heart by Despair's gloved fist. Despair pulled his fist out. The lanky man spat blood out before falling limp onto the floor. The heavily set man's eyes widened in terror as he turned and began to run. Despair's hand caught the back of his head and his head was slammed into the concrete ground. His body twitched before going limp, a pool of blood emerging from his head.

"I need to go wash my hands. Recorder! Get the information from these two deadweights. Maybe they have something useful they saw. And you," Despair pointed at a trembling man in the corner, "…clean this mess up and remember this." He chuckled and walked out of the room. The man stood horrified, thinking that he may one day end up like them. He waited for Recorder to gather the information she needed.

Recorder was a tall woman, with long dark hair and glasses. She had the same tattoo as the rest of them, but her's located on her ankle. She put her hands on both of the dead individuals and began to record what their last 72 hours were, everywhere they went, did, thought, and saw. It only took a few minutes to do.

"Okay, done." She said, standing up and pulling a CD out of her hand. She left the room, leaving the man alone to clean up the bodies.