As with most domino effects, the public crisis began with one singular incident that didn't seem to herald the beginning of the end. Pro-Hero Mercury's assassination in civilian clothing was a scandal that rocked the hero community but eventually was chalked up to bad luck. When the villains who did it were quickly apprehended, it downgraded to one of those unfortunate things that chance dictates are unavoidable. It got easily swept under the rug of I'm sad it happened, but I'm glad it wasn't me. The police station had some concerns, seeing as the criminals apprehended claimed that they got the information and assassination plot from a child.
Their description deviated, though both of them seemed to agree on the child having green hair. One described him as 'cute and freckled' and the other as 'smooth and smart'; both indicated he was 'too young,' though failed to explain too young for what? The story would be more credible if the police could believe that two grown men trusted a child's word for a plan to kill a pro-hero or that they would succeed. It was just random enough to find it believable, but in truth, they agreed that the villains probably did get the plan from someone else, and the child story is just a cover.
Meanwhile, Midoriya Izuku sees the news blast the faces of the thugs he'd given the profile to and screams. For over two weeks, he's been desperately trying to convince himself that it was all just a big coincidence, but there's no going around it now. He'd designed a plan that killed a pro-hero, and the guys who did it knew his face.
Izuku ran to the only place he could, bursting into the bar with panting breath and weakened knees:
"I…" he panted, to the confusion of his companions, "I think I killed a hero."
Kirishima has been worried about Bakugou for a while now. The heavy weight on his shoulder today is different, more pressing due to his friend being kidnapped. As if the past year hadn't been hard enough on his classmate, Kirishima cannot believe Bakubro is trapped behind enemy territory once more. It's not confirmed, but Bakubro does seem to have specifically targeted, and Kirishima feels like shit about it, but cannot help wondering if Bakugou will ever shake off the shadow of Izuku Midoriya.
Not that Bakubro would ever say it, of course. Sometimes, Kirishima buys into the idea that Bakugou doesn't really care that much. The thing is, whether in the positive or negative spectrum, tepid or indifferent has never defined the relationship between Bakubro and Midoriya. Kirishima thinks the whole thing was hard because there never was some big screw up or reveal, the redhead still doesn't know exactly how Midoriya was discovered, but it happened overnight. One day he was in class; the next, he was in prison. Anticlimactic didn't even begin to describe the absolute chaos and confusion in class 2-A.
When Kirishima thinks of Izuku Midoriya the villain, he still sees the meek texts for help regarding Bakugou's birthday. How is Kirishima supposed to liken that to villainy and treason?
He remembers Midoriya planning Bakugou's rescue, pulling him out of the clutches of his own allies. It has him thinking that either Midoriya is the most talented genius Kirishima has ever known or… or things weren't entirely as black and white as Kirishima likes to think. A sobering thought if there ever was one. He and Midoriya were friends and classmates, though they were never incredibly close. Sure, Kirishima thought the whole thing that happened with him in bad taste, baffling certainly, but his first thought when it'd sank in hadn't been for himself, which brings him back to the matter at hand.
Kirishima is very worried about Bakugou. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that he's scared about what Bakugo might do. When he voices his concerns out loud to Mina and Kaminari, they are confused.
"I don't know, man, Bakugou's scary smart, and we've been through that kidnapping workshop. He knows what to do." Maybe if they were all rash first years, they would've jumped at the chance of a rescue, but lots of things have changed. After the things they've been through, it's impossible to forget that no matter how glamorous heroics might seem, their life isn't a game. Besides that, they all know how strong Bakugou is, which again, for Kirishima, is the problem. "I can't believe the League of Villains has kidnapped him twice."
Dek- Mido- Iz- The idiot! They arrested that fucking piece of shit, Kirishima! And if you want the gossip details, then you're fucking shit out of luck!
"Yeah, besides, the whole world is looking for him, you know?" Mina pitches in as well.
"Yeah, but… think about who took him," Eijirou stresses, "do we really think Bakugou's just going to sit there making conversation and stretching the time for his rescue? With the League of Villains?"
Mina opens her mouth, closes it, and opens it again.
"I was going to tell you that I'm sure Bakugou can have some self-control, but who am I kidding? This is Bakugou we're talking about."
"He does have a bone to pick with them, I guess. I don't know, I figured he was… over it?" Kaminari doesn't look convinced at all, caught up in his own skepticism.
"Is anyone really?" Kirishima mutters, thinking that there's still so much confusion about what really happened with their classmate. How much was made up? How much of it was real?
The silence that greets his question is striking.
"And you know what he did to Shinso when he caught him talking shit," Mina mutters while Kaminari scoffs.
"Was he really talking shit? It's not like what he was saying wasn't… wasn't the truth."
"That's not the point though, I'm worried about Bakubro doing something stupid, guys." Kirishima brings the conversation back on track. Bakubro got taken off school grounds; they know that much, considering they now have a mandatory buddy system. That was yesterday. If the pros know where or why the student was taken, they have not told the seniors. "... You'd think they'd want a better-behaved prisoner."
"Do… you guys think it has something to do with Midoriya?" Kaminari mentions it softly, frowning at the idea.
"I think everyone's thinking it," Mina offers, "but I would have no idea how. Hasn't he been in Tartarus all this time?" She gives a shudder at the imagery, sending out a worried glance to her companions.
"I'm the same; I don't see how he would spin it to get something out of it… I just think it's equally dumb assuming he is not involved in it."
"We have no hint of where Bakugou could be; it's giving me so much stress just sitting here," Kaminari mutters unhappily. As provisional heroes, though, it's a feeling UA students are used to. Having to wait for permission, wait for backup, wait for instruction…
"I think we'll have to leave this one for the teachers," Mina's tone is placating, but she looks nowhere near happy about it.
"Let's go get something to eat," Eijirou says, motioning to leave his room; sitting around moping isn't gonna do them any good anyway. He'll just be ready for whatever Bakubro needs when he comes back.
Even if Kirishima hadn't been there. I would've taken your stupid hand.
The wisps of memory filter in and out of him as Katsuki recovers consciousness. His body feels numb, and his legs are tingling; he's definitely been taken for a while. Anyone who has spent more than a couple of minutes with Katsuki Bakugou can tell you that he is short-tempered, irritable, and driven as hell. He is easily angered and even more easily annoyed by pretty much anything and everything. There are many things Katsuki hates. Among those things are villains. It's not only their thieving and killing, their destruction, and fear-mongering. They stand against everything Katsuki wishes to fight for. So, they are recipients of his unmitigated disdain: a type of violence and mercilessness than even people who are used to Katsuki's explosive temper might find disquieting to witness.
Even within that select group, some individuals among them bring forth something worse in Katsuki. The unadulterated, quiet rage of murder stirs within him as he lazily comes to his self in an unfamiliar… warehouse? Katsuki blinks. For a moment, even the dimmed lights are too bright, and the whole world is out of focus, but slowly, he starts distinguishing shapes. As he's prone to do, his temper goes from zero to a hundred in a matter of seconds. He knows these fucking assholes.
"You know," the voice drifts from the hand-fuckface, lounging moodily against the wall. Shigaraki's voice is gravelly and neutral; Katsuki might even call it displeased. "When I told my subordinates to kidnap a UA student, the idea of warning them off from you did cross my mind, but Midoriya always spoke so highly of your prowess that it seemed pointless. I figured they wouldn't be able to nab you anyway. Maybe, they would even kill you." His voice is like stepping on an anthill, annoying as fuck that is. "Not again."
"You wanna die, asshole?" Katsuki spits out.
"You said grab whichever one seemed easy to grab," the fire user mutters off to the side, ignoring his outburst, "and he was walking alone back from class so… I don't know what you expected, not a lot of students are prepared to be tranq from the back in their school."
"Oh, I'm sure we can think of one, at least, no?"
"Argh, I miss Izuku-chi so much!" the schoolgirl exclaims, dramatically flopping onto a ratty couch nearby, proceeding to cheerily kick her legs up in the air.
These people piss him off so fucking much.
"I'm disappointed, Bakugou Katsuki, but I cannot help thinking that maybe this is fate. Midoriya said, you were smart?" He trails off as if waiting for Katsuki to confirm or deny the claim. The blonde teen tries to remain silent, but characteristically, his mouth twists itself into a sneer and runs away from him.
"Did the freak tell you my birthday and favorite color too, bitch?"
"At the rate he went, it probably came up," the vortex man comments amusedly, and handface makes a displeased noise.
"I'm sure you've thought about it. I've made you this offer before, but things are very different now. I'm curious, are you going to let Midoriya rot his life in prison? You do know they're desperately trying to up his sentence… odd for a minor." He says it casually as if planting a seed in Katsuki's mind. Unfortunately for him, Katsuki is one of the very few people aware of the reason they want to keep the shitty nerd behind bars. You don't hand a nuclear bomb to your enemies, after all. "Don't mistake us for petty thugs; we might be called villains but isn't that the origin name of revolutionaries? Is disagreeing with society truly a crime?"
What is to be a hero, Kacchan? I just… feel like I forgot on the way.
"What is a hero? What is justice?" he continues on. Clearly, he missed Katsuki's last memo on his lack of receptiveness for conceited, self-centered assholes with a penchant for rambling.
"Let me make myself clear, you piece of shit." Katsuki interrupts, "That shitty-ass traitor made his fucking choice. Whatever happens to him is none of my fucking business, and the only thing he can expect of me is a punch to his stupid, villain face if he ever gets out. I am going to be the number one hero, no matter what anyone fucking says. I am going to lock up assholes like you and him for fucking breakfast. But you and your stupid band of friends can forget prison," his eyes blaze red, and his hands warm. "I'm going to fucking kill you."
"Wao," the blue fire bastard drawls out, "very heroic, really."
Hello 3
Thank you to everyone who has patiently suscribed and encouraged the story, we are finally here!
I'm not entirely caught up yet, but I'm good enough that I feel confident starting this. If you've read the prologue before, give it one more read, nothing mind-blowing changed but there are bits and pieces that weren't there for the original update months ago!
I let you know this story is (most likely) going to be composed of three short stories, so this is the first part of a series. My goal is for each of them to be no more than 10 chapters, but because pacing I didn't like them as one big story, don't know what to tell you.
Anyways, half of this is already written, but don't expect crazy update schedules, especially if you're familiar with my rates. I have 2 stories (HOL + WoSA) that have decided to wrap up at the same time but I'll be a freer woman right after that!
Anyway, let me know what you think :D