Last time, after discussing Izuku's history, the heroes decide to accept his help, rescuing Katsuki. Meanwhile Shinso impersonates the blonde in order to interrogate Izuku. Their plan derails when the League of Villains shows its end goal: murdering Izuku.
Katsuki has mixed feelings about the warm welcome he's receiving, but when Shinso is the one to interrupt the celebrations looking grim (and what else is new?), it's not what he'd considered an improvement. Everything has been so loud and noisy ever since he came back. Everyone wants to talk to him, ask if he's okay. They mean it (probably), but they can also smell blood in the water. In between every how are you? a what happened? slips in.
What happened?
What did they want?
How did they rescue you?
Katsuki's already so fucking goddamn angry that he was kidnapped in the first place; why do these extras think he has the time to fill in their gossip quota? He missed two days of school, for fuck's sake, he has shit to do. (He owes them nothing.) Besides, Katsuki is aware of where the curiosity in the room truly lies, like a grotesque scab that you cannot help but pick at. You know it's going to bleed, but maybe that's the goal all along. Class A has been through enough fucked up shit that some very-important boundaries have crumbled, mish-mashed concern with a collective morbid curiosity that Katsuki despises, most of all when it's turned on him.
People aren't entitled to his story… (or his pain.) They certainly don't get to camouflage it beneath concern for him either. Just before he's about to go into a disproportionate level of rage, Shinso stops by the common room, saving the eardrums of a lot of people and maybe, a tiny bit of Katsuki's sanity. The empty hallway is heaven for approximately ten seconds before Shinso joins the club of people-who-want-to-ruin-his-day.
"The heroes cut a deal with Midoriya in exchange for your location," Shinso tells him without preamble; at least the fucking extra cuts to the point. The problem is that Katsuki already hates his fucking point. "The villains got him with a knife."
Kacchan, don't leave me behind!
(Out of all the memories they share, small Deku scraping through the forest seems to always be at Katsuki's anxiety every beck-and-call.)
Katsuki steels himself in, trying to not remember what his last words to Deku were.
"...He dead?" Shinso shakes his head slowly, cautious of Katsuki's reaction, which is a smart move. Katsuki may sound calm, but he's not feeling it. Try counting, Kacchan! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you… four, five, six...
"Last I heard, he was in surgery." Katsuki pulls out a handkerchief from his back pocket; it's an orange and black flannel that Kirishima once said reminded him of Halloween, which is the coolest holiday anyway. He wipes his palms in one smooth move, practiced in a way that is easily ignored. Katsuki's not going to fuckin rub his very flammable sweat all over his clothes, thank you very much.
Since when, Deku? Since fucking when?
"Why does everyone assume I fucking care?" he hisses, staring the Brainwasher down.
Pretend he's dead.
"I wouldn't have thought so either," the bastard agrees, "but I thought I'd give two shits if he died, and then he was there dying, and I realized that it's not that simple."
I love you, Kacchan.
"So? You don't hate him like I do, asswipe. Keep your damn sentimentality to yourself."
"I also don't love him like you do, I'm sure." An explosion rocks the hallway, small, Katsuki just cleaned his hands. Isn't he a goddamn saint? Shinso doesn't flinch; he probably knew Katsuki wasn't going to get through this conversation without violence, which immediately annoys him. He's not bothered; he's just pissed at everyone who wants to waste his time.
"Bakubro?" Kirishima exits the common room in a hurry, clearly remembering his and Shinsou's last heart-to-heart.
"Fuck off," but despite saying so, it's Katsuki who turns around to abruptly put an end to the conversation.
"Leaving? Bakugou, what?" But Katsuki can't breathe from how angry he is, a feeling he is familiar with. It chokes him, scrambles his insides like a jigsaw puzzle, and leaves him struggling to hold his pieces together.
"Leave him, Kirishima."
"Shinso?"
It doesn't matter; Katsuki has better places to be.
Ochako Uraraka isn't a nosey girl by nature, but she's drawn to the explosions outside the common room nonetheless. Not that -after living with Katsuki Bakugou- Ochako is particularly bothered by sparkling drama. As Shinso came looking for Bakugou, Ochako saw something in his expression that made her ill, maybe because she knows how conflicted one can feel about the people they love.
Objectively, Shinso and Bakugou's relationship has been volatile. It went from indifference to blows only in a single conversation when Bakugou overheard Shinso talking about Izuku. Ochako is not sure what Shinso said precisely, but it earned him a black eye, and Bakugou got a week of suspension. To her knowledge, it's the only disciplinary penalty Bakugou has earned in his entire time at UA -other than that one time, he and Izuku beat each other up in the middle of the night.
She's really going to let it be, but when the yelling turns into actual explosions in the hall, her body is moving before she knows it, half-heartedly signaling to Iida that she'll be back. Bakugou is prickly at the best of times, but she's shared some of his pain. After all, she also got her heart broken by their classmate. (And how horrible of her to be relieved at the rejection after things with Izuku come to light. Thank god it wasn't me popping at the forefront of her mind. Unacceptable, and yet entirely human. This doesn't keep her from feeling an almost visceral empathy for Bakugou. As much as the other doesn't seem to appreciate her offers of comfort.)
Kirishima beats her to it, emerging out into the hallway right as Bakugou beats a hasty retreat, hands sparking in a rage. Kirishima is dissuaded from following, and Ochako asks, even when it's none of her business.
"It's Izuku, isn't it?" her voice is soft in the air but loud in her ears because she still sometimes thinks it might've all been a dream. How could gentle, shy, heroic Izuku with the childish freckles and the green eyes ever be a villain?
Let me be unapologetically clear: the extent of Midoriya's crimes are, as of this time, unknown, but there is no doubt that he has been a key player in several political and heroic assassinations. He is heavily suspected of espionage and villainy, and no matter what you think you know about him, these are the facts.
(Aizawa-sensei had pulled no punches, perhaps trying to give them the shock they needed to alter everything they'd known until then.)
"I'm… not supposed to say," Shinso mutters.
"I think it might be too late for that, man," Kirishima says without heat, still frowning slightly in the direction that Bakugou stalk-off to. "He's never going to say anything, and I don't think it's good for him to deal with it by himself." He does enough of that already, Ochako thinks.
"Midoriya is in emergency surgery," their classmate relents, pausing in hesitation, "he might not make it."
"What?" Ochako exclaims, trying to process the words. Kirishima echoes her sentiment. "How…?"
"Did he try to escape?"
"No," Hitoshi denies quickly, "he was temporarily taken out to assist in Bakugou's retrieval. Turns out… turns out Bakugou was bait. The League's target was Midoriya all along."
"How did they…" Shinso shakes his head.
"We still don't know a lot of what happened, or how."
Ochako thinks back, casting her memory to her UA entrance exam. How different would life be if she hadn't pleaded Izuku's case? Would it be different at all?
Bakugou's reaction makes sense then. How to feel when your criminal ex-boyfriend is suddenly at death's door? Is there a reaction one can pin to such a situation? Ochako still doesn't know half of what happened, and she feels her heartache in her chest. When she asked Izuku if something was happening between him and Bakugou, she expected him to deny it. There wasn't anything different in their relationship, except there was.
They still bickered and beat each other to a pulp in their training.
It was still all "shitty nerd this" or "stupid Deku that."
Izuku's sharp criticism of Bakugou's quirk had done nothing but increase if anything.
But Bakugou looked… happier, Izuku felt more confident. The only way she can explain is that the world appeared to have shifted on its axis just a tiny bit and made them better. If one didn't know better, their romantic relationship could've been called cold, with no shows of affection ever exhibited where anybody could see. But if one knew Izuku and Bakugou, it just proved that they'd been complementing each other for a long time. There was no cupcake phase, no sudden rush of amorous displays. They'd been telling each other everything they needed to know since the beginning; they just hadn't been good at listening.
I'm here.
At least, that's what Izuku had said. It had made Ochako so very jealous. Nowadays, it just makes her sad.
"Are you going to go talk to him?" Ochako asks Kirishima. Shinso turns to look at the red head, equally interested in his answer. The taller teens sighs, rubbing a palm through his face, pepping himself up.
"Of course." Ochako thinks about how much growing up they've done, and is impressed that Kirishima manages to keep up a positive outlook on everything. She feels like he can be easily overshadowed at times, but out of everyone in her class, he gives her a lot of hero vibes. He just acts in a way that really makes you think it'll work out, Izuku and her discussed once, marvelling at his ability to handle Bakugou without ever losing his good nature. Everyone in class had lost their temper to Bakugou's crass comments at least once, except Kirishima, his patience for his friend seemed endless. "Just... not right now," he chuckles awkwardly, "I wouldn't even know what to say."
"I don't envy you, Kirishima," Shinso says solemnly, and Ochako finds herself nodding. It's the middle of the day but she's feeling so tired just hearing about any of this, after stressing over Bakugou the last couple of days and non-stop training... she cannot believe she's even standing. "I'll be taking my leave," he announces, cutting off whatever response Kirishima was going to offer. "Preferably, keep this within wraps, I know about Midoriya because of a mission, it'd be no good if it got out."
"Did you see him?" Shinso flinches, which throws her off at first but he breathes in and nods. Her heart squeezes. She misses her friend. At the same time, she feels a little like she doesn't ever want to see him again. Ochako doesn't hate, but there's something very ugly that aches under her ribcage when she thinks of Izuku and she doesn't really want to think about what that is.
"Well damn," Kirishima says in awe, looking at Shinso as if in new light, "that must've been so weird." Shinso shakes his head rather quickly, seeming unsure despite his own denial.
"He's... pretty much the same," the Brainwasher shrugs, "too smart for his own good, hesitant... worried about Bakugou more than himself." Only silence greets his statement, enough that he searches his companions expressions. Ochako isn't sure what her face looks like, but Kirishima sums up her sentiments pretty well.
"Argh," he growls frustrated, looking up at the hallways white ceiling and covering his eyes with a hand. "That's fucked up, man."
I love you, Kacchan.
Kacchan, don't leave me.
Your quirk is a lot more than just blowing things up!
Kacchan... why?
I don't think I can ever really hate you.
I know you won't believe me…
Kacchan.
I just wanted you to see me.
Guess you'll be the number one hero now, no?
Katsuki stomps down the hallway, doggedly haunted by a ghost. (Deku always has to after him, doesn't he?) An airy voice constantly reminding Katsuki of his naivety and his blindness. How could he not notice? How did he not know? No one says it to his face, but Katsuki knows they think about it. He certainly does. He would rather have their resentment than their pity.
He's painfully aware that if there's one person who should've seen through Izuku Midoriya, it should've been Katsuki. Instead, he had been played the most—the closest to the secret, and probably the farthest away as well. Even if someone had tried telling him, Katsuki would've kicked their teeth in for even hinting that Deku was a villain. Maybe he wouldn't have even bothered; that's how ridiculous Katsuki thought the idea was.
Deku? Who had decided to help people when he couldn't even help himself? Who still left the bathroom light on at night but wasn't afraid of breaking himself apart through his own fucking quirk? Who has spent an entire life seeing the best in people - in Katsuki - even when they were cruel in return?
Deku had always been an unconfident, annoying daydreamer, but in Katsuki's mind, he was as far away from a villain as you could get.
Except that, after he was arrested, some things started to make sense, like Izuku's constant research and writing on hero and prison reform. He was so obsessive regarding heroic bureaucracy that he'd gotten into arguments with some of the teachers before. Katsuki didn't miss the mood of pensiveness after the Hero Killer attacks.
Izuku had opinions about hero society, many of them controversial. Katsuki had heard many of them, debated them even, and he could agree with a lot of what Izuku believed, but… did it really come down to that?
The angry hero-in-training doesn't look for a teacher, doesn't call All might, and does his best to avoid his friends. He doesn't want to see anyone or worse talk about anything. If Izuku gets offed by his fucking villain friends, that's his fucking problem, and he walked right into it.
I love you, Kacchan.
Katsuki's useless, piece of shit heart just needs to get with the fucking program.
We know what's happened with Izuku next chapter! Thank you to everyone for your reviews, they mean the world.