Chapter 25

Katsuki placed his hand on the door, pushing it open slightly, the kid needed to worry less, there was no way Raiz was even going to be able to get close to hurting her. Uraraka was intelligent and strong, there was no way such a kid could fluster her.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. She's very open-minded, we'll warn her, and you throw at her whatever you've got. Then it'll be out of your head."

Katsuki glanced towards Kirishima doing his best to comfort Raiz.

"You don't get it, I already did it. You need to stop her."

Katsuki tightened his hand on the doorknob. The heat from his mistake still lingering in his arms. They had rescued Raiz. And to the amount of medical knowledge they knew, Raiz was alive. Everything should be fine. This should've been over.

"I'm sure Uraraka can defend herself from whatever you threw at her." Katsuki sighed, slamming the soda onto the table next to Raiz, sliding a water closer to Raiz as a prompt instead. But heck, the kid had been dead for months, no one was going to judge him if he chose to indulge himself, "I trust her. And you know I don't throw my trust to just anybody." Raiz nodded, his hands tightening around the blankets that surrounded him, it drew him to the bandages that ran along Raiz's arms to the point he couldn't see them. Although Raiz had quieted down, he still shook. Just because Uraraka was strong didn't mean he shouldn't at least pay attention to this warning, "Stay with Kirishima and don't worry, I'll find her." Katsuki turned moving outside the door where Kaminari was napping in a chair, he kicked it, "Yo, sit with Kirishima and Raiz for a while."

Kaminari glanced towards him, "Hey, have you been okay, man? It's been so long since you've talked with anyone."

Katsuki glanced towards the clock, Uraraka shouldn't have made it too far, "I'm fine. Sit with Kirishima and Raiz, they've been through Hell and back."

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you want to-"

"I've got something I've got to do." He was already walking down the hallway before Kaminari was able to finish. Deku was further down the hall, likely choosing to be the vanguard in their subconscious need for security, "Where's Uraraka?"

Deku turned blinking towards him, "She went with Todoroki, he said she wasn't looking too good."

Katsuki moved towards the door, "I'll be back in a bit."

Deku's hand wrapped around his elbow, "Listen, I know it's been a rough year for you-"

"Not now." He snapped, something was building up in his chest, it was a feeling he was rather familiar with and it wasn't a comfortable feeling.

"You're not going to get anywhere without a car."

Katsuki glanced towards Deku's hand already holding the keys to his own car, likely cringing at the thought of using it, "Keep it, I'm not leaving you stranded if anything or anyone gets close to those two." He glanced towards the front desk.

"Kaminari is there with them, I can-"

"No, stay with them." They were weak. Raiz had just risen from the grave, and he was sure that didn't make him the next Hercules. And Kirishima couldn't activate his quirk even for a self-defense matter. Kaminari had been asleep, he wasn't going to leave just Kaminari to defend the room. Kaminari was barely keeping himself awake, but he was right. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a while, but he could tell, with the bags under Kaminari's eyes, he had been working one too many shifts. Kirishima and Kaminari wouldn't be enough to defend Raiz if anyone were to decide to come back for him. Besides, Kaminari's quirk would destroy half the hospital's equipment, it wasn't something that Katsuki wanted him activating anywhere near the hospital. In the villains' eyes, Raiz being alive, was an act of spite. An attack directly on their pride. Or a trophy if they could take him away. And no way was he going to let that happen. He had let him down before. That wasn't going to happen again.

"You're not-"

Katsuki glanced towards Doctor Gloria approaching, likely considering if she should attempt to calm down what looked like an argument to any outside party, "I need to borrow a set of keys."

She sighed, "I know, I promised anything you needed, but-"

"It's important."

She shuffled in her pocket, tossing him the keys, "If my car comes back with a single mar, I'm going to make sure you'll be the next on that operating table."

"Yeah, yeah" He snapped, darting towards the door. The feeling that Raiz had instilled in him was growing, rapidly. And he wasn't one to ignore his instincts. He found Gloria's car, dialing Uraraka's number as he threw the car into gear, "Pick up, dammit." The phone went to voicemail, repeatedly. "Pick-" He slowed the car, another car was upside-down near the edge of the road, smoke attempting to hail a passersby. Dammit. He didn't have time for this, but he couldn't leave it either. "This better be quick." He grumbled, attempting one more call as he moved towards the vehicle. "Uraraka, pick up, dammit."

Crunch.

His eyes slid down towards a flip-phone, in-half, and underneath his foot. There was only one person in this day in age he knew owned a flip phone. "Uraraka!" He glanced towards the car, he had to be careful, if he moved wrong he was more than capable of making the car explode. He moved towards the doors, glancing into the windows, no one was within the car. "Uraraka!" He shouted, glancing in the driver's seat. Todoroki was gone, too. There was no ice layering the area, they were close by.

"We're here!" Katsuki felt his ears twitch at the sound of Todoroki's strain. He was likely injured with how half-assed that yell had been. "Stay back!" Todoroki snapped, a grunt escaping him quickly afterward.

From the sound of his voice, Todoroki was struggling. "Like hell! I can hear-" Katsuki darted over the hill, his eyes widening. Uraraka was pinning Todoroki down attempting to strangle him.

Todoroki's eyes glowed as he attempted to remove Uraraka, confusion painted a crossed his face. Todoroki's face was similar to a toddler's canvas, a mess.

"Fight back, dammit!" Katsuki shouted, darting towards the two.

Todoroki glared towards him, "But she'll-"

He slammed himself into Uraraka, feeling them tumbling further down the hill, Katsuki wrapped his arms around Uraraka, feeling them slam into a wall of ice. Katsuki pulled himself away from Uraraka, her eyes darting towards him, "I-I've got to." Her eyes darted, a sense of derangement echoing out of them.

Katsuki glanced towards Todoroki, "Stay back!" It didn't make sense, it was very rare she was around Todoroki. Even on their bigger missions, she only had a mission with him once in a blue moon, he glanced towards the black-and-blue running down Todoroki's neck. He was likely trying to figure out how to get her off him without using his quirk. They were all enlisted in combat training, but Uraraka used her body the most out of any of them, she was trained in hand-to-hand combat, meaning she was less reliant on her quirk than the two of them. For the sake of simplicity if all three of them were to not have a quirk, if it came down to a fist fight, Uraraka would win. She wasn't just strong, she was intelligent. And she didn't mind fighting dirty if it got the job done. Heck, she spent her days taking down guys three times her size with her bare hands. That didn't solve the main question of why Todoroki? Or how someone managed to get into her head. When did someone get inside her head? They had to be powerful. His mind flashed back to that sickening house, he was walking up the steps. Uraraka laid on the floor. Everything was running cold. He had to have a fever, he was getting dizzy. The blood ran throughout the halls. His hands were getting colder to the point they were shaking, "I told you to stay back, dammit!"

"I haven't moved."

He glanced towards Todoroki. His eyes shifting back towards Uraraka attempting to fight him off, "We're going back to the hospital, now." He hissed, glancing around for anything to stop a second attempt of her crashing the car.

"I've got to!" Uraraka snapped at him, turning to reach towards Todoroki.

"Why?" He snapped.

"I've got to hurt him, he-"

Todoroki shifted next to him, "Katsuki, she's not after me."

Katsuki grunted, "Says the one with bruises all the way down his neck, who the hell would she be after then?" He snapped, glaring towards Todoroki's piteous look. His eyes shifted back towards Uraraka.

"I've got to. I've got to hurt him."

Katsuki tightened his grip on her shirt, he turned towards her, "Who's him?"

Uraraka glanced between the two of them, "Him."

He sighed, she had never given such unclear answers, she was clearly under someone else's influence, "We're taking her back to the hospital, maybe Raiz can give us a clear answer on what he thinks he's done. Stay back, dammit. She thinks you're the one she has to attack. She's going to be pissed once she snaps out of it. I don't need more than your neck reminding her of what happened. I don't want-"

"You can't hide this from her."

"That's not the problem right now!"

"It'll become the problem."

He shifted as Uraraka reached clawing his face, "That hurts, dammit! Chill out!" He turned, Todoroki at his side with a cloth that looked awfully similar to Aizawa's binding cloth. He grabbed the cloth, finishing the job, and getting Uraraka into the car. He glanced towards Todoroki.

Todoroki glanced towards his smoldering car, "I'll stay here."

"No, get in the passenger seat. She's always been determined to get the job done, she'll find a way out if you don't come." Katsuki sighed, slipping in the car. Todoroki nodded sliding into the passenger seat. Katsuki glanced towards the bruising along Todoroki's neck, he was probably in pain, it was very rare for a villain to get that close to him and he usually had a partner who would panic and slam them off before they could do any damage, "There's Ibuprofen in the glove box."

Todoroki glanced towards him, "I don't-"

Katsuki glared at him through the corner of his eye, then back towards the road, Todoroki shuffled in the glove box. He thought so.

"Let up on the steering wheel."

"Huh?" He snapped, glancing towards Todoroki, then back towards the steering wheel, his nail marks engraved in the cold wheel. Dammit, Doctor Gloria was going to kill him. Katsuki glanced towards the mirror, Uraraka seemed to be calming down, but-He felt Todoroki reach for the wheel pulling them back, "I had it!" He snapped.

"We were on the other side of the road! I know you're worried but pay attention!" Todoroki snapped, a fire of mixed emotions ragging in his eyes.

"I know you're hurt, but don't take that attitude with me!" He snapped, a quick glance into the mirror, "Hey, Uraraka, how are you doing back there?"

Her head was dropped into her hands, "My head hurts. A lot. I feel dizzy."

He nodded, letting the vehicle slow a little, she had been insistent on hurting Todoroki, she never said anything about killing him. He dropped his voice glancing towards Todoroki, "They didn't realize that they needed to be specific with their quirk."

"Or they did it on purpose. They didn't want to actually hurt you, there was a second party."

Katsuki nodded, "So, Raiz was the influence, but that means someone else was the problem."

"Who's blood is this?"

Katsuki glanced back towards Uraraka, reaching to prop open the glove box, "There's tissues inside hand her some."

Todorki sighed, beginning to shuffle around in the glove box once again, handing the tissues back towards her. "Thanks, but that doesn't answer my question."

Todoroki opened his mouth and closed it again, a glance towards Katsuki.

"It's mine. We hit a rough patch with the investigation, a scratch really."

"But that doesn't answer why your blood is on my hands."

"Just take the damn tissues from Todoroki already." Katsuki sighed, flipping his blinker on as he begun to claim his spot in the hospital parking lot. He switched the car in to park, glancing towards her, she gently took the tissues from Todoroki wiping the blood off.

"Explain properly," Uraraka muttered under her breath, sliding the binding cloths to the side.

"You're going to stay the night at the hospital with Doctor Gloria."

"Wha-Why?" Uraraka ferociously glanced between Todorki and himself. He didn't want to explain himself, but he knew better than to not tell her the situation.

"You attacked Todoroki."

"I-" Her eyes darted down to the bruising on Todoroki's neck. Momo Todoroki was going to kill him. Katsuki sighed, he never wanted to see the wrath of his classmates. They had times where they had been weak, but he knew what Aizawa saw in them all. Incurring a single member of the old-class' wrath would destroy the enemy. He would be lucky to have even ashes in the morning.

Uraraka shuffled out of the car, moving rapidly towards an elderly lady in the parking lot. Katsuki unbuckled, shutting the car off and shuffled out of it. Uraraka reached taking several bags off an elderly woman's hands.

"Goodness, you're off the clock it's okay."

Uraraka took the bags out of her hands, "I don't mind, where are we going?"

"The front desk is good dearie, they have a little car that'll bring me to the elevator."

Uraraka nodded, as they followed her and the elderly lady, Todoroki moved, shuffling a bag from Uraraka. "Damn, you wouldn't think she tried to murder you a couple minutes ago."

Todoroki glanced at him, "That's why it's important that I stay near. If she's still under the influence it'll be easier to know this way."

The elderly lady glanced towards him, "Oh, you should probably get that checked out too."

Uraraka rubbed her neck, glancing away.

"It'll be fine, I've hurt worse before."

The elderly lady nodded, a small frown lined her face, "You are all so young, it's not like back in the day where people first started getting quirks, people were careful with their secret identity." The lady shook her head, "Nowadays, most people can generally get all the information they need on you if they have the right stuff. You should all worry about your personal safety more often." She shook her head. The woman wobbled forwards, physical strength depleted with age, but intelligence strongly gleaming in her eyes. The woman glanced towards them, "You boys, do you know what the secret to life is?"

Todoroki glanced towards him, then towards Uraraka, as though one of them had the answer this woman was looking for. Katsuki sighed, he knew the answer would be something ridiculous and abstract something he wouldn't be able to quite put his finger on for a while. He took the bait, "humor me."

"Fun."

They set her bags down at the front desk, letting the attendants take several as she checked in. He glanced back toward the door. The concept of fun hadn't been something he pondered in several years, the idea of 'fun' seemed far away, childish-even. He was an adult, and being an adult meant responsibilities. The elderly lady stomped her cane into his foot, "Look lady-" He snapped, his head spinning faster than an owl's to her.

"My bad, I sensed some doubt, but remember fun is a responsibility that adults have to themselves too. Fun is not a childish concept."

Katsuki hissed stuffing his hands in his pockets before storming to Raiz room. Fun. How self-indulgent to lecture someone on not having fun while in a hospital. He wasn't here for a field trip, he was here because he brought his partner's sidekick back from the literal dead. He had more responsibilities than he could handle, and that didn't include fun. He punched the buttons to the elevator, Uraraka and Todoroki sliding in after him.

"Huh, that's not what I thought she would say. I thought she'd say something more thought-provoking." Uraraka hit the button to Raiz's floor.

Todoroki glanced towards the door, watching it slide shut, then up to the shaft above the elevator, likely considering exits if the elevator were to break down, or a form of escape, "I don't think so, while considered a childish concept, fun is also a necessity in life."

Katsuki opened his mouth, his mind flying back to the night-at-the-beach, the wind rushing through his hair as he pulled Uraraka close, losing it at his maniac decision. "Alright." He shut his mouth again, drawing Todoroki's attention. The elevator door slid open, Doctor Gloria outside, he tossed her the keys, "No scratches."

She nodded, attempting to make her sigh of relief inaudible, before glancing towards Todoroki's neck, "Holy-How what happened?"

Todoroki glanced back towards the shaft at the top of the elevator. Katsuki hooked his arm pulling him out of the elevator. Uraraka raised her hand, "I did."

Doctor Gloria sighed, dragging them into an empty room, "You're lucky this is my floor, all of you people are ridiculous. Why in the world would you do this to him?" Doctor Gloria sighed, pulling out a flashlight, "I can't really bandage it since it's your neck, but I've got to check, if you've got something broken or severely bruised it's going to be hard to breathe."

Todoroki nodded. Katsuki glanced towards him, Todoroki flinched when Doctor Gloria went to reach for him, she pulled away, "Sorry." He whispered, he glanced towards the floor, "I thought I had outgrown it."

"No, I should be sorry, I should've realized with my profession." Doctor Gloria shook her head, "I'm going to reach for your neck again." She gently raced his neck feeling for the damage, "At my age, we each carry our own trauma, it's nothing to ashamed of. And don't feel you have to apologize to anyone. You don't owe anyone a single word of explanation. Just some minor bruising. Come to talk to me if anything ever gets too heavy." Doctor Gloria nodded, then glanced towards Katsuki, "That includes you two, too." She glanced them both over, before rushing to the stairs.

Todoroki ran a hand through the red part of his hair.

Uraraka glanced towards the floor, her hand tracing the arm where her scar remained, "I'm sorry."

"It wasn't because of you."

Uraraka nodded, "I'm going to go check on the group in the next room."

They nodded watching her dart out.

Katsuki leaned on a wall, crossing his arms, "Are you okay?"

Todoroki nodded, his hands moving together, as though he was creating some form of physical blockade between the two of them. Todoroki had revealed more than he had wanted about his past. "Yeah."

Katsuki nodded, if he wasn't ready to talk about it, he wasn't ready. He slid the door open, "One more thing. Trauma isn't something you grow out of. It'll be there. It's a bit like a led weight. You carry it every day, some days it weighs you down, and other days, you've been carrying it for so long, it's as though it's not there. Some days it'll be lighter."

Todoroki nodded, a soft smile on his face, "Catch up to Uraraka, make her led a little bit lighter."

"If you're not there in five minutes I'm coming to look for you."

Todoroki waved him off.

Katsuki sighed turning to Raiz room, sliding the door open, they were all asleep, Deku slid open his eye to check who came in the room. "I'm checking Uraraka into the hospital for observation."

Deku glanced towards him, "What-"

"She's okay, but she tried to kill Todoroki."

Deku opened his mouth, words likely running dry in his mouth, he paused recollecting himself, "Why?" Then glanced towards Raiz, Kirishima out with his head placed on the bed, Deku answered his own question. "Is his quirk similar to Shinso's?"

Katsuki nodded, "Kirishima and I believe so, but because of the way that Raiz grew up it's hard to pinpoint quite what it is. There's a possibility that he hasn't stabilized it either."

Deku nodded, "I would assume due to his background he didn't receive quirk counseling either."

"No time for that while your family is teaching you how to properly rob the bank."

Deku nodded as Katsuki moved glancing around the room, "Where's Uraraka?"

"She went to grab something to drink. I think it's bothering her." Deku sighed.

Katsuki nodded, "I'll see if Doctor Gloria can get her a room nearby." Deku nodded, not bothering to question where he was going, Deku already knew. Katsuki stomped down the hallway, locating Uraraka taking her frustrations out on a defenseless vending machine. He slid up next to it, leaning on the vending machine, "Mame', if you don't stop kicking the defenseless, I'm going to have to arrest you."

Uraraka glanced towards him her eyebrows moving together, "Officer, you see, it's not quite so defenseless, it seems to have stolen some of my money." The vending machine clicked, dropping several bottles out of it.

"I see the machine has come to fess to its crime, but next time attempt not to assault the perpetrator."

Uraraka shook her head, the tilt of a forced smile on her face where a laugh would've previously escaped her instead. He was going to hunt down this gang. He was going to hunt down Raiz old gang and make them pay, they couldn't take Raiz's life, Kirishima's sense of security, and the light from Uraraka's eyes. Uraraka's laughter, the one that resonated through the air bouncing off the walls with no shame, now sounded hollow. They had stolen too much. Too much that they would never be capable of giving back. And they were about to learn the true value of everything they had stolen from him.

"Come on."

Uraraka sighed, shifting the weight on her feet, "I'm not ready to go back to the group."

"We're not going back to them," Katsuki shuffled in his pocket for the key, pulling it out, "It's a room that Doctor Gloria lends to me when I work overtime, it's a crossed the hall from Raiz's room." He turned, knowing she was following behind him as they slid into the room. Katsuki glanced around the room, it was decent, especially for a hospital. A bed, a couch, and a table. There wasn't much when it came to the window, a curtain pulled so that the back operating's of the hospital were unable to be seen. It wasn't as if the front rooms had much of a picturesque view either. He threw himself down upon the couch, what would've been called sleep threatening to take him over. It was cold and distant. It wasn't sleep, it was an exhaustion-induced coma that he wasn't ready for. He opened his eyes an hour or two later, Uraraka sitting up, her head in her hands, tears at the edge of her eyes, whispers fleeing off her lips. She glanced towards him, likely realizing he was also awake, lying back down and attempting to hide her tears. The confusion that came along with her night-terrors. Katsuki slid the blankets off, it wasn't as if he expected the night terrors to just go away after she explained them. He could feel the cold floor underneath his feet, letting his mind wonder if that's how he would explain his own. "Hey, Uraraka." He slid himself onto her bed, sitting next to her.

"It's okay." She whispered, not bothering to turn over, likely in an attempt to hide her tears.

"I'm here." He slid his hand towards hers.

Her fingers wrapped around his hand in a contradiction to her words, "I don't need to be protected."

"Nonsense, we're heroes. You watch my back and I watch yours." I protect you, and you protect me.

She rolled over, drawing him into the bed, "Stay for a while."

He slid next to her, his hand tightening on hers. She nestled her head underneath his chin, he glanced down towards her. Use him as a shield. He wanted to be her shield, he didn't want to admit, but like he needed someone to be his own shield. From the cruel world. He was promised the fame and glory, the thrill of being a hero and saving lives. He got all that. And so much more. Not all good. But not all bad. The world is cruel as much as it was beautiful. As the bad parts of the world flung themselves at him, he found himself also opening his eyes to the beauty in his world. Katsuki tightened his grip on his future, softly within his own hands.