"Come, young Midoriya. Let us return."

Izuku gulped as he looked apprehensively at the waiting warp gate before he slowly removed himself from the bed. He didn't want to not liking being ordered around like this, but he didn't want to stay here either. At least he would be with Bakugou again. Oh fuck, Bakugou. How the hell was he going to react to this? Hell, how was his mother going to take this? Izuku was almost glad she was currently hospitalized and unconscious. For now, she was spared the knowledge that her husband, his father, was a Villain and had been the whole time. That their family had all been a lie and part of a gods damn experiment.

Izuku was desperate for a distraction. Anything to escape from his new reality even for a moment. Walking through the warp gate gave him the perfect opportunity as his analytical mind took over. He had never had the chance to actually study Kurogiri's Quirk. His brief fall through the inky blackness had been quick before falling towards the water during the USJ attack. Even when he had walked through it earlier, he wasn't paying attention too worried about meeting All For One. But now he made analyzing this Quirk his top concern desperately wanting anything to not think of what he had just learned.

The Quirkless teen expected to simply walk through one portal and immediately into another back to the bar. But as he did, he found himself in a world of swirling darkness. Oppressive and vast. There was just no end in sight in this unknown plain of existence. Izuku almost started to freak out feeling lost and alone until he turned around to find Kurogiri standing, or rather simply existing, behind him.

"Why are we in here?" Izuku asked curiously. Did the Villain want to talk to him or something?

"You appeared to need a moment," Kurogiri explained calmly. "We may return to the bar whenever you feel ready."

Izuku was surprised by the gesture similar to earlier with the needle and the water bottle. Was the warper worried about him? There was no telling his expression because of the black mist covering his face, but the teen felt like he could sense a hint of concern in the man's yellow eyes. In a strange way it made sense. Other than transportation, it seemed that Kurogiri's main role in the League was as a caretaker. Raising Shigaraki and cleaning up after the others. Almost like a surrogate parent of sorts.

"Th-thank you," the boy stuttered out.

The misty man merely nodded in reply.

They fell into an awkward silence after that. Izuku however gladly took the given opportunity to catch his breath so to speak. His mind was hard at work sorting through all he had learned in such a short span of time. All while also distracting himself with staring into the black abyss surrounding him.

"Do you spend time in here sometimes?" Izuku asked curiously. "You know, just to get away from it all?"

Kurogiri was silent for a moment in thought before admitting, "Yes, periodically. There are times the members of the League of Villains can be a bit…much."

Izuku couldn't help but snort at that comment.

"Yeah, no kidding," the teen chuckled. "I would hide in here too if I had to deal with Shigaraki's tantrums every day. Must be nice to have a Quirk like this."

No one to hurt you or call you names. Nothing to hold you down or push you away. Add on top that he could go probably anywhere in the world with it. Hell, if Izuku had manifested a Quirk, this one would have been nice to have growing up. Then he could have avoided his bullies with ease and would even had been able to get himself away from that Sludge Villain. And no way in hell would anyone have called him plain covered head to toe in black mist. In fact, Izuku thought it would have looked kind of cool and possibly with an underlying green color instead of purple like the man next to him.

"It is a useful Quirk," Kurogiri spoke up pulling Izuku from his thoughts. "However, it is not my Quirk."

Not…his Quirk?

"What do you mean exactly?" Izuku asked, confused.

The warper looked like he tried to say something but the yellow patches squinted as if he was in pain. Kurogiri let out what Izuku thought was a sigh before he said, "I cannot say."

"You can't say because you don't know?" the teen pressed needing answers. "Or you can't because you're not allowed?"

The misty man said nothing to either question. His silence could mean anything but Izuku suspected it might be a mixture of both. Okay, so maybe Kurogiri was under orders or something. Limited to what he can and can't say. At least not directly.

"So you have this Quirk," Izuku stated, trying to understand. "You can use it but it's not your Quirk, right?"

"Correct," Kurogiri answered with a bob of his misty head.

"Which means that you were given this Quirk, yes?" the young analyst questioned further earning a nod. "Is that how they got you to join the League? All For One gave you a Quirk?"

Again the warper paused before answering, "…yes."

His unsure tone meant there was more to the story than that. Assuming that Kurogiri had been given a Quirk, then perhaps it had fused with one he had originally. Depending on if he had a Quirk to start with. It was possible the man had been Quirkless like Izuku was before getting the Quirk he had now. But then Izuku remembered Kurogiri's tense reaction before when All For One had been talking about Quirks and Noumu. He hadn't known which part had affected him but his mind decided to put them together into a very morbid thought.

"Kurogiri," Izuku said, gulping before saying what he really hoped wasn't true. "Are you…a Noumu?"

Surely, he wasn't. All the Noumu that Izuku had seen were mindless raging monsters despite their exposed brains. Only able to take orders and enacting acts of violence because of them. But Kurogiri walked and talked of his own accord though he did obey any order given to him by the other Villains. Well, most of the time. He had some say in influencing Shigaraki with advice and right now he wasn't strictly following All For One's order to bring him back to the bar.

"I…," the misty man began to say, his yellow eyes scrunched again. "I…cannot…"

"You can't say," Izuku offered, sensing the warper was forcing himself despite whatever was holding him back. "Did you join the League willingly?"

Or were you forced?

The second question he left unsaid. Whatever the man's response to the first, if he could, would be enough to answer them both. Izuku could practically see the mental battle going on within as the mist surrounding his head sputtered jerkily. There was definitely something preventing him from answering. It made Izuku more certain that his theory of Kurogiri potentially being a Noumu or something similar was correct. That he wasn't entirely free willed as he first appeared to be.

"You don't have to answer if you can't," Izuku conceded, not wanting the warper to hurt himself while fighting his internal battles. Even without an actual response, he more or less had his answers.

The mist settled down lazily once again waving as if there was a light breeze. The tension that had grown in Kurogiri's posture relaxed as he gave the Quirkless teen a grateful nod.

"Shall we return?" Kurogiri asked in an even tone. "Or do you require more time?"

Izuku didn't really want to go back but he knew he couldn't hide in the Villain's Quirk forever. No matter how much his life sucked right now, he knew he'd have to face it sooner or later. Waiting it out would do nothing. The Quirkless teen had to acknowledge and accept that his father was a Villain. It would be tough and he worried how others would react once they found out. His mentors, his friends. His mother. Though the one that concerned him the most other than her was Bakugou who had known his dad growing up.

The greenet took a shaky breath in and slowly let it out. He balled up his fists and took a step forward rather than verbally answer the warper. Kurogiri understood anyway and released them back into the real world. The bar was empty save for the explosive blonde who was once again chained to the chair with a muzzle over his mouth. They must have tied him back up after the scuffle from before. His red eyes glared at the Villain behind him before they then shifted to connect with green.

Bakugou's brows were still furrowing in his typical scowl, but as his eyes made a quick scan of his person, the anger within them changed to something else. Especially when he noted the state of Izuku's right hand. Anger was replaced by the hard look of concern. Bakugou, no, Katsuki was worried about his childhood friend.

Izuku found himself suddenly filled with guilt. Katsuki was chained up like an animal and he couldn't help but think it was all his fault. He was the reason for all of this to happen and not just the kidnapping. All For One had wanted a child and so had him with Inko. Shigaraki had wanted to recruit him and Inko got hurt in the process. Now they both wanted Izuku to join the League and so kidnapped him and Katsuki got taken along for the ride. All because Katsuki had tried to save Izuku from the Villains.

It had only been a few months since he had started his therapy but Katsuki already showed vast improvement. Izuku could see it the way he handled himself around his friends and how he interacted with their classmates. Even more so at the camp when Katsuki had run after him in order to protect Izuku during the attack. But because of that, Katsuki ended up getting kidnapped too. Now they were surrounded by Villains and it was all Izuku's fault.

Tears fell down freckled cheeks as Izuku walked over to the other teen in a daze. Kurogiri watched him silently and made no move to stop the crying boy as he worked on removing the muzzle. While Katsuki stared at him wondering what the fuck was going on and why Izuku was crying. Yes, he knew the Midoriyas were an emotional bunch, but these tears seemed different. Hurt and mournful, but for what? What the hell happened while he was gone?

"I-I'm sorry," Izuku sobbed, his hands growing clumsy as he struggled with the muzzle. "I'm so sorry for everything."

The explosive blonde let out a muffled 'what the fuck' as he kept crying. Izuku just couldn't stop thinking that everything was his fault. All For One seduced his mother all in order to have him. Muscular hurt her because Shigaraki wanted him. The training camp was attacked for that exact same reason. Now Katsuki and he were stuck with the League because Shigaraki and All For One wanted to recruit him. None of that would have happened if Izuku wasn't there. Repeated thoughts running over and over and over again in his mind compounding his raging guilt.

Maybe it would have been better if I had never been born.

A foot stomped down on his hard breaking Izuku from his spiraling thoughts. Green eyes snapped to red as Katsuki glared him down in anger that he would ever even think that. The sight of it was familiar and oddly brought Izuku back out of his head.

He still didn't want to believe the truth. Didn't want to have the memory of watching the familiar face of his father melt away to something completely foreign and unknown. Into All For One. But this, the sight of anger in those red eyes was something Izuku knew well. Even though Katsuki has been growing and changing he was still Katsuki. Just as fiery and fierce as he was since he was a kid. Had still cared for Izuku's wellbeing even though he went the entirely wrong way to keep him safe. Alive. That underlying care had still been there though through all of the bullying and he could see it now clear as day.

Katsuki cares.

The Quirkless teen wiped some of his tears away and tried again to remove the muzzle. It took him a little bit to figure out how it worked and then he was able to unlatch the clasps freeing the explosive blonde.

"What the hell is fucking wrong with you?" Katsuki growled in a scolding tone. "How could you ever think about yourself like that? That you shouldn't have been born? What the actual fuck, Deku?!"

The old nickname slipped out without thought. Just the sound of Deku had become a curse to Izuku over the years. An insult from the start that reminded him of how useless everyone thought he was. The Quirkless useless Deku who would never amount to anything. And yet, hearing it from his childhood friend now while chastising him for his self-deprecating thoughts, it brought him a strange comfort. Katsuki was there with him, was worried about him, and still wanted him safe and alive. That deep down, his childhood friend he had lost all those years ago was still there within him.

Izuku collapsed to the ground in front of him as he breathed out, "K-Kacchan…"

Katsuki froze and looked down at the distraught nerd now clinging to his leg. The blonde hadn't heard that name in over a year. Not since Dek-Izuku started hanging with that pink haired mechanical menace he called a friend. He hadn't even heard his first name from the nerd since he had attacked him during the Sports Festival.

Yes, he acknowledged that what he had done was an attack. Not the actions of a friend but of a bully. That he, Bakugou Katsuki, had been a bully for years and no one had told him so. All because he was going to be a Hero so nothing he did could be wrong. But it had been wrong. So very very wrong and he only knew this because the teachers of UA were different than the ones he had before.

They were Heroes, both literally and professionally. They had seen that what he had done and did what all the others should have done. They told him he was wrong.

It was a hard truth to swallow at first. The start of his therapy and anger management had been rough. Lots of denial on his part. It took a while for them to work past his decade worth of experience of repressing his emotions rather than face them. But once they did, they came out in, not surprisingly, explosive outbursts. Mostly yelling sessions of Katsuki screaming out his emotions at first. Then slowly decreasing in volume and bark as he became more comfortable with it.

Katuski still had far to go now that he knew what was wrong, but progress was progress. He hoped to work back into Dek-Izuku's good graces to at least go back to being Katsuki to him. Being called Bakugou by the nerd just felt wrong. They had known each other for so long. He secretly hoped to possibly earn back the childhood nickname D-Izuku had given him. Reluctantly admitting to himself that he actually liked it.

Maybe one day.

But he didn't expect it to be today. Even without the muzzle, he found he couldn't speak at the moment due to shock. Couldn't verbally ask Izuku what was wrong feeling too overwhelmed by the sound of his own nickname. Red eyes could only stare down at the boy crying into his lap. Eventually he forced himself to take a deep breath to calm down.

"Hey, nerd," Katsuki said quietly, nudging him with his leg just enough to get his attention rather than dislodge him. "What the hell happened? Why are you so upset?"

Watery green eyes slowly looked up into rarely concerned red. The nerd let out a shaky breath as tears ran down his cheeks.

"Come on, D…" Katsuki forced himself to cut the nickname off, took a breath, and then tried again. "Talk to me, Izuku."

The use of his first name seemed to do the trick. His breath hitched and his gripped tightened for a moment before Izuku relaxed his hold. Still clinging to him but not as desperately.

"K-Kacchan," the greenet said, his voice shaky and unsure. "Hisashi…he's…"

Izuku trailed off becoming too overcome by his emotions.

"Hisashi? Your dad?" Katsuki pressed trying to get answers when his words escaped him. "What's he got to do with anything?"

The Quirkless teen let out another shaky breath and gripped his leg tighter to brace himself for whatever he had to say.

"Hisashi…he's…my father is…"

"Come on, nerd," Katsuki demanded, growing impatient. He knew he was upset but come on spit it out already. "Just say it."

"All For One…he's Hisashi," Izuku managed to get out finally. Green eyes stared out blankly for a moment before locking once more with red. "He's my father."

Katsuki sat there bound and once again was gagged by his own shock just staring at the other as he processed that. All For One, the boogeyman of the underworld and secret leader of the League, a Villain so evil to earn the title of being Number One, was Izuku's dad?

The fuck?

"Are you fucking serious?" Katsuki asked incredulously earning a shaky nod from Izuku. "Shit."

Katsuki had never liked Izuku's dad even though the nerd had always loved him. Hisashi had always seemed…off. Katsuki had noticed the difference in looks he would give between Izuku and Inko. For his son, Hisashi was all genuine smiles and care. But for his wife, Katsuki had always thought it was forced. His own dad, Masaru, adored both him and his mom. In different ways of course but they were very real and sincere. Hisashi had only ever been that way to Izuku while Inko had been too blinded by love to see it.

But Katsuki had. Now he knew why.

Fuck.

"What does he want?" Katsuki asked, not sure what else to say. But he would need answers if he was going to help Izuku with this.

"H-he wants me to join him," Izuku answered as he rubbed some tears away in a fruitless effort as more took their place. "He said that I was born to join him. That the whole reason I exist is because he wanted a child. All to see if he could pass on his Quirk."

Thankfully it hadn't worked but it still sucked to know his existence was all due to a sick experiment. Playing with their lives like lab rats. Guess Izuku could relate to Nezu on that aspect now. Two lab rats that could huddle close and lick each other's wounds clean. Figuratively of course and only if they ever got out of here.

"Did he hurt you?" the blonde pressed, eyeing the other teen's mangled hand.

"N-no," Izuku said, shaking his head as he brought up said hand. "They tried to heal me but Shigaraki's Quirk did too much damage. I…I can barely feel it."

Katsuki watched as the nerd feebly clenched and unclenched his hand. The attempt was pathetic but he could see the struggle as eyebrows furrowed over saddened green.

"How am I going to become a Hero with this?" Izuku asked in frustration. "It's basically useless."

No Quirk and now no more full function of his dominate hand. Just great.

"Stop that," Katsuki scolded, nudging the other with his foot again. "Recovery Girl can work her magic when we get the hell out of here. Do what you do best, nerd, and look for the bright side."

"The bright side?" the Quirkless teen uttered with an incredulous tone. "Where is there a bright side in all this crap that is my life? My own father is a fucking Villain, Katsuki!"

"Doesn't make you one," the explosive blonde shot back. "You want to become a Hero? Then just do it, D-Izuku."

Green eyes stared at him wide in shock. Katsuki had always told him he couldn't be a Hero. That he was useless without a Quirk before UA. The required counseling had helped temper him but they hadn't talked much after the confrontation during the Sports Festival. This was the first time since they were four years old that Katsuki had said anything about Izuku becoming a Hero.

"Y-you don't have to force yourself, Katsuki," Izuku said, again wiping his eyes. "I don't…Deku doesn't bother me as much anymore."

Not from you.

"I'm not," Katsuki said but stopped himself with a snarl. "I don't want to call you that anymore."

The nickname had changed for him. It was so connected to who he was before UA that Katsuki didn't want anything to do with it anymore. It was so engrained in his brain it was a hard habit to break, but he wanted to break it. For him. For Izuku.

"I just…I can't call you Midoriya," Katsuki explained. The family name was just too formal for him. "But I…I don't know what I have the right to call you anymore."

Deku was out. He wanted it gone. But Izuku felt too close. To friendly. They weren't friends or at least not now if ever. Katsuki just didn't know what to call him anymore. He messed up their friendship long ago.

"You can call me whatever you want, Kacchan," Izuku insisted as he placed an assuring hand on his childhood friend's knee. "Um, is it okay if I still call you Kacchan sometimes?"

The blonde had never said anything about his gifted nickname. He had scolded others when they used it but he never told Izuku off for calling him that. Maybe he liked it?

"It's fine, nerd," Katsuki replied, a slight blush on his cheeks as he forcefully looked anywhere but at Izuku. "Call me what you like. Even dumbass for all the shit I've pulled."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Katsuki," Izuku pressed, suddenly feeling very tired after the emotional rollercoaster he had been on. Leaning on his leg was quite comfortable.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me," the explosive teen chided though there wasn't much he could do while restrained. "Damn it."

He then looked up to the misty man who had been watching them silently the entire time. Just great.

"Hey, smog face," he called out, indicating his head down to the sleep teen rest on his knee. "A little help?"

Kurogiri simply nodded and walked over. He carefully picked Izuku up and walked him over to the couch in the corner to lay him down gently. He even placed a soft blanket over him before stepping away. The warper then turned back to Katsuki who eyed him suspiciously.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink, young Bakugou?" he asked, strangely politely.

"Hah?" Katsuki sneered, glaring at the warper. "You trying to recruit me, Villain?"

He spat the last word out with as much venom as he could. No way in hell would he succumb to their desires for him to turn Villain. Bakugou fucking Katsuki was a Hero damn it. But the misty man gave no reaction to it and simply stared at him for a moment before speaking again.

"If there is anything you require," Kurogiri said. "Do not hesitate to inform me."

"Anything?" the teen asked with a sneer. "Then why don't you let me the fuck go?"

At least freed from the chair, he would be free to move closer to Izuku and be prepared for any opportunity for them to escape. However, 'anything' did have its limits as the warper again simply stared at him. No movement towards him and instead maneuvering back behind the bar picking up a glass to clean. As if when not under order of the others, that was where he belonged.

It pissed Katsuki off but there was nothing he could do besides yelling into the living void of a man. For now, he resigned himself to where he was stuck in this fucking chair. Red eyes trailed over to the slumbering form of Izuku on the couch looking at peace in this hell they were in.

Stay strong, nerd. We're going to get the fuck out of here yet.

They would escape these lunatics. Katsuki guaranteed it. He would do what Izuku thought was best and bid his time wisely. Annoying but a Hero would do what he had to do.

We can do this…Zuku.

...

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Notes extension: ja0-s-blank-canvas-fic/731481371722317824/part-3-chapter-35-the-devil-is-in-the-details?source=share&ref=jokeraddict0