Inko was waiting for them by the door when they arrived, her arms reaching for Kacchan, pulling him into a hug that the blonde did nothing to avoid.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"I'm fine, auntie. Don't worry so much," Kacchan said.
"Mom, we need to pack. Is everyone getting everything together?" Izuku asked.
Inko nodded as she ushered the three of them back inside.
"Hatsume and Denki are still working on her equipment. It's been difficult convincing her to leave some of the bigger things behind."
Izuku sighed, turning to head towards Hatsume to work on helping to convince her when he heard his mother cough, and he turned back to her in worry.
"Mom, are you okay?" Izuku asked.
Inko cleared her throat, waving Kacchan off, who was patting her back, his face pinched and grave as he hovered near her in case she needed him.
"I'm fine. It's just this dusty house getting to me. I'm more worried about you, Izuku. You need sleep." Inko said.
"There's no more time mom, they could have followed us back. We can't risk staying here much longer. We need to be out by tomorrow morning." Izuku said.
"I know, and I'm making sure everyone gets everything ready, but you won't do anyone any good if you pass out from exhaustion." Inko said.
"I'm fine." Izuku argued.
Kacchan interrupted with a huff, grabbing Izuku's wrist and dragging him towards the upper stairs.
"You need sleep, you idiot. I'll make sure he gets a few hours, auntie." Kacchan said.
Inko let out of breath of relief, trusting Kacchan to do as he said. Inko returned to the kitchen to pack up the little food they had left. Shinsou offered to help her and they disappeared from sight as Kacchan pulled Izuku around the corner.
"Kacchan, we don't have time for sleep." Izuku argued.
"And we can't afford for you to be useless or worse, lose control of One for All during a fight." Kacchan shot back.
Izuku's jaw snapped close at Kacchan's jab. He knew he couldn't argue with that kind of reasoning, so Izuku stayed quiet. As they reached their rooms, Izuku noticed the sounds of someone packing clothes into trash bags. There were subtle shifts of the makeshift curtain that let Izuku know Chieko was here.
"Whose there?" Chieko asked.
There was a pause in her movements as she waited for a response, but she didn't pull the curtains back to reveal herself.
"It's just us Third-wheel." Kacchan said.
"Baku, welcome back, you good?"
"Yeah, yeah I'm good." Kacchan replied.
Izuku felt awkward standing there, unable to bring himself to say anything. He would rather be downstairs helping the others than to be here. Izuku shifted away, unsure of how to join in the small talk, but Kacchan still had a firm hold of his wrist, keeping him trapped to endure in silence.
"You mind giving us the room? I think Auntie needs help to convince Hatsume to let go of some of her shitty contraptions." Kacchan said.
Chieko sighed as if she didn't want to. "Jeez, it's not like she can't build more when we get to U.A."
"Try convincing her of that." Kacchan chuckled.
Chieko pulled back the curtains, the girl's side already packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. She had dressed in a hoody they had found for her, feet bare but otherwise ready for the trip. She passed them, giving Kacchan a small pat but otherwise ignoring the two boys without a second glance.
Kacchan didn't seem bothered by her action, giving her a small nod as he dragged Izuku over to his makeshift bed.
"Now sleep." Kacchan said.
Izuku didn't react as he turned to Kacchan to protest, but the blonde didn't hesitate to push Izuku, making him fall back onto the lumpy mattress.
"Stop being such a Deku and sleep. I'll pack our things in the meantime."
Kacchan sat down on the floor, his back resting against the mattress by Izuku's head as he began grabbing their things from under the bed.
"I don't know that I can sleep right now." Izuku said.
"Trust me, you'll sleep."
He laid back as instructed. His eyes didn't close right away though as he stared up at the bland white ceiling, smelled the musty scent of mold and damp wood that his mother had tried her best to rid get rid of. It was all so foreign, yet had become familiar to Izuku. It was home in its own way and although Izuku had known they would have needed to leave, the reality of it was only now pushing down into his chest weighty and laden with an unspeakable burden that sunk down deep into his very bones.
Izuku didn't voice his thoughts though as he allowed the cautious shuffling of Kacchan moving around him to lull him to close his eyes to fall into a restless sleep.
When Izuku regained consciousness, the room was dimmer as the sun hung low on the horizon.
"I don't know what else to do. "
Chieko's soft whispers filtered through his heavy-laden thoughts somewhere from behind him.
Although Izuku knew he should make it known that he was awake, he stayed still, his eyes focused on the small smudge against the far wall, afraid to move.
"You have no problem telling me off when you don't like Somethin, just tell him the truth." Kacchan said.
The realization that it was Kacchan she was speaking to was no surprise to Izuku, but who were they speaking about?
"I just keep feeling like a burden." Chieko said.
A rise of guilt came up, burning Izuku's throat. He knew Chieko had felt that way. But her voicing her feeling only brought up the bitter memories of how he had lashed out at her the last time they had spoken.
"Just stop whining and being a burden, problem solved." Kacchan said.
Izuku flinched at the crass words from his friend. He almost opened his mouth to say something, but Chieko's soft chuckle stopped him. She never seemed hurt by the rude things Kacchan said. Yet one word from Izuku and she could look like he murdered her puppy? He snapped his mouth shut, bitting into his inner cheek at the bitterness that appeared at his own thoughts.
"Wow, great advise Baku. If it was that easy, I would have stopped ages ago." Chieko said, the teasing sarcasm mingling with the lighter tones of amusement. Kacchan could bring out that side of her.
Only Kachan.
"Hey not my fault. You make things more complicated than they Needa be."
Kacchan's heavy footsteps grew closer to Izuku, making him tense a bit, although he didn't turn or move. There was a pause that made Izuku's heart race in his chest at the thought that they had found him out, but after a moment, Kacchan moved closer to their bags. He pulled something out and walked back to Chieko.
"Here." Kacchan said.
"Home Remedies?" Chieko asked.
There was the sound of pages being flipped as she skimmed through it. Before snapping it back closed.
"Where did you get this?"
"Snatched it from the Pharmacists book shelf when they weren't looking." Kacchan said.
Izuku bit into his lower lip to stifle a laugh at the pride in Kacchan as he admitted to stealing from Hachiro. I guess it was Kacchan's own way of payback for keeping him as a hostage.
Chieko's laugh filtered through the room, unhindered and unburdened as she tried to cover her mouth to stifle herself. It was nice. He wished she could one day feel like this around him, too.
"Why are you giving it to me?" Chieko asked.
"I don't know. You're kinda weak, so you have a long way to go before you can even take care of yourself, let alone anyone here, plus you can't cook or clean worth a damn…."
Chieko's irritated voice interrupted Kacchan's harsh assessment. "You're not helping me feel any better, you know."
When Kacchan spoke, there was a subdued, embarrassed rasp to his voice. "Look, just cause you can't do all those things and your quirk isn't an option doesn't mean you can't be useful in other ways."
Chieko was quiet, as if considering his words, before whispering out a small thank you.
"You still need to improve your people skills. You suck at cheering people up." She teased.
"Shut up. I'm fucking amazing at cheering people up." There was a struggle as Kacchan tried to take the book. "Give me back that book, you ungrateful little shit!"
Chieko giggled, telling him to shush before her foots steps pattered across the floor towards the door.
"I'm going to go see if Ms. Midoriya needs anything. Thanks again for the book." Chieko said.
"Fuck off!" Kacchan yelled.
Chieko's laugh faded as she retreated down the hallway, leaving Izuku alone with Kacchan.
Kacchan neared the bed to stand over Izuku's form. He said nothing, which only left Izuku feeling more and more awkward with the resounding tension of pretending to be asleep.
"You done being an idiot?" Kacchan asked.
Izuku drew his shoulders up around his ears, embarrassed at being found out, but then again, it was Kacchan, so it was likely he had known Izuku was awake since the beginning.
Izuku turned to face him, looking up at the unamused blond who stared down at him, his arms crossed.
"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt." Izuku said.
Kacchan sat at the edge of the bed, not breaking eye contact, which only made Izuku flushed as his hand moved up to touch the dark circles under Izuku's eyes.
"Well, they're better than before." Kacchan mused.
It was surreal at the idea of how they had gotten to this point. Kacchan didn't hesitate to touch his face in such a gentle manner and Izuku had to admit they had grown closer during their time together. This didn't feel as awkward as it once might have been.
"Is everyone ready?" Izuku asked.
Kacchan seemed to not hear him as he kept swiping his thumb over the bruising circles. Izuku's skin tingled under Kacchan's light touch and he released a stuttered breath as the surrounding air shifted to something not yet voiced.
"Kacchan.." Izuku's voice came out airy, and a touch confused, unsure how to react to Kacchan at this very moment.
He pulled away, moving off the bed with a sudden jerk that had Izuku reeling at the movement. He sat up as if moved to follow Kacchan's gravitational pull. The blonde turned his back to Izuku as he faced the door, unwilling to look at him, and Izuku, mouth half open, couldn't voice his question. Why did they always end up like this with Kacchan's back to him as if beckoning Izuku to chase him again and again?
He wanted to know what happened just then, craved it even, but the status quo had snapped back into place and the unspoken rule of not talking about whatever this was had fixed itself like a wall between them. Izuku watched as a pink flush peaked through the nape of Kacchan's collared shirt and up towards the tips of his ears. The curiosity only increased to know what Kacchan was thinking in that moment, although Izuku could feel his own cheek's warmth in response, his heart fluttering under his chest.
"You need a shower, you smell like shit." Kacchan's voice came out forced and scratchy, as if he was forcing them through his lips.
Izuku rubbed the back of his head, feeling the dirt and grime of dried sweat, and he tabled their moment aside for now. This hot and cold nature of Kacchan was becoming the norm, so he allowed him to table it for now.
The thought of another cold shower didn't sound satisfactory to Izuku even all these months later.
"I could go for a long, hot shower right about now." Izuku said.
Kacchan grumbled, though it sounded more like a pained groan as he shifted in place, keeping his back to Izuku. "Fuck yeah."
"Izuku!"
The loud cry from his mother down stairs had both boys jumping in place and racing down within seconds.
The place was bare as they had placed all their things in easy to carry bags by the doors, but everyone was standing in the dining room surround the monitor's Hatsume had yet to pack.
"What's going on?" Izuku asked.
Hatsume's face looked grim as she looked back towards him, but she said nothing, only turning back to the monitors while waving him over.
Denki stood next to Shinsou, their faces schooled into a pained, worried frown.
Shinsou moved over, pulling Denki with him to make room for Izuku and Kacchan as they walked closer to stand over Hatsume's shoulders for a better look.
Izuku glanced over to his mom, who was holding onto Chieko, their faces wide eyed and scared as she gripped onto the younger girl's arm.
"Fuck." Kacchan whispered.
His mom didn't even reprimand him this time, and Chieko didn't laugh or tease him. Izuku inspected the screens and could just make out the silhouette of two people standing across the street from their base. Their forms staying hidden within the shades of the buildings nearby as the sky darkened.
"There's more." Hatsume said.
A few clicks and the screen changes to a different angle where another two figures stood at the corner of the screen hidden on the roof of the building beside them and another few clicks to reveal another pair in the back alley.
Six people surrounded them from all available exits.
"Boys!" Hachiro's muffled voice came through from outside, but it still made everyone in the room tense at the sound.
"I came for a visit! Won't you let me in?" Hachiro said.
A chill ran down Izuku's spine, the skin of his arms prickling at the implication.
They had Izuku's group trapped in a proverbial cage.