Gonna have some Bakugo flashbacks in this chapter, friends! I'm really excited to get more written for this XD I hope you all enjoy and are staying safe out there!

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What I've Done

Chapter 8

~*FlashBack*~

I can hear my mom's loud voice cackling about something as I attempt to use my quirk to jump higher; at this rate, I'll be able to grab the 'big kid' monkey bars without having to climb up the latter like all the extra's do. My friends gasp at how cool I am, but I snort with pride. I already know I'm great; with a quirk like mine, how could I be anything else?

"Oi, brat!" my mom calls, gesturing harshly for me to move it so that we can go. "Get over here."

I roll my eyes but come running anyway. Auntie Inko is beside her, quiet as always and looking around for that useless Deku to stumble into her arms. She smiles at me and gives a little wave, completely oblivious to the fact that Deku and I aren't friends anymore.

I don't know why he never tells her that someone like me doesn't want anything to do with someone like him, but every time we're leaving this stupid daycare, he waves goodbye and tells me he'll see me tomorrow… what a pathetic loser.

This time though, I don't hear his sniveling little voice calling out to Auntie and I look around, trying to find him. He isn't in the spot where I left him after he talked back to me… but he isn't by the tree he sits under when he cries either.

"I'm sure he's just in the bathroom, Inko." My mom states after another few moments. "Masaru, why don't you go see if you can hurry him up."

My dad smiles and nods, but something feels off about their behavior. Mom's grip around me tightens just a hair as she starts peering around the playground like Auntie Inko is and I can feel her heart beating faster against my chest.

Dad steps out of the on-site restrooms and rubs his hands together. He only ever does that when he's concerned about something and doesn't want to say it out loud; mom always gets onto him for it too… but this time she stays so quiet. "Mom?" I question, confused.

"Katsuki, have you seen Izuku?" she asks in return, setting me back down and kneeling before me with a tense expression.

I frown because I don't understand what the big deal is, but I point back to where I'd left him after my friends and I beat him up. "Yeah, Deku was over there earlier…"

"Deku?" Auntie mimics, her increasingly pale face contorting slightly like she's horrified that I'd call him something like that.

"Yeah, Deku," I state again, giving her a scoffing glare. "That's what everyone calls him 'cause he's quirkless."

Mom roughly grabs my jaw and yanks my face back to her with clear disapproval in her expression. "Katsuki, that's enough. You need to tell me where Izuku is right now, this is very important."

Mom and I yell at each other a lot, but this is different. She's really mad but her voice is hushed and tense, almost desperate like she's really afraid of something. "I don't know where he is," I state truthfully, my own scowl slipping as something in my stomach starts bubbling from her behavior.

"Was anyone with him? Did you see anyone who isn't usually at this park near Izuku?" she asks with even more panic seeping into her tone. "When was the last time you saw him, Katsuki?"

"N-no, I don't think so…" I stumble, wracking my brain to try and remember what happened after my friends and I left him alone. I can feel my thoughts becoming more frantic when I blank. When was the last time I saw Deku? "Maybe an h-hour?"

"Oh my God…" Inko gasps, covering her mouth with her trembling hands.

"Masaru." Mom hisses, releasing me just long enough to shove me into my dad's legs. "Stay here with Katsuki. I'm going to go speak with the teachers and help Inko look for Izuku."

For maybe the first time ever, I feel true fear start budding in my chest and I clutch my dad's pants while watching mom stomp over to our caretakers. I bite my lip while I try to figure out what's going on. Why was she asking about strangers?

Then it hits me. They're worried Deku was taken.

"But that couldn't have happened, right?" I think, remembering how often we'd been warned. Even useless Deku wouldn't have just wandered off the playground with some stranger… He knew better than that!

A cold pit settles deep in my gut as a vision of how I'd left him flashes to the forefront of my mind. He was beaten to hell from my quirk… What if he was too hurt to scream and someone snatched him off the ground?

I pull my face from my dad's leg and start looking around frantically, uselessly searching for a mop of unruly blackish-green curls amidst the many kids still running around carelessly. Dad must have sensed my growing panic because he's quick to pick me up, giving me a comforting expression when he realizes I've figured out what mom was hinting at.

"We'll find him, Katsuki… I'm sure this is all just a big fuss over nothing…" he coos, but it's in vain.

I can see Inko desperately rushing around to look under and behind literally everything in the park and can hear my mom laying into my teachers with harsh whispers. She has her phone out and pressed to her ear soon after and I know… I know.

Deku—Izuku, is gone… and it's all my fault.

~*End flashback*~

I rub my face roughly as I get to my front door, memories of the last time I saw Izuku rushing through my mind like a horror film. Inko had screamed at me when it became clear that Izuku was kidnapped, telling me what I already knew… It was my actions that had caused his disappearance. She and my parents stopped speaking that day but I've never held what she said against her.

If I'd just been less of an egotistical prick and kept hanging out with the person that had been my best friend since before we could even walk, he wouldn't have been an easy target… he wouldn't have been alone when he needed someone.

My parents and the counselor they took me to told me that Inko was just upset and that I couldn't have known what was going to happen and maybe… maybe I didn't know but that doesn't excuse how I behaved, nor does it change the fact that he went missing right after I'd beaten him into the ground for defending another kid against me.

"Oi, brat!" mom shouts as she chops something for dinner while dad brews a pot of tea at the stove. "How was your first day? You finally make a friend?"

My throat feels dry and my stomach burns like another ulcer is forming in my forever unsettled gut. I slink into one of the kitchen chairs and let my backpack fall to the floor beside me, eyes locked on the table since I can't bring myself to look at them.

"Katsuki?" dad calls next, turning to see why I haven't responded at all… usually, I'd at least call mom a hag and tell her to mind her own business.

"He's back…" I state quietly, disbelief still coloring my tone even though I held him in my arms just half an hour ago. "That kid that was rescued a month or so ago… It was Izuku."

Mom had been turning to carry the chopped vegetables over to Masaru when I spoke, but they and the cutting board clattered to the floor with a loud bang. She was still as a statue just like dad, both of them staring at me in silence.

I'm sure they're eyes are as wide and shocked as mine were when I looked up and saw Izuku staring at me this morning, but I still can't raise my head to see if I'm right. Even though they've been nothing but supportive and tried to help me come to terms with what happened, I'm always afraid I'll see something else in their faces… I'm terrified of what they must really think of me after what I did.

Several minutes pass and though their postures become less tense, they still haven't moved or spoken a word. I know they're waiting for me to continue and tell them how I know. It takes every ounce of my will to make my tongue move again, but my voice still breaks as a sobbed-shout rips out of my tightly clamped throat. "H-he's… He's in my c-class and I… F-fuck!"

"Oh, Katsuki!" Mom finally exclaims, rushing over to me to trap my body in a hug.

I can hear her telling me something and I feel her petting me comfortingly while dad comes over to do the same, but I can't pay attention to the sensations or sounds. All I can focus on is that Izuku is finally back. Finally Safe.

And yet, even though I should feel relieved knowing that, I don't. The boy I saw today that stared at me with such blank contempt… The one that scrambled to his knees with complete fear when the teacher got his attention… That did nothing but stand still as I hugged him after so long…

He's not the Izuku I remember at all; the villain had broken him… and it's all my fault.

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The week following my encounter with Bakugo was relatively uneventful since he did as Inko demanded and kept a good distance away from me. I can feel his eyes on my back though and sometimes outright catch him staring with my peripheral vision, but I don't see any reason to actually look back at him.

Inko, of course, took that normal and non-abusive incident as an excuse to cling even more tightly to me, however. She'd originally stated that she and Naomasa would drop me off at the entrance on their way to work each morning and then let me walk home after school, but now she insists on holding my hand all the way to first period and picks me up at 3:40 sharp.

I found out that the looks I was receiving my first day are because people think it's funny that I get escorted places by my mother at my age. On some level, I agree with them but I think that's more because I hate Inko—I wouldn't mind at all if Tomura were here doing the same thing.

Still, I'm stuck with her and this situation until Tomura and Master All For One conquer society or at least deem my duties fulfilled and have me return to their sanctuary. At least I have Shinso here to break the oppressive monotony that is my current life.

"So, how were classes?" Shinso asks, pulling me from my thoughts of being back in the quiet solitude of the hideout. "It was your first week ever going, right?"

"My masters gave me books to keep me occupied," I state, though I'm certain he's already aware of that as I told him I'd done well enough on a placement test to start school with people my age. "It wasn't difficult."

"Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't for you; dad said you're highly intelligent," Shinso snorts. "But I meant how're you dealing with being a teenager. It's got to be strange being around pubescent assholes that have nothing better to do with their time than gossip."

I blink for a moment. Why is it that people can't ever just say exactly what they mean? "It went fine."

Shinso hums like he doesn't believe me and while I can't say I was being entirely truthful since I've yet to actually assimilate into 'teen culture' at all, I wasn't being dishonest either. I figure this is one of those situations I keep running into where I need to elaborate more if I'm going to be believed. "I haven't spoken to anyone really… I mostly just sit and stare out a window unless I'm asked to work a problem on the board."

"Well, I hope no one is being too cruel to you… If they are just let me know and I'll have my dad talk some sense into them."

He smiles mischievously at me while he speaks. I can't really see his dad talking to anyone unless he absolutely had to, but maybe that's why Shinso looks the way he does. This must be a joke. I let my lips form a smile that mimics his and will admit I feel a little tickle in my throat as I picture Erasurehead blinking scarily down at the people laughing at me every morning.

We sit in silence for a while afterward and work on our homework. I'm almost finished with mine when I hear his phone giving a low battery warning. Shinso sighs and drags himself to his feet, moving to go plug it in. He pauses as he steps up to my dresser though, tilting his head to the side.

"Hey, Izuku... I don't want to be too nosey, but, you do know what this is, don't you?" he questions lowly, turning to eye me with unease.

I get up as well to see what he's referring to. It's just a plastic All Might statue with a clock built into his stomach. From what I remember, mom gave it to me when I was really young and must have kept it all this time. His expression doesn't change when I state this, however, maybe even becoming more uncomfortable looking.

"I saw it here the first time I stopped by, but I figured it was just until your parents knew you were okay." He eventually explains, pointing to the very center where the clock hands meet. "I had one when I was a little kid since mom had to work nights a lot and left me with a sitter… It's a nanny cam."

My mouth drops almost as far as my stomach. I have a tendency to mumble stuff when I'm thinking and believe myself to be alone; what if I said something about Tomura and our plans and this… this thing picked it up? I'm suddenly so thankful Tomura hasn't attempted to visit me yet, I mean, my God. I could have ruined everything and not even known what was happening!

"Sorry," Shinso mumbles beside me. "I just figured you should know..."

I can hear Inko coming and can't help but let my face contort hatefully for a single moment before doing my best to force it back into apathy. There's no way I can just ignore this; as long as it's here, Tomura can't visit at all and I won't ever feel safe trying to make his plans a reality.

It's got to go.

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Comments are appreciated! Also, check out my other stories if you're interested! I have several MHA stories going (including an entirely different VillainDeku!)

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