Chapter 119

.::Self-Sacrificing Idiots::.

As usual, Katsuki was in a bad mood, and also as usual, it was because of Deku. And also because of Toga dragging him to Hijack's room for a meeting disguised as a bonding lunch, which meant he had to spend time with her. But still mostly because of Deku, since said meeting had been technically instigated by him.

"The nerd seriously let himself get caught?" he growled after Toga offered a brief summary of the events. She just bobbed her head.

"Yep! To be fair, he totally obliterated his old record for keeping Tomu from finding out, so it's impressive he lasted as long as he did."

"That really doesn't make this any better," Hijack deadpanned next to him.

"It doesn't," Toga agreed with another nod, while Katsuki silently seethed. He'd had a feeling that Deku got himself caught when he didn't show up last night and Mistface had to take him back to his room, and then skipped breakfast, but still. They were so close to the escape! They had the spare key, made contact with some allies outside this place—freedom was close, dammit!

His aggravation was made marginally worse by the fact Deku probably hadn't been looking for socks, and had used that as an excuse since Seiko was around. A fact which only became obvious in retrospect after the nerd left. In Katsuki's defense, he was focused on kicking Hijack's ass at the time. And hero socks were absolutely something Deku would care about. (Seriously, one of his earliest memories was fighting with him about the best pair of All Might socks when they were three.)

Honestly though, those were still absolutely shitty excuses for not realizing Deku had some other reason to go to Shigaraki's room. Katsuki only had himself to blame for not picking up on it, and he knew it. Hence part of his aggravation. Just thinking about it made him scowl, distractedly jabbing at the dumplings with his chopsticks. In his distracted state his aim was slightly off though, one chopstick missing entirely and the other spearing the dumpling dead-center.

Katsuki stared at his plate, and had to make a concerted effort to not let his hands explode with irritation. When he tried to pull the chopstick out, it instead lifted the entire dumpling with it, apparently more deeply embedded than he'd first realized. Hijack raised an eyebrow as he looked at it. "You know you're supposed to pick those up with two chopsticks, right?" he drawled.

"Shut up," Katsuki grumbled, sticking it in his mouth. Once he swallowed he turned back to Toga and asked, "Did he say what he was doing in handsy's room in the first place?"

Frustratingly she just shook her head though as she pulled her plate onto her lap when Mion hopped on the desk to sniff at the dumplings. Mion made her displeasure loudly known, but they all ignored her. "Nope, sorry. But he might have mentioned it in his letter." That had them snapping to attention.

"Letter?" Hijack repeated eagerly even as he held his plate above his head. Which Katsuki quickly mimicked upon seeing Mion had hopped onto the bed and started creeping towards their plates. Predictably, she once again vocalized her offense at her attempt being foiled.

"Yeah, he wanted me to get you two together and give it to you so we could all go over it at the same time. I didn't read it yet since it was originally just for you two, so I don't know what's in it, but it should have the most important stuff." She popped a dumpling in her mouth before searching her sweater's pockets, while Katsuki frowned.

"Hold on, you mean you weren't supposed to be part of it originally?" he asked warily, and she shrugged even as she pulled out a piece of paper.

"I mean, he was mainly writing it for you two, but I think he already figured out that I'd have to read it too since you guys won't be allowed to be alone unsupervised. But after I visited, I think he got more comfortable with that." She paused then, her smile losing its usual crazy edge to become weirdly soft as she added, "He said he trusts me. Even without all his memories, Mido-chan still trusts me!"

Her face looked so happy and normal that it honestly weirded out Katsuki more than her regular face. Evidently Hijack agreed, scooting a little closer to Katsuki on the bed. He decided to let it pass this time, just this once. "Stop that, your face looks weird," he deadpanned at Toga, and then quickly added to a still actively meowing Mion, "And you stop that too! We're talking!"

Mion, because she was a cat and did not understand Japanese, kept up her protests. This, on top of everything else, just pushed Katsuki's bad mood to new heights, which must have shown on his face because Hijack abruptly stood up and put his plate on the desk by Toga. The stupid cat finally stopped meowing as she immediately raced for the accessible plate, only to get scooped up by Hijack and carried to the bathroom.

"Sorry Mion, it's for your own good," he said as he tossed her inside, and they heard they heard a yelp as she hit the floor before he slammed the door shut. When he turned around and saw Katsuki and Toga staring at him, he just shrugged and said, "What?"

"That was kinda mean," Toga pointed out. "Usually you're all sweet and gentle with Mion-chan!"

"It was that, or risk Bakugou exploding her."

"Damn straight," Katsuki snorted, setting his plate down on the bed to wipe his palms against his pants. The only reason his Quirk hadn't activated yet was because he'd been forced to develop very good self-control with his hands stuck in those stupid handcuffs while stuck in this dump. He still didn't trust himself to not activate it from a spike in irritation though. With his hands now sweat-free, he returned his plate to his lap. "Enough about that. Let's just read the damn letter already."

"Right!" Toga nodded while unfolding the letter, and Hijack retrieved his plate before sitting next to Bakugou. "So, should I just read it out loud while you guys eat? I already ate some dumplings with Mido-chan, so I don't need to finish my plate anyway."

"Depends," Hijack said. "Is there any chance Seiko's around?" That had Katsuki stiffening and gritting his teeth. If that creepy brat was skulking around—

"She went out to check on Tomu and the others, so we're good," Toga said with a dismissive shrug. "Magne texted that they'd be out for another hour right before I got Tsuki-chan, and Seiko-chan always times it so she gets back a little bit before them. So we've got at least half an hour."

Alright, that just left Katsuki with more questions (where was everyone? Why did Seiko time her returns separately?), but he let it slide. "Just read it before she gets back," he grunted, and she nodded.

"Okay!" She cleared her throat and began reading. "Dear everyone. I'm sorry, but I got caught. I don't know how much time you'll have to read this, so I'll try to keep this brief and hope Toga will pass on more details about that. If she doesn't, well, I'm sorry." That got an eye roll from Katsuki. At least they didn't have to rehash that explanation again, but it would have been annoying if she couldn't explain it.

"I don't know how risky this letter is and if anyone will find it, so I'll just get straight to the point. The number you want is twenty-two."

Cue Katsuki nearly choking on a dumpling. "Holy shit," Hijack whispered, while Toga looked up at them curiously.

"What does that mean? Is it bad or good? I can't tell from your reactions."

"It's, uh, good, probably," Hijack managed, and turned to Katsuki who had grabbed a water bottle to help clear his throat. "I mean, do you think it's—?" He cut himself off, still looking shell-shocked and in disbelief.

"What other number would he bother mentioning?" Katsuki asked sarcastically before coughing a couple more times. Neither of them had been prepared to hear the number for the freaking bomb anklets. He wiped his mouth and turned to Toga, setting the plate aside as he ordered, "Keep reading."

She nodded, and picked up where she'd left off. "That one thing should be in the same place, so you're good on that front," she read, and then paused to look at them again.

Katsuki snorted as he picked up on her unspoken question. "Pretty sure I know what he's talking about. It's connected to the number," he added to Hijack in case he didn't get it yet.

Luckily, Hijack wasn't an idiot and nodded, having pretty obviously already figured out Deku meant the key to the anklets. "I'm guessing we're going to avoid saying it out loud, then?" he asked dryly.

"You're the one who brought up Seiko in the first place."

"Fair point." Hijack turned his attention back to Toga. "I'd apologize, but..."

"No, I get it," she assured them with a shrug. "I like Seiko-chan, but I don't know if I'd trust her with this either. She kinda does her own thing, and she might think it would be more fun to tell Aiko-nee about the situation to see her reaction. Or try to follow everyone afterwards. But anyways, there's not much left," she added as she looked back to the letter. "I'll just read the rest." They nodded as she resumed reading.

"With that, you should have everything you need. I don't know where the keys for Eraserhead's restraints are, but I don't think that will be a problem for you so I don't need to say anything else on that end. But I need to tell you something: what I'm experiencing isn't a normal episode. I can't explain why, because it's a long story and you might not believe it. I'm only mentioning it because we can't wait for the episode to wear off. So—ah." She interrupted herself softly, her mouth pulling into a frown. "Hm."

She made no other noise besides that soft, singular hum as she skimmed the rest of the letter in silence, her frown steadily growing. The sudden silence and shift in her expression didn't help assuage their wariness, leaving both boys on edge. "What does it say?" Hijack asked, and Toga's gaze lingered on the page a moment longer before she began reading it out loud.

"So if you get a chance to go without me, take Eraserhead and leave. Don't worry about me, Tomura cares about me too much to do anything bad. You three are the ones most at risk, especially now that I'm locked up, but I'll always be safe. There will be other chances for me, but there might not be for you. Hopefully things will go well and we can work out something, but worst case scenario, leave me and save yourselves."

There was a long moment of silence when she finished, the air thick with heavy tension as the implications set in. Then, after about a minute, Katsuki spoke up. "I am going to explode that idiot's face when I see him."

"I was going to threaten to stab his arm, but that works too," Toga said with a shrug, while Hijack just stared at them in shock.

"Okay, but is he actually serious?" he pressed. "Like, does he really want us to—"

"Yes," Katsuki and Toga interrupted simultaneously, Katsuki a little more growl-like than Toga. She went on to explain brightly, "Mido-chan is always so self-sacrificial like that. He would totally give up his life to save others!" Her smile then vanished as she added flatly, "And I hate it."

"Yeah, it's fucking stupid," Katsuki bit out. "I still need to give that nerd hell for letting me think he was dead, no way am I letting him off the hook that easy!" He smiled then, a vicious and furious thing as he seethed out, "That nerd is getting out of here with us whether he wants to or not."

And they would make him regret even suggesting they leave him behind.

Bang.

They all froze at the sudden noise, heads simultaneously snapping towards the door. "What was that?" Katsuki demanded.

"I don't know, but it sounded a lot like something hitting metal," Toga said with a frown. Another bang sounded, making them all reflexively stand up. Someone was out there, banging on... a door, probably, since the walls weren't—

Wait.

Katsuki froze, something striking him. "You said Shittyraki's not here," he said, and both other teens' heads swiveled to stare at him wide-eyed. He didn't wait for a response, flying for the door with Hijack in close pursuit. It was still unlocked from when Toga dragged him there, and he threw it open to see a sight he'd expected but had still hoped he wouldn't see.

Two thugs stood in front of the neighboring door, spinning to face them in surprise. Katsuki barely paid them any mind, his gaze locked firmly on the newly broken keypad.

They were after Eraserhead.

Only Hijack's hand gripping Katsuki's arm in a vice-grip kept him from surging forward, fists clenching tighter than ever. "What are you doing?" Toga spoke up behind him, her voice cold and flat.

"It's none of your business," the plainer of the mooks huffed, crossing his arms.

"It looks like you're trying to break into Eraserhead's cell," Hijack piped up mildly, still clutching Katsuki's arm. Katsuki could feel the vigilante's hand shaking ever so slightly, silently betraying his nerves even as he kept up a snarky tone while sarcastically quipping, "That, or you just really hate keypads."

"Tomu won't be happy when he finds out," Toga commented coolly. "Neither will Mido-chan or Giri."

The ram-horned thug's face twisted in a scowl. "Who cares what they think!" he snarled, jabbing a finger at the door. "You have no idea how much trouble that bastard's caused me! And now that he's finally right here and vulnerable, Shigaraki expects us to just ignore him because his bratty brother likes him? Fuck that!" He spat the words, nostrils flaring as he growled, "We're not gonna sit back any more!"

"Didn't Shigaraki kill the last guys who tried that?" Katsuki asked, ignoring the way Hijack gave his arm a warning squeeze. "Do you think he'd react any differently this time? Do you actually want to die?"

That remark seemed to be enough to set them off. "We're just doing what everyone else wishes they had the guts to do!" the first thug snapped, yanking his arms out of their crossed position. "And we're not letting some goodie two-shoes brats get in our way!" Even as he spoke he lunged and threw a punch at them—literally. His fist split from his arm with a strand of pink connecting it to the stump and shot towards them like a rocket.

Katsuki and Hijack both reflexively dodged to the side, the vigilante smothering a pained yelp as the flying punch still managed to graze his side. Still, it quickly became apparent why he was such a thorn in the Alliance's side because he grabbed the pink strand trailing behind the fist and yanked, making the villain cry out in pain. Apparently that cord or whatever must have nerve endings.

Katsuki didn't have much time to think about it, the ram-horned one now charging at him. He didn't even think as he surged forward to meet him, hands sparking with explosions as he tackled the man and forced him back. His Quirk usually gave him the edge in close combat, and this time was no exception, the thug hissing as he grabbed his chest where Katsuki's palm had collided with a small explosion.

"You little brat," he snarled, his blunt teeth peeling and curling upwards to reveal sharp incisors. Incisors which rapidly grew and sharpened even further as his face began to stretch and transform, looking closer to some sort of dragon-ram hybrid than a human. He charged again and Katsuki met his arrival with more explosions, this time with both palms flinging to slam into his shoulders and force him back with loud twin bangs.

Even as the bastard was pushed back Katsuki kept charging without losing momentum. All he saw was red, his rage all-consuming as all his frustrations poured out. Getting kidnapped in the first place, Deku getting caught, his own failure to pick up Deku's actual intentions yesterday, that stupid cat trying to steal their food, Deku insisting on sacrificing himself, and now these bastards targeting Eraserhead—

"If anything goes wrong, just ignore me and focus on yourselves."

The sudden statement had startled Katsuki, head snapping up from his homework to stare at the hero. Deku and Hijack had gone to the bathroom after Hijack's cheap pen exploded and doused his hand with ink, leaving the two of them briefly alone. "Hah?" he huffed. "What the hell are you talking about, old man?"

"You heard me," Eraserhead said, gaze focused on his lap. "If there's any trouble, if anyone tries to come after me again—hell, if you get a chance to leave this place, to escape by yourselves, forget about me. Just focus on protecting yourself and Hijack, and getting out of here. I don't know what your Quirk is, but it's obviously something good for combat if they kidnapped you, so I'm trusting you can defend both yourself and him if push comes to shove."

Katsuki stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, eyes widening. "Wait, what the fuck? Are you seriously saying to just leave you to die?"

"If it comes down to it, yes," Eraserhead replied bluntly, making Katsuki actually flinch at how quickly he responded. The hero still didn't look at him as he continued, "I'm the adult here, so it should be my job to protect you, but right now I'm as good as dead weight. I'm already failing at the most basic essence of my job, and I can't have kids endanger themselves because I'm unable to defend even myself. Even asking you to protect yourself and Hijack is a failure, but I have no other choice. Especially since Hijack can't exactly use his own Quirk to defend himself."

His mouth twisted bitterly at the last bit, self-loathing evident in his frown. Katsuki didn't get a chance to respond before the bathroom door opened and Deku emerged. Eraserhead's face immediately closed off again, effectively ending the conversation.

Eraserhead had the same self-sacrificial streak as Deku, and it pissed Katsuki off. More than that, he'd basically given up. The fact he told Katsuki to prioritize himself and Hijack, even if it meant leaving him to die—that he called himself dead weight—all of it just made it clear he didn't expect to escape. The bastard was more vulnerable than ever, and rather than try to fight or overcome it, he'd chosen to just focus on Katsuki and Hijack with no regard to his own life.

But there was one thing Eraserhead didn't know about Katsuki, and that was that he hated listening to authority figures. So like hell he'd suddenly start now.

He roared as he delivered an explosive uppercut to Ram's chin, the force sending him flying upwards. There was a loud crack as the bastard's horns made contact with the ceiling, sparing his skull from the impact, but it still rattled his whole head. Between that and the harsh hit to the chin, he was out like a light, crashing to the ground with a loud thump.

Katsuki spat at his body before turning just in time to see Hijack and Toga take down the other thug. At some point Toga had managed to get on the guy's back, arms wrapped around his neck in a headlock. He pried at her arms with one hand and one stump—the other hand limp on the ground nearby—leaving his torso wide open for Hijack to deliver a roundhouse kick to his side. The guy went falling towards the wall, Toga releasing the headlock to grab his shoulders and flip over his head. That sent him crumpling to the ground at a painful angle, groaning almost pitifully as he hit the floor.

For a moment the hall was largely silent after that, save for the teens' panting breaths and the one conscious thug's groans. Then Hijack hissed and clutched at his side as he slouched against the wall, face scrunching with pain. "Shit," he breathed, getting their attention to focus on him.

"Did he actually get you that bad?" Katsuki asked.

"Unlike some people, I don't have an explosive Quirk to keep people away," the vigilante hissed back. "And that guy's hand was hard, I think his bones are."

Before Katsuki could respond before they heard Eraserhead's muffled voice call from behind the door, frantic and tinged with panic. "What the hell's going on out there?" The teens exchanged wide-eyed looks, unsure how the hell to respond to that. Given his orders to leave him to die, he probably wouldn't be too happy about the fight.

As they looked at each other though Toga's head suddenly snapped fully towards Katsuki and her eyes went wide, focusing on something behind him.

Dread trickled down his spine, cold and icy, and he whirled around to see Kurogiri behind him.

After returning to the base with the first group of returnees from the scouting trip, Kurogiri had heard the sounds of fighting. Instinct had him warping to the source, pinpointing the location almost automatically from two years of dealing with fights in this specific building. He didn't even have time to register the fact it came from the secure prisoners' wing before he was there, standing in the aftermath of a fight.

Kurogiri took in the sight before him. The two villains on the floor. Bakugou standing over one with still-smoking palms. Hijack leaning against the wall clutching his side. Toga standing near him besides the other fallen villain. The smashed keypad on Eraserhead's door.

And beyond the door, he could hear shouting. A familiar voice demanding to know what was happening with increasing urgency.

In that moment, Kurogiri understood exactly what happened, and also made a decision. He vanished into his mists to reappear inside the locked cell, his entrance startling Eraserhead. The man looked shaken, eyes wide as he sat leaning as far forward as he could with his restraints.

To his credit he quickly recovered from his surprise at Kurogiri's arrival, quickly firing off rapid questions. "What happened out there? Who was banging on the door? Why did I hear explosions? What the hell were all those thuds? Was that yell Bakugou? What's going on?" His voice rose at the last question, expression tight with worry and ever-mounting panic.

"Someone attempted to break into your cell," Kurogiri informed him, and the hero flinched as his eyes grew wider. "Toga, Bakugou and Hijack intervened, but it is clearly no longer safe for you here."

Even as he spoke the hero was visibly forcing himself to calm down, taking a breath and exhaling slowly as his expression became more guarded. "So what, then?" he asked, watching warily as Kurogiri approached the bed. "I'm not delusional enough to think you're letting me go."

"We will temporarily relocate you somewhere safer," Kurogiri said simply as he yanked the blanket off the bed, and then threw it at the hero's head. Eraserhead startled as it landed and covered his face, yanking it off just in time to see the mist expand to cover the bed. He flinched at the expanding blackness and reflexively activated Erasure, but it was already too late.

The mist receded to reveal an empty apartment, the newly warped bed the only piece of furniture. It was a dreary and rundown space, with even the sole window boarded up to only allow a thin sliver of daylight through. "Please relax," Kurogiri said as Eraserhead twisted to survey the room with a frantic energy. "I will go—"

"Totoro, Uraraka-chan, is that you?" a familiar voice called, and Eraserhead froze with eyes going wide. Kurogiri turned to see the apartment's door open to reveal Aiko, expression wary as she said, "Or is it—"

And she naturally cut herself off as she took in the sight of Kurogiri and Eraserhead in a hospital bed. Eraserhead was frozen and mute with shock, but Kurogiri turned to face her fully. "There was another attempted attack today, so it is currently unsafe for Eraserhead at the Alliance's base," he informed her. "Until we can make more secure preparations to ensure his safety, I decided he would be safer in your care, Aiko-sama."

He dipped into a bow and said, "Please take care of Shouta for me."

Eraserhead inhaled sharply behind him, but Kurogiri paid him no mind. He simply straightened from his bow and warped away, leaving them alone.

Meanwhile miles away in Hosu, a man in a hooded cloak and a scarf walked past a tall office building, looking through a wallet and counting change. A second, smaller hooded person jogged past in a distracted state and grazed the man's shoulder bumped into him, making him drop the wallet and coins spill out. The smaller figure slowed long enough to call out a half-hearted "sorry" before continuing their jog, while the man bent to retrieve his wallet with a tired sigh.

The exchange barely earned a passing glance from the few pedestrians currently on the street. They couldn't see the smirk concealed by his scarf as he swiped the coins and wallet from the ground and dropped them in his coat's pocket.

"Showtime," he whispered, and then slapped the sidewalk.

Several meters behind him the figure who'd bumped into him slowed his jog to a halt and turned around, breaking into a full-speed run. This got a few curious looks, which quickly evolved into startled cries of shock as he raced for the ground and leaped onto the sidewalk and suddenly soared. A dark miasma shot out from beneath his poncho-style coat's hem to wrap around the first man's waist, pulling him along as they zoomed upwards towards the top of the office building beside them.

On the roof of a nearby building, Jirou Kyouka and Kaminari Denki leaned over the ledge to watch them crash through a window. "Woah," Denki breathed in awe, while Kyouka pulled back from the ledge.

"Let's go."

While editing: "Whoops, I wrote 'teeth curled back to reveal sharp incisors' instead of 'lips curl back'. Should I fix it or commit?" I think you can see which choice I went with.

Also, originally, this chapter was just gonna have them go over the letter and end with the "and they'd make Deku regret suggesting they leave him behind" bit, and then cut to the start of the Gentle Criminal confrontation. Then, I got an evil idea. And I asked the server for their opinions on if I should implement said evil idea, because we wouldn't be able to see the fallout for a bit. And they said yes.

So you can blame them for Aizawa ending up with Aiko, because I really didn't plan that until I wrote this chapter. And we're also not checking in with them for a bit because it's GENTLE CRIMINAL AND TOKOYAMI TIME! :D

(For anyone TOO nervous, I'll assure you now: Aizawa is fine and Aiko is doing nothing sinister to him. Currently they're both quietly freaking out for different reasons. They eventually reach a truce of sorts when Aiko panic-gifts him a fruit basket and Aizawa stops freaking out to go "wtf" at her.)