Katsuki came home after another long day of school, the wear and tear eroding away at him like an ocean would a cliff. He caught a glimpse of his mother in the kitchen cooking like she usually did when he came home. The old hag turned her head at Katsuki as he shut the door, shooting him a somewhat concerned look, her sharp crimson eyes slightly narrowed and her brows furrowed. Katsuki returned the look, half mocking her, half sharing her emotions.
"Hey, do you know if everything is okay with Inko? Izuku's mom... I tried calling her because I wanted to catch up, but she never answered. She always answers. Not to mention you know how I like to lend money to her so she can pay the bills... Being a single mother is rough in this modern era."
She expressed worridly. The thought crossed Katsuki's mind as he reflected briefly on his and Izuku's fight. Suddenly, his chest was hit with a sudden pang of harrowing dread. He hid his fear well, only his eyes shaking from the sudden realization. He said he lost everything. Everyone.
"You should come with me to check up on them after dinner so we can see if everything is okay."
His mom then suggested, with no response from Katsuki's end, the boy too struck with fear and guilt that nothing would escape his lips. He gripped his own palms tightly, digging deep in order to barely muster words of any kind.
"mhm. Just tell me when dinner is ready..."
Katsuki simply mumbled out before heading off to his room, shutting the door and locking it, enclosing himself in a pit of dispair and madness, a sanctuary built on his guilt and sorrow.
How long was she dead for? Was her death the final straw for Deku? Now that he's expelled, where the hell was Deku?! He slapped himself in the face, wondering why the hell he was thinking so hard about people he supposedly hated and why he felt such guilt towards something that ultimately wasn't his fault.
He was put into this position, and had lost his crown as the strongest in his school because of Deku, sure. He hated him, and envied him, so why the hell did he feel bad for him?! Thoughts of such nature circled around Katsuki's dwindling mind like vultures would dying pray, eager for his mind to give in and become devoured by his thoughts.
Paralysis struck his body as he could barely move amidst his troubling trance, but he was soon broken out of it as his mother yelled his name in an angry and incessant tone in order to grasp his attention and get him out as soon as possible.
She was probably gung ho to head to Deku's place so they could check on them, and wanted to finish eating as soon as possible. After all, the sooner they arrived, the higher chance they'd get there in the nick of time. So she probably thought...
Katsuki plopped down in his designated seat at the dining table, his mother sitting across from him and shooting stink eye at him as she pressured him to eat faster. The boy was admittedly hungry, as trash duty at lunch made it to where he couldn't indulge in the cafeteria food. He sunk his fangs into the cooked meat, tearing away at it and swallowing pieces whole. In a record of five minutes, Katsuki had finished his food, his mother finishing only a minute or two later.
The old hag hopped to her feet, tossing his and her plates in the sink to be washed later before kicking on her slippers and dashing out the door and to the car. Katsuki reluctantly followed, that same feeling of dread he had felt before fighting Deku rearing its head once more. He tried to brace for the worst, but he knew he was just delaying the inevitable.
It was a ten minute drive to their apartment complex. They stopped and got out inside a parking garage beside the buildings, the mother and son heading to the residence, dread and anxiety permeating the air.
Katsuki's mother was quick to knock on the door, waiting for a few seconds for a response but being welcomed to the sound of nothing. She seemed to know that Deku's mom wouldn't ignore her so she grew somewhat frantic, knocking on the door incessantly before checking inside the windows, peeping inside of the curtains but to the sight of nobody, still.
"Nobody is there. Not Inko. Not Izuku. Just what the hell happened?"
The old hag asked aloud as she hastily pulled her phone out, contacting what Katsuki presumed to be the police. Seems like this was all going to unfold into a full blown search by the end of tonight... Katsuki propped himself up against a wall, silent and his head pointed down at the ground, trying to remain ignorant to everything happening, but the pain still bleeding through regardless, like a paper towel over a juice spill.
About ten minutes later, police and detectives arrived on the scene. Katsuki looked up briefly, being welcomed to a familiar face which was the same detective from the villain incident last Friday. The old man held a calm and composed look, his slanted gold colored eyes shining with curiosity and desire to get to the bottom of this case.
The majority of his attention lay on Katsuki's mother as she was the one who called, but he noticed the teen, flashing a brief, warm smile his way which eased him a little bit.
"Hello there, miss, what is your name? I'm detective Sasaki. I will be working on this missing persons case."
The man said, bowing briefly towards the woman who bowed back, a sense of mutual respect between the two forming. Katsuki's eyes shifted back down to the floor, but his ears were peeled, listening in on the unfolding conversation.
"Hello, detective. I'm Mitsuki Bakugo and this is my son, Katsuki Bakugo. We are a close friend of the resident here and her son... I tried calling them earlier, about an hour before leaving to come here... She usually answers so the fact that she didn't made me grow worried. Not to mention, I often lended her money for support so that she could take care of her boy, and pay the bills, and since bills were due for awhile now, I wanted to check up on her..."
Said the old hag, her voice wavering slightly as she grew more worried for her friend, her overall tone a stark contrast to the more confrontational one she used with Katsuki. Detective Sasaki stayed silent, in a state of thought before opening his wrinkled mouth to speak.
"I suppose a word would need to be said to the landlord then? Perhaps bills were late this month and they had gotten evicted."
Sasaki suggested, Katsuki's mother nodding in response to the idea.
"Perhaps... I mean I was helping with bills because Inko was on thin ice with the landlord after all, having not paid the bills a few times due to not having enough money... It could be possible."
She then uttered out in response as a cop in the background ran a search on the landlord's information over the apartment, finding his number and contacting him. The cop conversated with the landlord for about a minute before hanging up with new information.
"Yes, they are no longer living here for they were kicked out recently. Though, that does beg the question of where they are now. Mrs. Bakugo, you did say the owner's name was Inko, right? Inko Midoriya?"
The cop posed the question, elliciting a silent nod from Katsuki's mother. The teen boy gritted his teeth in anticipation.
"Inko Midoriya... Has been dead for some time. She succumbed to fatal wounds from a villain attack at a grocery store just a few weeks ago. Assuming her son is now gone, it could be said that he too is dead."
The cop then announced, sending chills undulating up Katsuki's spine as his teeth began to bite down on his lip so hard that it bled, two streams of red cascading down his chin, small drops colliding with the floor. He was silent, and frozen, unable to speak as something was caught in his throat.
"Katsuki, you go to school with Inko's son. You would know more than anybody as to his wearabouts, would you not?"
Katsuki's mother asked to no response as the words became near incomprehensible and just became a mishmash of sounds going through his ears. She seemed to have seen the blood trickling from his lips and approached him, taking a more caring than usual tone as she wiped the liquid from his chin, her eyes shining with concern.
"Katsuki, I know it's hard but you have to tell me so that we can find him at least..."
She said, but Katsuki just could not speak no matter how much energy he expended in doing so. It was like he was paralyzed, like he was when he was in his room. But now it was way... WAY worse.. Detective Sasaki placed a hand on his mother's shoulder, offering her the chance for him to talk to him.
She got the memo and moved, letting the tall man take her place. After one brief glance into the man's eyes, he calmly stepped back.
"He was expelled on Monday. So he was not a victim of the villain attack. He is still alive, supposedly. Where he is as of now is a complete mystery, though."
The detective announced aloud, letting the possibility of Deku being alive linger in the air, loosely but still present. Katsuki's mother let out a sigh of relief at the revelation and propped herself against the guard rails.
"Okay, then we should put up missing posters and have a full on search? Right??"
Katsuki's mother asked, her words still laced with a faint sense of worry and anxiety.
"Not... quite. We still have no inference on Izuku's whereabouts so we cannot make a full and committed search yet. We would only be expending energy and resources that could be used on more sure cases. Of course, if you were able to find more evidence as to his wearabouts, and contact us, a full search may be underway. But as of right now, information is scarce."
The cop who made the phonecall to the landlord spoke, nervously ruffling the short blonde hair underneathe his cap.
"Oh... Um... Is it okay to put up missing posters at least?? I can do it myself!"
Katsuki's mother then suggested as a last ditch effort.
"Of course, it could help further our investigation! We appreciate the contribution to the effort, Mrs. Bakugo."
The same cop uttered out, flashing a sheepish grin, filled with optimism and hope that the missing boy would be found soon.
"Thank you all, for your time and your effort. I will contact you if I come across anything new."
Katsuki's mother concluded the interaction. The cops nodded and the detective gave her his personal card for contact in case she needed anything. They then all walked off, Katsuki and his mother following and heading to the parking garage. The air was filled with silence, much like before. But now it wasn't out of dread for not knowing things. It was out of fear for the events unfolding and the consequences of their actions.
Saturday rolled around, and Izuku woke up in his new bed, sitting straight and stretching his scrawny arms in the air with a loud yawn exiting his mouth and reverberated throughout the place he claimed as his home.
Izuku contacted Kurogiri, knowing it was about time for breakfast as the boy desired another delectable quisine. A large black portal was quick to summon before Izuku, who walked through without hesitation, entering the bar he was familiar with at this point.
He sat down to a plate of pancakes, the stack drizzled in maple and chocolate syrup, with whipped cream on top acting as a crown for the consumable masterpiece. Izuku grabbed his fork and knife, eagerly digging into his meal.
As Izuku had finished his food, another portal spawned beside him. A small pang of dread hit the boy as he knew right away as to who it was. Tomura sat one seat away from Izuku, which was customary at this point. A plate of pancakes was served to him, with the manchild banging his fist against the table in frustration.
"Ughhh... The whipped cream melted, and the syrup is gone!"
Tomura complained loudly, his voice a raspy growl like usual. He clawed at his neck as he looked up at Kurogiri, clenching his fist harder.
"The syrup is inside the pancake, Tomura. You would have seen it on there if you were just here sooner. Maybe try waking up earlier like Midoriya here, and you'll have fresher food."
Kurogiri suggested calmly, lecturing Tomura like he was his mother. Izuku laughed internally as he couldn't help but be amused by the two's dynamic. It half reminded Izuku of the "Grown ass man" skit from Key and Peele.
"Fuck Midoriya! You know when I wake up! Why the fuck do you make food so damn early?!"
Tomura barked in annoycance, saying Izuku's last name in a somewhat condescending tone. Kurogiri let out a sigh, sharing similar annoyance to Tomura but having different reasons.
"To incentivise good sleeping habits, Tomura."
Kurogiri shot back, making a somewhat valid argument. Izuku just watched the conflict unfold before him. It was like a trainwreck one could not not look at because of how intriguing it was despite how bad it was in nature.
The two's bickering was soon cut by All For One, whos voice cut through the screen in the corner, immediately making himself known and shutting the two up.
"Good morning, Izuku."
All For One greeted the boy, who said "Good morning" in return, his tone respectful and calm, but never open and ignorant as he maintained brevity in his words unless elaboration was absolutely needed.
"You may be thinking about what your first mission may be, Izuku. As you know, I have been scouting out talent, young and old. Another boy, named Doku Shino, had always struck interest within me, and I want him to join the League of Villains as well. Though... due to a certain incident, he was arrested and taken into a juvenile mental institution. I'm also conscious of the fact that this boy is one of your friends?"
All For One then announced, Izuku only finding himself half shocked at the revelation that he wanted Doku to join. His quirk was pretty good for area of effect crowd control and can be valuable for missions in the future that may involve more people.
"He is. Or... was, rather. A mental institution, you say? How do you expect me to bust him out? And is there anyone else you need me to get from there? Also, what resources do I even have anyways?"
Izuku then asked, though he anticipated more questions being brewed up from All For One's answer.
"Right... After all, security is pretty tight, day and night. But there are times that the patients, depending on how trustworthy they are, may get free time away from security staff. Though... Considering Doku shot up a school and knocked many students out with his quirk... I suppose eyes would be on him more often than not. Luckily, we have a pair of eyes in the institution as well, just in case, who keeps tabs on potential candidates all the time. She happens to have knowledge on the time he is alone, which determines the amount of time you have to work with. And I had told her in advance to make an entrance through the back gate for you to slip on in!"
All For One proudly announced. The overall mission, given the amount of work and preptime already poured into it by the crimelord, seemed somewhat easy. Because of the pair of eyes working at the institution, things were made drastically easier and it wouldn't all be left up to Izuku's intuition and skill, or lack therof.
"...Alright. So what is the time I should go, the address, and is there a location you want me to bring him to?"
Izuku asked, elliciting a pleased and amused chuckle from the other side of the screen, satisfied with the boy's determination and willingness he displayed.