The blades twirled with the movements of his fingers and the chains, flames surging into every direction as it gyrated in the air. His muscles contracted as the momentum depleted. He ended the frenzy by slamming the blades into the floor, marking their permanent carve into it. Izuku felt the sweat draping loosely from the forehead. His biceps throbbed with a feeling of extreme soreness.
The boy exhaled the hot air from his nostrils, gripping the blades as tight as ever..
Rage. His quirk had a connection to 'rage'. He suspected as much, given the amount of boost in his strength whenever he felt the emotion, and the fact that he was able to spin the blades around on it's own is an indisputable proof of it's existence. However, he didn't know of it's extensive details. That was up to All For One to decide, which, he hadn't yet.
All he knew was that it had a connection of some sort to the chained blades in his hands. But why hadn't he been made aware of this quirk when he was a toddler? It would've saved him a lot of trouble, and certainly, he wouldn't be stuck in this circumstance in the first place.
And what was so special about him? Why did they choose him? Of all the people that they could've taken under their wing, they chose him? He suspected that it had something to do with the chained blades.
He hung the blades on his back, feeling the fatigue getting to him. He slumped into the ground, leaning his head against the concrete. Izuku still couldn't get the image of that man out of his head. How he pleaded. How he almost...killed him.
Izuku wanted out, but he knew that there was no escape. It would only end with an outcome that he was no eager to accept. The boy had been thrusted into a world that he had no experience in. One that would potentially cost him everything.
As Izuku pondered on the thought longer than he had expected, the door to the room creaked, slowly creeping forward as a newcomer began to make himself known.
The boy turned away, looking at anything but the man standing in front of the door. Kurogiri steadily approached Izuku, "Have you eaten?"
The inquiry, however, was met with a gratuitous silence. Izuku didn't utter a word. The greenette's eyes lurched to the side, finally meeting the man's soft gaze.
"Midoriya," Kurogiri said one more time, crouching to meet the boy's eye-level, "Have you eaten?"
"What do you care?" Izuku asked, his grip on the blades loosening, "Just get on with it."
Kurogiri stared at the dejected boy momentarily, before exhaling, "Your mom is safe and sound, though she is still in a comatose state. I wouldn't expect her to wake up until...a few months or so, according to the doctor's assesment."
Izuku nodded, keeping his gaze on the stranded blades on the ground, "Mind if you leave now?"
"There are...other matters that I need to discuss with you. Particularly, one that involves the UA faculty."
Izuku's eyes widened at that. The UA Faculty? What could they possibily want-
Oh.
Oh.
"You want me to slip in through their security, act as a spy or something?" Izuku asked, his eyes gaining their flare.
Kurogiri sighed, "Yes. You have applied to partake in the upcoming exams in a few month's time, yes?"
"I did. Not like it matters now, especially with the current predicament that I'm in right now."
"It does matter. I'm working on an ID card forgery, to be exact, so you can apply again under a new identity."
"A forged identity?" Izuku raised his brow, "What does it entail, exactly?"
Kurogiri then replied, "Your quirk, your new identity, your new address, so on and so forth."
Izuku's eyes had a glint of curiousity, as he pressed on the matter even further, "About that, what is my quirk, precisely? I have a rough idea on how it works, but the extensive details, I need to know."
"Everything will be revealed in due time, Midoriya. However, I cannot disclose that information at this point of time." Kurogiri stood up.
The boy's face contorted, "Why not? You seemed eager to help me, so why not help when it actually matters? It's important to me, and you know it."
"Midoriya-"
"Alright, alright, you don't want to spill the beans, I get it," Izuku dismissively said, leaning against the uncomfortable concrete walls, "So the gist of this task is basically to Infiltrate a school, gather information, go home, come back tomorrow, rinse and repeat, right?"
"Yes. Under the pretense that you're someone else, seeing how everyone is still on the lookout for you."
Great. I don't even know if I'm able to act like I'm not myself.
"Does it involve..." Izuku trailed off, his words tweaking back and forth, attempting to utter the word, "...murder?"
"No. At least, not yet. You are to remain covert until an appointed time."
"Which is?"
"Indefinite." Kurogiri replied.
Izuku frowned, "That... doesn't sound good."
Kurogiri grasped the boy's shoulder gently, "When that time comes, the boss will see to it that you're ready."
Izuku exhaled the air from his mouth, a smidge of uncertainty entering his tone as he said, "I don't think that'll ever happen. That's not..I... that's not who I am. I won't ever be ready. Not now. Not ever."
"I don't mean to plunder your morale, but given the situation that you've been put into..You don't have a lot of options in the matter. I suggest you..." Kurogiri couldn't finish the sentence.
After a long while of silence, he sighed, before continuing, "Don't do anything foolish. That is all I have to say."
Izuku scowled, "But what if I'm in the mood to be foolish?"
Kurogiri's voice came out stern, "Then I'll be there to make sure that it doesn't happen."
"Is that a threat?"
"Depends on how you take it." Kurogiri retorted.
"I take it as a threat."
"Then be that as it may." Kurogiri then stood up, "You may continue on your training for now." Turning his back, Kurogiri went to the exit door without further words.
"Wait."
Kurogiri stopped, tilting his head slightly to meet the boy's gaze. His desperate glare, "Y- you have to do something, anything."
"Elaborate." Kurogiri simply said.
"You're his right-hand man, right? You have to convince him. To let all of this go. To let me go back to my life. I was wrong. I can't..I can't do this. I'll be a liability, if anything. He-"
"Midoriya," Kurogiri interrupted, his voice carrying the full weight of melancholy, "If there's anything that you should know about the boss, it's that he isn't as easily swayed by measly words as you think he is."
"But-!"
"I can't, Midoriya," there was a twinge of pain coursing through his head, but he paid no attention to it as he continued, "There is no way out. The only thing that's left for you to do...is to delve deeper."
"Kurogiri!" Izuku implored, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. He twisted the doorknob, revealing the light ahead.
"Kurogiri, please!"
But the door between them both was slammed shut. Kurogiri was no longer there. The only source of illumination in the room...
Was the blazing fire emitted by the pair of blades placed in front of him. The soil below was incinerated to its last atom, the dust flailing aimlessly in the vacant, cold air. Izuku took the blades in his hands, tightening his grip on it as he stood up.
No way out.
The only path to take, is through..
...
As the light entered his eyes, Bakugo felt the strain on his body as he attempted to get himself up from the bed. There was a pang of discomfort in his head. He rubbed it as if it would ease the pain. Concussion. That's what the doctor told him right before he passed out again. He could feel the bandages wrapping themselves tightly around his head.
Fuck. I'd kill to get out of this shitty hospital.
But then, the door to the patient room was opened. Bakugo seldom recognised the woman approaching him.
"Old hag.." Bakugo said in a raspy voice, "Nice of you to visit.."
"Oh boy, I've got a lot of baggage to unload on you," Mitsuki approached Bakugo, the animosity was apparent on her face, "The fuck were you thinking?"
"You might want to elaborate on that one, old hag." Bakugo said.
"Not only did you put Inko in that pitiful fucking state, but I heard that you've been bullying Izuku all this time? Really? Your own goddamn friend?" Mitsuki's voice began to rise, "I thought we were like their second family. But you've gone and ruined that for the both of us."
Bakugo remained silent..
"Katsuki, what is going on inside that thick headed skull of yours? C'mon, let's talk. I want to know just exactly what compelled you to do that. Didn't I raise you well?" Mitsuki asked, her voice becoming hoarse.
Bakugo breathed in and out, before answering, "I... wasn't thinking straight."
"No shit you weren't. But really, you've broken three laws, and a couple of others if we take your past exploits with Izuku into account. You're lucky that Japan has a child protection law, otherwise you'd be rotting in jail right now." Mitsuki then leaned forward, "You wanna know what the worst part is?"
Bakugo's brow raised.
"Izuku is missing. No one's gotten the whiff of his current whereabouts for the past few days."
Bakugo's face grew pale as he heard that, "What?"
"Seeing this, four laws are already broken."
"Four laws?" Bakugo clenched his fists, "What do you mean four-?"
"Aggravated assault, grievous bodily harm, illegal quirk use, incitement of suicide. Ringing any bells? Especially the last part." Mitsuki grimaced.
...
If you want to make something out of yourself, jump from a rooftop and hope for a quirk in your next life. Then maybe you wouldn't be such a liability."
...
Mitsuki's breath hitched, her expression contorted as she looked for any sort of confirmation on her son's face, "You're lucky that you're being strapped to that piece of shit, otherwise I would've given you the beating of a lifetime."
"How are you even sure that he pulled through with the..." Bakugo came to a halt, trying to find the right word to describe it, "'suggestion'?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that you pushed him down the drain, made him feel isolated, unwanted? You were his only friend. Everyone ostracized him. Even before he was diagnosed, everyone treated him like the weak link in the chain." Mitsuki kept going on and on, but she noticed the look on Bakugo's face. She relented, closing her eyes, exhaling all of her frustration instead.
Her expression softened as she sat besides the pomeranian boy.
"They're going to put you in a juvenile's jail for a few months after you recover." Mitsuki broke the news to him.
Bakugo's expression was unreadable.
"After that...I don't know what I'm gonna do with you. I really don't," Mitsuki's tone faltered, her eyes wet with tear, "You..almost killed my best friend. You. My very own son. I feel like all of this was my fault somehow."
"No-" Bakugo tried to reassure.
"It's my fault for not setting a good example for you," Mitsuki interrupted, "For believing that you had the conscience to do what's right, to not do this."
Bakugo couldn't muster the words to convince his mother otherwise. All he could do was watch helplessly as his mother sunk into the void of self-blame.
Mitsuki stood up, as she walked toward the exit door. But before she could do so, Bakugo called after her, "Mom."
Her eyes widened. She tilted her head to meet his apologetic gaze, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm sorry." Bakugo simply said.
Mitsuki's eyes were fixated on Bakugo's own, searching for any sign of deceit in him, only to find none. She blinked the tears away, before exiting the room without a word.
...
Being confined to a bar full of unhinged villains wasn't the kind of life that he'd expected to lead. It's been a while since he last felt the liberating, shady air of the outside world. With the chains, and the green marks carved into the area near his eyes, Izuku couldn't be exactly seen in the outside world, lest they caught him.
Sure, that would've been the best of options, but his mother...
He decided to brush the thoughts off, leaning forward to the table in front of him. The blades were still dangling on his back. Shigaraki was sitting two seats away from him. He was pretty sure that the man was planning to end him any time now.
"Brat," Shigaraki turned his head over to meet Izuku's gaze, "The marks growing on ya."
Izuku raised his brow, "I'm not sure-"
"The marks on your eyes, daft moron," Shigaraki clarified, pointing at his eyes, "I didn't know Sensei was good at scultping tattoos."
"It isn't a tattoo," Izuku replied, "At least, to my knowledge. Unless some of you thought it was funny to carve a tattoo on my eyes in my sleep."
"Odd. I thought he did that to mark you as one of his distinctive properties."
"I am not-"
"A property. Yes, yes, brat, I heard you loud and clear," Shigaraki said scornfully, before returning to the topic at hand, "So, that mark appeared out of the blue, then?"
"Maybe it has something to do with my quirk."
"Ah yes. That ominous, mystifying quirk of yours.. Must've been rough, being ridiculed all your life only to find out that you have a quirk under your nose the whole time." Shigaraki remarked.
"Where is this going, exactly?" Izuku asked. Even he was surprised at his courage to talk back.
Shigaraki stared at him for a moment, before saying, "Just trying to make a conversation."
"I thought you hated me."
"Yes, and I still do. I'm stuck with you, though. Unfortunately," Shigaraki bluntly stated, "Kurogiri's usually the one I talk to."
"Where even is he?"
"How the fuck should I know?" Shigaraki replied, scratching his wrist uncontrollably, "Sensei keeps telling me that I'm not ready, that I'm not adequately prepared to assume my position as a leader. What does that even fucking mean? Kurogiri should be listening to me! And to top it all off, he took you as his second accomplice. Where does this put me, then?"
Izuku kept his lips shut, not knowing what to say.
Shigaraki stood up, kicking the chair that he was sitting on. He stomped forward, marching his way toward Izuku.
"Shigaraki-?"
The villain grabbed him by his collar, "Now I'm just reminded of how much I detest you."
"Because I asked you a relatively harmless question?" Izuku barked back, putting up a defiant act.
"You think you can barge here, take my place, win over Sensei's heart, and..and..." Shigaraki tightened his grip around Midoriya, wrapping his fingers around the boy's neck as his nails began to dug themselves into his skin, "You have no right! You hear me?! You have no right to deprive me of my rightful place! I am the leader of the League of Villains, not you! You are nothing but an interloper!"
"Cease from this foolishness, Shigaraki!" The door opened, as Kurogiri rushed to Izuku's aid. He pushed Shigaraki away from the boy.
"So you're on his side now, aren't you, Kurogiri?" Shigaraki scowled, getting back to his feet.
"He is but an invaluable asset to our cause. To tamper around with him is to jeopardize our cause. Believe it or not, the boss had planned everything from the start. Disrupt it, and you will know the repercussions that would follow."
Izuku clenched his jaw, his body trembling, "Invaluable asset?"
Kurogiri came to a halt, his eyes shifting to Izuku, realising what he had just said.
"I thought.." Tears began to course down the boy's delicate cheeks, "I- I thought-"
"You thought what? That this empty shell of a human being saw you as something more than a tool?" Shigaraki spat.
"Midoriya-" But Kurogiri's attempt to console him was in vain. The bullet had already pierced through the boy.
Without even thinking, Izuku's feet moved on it's own, bursting out of the exit door, much to the villain's dismay.
Both of them was going to chase after the greenette, but a voice came out of the Television, "Let him be."
"What?" Both of the villains questioned in unison.
"Abandoning his position as one of us is out of the question for a lot of reasons. Let him clear his mind." All For One said through the speaker, "However, Kurogiri, you are still to remain vigilant. Keep an eye on him. He is bound to do something stupid sooner or later.."
Kurogiri nodded, "Right away," He then warped himself out of there, disappearing without a trace. Now it's just Shigaraki.
"Shigaraki," All For One spoke in a stern voice, "That was foolish on your part. Behave yourself next time."
"S- Sensei, I'm... You're replacing me, aren't you? Am I not good enough? I did everything as you asked. I tried to learn from you, but it seems to me that you're tossing me away like a used-" Shigaraki stopped himself from finishing his sentence. He sighed, conceding, "I will behave."
"Good. You still have much to learn. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement, Shigaraki." All For One simply said, before the signal was lost.
Shigaraki scratched the rear side of his neck vigorously. Damn him. Damn that kid.
I'll fucking disintegrate him one day. Just you watch.