Bakugou Katsuki wasn't a victim
He was sure of it.
He had seen….Everything. But that didn't mean anything.
He was the cause of it all. He knew this. Deku knew this.
Deku was the one who told him. Constantly.
"It's your fault I'm like this, Kaachan. Don't you get that?"
He did. He understood.
Deku didn't always talk to him. Sometimes he sat in the corner of his room, white unseeing eyes somehow focused directly on him. His neck, permanently bent to the side, would creak over now and then. It was a gruesome sight.
Katsuki couldn't escape his eyes. Sleeping on his back only resulted in Deku hovering above him. If he slept on his side, Deku would be waiting at eye level, his eyes forever open. And if he slept on his stomach, Deku tried to kill him.
The first time it had happened, Bakugou had thought it had been a fluke. Deku had cracked, just like he did all those days ago. Katsuki didn't fight back, at least not at first. But when his body had begun to struggle, not even a weak ghost could kill him.
No, not a ghost. A poltergeist. He had done his research.
The second time, Bakugou was smart about it. He laid on his back first, slowly turning onto his stomach when Deku struck. The third time, he had put two and two together.
Deku had died, face down on the concrete, head bent to the side. Katsuki didn't know what the green-headed boy was thinking, or if he even could think, but the sight of Katsuki face-down upset him. If Deku was trying to kill or save him, he didn't know.
So, Katsuki had gotten used to waking up with the sight; seeing a snapped neck and dull eyes so often dulled one's senses.
"Morning, Deku." he muttered, like he always did. One time his mom had heard him do it. The woman held him while she cried.
His mom didn't cry often, especially not over Katsuki. But she did that morning, whispering how he was 'gonna be okay' and 'he's so strong.' Katsuki wasn't strong. He was a murderer.
The boy floated back to the side of the room, standing in his corner. It was the only section of Katsuki's room that had hero merch. Fitting. He would never throw it away.
Katsuki stared at the photo tacked to his mirror. It was one of them as children. Back when Deku's eyes were green and bright, back when Katsuki was still able to be redeemed.
His dad had left a photo album in his room, all filled with photos of him and Deku. Deku had picked this one out, somehow, so Katsuki hung it up.
He could offer him that, right?
"My entrance exam is today." Bakugou said to the boy. "Are you coming?"
Deku didn't always just haunt Katsuki. Sometimes he saw the boy peering at other people, disappearing for a little before coming back to stare unblinkingly at Katsuki. He much preferred when he could keep the poltergeist in his sights.
Deku, as normal, didn't say anything. He only seemed to speak down to Katsuki when the blonde was praised. The devil in his ear, an unliving parasite.
"You're weak, Kaachan."
Katsuki knew.
Heading out of the house with a grim face, Katsuki waited to see if Deku would follow. One moment, two, and the boy came through the wall.
Katsuki wasn't happy per se, but something akin to it. Relieved, perhaps? He had gotten used to Deku following him. It was odd, he only appreciated the service now that the boy was dead.
"This is bullshit," he muttered, waiting on the train. Of course, the train would be late on the day of his exam. Not that it mattered much, he was early anyway, but it still annoyed the hell out of him.
He eventually got on, standing in the crowded train, his stance guarded. Deku floated around aimlessly, never talking, never seeing, before settling right above Bakugou like he normally did.
Such was his life now.
"We're at UA, Deku." Bakugou muttered to himself. "We made it."
No, Katsuki made it. Deku was buried ten miles away, his body stuck in the earth even as his spirit was free. Katsuki knew he was a coward, saying it like something they accomplished together. It helped him though, even if he couldn't admit it out loud.
Deku floated above, taking in the people, mouth moving as if he was trying to talk, though not a word came out. It reminded Bakugou of the way he used to mutter. He missed it.
Izuku Midoriya was the one thing Katuski Bakugou thought would be a constant presence in his life. No matter how Katsuki treated Deku, the boy would stay and watch him grow into a hero, the next number one. He'd be there cheering from the sidelines, grateful that Katsuki kept him around.
Except, now Deku was dead, and Katsuki wasn't sure what to do.
He walked in, taking a seat in the large auditorium of UA. Hundreds of faces passed by, but Bakugou didn't care. He didn't need to remember them unless they were in his class, and even then, he was pretty sure it was optional. After a little while, Present Mic walked on stage.
Katsuki felt his hair stand on edge, his eyes darting to the side in fear.
The sound Deku had made wasn't human. It was a mix between a groan and a yell, shaking him to his core. Was he angry? Mad? What caused this? No, no he was…fanboying over a hero, even in death.
It pissed Katsuki off. Deku was supposed to be dead, changed, gone forever. And yet, here he was, a poltergeist for lack of a better term, making his life hell. He couldn't just float around aimlessly, whispering truths into Katsuki's ears. No, now Deku had to act like his old self. Act like he was alive. It made him sick.
"And you, the boy glaring to the side, are you even paying attention?!"
The voice was directed at Bakugou, and the blonde just rolled his eyes.
Deku wasn't having it though.
The ghost sped off towards the blue-haired boy, scratching at his face and kicking his body. It would have been funny if Bakugou had it in him to laugh. The prick obviously felt nothing; Deku's hands just phased right through him. Bakugou rolled his eyes.
"Screw off!"
"Why-"
Present Mic was quick to interrupt them. Bakugou took the card handed to him and tucked it into his pocket. Would he and Deku have been in separate classes? Would Deku even make it to UA? Would he somehow develop a quirk?
Bakugou's head snapped to the side.
Was this his quirk? Becoming a ghost after death? A useless fucking quirk, fitting of the name Deku, but a quirk is a quirk after all.
"Do you think this is your quirk?" Bakugou asked, staring at himself in the mirror. The test had gone well, Deku trying to fight random students and robots, even though his attacks did nothing. Bakugou had destroyed enough robots to get seventy points. Enough to pass. Deku seemed to growl at him, somewhere in his cracked neck.
"Swan dive, Kaachan. Quirkless, quirkless, quirkless."
"Yeah, but what if-"
"Your fault, Kaachan. All yours." Katsuki sighed, his head falling to his hands in shaky hands.
Katsuki knew this all too well.
"Brat?" His mother hesitantly opened the door. Katsuki looked up. He knew he looked a wreck, from both the exam and the raging feelings inside him.
"What, hag?" he asked. The words didn't hold any bite.
"How'd you do?" Mitsuki slowly sat down beside him, as if she was scared of setting him off. It pissed Katsuki off.
"Fine. I did the best, of course. Seventy points. The written portion was fine too."
His mother hummed, her hand coming up to play with his hair. Katsuki instinctively winced, used to her hitting him instead, but recently she had taken a softer approach in her parenting.
One thing he could thank Deku for at least.
Katsuki turned to look at the boy, standing in the corner, staring at him like he always did. His eyes were unblinking, unseeing, and dead. All of him was dead. And yet, he was still here. Katsuki deserved this.
"He'd be so proud of you, brat," Mitsuki said, staring at the photo taped to his mirror. "I bet he's cheering you on, even now."
Bakugou said nothing. He hated white lies, even if the person telling him didn't know they were lying. There was no way in hell that Deku would be proud of him, not after Katsuki murdered him.
"Whatever, old hag."
After the woman had left, Bakugou lay on his back, staring at the ceiling.
"Are you proud of me, Deku?" he asked quietly. He needed an answer.
"Your fault, Kaachan. All your fault." Deku floated over him, staring down at him, neck bent horribly.
"I know, Deku." he said, his chest heavy. "I'm sorry."
He was rewarded with another ghostly growl.