Chapter Text
Katsuki faints pretty quickly after a shock. Izuku’s eyes widen, a pillow shooting out to cushion Katsuki’s fall without any say from Izuku.
He runs over to Katsuki, checking his pulse. Still alive.
Katsuki groans, opening his eyes slightly. “What–just what was that?”
“Teleport.” Izuku says, pulling Katsuki up, his face probably too close to the other’s, but he doesn’t notice, still checking Katsuki for wounds. “One of my quirks.”
Katsuki doesn’t respond. He just stares at Izuku with wide eyes, as if he’s shocked by this predicament. “You blew up the president.” Izuku reminds him.
“Oh.” Katsuki says, “Yeah–yeah, I did do that.” He discreetly pulls away from Izuku, and only then does Izuku realise how close his face has been to Katsuki’s. He quickly stands up, clearing his throat, pretending to look around the penthouse. “Where are we?”
“...The penthouse you first found me in.” Izuku says, “I know the owner–he won’t mind that we’re in here.”
Katsuki nods and looks around, pausing as he notices something. “You failed to mention that there’s only one bed. ”
Izuku’s eyes widen, as he looks over at the large bed on the other side of the room. “It’s big enough for, like, five people, I won’t crush you–”
“Not my point. I’m not sharing a damn bed with you, no matter what size it is.”
“There’s a couch.” Izuku offers.
Katsuki huffs. “Then you sleep on it.”
“Hell no. I want the bed.” Katsuki groans.
“I’m not sleeping on the couch!” He yells.
“Then you have to share the bed.” Izuku says.
Katsuki shakes his head quickly. “No. The last time we did that we were–” He pauses, then swallows. “We were children.”
“We’re still technically children–”
“Shut up!” Katsuki sighs, looking away. “Fine. But…”
“No.” Izuku says quickly, as Katsuki goes over to the couch. “We are not putting up a fucking pillow wall.” Katsuki ignores him. “What, are you scared I’ll start cuddling you in the middle of the night or something?”
“No! Ew!” He picks up the couch’s cushions. “And, it won’t be a pillow wall. It’ll be a couch cushion wall. Is that better for you, Izuku?” The boy in question glares at Katsuki as he goes over to the bed and sets up the wall.
“It’s not gay if we wear socks.” Katsuki freezes, then turns to look at Izuku. He stares at the boy’s face–at a certain place that Izuku can’t quite pinpoint, then pulls a face.
“Shut the hell up, idiot.” He finishes the wall, and lays down on one side. “...There’s nothing wrong with being gay.”
Izuku pauses as he goes to lay down on the other side of the wall, then looks over at Katsuki. “What?”
“You were acting like it was a bad thing or something.” Katsuki mutters.
Izuku’s eyes narrow. “...Are you trying to come out or some shit? Because inherently calling me homophobic isn’t really the way to go.”
“I didn’t! It was just the way you worded it, dumbass!” Katsuki shouts. Izuku lays down, as Katsuki groans in frustration. “Yes. I was.”
“So…what are you?”
“Do you have to say it like that?” Katsuki asks, then he sighs. “Bi.”
“Bi?”
“Bisexual, idiot.”
“I know what that is, Katsuki.” Izuku chuckles. “I’m not stupid.”
Katsuki laughs quietly. “You sure?” Izuku laughs in response.
They both freeze. The air around them is thick with tension. They both laughed. This banter–it isn’t like they used to bicker, after Katsuki found Izuku. They’re laughing together, as if they really still are the kids they left behind so many years ago.
“...Take the wall down.” Izuku mutters. Katsuki pushes it out of the way, and both boys lay on their sides, facing each other. “Kacchan, I–”
Tears. Shit. No. It’s just one thing that Izuku wants to say–why the hell is he getting so sappy about it? He sighs, reining them back in. “I don’t want to live like this anymore.”
Katsuki stares at him, his features softer than normal. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, I just–” More tears. “I–ever since we met again, after that day, I just…I don’t want to live like this. I want to–I want to be with–”
“Izuku.” Katsuki cuts him off, opening his mouth to say something before he shuts it. “I–fuck–I–”
“What?” Izuku stares at him, his eyes narrowing. “What is it–”
“I made a deal with Endeavour. That if I turn you in, I get to go to the summer camp.” Izuku freezes, his face falling. His heart drops, and the voices rush through his head.
Of course he’d do that. Why would you ever trust him?
You were stupid to let him in. Completely fucking stupid.
Tomura told you so. Never trust a hero.
Never trust a hero.
Never trust a hero.
Never trust a hero. Izuku can’t say he believes it yet, but this is surely putting him on that path. “You need to run.” Katsuki says. “Right now. Go.”
Izuku just stares at him, pursing his lips and continuing to pull his tears back. “Why?” His voice is weak, just as it was the last time Katsuki betrayed him. On a rainy night, twelve years ago, now.
Twelve years ago today.
The timing is fucking perfect. But, this moment is far from that.
“I’m a bad person.” Is all Katsuki says, before there’s banging on the door. Izuku quickly gets up, running to the balcony. He spares Katsuki one last glance, before he jumps off, the wind whistling in his ears as he activates a quirk, just before he hits the ground.
–
That night, there’s new people at the League’s base.
Izuku’s greeted by an overly energetic girl at the front door, her blonde hair pulled into two buns on top of her hair. She has fangs in her array of crooked teeth, which Izuku can see when she grins widely. “Who are you? Oh–are you that Izuku boy? You look a lot like a boy I used to know…”
Izuku tries to pull back his disgust at her demeanour as he pushes past her. “I don’t care.” She deflates slightly, but keeps up her enthusiasm as he steps inside.
There’s a new man on one side of the room, covered in purple patches outlined in staples. Whether they’re rotting skin or burns, or whatever else, Izuku doesn’t know.
“Where’s Tomura?” Izuku asks Kurogiri, who’s currently serving drinks to some of the new villains at the bar.
Kurogiri scoffs, cleaning a glass and putting it to the side. “He’s in his room, moping. I’m sure he’d be overjoyed to see you.” The dark void of a man speaks sarcastically.
“...Thanks.” Izuku runs up the stairs to the side. Before, he’s never taken much notice of the base–he’s never been there for more than two days at a time. It’s a run-down bar, covered in dirt and grime. Thankfully, there were no patches of mold like there used to be–Kurogiri hasn’t let that happen since he first joined. Tomura says that he’s a Nomu, but Izuku isn’t quite sure how . How can Kurogiri be a Nomu when he looks nothing like the ones that are now mass-produced by All For One?
Izuku manages to practically stumble upon Tomura’s room as he gets to the top of the stairs, and he opens the door, looking to his brother to find him quite literally moping. His head is in his hands as he sits on the edge of the rickety bed, his hands clawing at his face. When they were younger, sleeping in the same room, Tomura would sometimes cry that he couldn’t use his quirk on himself.
“What the hell happened this time?” Izuku asks. Tomura looks up, sighing at the boy he sees. “Happy to see me?”
“Whatever. I thought you’d never come back.” Izuku sits down next to Tomura. “Did you really believe them when the heroes said I sent them to get you? Did you really think I’d stoop that low?”
“Actually, they insinuated it.” Izuku corrects him. “And, no, not really. It did shock me at first, but now I really don’t give a shit.”
“Mm.” Tom,ura hums. “How’s your boyfriend?” Izuku almost chokes on his own saliva.
“What?” Izuku asks, spluttering. “What the hell does that mean?”
Tomura rolls his eyes, laying down. “What it means is that you’ve been running around with a hero in training for days, a hero in training that’s our fucking target, and now yuou’ve come running back because he’s made you upset.”
Izuku sighs. “You can say it.”
“Say what?”
“I told you so.” Izuku looks at the man beside him. “I mean, you were right. I shouldn’t trust heroes. He almost turned me in before he changed his mind.” Tomura had no reaction to that information. “And you’re not reacting because you knew this would happen, and I’m so stupid that I never saw it.”
“Exactly. You are stupid, Izuku.” Tomura says. “And now, you can help us.”
“Help you do what?”
Tomura grins. “Kidnap Bakugo Katsuki.”