Chapter Text
If you asked, Katsuki would say he had no regrets.
Well, what he would most likely say is 'None of your fucking business' or something to that tune. But if he thought about it, he was pretty sure he had none. Sure there were some things that could've been improved on, moves he could've used, words he could've said, but those weren't real regrets.
Right?
There was no use in getting hung up over what you couldn't change. Unless you had a quirk that enabled you to see the future, there was no way you'd actually know it was a mistake until it was too late.
For instance, he couldn't have known about that hand bastard showing up at their local mall, threatening someone he knew, on a trip he'd refused to join.
He'd done nothing wrong. There was no way he could've predicted that.
He had no reason to wish he'd done differently.
So why the hell did he?
He'd spent that day training and getting packed for camp. After listening to his mom nag him for hours about remembering to pack this, don't forget that, and so on and so on, he used jogging as a perfect excuse to get out of the house.
Kirishima called him in the middle of a breather about twenty minutes in.
"Whadda' ya want, Shitty Hair?"
"Dude! Holy shit! You will not believe what just happened." He sounded even louder and more excitable than usual.
"I couldn't care less what crap some extras pulled off in their spare time." Katsuki scoffed.
"No, seriously listen! Remember that hand guy from the attack on USJ?"
Katsuki straightened up. "Shit, don't tell me that fuckwad was actually there!"
"Not only that, he cornered Midoriya!"
"Deku? Why her?"
"I'm not really sure, I haven't heard a lot of the details yet. It was so weird!"
"What do you know?."
"Okay. As I understand it, he was disguised as a regular civilian without those creepy hands things. He snuck up to Midoriya, grabbed her by the neck, and threatened to use his quirk on her and anyone else he could reach if she didn't come quietly and answer his questions."
The bottom of Katsuki's stomach dropped out. "He put his hand around her neck?!"
"Yeah! She's okay, but what a creep!"
Katsuki started feeling sick.
He remembered, in high definition detail, what that man's touch did to Aizawa's arm, making the flesh crumble and break off down to the muscle. And that was just his elbow. What happened if he'd done that to someone's neck?
It took a couple of tries to get his voice working again. "What happened after that?"
"He just took her aside and asked some questions about All Might and the Hero Killer."
"What kind of questions?"
"I dunno'. Hoping to gather some kind of intel, maybe? That guy's pretty screwy, if I remember right."
Kirishima did, in fact, remember right. "And after that?"
"Urakara walked in on them, and he just left. Completely disappeared in the crowd. The girls called security, who called the police, and the whole place got shut down. They've been questioning our class."
"Wait, you mean they even didn't catch that bastard?"
"Wish they had."
"One of the most wanted villains in Japan practically dropped into their laps! How could they let him get away?!"
"I know! How screwed up is that?"
'Screwed up' was such an understatement it was practically a sick joke. "Why didn't that shitty nerd use that crazy-ass quirk of hers? That's what she's been training for ain't it?"
"Didn't you hear me? He threatened to kill bystanders. That's gotta be at least twenty people."
Katsuki's old enemy,helpless frustration, crawled its way up his spine. "She's always scribbling hero and villain shit int those goddamn notebooks of hers! She really couldn't think of anything better to do than just sit there like a fucking lump?"
"Hey man, you weren't there. You didn't see what it was like."
The reminder made something knot uncomfortably in his chest, which of course only served to piss him off even more. "I don't need to be there to know useless when I hear it!"
"Hey knock it off!"
Having a rare display of Kirirshima's outrage aimed at himself took Katsuki off guard.
"A dangerous maniac who decays anything he touches was threatening to kill her and several civilians. But nobody got hurt, because she kept a level head. How many of us would've done that, Bakugo?"
"I can keep my fucking head plenty level!"
"I didn't say you couldn't! I'm just saying..."
"And now that scumbag's free to hurt more people! Probably more than he would've in the mall!"
"How do you know that? Could you really make that call?"
Katsuki ground his molars, tilting the phone away.
What kind of hero let a villain corner them like that and not even try to subdue him, or even ruin his day? It could've been so simple to knock him out and turn him over to the police.
"Bakugo? you still there?"
He took a deep breath and held it, somehow managing to lower the pressure between his ears to a dull roar. "Of course I am, Moron."
"The police said she did the right thing."
Of course they did.
"Does this mean they'll cancel training camp?"
"I think it's too early to tell."
Katsuki glared holes into the sidewalk at his feet. Kirishima cleared his throat awkwardly."I had a thought, but you probably won't like it."
"Then don't tell me."
Of course, Kirishima continued heedless. "You and Midoriya live in the same neighborhood, right?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, I know things aren't the best between you two..."
"No shit."
"But, considering the hard time she must be having, maybe you could bury the hatchet for a couple hours and just... you know."
"I ain't playing messenger boy. You wanna' talk to her, go see her yourself."
"No, I was just thinking of you visiting her. Showing some solidarity between heroes."
He made a disgusted sound. "Some of that hair gel seep into your skull? I'm not paying a pity visit to fucking Deku of all people."
"No one's making you, bro. But it would be pretty damn manly if you did."
Katsuki snorted.
"I'm sure maybe just a text would lift her spirits."
"I'm hanging up now."
"Just think about it."
Grunting, he ended the call and shoved his phone back in his pocket. The rest of his jog was filled with mounting frustration, brain swelling with everything his friend had told him, along with the anvil chorus of You Didn't Go.
It would've turned out so much differently if he had. He would've blasted that decaying motherfucker's ass right to prison, and they would all sleep just a bit more soundly.
But he hadn't.
Like Kirishima said, he hadn't seen what it was like.
After his jog, he went home, showered, had dinner, and then wasted about thirty fucking minutes glaring at the number taunting him from his phone's screen.
It wasn't that hard. Just type a couple words, send, and done.
And yet it wasn't that simple.
He huffed a sigh and raked his fingers through his hair. Thanks to Shitty Hair's phone swiping skills and insistence that Katsuki have their entire class in his contacts (under their proper names of course) he was just a couple steps away from sending a message to the one person who somehow managed to annoy him more than all their classmates combined.
Why? He didn't know the fuck why. Maybe it would keep Kirishima's comments from burrowing under his skin.
Maybe because, as much as he couldn't stand Deku, the fact remained she had been a hair's breath away from antagonizing death by neck-rot. And his brain would not let him forget that.
Just get this shit over with. keep it short and simple.
So what if the last time you talked directly to Deku you said you'd literally rather flunk than team up with her...
[Me] 7:43pm : Heard what happened. That fucking sucks.
He hit send before he could change his mind.
He was an asshole. But not a complete asshole.
He saw the response when he checked his phone the next morning.
[Midoriya] 11:00pm: Sorry I just saw your text and don't know when you'll read this but thank you!!!!
He just clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"Could you try to put on a slightly less unpleasant face?"
"Why the hell should I? I never wanted to come along."
Mitsuki elbowed him in the ribs. "We're not going over this again, brat. Inko said they'd be delighted to have us over, so here we are."
After hearing about the mall incident his mom, thinking along the same lines as Kirishima, decided that what the midoriyas needed right now was the sight of familiar faces.
Never mind the fact this family was absolute shit this kind of thing.
"Look, all I ask is that you try to be a little more courteous. They've been through a terrible time, so the very least we could do is..."
"I know, damn it! I'm the one who told you about the fucking mall in the first place."
"And don't use that language!"
"Could we maybe save this for later?" Masaru interrupted carefully. "We're almost at the door."
After exchanging one last glare, mother and son sheathed their claws for the time being.
Auntie Inko looked ten years older than the last time he'd seen her.
"Mitsuki! So great to see you again!"
In spite of the waves of discomfort he was no doubt emitting, she turned to him next. "Katsuki! My gosh, you've gotten so tall already!" Her soft hands looked tiny holding his. "I know you're probably sick of hearing people say that, but I keep forgetting how fast boys grow at your age."
No for the first time, her candid warmth left him at a loss for words. "Yeah...well... it's whatever."
Smiling as if she understood, she then turned to his father. "And how's your studio doing Masaru?"
"Oh, about the same. We just finished a beach shoot."
A door opened down the hall and the frantic scuffle of socked feet headed their way.
"Izuku, they're here."
The small, deflated figure came in with badly hidden reluctance. "Hi. I heard you come in."
Everything about her screamed uncomfortable. From the wobbly, uncertain smile plastered across her face and rigid set of her shoulders, to the cornered rabbit look in her eye.
Yup. This was a bad idea.
"Good afternoon Masaru-san, Auntie, Kacchan." Her voice wavered a little in the middle of his name.
His mother tsk-ed. "Why so formal?" She pulled Deku into a hug, surprise making the girl even more tense. "Child, this is us you're talking to. We've known you most of your life."
He doubted his mother could really be that oblivious to the antagonism between the teens, the tension of which could be so strong it made small children in the vicinity burst into tears.
But then again, she'd always held a soft spot for Deku. Probably started planning their future wedding the first time that shitty nerd started following him around. Refused to accept that whatever passed as friendship between him and Deku was dead and six feet under.
"So," Inko jumped to her daughter's rescue. "Anyone want something to drink?"
It was just as painful as he knew it would be.
Their parents kept trying to fill the silence with conversation, acting as if it hadn't been at least five years since Katsuki set foot in this apartment. Meanwhile the two teens just sat there pretending not to notice each other. The whole time Deku kept up that phony smile, nervously fiddling with the knuckles of her right hand.
He'd never really noticed how messed up it was.
And he'd forgotten that she could look smaller than she really was. She looked tired.
But what did she expect? Jumping into the ring where she had no business being. As long as she kept this up, things like this were going to keep happening, maybe get worse.
Pissed him off.
The last few days he'd been trying really, really hard not to think about that incident, imagine it as Urakara must've seen it, but it kept coming back, always bringing with it the question what if you'd gone? And now that he was sitting here, looking at Deku, it was that much harder to push the images away.
He knew what face she must've made. Terror, forced under an ill-fitting mask of calmness, maybe holding a thread of anger. Did no one really notice the hooded weirdo with a hand around a teenage girl's neck? What else would he have gotten away with, if he'd tried?
How far would he have pushed before Deku decided a rotting throat was a better alternative?
Something in Katsuki coiled tight, making it hard to breathe.
He needed to stop it. Stop dwelling on what he couldn't change, it was pathetic.
But it made him so angry...
Why didn't you just stay where you belonged?
"He did WHAT?!"
Inko's shout startled him back into the present, in time to see her turning to her daughter with a shocked expression. "You never told me this!"
Deku squirmed. "I didn't think it was important at the time."
Katsuki's brow furrowed, trying to remember the previous snippets of conversation that had reached him while he was zoned out.
"I knew it was supposed to be intense," Inko continued. "But Izuku... I never thought he'd be capable of such a thing!" She shot a brief look of distress in his direction.
"Mom, he was playing the villain! He couldn't just go easy on me!"
Realization came first. Then resentment, making his lip curl into a sneer.
Inko didn't know the gory details about their slamfest, back when they'd been teamed up against each other in Ground Beta. And now, she was going to learn them all. Right in front of him and his parents.
"No wonder your back was such a wreck!"
He thought he could remember a moment, when he'd aimed and fired, without pity, watching with satisfaction when she arched and yelled in either pain or horror.
Something grabbed his insides and squeezed until they hurt.
All he'd wanted to do was scare her. Teach her a lesson. Make an example of what happened when people tried to make a fool of him. Make her sorry she hadn't listened to reason.
That was what he'd meant to do. What had he actually done? He couldn't even remember.
Inko was talking again. "The idea! Picking up a person and swinging them to hit someone else! Whoever heard of such a thing?!"
Wait.
What?
"Actually that didn't hurt so much as the New Hampshire Smash. That's what injured my back." Izuku clarified.
He'd missed something vital to this conversation. "The hell is everyone talking about?"
The first time he'd spoken since the beginning of the visit. Small wonder everyone looked so startled.
Mitsuki glared. "You weren't even paying attention?"
Masaru leaned farther into Katsuki's line of site. "Your mother just asked Izuku if All Might really used her to hit you during the final."
"I can't believe you actually told them that." Deku mumbled.
"Only 'cause they kept pestering me about the goddamn sneaker marks on my costume. I thought you told your mom everything."
She looked down at her hands "I guess I kind of forgot..."
"How the fuck do you forget something like that?!"
She flushed. "Everything was a blur! And a lot's happened since then!"
"Someone picks you up, swings you like a baseball bat to hit another person, and you just forget? If I'd been a ball he would've gotten a home run! Fucking hurt!"
Deku stared at him.
Then snorted.
Expression morphing to horror, she clapped both hands over her mouth, but the snorts only grew into giggles and kept leaking out.
Katsuki gaped. "Are you... laughing at me?!"
She shook her head, still giggling. "No... I just...I just..."
"The fuck is so funny?"
"What you... said....know I shouldn't..." The giggling turned into full-blown, slightly hysterical laughter.
"Moron, You've finally snapped your twig!"
"Katsuki!" Mistuki swatted the back of his head.
Deku covered her face with her hands, still laughing. "Can't stop... why can't I stop...?"
"Hey, come here." Inko pulled Deku into her side, rubbing her back in soothing circles. "I know you've been keeping up a stiff upper lip for me, but you still have limits."
At this point it was hard to tell if she was still laughing or crying. Rather than looking alarmed like rational people, the three adults appeared serene and accepting of the situation. Relieved even.
"Is this normal?"
"We all release stress in many different ways." Masaru assured him. "You kids have gone through stuff that would rattle most of us. If you don't let yourself go crazy once in a while, you'll go crazy for real."
That sounded stupid, and yet made some sense. But he felt so helpless watching it happen. "But still..."
"Katsuki..." His mom gave him her you-gotta'-trust-us-smile. "It's okay."
He stopped trying to make sense of it.
By now, Deku had calmed down, breathless and a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry Kacchan. The way you said it, the whole thing just struck me as hilarious all of a sudden."
He sunk down into his seat, crossing his arms. "I knew it. You're a freaking masochist."
"I don't think so." Her mouth pulled into a shy smile. "It would explain a lot, wouldn't it?'
It took him a full ten seconds to realize that she had just made a joke.
And that this was the first time he'd heard her laugh at something he said since they were ten.
Why those two facts rattled him so much, he couldn't guess.
Most of the tension had left the room, and both Midoriya women seemed to enjoy the rest of the visit more. Damned if he could figure him out.
As his family walked home, Mitsuki smiled fondly and give his hair a light riffle.
"What the hell was that for?"
Her grin grew wider. "Oh, just because."
But he didn't miss the proud spark in their eyes.
God, his parents were weird.