Work Text:
Walking briskly down the corridor Inko failed to recall how many times exactly she had been summoned to school since either Katsuki or Izuku had turned five. It hadn't started out that big. At first her son simply got angry over people calling his friend quirkless. She still remembered how he ripped off a teddybear's head in front of the kid who called Kacchan useless, and he was a day after five! From that point on it only got worse. First the swearing, than the fits of rage, yes, uncontrollable `I will crawl out of hell to kill you` rage. Over the years Izuku had acquired and creatively expanded Katsuki's vocabulary, which made their little brotherly fights something both mothers had trouble dealing with. Honestly, if not for Mitsuki battering some sense into their hardened heads it would be an absolute mess.
"LIKE I GIVE A SHIT! THEY BULLIED KACCHAN!" a familiar voice roared down the corridor. It would have been frightening if it hadn't cracked mid sentence into a falsetto pitch. As Mitsuki would say, puberty is a cunt. Inko just sighed exasperatedly.
"SHUT UP! I COULD TAKE THEM ON MY OWN!" another familiar voice echoed. Katsuki never manifested a quirk, but he was still hell bent on being the very best hero. Top student in their class, with Izuku clawing at his heels, athlete, and with a temperament which could hardly be compared to something less volatile than a lit stick of dynamite. In short he was something to behold and a handful to raise, though Inko would never say it out loud she felt like they had failed a little as mothers.
"YEAH? WELL YOU WON'T EVER HAVE TO AGAIN!" Izuku yelled back. Inko was lost as to the reason Izuku had turned out like this. In a single day in fact she sent back her adorable, little, hero worshiping son to kindergarten and the same afternoon she got a phone call that her pint sized boy had broken another kid's nose, because the latter called Katsuki useless. Mitsuki was proud, `really fucking proud`.
"Let's get this over with" Mitsuki breathed, brushing invisible dust off of her jacket, as they steeled themselves in front of the doors of the principle's office.
"Yes, please" Inko sighed, and pushed the door open.
The secretary gave them a deadpan look, one reserved probably for parents of most unruly children, before jerking his head at the door from behind which a very creative array of swears sounded. Any minute now the boys would start fighting one another. It wasn't that uncommon really. As children they were sporting black eyes so often an unobservant passerby would mistake them for raccoons. Letting dread settle in her gut Inko stepped through the door. It was the third time... this freaking week! Not that she was angry with her son, she knew he was looking out for Katsuki in his own anger fueled, slightly unhinged way. It looked like they had good timing, because the boys were already at one another's throat with their fists raised, while the headmaster was sitting with his head hanged behind his desk.
"The usual?" Mitsuki asked, directing her eyes at the principal, who shrugged like a martyr who already gave up to his fate.
"Boys go wait outside" Inko said quietly. The two of them wilted instantly, before releasing one another and shuffling outside, Katsuki first, Izuku trailing behind him, and stuffing his hands into his pockets. Mitsuki shut the door, leaving them in a most uncomfortable silence with the petite man behind the desk.
"Might I suggest additional anger management therapy?" the man queried a little more bravely now that both troublesome students were outside, and even if they were fighting they were at least doing it quietly.
"And how the fuck will that help? They spend four out of five days in it already" Mitsuki deadpanned, before waltzing towards one of the chairs, and plopping down on it like she owned the place. Truth be told they tried everything, anger management, therapy. Heck half of the psychologists flipped their signs to close when Katsuki walked down the street, and nearly all when Izuku did. They were just a magnitude of disaster no one had expected, and neither of them could figure out where from does the rage stem in both young boys. Well, Inko had an idea, since Katsuki didn't have a quirk, and Izuku's hadn't manifested, but she didn't want to voice that. She learned early on no one cared about quirkless students, so what was the point.
"Maybe a military camp in the summer?" the principal dared. Inko glanced at Mitsuki, at her bright smile, so fake she was surprised it didn't fall off revealing an Alien jaw ready to bite off the headmaster's face.
"How about fucking educating these little shits not to pick on quirkless students?" she replied in a tone so sweet that if diabetes could kill quickly the principal would already be done, mourned, and buried. "I mean it seemed like they were provoked" she hissed, like a cobra ready for its snack. Inko was surprised the man in front of them didn't shit himself, then again, they used this play often enough, he had to build up a little immunity at some point, no matter how spineless he was.
The principal stammered a little, but Mitsuki cut him off easily, and elected to bypass school jurisdiction, even if two students ended up with a busted lip, and one was missing a chunk of skin where Izuku bit him. But military, that gave her a certain idea.
***
"Maybe your fucking quirk is being pissed off all the time, Deku" Bakugou seethed a little ways off from the two mothers whispering in hushed voices. This really had to be gotten under control, and quickly.
"Maybe they are missing an assertive father figure, Hisashi is gone, and Masaru isn't exactly inspiring obedience" Mitsuki wonders, and tapping her chin in thought.
"Fuck you! No it's not!" Izuku rebuked, and Inko prayed these two are not going to start a fight on the train. But the military, it sat on her mind. Maybe not a camp, but her brother? He was a major in the army, and even though he never showed up for Christmas, or even wrote back as a matter of fact. They didn't really part on best of terms, she wasn't even sure if he knew their father died a while back, and last time she had seen him he was decorated with a medal for valor on some mission in South America. It was on National TV. She barely recognized him with the large sideburns, and the uniform, but it was him all right. Come to think of it, he had some sort of anger issues too, when Inko was very young, but she didn't remember what that was about, and he got better later.
She wrote him that evening, but of course he didn't reply.
***
A couple of years passed by like that, them getting into fights, and their exasperated mothers bailing them out. They were fourteen when something no one could have foreseen happened though.
"Come on Deku, don't lag behind" Kacchan scorned, stomping into the alley. Deku trailed behind his bruised friend. Today someone once again tried picking on Kacchan, and it always riled him up so much he couldn't stop himself, and with the years it only got worse. He just couldn't stop himself, Katsuki, even quirkless, was amazing, smart, strong, determined. It was like witnessing a force of nature at work, one you could touch, sometimes punch, other times hug, and put a band aid on, but a terrifying force none the less. Katsuki was always brave, and knew what to do, he never took shit from anyone, though that he sometimes took to the extreme.
"Sure, sure" Izuku muttered, catching up. They walked in silence, with Katsuki glaring at the sidewalk. They got into a fight again today, only this time they managed to lie their way out of the responsibility. The Junior High Delinquents. That's what the people at school called them. Izuku knew Kacchan's ambitions, the first quirkless hero, a dream he kind of shared, given his quirk was being pissed off all the time, not much of a super power is it? Katsuki had a busted lip, and his cheek was swelling up slowly. Izuku didn't have a scratch on him. It wasn't because he didn't fight, heck he did, Katsuki had to almost drag him away from there, only he healed faster. Not much of a quirk either. Closing up little cuts, and not bruising, heck hardly qualifies as anything useful, unless you get into a lot of fights like he does.
"You know I don't need you to defend me. I am not weak" Kacchan grumbled under his breath. He sounded vulnerable, he always did for a little while after these fights, but he also bounced back quickly.
"Kacchan, you are many things, but not weak" Izuku grinned up at his friend. Katsuki had outgrown him long ago, and had a much more manly appearance, but everyone knew that they ought to fear his green haired, baby faced guardian angel.For some reason he bulked up over the years doing nothing in particular, then again he did have the same training regimen as his friend, maybe the pushups did it and he just didn't notice.
His friend scoffed, before kicking a stray can out of his way. Today was also the day they had handed in their High School forms. Both of them were hardheaded enough to put down only UA, despite their mothers' and teachers' advice, after all they were going to become heroes. The coolest ones ever!
"Trust me on that" he chimed, and gripped the straps of his backpack.
Suddenly a group of men cut them off. Izuku stopped short, grabbing Katsuki's sleeve. There was something wrong about them, they didn't look friendly.
"What the fuck?" his friend queried, and he jutted out his chin toward the strangers. Kacchan watched them for a minute before taking a slow step back. "Come on" he whispered turning around. Izuku followed at a hurried pace, they better take another route.
"Where are you going boys?!" someone called from behind them, and they broke into a run. Izuku was tempted to stand his ground, but he knew Katsuki had the right idea, they were older, outnumbered them three to one, had baseball bats, but before they could make it back out onto the street a second group emerged, just as numerous, and vicious looking as the first.
"Shit" Kacchan hissed, and shouldered his backpack off. Izuku knew what was going on, they were in for a fight, only this time he wasn't confident they could win and possibly for the first time in his life his fight or flight instincts were all screaming that they hightail it. "Any ideas?" Kacchan whispers, as Izuku throws his backpack to the ground. He unbuttons his school uniform as quickly as his shaking hands let him. He has one, but sure as hell Katsuki isn't going to listen.
"I distract them" he breathes, as the men slowly close in on them, "and you run and get help" he adds, and hears his voice crack. One of the man laughs maliciously.
"No fucking way" Katsuki grunts. Their back bump, as the blond takes a step back, leaving them standing back to back with enemies on all sides. Izuku gulps.
"Please" he breathes, "just do it" he adds, as cold fear grips his hammering heart. There must have been something in his voice, a shred of fear Kacchan has never heard before.
"Just don't you fucking dare get killed before I'm back" Katsuki seethes in reply.
Before Deku can think another though a lightning like pain splits his head, which jerked to the side with the impact of the blow. Slowly the familiar red haze creeps into his vision. He has seen it, countless times in his dreams, a red fog which coated the world in crimson. Something red and warm creeps down his face. Slowly he raises his head, to look at a smug smirk on a man's lips, and then he loses it. There is a razor sharp pain in his hands, and his feet leave the ground, as he screams at the top of his lungs. Katsuki rushes past him, barely pushing past the thugs and then he looses it. He is engulfed by the red haze, swallowed completely. His body moves on its own. There is blood on his hands, sticky, thick, coating everything and clinging to anything it can. Iron taste spreads through his mouth as he feels his teeth sinking into something with a wet crack. There are cries, loud shrieks of horror coming from all around, like he was thrown into hell and he listened to a dozen of tortured souls break into agony all at once. And through that nightmare, he clings to the last thing he saw before he was damned, Katsuki running like his life depended on it. Even if he dies now, he knows it will be all right because he will get to save the man who will save thousands. And with that in mind he finally gives the control over to the beast in his heart.
***
Katsuki rounded the corner, the policemen hot on his tail. He sprinted as fast as he could, he had to get help. He had to help Deku. And then he froze, as his eyes met the entrance to the alley, a blood covered gateway to hell.
"Holy fuck" the policeman said, as the other puked all over the side walk as soon as they caught up. Katsuki stared horror struck, at the walls painted red, and the stream of blood trickling out of the alley onto the brightly lit sidewalk. His heart stuttered, that couldn't be. That couldn't be Deku's blood! Deku had to be all right! He could fight anyone! Anyone! Suddenly the air felt unbreathable, like it had been poisoned, or sucked out of the city. Katsuki gasped, as he sunk to his knees, trying to pierce the darkness with his eyes. He had to be all right! Deku was unbeatable, if anyone could be a hero it was him, him always saving his ass even though he never asked! He had to be all right! His vision grew blurry, as he searched desperately for the mop of green, unruly hair, maybe he was laying somewhere in there, bleeding out? He had to go help! But something dragged him away, despite his screaming and kicking, yelling and pleading. A man, blond haired, and firmly built pushed him onto a stretcher, and was saying something. But his words didn't make sense, none of them did.
"Please my friend is in there! He needs help!" Katsuki hollered, pointing at the alley, and staring into the paramedic's eyes. Why was nobody understanding anything?
"You'll be all right. Don't worry" the man answered. He is all right! He is fucking all right! What the fuck is wrong with that idiot?! Deku is hurt, if he took on all these thugs he has to be! There was a pinch in his arm, and suddenly the world fogged up, and then turned to black.
***
The days that followed felt like he was walking through a dream. Nothing was real. He cried most of the time, frankly it was the most he cried in his life. Deku was gone. They didn't find him at the scene, they found five bodies, sliced up beyond recognition, and enough of Izuku's blood to make the odds of finding him almost null. For two weeks he barely ate, slept or moved. He just stayed in bed, his eyes darting to a thin 'Hero Notebook number 11' Deku left on his desk. He couldn't take his eyes off of it, but he didn't dare touch it either. He knew auntie Inko cried her heart out, and spent most of her time in Izuku's room. He himself couldn't do it. It was his fault. It was all his fault! He ran! He left him behind! He was quirkless, useless. One night he couldn't take it, he thought about just ending it, it wouldn't even be that difficult.
He cost his best friend his life, the only person who ever respected him died because he was too weak. One day he finally had enough strength to tell Auntie that it was his fault. He wailed, and she said it wasn't because of him. That Izuku would want him to become a hero, quirk or no. And so he tries pushing through his grief, even though it feels like a ton of lead weighed him down.
A week later a man shows up at Auntie's home. He is short, and built like a hero, all firm muscle. He has thick sideburns and hair spiked into two halves like an angry owl. He knows because Auntie curses him out, and yells at him continuously for almost half an hour. He sees the man again during the funeral, two weeks later. The body is never found, but what are the odds now, as much as none of them want to believe that Deku can do the impossible.
The man puts down a white flower in front of Izuku's grayed out photo, the one where he is smiling cheerfully at the camera, like he had just got some kind of prize. Katsuki knows this photo, he took it. It's still there on his phone, crammed away with all the other happy memories. He grits his teeth that day, and as he sets down the flower he makes a promise to become the damn best hero this world has ever seen.
He stays at the wake, the whole time, sitting quietly before the altar. Even when his mom goes home to rest at least for a couple of hours he stares at his friend, with that promise in mind.
The return to school is awkward. He is no longer the quirkless kid, now he is Midoriya's friend. For a while the bullies leave him be, as he works through his assignments, and steers clear of all the 'well wishers' who think they fucking know what he is feeling better than he does. They are all fucking clueless. Deku wouldn't want them to be sorry. Deku would want them to do something, to make this world better. That's what he always fucking did. But soon enough the empty seat is taken by a transfer student and Izuku is forgotten. The bullies come again, and even though he comes back home with bruises he knows that they too have at least gotten a taste of his fists. After school he works out and studies. He does everything he can to fall into dreamless slumber, because if he doesn't all he can dream of are the gates of hell painted in blood and Izuku standing in them saying `you promised to get help`. The nights when this happens he wakes up screaming, covered in sweat. Days pass and before he knows it the UA Entrance Exam is upon him.
***
"Bakugou Katsuki, room C, place 29. Bakugou-kun do you know if maybe Midoriya-kun will be coming? We haven't received his confirmation of attendance" the lady handing him a cardboard identifier chirps.
"He is dead" he replies quietly, before clipping it to his shirt, and turning mechanically. What would he give to hear his friend laugh now, pat him on the back for courage, even though it was Deku who needed it more than he did. "I fucking promise you, you dumb nerd" he grinds out, walking down the corridor, and then into a brightly lit exam room. He walks past all the extras, until he finds his seat, and pulls his phone out of his pocket. A while ago, when the wound had settled a little he changed his background. The device clicked to life, displaying a laughing green headed nerd, writing something down in a notebook. He should have never left.
"May I have your attention please?!" a voice calls from the forefront of the room. Katsuki clicks his phone off and shoves it in his pocket. The final showdown is about to start.
He progresses through the exam with relative ease, he did graduate at the top of his class after all. It's the practical part which has him worried. They are to fight robots and he is armed with his stick and a whole lot of rage. He might as well pull out his dick and try slapping those stupid machines with that. The siren blares, and he rushes in, slamming everything he can with that pitifully short piece of metal. At some point it breaks. He pulls a reinforcement bar with a piece of concrete out of the rubble and uses it like a god damned warhammer, screaming bloody murder at the top of his lungs. And then he sees it. A mechanical devil, fifteen story high robot of doom.
"What the fuck?" he breathes, and turns to run. He isn't stupid, and he still needs the points. But something stops him dead in his tracks, a soft cry for help, almost blocked out by the roll of the infernal machine. He looks over his shoulder and squints. Someone is trapped under the rubble. Somehow he feels like he is in that alley again, like Deku's warm back is pressed against his.
`you run to get help` Izuku's voice echoes in his head cutting through the static buzz.
"Fuck that. I am the help" he breathes, and steels himself for a microsecond before running straight towards that thing. He sprints as fast as his legs can carry him, past the other lackeys, stupid ass idiots. Do they not see someone needs help?! His lungs and calves burn by the time she gets to her.
"Please help me" she begs, eyes wide and scared. Her pink and black sweats are covered in dust and dirt, and her leg is trapped under the rubble.
"Shut the fuck up!" Katsuki barks, pulling one of the steel bars from the remnants of a building. He can almost smell the oil greasing the machine's engines now. In one firm push he shoves it under the piece of stone and pushes with all his might. "Move you dimwit!" he yells, as the girl crawls out. As soon as she is out, he grabs he arm, and yanks her up. He doesn't look over his shoulder, he doesn't give a flying fuck how close that hell spawned machine is, if he is too slow they are dead. In a mad dash they dive into a side alley, and he crawls on top of her, covering her the best he can. The world shakes violently, and the walls around them crack, threatening to bury them alive, but soon it passes, leaving him hardly breathing and still caging the girl, as the exam is about to end.
***
About half a year later he is standing in front of UA, the first quirkless student to have ever made it in, a feat thought impossible, and yet.
"See nerd, we are here" he mutters, squeezing the phone in his pocket, and trying to keep his eyes from tearing up. They fucking did it. They pushed through. He makes his way to the classroom slowly, and then takes his place by the window. He doesn't bother talking with anyone, they are all extras anyhow, trash which will sink to rock bottom as he rises to the top. If Deku was here would he sit behind him, like in junior high? Probably yes, just so that he could distract him by kicking his chair or poking him. He feels restless, so he unpacks, pulling out a clean notebook labeled 'Hero notebook #1'. It felt fitting when he wrote that yesterday, like he had done a little step towards that promise he made long ago.
"Hey it's you!" someone sings just next to him. Katsuki looks up at the girl, brown hair, large eyes, bobcut. The same one he saved, only much less dirty. He remembers her talking to Present Mic about giving him some of her points. Like he fucking needed them in the first place!
"Yeah Roundface. What do you want?" he grumbles, glaring at her. She makes an annoyed noise, but introduces herself none the less, Katsuki doesn't give his name. She doesn't need to be thankful, he fucking did what was right, what any decent human would do. She tries chatting him up, but he ignores her.
It turns out that the first day is some sort of quirk assessment. A bunch of physical activities, he comes roughly in the middle, and just keeps quiet when people ask about his quirk. It's none of their fucking business. He has had enough of being looked down on because of the way he was born. And he almost gets away with it.
"You know class. This year we have a quirkless student with us, and yet he did better than half of you here" the teacher, a crossbreed of insomnia, exhaustion and black coffee fueled bad fashion decision drawls, as he stares at them. Katsuki can feel these bloodshot eyes linger on him, probe him, like he is trying to measure him, analyze him, almost provoke him. He grits his teeth, and clenches his fists so hard his nails leave crescent marks in his skin. "I should expel half of you. I suggest you get to work. Class dismissed" Aizawa-sensei sighs, and Katsuki boils. Is he some sort of a lowest standard? He came here to be the fucking best. He would like to confront the teacher, but that would give him away, so instead he stomps off with the other students, showers, changes, and heads home.
***
He is reading through Izuku's old notes on Eraserhead when his phone buzzes that night. To his surprise someone has got a hang of his number and set up a chat.
Hey guys!
Just to reiterate no one got expelled?
-Kaminari
Katsuki is attempted to write back `no you dumbass` but someone called Jirou beats him to the punch. Kaminari then states his quirk, and asks others to do so. Katsuki mutes the chat. He doesn't need this shit.
***
"Bakugou have you seen the group chat?" Roundface hums in his ear the moment he comes into class.
"Of course not. Pikachu being a dumbass, nothing to see" he gripes, setting his backpack down on his desk with a tad too much force. He wants to punch that blond haired idiot. Especially after this morning. Reporters attempted to nearly trample them to death in search of hot gossip about All Might as the new faculty member, and apparently the fact that one of the students in the heroics course is quirkless didn't escape their notice either. Katsuki was very tempted to take one of their microphones and shove them up where light don't shine.
Right now however he can feel Roundface's curious look, and it annoys the living fuck out of him. "What the fuck do you want?" he snaps at her, before dropping the notebooks onto his desk. He takes a deep breath remembering the relaxation techniques, which the stupid idiots tried hammering into his brain. Deep breaths, that's it.
"Well we were wondering who the quirkless student was" Roundface explains, and Katsuki grunts in acknowledgment. Seems like he isn't going to get rid of her. Whatever. "And most of the class thinks it's you" his eyes widen just a fraction, but other than that he doesn't show anything. He just keeps unpacking, like it was any other day. "So is it?" she asks, despite being ignored.
Katsuki walks around her, and plops down onto his chair, before turning to her and giving her his most incredulous and `are-you-stupid` look. "Really?" he queries with a smirk, and Roundface nods vigorously. He sigh, might just as well get it over with. "Fine it's fucking me. You fucking happy Roundface?" he asks giving her an exhausted glare. "But if you go easy on me because of that I fucking swear on all things holy and not that you will regret it" he breathes with his most vicious smile.
Hair for brains tries going easy on him during some bitch ass exercise that day. Katsuki makes him regret that a whole lot, even if it costs him another metal stick, because apparently idiot skulls have recently become tougher than steel.
News spread fast, and come tomorrow he has become a bit of a celebrity amongst the students of the heroics course. For the support course he is a much prized specimen, seeing as all of them have read too much batman apparently and are seeing his quirk as an open invitation to fashion him a costume largely resembling a big ass, black, fucking bat! However the general studies department is less than willing to accept him, and rumors are fickle, and twist from mouth to mouth. Sitting at lunch, before the siren blares he can overhear that he was a charity case, and he wants to break the idiot's jaw just to make a point. But he bites the desire back and shoves more spicy noodles into his mouth. He doesn't need this shit. However a moment later the alarm blares, and bodies throw themselves at the doors. In a few moments the cafeteria turns to chaos.
"Roundface can you throw me?" he asks, looking around. That decision ends up with him sailing towards the doors. It's a nice feeling, one you would probably expect on a space station. And then, once he latches onto the fire exit sign he screams at the idiots to get a grip on themselves and behave like fucking human beings. Idiots, once cussed out all the way to the fourth generation back seemed to listen. Katsuki regretted that decision later, because for some fucking reason he got two votes and was elected class president. Needless to say he resigned in favor of Ponytail. He had shit to do, more important shit than babysit Pikachu who ate his buggers after discharging some nine thousand volts.
***
"Who is he?" Roundface asked from her seat by the window. He forgot she was there, as he looked at the old photo.
"He looks cute" she said peering at the smartphone sitting in the palm of his gloved hand. It was that same photo, Izuku grinning up at him. "Is he your boyfriend?" Roundface queried. The question stung, it did so in an unfamiliar manner, dulled out, like the pain he was feeling over loosing Deku was starting to fade. Almost like the more he kept to his promise the less painful his life would be. The dreams, they happened less often, and even Auntie started mentioning lately something about adopting a lovely young girl. It dawned on Katsuki that perhaps slowly the world was moving on, and it frightened him. He didn't want to move on, he didn't want to forget! He blinked away the few tears that gathered in his eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Why do you always have to stick your nose in my shit?" he grumbled, but ultimately relented, "He was a friend" he replied and clicked the device off.
"Was?" Roundface queried. Damn! Did that woman not know what personal boundaries are? He sighed with annoyance.
"Yeah, he died" Katsuki scowled at his laced fingers, as the gate to hell blinked before his eyes.
"I'm sorry" Roundface said softly, and Katsuki nodded in acknowledgment. He didn't want her pity, but if he hadn't clasped his hands together so tight that they hurt he wasn't sure if he wasn't going to cry. Maybe that was good, maybe it was better that he would never get over that hollow space Deku left behind in him. Boyfriend. As if. They would rip each other's heads off after two days. He sniffled, and wiped his face with the back of his hand. He wouldn't cry now, not in front of her. It was none of her fucking business.
***
"You have to be fucking with me" Bakugou breathed as he ran towards the escape, but before any of them could make it a black fog materialized, the same one which transported the villains. Katsuki plucked his knife from his belt and readied for a fight only to be flung through some kind of portal, for a moment he felt nothing, heard, saw, and tasted void, like he was suspended outside of life. The next second he crashed against the concrete with a thud, the sky above was dark, and covered in black smoke. He scrambled to his feet, and looked around, seeing the tailed guy get up on shaky legs. And then another shade of red caught his eyes, it was almost black with the brightness of fire emanating from every window.
A river stretched down the street where they landed, long and winding, black as the night, with tributaries and springs of still gushing arteries laying about. Fire, all encompassing fire. It was like his dreams, blood smeared, tampered in hell and stinking of shit and brimstone. At the end of the street stood a lonely figure. Next to him Tailed idiot retched a couple of times and then puked profusely. He couldn't blame him, if it was the first time he was seeing it, he would too. And despite all his bravado Katsuki knew that whoever stood over there, they had to run, because if they thought they might not make it out. There was a dozen bodies at least on the street, fuck knows why he killed them, for all they know it could be a deranged psychopath.
"Come on" he yanked the still heaving blond and pulled him into an alleyway as the man started sprinting towards them. Fuck this! Next time he is asking the support department for grenades and guns! They take a left and then a right, trying to loose the villain, but footfalls echo. How the fuck is he that fast?! They take another left, and his heart stops. A dead fucking end! He makes to retreat, but the man has already cut them off. In the dark he can't tell who he is, but it doesn't really fucking matter. He raises his knife, and readjusts his grip, the kevlar gloves won't slip, but he is nervous, and his hands are damp. His eyes adjust slowly and now he can see long protrusions coming from the man's knuckles, almost like claws.
"I distract him" he breathes. He doesn't dare blink, lest the murderous villain attacks, "and you run to get help" he breathes the phrase Deku said to him, trying to steady his shaking hand. It's different from the dojos, when you are actually facing a villain who wants you dead.
"You can't be serious" Tailed idiot protests, but his voice wavers. They are out of their depth and the two of them know it.
"Please" Katsuki breathes and rushes at the villain. Claws catch his blade and manage to pull it from his hand. Tailed idiot runs past, but instead of fleeing he bounces off the wall coming in for a kick. That idiot! The villain spins around and there is a wet squelch as the talons pierce flesh. Ojiro cries a blood curdling scream, before being kicked and thrown aside. Katsuki uses the opportunity to get another knife, makes to attack, but a split second of hesitation, has the villain slicing his arm, and then three long rods are pushed into his shoulder. He screams at the top of his lungs, and grabs the villain's other hand before he can stick him in the gut. The building above them explodes in a crown of flame casting bright light onto the scene.
"No" he groans, as Izuku pushes him and they fall. He cries as the long, bone claws pull at his shoulder. Sitting on his stomach, with eyes devoid of a soul is Izuku, the same boy he though he lost forever. However Deku doesn't recognize him. He struggles, but is pinned to the ground, claws drawing blood. Izuku raises his other hand, getting ready to kill him. No way he is going to die like that! And then something shines in these lifeless eyes. The scowl on the villain's blood stained face flickers for a few moments.
"Kacchan..." his voice is hoarse and raw, as though he had not spoken in a long time, but it's definitely the same one. The claws pinning Katsuki retract, as Izuku stumbles back. Red starts flowing immediately, but Katsuki doesn't care. It might be impossible, this might be an illusion, but he owes it to himself to at least try, because now he has a way to erase his sin.
"Deku!" he calls, and the villain stumbles back, until he hits the wall. Izuku is gripping his head with blood stained hands, clawing at it, like he is trying to scratch the words out. "It's me! Kacchan! Remember! You have to fucking remember!" he yells! The villain screams, and then a soft thud of metal colliding with skull echoes, and Izuku Midoriya falls on the ground unconscious. Ojiro falls on his ass, a metal pole slipping from his fingers, before he clutches his bleeding foot again. It's a little too much to deal with at the moment for Katsuki. Feeling a little fuzzy he sits down himself.
"I swear to God are all of you people crazy!" Ojiro snaps from the wall. At least its toasty here, nice and warm. A few minutes of rest later Katsuki gets up, and zipties his best friend until he is sure he can't break out, they even find some cable in one of the dumpsters. In a group effort they throw the still unconscious villain / whatever the fuck that was over Katsuki's shoulder. Damn the nerd got heavy! Ojiro uses him for support a little as they hobble out their back to the street. Somewhere outside a large crash echoes and a minute later a couple more. Katsuki doesn't even want to know.
***
He grew. It's a stupid thought given his friend just came back to life, and is snuggly cuffed to the hospital bed, but that's all he can manage. Deku looks not much different from the way he was other than that. So the claws were his quirk? Quite a gnarly one. Katsuki sighs, putting his hand over Izuku's. He isn't sure how he is going to explain this. He already phoned his parent and Auntie and told them to come down to the hospital, but this makes no sense whatsoever. Deku was dead, the police said it, he lost too much blood in that alleyway. And yet here he was. It felt like some immense burden was lifted off of Katsuki's shoulders, like a sin he committed long ago was wiped clean. His heart fluttered a little, he wasn't sure why.
"I got you back buddy" he whispered, feeling the ball in his throat grow. The next minute he was crying in earnest. Maybe it was relief, or a strange sort of forgiveness he couldn't find. His parents and Auntie arrived to see him still sobbing into the bed and the soft hearted green haired woman actually fainted seeing her son there on the bed alive.
Deku awoke the next day. He was hostile, and aggressive, luckily the restraints held. Katsuki got a call from mom right after he more or less explained to tailed cretin what the situation with Deku was. The idiot patted him on the shoulder, and smiled, before limping off. Katsuki wasn't sure what to make of it. He also had a long conversation with the headmaster and Aizawa-sensei, during which he had to explain why he dragged an out cold villain tied up like smoked ham to the ambulances instead of the police. Seemed like it was going to get quite complicated for Izuku, but it wasn't something they couldn't overcome together. He kept telling himself that all the way to the hospital, as he showed the boy the photos. He did that for a month and then for three. The Sports Festival passed, and then the first snow fell.
"Hi there dumbass" he threw his traditional greeting. He half expected a grunt or complete silence. Lately they had stopped making progress. In fact he was starting to fear that they wouldn't make any anymore. That even though he got Izuku back physically his friend would never really come back. He set the folder on the bed gently. Deku no longer needed to be restrained, but it was still better to remain weary. His friend was looking out the window and he was in a bad need of a haircut, but they would get to that hopefully. He sighed and his shoulders slumped. Hopefully...
"Hello Kacchan. I missed you" Izuku replied.