Chapter Text
Katsuki’s mother said he used to cry constantly.
In a world where any pain was shared between soulmates, the fact that Katsuki had always seemed to be hurting had worried his parents. Katsuki’s mother, who was not known for her patience or her sweet temper, had contacted authorities on multiple occasions, demanding that they do something. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything they could do.
No one knew who Katsuki’s soulmate was, after all.
Eventually, Katsuki learned to ignore it. The pain became a constant in his life and Katsuki vowed that he would make sure he never added to his soulmates pain. He made up his mind that he would grow strong, that he would be the best soulmate, and no one would ever hurt the person that was his again. It was when he saw the video of All Might that he realized just how he could do that.
He was going to become a hero.
It was a dream that he shared with his friend, Midoriya Izuku, until they got their quirks.
Or, well, until Katsuki got his.
With his ability to create explosions from his hands, Katsuki knew that the universe had granted him his request to be a hero, to be able to protect. But Izuku was quirkless. If someone attacked him, Izuku wouldn’t be able to do anything. He would get hurt.
And that was the thought that led to Katsuki wondering if his soulmate was quirkless like his friend. Is that why they were in constant pain? Because they couldn’t protect themselves?
Would that be Izuku in a few years?
His friend didn’t seem to understand that being a hero was no longer an option for him. That he was going to get hurt going up against people stronger than him. So, Katsuki decided that he would have to show the idiot just how useless he was.
Years later, Katsuki would regret that decision. However, in his five-year-old mind, it made sense.
Katsuki wasn’t sure when him pretending and trying to prove that Izuku was useless, was Deku, became the truth in his eyes. Maybe it happened so gradually that he didn’t notice.
Or maybe it was the night Katsuki woke up screaming.
His entire body felt like it was on fire, fire hotter than any explosion Katsuki had been able to make in his seven-year-old body. He screamed and cried as he felt his skin burn, as he gasped for air that wasn’t able to make it into his lungs. Later, he remembers his parents running into his room and the tortured scream he let out when his mother tried to hold him. It was then that his body gave into the pain and his mind fell to darkness.
He woke up the next afternoon, his parents both sitting beside his bed and talking in hushed voices. Katsuki cried out in pain as he woke and they both turned to him instantly. The pain was dull now, a constant throbbing that still had him gasping for air as he tried to move. His mother soothed his hair back from his forehead as he fell asleep once more.
He was in and out of consciousness for the next two weeks, his parents always there when he woke. Eventually, the pain faded and left a kind of numbness that Katsuki was never able to really understand. For years, he was terrified that his soulmate had died after whatever had happened to him, but as he grew older, he realized that he would have felt nothing if his soulmate was dead, not the numbness and occasional tingling sensation he couldn’t understand.
Sometimes, he wondered what his soulmate got from him. Katsuki had been careful but there were always things out of his control. The first time he overused his quirk and left burns on his palms (he cursed as the guilt flowed through him. He was sure that out of everything his soulmate could have felt from him, any type of pain from fire was probably the worst.), the bruises from training and his own foolishness, the time he fell off of that damn bridge (tree) and into the river below…
And then the sludge villain attacked.
Katsuki couldn’t move, the sludge was everywhere, he couldn’t breathe…
And the heroes were just standing there. Waiting for something.
Despite the danger he was in, despite how his lungs felt like they were about to explode, Katsuki couldn’t help but wonder if his soulmate had been in a situation like this. The constant pain they had been in when Katsuki was young, had heroes merely stood by and watched then as well?
What type of heroes were they, if that was the case?
There was no way Katsuki would be like that. No matter the villain or what type of quirk they had, he would not just stand there and watch.
Then, out of everyone, it was Deku who came to help him.
Useless, quirkless, Deku.
And Katsuki felt his world begin to shift.
He pushed the thoughts to the side, he stopped instigating confrontations with the idiot. He didn’t stop others in their school but he no longer joined in and, eventually, they realized that and stopped themselves. Deku didn’t even seem to notice. He had that look on his face, the one where his eyes were slightly glazed and his mouth pinched, that told Katsuki that he was fixated on something. Katsuki was sure he knew what it was. The idiot was still convinced that he was going to UA. Instead of telling him what a foolish dream it was, as he had done in the past, Katsuki ignored him and focused on his own training.
He wasn’t surprised to see Deku at the entrance exam but he was surprised to see that he had managed to actually get into the school. More than surprised. Furious. Once again, he wondered what the hell Deku was getting himself into. He was going to get himself killed. Did he even realize that they did actual training here? That he was going to have to fight? What type of idiot was he? Didn’t he realize that he wasn’t just going to be hurting himself? Didn’t he think about his soulmate at all?
Katsuki growled and hunched down in his chair. Whatever, it wasn’t his problem. The idiot could do whatever the hell he wanted to do. He wasn’t going to feel guilty when the moron ended up injured. He had tried to get him to realize what a bad idea it was, he had tried for years.
Of course, he didn’t realize that Deku had been lying to him for years about having a quirk.
Katsuki had to leave after their first simulation. He had lost. To Deku. They had both been injured in the mock battle and the overwhelming guilt coupled with the feeling of disappointment had Katsuki feeling worse than he had in years. He was furious with himself, furious with Deku, and he wanted nothing more than to blow the entire fucking building up. How was he supposed to be number one, be the best, if he couldn’t even fight Deku?
How had he failed?!
He would grow stronger. He would beat Deku, take the number one spot from All Might, and never feel like this again.
It was his goal, after all.
__________________________________________
Time passed. His class was attacked by the League of Villians at the USJ and he ‘won’ the Sports Festival. He would have rather forgotten the last part. He wasn’t an idiot – he knew Half-and-Half was stronger than him. The Icyhot Bastard had refused to go all out and Katsuki had been given the ranking of first because of it.
He didn’t fucking earn it and it pissed him off.
So, maybe he overreacted. Maybe he should have tried to calm down, to use some of those fucking techniques that shitty therapist had made him learn during his last year of junior high. Instead, he had given into his anger and had been restrained on fucking television for the entire world to see.
Which was how he found himself in the fucking current situation.
He could only stand there as Deku and the Icy Bastard debated on the best way to get back to camp and keep him safe. Anger, frustration, and confusion warred within his mind, making his hands clench into fists as small explosions sparked in his palms. Their summer camp was attacked because of him? It didn’t make any sense. Yeah, sure, Katsuku had fought the bastards at the USJ but the leader guy had seemed to focus on Deku more than anything. Were they coming after him because he won the Sports Festival? He didn’t fucking understand why they would. Did they think he was a threat?
If that was the case, why the hell wouldn’t they just kill him? From what Deku was saying, they wanted to take him with them. Alive.
He didn’t fucking understand.
And it pissed him off.
He argued with the idiot brigade as they shuffled him in between them and moved further into the forest. He pointedly ignored Deku and his multiple broken bones – he couldn’t even walk for fucks sake – and scowled as his eyes trailed over the dark trees. He paused for a moment when the hair on the back of his neck stood up and his head snapped to the side. Bird Boy stopped as well. “What is it?”
“Shut up,” Katsuki hissed as he scanned the area. Someone was there. He could feel…
…he blinked, disoriented. Where the fuck was he? He swallowed hard as he felt a hand grab the back of his neck and pull him backwards. Deku was screaming his name as he ran forward, looking even worse than he had moments before when Katsuki saw him.
What the fuck had happened?
“Stay back, Deku,” he managed to say as ice seemed to slowly move through his veins. He saw his childhood friend, turned enemy, fall before there was momentary darkness.
Then light.
“Oh, good, you got him,” an oddly familiar voice rasped right before pain exploded in Katsuki’s head. He swayed, his vision going black momentarily, only to wake tied to a chair with inhibitors on his hands.
“What the fuck-“
“Finally,” that rasping voice said. “I thought you would never wake up.”
Katsuki scowled as he finally caught sight of the person speaking. It was that hand guy, the one that had been obsessed with Izuku. “What the fuck do you want?”
“Oh, we’ll get to that,” the hand freak muttered as he turned to face the bar once more. Katsuki ground his teeth. Fucking assholes, bringing him here and not even having the decency to tell him why. “Right now, I want to watch as the sheep turn away from their dear heroes.”
Alright, whatever the fuck that was supposed to mean.
Katsuki’s hands were encased in a quirk suppressing cuffs but that didn’t stop his hands from sweating. Eventually, he would be able to build up enough sweat to blow the fucking things to smithereens but it was going to take some time. It might even take more time then he currently had.
Wasn’t that a happy fucking thought.
Katsuki shifted, hoping he could get his hands closer to one another, and the metal pressed against the inside of his wrist, scraping slightly. He didn’t wince, he had felt much worse pain than that, but he did glare at the thin line of blood that appeared. Blood would show them that he was attempting to do something. The last thing he needed was to be betrayed by his own body’s weakness.
“What are you doing?” a voice drawled. Katsuki glared up at the figure now standing in front of him, recognizing the asshole that had pulled him into this situation in the first place.
“Sitting. What the fuck do you think I’m doing?” Katsuki growled.
The scarred jackass raised an eyebrow and his lips quirked up in amusement. “They said you had a fucking mouth on ya. And a temper. Something about a muzzle during the sports festival?”
Katsuki couldn’t help the low growl that escaped his throat at the reminder. He fucking knew that fucking festival had something to do with his current situation. “What of it?”
“Just makin’ conversation. You always this paranoid?”
“Not paranoid if they really are after you,” Katsuki snapped back.
“Touché,” the man chuckled, holding up his hands in a placating yet obviously amused manner as Katsuki’s glare intensified. “You might want to calm the fuck down. Don’t think the boss is going to be letting you out anytime soon. Take the time to get some sleep. Doubt anything is gonna happen tonight, no matter what mophead says.”
Mophead was apparently Shigaraki, judging by the way the scarred man nodded toward the familiar figure. “No fucking way,” Katsuki snarled. No way was he sleeping in a room, tied to a chair, surrounded by villains. How much of an idiot did this guy think he was?
The man shrugged. “Whatever. I’m getting some sleep. Long day, you know.”
“Fuck off.”
“Plan on it,” the man smirked, “the events of the day got me a little… worked up.”
“Fucking disgusting,” Katsuki snarled as the man laughed loudly and moved toward the staircase Katsuki could see on the other side of the bar. Once the man was out of view, he turned his attention to the rest of the group. Shigaraki had his eyes fixated on the television sitting in front of him. The Mist Guy that Katsuki had kicked during the villains attack on the USJ was standing behind the bar, slowly and methodically wiping down glasses. Lizard man and the Magician guy had disappeared at some point while Katsuki was focused on the other dude. The only person left, besides Shigaraki, was a blond chick that looked like she belonged in a high school somewhere except for the way she was lovingly stroking a large knife. When she saw Katsuki looking in her direction, she immediately perked up and waved. “Hiya! I’m your babysitter for the next few hours,” she giggled loudly and leaned forward in her chair. “I’m going to make you bleed.”
Fuck.
“Nothing permanent,” Shigaraki hissed, his attention moving away from the television for a brief moment.
“I know!” the girl pouted out. “Just a little bit!”
“Why are you here? I told Dabi to take the first watch.”
“We switched!”
Shigaraki hissed yet again, showing his displeasure, and Katsuki felt a brief moment of pleasure that the man’s own men seemed to undermine him. Katsuki was almost certain that he was pouting under that ugly mask and he turned toward the television with a huff. Katsuki dismissed the man for the moment and resumed trying to build up sweat in his hands, keeping one eye on his blond ‘babysitter’. She spent a lot of time humming to herself, playing with the knife in her hand, and talking under her breath. Katsuki tried to shift slightly, his arms having grown numb from being in one position too long. As he did, he seemed to draw the blonde’s attention toward him once more. He watched in irritation as her eyes lit up. “Ooh, you can tell me!”
“Fuck off, Loony Toons.”
“Ooh, I like that show! Which was your favorite? I always liked-“ she blinked and pouted, pointing her knife in his direction. “You tricked me! Back on topic.”
“Shut up,” Shigaraki hissed out. The girl rolled her eyes. Katsuki could understand the urge. The other man had not moved away from the television even once in the last few hours. Katsuki was forced to hear as his kidnapping was announced, about what the media knew of the attack, and the newest complaints against UA. He was trying to force his growing anger to the back of his mind – he had trouble thinking clearly when he was angry and it was obvious that he needed to be thinking clearly. Especially since he still had no idea why the fuck he was here.
“But I wanna ask Katsuki-“
“What the fuck did you just call me?!”
“-about my Izuku!” She turned bright eyes onto Katsuki once more. “So, what’s he like? He’s so cute and strong! He’d look better covered in red, of course, but all of the broken bones made him so attractive! Does that always happen? Oh, oh! Does he have a soulmate? I don’t have one. I don’t think, anyway. I’ve never felt anything. Do you have a soulmate? Do you know them? Have you felt anything?”
Shigaraki, moving for the first time in hours, moved more quickly than Katsuki would think possible of the man and reached toward the blond. She moved quickly, dodging around the outstretched hand, cackling madly. “What the hell you doin’ blondie?” came a familiar drawl. Katsuki didn’t turn his eyes away from the potentially dangerous fight in front of him but he saw the scarred man from the corner of his eye. “Go sleep. I’ll watch him.’
“Aww,” the girl whined. “But I wanted to talk to Katsuki some more!”
“Psychotic bit-“ Katsuki cut himself off when a pair of bright blue eyes slid in his direction. He wasn’t sure why he did that.
“Anyone fed him?” the scarred man asked. Shigaraki ignored them and slid back onto his stool, his eyes once again on the television. The girl shook her head. The young man turned to him with raised eyebrows. “You gonna eat if I get you somethin’?”
“Fuck you.”
“Eloquent,” he quipped, shrugging his shoulders and falling onto the couch with a sigh. His eyes slid toward the still bouncing girl. “Toga, upstairs.”
“But Dabi-“
“Go away.”
The girl huffed but bounded toward the stairs. As she did, the man (Dabi?) turned his eyes toward Shigaraki. “Boss? You gonna sit there all day?”
“Shut up.”
“Alright then,” Dabi drawled as he shrugged his shoulders yet again. His bright blue eyes turned onto Katsuki and the blond fought the urge to shift uncomfortably as they skimmed over his body. “So, heard you went a little crazy at the Sports Festival. Something about the little Todoroki?”
“Fuck you.”
“I’m going to start thinking that’s an offer,” the young man smirked. Katsuki couldn’t stop the shivers this time, not when he was acutely reminded of being held in a restraining grip, completely terrified of what was going to happen next. Of not being able to breath. An experience that was repeated by his fucking school only a few months later. And now…
He clenched his jaw and sucked in a deep breath. He was fine. At least at the moment. There was no telling what was going to happen to him within the next few hours. Or days.
It better not be fucking days.
“No need to look so disgusted,” the man said, his eyes flashing with amusement. “I’ll have you know I’m a fucking catch.”
“Maybe if you’re into quilting.”
The man let out a bark of laughter so loud that even hand man twitched. “Oh, you’re a riot. This should be fun. Hey, boss! I like him.”
“Don’t care,” ‘boss’ retorted, scratching as his neck so hard it was even starting to make Katsuki uncomfortable.
Dabi didn’t seem affected in the slightest. He merely watched as the man scratched himself hard enough to bleed, then chuckled when the asshole behind the bar began to lecture the ‘boss’ as if he was a child. Then badgered him until he agreed to let the other man take care of his ‘wound’.
It was a fucking scratch.
What type of fucked up place was this?
“So, you caught bosses’ attention during his little…tryst at the USJ. Then again during the Sports Festival. Lucky you,” Dabi drawled after only a few minutes of blissful silence. “Based on what I heard, you have a temper – feel like I should warn ya that boss will end up putting his quirk to use if you annoy him too much, no matter how ‘valuable’ you are.”
“Fuck off.”
“Another invitation,” Dabi chuckled and Katsuki growled low in his throat at yet another suggestive remark. “Fine, don’t do it for yourself. You have a soulmate, right? Imagine what they would feel if boss tortured you for hours with his quirk. Or let one of us do it,” Dabi’s lips twisted up at the words and blue flames surrounded his hands. Katsuki’s eyes narrowed at the threat.
“Pretty sure my soulmate’s been through worse than anything you could throw at them,” he snapped before he could think about the words, remembering the intense pain he had woken up to all those years ago. The feeling of his body being burned…
Katsuki’s eyes snapped toward the fire in the man’s hand. Fire. For the first time, Katsuki let his eyes focus completely on the villain, looking at the scarred skin and the staples that was holding it together. Burns. Strange for a person with a fire quirk to be covered in burns. Unless, for some reason, their own body couldn’t handle it. But then, why would someone abuse their own quirk so much that they ended up with burns like that? It would have to be a drastic situation. Or a forced one.
“Talking about soulmates – I feel sorry for yours. With marks like that, they must wish for death,” Katsuki grumbled.
Katsuki had the pleasure of watching the smirk fall from the man’s lips and his bright blue eyes flash in anger. It was gone almost as quick as it appeared, only to be replaced by something Katsuki couldn’t name. “You’re not the only one,” the man agreed, “better to not have one at all.”