Chapter Text
After watching the fiasco that was the fight between Endeavor and the Super Nomu that Monday afternoon, class 1-A thought they deserved a break. Todoroki was in an obvious state of relief and confusion; after all, his father had just almost died to prove to his son that he was trying to be a better hero. The class decided to have a little movie marathon to help the poor boy destress.
“We can’t have a movie marathon without snacks!” Iida exclaimed as he looked in the communal pantry, “Does anyone have popcorn in their room? All we have in here is half a bag of pretzels and some canned pinto beans…”
Bakugou scoffed as he cleaned dishes from the sink. “I know there’s more than just that in there, Four Eyes. I got stuff to cook yakisoba yesterday.”
Iida looked deeper into the pantry. “Well unless your food grew legs and walked away, I’d say someone ate your noodles already.”
Katsuki clenches his fingers around the glass he was washing and grit his teeth, “Well that’s just fucking great.” It took every bit of will in Bakugou’s body to not throw the glass he was washing at Iida’s stupid face. Who the fuck cooked with my noodles? I knew I should’ve kept the supplies in my room, instead of the pantry…
Ashido looked over from where she and Kaminari were setting up pillows and blankets in front of the TV for everyone to lay on. “Uhh I don’t usually keep food in my room… is that even allowed?”
Kaminari looked up at her, confused. “Why wouldn’t it be?? I keep like a weeks’ worth of snacks under my pillow at all times.” He looked smug for a moment before whipping his head towards Iida and yelping, “It is allowed right?? I spent all my money on snacks for this week, I don’t want to have to throw them out!”
Katsuki rolled his eyes and shoved the soapy sponge into the glass a little harder than necessary. He knew Kaminari would regret spending all his cash on food when he broke his phone screen for the umpteenth time… then Bakugou would have to pay for a replacement for him again. He really needed to talk with the electric idiot about responsible personal finance soon.
“Yeah, you’re allowed to have food in your room,” Midoriya says as he walked into the communal area. “I still have leftover buns I can share from when Sato made them last if you guys are okay with the slight stale-ness.”
Katsuki rolls his eyes again. Of fucking course Deku would share Sato’s stupid buns. The previous day, Sato had offered everyone in the class his baking after lunch, but nobody was hungry enough to eat them then. Sato had looked so sad… stupid, shitty Deku had taken them all, promising he would eat them later, which cheered Sato right up. Katsuki scowled at the memory. Why did he have to be so goddamn kind to everyone?
Iida made a noncommittal grunt as he closed the pantry door. “How about we pool some money and have a few people go out and get food?” He glanced towards Kaminari and continued, “That way we don’t have to eat all of your snacks, Kaminari… or half stale buns.”
The teens nodded their agreement.
Iida smiled. “Great, I’ll get everyone in here and we can figure out the details.”
Everyone stopped preparing for the fun night ahead of them and gathered in the living room to discuss what to get, how much to spend, and who would go and get it. After a hot debate among the kids, the class decided that 3000 yen would be enough for snacks to fill all for them. Popcorn, chocolate, and chips would be purchased. Midoriya and Bakugou would go and get the supplies.
“Tch. I can’t believe we had to draw sticks to decide who had to go get food…” Bakugou grumbled as he stomped to the nearest convenience store. What were the chances he would get stuck with fucking Deku of all people? He regretted not just volunteering and making one of his friends go with him instead of agreeing Glasses’s idea of some random-ass stick picking.
The sunset brushed the blonde’s wrinkled brow as he shielded his eyes from the bright rays. It was a beautiful day, perfect for a walk outside. As a light gust of wind blew his shirt up a little bit, Katsuki almost felt… nice. Not that he would ever admit it. It would be a lot better if shitty Deku wasn’t with him though.
Midoriya had to half-jog to keep up with the other teen. He panted, exclaiming “Kacchan, you’re going a bit too fast for me!”
“And that’s my fault how? Grow longer legs!” Katsuki continued to plow forward on the sidewalk. He thought he heard Deku sigh, but the tinnitus in his ears made it hard to be sure. He needed to talk with Recovery Girl about the effects of his quirk… too many loud explosions and he might actually go deaf. Then how would he hear Deku’s incessant mumbling behind him in class?
He slowed down a little bit.
They walk like that for a bit, in silence. Katsuki looked at the buildings as they passed by them. Big store windows reflect the sunset into his eyes, as he squinted to see where that goddamn convenience store was. How far away was it again?
“So…” Deku started to say, after a few minutes of silence, “what movie do you think we’ll get to watch when we get back?”
Katsuki almost turned around to go back home, snacks be damned. He couldn’t believe the nerve of the green-haired boy. Making small talk? Did shitty Deku actually think I want to do small talk?
“I don’t fucking know,” he gritted out. As much as he and stupid Deku had gotten closer since starting UA together, he still couldn’t handle talking to him for long bouts of time, much less walking together to the fucking gas station. Stupid fucking small talk.
Deku just laughs before speeding up enough to walk side by side with him. The sidewalk was close to being a little too narrow for the two boys, it was just wide enough for shitty Deku’s hands to almost brush against his as they walked. This doesn’t annoy Bakugou nearly as much as he wished it did.
This nice weather is just making me soft, he tried to convince himself.
“Man, I just hope it’s something interesting enough to keep everyone awake,” Deku started to tease, “last time we had a movie night I remember a certain someone falling asleep ten minutes in.”
Katsuki felt his cheeks get hot as he turned to glare at him, snarling “You are so lucky I don’t have a provisional license like you do, otherwise I’d blow your fucking head off right here for that!”
Midoriya just laughed again as he dodged a half-assed shove from Katsuki.
“Awww is Grandpa feeling a little cranky? I bet it’s because it’s almost your bedtime, only one hour until 8 pm!”
Katsuki almost snorted at the jab but caught himself. Stupid fucking nice weather making me feel good. Goddammit. He turned to glare at Deku again, trying again for a swipe at his arm.
He started to tell him off for the tease when he heard a scream. It sounded like it was coming from the alley they were almost adjacent to, but Katsuki knew he couldn’t completely rely on his tinnitus strained ears. He started to turn to see if Deku heard it too, but the short-ass was already sprinting towards the source of the sound.
He growled before taking off after him. It was only a few seconds of running before he saw Deku disappear into the alley, green lightning already shooting across his legs and arms in preparation for fight. Katsuki was right on his heels, trying to keep his hands from emitting little explosions.
He knew that if he fought using his quirk, his career as a hero would be over before it had even began. He had to be careful. If he used his quirk even once, he’d never get to prove to shitty Deku that he was undeniably better than him as the number one hero.
Katsuki held onto that thought as he hurled himself into the alleyway before trying to assess the situation. He stopped himself right before he could run Deku over. He looked over the curly green hair to see what was going on further into the alleyway, eyes narrowed in focus.
“No! Please stop! This is all I have!” a young woman sobbed, cowering against a brick wall next to the building’s dumpster. An androgynous figure had her cornered in the half-darkness, sunlight slowly draining away from the little alley along with any hope of the woman being saved.
“Are you sure about that? I have a feeling you have a liiittle more you could give to me,” the voice rasped. “What about that pretty little ring on your finger?”
Just as they reached out to grab at the woman’s hand, Bakugou watched as Deku leaped forward and tackled the person.
Since when did he get so fast? Katsuki marveled, I mean, he’s always been quick, but if I had blinked just then I doubt I would’ve seen him move! He scowled, trying to turn his amazement into anger. I need to get better. No way can HE be better than me.
The two tussle a bit, first Deku on top, then the criminal. Green lightning raced across the teen’s arms as he shoved the other against the brick wall opposite to him. The impact was hard enough to cause the wall to cave in where the person crashed into it, a low oof escaping their mouth as bricks fell on top of their body. Deku turned toward the frightened woman who was still cowering where he had left her.
“Run away, miss! Kacchan, help her!” He commanded. He turned back toward the villain and got into a fighting stance, readying himself for when they rose from the rubble.
Katsuki almost fought him for bossing him around, but he knew better than that to make a scene right then. Instead, he ran over to the woman, grabbing her arm and throwing it around his shoulder as he started to pull her out of the alleyway. He looked over his shoulder to keep an eye on Deku, making sure the green lightning wasn’t about to crash into the woman and him while he fought.
“You’ll be fine,” Katsuki growled to the woman, pulling her towards the relative safety of the street. “We’re UA students, we know what we’re doing.”
She looked at him with big doe eyes but said nothing, instead just leaning more of her weight on him and gasping. Katsuki wasn’t sure if it was gasps of relief or anxiety. It didn’t matter to him anyway.
Katsuki told her to call the police and get away from the scene as quickly as possible. She stayed silent, but dazedly nodded her assent and pulled out her phone, before running down the sidewalk to get away from the scene.
The angry teen made sure the phone was ringing in her hand before running back to the alley to see if he could help in any way. He made sure to keep his fists clenched, explosions firmly locked away.
Deku and the villain were truly going at it. The alleyway was a mess of ripped newspapers, trash, and a dumpster broken in half...? Katsuki spared it a quizzical glance before noticing the moves Deku was using.
“Full Cowl, Shoot Style: 5 percent!” Deku shouted, whipping his leg down where the criminal had been a moment before. They somersaulted forward at the very last moment, barely escaping the wrath of the teen’s blast. The pile of bricks behind them received the blow instead, breaking apart into a million bits of dust and rubble.
The cloaked figure wiped their nose as they stumbled a bit, chuckling. “Heh, you’re a lot stronger than you look.” they admitted, backing up out of range from Deku’s electricity covered legs. “Guess I’ll actually have to use my quirk on you...”
Deku didn’t dodge in time as he was grabbed by the other, yelping as he tried to pry them off his arm. Suddenly, his face went white and slack, looking like his soul had left his body. All the struggling from the previous moment was gone, replaced by a detached stance and face.
“DEKU!” Katsuki shouted, rushing further into the alley to try and help him. He didn’t know what he could do, but he did know that standing there and doing nothing was worse than anything else.
When he was right in front of the teen, Deku suddenly turned to the blonde and hurled a punch at his face. Katsuki barely dodged the attack, letting out a string of swears as he jumped out of the way.
“What the FUCK Deku?!” he yelled, recovering his stance, now a few feet away. Deku turned to him, face still white as paper and a vacant stare fixed on some point behind Katsuki’s head. The curly head tried to lunge at Katsuki again, his movements stilted and sluggish.
This must be that fucker’s quirk, Katsuki thought, backing away from the other two in the alley to try and think. I can’t hurt Deku and risk him getting more violent… I’ll just have to hope that knocking out the criminal will shake Deku of their quirk’s effects. The blonde clenched his fists, willing the sweet scent of his nitroglycerin-soaked palms to go away. Don’t use your goddamn quirk, Kat. The last thing you need is to be kicked out of UA because of fucking Deku.
The villain threw an arm around Deku’s shoulder, pulling him closer to their side. “Aww, he saved me. I guess we’re buddies now!” they chuckled, turning to peer at Katsuki over Deku’s wild curls.
He seethed, looking at the close contact between the two. Who the fuck did they think they were, clutching Deku like that?
“I don’t know who you are, but you better give Deku back right fucking now,” he growled, starting to move towards the pair to hopefully knock the cretin out with one punch.
“Oh, I don’t think I will,” they laughed, pulling Deku even closer to their side. This only made Katsuki seethe more. Deku didn’t seem to realize what was going on, gaze still dull and vacant, but he didn’t stop the villain’s actions. They stared at the freckled face so close to their own. “He’s attached to me now! Aren’t you?”
Deku didn’t react for a moment, instead, he continued to gaze at that point just over Katsuki’s shoulder. Then, slowly, he turned to look at the person grasping him to their side and mumbled, almost too quiet for Katsuki to hear through his tinnitus, a slurred “Yeah, for sure.”
Katsuki blanched at the utterance. So, it's a mind-control quirk… maybe it works just like that purple-haired freak's quirk from gen studies.
Despite the theory, Deku was still freaking Katsuki out. As far as he knew, the villain could make Deku do whatever they wanted which was… concerning. Deku might be a damn idiot with no self-preservation, (as shown by him immediately jumping in to save some random lady from a robbery, instead of calling for a pro) but he was always in control of himself. He always knew just what to do. Bakugou knew he could rely on him to do what he thought was best in any situation, so seeing him in this state, unable to control himself, completely helpless to someone else’s desires… that was more concerning to Katsuki than he wanted to admit.
Katsuki snapped back to the present moment when the cretin started to giggle with glee.
“Oh, that’s so good to h—”
Katsuki wasn’t about to listen to another second of this. The villain was cut off by the blonde letting out a battle cry and charging for their face. He whacked them in the nape of their neck, rendering them immobile. They fell to the ground, letting go of Deku. The green-haired teen just stood there, seemingly unfazed from the violence a few inches away from his freckled face. However, when the villain’s head hit the ground with a resounding thunk, Deku finally seemed to snap out of it.
Katsuki panted, crouched over the villain’s body to make sure they were truly knocked out. He sat on their chest and turned to look up at Deku, who was standing there, like an absolute fucking idiot, blinking stupidly. The life was slowly returning to his face, cheeks turning slightly pink and eyes seeming to gain back their previous glow.
The blonde scoffed. “What the fuck is your problem, Deku? You actually let that villain’s quirk control you that easily?”
Acid green eyes turn to gaze down at him, seeming to glow in the near darkness. Dusk was coming fast, and the cold with it. Katsuki couldn’t stop a shiver that ran down his spine when his eyes met Deku’s.
I’m shivering from the cold, he told himself. That’s it.
Deku’s cheeks turn slightly pinker as he realized what had happened. “Oh my god... I’m so sorry, Kacchan! Are you okay? I couldn’t stop myself from swinging at you, it must’ve been the villain’s quirk affecting me like you said, but thankfully my quirk didn’t activate otherwise you’d be dead! Really, you—”
Katsuki cut him off before he could mumble any longer. “Tch. Do you really think I’d let you kill me? C’mon.”
Deku’s eyes widened further, waved his hands, stuttered, the whole nine yards of Deku-ness. Katsuki was almost happy to see so much character in his body again, compared to the lack of life he had had the moments prior.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, shaking himself of the image of Deku, face blank and eyes dead. “It’s okay, shitty Deku. Whatever. You weren’t in control of yourself. Now, let’s go see if that civilian managed to call the cops or if she peed her pants before she could do anything.”
He started to get off the villain’s chest but was abruptly stopped when he felt a vice-like grip on his forearm. Time seemed to slow down as the blonde tried to twist around to knock out the villain again, only to see out of the corner of his eye the villain’s other hand reaching out and grasping Deku’s ankle, a menacing grin on their bloody face.
Katsuki hadn’t done enough. He hadn’t saved anyone.
His last thought was to reach out to Deku with his other hand, a concerned, desperate look painting his face.
Then he blacked out.