Archive of Our Own ^beta

It was the same scene every time he walked in.

There were bodies strewn across the floor. Each one was posed in a grotesque unnatural angle, mouths open in unending silent screams. In the center of it all was a dark red sigil carefully painted by what he assumed was the victim’s blood in the center.

*

Something was off.

“Hey shitty hair, are you sure this is the right location? Seems a little too flashy”

“The bossman said it was here.”

Katsuki grunted in acknowledgement. Aizawa thought it would be better if the duo started off with simple reconnaissance missions on an open case. He was thankful that the casefile was actually interesting unlike Dunce Face and Weird Eyes who were stuck with some run of the mill imp-infestation at a school. Sure, at first it had been disturbing seeing the bodies, but after 4 or 5 of the same horrific scenes, it was starting to blend together. Although...there was something not quite right about the place they were looking into now. 

All the other locations had been hole-in-the-wall joints, tucked into back alleyways that were meant to be forgotten. 

This was a completely different MO. It was a theater hall, it’s bright flashing lights in the front warm and inviting to the random passerby.

The sick fuck who was sacrificing people, to summon who knows what, wanted to put on a show this time. Katsuki cracked his knuckles and rolled his shoulders back. “Let’s get this over with.” 

As they approached the front doors of the theater, Kirishima nudged him, pointing towards the entrance. “Is it propped open?” He asked.

 Katsuki approached the glass door and knelt down. There was a rock with a small squiggly symbol carved into it, placed between the frame and door ensuring that it wouldn’t close. He could feel his body go into high alert, the hair on the back of his neck raising. If he had to guess it was a warding charm, something to let their hosts know if someone was intruding.

Everything about the situation was a little too inviting. A tip off, unlocked door, abandoned streets- nothing came this easy.  The alarm bells in his head were going off. “Shitty hair- be prepared.”

“Huh? Everything okay Bakubro?”

“All of this screams set-up. What con-man leaves their front door open?” Kirishima shrugged. “Just stay close, I don’t want to be responsible for your halfling ass getting the shit beat out of it.” Bakugou sighed and slowly opened the door.

Kirishima gave a small salute, showing his acknowledgment. Katsuki rolled his eyes and entered.

The place reeked of old popcorn and rotting fast food. From the looks of it, the snack counter had never been cleaned. He wasn’t sure the last time someone had manned it, but it definitely had been weeks going by the rancid smell permeating the air. Katsuki motioned for Kiri to check behind the counters.

After a moment of searching, he gave a thumbs up, showing it was all clear.

From the looks of it, there was only one theater in the building. It really was just a small rinky-dink theater house...maybe the tip off Aizawa got wasn't wrong about it being a potential spot.

Walking towards the hallway that accessed the main doors was agonizing. Their steps echoed in the silence of the dimly lit hall. As they approached the doors, the sound of murmuring leaked into the hallway.

“You hear that?” He whispered.

“Hear what?” Kiri replied in a stage whisper.

Katsuki sharply inhaled trying to calm the urge to yell at him about the importance of context clues and being quiet. His therapist would be pissed if blew the cover of his first official reconnaissance mission because he couldn’t reign in his temper.

“Just fucking listen.”

Kiri scrunched his face up in concentration.

Chanting.

It’s fucking chanting that they’re hearing. Katsuki all but slapped his hands over his ears and glanced over to see Kirishima following suit.

He motioned with his head for them to retreat to the lobby for now.

Once they made it back to the counter, Kirishima was the first one to speak. “We need to call Aizawa dude.”

“I already fucking know that.” Katsuki threw his phone at Kiri. “You call. I’m going to look for napkins.” 

Kirishima looked at him as if he was starting to lose it. “Napkins?”

“Yes, fucking napkins. You’re telling me that you want us to sit and wait for backup while someone is actively being sacrificed right now?”

“I- I just. I don’t know bro. We have no idea what we’re dealing with.”

“You can wait here then. I’m going in.”

Kirishima grabbed his shoulder. “It’s a reconnaissance mission bro, not a rescue.”

“That was before we knew they were doing it tonight.” He shrugged his partner’s hand off.

Kirishima chewed his lip, face full of hesitancy. “I don’t know… We were strictly told not to engage.”

Katsuki shrugged, shoving napkins into the redhead's chest. “Then don’t engage.”

As he walked back into the hallway, he began to tear off small pieces of the napkins he found on the counter, ball them up and stuff them in his ear.

Who knows how long they had been sitting there or who touched them. Fucking nasty. But it was better than walking into some freaky-ass ceremony and getting caught in a spell.

He was going to have to be careful. With shit stuffed in his ears, everything was muffled. He stared at the door leading to the theater, seeds of hesitancy planted in his mind from Kirishima's warnings.

He slowly opened the door, just enough to slip his body through. It was a small miracle that the hinges didn’t creak, given its age. As soon as he was inside, he knelt down and began the slow and arduous process of inching his way to the right wall of the theater.

From what he could tell, everything was happening on the stage. Cloaked figures were standing in a circle slowly swaying back and forth. No one's features were recognizable from this distance.

As he kept moving forward, the more ominous it felt. Whatever magic they were using was dark—old. The heavy smell and taste of it pervaded his mouth, making him want to gag.

Whatever the fuck they were doing was filling the air with heavy demonic energy. He could practically feel it moving around the room. Watching. Waiting.

One of the groupies broke away from the circle and walked off stage. They came back from the wings, dragging a small girl by the arms. Her frantic thrashing and kicking was making it difficult for the person to move her. Someone from off stage rushed over to grab her legs and restrain them. As they got closer to the circle of chanters, she began screaming, pleading. Tears streaking down her face.

They were going to sacrifice a child.

A fucking child .

Katsuki was frozen to his spot. There was no way to get to her without everyone noticing. Fuck, he wasn’t even sure he could fight everyone at once. One versus ten was not good odds and he didn’t know anything about the skill level of the people present.

The two helpers all but dumped the girl in the center of the people chanting, onto an intricately painted summoning circle. Someone in the back came forward, drawing a carving knife from inside their cloak.

He had to move.

He had to move now .

Her whole body was shaking. The person grabbed her wrist and held it up, as if it was a trophy being shown off. They pricked their own hand, saying something and using the blood to draw some sort of sigil on the small girl’s forehead. Then with a flourish, they slit her wrist.

The theater went black.

There was complete and total silence.

When the stage lights turned back on, there was another figure standing with them in the circle. The overwhelming energy of what was summoned made it impossible for Katsuki to move- whether it be out of fear or self preservation.

The newcomer had grey skin with bright green markings and swirls covering his body, the twisting shapes seemingly glowing of their own accord. His dark, bat-like wings were flared out, asserting dominance over everyone on stage. Though he was shorter than many of them, his presence was oppressive. Atop his head sat two black horns, slightly twisted, peaking out of his unruly curly hair.

His black eyes assessed the situation, before focusing back on the girl. His entire aura screamed danger, but the small girl’s body language was visibly more relaxed. The demon inclined his head toward her as if he asked her a question. Her response was broken up by hiccuping sobs that wracked her body.

 It almost looked like there was sympathy on the demon’s face.

Bakugou tried to move towards them but could barely muster the strength to lift a finger. The pressure in the room was crushing him, making breathing difficult. He cursed every god he could think of for not being able to get closer.

The demon knelt down, pulling in his wings to make himself smaller. Katsuki wanted to laugh, if anything the position made him look like an animal ready to pounce on his prey. Apparently though, it brought the girl comfort because she stepped closer to him.

He gently took her hand and said something. She nodded. One of his fingers traced over her wound, closing it. In its place, a single green band glowed on her wrist. The demon spoke to her, waited until what was said was acknowledged, and then covered her eyes.

The lights went off again.

When they turned back on, all of the practitioners were on the ground. Their bodies contorted into the same grotesque shapes he had seen at all the other scenes.

The girl stood alone in the center of the stage.

*

He looked up at buildings passing by and sighed. What was supposed to be an easy mission of information gathering had turned into a complete shit show. Instead of it being some run of the mill occult case, the higher ups had realized that summoning the demon was only one part of some plan. 

Weeks had passed since the night at the theater and there hadn't been any more reports or tip-offs since the girl had come back to Yuuei with them. Whatever had happened between her and the demon had solved their current problem of people being sacrificed every few weeks, but left too many unanswered questions.

For starters- whatever sigil they used to summon the demon had never been seen before. It looked like Frankenstein’s monster of summoning symbols. Some pink haired chick in the research department was looking it over since most of the faculty were at a loss.

On top of that, they knew next to nothing about the ruthless organization, other than their name, that was pulling all the strings. The followers found at the different scenes were never able to be identified or linked to anything. It seemed as though the people participating didn’t even exist. They couldn’t find any information on the girl that was rescued either. 

Speaking of which, he needed to walk faster. He had a meeting with Aizawa and the brat they rescued- Eri. It was supposed to be some sort of “bonding” shit. Since he was the first one to interact with her after what happened.  Aizawa was insistent that, “a familiar face would help make her more comfortable”.

That was a load of bullshit. It seemed as if every time they interacted she tensed up. She didn’t say a lot, and only responded to someone when they directly asked her a question. He assumed it was part of the “training” she mentioned.

He could see the school’s gates ahead. They were ostentatiously ornate and hard to miss. He always thought they were a little ridiculous but at least it was an easy landmark to spot.

There that night that still bothered him. For starters, there was the overwhelming energy he felt. It showed how weak and pathetic he actually was in the grand scheme of things. He couldn’t even move when they dragged Eri kicking and screaming onto the stage. How could he even call himself an exorcist if he couldn’t bring himself to help save a brat from one measly demon.  

Speaking of the demon, his behavior was weird. Everything they had been taught in classes was about how ruthless and cruel demons were, how they lacked empathy. Creatures that couldn’t control their primal urges. Every deal made was either for their own personal gain or some sick derived pleasure from watching you suffer.

This one was different... He made a deal with Eri; a deal that was favorable for her in that moment.

There was a drawback, there always was one. Eri wouldn't speak about what happened that night. Maybe she couldn't speak about that night, but whatever was said permanently bonded her to him as shown by the green band that adorned her wrist. And he couldn't help figure out the specifics of the deal because he had fucking napkins stuffed in his ears when it happened.

He shoved his hands deeper into his pockets. He felt like he owed it to the small girl to figure out what the fuck was going on. On top of being branded by a demon, they had found out she had been living another nightmare- she was under the care of the Shie Hassaikai.

‘Care’ was a relative term. Hostage. Test subject. Prisoner. Those terms were closer to what Eri was to them. No one knew how long she had been with them or what exactly they did to her- but it was clear that damage had been done. She cowered when someone addressed her, and didn't move from her spot until dismissed. Her little arms were littered with scars. They were ugly things, different shades of pink and silver raised skin.

As he walked up to the gates, he sighed. Why the fuck Aizawa thought meeting with a  traumatized child on a regular basis was “a good thing” was beyond him. He pulled out his wallet and grabbed his Yuuei card.

"Excuse me!" He looked to his left and saw another person standing there awkwardly. His clothes were baggy and a bit disheveled.

"What do you want, extra?" He did a double take. Something about the curly hair and shape of his face seemed familiar. “Do I know you?”

"Uh… I don’t think so. Anyways, I was kinda hoping you could let me in?" The stranger began fidgeting under Katsuki's stare. "I mean you don't have to. I was just uh- wondering? I wanted to meet with the principal is all and I-"

"You got permission to be here? You know the campus is invite only."

"I know. I was just hoping that maybe I could come early ya know? I haven't been here before and I wanted to make sure that I was prepared. Maybe look around a little bit— this campus has a lot of historical significance."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a great school. I know. But short stack, without proof that you can be here, I can't let you in."

"Short stack?" The stranger’s eye twitched. He seemed less than amused by the nickname.

Katsuki shrugged. "No proof. No admission. That's how it works."

"Uh huh..." Katsuki turned back to the gate, getting ready to scan his ID. 

"Hiiiiiiii!" The boy waved  rapidly to figures approaching on the other side.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Katsuki harshly whispered.

The smaller boy continued to wave and smile, "What does it look like I'm doing?"

Beyond the gates stood Mic with an exhausted looking Aizawa holding Eri. The tall blonde did a double take at the figure standing next to Bakugo, posture stiffening in realization. He leaned down and frantically whispered something to Aizawa, whose face briefly flashed concern before smoothing out. 

Aizawa looked towards the gates and gestured for Bakugo to enter. Katsuki pointed to the stranger next to him. Aizawa glanced at Mic, who hesitantly shook his head ‘yes’, before giving them a small nod.

“Well shorty, apparently it’s your lucky day- you can come in.” Katsuki slid his ID on the gate pad. There was a sharp beep! and then the gates slowly began to slide open. The blond started walking forward.

“I uh- I can’t enter…” The boy was stuck at the gate, as if some invisible wall was keeping him out. Katsuki turned around to the stranger behind him and then sighed. He was already trouble, and he hadn’t even stepped foot on campus yet. 

“Give me your hand,” he said.

“What? Why?”

“Just give it to me.” He walked back and forcefully pulled the stranger’s hand towards him. He grabbed a sharpie from his pockets. “Name?”

“Uh…Ichiki”

He wrote the name and then drew a small protection sigil around it on the boy’s hand. “Your parents named you after a plant?”

He looked up to see that the other boy had a light blush on his cheeks, making his freckles more visible. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. “Well you know- it’s kinda a tradition in my family.”

“Tradition my ass. But ya know- I can kinda see it.” Bakugou gestured to the mop of green curls on the other boy. “You look like a small tree.”

The stranger huffed. “Gee thanks.” After a beat of silence, “What’d you get saddled with?”

“Katsuki”

“Well Katsuki thank you for the protection sigil,” Ichiki said while studying the simple yet graceful symbol.

Bakugo dropped the boy’s hand. “Yeah, yeah - don’t do anything dumb since it’s my sigil letting your dumb-ass onto campus. Now, let’s go talk to the teachers.” Ichiki nodded, a small smile gracing his face.

As they got closer, Katsuki noticed that Mic and Aizawa were locked in a heated yet quiet argument. He cleared his throat.

Both of the teachers’ eyes darted to him, halting their disagreement. "Nice of you to join us Bakugou," Aizawa drawled. "Care to introduce us to your friend?"

"Hello! My name is Ichiki Midoriya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aizawa and this is my husband Yamada.” The small girl shifted in his arms, adjusting her position. “The sleeping girl is Eri."

Ichiki nodded, looking expectantly at Mic. "Do you think you could show me around?"

Mic’s face paled, looking taken aback at being directly addressed. "I'm not sure, little listener..." Ichiki kept staring at him, as though it would solve the problem. Mic's face was pulled back into a tight smile. "It would be breaking a lot of the rules we have set up here..."

"Oh please!"

Mic looked at Aizawa, as if trying to find the answer in his husband's face. He shrugged, "I don't see why not... Bakugou and I will let Nezu know there is a visitor before we start."

"Thank you so, so, so much, sir! I promise it won't take up too much of your time. I'm so grateful that I can finally see the Yuuei Campus. It's been a dream of mine since I was a kid."

Ichiki had a huge grin on his face as he waved goodbye to Katsuki and Aizawa, "It was lovely meeting you guys!" 

Mic looked nervously at both of them, smile faltering for a brief second. "I guess I'll see you at home Sho." Aizawa nodded in acknowledgement. He turned around, gesturing for Ichiki to follow. Bakugo and Aizawa stood and watched the pair walk away. 

"Are you ready for this afternoon, Bakugou?" Aizawa asked.

Katsuki sighed, "Ready as I'll ever be, still don't see the fucking point to this."

"Watch your language," he chided. "Let's find Nezu and then we can go to the faculty lounge so you can play with Eri." Aizawa started walking towards the administration building, not bothering to check if Katsuki was following. Bakugou gave one last glance in the direction that Ichiki and Yamada had headed, a weird feeling settling in his stomach, before following Aizawa.

*

People were on edge. Well to be more specific- the halflings at Yuuei were on edge. 

It wasn't noticeable at first. Sure- people could be clumsy and make mistakes but it started happening a little too frequently with them. Aizawa called off afternoon practice citing that, "they were more of a danger to each other than the demons they were supposed to hunt." 

With class cancelled and nothing else to do, he went to the gym with Kirishima. Aizawa was right, there were only so many times Katsuki could feel good about winning his sparring match with Shitty Hair before it wasn't fun anymore. The red head was making rookie mistakes, barely moving in time to block attacks and not evening trying to dodge. 

It was his 8th win in a row for that day when he finally asked, "Something wrong with you?" 

Kirishima laughed as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head. "Nah- I just feel kinda off? Hard to explain. Like there is this overwhelming weight on me. "

"Tch. Well fix it- it’s no fun when I win this easily.” 

The redhead looked embarrassed, “yeah, yeah-another round?"

Bakugou huffed, "only if you actually try this time."

*

Aizawa had the class gathered in a circle around him. The class was murmuring with nervous excitement, it had been weeks since they had been on the training grounds.  "Now remember, don't split up. You're here to work on teamwork, exorcising the demons is secondary. Is that understood?”

The students nodded. “You will divide and conquer at your own digression- here are your assignments. Group A) Yaomomo, Jiro, Tsu, Ochako; Group B) Denki, Mina, Koda, Shoji; Group C) Hakagure, Ojiro, Aoyama, Tokoyami; Group D) Iida, Shinsou, Sero, Satou; Group E) Bakugou, Kirishima, Todoroki.

"Go to your starting points in the training ground. When the whistle blows, the exercise will begin."

Of course he was put with HalfnHalf. Of all the people in the class, HalfnHalf was the one who got on his nerves the most. This fucker had two weapons he could summon and didn't need a halfling partner to watch his back. The bastard barely even had to try when exorcising things. 

"Are you guys ready for this?" Kirishima said, hitting his knuckles together, signature grin on his face.

Katsuki brushed him off, weaving through the different buildings. "Yeah, yeah- the sooner we finish, the sooner I can train on my own." He saw Todoroki nod in agreement. At least the bastard wanted it to be over quickly too. 

"What is our plan?"

They stopped at the spot that had a large "E" painted on the cement. "We need to find as many of these fuckers as we can and eliminate them."

"How do you expect we will locate them?" Todoroki asked.

"Oh! I got us! Mina was helping me earlier work on creating a 'detect familiar' sigil. It's not perfect, but it'll get us in the ballpark," Kirishima said. 

"You need anything to make it Shitty Hair?"

Kirishima looked up in thought, "Hmm... it might be stronger if you both added your blood?"

"I'm okay with that." Todoroki looked at Bakugou for his response.

"Tch whatever- just make the sigil."

Kirishima took a small wax pencil from his pocket and began to carefully draw a sigil on the pavement. After a few minutes the red head motioned for them to come over. "I don't need a lot of blood- just a few drops in the center from both of you."

Todoroki whispered his summoning spell under his breath, dual daggers appearing in his hands. He held one out to Katsuki. "Be careful, they are sharp."

Katuski rolled his eyes and grabbed one, "Thank you Captain Obvious." He pricked the top of his index finger, letting a small drop of blood fall onto the sigil. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see HalfnHalf do the same thing. Kirishima took the dagger from Katsuki and added a bit of his own blood. He mixed it all together with the pencil and drew the final symbol. 

They waited.

The spell hit them at the same time. Overwhelming pressure. He leaned over, trying to catch his breath. It was as if someone had covered his body with cinder blocks. He hadn’t felt something this intense since the night with Eri. “What the actual fuck shitty hair?” He gasped out. He looked to the right and saw that HalfnHalf had an uncomfortable expression on his face, as if someone had punched him in the stomach.

“You guys okay?” Kirishima looked at his partners in confusion.

“You can’t feel that?” Todoroki asked.

“Feel what?”

“The pressure dumbass.”

“Ohhhh…. I didn’t realize it would make you guys feel it too.”

“The fuck do you mean?”

“That’s why everyone’s off man. Haven’t you noticed that people are bickering more? This pressure has been around the school for weeks now. Just showed up one day.” The red head shrugged.

“You didn’t think to tell anyone?”

Kirishima laughed, “I thought it was just a ‘halfling thing’ ya know?”

If it didn’t feel like the weight of a building was pressing down on him, he might have punched the redhead. “How the fuck are you still standing?”

“Ohh you get used to it. Makes you kinda sluggish at first but it’s not terrible.” Katsuki could have strangled him right there. Sluggish his ass. He saw how Kirishima was acting and moving a few weeks ago and sluggish did not cover it. It felt like he was trying to move his limbs through quicksand.

From the looks of it, HalfnHalf wasn’t dealing with it too well either. Although the other boy was focused on the building next to them.

Following his gaze, it almost looked like there was a small light blue streak leading into the building next to them.

“Oi Shitty Hair, what’s that color thing?”

“Eyyy it did work!” Kirishima pumped his fist in the air. “So long as the sigil isn’t broken we should be able to see other demons in the area. They all have auras like that one.”

Katsuki turned back to him and saw that the redhead himself was surrounded by a soft red light.

He grunted as he slowly stood up. “Let’s go check it out.”

*

As they made their way back to the rendezvous point, Katsuki saw a familiar mop of green hair standing next to Aizawa.

"What the fuck is that Tree doing here?"

Kirishima shot him a weird look, "Tree?" Katsuki just nodded in the direction of their teacher, waiting for the redhead to put two and two together.

When his eyes locked onto the smaller figure, he froze. "What's wrong Shitty Hair?"

"Can you see that?" he whispered.

"See what?" Katsuki stared intensely at Aizawa and Ichiki, nothing strange standing out to him. "There's nothing there."

"Todoroki, can you see it?"

The other boy stopped to observe the teacher and boy. He shrugged, "I don't see anything out of the ordinary."

Kirishima shook his head, as if in an attempt to clear it. “I uh- okay…” He shrugged. “Maybe I'm just seeing things.”

Katsuki clapped the red head’s shoulder, “C’mon let’s go tell Aizawa how we kicked ass. We exorcised at least 15 of the little fuckers- that’s gotta be more than the other groups.”

Kirishima took a deep breath and then nodded in agreement, plastering his trademark grin on.

*

“Class. I want to introduce someone who will be shadowing you guys for the foreseeable future.” Aizawa gestured toward the green-haired boy.

“Hi there- I’m Ichiki Midoriya. I am uh-- going to be shadowing your class to learn how exorcism works with pairs. Everyone rants and raves about Yuuei’s unique approach to exorcism. I mean who would have thought to pair halflings up with exorcists. Anyways, Nezu said you guys would be the most interesting to watch since you have the highest success rate of all the classes. And I’m watching cause I uh- can’t use sigils. So yeah- that’s why I’m here. Thank you for having me!” 

Katsuki rubbed his face. That introduction was a disaster. What the fuck was the point of having a shadower? How was he supposed to learn if he was just watching? Looking around, the rest of the class seemed to have varied reactions- although based on the lack of reaction, most of them didn’t care. Weirder things had happened to the class.

“Now class, what do we say?”

“Welcome Midoriya,” the class chorused. 

“It’s a pleasure to have you join us Midoriya,” Iida said, stepping closer to the boy. “If you follow me, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the class.” The green haired boy glanced at Katsuki and then hesitantly followed Iida away. 

Katsuki turned to the redhead beside him, “I can’t believe the fucker convinced Nezu to let him shadow”

“Do you know him bro?” Kirishima’s face was pale. 

“Barely-- I ended up letting the Tree onto campus, had to draw a sigil on him and everything.” 

Kirishima’s eyebrows shot up, “You did what?”

“Yeah, yeah I know-but it was the only way to get him past the wards at the front gate since the magic there is fickle as fuck.” 

“You know you can’t do that without permission.”

“Eyebags and Boombox watched me do it.” Kirishima’s head whipped toward their teacher, as if he would give him answers. 

“ They just watched you ,” the red-head hissed. 

Katsuki looked at his friend with confusion. “You got a problem with it Shitty Hair?”

“No, I just” He took a deep breath, “I guess I’m just... surprised?” He gestured to where Ichiki was talking to Ochako and Tsuyu. “Can’t you tell something is off with him?”

“Look," Katsuki placed his hand on the redhead's shoulder. "I know that something has happened the last few weeks on campus. I mean fuck- that pressure from earlier was ridiculous- but I think it’s starting to get to you. Look at that twig. He’s too timid and weak to be a threat.”

Kirishima let out a nervous laugh, “I don’t know bro, my gut is telling me he’s trouble.”

“If avoiding him helps you sleep better at night, be my guest. Just don’t over think it too much- I still need you on your A-game for missions.”

The red head nodded. Katsuki dropped his hand from Kirishima’s shoulder and turned back towards his other classmates. It seemed as though Ichiki had made it through most of the other students.

He watched as the smaller boy hesitantly introduced himself to Sero and Denki. It looked as if he was using Iida as a human shield to keep the other two boys at bay as they questioned him.

"C'mon. Let me introduce you to the damn Tree." The red head looked torn. There was a pause before he took a deep breath and followed Katsuki as he made his way towards the other idiots.

*

"I don't know how the fuck I got stuck with you again," Bakugou huffed. 

"Kirishima is your partner, it's logical that you would be paired up," Todoroki replied. 

"I'm not talking about Shitty Hair," Katsuki said, sending a pointed glare in the boy's direction. "I also don't know why we gotta take an extra with us. He hasn’t even been with the class for more than a few weeks.” 

"Aizawa said that Ichiki was your responsibility man. I'm not sure why Teach specifically chose you to watch over him, but he's stuck with us for this mission." The red head shrugged and then turned towards the smaller boy and patted his shoulder reassuringly, "don't worry we’ll keep you safe! Bakusquad promise."

"Bakusquad?" Ichiki asked, looking towards Katsuki amusement glimmering in his eyes. 

"Oi Shitty Hair. I told you to stop referring to us as that." He bumped his shoulder against Ichiki. “Stop with the face. It doesn't mean shit." The green haired boy laughed. 

"Whatever you say Kacchan." Katsuki whipped his head to the side to look at him. 

"The fuck did you just call me?"

"Nothing, oh mighty bakusquad leader." 

“I dare you to say that again.” Bakugou lurched forward to grab the smaller boy but before he could Ichiki was sprinting towards the front where Todoroki was. He heard the red head beside him laughing. His cheeks started to feel hot. "Shut the fuck up Shitty Hair, you started it."

"Bakugo, my man, loosen up a bit." Kirishima put a hand on the blond's shoulder. "Let Ichiki have some fun. Besides, there's nothing wrong with some playful teasing."

Bakugou rolled his eyes. "Loosen up? You losers shouldn’t fuck around, we're here on a mission."

Kirishima shrugged. "I know bro, but it's all lower ranked demons. We could do this with our eyes closed. Aizawa picked this place ‘cause the green bean wanted to see field work first hand. Besides look at him,” he gestured to where Ichiki was animatedly talking to Todoroki. “He’s so excited to be here.”

“Since when have you been on the Tree’s side, Mister ‘ something feels off ’?”

The red head let out an awkward chuckle. “I don’t actually know. He’s slowly grown on me since he started shadowing our class. Plus all his observations have been super helpful with field work- I don’t think I would have passed the last exam without him.”

“You said that you were fine studying on your own.”

“I mean I was- but Ichiki offered- so you know, I took him up on it.” The red head put his hands behind his head, “He’s pretty alright once you get to know him.”

“Tch. Just ‘cause he helped you from failing doesn’t mean you need to get all chummy with him.”

“Aww lighten up dude- he’s not so bad. You said so yourself, he couldn’t hurt a fly even if he wanted to.”

“Kirishima,” Todoroki called out. Both boys fell silent, looking over to where Ichiki and Todoroki stood at the entrance to the factory. “I think this is a good spot for your sigil.”

The red head jogged over and examined the door before nodding. “Same as before, It'll work better if I add your blood to it.”

“Should the tree add his?”

Kirishima looked at Ichiki and shrugged. “It’s up to you man. You don’t have to.”

The green haired boy vehemently nodded. “What does the sigil do? Why do you need your partners’ blood? Would it help if I added my own?”

“It uh- it allows for whoever mixes in their blood to see what I see. Being a halfling means I can actually see the demons and their auras. It makes it easier to track them.” He pulled a red wax pencil from his pocket and began to draw the intricate sigil on the door of the factory. The greenette nodded, taking in the information.

“Oi before that. Tree- let’s put a protection sigil on you.”

Ichiki looked at him, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. “Why do I need a protection sigil? Isn’t it supposed to be all lower ranked demons?”

“It's cause you’re my fucking responsibility tonight. If something happens to you, Aizawa will personally kick my ass.”

“I too would feel better if you had one Ichiki,” Todoroki added. Ichiki looked between them and reached his hand out.

“Will you do it Todoroki?”

The dual haired boy glanced down at the extended hand before looking at Bakugou, “You said you already drew a sigil on him before, correct?”

“Sadly”

He looked back at Ichiki, “Unfortunately I cannot. It will work better if it’s written by someone who has already done one on you.”

The green haired boy nodded and walked towards Katsuki. “I didn’t realize magic was such a fickle thing.”

“Hand.” The other boy sighed and offered the hand to Katsuki. “Tch. Other hand dumbass. The one I originally wrote on.”

“How do you even remember? It’s been so long.”

“Magic leaves residue, you can feel it.”

Ichiki looked at Katsuki, doubt clearly written in his face “Residue?”

"Any half-decent exorcist would be able to feel it. I'm sure if HalfnHalf over there actually concentrated he could’ve felt it on you too." He pulled a sharpie from his pocket and carefully drew the sigil on the smaller boy's hand.

Ichiki examined it, nodding in approval, "Just as precise as last time."

"I don't half ass shit."

"You guys done?" Kirishima turned to ask them. They both nodded. "Great! I just need a little bit of blood and we should be all set!" They walked toward the redhead. "Todoroki, would you like to do the honors?"

Without hesitation, the boy summoned his daggers and sliced his thumb, letting his blood drip onto the sigil. Wordlessly he handed the dagger to Katsuki. "Tch can't you be more sanitary or something. Didn't even wipe this shit off."

He rubbed the dagger on his shirt to try and clean it before cutting his pinkie finger. He wiped it and then handed it to Ichiki who looked at it with disdain. "You gonna take it or what?"

"I just, I don't know..."

"You said you wanted to witness field work first hand. This is part of it. Don't be a chicken shit." He shoved the dagger into the smaller boy's hands. “It’s just a small cut.”

"Hey man, don't pressure him into it. If he doesn't want to do it, then he doesn't need to."

"No, no.... he's right. I'll do it." There was a moment of hesitation before Ichiki took a deep breath and then made a shallow cut across his thumb.

Kirishima gave the boy a small smile and took that as his cue to add his own blood. He drew the final symbol to complete the sigil.

The reaction was instantaneous. 

All of the air was ripped from Katsuki’s lungs. He was wheezing, unable to take a breath. He looked to his right and saw that HalfnHalf was doubled over clutching his throat, panic in his eyes.

His lungs were burning and the edges of his vision were beginning to get hazy. It was as if his lungs had forgotten how to function. He could open his mouth, but nothing came out. When he tried to breathe in, it felt as though he was just swallowing air.

"Katsuki, Katsuki what's wrong?" Ichiki was shaking his shoulders trying to get his attention. All he could do in response was let out a small wheeze.

He fell to his knees, tunnel vision making it difficult to see.

All of a sudden he was able to take in a ragged breath. He was on his hands and knees gasping and gagging, trying to catch his breath. He looked up to see Ichiki kneeling in front of him. 

He put a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? What on earth happened?"

Katsuki looked around, noticing that someone, most likely the boy in front of him, had smeared Kirishima's sigil. The aforementioned boy was patting Todoroki's back. He cleared his throat, voice feeling like sandpaper "What the actual fuck?"

Ichiki shrugged, "I think something happened with the sigil.”

“Why not you two. Why only HalfNHalf and me?” It wasn’t adding up. They did this same exact spell on the training ground and it was fine. In fact, it helped them beat their classmates records. Why didn’t Shitty Hair and the Tree react?

“Maybe it's because you don't have demon blood?"

Katsuki's eyes narrowed, "But you don't have demon blood."

The green haired boy gave him a small smile, "No, but I do have this." He held up the back of his hand where the protection sigil was slightly glowing.

Katsuki grunted. Well that explained why the greenette wasn’t affected. "Told you, you needed it tonight." He shakily stood to his feet. He took a deep breath, relishing the feel of his lungs expanding. "Oi Shitty Hair. What the actual fuck happened?"

Kirishima looked up at Katsuki, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. "I have no idea bro. I drew it the same way that I did before. I don't know what went wrong?"

"Tch. We don't have time for your rookie mistakes." He walked over to where Todoroki was still seated on the ground. "Oi, you coming or what?"

The boy looked up at him as he slowly struggled to his feet before nodding.

"Executive decision. We're going to hunt these fuckers the old school way." Everyone nodded in agreement.

*

They had swept the main floor of the factory and only found one small runt of a demon. Todoroki had finished it off before the thing had a chance to turn tail and run. 

"Would you guys like to search upstairs or downstairs next?" Todoroki asked as they approached the stairs. 

"We could split up to make it go faster?" Kirishima offered. 

"The fuck. You think this is a horror movie?"

"I agree with Bakugo for once. I think splitting up is a bad idea." 

"Would you like to choose which one we do first Ichiki?"

"Oi, why the fuck does the Tree get to choose what we do?" 

Todoroki gave him an exasperated look, "Isn't he here to learn and observe? He should participate too.” 

"No really it's okay Todoroki. We can do what you guys think is best. I don't want to intrude on the process." 

"I vote bottom, weaker demons love the dark and shit." 

"That has also been my experience with them," Todoroki agreed. "Kirishima, what are your thoughts?"

"If you guys think we should do that, then I'm game!"

"Alright. I'll go down the stairs first. Behind me the tree will follow and then you two will cover the rear. Got it?" They all nodded. "Alright, let’s go fuck them up."

The lighting got worse as they descended the stairs. While there was enough to see the step ahead of you, it was just dim enough that not many other details could be made out. At the bottom of the staircase, they were met with a long hallway. Katsuki motioned for them all to stop. "Let's start with the one at the far end and work our way back towards the stairs. "

As they started walking down the hallway, he felt a tap on his shoulder. "What?" He hissed. 

"Shouldn't you draw your weapon?"

"What are you afraid or something?"

"I just figured that if you're expecting demons to be down here, shouldn't you be prepared? Todoroki has had his summoned this entire time"

"Yeah yeah smart ass. If I summon it, will it make you feel better?" He glanced back at the green haired boy who nodded. Katsuki rolled his eyes and said the incantation. A single white handgun appeared in his grip. "There. Happy?"

Ichiki's eyes were wide. "Your weapon is a gun? How does it work? What kind of ammo does it use? How long have you had it?"

Katsuki rubbed his temple with his free hand, "Look Tree, I summoned the weapon to make you feel better. Now be quiet so that I can concentrate on us not getting us killed." He waited for the rest of his team to catch up before slowly prying open the door at the end of the hallway.

As it opened, it's hinges groaned in protest, echoing throughout the hallway. He heard Ichiki say under his breath, "So much for the element of surprise."

The room itself was dark, the magic in it heavy. With his eyes still adjusting, it was difficult to see just how large the space was. "Oi Shitty Hair, can you see anything?"

"There are boxes stacked throughout the room, but no signs of demons yet."

Katsuki nodded and continued walking forward. He heard the hinges of the door groan and then the sound of the door shutting. The room was black. "Who the fuck closed it?"

"It closed on it's own," Todoroki said.

Katsuki ran a hand through his hair. "So you're telling me the door that I pushed open. Hinges rusted to hell. Weighs close to 20 pounds. Closed on its own?"

"Yes."

He felt a clammy hand close around his wrist. Ichiki's voice was barely a whisper, "I think we need to get out of here." 

"The fuck you mean Tree? Nothing is gonna get you if that's what you're worried about."

"Hey Bakubro- I think Ichiki is right. We should leave. There’s something here that shouldn’t be."

He shook Ichiki's hand off, "What you guys have some shared 'demon sense' or something?"

"C'mon bro. Can't you tell that something is wrong?"

"Yeah, there's supposed to be a bunch of lower level demons here, that's what Eyebags told us. I’m sure one of them closed the door to fuck with us."

"That's not what I mean..."

"Stop being such a chicken shit. Nothing is going to happen." He aimed his pistol towards what he assumed was the center of the room. "Look, I'll even draw them to us."

"That's a terrible-" He let out three shots, each one briefly lighting up its surroundings before fading into the darkness ahead of them.

Katuski shrugged, "See. No big deal." The faint sound of something scratching against the floor could be heard. "Oh look, here they come."

As the noise got closer, it became apparent that there were multiple creatures making their way towards them. "Here." He handed Izuku a small lighter that he pulled from his pocket. "Might not be much, but it's something."

The smaller boy's hands were shaking so hard that it took two tries before he was finally able to light it. The faint glow of the light revealed that there were dozens of small red beady eyes looking back at them. "Just stay behind us and you'll be fine." Ichiki nodded.

Katsuki looked out at the creatures surrounding them, "Alright fuckers. Bring it." He started firing rapid shots into whatever he could see.

Small shrieks and wails pierced the air as more of the creatures fell. Even though there were a lot of them, dispatching them was easy enough. It only took one of his magic infused bullets to exorcise the things back to hell. Behind him, he could feel Ichiki shaking like a leaf. The smaller boy's hand was gripping the back of his shirt as if it was a life line. To his left was Kirishima, covering his openings and holding the line so that none could get through. He assumed that Todoroki was somewhere in front of them trying to thin out the numbers with his close range weapons.

Five minutes passed before their numbers finally began to thin out. The fuckers just kept coming. His breathing was heavy, hands and shoulders starting to tire after dealing with the recoil of his weapon. Katsuki could feel his magic was depleted. Having to summon so many bullets in such a short amount of time was taking its toll.

He heard a surprised yelp before a body slid across the floor, landing like a rag doll at his feet. He let out a curse, instantly recognizing Todoroki's dual colored hair. The boy was curled up, hands covering his side. A large dark stain was beginning to spread throughout his shirt.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Kirishima. Ichiki. We need to leave NOW."

Kirishima glanced at him before looking down, eyes widening with recognition. The momentary distraction was enough for whatever was hunting them to take the opportunity to attack. Katsuki watched in horror as his friend crumpled, a similar wound appearing on his abdomen as their fallen comrade.

He shoved Ichiki behind him, "If you want to live, stay behind me." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement approaching them. He sent off rapid fire shots, trying to deter it.

The only warning he had before the demon attacked was a loud hiss. The thing pounced, slamming Katsuki into the smaller boy behind him, pinning them both to the wall. The sudden motion caused his grip on his weapon to slip. The demon was close enough that he could see its splotchy pale skin, covered in festering wounds. The stench that came from it caused him to gag. The demon's face was sunken, eyes ruby red, mouth wide filled with sharp black teeth. 

Katsuki thrashed against its grip on him to no avail, only succeeding in making Ichiki gasp at the added pressure. The thing tilted it's head, taking in the sight before smiling. It leaned forward, licking a long strip from the base of Katsuki's neck to the bottom of his ear before stopping. It let out a strangled noise before releasing its grip on him.

It took a step back, gave a calculated look, and then shoved it's hand into his abdomen.

Katsuki gasped. Everything burned.

The demon looked at him, head tilted in curiosity as it began to turn it's hand. Katsuki screamed, pain white and hot flashing throughout his body.

The demon let out the same strangled noise, smile growing wider. It pulled its hand out, licking the blood from its claws. Katsuki felt his legs buckle. He pressed a hand over the wound, knowing the action was futile.

They were all going to die here because of some fluke. There was no back up coming. Aizawa wasn't supposed to check in on them for another hour. By that time they would all be dead from their wounds. He looked to his left, Shitty Hair and HalfnHalf were passed out on the floor, their blood starting to form small pools around them. He felt a small hand curl over his shoulder. 

“It’s gonna be okay, you’re gonna be okay,” he heard Ichiki whisper from behind him. He couldn’t tell if the greenette was saying that to comfort Katsuki or himself. The demon’s body was shaking from what he assumed was excitement. Its hands were splayed over its face, smearing Katsuki’s blood everywhere. It seemed to finally come back to itself, locking eyes with the blond. 

"Stay back." He weakly held out a hand in front of him. The demon let out the same noise and approached him slowly. The horrible creature took it’s time stabbing its hand into his shoulder, seemingly enjoying the faces of pain he was making. It lifted him up by the wound, knocking Ichiki back. Katsuki hissed in pain, vision going black for a second. It's other hand raked its nails down his face before resting at the base of his throat.

He swallowed, preparing for his final moments. It seemed fitting he would die while doing field work. It was always the easy missions that got people. Regret momentarily flashed through him as he realized that Kirishima, Ichiki, and Todoroki wouldn’t make it either. Aizawa was going to chew his ass out in the afterlife for letting his team die tonight.

The demon's nail slowly dug into his neck, drawing blood.

"Stop."

The pressure in the room was overwhelming. Katsuki gagged at the sensation, whether it was from the increase in demonic energy or his wounds, he couldn’t tell.  The demon holding him began to tremble.

"Put him down."

He was unceremoniously dropped to the ground like a rag doll. He gasped from the impact, head hitting the ground. His vision went black, sharp pain shooting him. He couldn’t tell which wound hurt more, his shoulder or his stomach. Either way-  he knew there was something on the demon’s claws that caused his body to burn with pain. Each breath burned and his breathing was ragged. 

He needed to get up. He had to protect Ichiki. He had to get his team out of there.  

A high pitched squeal filled the air and then silence. Something hit the floor with a wet thunk. Katsuki struggled to lift his head. He was greeted with the sight of the demon's decapitated body crumpled on the ground next to him. It’s long gangly limbs curled in on itself.

He scrunched his eyes in confusion, trying to focus his hazy vision. There was someone else here? He heard something squat down next to him and felt them brush his hair out of his eyes. 

As he concentrated on the figure, there was something familiar about them. He could have sworn that they had grey skin with green markings wrapping around their body. The dark room must have been playing tricks on his eyes- there was no way. 

"Oh Kacchan, what should I do with you?"

*

The sound of a beeping heart monitor woke him. Everything ached. His body burned in protest as he tried to adjust himself to see where he was. 

As he shifted, something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Color flashed near his lower arm, the part not covered by bandages. As he looked down, his eyes widened in recognition. 

There on his wrist was a single green band.