Chapter Text
Izuku:
Izuku practically growled at the hero in front of him, glaring daggers at the man. He did not trust anyone, let alone heroes. That’s what you get when you’re one of the small percentage of people who are quirkless. The diagnosis had ruined his life. Before it, he could pretend. He could pretend he would be a hero, or at least a somebody. Then he had been told he would never amount to anything.
His mother hadn’t exactly put up with him much longer after the diagnosis, so he’d left. He couldn’t cope with his mother’s heartbroken looks mixed with glares of hatred, swapping so quickly he hadn’t known what to feel. So, just like that, he’d left. Being 6 years old and quirkless on the streets had advantages and disadvantages. He had to be far more careful, knowing that if he was caught and put in foster care he would likely get killed for being quirkless.
The 6-year-old part helped though. People had been nicer to him back then, sparing food far more often. Now, 14 and well-able to fight for scraps, he got no such sympathy. He had worked hard, making sure he could defend himself against quirks. He had even made some sort of difference through his vigilante work. He was fine. This was good. He was hungry, but he was good. So why was Eraserhead here? Why was he telling Izuku to surrender like some fucking villain?
“Kid, if you surrender, I can work something out, I can keep you from getting thrown in jail. If you fight me, there will be no such kindness.”
“Leave. Me. Alone,” Izuku snarled, backing up slightly, not because he was scared- although he was a little admittedly- but because his one friend in the entire world was sleeping and Izuku needed to be closer to him, so he would wake. They had to run, they had to get out of here.
“Kid… You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
“Go away!” Izuku yelled, trying not to show his fear. He would not let his friend get hurt. He would not let his friend be found. Even if it he was caught, as long as Kachaan was ok, Deku would be ok. That was all he needed. He needed his Kachaan.
“Kid, I-,” Eraser started, only to be cut off by a loud explosion headed his way. Kachaan was awake.
“LET’S GO!” Izuku screamed, and they ran, terrified of what the hero could do.
“You should not have attacked my husband,” A voice stopped them in their tracks. The soundwaves physically held them there for a moment, and by the time they could move, the hero’s hand had gripped each of their shoulders. Izuku struggled wildly, trying to tear himself free, while Kachaan seemed furious at the lack of his quirk.
“Mic! Stop!” That was Eraser this time, likely holding Kachaan’s quirk hostage. That just made Iuzku more frantic. Kachaan’s quirk was everything to the boy, how dare this stupid hero take that from him!?
“They attacked you. We are supposed to be bringing them in!”
“They are kids. Come on Mic, just don’t hurt them, ok?”
“I would never!” Mic yelled, and Izuku winced at the pure volume of the yell. Bakugo at least seemed oblivious to it. Advantages of being partially deaf.
In a moment everything moved as one. Mic’s voice was quieted, Bakugo’s explosions were let off, and Izuku was dropped, giving him the escape chance that he had needed. Of course, Eraser didn’t let them get far, and once again Izuku found himself caught. He squirmed desperately, hating the way the cloth circled him, controlled him, like that fucking leash. No. Now was not the time for stupid fucking flashbacks. He was fine. He had to be fine. Kachaan needed him to be fine.
“Kachaan!? KACHAAN!?” Izuku screamed, unable to see his friend. Kachaan had to be ok. He had to be. He could feel the cloth tightening around him, holding him, and all he could think was that if he went back there and Bakugo followed, Bakugo would be dragged along with him. Bakugo would be sacrificed- killed- along with him. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let that happen to Kachaan.
“Here Zuku, I’m here, you’re ok, you are ok, LET HIM GO ERASER! Zuku can you hear me? You’re safe. It’s not real. It’s not like then,” Kachaan insisted, and while the tight straps around Izuku’s body didn’t disappear, the panic gripping him at least lessoned enough for him to gasp for air, not even realising how far he had been gone, how dark his vision had gotten.
“LET HIM GO! HE’S HAVING A FUCKING PANIC ATTACK! LET HIM GO!” Kachaan screamed, and Izuku finally found the boy in his vision, fighting against Mic’s hold, desperately trying to reach out to him. He was alive, but he had to go. He had to get out of here. They were coming. The monsters were coming for Izuku and Kachaan was going to get hurt too. He had to get out.
“Kachaan get out! Leave me! Get out of here! Please!”
“I’m not going anywhere, idiot! LET! HIM! GO!”
By the time Eraser heeded Kachaan’s request, Izuku was crumpling to the ground. He had broken free for a minute, enough to tell Kachaan to run, but then he had been dragged back there. The feeling of being tied up to die, lead to the fucking altar to be sacrificed, all of it had come back, and Izuku didn’t have it in him to find another breath of air.
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Katsuki:
“WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!? LET HIM GO YOU FUCKING MONSTERS! LET ME HELP HIM! I’LL DO ANYTHING, JUST LET ME FUCKING HELP HIM!”
“What- what happened?” Eraserhead asked, sounding shocked to his core. The man would probably have seen many panic attacks in his time, but Izuku wasn’t exactly normal. When he panicked, no quirk activated to protect him unlike most. When he panicked, he seemed almost normal, but his eyes. It was always clear in his eyes- at least to Katsuki. Izuku would go back to whatever hellhole he had remembered from his time before Katsuki, and his eyes would stare forward, unseeing. He would forget to breathe, forget to do anything, and Katsuki was supposed to bring him back. He always brought him back, but now Izuku was on the ground, and they weren’t letting Katsuki go to him!
Aizawa looked away from Katsuki long enough for the vigilante to activate his quirk, diving to Izuku. He ripped the scarf away from the other boy, calling Izuku’s nickname, desperate for a reaction. He was breathing at least, which meant he was probably unconscious, if he were awake, he'd probably still not know how to breathe.
“Please be ok, please be ok ‘Zuku, please. I can’t lose you. I can’t lose you. You promised me. You promised you would be ok!”
“What happened?” Aizawa asked, voice quieter, closer this time. Katsuki spun around, placing himself between Izuku and the hero. No one would touch Izuku again. Never again.
“You happened! You fucking happened!” Katsuki screamed, “I told you to let go! I told you but you didn’t listen! Fuck you! Fuck you all! This is exactly the sort of shit heroes always pull! You and your fucking ‘better than thou’ shit and stupid ass belief that you know more than everyone else, well guess what dipshit? YOU DON’T! YOU DON’T KNOW SHIT!”
“We’ll take him back to Recovery Girl, she will help him. He will be ok,” Present Mic insisted, and Katsuki turned to glare at him.
“You think I’m letting you fuckers touch him!? Think the fuck again!”
“He needs help!”
“Apparently so do you fuckers! Get the fuck away from my friend!”
“We can help you.”
“Get the fuck away,” Katsuki snarled, baring his teeth like the fucking animal he felt like. He didn’t even care. He didn’t care what they thought of him. He needed them to clear out so he could protect Izuku. He had to protect Izuku.
“Kachaan?” Izuku whispered, sounding fucking petrified, and Bakugo instantly turned to his friend.
“I’m here, I’m here ‘Zuku. You’re ok. You are ok. Everything is going to be fine.”
“Kachaan I think I fell in something…”
“What?” Katsuki asked, confused. He had expected a lot of things to come from the tired lips, but that was not one of them.
“I think? It’s all wet… I don’t know… is it raining Kachaan?”
Fucking shit. Katsuki rolled the boy over, and sure enough, glass wounds coated the side of Izuku's stomach, because of course the luckless fucking idiot would fall into a smashed glass bottle. What the actual fuck. Did the universe hate them?
“Shit,” One of the heroes hissed behind him, and Katsuki forced himself to stay focused on Izuku. He was not going to let his shouting be the last thing Izuku remembered.
“You’re ok, it’s nothing, just a little scratch, ok? Just keep looking at my face 'Zuku, you got that? Just look at me.”
“That bad huh?” Izuku joked, before wincing at the pain that spiked at the movement. Damn the nerd knew Katsuki too well.
“You will be fine. Ok, fucker? You just have to be strong, you will be ok, trust me.”
“We need to get those out,” Eraserhead started, only for Katsuki to turn on him, his tone immediately changing.
“Like you haven’t done enough!” He snapped, before turning back to Izuku, “You’re ok, I promise. I’ll protect you, just like I always have.”
“Ok Kachaan,” Izuku sighed, his head dropping slightly, and his eyes fluttering.
“'Zuku, stay with me. Understood? Stay the fuck with me. You will be ok, just keep your eyes on me.”
“Let me help,” Eraser practically begged, and Katsuki needed Izuku to stay awake, so he had to focus, which meant he needed help. Fuck he hated this, but he couldn’t fix it.
“Fine, get the glass out of him,” Katsuki snapped, before turning to Izuku again, putting the other boy’s head into his lap, “'Zuku, look at me, I need you to talk, ok? Can you tell me all about Eraserhead’s powers? Come on, I know you’ve got an analysis. Talk to me yeah?”
“Most q-quirk theorists are wrong. The- The hair is p-probably not a passed down factor, that’s pretty uncommon, especially because that theory doesn’t relate his hair to his actual quirk, which suggests two quirks, which is usually only created through a bit of luck mixed with careful breeding… A much more logical reason is to do with his actual quirk, because it’s probably an electromagnetic field that hits the quirk gene in the DNA, which suggests that he has a constant electromagnetic field on him when he is using his quirk which would explain the hair being lifted up like static electricity, because that’s actually what it is.
The red glowing eyes helps that theory because red light is the longest wavelength, so it would be able to get into the genes the easiest, and light and electromagnetic spectrums are connected, so it makes even more sense that they would be connected. Also no one ever talks about the fact that he probably has better night vision when he uses his quirk, because the red won’t glare as much, and his pupils wouldn’t have to keep readjusting to the different brightness levels, which is so epic and useful, and even better is the fact that it minimises eyestrain, which is extra useful for his quirk, and it is hard to see at a distance, so it doesn’t compromise his position and…” Izuku's mumbling went on and on, getting to the point where Katsuki could barely understand the words, but it didn’t matter because Izuku was awake. Izuku was awake and safe, and he was talking, and Eraser looked fucking terrified of them, which was fucking priceless.
“He’s bandaged up, but we should get him to Recovery Girl to undo any damage caused by blood loss.”
“Just because I let you help doesn’t mean I am letting you take us anywhere.”
“Face it, kid, I could capture you in a second, and we don’t even have to try worrying about this one in this state. Either the two of you come with us to Recovery Girl, or we will take you to jail and tell Recovery Girl to meet us there.”
“Kachaan, I’ll be fine, I’ll go with them, you hide, ok? We can find each other again. I’ve escaped plenty of places before. We will be fine.”
“I’m not leaving you idiot.”
“But-”
“No buts. I’ll come with you. That way we can escape together, ok?”
“You guys probably shouldn’t talk about your plan in front of us…” Present Mic pointed out awkwardly, only to receive a glare from Katsuki.
“Shut up. It’s bad enough I’m coming with you. Don’t go being all chatty or I might just kill you both and find some sort of makeshift hospital for vigilantes.”
“Like one of those exists.”
“I know a place. The only cost is a taste of blood, doesn’t even have to be our own. I’m sure your blood would get us quite a few good treatments.”
“What the fuck?”
“As I said, I know a place. Now, are we going to do it your way or mine?”
“Come on kid,” Eraserhead grunted, standing up. Present Mic moved to pick up Izuku only for Katsuki to snarl at him enough that he backed off. No one was touching Izuku except him. Present Mic tried to argue, but a glare from Katsuki was enough to ward him off. With that, Katsuki picked Izuku up gingerly, carrying him bridal style to avoid aggravating the injuries.
“You’re lucky you are such a twig,” Katsuki teased gently, before following awkwardly behind the heroes. If it had been him with the glass stuck in him, he would have never let Izuku do this, but Izuku seemed too terrified of losing Katsuki to argue, and Katsuki was fine with that.