Chapter Text
Izuku Midoriya was a fan of walks. When you could tune out the world and just stop for a moment. When you could forget that you used to be quirkless and constantly bullied by your supposed best friend. Well, okay, maybe he couldn’t exactly forget that just yet. But all jokes aside, he DID love walks. When they didn’t end up being drugged by a masked weirdo. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be how this one was going to come to a close.
He had gone out for a walk after getting into an argument with Bakugo. It had been some stupid spat about something that, honestly, didn't really matter. But of course, Bakugo, being Bakugo, had turned it into some huge thing. So he told his friends he was going out to get food, when really he just wanted to clear his head.
He was almost back now, sushi in hand, maybe ten minutes away from the dorms. He was thinking of the best way to apologize to Bakugo, since he already felt guilty for yelling, when he felt a sharp prick in the back of his neck. That's when the creepy guy showed up.
Now, he struggled against the grip of the masked man keeping him against the harsh brick wall. He would’ve used his quirk, but he had already injected him with some sort of repressor, since when he tried to activate one for all, he came up with nothing. It reminded him of his quirkless middle school days. He pushed those thoughts away before they could form however, as he couldn’t afford to get distracted right now. He assumed the drug wasn’t only a quirk repressor, and he didn’t want to be unarmed in this alleyway when he found out the other effects.
The man pressing him against the wall was significantly larger and stronger than Izuku, even with all his training at UA. He tried in vain to shift the weight pressing against his collarbone, but it only resulted in the man pressing down harder. One of the man's hands was wrapped around both of Izuku’s wrists, and the other was pressed against Izuku’s chest.
He leaned in so his mouth was almost brushing Izuku’s ear.
“Don’t bother fighting.” He whispered, grinning wickedly. The mask was cut haphazardly from what looked to be a sock. It had holes for his mouth, nose, and little slits for his eyes. To be honest, he looked quite ridiculous. Izuku might’ve laughed if it weren’t for the situation they were currently in.
“You’ll go weak soon enough, and I can hold you down till then.” His breath was hot and wet, and quite frankly disgusting. So Izuku told him so.
“You’re fucking disgusting.” He spat, wriggling more, despite knowing it was a lost cause.
“You realize I’m in the hero course right? They’ll find you. They’ll realize I’m in trouble any second now.” He had just gone out to get food, telling his friends he would be about 20 minutes.
Izuku was horrible at estimating time, but he assumed it had been about 30 minutes now. Any minute they would worry, and then go look for him. He just needed to hold out till then.
The masked man laughed, a manically happy sound.
“Oh, of course I know you’re in the hero course. I know soooo much stuff about you, I-zu-kuuu.” He said in a saccharine tone that made Izuku’s stomach twist. “I know your dear friends will come looking for you. But it’s worthless. They won’t find you, and oh!” He tilted his head back in mock despair. “Won’t that just BREAK them? Supposed to be heroes, yet they couldn’t save their friend. How tragic. It’ll be so fun to watch. I’m sure Boss will be happy to see that.” He giggles.
He pressed his forearm into Izuku’s windpipe and he choked, thrashing against the man's grasp. After a moment, he released him, letting Izuku slump to the alleyway’s damp ground, still coughing and hacking.
“W-who’s your bo-boss..?” Izuku choked out, not really expecting an answer, but asking anyway to keep him talking. He could feel his strength fading quickly, and he needed to find a way out, as soon as possible.
“Tch, you think I know his name?” The man scoffs, looking down on Izuku.
“He just pays me to do the job. Ain’t my place to know his name, and it CERTAINLY ain’t YOURS.” The man spits out, foot on Izuku’s rib cage. His oddly sweet demeanour from earlier is gone, replaced with a disgusted sneer. He still can’t see the man's eyes, but if he could, they would be narrowed in disdain. “He paid a pretty penny for me to get you though, so…. I imagine you’ll have LOTS of fun with the boss man.” He spits, applying weight though his foot.
Izuku cursed in his head as he felt his strength fade almost completely. His vision began to fade, the alleyway becoming even dimmer than it was before. In a desperate attempt to escape, he pushed himself up and kneed the man in the groin, before stumbling towards the street. The man curses and drops to his knees, holding his crotch.
“You little BITCH!” He roars, staggering up.
Izuku does his best, he really truly does. Plus ultra, some might say. But it isn’t enough. The effects of the drug catch up to him, and the last thing he feels is the man's rough hands harshly grabbing the back of his shirt as he spits profanities. The street lights in the distance fade slowly as darkness wraps its way around Izuku’s mind.
“Well shoot. ” Izuku thinks as he blacks out. “This is gonna hurt.”
———
Katsuki Bakugo hated walks. They were stupid things that stupid people did to make themselves feel like they were accomplishing something in their stupid lives. Okay, maybe he was just in a bad mood. But he DID hate walks. Especially when they’re because you were sent out to search for a stupid broccoli haired nerd that was supposed to be back an hour ago. Which, unfortunately, is why he was out here.
If anybody asked if he was worried, Katsuki would have exploded off their face. Because, how dare they think he would ever care about somebody so worthless? And also, how dare they be absolutely fucking right? He would never admit it to anyone. Hell, he barely even admits it to himself. But he was worried. Just the smallest, tiniest, sliver of worry. And ONLY because if Deku wasn’t around then he wouldn’t have a punching bag. NOT because he actually cared about the weirdo.
No, that would be fucking stupid.
Despite his protests, there was something ugly roiling in his gut. Almost like…guilt. But that wasn't possible, because Katsuki wasn't the kind of person who felt guilty.
Right before Deku left, they had gotten into a pretty big argument. For the two of them, this was a normal occurrence. But the thing is, this time Katsuki really pushed. He was already pissed off that everyone existed, and then Deku was being an annoying ass, so he got mad. Then, to everyone's surprise, the weak nerd yelled back.
He left not long after their argument. Said he was ‘getting food’. Katsuki knew better.
Sure, he WAS going to buy something, but it was just an excuse to go for a walk. Fucking nerd loved his walks.
”Hate this shit.” Katsuki muttered, kicking a discarded sushi container lying in the street. “Fucking Deku. He’s never late.”
This was true. The whole time Katsuki had known him, Deku had only ever been late once, and that’s because he had such a high fever he practically rivaled icy-hot’s left side. And even then, he had dragged himself ito the classroom just minutes after the bell, delirious and coughing, apologizing for his tardiness. Aizawa, of course, had immediately sent him to Recovery Girl. Again, not that Katsuki cared. He would’ve preferred the shitty need to keel over right then and there.
So, it was only natural for Katsuki to feel a little shaken that Deku wasn’t back yet. It was just because he was messing up the image Katsuki had of him in his mind, since this was so unlike him. He wasn’t worried, he was just pissed off. Stupid Deku. Making him fucking mad, and he wasn’t even here.
Earlier, back in the dorms, Deke’s stupid band of nerds had been worrying when he wasn’t back yet. He hadn’t been answering messages either, so they decided to force people into looking for him. Well, nobody else had to be forced. Just Katsuki. Thankfully, there were an odd number of them without Deku, so Katsuki at least got to go alone.
”So fucking annoying.” Katsuki grumbled as he turned into a random alleyway, eager to move even farther from the loud group that his classmates made up. He could still faintly hear them calling Deku’s name, like it was gonna help.
“Fucking idiots.” He muttered, kicking another sushi box on the ground.
This time though, it was heavier, and when he kicked it, completely untouched sushi tumbled out onto the ground..
“Haah?” Katsuki snapped. “What kind of fucker wastes perfectly good sush-“ he froze when he saw the name on the box, and his eyes widened when he saw the smattering of red droplets on the container and surrounding alleyway ground.
The name on the box read “Izuku Midoriya”. His chest tightened with a spike of unfamiliar panic, and fear clawed its way up his throat. As quickly as it came, however, Katsuki shoved it down. He wasn't worried. No. Not at fucking all. He was just…pissed. Pissed that Deku had dropped this perfectly good sushi and then bled all over the place like an idiot. Yeah. He was pissed.
“Hey extras!” Katsuki bellowed. “I fucking found something!”
Deku’s nerd friends got there so fast, you might’ve thought they had a teleportation quirk.
”what did you find?” Half n’ half asked in his usual emotionless tone.
If you didn't know him, you might not think he was worried, but Katuki could see the concern in his heterochromic eyes.
Iida’s eyes landed on the box, and widened when they landed on the red splatters.
”Midoriya..” he muttered, putting a fist to his mouth.
”No…Izuku..” Round face whispered, eyes wide and afraid.
Katsuki scoffed. “Why’re you fuckers so afraid? It’s just some fucking sushi and a little blood. Nerd probably tripped on his stupid face.”
He hides the shake in his voice and the tremors in his hands.
Round face whipped around to look at him. “Excuse me? Why are we so afraid? Because he’s our friend!” She shouted. “And we care about him! He could be in danger! In fact, this is evidence that he most likely is!” She gestures to the blood. “You should be ashamed of yourself.” She says, jabbing a finger in his chest.
Katsuki seethed, about to shout back. She didnt know how fucking wrong she was. He was probably more worried than any of them, but he couldn't say that. He should hate Deku. He was supposed to hate Deku. But right now? He was just scared.
So instead of shouting, he just looked away, crossing his arms.
Kirishima, Denki, and Sero ran around the corner, Mina and Tsuyu hot on their heels.
“Bakubro!” Kirishima called when he saw him, which distracted him from Uraraka, who was still glaring daggers into his soul. “Did we find hi-“ He paled when he saw Iida and Shoto’s face’s, and even more so when he saw how round face was practically sobbing. “W-what— is he—“
Kirishima trailed off and looked at Katsuki again.
”We didn’t find him, shitty hair. Just his blood and fucking sushi.” He gave the container another kick.
”I’m calling Aizawa.” Shoto said suddenly, looking around at everyone. “This could be serious.” He doesn’t wait for a response, just walks a little far off from everyone and pulls out his phone.
Katsuki scoffs again, and turns to leave. “You’re all overreacting. The shitty nerd is fine. He’s probably off doing something fucking stupid like usual.” He ignores the angry shouts from Deku's friends, and the attempts to make him stay from Kirishima.
He has to get out of there. Because now he is worried. A whole fucking lot. His gut is twisting, and his breathing is far too quick.
It's proof. As much as he hates it, it's real solid proof. Proof that the nerd is fucking missing, and hurt, and maybe even-
No. He won't even consider it.
Because that would mean the last words he ever said to him were…
No. Nope. Not happening.
As soon as he turns the corner out of his classmates line of sight, he runs.