Chapter Text
Katsuki woke up to a horrible headache and the sniffling of a child beside him. His skull felt like it had been split open and glued back together wrong, a dull throb pulsing behind his eyes. He swallowed hard, noticing his throat was dry. He groaned and tried to sit up, only to hiss as a sharp ache shot through his ribs.
The second thing he noticed was the change in scenery around him.
The air was musty and stale, thick enough to taste, and the faint buzz of flickering lights echoed somewhere overhead. The walls were bare concrete, scarred with cracks and old stains, and the floor beneath him was worn-down tile, cold even through his tattered hero costume. He saw a bucket in thecorner, seemably filled with water and a worn-down shitty mattress with a spring sticking out of it in the corner on the other side of the cold room. This definitely wasn’t the street they’d been on just minutes ago.
Shit.
Katsuki’s memories came back in jagged pieces, stupid Deku insisting they couldn’t leave her, the panic in the girl’s eyes, the sudden ambush. He clenched his teeth, jaw tightening as anger simmered in his chest. He’d fought villains before. He’d fought worse. But this, being knocked out, dragged somewhere like a damn hostage,made his blood boil.
He was pulled from his thoughts by another quiet sniffle.
Katsuki turned his head and froze.
Curled up beside him, knees drawn to her chest, was the small white-haired girl they were supposed to rescue. Her horn caught the dim light, and her red eyes were swollen and watery as she rubbed at them with shaking hands. She looked even smaller here, swallowed by the empty room.
What was her name..? Eri? Some shit like that.
“…Hey,” Katsuki muttered, his voice rough. He sat up despite the pain, forcing himself upright. “You hurt?” His voice was hoarse.
Eri flinched at the sound of his voice, shoulders tensing, but after a moment she slowly shook her head. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “This is my fault.” Katsuki’s scowl deepened, but it wasn’t aimed at her.
“Tch. Don’t say stupid crap like that.” he snapped, softer than usual despite himself, which he blamed on the dryness of his throat. He glanced around the room again, noting the heavy metal door, the lack of windows, and worse, the faint hum of something mechanical somewhere beyond the walls. “Those bastards took us. That’s on them.”
He clenched his fists, then paused.
His palms didn’t spark.
Katsuki shifted, trying to move and only now realizing he had been chained to the wall, heart dropping for just a second before rage surged to replace it.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me…” he growled, tugging at his wrist and feeling the familiar yet unfamiliar weight of a restraint hidden beneath his sleeve.
Quirk suppressors.. Damn cheating bastards.
He exhaled sharply through his nose and looked back at Eri, who had shrunk in on herself even more.
“Listen,” he said, quieter now, eyes sharp and burning with determination. “We’re getting out of here. You hear me ya brat? So stop your damn crying before I actually have to comfort you.”
Before he could say more, a sick fuck with a bird beak mask walked in.
The door groaned open on heavy hinges, the sound scraping against Katsuki’s nerves. A tall figure stepped inside, dressed too clean for a place like this. The mask was smooth and maroon with gold, shaped like the lower half of a plague doctor’s beak. Katsuki noticed his prescient white gloves and the hideous purple and green jacket he wore. Two men followed behind him, armed, silent.
Eri let out a tiny gasp.
Her hands flew to her mouth, her whole body curling inward like she was trying to disappear into herself. Katsuki felt something ugly twist in his chest at the sight.
“…Ah,” the man said pleasantly, his voice calm in a way that made Katsuki want to punch something. “You’re awake. How fortunate.”
The man crouched slowly in front of Eri, movements deliberate, almost gentle. He reached out, gloved fingers stopping just short of touching her cheek. “You must have been so frightened. I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
Eri trembled violently. “I-I’m sorry!” she whimpered again, tears spilling over. “I won’t run away again, I promise-”
Katsuki saw red.
“Oi.” His voice snapped through the room like a gunshot. It was hoarse, and ragged sounding. “Get your filthy hands away from her.”
The man paused. Slowly, he turned his head.
His dark brown eyes locked onto Katsuki's bright red ones.
“Oh?” he hummed. “You’re louder than I expected.”
Katsuki leaned back against the wall as much as the chains would allow, lips pulling back into a feral grin despite the pain screaming through his ribs. “What, bird-brain? Thought you kidnapped a couple of scared extras? You picked the wrong damn hero.”
One of the men behind the mask stepped forward. “Boss, should we-”
“Wait” the masked man said, holding up a gloved hand.
He stood, straightening to his full height, adjusting his gloves and walked toward Katsuki with measured steps. Each one echoed too loudly in the small room. He stopped just out of reach, tilting his head as if examining a bug.
“You’re interesting,” he said. “Even restrained, you’re brimming with hostility.”
“Tch. That’s because you’re breathing.” Katsuki shot back.
The man chuckled softly.
“Originally,” he said, glancing back at Eri, “my attention was meant for the girl. She is… irreplaceable.”
Eri flinched at his words, shoulders shaking. She seemed to try and disappear into herself, her shoulders sinking and her eyes watery and wide.
“But you,” he continued, turning back to Katsuki, “are a complication. A variable.”
Katsuki barked out a laugh. “Yeah? Here’s a variable for you; when I get these chains off, I’m gonna blow your ass-”
The blow came without warning.
Something heavy slammed into his stomach, knocking the air clean out of him. Katsuki gagged, chains rattling violently as his body jerked forward. Pain exploded through his ribs, white-hot and blinding.
He coughed, spitting onto the floor, breath coming in harsh, uneven gasps.
The masked man straightened slowly, gloved fist unclenching. His voice remained steady and calm. “Stubborn,” he said mildly. “I dislike that trait.”
Katsuki dragged in a breath and laughed again, wet and sharp. “Too bad. I fuckin’ love it.”
Another hit, this time to his face.
His head snapped to the side, vision swimming as copper flooded his mouth. Somewhere in the haze, he heard Eri cry out his name, small and panicked.
“Stop!” she sobbed. “Please! Don’t hurt him! I’ll do whatever you want!”
The man paused.
He looked between the two of them, considering. Then he smiled beneath the mask. Katsuki could hear it in his voice.
“…How generous of you,” he said. “But you misunderstand.”
He turned fully back to Katsuki.
“You’ve already volunteered.”
Katsuki forced his head up, blood dripping from his lip, eyes blazing despite the pain. “Like hell.”
The man gestured, and the two guards moved in, grabbing Katsuki by the arms and yanking him forward despite the chains biting into his wrists, turning the skin there red.
“Take him,” the man ordered calmly. “If he insists on being the center of attention, we may as well make use of him.”
Eri screamed.
Katsuki twisted against their grip, muscles screaming, but even as another blow crashed into his side, even as his vision dimmed at the edges, he bared his teeth and snarled:
“Don’t touch her.”
Even as they dragged him out of the room, even as the door slammed shut behind him, even as he slowly lost consciousness, Katsuki’s fading yet bright defiance echoed down the hallway.
And Chisaki listened.