Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eijirou was great.

Katsuki didn’t expect to fall for anyone in high school, it’d get in the way of his career. His dream. At first, when the first tickle of butterflies came, he buried the feeling and growled it away. UA was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he wasn’t about to let some lovey dovey bullshit slow him down. Especially when Deku’s dumbass decided to get a massive power boost out of nowhere and they’d ended up being toe-to-toe along with the Half ‘n Half motherfucker. 

At least with IcyHot, Katsuki had seen him coming, but Deku was a challenge he wasn’t expecting. Still, he wasn’t gonna let that steer him off his own path. He was going to be Number 1, no matter what. 

Then, the internship happened, and Katsuki hasn’t been the same since.

Nightmares every now and then made him doubt the legitimacy of everything he ever knew. Hands where he didn’t want them, sensations he never wants to feel again.

He pushes those thoughts deep in his mind whenever he gets them, so that’s exactly what he does now.

Katsuki blinks his turmoil away, and he goes back to brushing his fingers through Eijirou’s hair. Red, dyed hair that isn’t styled at the moment. It’s limply tied into a bun, and the whole look makes Katsuki stare. 

Red eyes flick over at his own, sneer taking over Eijirou’s face. “What’re you looking at, Kats?”

Kastuki glares at him, “Your ugly mug.”

The red head snorts. “More like you were in awe of the sheer amount of beauty.”

Katsuki rolls his eyes and shoves him away. “Fuck off, annoying prick.”

Eijirou laughs harder, “Aw, come on. Brush my hair again.”

Katsuki sits up from where he’d been laying on his back. “Fuck off and die.” His boyfriend (yeah, his fucking boyfriend) keeps laughing after his insult because they both know he doesn’t really mean it. He never really does. The other stays put on his stomach, notebook full of scribbled class notes open under his chin.

“Why don’t you study with me? Instead of, y’know, just staring at my gorgeous self.”

Studying had gotten harder for Katsuki, not that anyone needed to know that. Not that that anyone needed to know anything about what he’s been brooding about these past couple of months. “I don’t need to. I’m actually smart, unlike your stupid fucking pea brain.”

“Jeez, alright. I’ll study on my complete, lonely lonesome.” He pouts like a damn baby. It makes Katsuki want to kiss it off, so he does.

It’s soft and gentle, something he really needs. He loves Eijirou’s lips, they’re round and feel nice on his own. He cups the back of his head and sighs at the softness that comes with the lack of product in it. He breaks it off for just a second to mutter, “Why don’t you just leave your hair like this?”

His eyes are closed, but he still feels the red head smile. “When I style it, I look like I actually belong as a hero, don’t you think?”

Hero nonsense again, Katsuki’s getting real tired of it. Altering hair, faking some personality, being all sunshine and rainbows for the sake of the public. He’s sick of it. He’s sick of it because he never fits into that mold. “Nah, everything else is enough.”

He gets to peck Eijirou’s lips one more time before his boyfriend’s phone starts ringing. He groans as he pats around his bed for his phone. “Y’know, you’re a sweetheart when you get like that. Makes me wanna bite your cheeks.”

“Gross, fuck off.”

He chuckles before answering with a frown. “Mr. Aizawa?” They make some concerned eye contact when Eijirou says the name. 

He nods along with some affirmations before hanging up and bouncing off the bed. Katsuki follows suit, “What’s wrong?”

Eijirou’s hurriedly undressing and shoving his hero suit on as he answers Katsuki. “Hostage situation! Apparently, he tried calling you too and you wouldn’t pick up.”

The blond cringes at the fact he’d forgotten his phone in his own room. “Why’d he call us? Shouldn’t this be for Pro-Heroes? Not that I’m pussying out.” He just wanted a little more alone time with the redhead without having to think about anything but his limp hair. 

He laughs at Katsuki as he pulls out some hair bullshit. “He’s been calling a couple of us out every now and then so we can get some more real training.” Katsuki leans against the bathroom sink as Eijirou sticks his hair up, kind of like the blond’s own. 

“Guess that makes sense.”

“Weren’t you listening during lunch yesterday? Mina already got called out last week with Sero!”

He shrugs as he starts to leave. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Wait!” He turns to see him with his hair half styled, looking like a mess. He can’t help the snort that escapes him. He presses a little kiss on Katsuki’s cheek. “Okay, seeya, Kats!”

His mask sits on the top half of his face, and he’s standing by that fucker he likes to kiss, Deku, and Iida. All Might’s here with Aizawa too, in case things go south. They’re planning to stay hidden in order to let the four of them get a chance at saving the hostages themselves. He distantly notes that the sky is clouded and dark. 

Aizawa is stern when he commands, “You four know the drill by now, time to put all of you to the test.” Just like that, they bolt over to where the hostages are. 

Deku’s stealthier than the other three of them, so he gets a lay of the situation first without being spotted . “Three men holding a woman, two kids, and two teenagers hostage. They’ve got guns.”

Katsuki presses his earpiece to speak. “Copy, loser. Do we know what the fuckers want?”

Iida replies from the vantage point he’s got near Deku, “All Might said the criminals want money! Millions of yen!”

“Quit yelling, dipshit.”

“Bakugou! No one hears me from the spot I’m waiting at!”

He just growls as Eijirou chuckles his stupid, pretty laugh. “Chill, guys. How about me and Midoriya go and talk to them, then Iida and Katsuki go beat ‘em up?”

“Sounds like a great fucking plan. Just give me and four-eyes the heads up.” This is why he dates the tomato-head motherfucker, he’s always level-headed and deals with the annoying extras for him. Soon enough, Katsuki’ll bust these two-bits’ asses and ace the training. 

Katsuki’s watching outside the glass window of the jewelry shop while Iida’s presumably somewhere higher up, but he doesn’t really give a shit. He watches Broccoli-head and Eijirou approach the men, particularly the one in the center. The other two were pointing their guns at the hostages. They look like they’re having a level-headed conversation, Deku looks like he’ll either shit his pants or go ballistic, but Eijirou’s holding his hands up in surrender. An easy smile on his boyfriend’s face, Katsuki can see that he’s trying his best, but the leader’s shooting back with a cocky smile of his own that the blond doesn’t trust.

Dialogue that Katsuki can’t hear is exchanged for a bit until suddenly the two men holding firearms each grab a kid and hold them at gunpoint, barrels pressed onto their heads. Katsuki moves until his hand grips the door handle. He makes eye contact with Eijirou, glaring and flicking his gaze at the men with guns. His red eyes show determination as he changes his expression to a more serious one and keeps talking, Deku’s green lightning crackling behind him.

“Bakugou! Stay back, All Might and Mr. Aizawa are here! We should wait until a fight begins to break out, or we’ll fail the test for recklessness.” Iida yammers into his ear piece. He starts feeling the cold droplets of drizzle fall on his cheeks. 

Katsuki growls, it’s fucking stupid. “And what? Let these fuckers shoot the kids because of Teach and All Might?”

“Charging in could begin a shoot out!” Four-eyes had a point there, but Katsuki didn’t move. He didn’t like how this was going at all. The leader of the three turns his back towards him, and the other two have their eyes trained on their leader. Katsuki glowers at the sight of the kids screaming and crying at the gun to their head, the mother is wailing and begging. 

There’s so much despair in his ears, the teenage girls are huddled together and sobbing. Deku is fuming with his eyes darting around, waiting. Eijirou is trying his absolute best, waiting. The gunmen are waiting. His teachers are waiting for things to go south.

The leader raises his hand, and Katsuki doesn’t wait. 

The blond propels himself, crashing through the glass and shattering it completely. The gunmen startle and flinch. The leader snaps his head towards him and the commotion from the explosions he’d created. Screams are screeched, and Katsuki lands with a skid. 

Deku jumps into action, charging up his power and punching the leader. The man falls on top of Katsuki, and he grabs him by his dark, slicked hair. He smashes the man’s head onto the once pristine shop floor. The man gasps and yells, “Shoot, goddammit!”

His blood runs cold and he jumps to look behind him at the two kids still at gunpoint. Time stands still as the men’s gazes harden, and Katsuki shoots his arm forward. 

Katsuki’s hand lands on one of the shooter’s head, he’s closer to him than he thought. He feels the familiar warmth engulf his palm, an orange light flash, a boom pierce through his ears. It’s all familiar, even the lingering ringing noise and the smoke he inhales. 

The wetness and stillness, however, isn’t. 

There’s shaky breathing behind him. He doesn’t move, shock makes his mind blank.

There’s blood on him. Deep, dark, red blood sprinkled on his face, dripping from his arm. There’s blood everywhere, and it’s not his. His gauntlet is drenched with splattered blood, but there’s pink stuff on it too, and Katsuki realizes with a gag that it’s brain gush. 

There’s brains and blood on him. A piece of it slides off his stock-still hand and smacks onto the ground in the silence that’s permeating the jewelry store. His eyes unfocus from himself, and he looks at the man that splitters blood in front of him.

He didn’t know he was so close.

The man’s head looks like he got hit by a shotgun, a giant gaping hole in it. Brains split open, skull broken, blood pouring, and skin dangling. His face is in a frozen gasp as he gurgles on his own blood. His body falls with a slump onto the floor. 

The kid is shaking like an Arthritic hand, and when he looks at Katsuki, Katsuki’s stomach drops.

He’s scared of him. 

The kid he was saving is scared of him.

A clatter behind him, he hears, “What the fuck is wrong with that guy?”

The ringing’s still in his ears as he stares at the wide, lifeless eye on the corpse in front of him. The dead man. A man he just burst a giant fucking hole into. Someone who was gonna kill a kid, so it’s fine, right? The guy was about to shoot a child, and Katsuki blew his damn brains out. 

He killed the man. His ears are ringing, and he killed someone today. 

Katsuki jumps at the feeling of a hand on his shoulder. The hand is gone in an instant, but it moves to gently lower his gorey arm that’s still extended. 

“Kats.” Katsuki swallows and faces whoever just said that. Whoever had touched him, he doesn’t like being touched. He can’t focus, but from all the red he knows who it is and feels a little safer. As safe as he can be when he’s the danger.

“Eijirou. There’s- all the blood’s on me. There’s brains.” He doesn’t know why he feels the need to say that. Eijirou’s not fucking blind.

“I- yeah. Why don’t you move away from that spot?” His voice still sounds muffled through the ringing in Katsuki’s ears. Now that he tries taking in his surroundings a bit more, he realizes the shop is full of cops now, and All Might and Aizawa are by the hole he burst through the glass. “The- um. Aizawa and All Might wanna talk to you.” 

Katsuki nods muted, of course they do, he just killed a man. He starts walking out, but he realizes Eijirou stays in the spot, unmoving. He looks at him for a minute, silently begging him to not leave him alone.

“I gotta check on the hostages, Kats.” Katsuki feels a bile rise and he purses his lips. Of course the redhead doesn’t wanna be around him. He fucked it up in the worst way possible. He’s a murderer now. 

He walks towards where his teachers are talking amongst each other, passing by rows of glass holding expensive jewelry. Reflections he doesn’t want to see. Suddenly, he feels a hand grab his arm, forcing him to turn around. It’s Deku, and he almost does a double take that his hand was so rough and that his face was so distressed. He doesn’t want to be touched right now. “Deku, let me-”

“Kacchan, what did you do? Why- we could’ve just arrested them! They could’ve been reformed! Why- heroes don’t kill!” Deku’s not letting him go, and Katsuki can’t stop staring at his damn hand holding so tightly onto his bicep. “You should’ve waited! They could’ve- that guy could’ve been saved too! It’s what heroes do!”

He blinks, remembering the situation that got him to do that in the first place, and he looks up to meet Deku’s gaze. His watery green eyes are digging into his red ones looking for something, but Katsuki’s not sure what. “What happened to the other two?”

His bushy brows furrow at Katsuki, and the blond’s not sure why he’s so confused at the question. “They- they froze up for a second and All Might came in. They got arrested. You didn’t see? You were there! Kacchan, please, why-”

“Let me go.” Katsuki snatches his arm away. The tightness in his chest eases a bit at the lack of skin on skin contact. He turns, making his way to his teachers. He doesn’t bother listening to whatever Deku wanted to say next. 

When he stops in front of them, All Might is frowning and Mr. Aizawa is disappointed. He wonders what’s gonna happen. His idol is the first to speak. “Young Bakugou, that was reckless. Heroes must plan ahead, and they must keep everyone’s wellbeing in mind. Everyone!” Katsuki stays quiet, he blinks away some angry tears. 

“Your teacher, Eraserhead, will go over the technicalities with you. Please, Young Bakugou, be better from now on.” And that— that hits him hard. Be better, he says. He’s got an idea of another hero who should be better, but he’s fucked if he even thinks about saying anything now. Because he’s too reckless, and he needs to be better. 

It’s raining now, and Katsuki wishes it would cleanse him.

Mr. Aizawa watches All Might make his exit from their conversation, and then he turns to Katsuki. “Bakugou. I won’t repeat what All Might said, but you need to take what he did say to heart. Self-defense is one thing, but what you did wasn’t thought through at all and completely unnecessary.”

A rage builds up throughout him, bleeding into his fingertips. “Unnecessary?! Those fuckers were about to kill kids! The hell else was I supposed to do?!”

“Apprehend them. Incapacitate them. This training test is supposed to serve as an extension of your internship. All Might and I would have stepped in if the situation became too dangerous. Like he said, be better.” Not good enough. Katsuki wasn’t good enough. 

Stupid Deku was good enough. Stupid Deku got a dream mentor handed to him in the form of All Might. Stupid Deku had a quirk that challenged his. Stupid Deku was polite. Stupid Deku was nice to everyone. Stupid Deku planned ahead. Stupid Deku had waited. Stupid Deku wasn’t-

Stupid Deku was a perfect hero.

“The police are going to press charges onto you for this. They-” 

“Charges!? I was saving kids!”

“There’re too many conflicting factors. You weren’t alone, there were three other Heroes-in-training to assist and two Pro-Heroes to prevent anything going too far. They never provoked you, they never even saw you coming. Bakugou, your track record doesn’t help either.”

His world was collapsing. No way this was happening. A murder charge? He might as well kiss any future away, let alone one as a Pro-Hero. “I- I didn’t mean to. I didn’t know I was so close. I was just gonna blow them away.”

Mr. Aizawa sighs, face softening. “I know, but I need to be honest with you. This isn’t looking good. We both know the media’s reaction to you at the Sports Festival, and we both know you weren’t thinking today, Bakugou. I’m sorry, but I’ll see what I can do. At least to let you continue studying at UA.”

The media. Stupid fucking media always gossiping, track records writing him away as a problem kid. He was always too aggressive, too loud. He never changed, did he? He told Deku to off himself, and now Katsuki just offed someone.

He’s quiet when Mr. Aizawa leaves saying, “I’ll let the police officer question you.” Katsuki looks down at his hands, his left is fine, but his right is still stained red. He almost gags at the pink chunks here and there. There’s blood on his chest and face too. The rain’s making him be soaked, and it smudges the blood on his hand. It doesn’t do anything with the blood on his suit. 

He’s got no chance of gaining this officer’s favor drenched in blood. 

“Bakugou, right?” When Katsuki looks up, the police officer is wearing a face mask. Something’s up with his eyes, but it’s probably some quirk mutation. He grunts out an affirmation with a nod. “Why don’t we sit down?”

Kastuki cringes, “Fucking where?” Crap, he really does need to start thinking ahead. 

To his surprise, the officer lets out a chuckle. “Firecracker, huh? Anyway, let’s sit on the curb. C’mon.” So, they do. Katsuki rests his hands on his knees. He notes that they’re isolated from the commotion of the crime scene he caused. 

“Let’s do this.” His hair clings onto his forehead, blond hair damp and weighed down by the onset of rain. He feels it brush his shoulders. 

The officer sighs and takes his radio off, tossing it on the ground. Katsuki raises an eyebrow at this. 

The radio lights up in blue flames despite the rain.

“Bakugou, what’re your thoughts on rules?”

“The fuck? Isn’t it fucking obvious? I just- did that. Haven’t you seen the Sports Festival too?” 

He hums, “Yeah, but what do you think about them? If you were in charge, what rules would you have?”

He’s curve-balled by the question. If he was in charge of the rules? “I- I wouldn’t let there be so many, I guess.” He thinks a little more. About the public polls, his internship. “I wouldn’t let people’s opinions matter so much. If you piss someone important off, it shouldn’t fucking ruin you.” 

Ruin. It ruined him.

“Make any noise, and I’ll make sure Nezu expels you from UA.”

He gulps the memory down, he takes his gauntlets off and begins to rub his sweat off on his pants. “Bakugou.” He looks up again, and the officer takes his face mask off. The man underneath has half his face covered in burnt skin and staples. “Did you piss someone important off?”

“You won’t get anywhere with that attitude. Not without this internship, you aren’t.”

“Yeah. Real important. You probably know him too.” He inhales and exhales. “Too late for anything now.”

“You like heroes?”

Katsuki’s already guessed this can’t be a real cop. From the moment the radio lit on fire, he knew. He couldn’t find it in himself to do anything about it. “I don’t know anymore.”

The man nods. “Aren’t you training to be one?”

Katsuki groans and rubs his eyes with his palms. “I know. I just- I wanted to be like All Might.” 

“You think you can?”

Katsuki lifts his gaze to the crime scene. Deku’s animatedly talking with his idol, his hero. He’s motioning from here and there. Eijirou’s on the other side, comforting the victims. He sees his boyfriend drape a trauma blanket over the two kids. And here he was, talking to a not-cop about a murder he had just committed. 

“I tried.” Is all he can say. Memories of shattered worldviews over the course of one interaction flicker through his mind. No one would believe him. No one would believe the Beast of 1-A, who got muzzled because he wouldn’t listen and killed someone because he was impatient. Bakugou Katsuki, who bullied All Might’s favorite student and told him to off himself. 

Katsuki, who was too much.

The man holds his hand out to him, “Dabi.”

Katsuki shakes it. “You already know my name.”

The man smirks, “‘Course I do.” Their hands fall, and Dabi shifts. “Listen kid, the world’s fucked, and heroes are shit. If you wanna help me do something about it, I’ll give you my number.”

Katsuki narrows his eyes at him. “You a villain?”

Dabi shrugs. “Yeah, so what? You’re a murderer.” 

Katsuki reaches into one of his suit pockets and hands Dabi his phone. “Touché,” he grumbles. When he hands it back to Katsuki, he gives him a smile.

“Let’s stay in touch, Firecracker.”

At the police station, Katsuki’s thrown in a temporary jail cell for a few hours. According to Mr. Aizawa, they were sorting out what to do with him before the trial. There’s a big guard on the other side, but his back is turned. 

Katsuki takes out his phone, thank fuck for his thick boots. He scrolls and finds the contact Dabi.

He stares at it. He taps the contact and types.

Let’s talk.

Chapter Text

Something’s wrong with Katsuki.

Eijirou has noticed something… off about Katsuki for a few months now. He remembers it clearly, the way the blond was stiffer than usual, skipping his morning runs and just… tamer. 

It was noon already, but Eijirou didn’t pay much mind to the time he’d woken up at. It was a Sunday, so he gave himself leeway to sleep in and take a break. Uraraka and Mina were chatting away on the couch while a cheesy show about ghost-hunting played on the TV. He assumed his other classmates were spending the day the same as him too, just taking a breather and laying back after the long week of exhausting internships having just ended.

Some light footsteps were making their way into the common area, so he knew it had to be either Todoroki or Tokoyami with how softly and quietly they seemed to move. He kept sipping a strawberry and banana smoothie he’d whipped up, ready to greet. 

To his surprise, however, it was Bakugou who was entering the living room from the direction of the elevator. His heart fluttered a bit and a sheepish smile made his way to his face as his back straightened. He was pretty sure at least half the class knew about his big fat crush on the hothead, but he couldn’t care less. He was already planning a confession, internships giving him a boost in confidence. They might’ve just ended, but Eijirou’s good mood from his own persisted. 

Bakugou treaded into the room, hair mussed up and sporting pajama pants. Eyes to the ground as he rubbed them. “Bakubro! No way! You actually took a breather today from all the working out!” He smiled wide, sharp teeth on full display. 

Bakugou stopped in front of the table, blinking blearily at him. Brow crease and nose scrunched, “Huh?”

He nodded at the stove time, “It’s twelve, dude. Can’t believe I got up before you!”

His best friend wrung his hands as his eyes widened at the time displayed. “Shit.” Instead of heading to the kitchen, Bakugou sat across from him and sighed to himself, closing his eyes.

Eijirou’s smile faltered, he lowered his voice even though he knew both Uraraka and Mina were golden. “You good, man?”

Bakugou opened his eyes to look at him. “Fucking fine,” no real bite in the words at all. He leaned back on the dining table chair, in thought. Eijirou swallowed, he wondered what was going through that thick head.

“Stayed up late getting ahead?” He shot the blond a careful smile.

Bakugou let out a laugh, and wasn’t that a joy to hear? “Yeah, busy making sure you stay behind me.”

He’d realized later, when Bakugou was already in his room and everyone else was getting ready for bed. Bakugou never did his morning run that day. Eijirou was sure he didn’t see him eat breakfast either.

Now, Eijirou grimaces at the check-in for visitors. He’s been dating Katsuki for two months, July greeting him with scorching heat and final exams for the term. He thinks back to the week after the internships had ended, how he’d worked up the courage to ask his best friend on a date. How the blond had given him the smallest smile Eijirou had ever seen on him and accepted. 

He thinks back to the day prior, watching the boy he had an insurmountable amount of feelings for murder a man. The dread that’d set in Eijirou’s gut and the need to hold Katsuki close and stay far away from him fighting each other in his head. 

He’d run away from Katsuki, an uncanny feeling from seeing his boyfriend drenched in blood that wasn’t his own. A dead body on the ground in front of him.

Now, after a night full of regrets in his bed, Eijirou visits Katsuki at 8 AM with an exhausted mind and a restless heart.

He enters the room, feeling sadness at the sight of Katsuki handcuffed to the table. Katsuki doesn’t look at him, eyes fixed on his hands. Eijirou’s hair is tied in a tangled ponytail, baggy clothes barely hanging onto him.

Katsuki’s still in his hero suit minus the gloves. Dried blood on his clothes, looking faded. “Kats.” His voice cracks, and the blond finally looks at him, eyes worried and face unreadable. 

His boyfriend stands, motion stuttered by the reminder of the handcuffs chaining him to the table. Eijirou walks quickly over and gives him a kiss, it almost makes him cry after the night of anxiety he’s had. He puts a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder, feeling the muscle so tense it could rival his quirk. He massages the shoulder gently, feeling it relax slowly. The kiss is slow and he feels Katsuki cherish it, he expected his boyfriend to just smack their teeth together half the time because he’d actually done that before. 

He laughs internally at the memory of their first kiss.

They break after a knock on the door, signifying it’s taking too long. He sighs and sits across from Katsuki, the other taking a seat after him. They both lean forward to be as close as possible. “Kats,” he tries to smile at him, “I- we all miss you back in the dorms.”

Katsuki’s eyes look wary, darting around Eijirou’s form. “Bullshit,” stubbornness clear in his features, “probably scared to death right now.”

“Yeah, scared for you. Everyone just wants you back at the dorms.” His tongue stings with the flimsy lie, he remembers Midoriya’s confusion and white knuckle grip when he told Eijirou that Katsuki hadn’t said much to the freckled boy, Sero’s silence when he’d asked if he knew that it was an accident, Mina’s smile that didn’t reach her eyes when Eijirou had told her that Kastuki would be back home and everything would go back to normal.

Katsuki stares at him, “They’re not… scared of me? Kaminari and the others?” Rough voice calm and afraid. And by that, Eijirou knows he isn’t talking about the class at all, he’s talking about their blooming friend group. 

“I hope the cops leave him alone. I’m sure the heroes’ll tell them it was an accident. We’re just kids, Kats just made a mistake today.” Eijirou tried brushing his hand through messy hair full of dried and sticky gel.

Sero didn’t say anything back. He was quiet, quiet as he stood and put his empty bowl in the sink.

“Nah, they’re just being all annoying. Y’know, complaining that they couldn’t eat your food yesterday and today.” He let out a snicker. Its a lie, it’s a lie, it’s a lie.

“Maybe we missed some signs.” He heard Kaminari mutter, uncharacteristically thoughtful and somber. 

“Signs of what?”

The blond tapped his forehead with a finger, “Something wrong up here.”

Katsuki gives him a more genuine smile, a small one. “Fuckers.” It’s a lie, but it’s worth it for that little smile. The little, tiny smiles that weren’t full of battle-ready confidence and superiority that everyone else saw. The tiny ones only Eijirou saw. The ones that spoke of fondness and love, the ones that eased Eijirou’s nerves.

He holds Katsuki’s hands, rubbing soft circles on the back of one. “Can’t believe they cuffed you like this. You’re a hero in training.”

Katsuki gives his hands a squeeze. “We’ll see if I still am after this.” He mumbles.

“Shut up, you are. No way Mr. Aizawa won’t let you.”

Katsuki lets out a breath of a laugh. “He told me it was unnecessary. Told me to be better.”   Eijirou’s stomach drops. “My track record doesn’t really help.”

An anger rises in his chest, unfamiliar. “Your track record? You’re a straight-A student! You’ve scored Top 3 in practically everything!”

Red eyes look into his own, tired. Katsuki’s tired. Tired? “I’m too loud, I’m too aggressive. This isn’t the first time they’ve chained me up either.”

Eijirou swallows at the memory of the Sports Festival. He should’ve done something, he should’ve done something. “Can’t your parents call a fancy lawyer or something?”

His eyes get a little far away, but Eijirou doesn’t want them to. He wants Katsuki to stay there with him. He squeezes his hand and searches for his gaze. “Only so much you can do with a murderer, Ei.”

A silence washes over. Eijirou feels his back hunch, red eyes searching for the other pair that still weren’t meeting his. 

He makes sure to make his tone careful, whispering what he wants to say. “What happened, Kats?”

He feels the blond freeze, then he deflates. It’s another thing he’s noticed about Katsuki. Not only was he skipping breakfasts, he doesn’t snap much anymore. Doesn’t get his panties in a twist as much anymore.

“Something wrong, Kats?” A month into dating.

“The fuck would be wrong.” He waved around the exam Aizawa had just handed back out. “I just aced this shit.”

Eijirou sighed, “Y’know what I mean.”

Kastuki shrugged at him. “Nothin’.” He packed his bag. “We gonna go eat at that sushi place or not?”

He brushes away his past worries in favor of comforting his boyfriend now. “I dunno, I saw the asshole look like he was gonna shoot the damn kid. I couldn’t let the kid just fuckin’ die. That’d- no. But, then, the guy was closer than I thought. I thought I’d just blast him away. And I didn’t.”

“Kats-”

Katsuki loosens his hold on Eijirou’s hands and rests his forehead against the table. “Didn’t know I’d kill him, Ei. Wasn’t- I didn’t know I was so close to him.”

His heart breaks at the lack of malicious intention his boyfriend had had, his classmates were wrong. So, so wrong. 

Maybe we missed some signs, there weren’t any to look for. Katsuki was a good person who’d made a mistake. “You’re a good person, Kats. You’ll- we’ll get through this.”

The blond lifted his head, eyes wide and looking like they were searching into Eijirou’s soul. “You won’t- you’re not scared of me, right?”

Eijirou smiled at him, sharp teeth and all. “Never.”

It’s the day he’s finally released from the jail cell they’d been keeping him in. He’s changed out of his hero suit, instead donning a loose, black T-shirt and sweats. Katsuki stares at the contact as his phone rings loudly in his hand.

Ma

He takes a deep breath. “Whaddaya want?”

“Katsuki!” His mom gasps. He feels bad. “I’m on the plane right now with your father. We’re departing in 15. What happened, baby?”

He shrugs before he realizes his mistake. “Dunno. Don’t really wanna talk about it.”

The other line is quiet for a bit. “I’m not putting your dad on because he’s a pussy and he’ll cry if you’re not two inches away from him.” He snorts. “You’re coming home right when we get there, you hear?!”

He rests his hand on the fold of his arm, back leaning against the wall outside of UA. Katsuki’s eyes trail down to his ankle. “Can’t, they’re not letting me leave UA grounds.”

“Motherfuckers, I’ll rip their eyes out. Whatever, I’ll visit ASAP once we get back from America. I’ll call you soon, okay brat?”

“Got it, Ma.” He hangs up.

The ankle monitor rests heavy against the weary bones of his body. He’s on house arrest until the court date arrives, the house being UA. He feels tears begin to sting, hot on his eyeballs. He swallows and closes his eyes. Willing the thoughts away like he had done with the other memories.

Since that happened, he’s practiced closing his eyes to stare at the darkness behind his eyelids. It helps him feel like he’s not in his body.

Like he’s not gross, destructive, awful, and used.

His mind floats like he’s out of his body, like he’s just a gas cloud in space. No one can do anything over there, and he can’t do anything to anyone either. 

Katsuki doesn’t know how long he’s there with his eyes closed until he hears a familiar voice.

“Kats? You good?”

Katsuki opens his eyes, back in his destructive body. He blinks at the red, Eijirou gives him a nervous smile, his brows are worried. His hair’s still in that messy ponytail, headband failing to hide the black roots peaking through. Eijirou looks like Katsuki’d been locked up for months, not just a day.

“Fine,” he hears his rough voice respond. “Just tired.” The redhead takes his hand, and Katsuki smiles carefully at him. He thinks dating Eijirou has been the best decision he’s done ever.

Eijirou gives him a peck on the cheek, and Katsuki absolutely melts. If only he knew back when he’d started crushing on him that he actually had a shot, this would’ve been already happening for way longer. Eijirou is just so handsome. His smile is so bright no matter how damp the mood is, and his eyes are always so full of life they bleed into Katsuki. 

He’d never dare tell him about what had happened, the redhead didn’t deserve the knowledge. 

They walk to the dorms hand in hand, not a word spoken until they reach the doors that lead to the common room inside the building. “Can’t believe they’re making you wear that thing.” He hears his boyfriend whisper.

Katsuki shrugs. “It is what it is. The fuck am I supposed to do about it.” He turns the door knob, he feels like it’s in slow-motion.

The common room is full of people, he guesses they’re watching something on TV. Until now, at least. His little group of friends are all there— Sero, Mina, Kaminari— along with Deku, Round Face, and Frog Face. 

Uraraka leaves immediately to go upstairs.

Frog Face says something first, “How was jail, Bakugou?”

He growls, “Fine.”

Eijirou tenses and lets go of his hands to clap. “He’s back guys! Our cook! We can finally stop eating like broke college kids!” 

There’s a silence that permeates the common room, and Katsuki’s ankle feels like it weighs twenty tons. Deku’s staring at Katsuki like he’d come in with a head in his hands, Sero’s staring at the TV still, Kaminari’s fidgeting with his hands and looking at everyone, and Mina’s looking like she’s about to cry. 

And Katsuki’s holding a gym bag from the police station with his dirty, bloody uniform. Apparently only his gauntlets were needed for evidence. Katsuki guesses the brain matter on them must’ve been enough. 

And, bless him, Eijirou tries again, “Any suggestions for dinner?” Smile plastered on his face, eyes still tired.

“Nah, they’re just being all annoying. Y’know, complaining that they couldn’t eat your food yesterday and today.” His ass. 

“I’m not cooking.” He forces, turning to go up to his room. Eijirou stays behind, he probably wants to talk to everyone. Fuck them, fuck everyone, fuck Deku, fuck Sero, fuck Mina, fuck Kaminari, fuck Uraraka, and fuck Tsuyu. 

Back in his room, it looks the same. Obviously, it’s only been a full day. He doesn’t know why he expects it to be different.

His phone buzzes in his pocket.

heard you got released, firecracker

Right. Dabi. 

He sits on his bed. The fucker never replied to his previous message of Let’s talk. It left him feeling stupid and like he’d walked into a trap. Like it was gonna be waved in his face the next morning by cops saying, “See? You’re a villain after all.”

Katsuki stares at the short text conversation with massive time stamp gaps. He could just… not answer. Wait to see what the final verdict is in court. Wait until everything calms down. Wait until his parents get back to Japan. Wait, wait, wait.

I did.

Kastuki starts chewing on his bottom lip. 

so what? u got rich parents or something?

He can’t help the smile that crawls onto his face.

Just a UA student. But I do have a fuck ton of inheritance. He thinks about their meeting. “If you were in charge, what rules would you have?” He pauses his thinking when he sees a text bubble. 

oh so a spoiled kid, got it

u think u could come out to a café?

He wants to retort to the spoiled kid part, but he focuses on the second message instead. He remembered. Of course he did, fucking dumbass, that’s the whole reason this villain texted him.

Can’t. House arrest on UA grounds.

He doesn’t realize his leg begin to bounce as he keeps chewing on his bottom lip. This is a bad idea. It could be a trap, it could be a set-up. What if it’s a test by actual Pro-Heroes to see whose side he’s on? 

shame, i’ll break into your dorm room tonight

Wait, what? That’s not- wait. No, that’s not right. He doesn’t want that.  

It was just him and Katsuki. He’d locked the bathroom door. He wouldn’t, would he? He’s a Pro-Hero, Heroes don’t actually do this stuff.

Katsuki lets out a shaky breath and types back.

No, not my room. 

He gets up and checks the locks on his windows. He hears his phone ding again.

fine, how about your classroom? 10 pm

It was a bigger area, not so claustrophobic. 

Door stays open.

Katsuki glances at his door. The door knob is locked. 

door stays open

whole damn building’s gonna be empty anyway

A smile creeps onto his face again. He puts his phone down and exhales, letting his back fall onto his bed. 

He really doesn’t know what he expects out of doing this. An out from the murder charge? A way to erase bad memories? Maybe erase the memories of All Might telling him he needed to be better and Aizawa telling him he did too much?

Someone to talk to who might understand?

Kastuki groans, he doesn’t know, but he wants to see what this Dabi guy wants. 

Katsuki always went to sleep at 8pm. 8:30 the latest. He’d wake up at 5AM, go on his daily run at 6AM, get ready for class and review his notes at 7AM, then he’d start his school day at 8 with everyone else. 

That is, until he stopped being able to calm his mind and paranoia down at night, he stirred and shifted in his bed for hours staring at the cieling, walls, the door, his windows. He’d knock out from exhaustion at some ungodly hour that he wasn’t keeping track of, his alarm would go off only a couple hours later at 5. He’d started skipping his runs and getting up at 6 for more sleep. Then, he’d stopped reviewing his notes to wake up at 7. 

At some point he’d stopped eating breakfast. He couldn’t stomach it right after those restless nights full of sweaty sheets, clothes sticking to his back, pops from his hands. 

So, a few months ago, telling Katsuki to meet up somewhere to talk at 10pm was immediately turned down.

These days, he doesn’t really care. As long as he managed to get at least 5-6 hours of sleep was fine. As long as he wasn’t on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion the next day, it was fine. 

He’s never been outside the dorms past school times, so it’s a little weird seeing the building inside this empty and dark. The doors are unlocked, so Katsuki just assumes the villain has made his way in already. The classroom door is wide open when he gets there, he hopes it stays that way.

An anxiety wells up in his chest, he hasn’t been alone in a room with someone besides Eijirou in months. He hates that he’s such a damn pussy about it now. Inside, he sees Dabi with his hands in his pockets and feet propped on the desk in front of him. It’s a reminder of Katsuki in the beginning of the school year. 

Katsuki sits in a seat near, but not next to him. “I’m here, Scarface.” Dabi barks out a laugh, skin stretching and staples stressing. Katsuki crosses his arms, “Why the hell do you wanna talk?”

He sneers, “Last I checked, you were the one who texted me that.“

Katsuki mocks him, “Last I checked, you wanted to keep in touch.”

Dabi flips his chair, sitting with the backrest against his chest, arms resting on top. “Alright, let’s keep talking then. You got an ankle monitor?” 

Katsuki kicks the air, “Yeah, I’m a criminal now.”

“Right, a murderer. But, what I don’t get is that the guy you killed was gonna shoot a kid, wasn’t he?” The blond scrutinizes and analyses Dabi as best he can. The blue eyes he sports are striking, but they look older beyond his years. Not that there is much age to tell, the guy’s face is half burnt. There are piercings next to the bridge of his nose, more decorating his ears. His hair’s pitch black, the moonlight from the window makes the undertone look almost red. His smile’s twisted and crooked in a way that reminds him of his old middle school friend, Kariage. Both having an aura to them that communicated that they couldn’t give less of a shit about anything.

“You smoke?” 

Dabi raises his eyebrows, smile going from shifty to amused. “Typa question is that? I look like a chain-smoker to you?”

Katsuki shrugs, “You just remind me of someone from my old school.” He waves a finger in the air noncommittally, “All talk and no fucks.”

The villain wheezes a laugh out. “You’re funny, Katty.”

“Don’t fucking call me that, damn weirdo.”

“Alright, alright. So, I’m all talk, huh?”

“Yeah.” Katsuki thinks of the villains he’s heard of, and this Dabi dude isn’t on the radar at all. He’s browsed articles and forums since middle school, catching all the latest hero news, but nothing talks about blue fire with eyes to match and a Frankenstein’s monster shtick. “Never heard of a Dabi or blue fire quirk in the news before.”

He hums. “That’s ‘cause I don’t like the attention. Not now, at least. I’ve got plans, big plans.”

“What typa plans?”

Dabi’s smile widens, “Revenge type plans. Heroes are a façade, yeah? I know you’ve been wanting to be one forever, all that, but you do one thing off the rules, and suddenly you’re in court?” Dabi digs around the cubby of a desk, snatching a blue pen from it. Katsuki recognizes it as Yaoyorozu’s. 

“I know the rules, dipshit. I follow ‘em. Always do, this time I just went too far, even I know that. Sure, I could wreck some building, doubt that shit couldn’t get covered. I killed a guy, Dabi.” It’s the first time he says the dude’s name out loud, it makes him feel like he’s crossed some threshold.

Dabi starts to carve and draw on the desk between them. He doodles a triangle, “You see this, Bakugou? This is one of the Top 5. He’s got the world in his hands. Big family, prodigal kids, nice wife, clean record, sick quirk.” He draws a loppy rectangle under the triangle, “He’s got all these people holding up his image. PR team, an agency. He’s got himself too: massive amount of saves, villain takedowns, a Hero heir, spotless resumé.”

Katsuki scrunches his brow. “So, what? Like, All Might if he had some kids and a wife?”

“Bingo.” He begins to scribble a massive, crude black mess of a cloud around the triangle. “Except, this one doesn’t love, though. Uses and hits his wife for baby popping, abuses his kids, and has a crazy obsession over taking All Might’s spot one day.”

“The fuck?”

“Exactly. But, you’ll never hear about it in the news.” He taps the rectangle from earlier, “His team and connections keep anything cooky under wraps, media’s got an ironclad image of him, and the people-” he doodles badly drawn, adoring fans, “they just love feeling safe. They love knowing they don’t have to do shit, long’s someone else’s willing to do the work while they stand by and cast a blind eye to thinking too hard.”

Katsuki thinks about… Best Jeanist. How he’s Number 4, his agency loves him, the country holds him up high. 

Yet, Katsuki knows the tall, towering man is willing to use that sparkling reputation to… to what? What did he gain from doing that to Katsuki? The blond already admired him and respected him, so why-

“And there’s… there’s more like him? More heroes like that?”

Dabi shrugs, “I dunno the specifics,” he shoves the pen back in the cubby, “But I know that Heroes don’t care about the greater good or actually saving lives, not now, at least. They love the fame, the image, the respect, and the praise.”

Katsuki looks away for a moment, chewing his cheek. “So… what do they gain? Why do they go back home and beat their kids?”

Dabi shrugs again, “Anger, repressed emotions. Hell if I know, I don’t go around having kids and beating the shit outta them.” He inhales, “Point is, Bakugou, I’ve got some people. People who get it, like you and me. A hero that’s a nightmare to his family getting golden trophies,” he waves a hand towards Katsuki, “and a well-meaning kid that saved lives getting arrested for it.”

Kid. Katsuki’s just a kid. He forgets that sometimes. “And… these people… they’re villains too?”

“‘Course they are. If you think like that, world’s not gonna let you be anywhere near a Hero license.” 

Katsuki thinks. He hasn’t been fond of the idolization of Pro-Heroes he’s once held, the whole idea feeling dirty now. Untrue and a false comfort.

Dabi rests his chin on the backrest of the chair he’s on. “Whaddaya think, firecracker? Wanna join the Jedi?”

He blinks, processing what the fuck this dude just said. “What’re you, a fuckin’ nerd?”

“Shut it, you’re the same with Heroes, like that green-haired kid from the Festival. Little man freaked me out.”

Katsuki stiffens at the mention of Deku. Deku who’d been given a power from who knows where, speeding through UA ranks. Given All Might’s full attention while the Hero treated everyone as less than fucking Deku. Deku got to go to UA without having a damn chance at it, Deku got to intern and learn a bunch of crazy fucking moves from an old geezer. Deku got to smile and suddenly everyone fell to their knees in kindness.

“What do I gotta do?”

Dabi smirks, “That’s what I like to hear.”

Chapter Text

Kacchan has been acting really different, and Izuku didn’t know if it was positive or negative. But, he guessed he’d been acting different since the beginning of the school year. 

It started with Kirishima, the redhead seemed set on befriending Izuku’s past bully. That’s another thing, besides that training exercise where Kacchan almost dusted him, the blond hadn’t decided to gang anyone up against him at UA. He guessed it’d conjure up much more severe consequences than Aldera ever would. Even then, Izuku doubted anyone in his class would even consider bullying anyone at all. 

He didn’t understand why at first. As much as he might still care about Kacchan, the blond had a tendency to scare people away with his attitude, and the class had actually made fun of him for how aggressive he was. Yet, Kirishima was deadset on somehow breaking the boy’s shell. It was impossible, Izuku knew this from experience. He’d never actually seen anyone befriend Kacchan besides those two guys from middle school, but they had only really been strung along with time and their inadvertence to the bullying. Even then, Izuku’s sure Kacchan tried to avoid them these days, with all the smoking and general bad reputation they both carried.

Every day, Kirishima would come into class with a bright smile that got his friends to greet him, even Izuku would wave and chat with him sometimes. The boy’s demeanor was infectious. Until it came to Kacchan, the blond would sit there with a sneer instead. Kirishima would still go up to him every day regardless, saying, “‘Sup, Bakugou!”

And it’d usually warrant some variation of, “Leave me alone, Shitty Hair.” It was a daily trend:

“Hey, Bakugou!”

“Die.”

“How’s your morning, Bakugou?”

“None of your fucking business.”

“Morning, Bakugou!”

“I don’t wanna see your face near my desk again.”

Yeah, Izuku wasn’t sure why Kirishima kept trying, but he couldn’t help but cheer him on in his head. A month into school and after the USJ incident, Izuku started to notice the change in Kacchan. Not in anything important, really, just with Kirishima. He still yelled at everyone and everything, and he still ignored Izuku. By now, Izuku had been becoming closer with both Uraraka and Iida, and he didn’t fail to notice the way Kirishima would hang a lot more around Mina, Kaminari, and Sero than anyone else.

That morning, he remembered, Kirishima had done his little ritual of greeting everyone and then going up to Kacchan’s desk. “Hey Bakugou!”

This time, Kacchan had looked up at Kirishima. “Kirishima.” Izuku had almost gasped out loud. Was Kacchan finally giving into the concept of friendship at UA?

Kirishima, of course, beamed even brighter at the acknowledgement. “What’s going on with you, dude?”

The blond looked like he was swallowing a string of insults, if Izuku didn’t know the context, he’d say he was constipated. “I ran.” The blond’s face looked as disappointed in his response as Izuku felt confused. 

Kirishima raised an eyebrow at him. “You… ran? To class?”

Kacchan’s desk rumbled with a kick from him. “No, you fucking stupid dumbass, I went on a run earlier.”

The sharp-toothed jumped in confidence. “Oh! It’s real early to be doing that. Do you run in the mornings a lot?”

Red eyes darted around before replying. Why was Kacchan acting so… awkward? “Yeah. Like, every weekday.” Whenever Izuku had seen him talking to Kariage or Itachi from middle school, it was always with an air of pride and arrogance. Well, Izuku always found it weird that Kacchan would hang out around guys like that. 

“Cool! We should go running together tomorrow!” 

Kacchan crossed his arms and looked away, scowl on his face. “I fucking guess.” Izuku’s jaw dropped, and he had heard Uraraka snickering next to him. Kacchan?! Making a friend?! With someone who’s that nice?! 

The next day, and every other day after that, the two would come into class together. Kacchan with a frown and Kirishima talking his ear off with the biggest smile Izuku’s ever seen on anyone. Soon enough, Kacchan had started engaging in the conversations.

Izuku was glad the blond had made at least one friend, he was scared he’d isolate himself and be all anti-social after realizing he couldn’t do what he did in Aldera at UA. 

But, things shifted again. In a great way. When Izuku walked to class, he started seeing Kacchan not only be around Kirishima, but Kirishima’s friends as well. And they were all so nice and friendly! Nothing like Kariage and Itachi.

One day, when they all had lunch in their classroom, Izuku had been nodding along to  what Iida was saying about some true crime show he’d gotten into. That’s when he caught Kacchan take out two lunches from his bag, same size and everything. Kirishima walked back in after a bathroom break, and he threw an arm around Kacchan.

“Take your fucking lunch, dumbass.”

Small eyebrows shot up and his sharp teeth were on full display. “No way, dude!” The arm turned into two when he hugged Kacchan. “Thanks, bro. You’re the best!”

Izuku would’ve expected loud explosions and cursing, but there was none of it. To his utter shock, the blond just muttered. “Yeah, whatever.”

Izuku got pretty sucked into the Sports festival and the One For All mess to even keep paying attention to other people’s social lives, but he’ll never forget the week after the internships had finished. 

Kacchan had been different. He was staring off into space, quieter. No one paid much mind, everyone just assumed he was as exhausted as everyone else after the grueling trainings and patrols. And… Izuku just assumed the same. 

An eavesdrop behind the school just finished off completely erasing those worries.

He’d paused in his steps after parting with All Might. A familiar voice with an unfamiliar tone freezing him in his place.

“Really?” Izuku peaked just the tiniest bit around the wall and… it really was Kacchan. His voice was small and the vulnerable, its usual roughness turned into a mellow husk. 

A warm smile grew on Izuku’s face when he looked at Kirishima. There was a happy smile on him, cheeks matching his hair. In his hands, there was a small bouquet of flowers, sunflowers and red roses. The bright orange clashed horribly with the deep red, but Izuku thought it was endearing. 

“Yep. I really like you, Bakugou, and I wanna take you out on a real date. I think you’re… so fun to be around and- and you’re really pretty.”

Looking back at Kacchan, his eyes were wide and his face was doing a weird thing that looked like nerves. 

Fear. Kacchan was scared.

Izuku hadn’t seen him scared since the Sludge villain, and it wasn’t a sight he enjoyed. His hands fidgeted with his hem of his shirt, his eyes were still wide, and his eyebrows scrunched up. Not a smile or frown. 

But, it didn’t last longer than the couple of seconds Izuku hyper focused on, the blond’s hands smoothed the bottom of his shirt and he blinked with a frown. He saw anxious hands take the bright flowers. “These flowers are disgusting. Why the fuck did you pick these out of all of them?”

Kirishima looked confused, tensing up. “The sunflowers are you ‘cause they’re orange and- and you’re like the sun!” Izuku covered his squeal with his hand while Kirishima’s face turned red up to his neck. “And the roses are me because they’re red and I really like you!” Izuku felt like he was watching the sappiest movie scene ever, he was so happy for them.

Kacchan looked surprised, and he didn’t say anything for a while as he just looked through the flowers. Kirishima looked like he was about to burst as he waited for an answer. 

Then, Kacchan gave the redhead the tiniest, softest smile Izuku’d ever seen on him. “Sure. I’ll go on a date with you.”

As Kirishima cheered loudly, Izuku had decided to step away to leave, allowing them privacy. Izuku’s worries were swept away.

Until now.

Until Kacchan had killed somebody.

Suddenly, those worries from back in May are at the forefront of his mind again. All Might had assured him that sometimes heroes go too far— as rare as it may be— but Kacchan wasn’t- he was still in school. The person he had killed wasn’t a villain with a dangerous quirk, the guy didn’t even use his quirk! 

Izuku’s never heard of a hero going to trial for murder.

Now, Izuku stands at Kacchan’s door, heart beating against his chest and hand raised an inch away from the wood. He knocks on it, nervous.

A puff of blond followed by red eyes greet him. “Ei- Deku.” His eyes narrow. “Whaddaya want?”

Izuku freezes, but steels himself quickly. “We need to talk.”

Kacchan stares him down, face twisted with disgust. “Then talk.” Izuku feels his nose twitch at his attitude, but he needs to keep his cool. At least one of them has to.

“Why?”

Kacchan scrunches his face up. “I didn’t have a choice.”

He’s speechless. There was a choice. There always is. He remembers how low-key the boy’s been acting. The low energy, the skipped breakfasts, the minimal blow-ups. Izuku whispers, “What’s going on with you, Kacchan?”

His face falls for a split second. Mouth opens then closes with unsaid words. His eyes look panicked for a moment, and Izuku hopes it’s the answer to why he killed that man, really. He hopes he tells Izuku why he hadn’t said anything after. He hopes he tells Izuku why he snatched his arm away. He hopes he tells Izuku why he didn’t seem to care. He hopes he tells Izuku why he’s been so quiet. 

Instead, Kacchan frowns. “Fuck off, annoying prick.” Even the insult feels half-hearted. The door’s slammed in his face. 

Izuku just hopes Kirishima knows what to do with him.

Touya thinks the Bakugou kid is perfect for his plan.

He’d watched the Sports Festival, eager to see his little brother fail, ecstatic when he’d gotten second. Endeavor probably was prepping a grueling training session to beat Number 1 i nto Shouto, but seeing him use those red flames made Touya seethe.

The League needed to make an example out of heroes, and what better way than to convert one of their own? Shigaraki’s dumbass thought it’d be a good idea to convince a new Pro, but Touya had said a student, like his brother. That way, the mole could last years, loyalty built up all the way to the top. 

A student was tricky, they usually worshipped heroes. Touya took it upon himself to research a student that could fit the bill in the rest of the league. Besides his brother, however, there wasn’t really anyone who could have a resentment towards heroes.

Until the Sports Festival, that is. 

That loud, explosive kid caught his eye. His battle tactics were relentless, full of amazing potential and determination. In his eyes, Touya could see the excitement the boy held for a fight too. The thirst he quenched by winning and beating others until they couldn’t stand. 

The handcuffs were a little much, but the muzzle was insane. From what Touya had gotten, Bakugou was mad his brother hadn’t used his full strength. So, the heroes muzzled him to shut him up.

Beautiful.

The heroes did nothing and Bakugou was restrained like an animal.

Digging deeper, Touya found the Sludge incident. The media painted a picture of All Might saving him, but a few shaky videos of the day left Touya with his mouth agape.

The heroes did nothing to save Bakugou until the green-haired kid ran in to try his shot at it. The B-listers watched helplessly as this kid choked to death from this random mud monster. 

They watched Bakugou almost die. The same “heroes” muzzled the kid too on national television. 

Bakugou was perfect for the role.

Knocking on his window with his feet planted against the outside of the building, Touya has an idea to rope Bakugou in even closer to his world. The whole stunt he’s pulling right now looked stupid as hell, but he was careful, promise. 

Once he reaches the window of the room, Touya smiles. Pushing the window open, Bakugou grumbles, “Why the fuck are you here?”

Touya’s hands are curled onto the window sill. “Let’s go for a joy ride.”

“I’m on fucking house arrest, dipshit. Did your fried brain forget?” The scarred man wanted to laugh out loud, this kid was hilarious.

“Nah,” he does a little jump, hoisting his torso in through the window opening. Blue eyes zoom around, landing on the bed. There’s another kid there, dead asleep and sporting red hair. “Company?”

He moves, blocking the view from the kid in the bed. “Don’t fucking touch him. Don’t even fucking look at him.”

Touya chuckles quietly, “Wasn’t thinking about it.” He lets out an exhale as he seats himself on Bakugou’s desk chair, eyes examining the room around him. Touya makes sure to leave the window open wide, remembering Bakugou’s weird discomfort about closed spaces through text. There’s a couple of band posters, an electronic drum set in the corner, and a little stack of school books. “I’d expect a UA kid to have some hero merch, y’know? All Might and all that.”

Bakugou shrugs. “Maybe I just don’t like showing it off.”

“Maybe you’re just in the wrong place.” His grin widens, and Bakugou frowns deeper. His purple palm waves in the air, “Anyway. Why don’t we go on a late night walk?” The man keeps his voice quiet, the other kid waking up would cause a plethora of problems he did not need.

“You gonna kill me or somethin’?”

Touya reaches in his back pocket, pulling out a security pin. “What good would you do me dead?” He goes over where Bakugou stands over at the window sill. The blond takes a step back, giving the window sill a death grip. He puts his hands up in surrender, “Relax. I’m just disabling that ankle monitor.”

Bakugou raises an eyebrow at him. “Won’t that alert the cops?”

“I’m just… turning it off. They only get notified if you actually break it. ‘Sides, not like cops are actually staring at wherever you go 24/7.” There’s huff coming from Bakugou, and Touya watches his eyes dart to the kid in bed before nodding at Touya. He grabs the kid’s ankle, not too rough to not scare the damn midget. He looks for the little hole on the monitor, slipping the needle in and jamming it around until the thing clicks open. “See? Easy.”

The kid looks surprised, picking the monitor up and examining it like it’s some sort of weird specimen. “So, whaddaya wanna do with me? Where you taking me?”

Smart kid, sort of reminds Touya of himself. After he got burnt to a crisp, of course. “Told you, sightseeing. Nice night out.”

Red eyes narrow at him. “Not going anywhere without knowing where with a villain.” 

Touya grins. Kid’s careful, meticulous. He’ll be a great spy. “Some food, then I’ll show you some fun. How about that?”

“I’m not gonna do anything illegal.”

He does a time-out motion with his arms. “Nothing illegal involved. Just some fun.”

The blond glares at him for a minute, staring him down with conflict evident in his eyes. He finally relaxes his shoulders and moves to his nightstand. “Fine.” The lack of fight in this kid is exactly why he’s doing this. He’s noticed a change in the kid, Touya’s not stupid. Withdrawn and tame. It seemed wrong with the winner of that year’s Sports Festival. 

“Now, since I did you the favor of taking that monitor off, you gotta help me sneak out this building.”

Bakugou’s eyes practically bulge out of his face. He whisper yells at Touya, “How the fuck do you expect me to do that?! How’d you get through without getting spotted?!”

Touya shrugs. “One of the… people I work with teleported me.”

“And they can’t just teleport us both outside school grounds?”

Touya grins. “I thought you didn’t trust me ‘cause I’m a villain.”

Bakugou scowls at him, and he shoves the monitor on his nightstand. They both still when the redhead on the bed stirs. The kid moves until he’s laying on his stomach. He hears Bakugou exhale. “I liked… the talk we had. And I wanna know more.”

Touya snorts. “That’s good, but his portals don’t work like that. He’s gotta be in one of the locations. He’s not here, and he’s not outside.”

Bakugou’s shoulders drop. “Fine. You fucking owe me big time.”

When Katsuki sticks his head into the hallway, he doesn’t really know why he’s doing any of this. There’s a numbness at his core, and he can’t bring himself to care about the hard line between Heroes and Villains right now. 

The only thing he was wary about was letting Dabi be near Eijirou. Katsuki made his own decisions, but Eijirou wasn’t gonna be dragged into his mess anymore than he already was. 

Once he knows the hallway is clear, he nods at Dabi. The halls are dark and quiet, everyone’s asleep in their own rooms. He’s silent as he leads Dabi down the stairs, he can’t let the elevator doors open to a familiar face. A familiar face that might catch him sneaking around with a villain. 

He’s thought about their last meeting a lot.

“What do I gotta do?” A strange resolution in his gut had settled. He had nothing left to lose.

“That’s what I like to hear.” Dabi stood up after that. “I’ll find you. ‘Til then, don’t get thrown back in jail.”

Dabi had told him about another hero like Best Jeanist. Katsuki hadn’t spoken up, he’s scared and it just… he didn’t want anyone to know. But, Dabi said there were more like him. Corrupt, twisted heroes like Blue Jeanist. Despicable people. 

Katsuki hadn’t seen Best Jeanist since that day. Thank the heavens. Dabi told him about a group to stop people like that. 

And what is that if not a Hero?

But, Katsuki knew better. The world would see him as a villain. He had killed someone, he’s aggressive, and he told Deku to kill himself. He’s terrible, but that’s nothing new.

Peeking around the corner, Katsuki sees Sero and Kaminari on the Common Room couch. He groans to himself and whispers to Dabi. “Two motherfuckers are there.”

Blue eyes look unimpressed, Dabi shrugs. “Then get rid of them?”

Katsuki frowns and sticks his tongue out at him. Dabi just chuckles. “Spoiled piece of burnt fucking meat.” Katsuki enters the room, and he must’ve stomped in or something because they both turn to him immediately. Sero’s face falls and he looks away, pointedly ignoring Katsuki.

Kaminari’s head seesaws between them before looking at Katsuki with big, amber eyes. “Heyyy, Bakugou.”

“Dunceface.”

“Uuuhhh, so, have you taken… meds?”

Katsuki raises an eyebrow, confused. “What?”

Kaminari gulps, fidgeting with the collar of his shirt. “Y’know, because of what happened.”

“Why would I be on meds?”

“Because… you killed someone. Only people with, like, issues do that, Blasty.” Katsuki’s eye twitches. Yeah, he’s got fucking issues, but Kaminari doesn’t know shit. He doesn’t know anything. He doesn’t know why Katsuki feels dry, why he checks the locks in his room ten times over, why he doesn’t use public restrooms anymore. He doesn’t know why Katsuki thinks he doesn’t deserve Eijirou. 

An anger, bitter and sour builds in Katsuki’s chest. It’s the same anger he felt when Deku came to check up on him. Check up on him his ass. He was sticking his nose in Katsuki’s business, and Deku was the last one who should know about anything. Katsuki growls, “You don’t know fucking shit, Kaminari.”

The other looked taken aback. Sero stands up, “I’m going to my room. Wanna come play on my switch together, Kaminari?”

“Sure!” As they leave, Sero shoves Katsuki’s shoulder with his own. In another time, he would’ve picked a fight with him. Tonight, Katsuki grinds his teeth. 

When Dabi saunters out that hallway’s bathroom, Katsuki isn’t surprised at the man’s quick thinking. Kaminari and Sero would’ve seen him otherwise. Katsuki leads them outside in angry silence. In the cold breeze, Dabi whistles, “Nice friends you got there.”

Katsuki’s walking ahead, hands stuffed into his pajama pockets. He doesn’t know why there’s a weight on his chest when he says, “They’re not my friends.”

“Figured.” A hand claps on his shoulder, and Katsuki jumps. “C’mon, you down for some McDonald’s?”

Katsuki audibly gags, “That processed shit?”

“I’m flat broke. We gotta settle, firecracker.”

Katsuki shrugs him off. “Fine, but quit calling me that bullcrap.” 

At the fast food place, Dabi’s finishing his fries and Katsuki’s halfway through the burger he’d ordered on the villain’s money. Katsuki’s not even sure he can stomach the rest of it, he doesn’t have the damn appetite. He never does these days.

“So, what hero did you piss off?” 

Katsuki sets his burger down. “All Might. Aizawa. Gave me shit for fucking murdering-”

“Saving someone.” Dabi interrupts. “You saved those kids. Who knows what would’ve happened?”

“Exactly. Who knows? Deku’s fucking right, there’s always a choice.”

“Yeah, and you made one. Would you rather pull a punch and let the world crumble ‘cause you’re a coward?” The man’s got a point. It’s the same logic that ran through Katsuki’s head every time he replays those events.

“I wouldn’t do anything different.” 

He feels blue eyes on him. Studying, dissecting. Katsuki doesn’t flinch. “You’ve always been a problem kid, haven’t you?”

He diverts his eyes, look at nothing at all but everywhere. “I guess. Bullied Deku to all hell. I’m too loud. I’m too aggressive. I’m too emotional.”

“You’re too much.” And that hits Katsuki like a bunch of bricks. When he was little, he threw too many tantrums over things being out of place and uneven numbers. He grew, and he was a nightmare to be around. He projected all the things he didn’t understand about himself onto others. All the frustration, the insecurity, the hatred.

Then, he met Eijirou. He forced himself into Katsuki’s life with smiles and positivity, and Katsuki couldn’t help but fall to his knees. A stab to the heart didn’t make him shrink away from Katsuki, Eijirou persisted with a beaming smile.

“Way to be a damn therapist.”

Dabi ignores him. “You’re too much for everyone, especially the Pros. So, what’re you even still doing at UA?”

Katsuki opens his mouth to say, “To be Number 1,” but it comes out empty. He can’t do that anymore, can he? He’s going to trial for murder, and all his classmates hate him. His idol thinks he’s not good enough, and his mentor took away his innocence.

“I guess… I don’t know anymore.” He slumps in his seat. This realization takes his soul out. He feels empty, and everything feels surreal. His future is unsalvageable, and it’s over. He puts his head in his hands, fingers gripping blond hair. “Heroism is all I’ve ever worked for. I don’t know anything else.”

“You could still be one. Just… not the way you imagined it.”

Katsuki lifts his head. “What? And how the fuck am I supposed to hold a Top 5 accountable?” Dabi looks confused. Katsuki isn’t going to tell him what happened. He hates that he slipped up.

“You mean All Might? What’d he do to you?” Suddenly, the man’s serious. That sly grin is gone. 

Katsuki’s got nothing left to lose. “Not All Might. Another Top 5. He… took something important from me.”

Dabi observes him. “You need to get it back? I can help. My group can help.”

Katsuki shakes his head. “Can’t. Gone forever.”

Dabi lifts his chin as he surveys Katsuki again, blue eyes unmoving. “Well then, I’ll tell you a secret, kid.” He motions with his finger, and Katsuki leans forward. “I’m gonna kill Endeavor, so you can get payback too.”

Katsuki freezes, and the conversation he’d eavesdropped from the Sports Festival comes back to him. Endeavor’s true nature, and Todoroki’s trauma. The abusive hero Dabi had described last time. “You know? About Todoroki?”

Dabi smiles a crooked thing. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m gonna rip him apart, and I’m gonna help you with your shit too.”

And isn’t that an idea? For these people to get what’s coming to them. 

“How?”

“Planning and patience.” Dabi… this dude sees him. Katsuki feels seen. Eijirou sees all of Katsuki’s good parts, and Dabi can see his pain. Understand it even. He’s never had that before. Sure, his parents try to comfort him, but they’ll never get it. Especially not now. 

And fuck, Katsuki gets a giddy feeling in his chest at the thought of Best Jeanist getting what he deserves. His voice isn’t quite so powerful as it usually is, but he says, “Fuck yeah.”

Dabi’s smile doesn’t falter. He jerks his head in a nod towards the place’s door. “C’mon, I wanna show you something, kid.”

The walk outside isn’t uncomfortable, and it doesn’t feel wrong at all. Dabi’s got that face mask on again, Katsuki hadn’t missed the looks and double-takes from the strangers at McDonald’s. The guy had dressed normally for once too, a black hoodie with jeans. The night’s still and quiet. It’s nice to forget that he’s supposed to have something wrapped around his ankle.

“Why’re you a villain? Todoroki’s family crap that important to ya?”

Dabi snorts, “It’s complicated. It’s personal.” And, for a moment, Katsuki thinks that maybe this guy had Endeavor do to him what Best Jeanist did to Katsuki. He shakes the thought away, but not completely. “Same personal your gripe with whatever Top 5 screwed you over probably is.”

Katsuki hums. That emptiness settles in him again. The emptiness from earlier when Dabi asked him what he was still trying to gain from UA. The fact that he couldn’t think of a single reason other than What else is there for him?

It’s scary. 

It’s scary because he’s a planner and he’s so dedicated to his goals. So dedicated that he never thought about any back-up plans. Because, what if he failed? How had he never thought of that?

“Surprise!” Katsuki looks up and stops walking.

It’s a Rage Room.

“The fuck?! Typa waste of time is this bullshit?!”

Dabi jokingly punches his arm. “You’ll have fun, trust me.”

Katsuki stares at him. “I don’t wanna fucking do this. What’s the point?”

“Exactly.” And Dabi walks away towards the door like that had answered anything. Katsuki glares at the man’s back. An old, familiar feeling festers in him, and Katsuki clicks his tongue in frustration.

The lady at the front flicks her gaze at Dabi over and over, probably eyeing the stitches around his eyes. “You wanna explain to me why we’re here?” He says as he places the goggles on his face. 

Dabi rips the mask off his face once they’re alone in the Rage Room. “We’re having fun, duh.” The safety goggles look really stupid on him.

Katsuki rolls his eyes. “How? Throwing a bitch fit?” 

Dabi had the gall to look at him all confused. “Isn’t that what you always do?”

Kastuki had half a mind to keep his quirk down to just pops in his hand. “I’ll call UA right now and tell them about you if you don’t shut the fuck up.”

Dabi laughs, amused. “And they’ll believe you?” Katsuki lets his body deflate at that. The anger simmers out in an instant, it’s replaced by the husk of himself that he’s been. There’s no point to it. There’s no reason to fight and yell back. It’s not like anyone will listen. 

Katsuki misses the frown that etches itself in Dabi’s face at the blond’s silence. 

Katsuki looks around, the room is wide and expansive. Filled with random glass bottles, computer monitors, TVs, and some furniture. He feels something hard touch his arm and he feels himself flinch. Katsuki fucking hates when he does that. 

Dabi’s crooked smile is looking at him when he hands him a metal bat. “Go crazy, kid.” Bakugou looks at the thing with revulsion. He takes it with disinterest and looks around, finding nothing of note to hit. Dabi pipes up near him as he walks away with a hammer. “Watch. I’m gonna pretend this red  laptop is Endeavor.” 

Katsuki did watch, actually, as Dabi unceremoniously smashed the hammer onto the thick laptop. He kept going and going even when the thing broke in two. Katsuki just watched in appalled fascination at this dude going batshit on a laptop. 

When he was done, he exhaled and smiled to himself. The thing was a mess on silver, crushed pieces and the red parts were barely visible. Katsuki laughed, “You’re fucking nuts.”

Dabi turned to him and nodded. “You try. Find something that reminds you of someone and… go fucking nuts.”

Katsuki’s lip curled in disbelief. His red eyes looked around again, eyeing the electronics. They were kind of all boring colors, so not much to go off of. 

Through his blond bangs, he spots a real ugly couch chair. It’s worn out with brown stains and it’s blocked by some giant fucking flat screen TV. He nudges the TV away with his foot, its screen clatters with the ground. The couch chair’s got a big dip at the center of the seat, the color faded there.

It’s a jean-printed couch. 

He raises the bat with some hesitation, angling it perpendicular to his torso. His swallows and aims for the wooden legs. Katsuki swings, halfway breaking the right leg with a satisfying crack. He looks at Dabi for a moment, and the guy urges him on with a giddy smile and a nod. 

Katsuki raises the bat again, and he doesn’t hesitate. The leg breaks, and the chair falls tilted with a thump. Katsuki raises the bat over his head and he rams it down to the seat where the dip is. When the chair’s wooden frame breaks under the seat, Katsuki feels something familiar and distant stir up in him. It’s a spark that crackles in the dark recesses of his being, something that was stolen and abused months ago. 

That spark burns hotter with every hit he lands on the chair. The crackles, splinters, and crashing of metal against wood with the thumps of the bat hitting jean cloth take up his ears. He feels that emotion, red and violent and loud take over him. He relishes in it.

He imagines Best Jeanist’s intrusive hands snapping under his bat, his long legs twisting painfully, and his skull with that shiny fucking hair turning red. Katsuki raises the bat over and over, feelings spilling out of his pores, and he feels more alive in his own skin than he’s felt in months. He feels like he can cackle again, like he can dedicate a night to rigorous studying, like he can overcome anything. He feels like he can use a public restroom, he feels like he can let Eijirou touch him in places he never would’ve, he feels like he can sleep with his window open.

He feels a familiar and welcomed glee take the reins when the metal of the bat dents ever so slightly.

Katsuki feels alive. Katsuki swells with pride. 

He pants as he lets the bat hit the floor with a clang. The chair is unrecognizable. A mess of wooden splinters and spread out jean fabric with stuffing littering it. It’s hideous, and Katsuki’s its torturer. He knows the feeling with simmer out later, but he wants to bask in it while he still can.

He feels a hand on his shoulder, it’s comforting. “Didn’t that feel good?”

Katsuki smiles, teeth and all. “It felt fucking amazing.”

When Eijirou hears the door open again, he's sitting up and staring at the monitor in his hand. The monitor that was opened somehow and left on Katsuki's nightstand. The monitor his boyfriend should be wearing, and he isn't even here. Eijirou woke up with an empty spot next to him, and it's 6 AM on a Sunday. It wasn't even broken off, it looks like it was simply taken off, but that's impossible because they just gave Katsuki the monitor yesterday. Katsuki's supposed to be on house arrest until that trial.

"Ei. You're awake." The blond crawls onto bed smelling like the outside air. Eijirou sees him palm the monitor, and Katsuki distracts him with peppered kisses all over his face. A couple in his cheek, on his eyebrow, on his lips, on his neck.

Eijirou moves his head away to look at Katsuki. "Where were you?"

Katsuki's face cringes at the question. "Just out." He moves to try to take the monitor, but Eijirou doesn't let him. 

"This isn't funny. Where were you? You shouldn't have taken this off. Do you know how risky this is, Katsuki?" His boyfriend looks away with a guilty look. Eijirou knows saying his full name is enough to take him seriously. He never calls him anything other than little nicknames these days.

"It's fine. It was only for a little bit, yeah? Just needed some air."

Eijirou frowns. "And you couldn't do it on UA grounds?" He looks at Katsuki's face and sees how his eyes don't meet Eijirou's. He's still half-draped over Eijirou, but his eyes don't meet his and Katsuki looks uncomfortable.

"You're lying to me." He says with a devastating finality. "Your runs— which you don't go on anymore, by the way— are always at 6, but you just got here. So, where were you, Katsuki?"

Katsuki sits back and gets himself off of Eijirou with a groan. He runs a hand down his face. "It doesn't matter where I was because I'm putting that thing back on, right?"

Eijirou holds onto it tighter, an anger flooding his system. "No, Katsuki. That isn't fair. What're you hiding? And why?" Months of worry and frustration come bubbling to the surface, and Eijirou can't stop himself. "Matter of fact, what's been going on with you? You're not taking care of yourself, and now you're breaking the law just because? I thought you were calmer because you were with me, maybe you just felt more at peace, I don't know! But, this isn't- this isn't okay! You're skipping meals and I know you're not sleeping enough. I can tell when you've been awake for too long."

Katsuki stares at him with a conflicted look on his face that looks torn between shutting down again or saying something. He opens his mouth just to close it again. Eijirou knows to wait now when Katsuki gets like this. It happened when he confessed. Katsuki had taken his time to answer, and Eijirou knows his boyfriend just can’t find the words fast enough sometimes. 

Finally, after fidgeting with the blanket, the blond looked at Eijirou in the eye. “I took the monitor off because I wanted to… meet with a friend. From middle school.” Katsuki’s brows scrunch. “I’ve been off lately because something happened a few months ago.”

Eijirou purses his lips. “What friend? You couldn’t have called? This could’ve ended way worse, Kats.”

Katsuki just shrugs and looks back down. He mutters, “Just an old friend. I needed to let off some steam.”

Eijirou huffs, but he decides to drop the subject. It’s fine to visit a friend in stressful moments. UA visit approvals were time consuming, and he knows it’s probably a million times harder in Katsuki’s situation now. He places his hand lightly on Katsuki’s fidgeting hand. “What happened a few months ago?”

He watches Katsuki physically shrink in on himself, slouching and tensing up. It’s uncanny, he’s never seen his boyfriend like this. Katsuki’s voice is quiet and small. It’s so vulnerable in a way that shakes Eijirou. “Don’t wanna talk about it.”

They’re quiet, and Eijirou leaves his hand on Katsuki’s. He’s careful not to scare the blond away. He has so many questions, so many worries. He wants to know so bad, but he needs to respect Katsuki too. “Okay.” He raises the other’s hand and places the monitor in his hand. “Please don’t do this again?”

Katsuki nods as he stares at the blankets on the bed. 

This playground was always off-putting to Katsuki at night. It's a place usually full of screaming kids and squeaky swings going back and forth. At night, the playground is void of any life and the play-sets seem haunting. It was the first time he'd ended up bullying Deku. It was the first time he’d decided to be a prick. 

He leans on the black metal fence, his elbows propped up behind him. “Yo, Bakugou.”

Katsuki looks to his side, and he sees his old friend, Kariage. He hated lying to Eijirou, but he didn’t really know how to justify hanging out with some shady villain. He still feels like shit because that damn monitor is off again. Watching Dabi do it once was enough for Katsuki to try it himself with a bobby pin. He succeeded, obviously. 

Plus, that “seeing his middle school” friend lie wasn’t really a lie now, right? He likes to think it cancels out the other lie. And the one about not taking his monitor off again. Yeah, he’s fucked. 

“Kariage. You look as shitty as fucking ever.”

The taller teen laughs his easy laugh. “And you’re just as much of an asshole as usual.” Kariage leans on the fence too, hands stuffed in his pockets. “How’s that fancy school?”

“Shitty. Too many fucking rules. Everyone’s uptight as hell too.”

Kariage snorts next to him. “You’re smart, you’ll be fine.” He leans back more. “‘Sides, I saw you at the Sports Festival on TV. You’ve got what it takes.” 

“Yeah, whatever. I got into some shit lately because of some crap I did.” Katsuki laughs, “It’s probably gonna end my career.”

“Christ, Bakugou. What’d you do?”

He runs a hand through his hair. “Went too far. I didn’t even- fuck, I didn’t know that fucker was so close.”

Kariage pinches his brows together. “It was an accident though, right? How the hell’s this gonna ruin your career if you’re in training still?”

Katsuki wipes his palms on his pants. “I killed someone, Kariage.”

“Fuuuck, dude. That’s bad for a fancy shmancy place like that.” His friend crosses his arms. “I mean, they’ll probably get you outta the mess, right? You’re, like, a top one there.”

“That’s the thing. I’m too aggressive. I don’t think they’re gonna try all that hard. ‘S probably better for them to get me off their hands.” He picks at the hem of his shirt. “They didn’t like the PR from the Sports Festival. It’s not like my track record before UA was all that stellar either.”

Kariage sighs, “I mean, the Aldera teachers all liked you. Doubt they reported anything about that Midoriya kid anywhere.”

Katsuki runs a hand down his face. “Yeah, whatever. I guess. I’ve got a trial and everything, so we’ll see.”

Kariage shrugs. “Hey, man. Just sayin’, if the hero shit doesn’t work out, you should have back-up.”

“Yeah? Like what? Matter o’ fact, what’re you doing? What’s up with you?”

Kariage shrugs. “I’m not smart like you. Failing a lot of classes right now. I’m making money the only way I know how.”

Katsuki narrows his eyes at him. “You got a job?”

His old friend shakes his head. “Can’t. Too busy having to take care of my lil’ sister to work on a schedule. Gotta make some money on my own terms.”

Katsuki frowns. Nah. Really? “You… sell drugs or something?”

Kariage laughs. “Crazy how different people can be, huh? It’s whatever. Anyway, you should do something different. Stop being so obsessed with heroes if you’re fucking it up that bad.”

“It’s not even just me. Kinda hard to shake off the muzzle they put on me. And… some other bullshit.”

“Yeah, just leave it, man. Like I said, you’re not like me. You can make it somewhere else. Plus, we’re only sixteen. Got plenty of time.” Just leave it, he says. It’s really that easy, isn’t it? If he didn’t have this damn trial hanging over his head, he could do just that. Leave it all in the dust and try his hand at something new. Something he isn’t expected to do, but something he can live a mellow life in. A life where he doesn’t need to act a certain way or put up with such powerful people. 

“I can’t. I have… someone now. I don’t wanna leave him behind too.” It’s a relief, talking to a friend again. Sero, Kaminari, and Mina are still avoiding him. He understands, he’d be second-guessing them too if Sero suddenly strangled someone to death or if Mina poisoned someone with her acid. 

Kariage whistles and playfully nudges him. “The Bakugou Katsuki is in a relationship? Who would’ve thought. And a guy? Should’ve known, you never talked about girls.”

“Yeah. He’s great. I don’t wanna leave that behind.”

Kariage shrugs. “I’m sure there’s way around it.” He slaps a hand on Katsuki’s shoulder. “Just leave the hero shit, man. Doesn’t sound like you’re happy. ‘Sides, I’m sure they’ll treat you better as a minor in court.”

Katsuki purses his lips. “Yeah. After the trial, I think I’m just gonna leave everything. If I’m not in prison.” He thinks about Dabi, and he doesn’t know if he’s ready for that path. He’s tired, he’s so tired. He wants to give up. He doesn’t know what else to do, but he doesn’t want to be a hero anymore. He’s not the right fit for it. He doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero. 

Then, he remembers what drew him to Dabi in the first place. That idea of revenge, to finally give people what they deserve. It doesn’t feel real, the idea of Dabi somehow killing Endeavor or Katsuki somehow beating Best Jeanist. They’re Top 5 Heroes, but damn it all if Katsuki didn’t feel that vigor in the rage room. That sense of self that had been missing this entire time, and it came swarming when he imagined a chair as Best Jeanist under the wrath of a metal bat. It was motivating and empowering, and he wants to feel it again. That adrenaline rush. The anger and the pride. 

Suddenly, the idea of a mellow life doesn’t sound all that appealing with the idea of people like them are roaming freely about. The idea that Todoroki’s father will die praised as one of the best heroes, and the idea that Katsuki’s bringer of ruin will continue to live happily without a care. 

“What’re you thinking about, Bakugou? Awfully quiet.”

Katsuki takes a deep breath. “Yeah, I just think you’re right. I’m not cut out to be a hero.”

Kariage shrugs next to him. “Listen, I’m not gonna lie to you. I’m a bad person, and you’re a bad person. We just gotta stick to what we know.”

Katsuki laughs, “I think there’s a divide here on who’s worse.”

“Yeah? What if I told you I made some straight-A from my class addicted to Adderall?”

Katsuki’s eyebrows shoot up. “The fuck?”

“I needed customers. Might as well sell a pill that ‘hyper-focuses’ you to a kid that’s obsessed with getting the best grades.”

“Shit, Kariage.” He wants to berate him. Yell at his friend for doing something so terrible. Then he thinks about the blood on his hands and the mountain of lies he’s begun building, and the judgement subsides. 

Kariage grins at him and takes out a cigarette from a half-spent pack. The lighter’s next, and he holds the cigarette to his lips as the flame burns the other side. He inhales deeply, and he blows it in a thin breath. Katsuki stares as he holds it out to the blond. 

“Here’s to being horrible people.”

Katsuki hesitantly takes it and holds it to his lips. He breathes in a drag, coughing after at the tickle in his throat. Katsuki clears his throat, not used to the nicotine smoke. “To being horrible people.”

Chapter Text

Katsuki didn’t know if he was still breathing. The bathroom door shut with a slam, but he didn’t move. His hands were tangled in his hair, and all he could feel was a throbbing pain in the last place there ever should be. 

Katsuki stayed there for a while. He didn’t know how long he did, face down on the floor and eyes screwed shut. At some point, he decided to straighten himself up, shaky arms steadying his ascend. His mind was louder than his explosions, but he couldn’t think of anything either. He hesitantly touched behind him, only to be rewarded with a burning pain at the touch and a bloody hand. His hand shook and his skin felt cold at the sight of what stuck to his hand. Blood and a mess. 

“You’re so quiet and good for me.”

Katsuki stood up, legs drained of energy and body numb. Pulling up his pants, he stuttered in his steps to the sink, turning the faucet on to scrub his hands raw. 

When he looked up at the mirror, he didn’t recognize himself. He didn’t see himself, he saw a scared little boy who’s paler than snow and lips colorless and chapped. His eyes were bloodshot, and he realized he didn’t know when that happened. His hair’s more saturated than his skin, his skin’s got a gray hue to it.

He looked dead. He looked like a walking corpse. 

He looked at his costume and hated it. His entire chest was exposed, his arms were exposed, everything was too visible. He used to love how the orange X shaped the top of his suit, now he wondered if a different choice would’ve prevented all this. He didn’t want anyone looking at him with this shit on, what if all they saw was his body? What if all they wanted was his body?

Was he just his body? 

A sob broke out of him, and he cradled his face in his hands as his knees fell to the floor. He was in so much pain, it was all so painful. Best Jeanist was supposed to help him, he was supposed to be a mentor. He was supposed to help him learn more about what it meant to be a hero. He was the Number 4 Hero for fuck’s sake, why did he-? Why did he do this to Katsuki? Why did he hurt him? Was Katsuki just a passing pleasure? Was this the reason why he chose Katsuki to intern? Was Katsuki just a fucking ragdoll to him? Was he just a quick means to an end? 

Did everyone see him that way?

He heard himself wail, and he flinched. He didn’t remember the last time he cried like this. Was it when he was born? Was it when his parents left for a business trip for the first time? 

This was the last day of his internship, he was supposed to be back on the way to the dorms by now. Stupid fucking dorms that started because of fucking USJ. A month into school and right before the Sports Festival, stupid fucking villains made them dorm. 

Katsuki was supposed to be on the way to the dorms, but instead he was crying in a bathroom with his insides feeling like they were carved out. 

He looked to where his bag was discarded when Best Jeanist followed him in, his normal clothes just out of reach. He crawled over to his gym bag, fished out his clothes and thanked any god out there that he had decided to pack long sleeves today. He changed, and he shoved the bloody and dirty pants out of sight to the bottom of his bag. He zipped it shut and sat there on the tiled floor. Katsuki closed his eyes, and he imagined himself out of his body. Just gas in space, floating around. He liked this feeling, it was like he never even existed. It was like he was rid of his skin and everything that came with it. 

A loud ringing from his phone scared him out of his fantasy, and he scrambled around the outside pockets of the bag, looking for it. 

He glanced and saw Shitty Hair. 

He gagged on another whimper as his eyes grew wet again. Was he gonna fuck up this friendship? He’d only known the guy for a few months, but he seemed content to be glued onto the blond’s side despite everything about him. Did… did Kirishima see him the way Best Jeanist did?

He regretfully tapped the green button and put the phone to his ear. “Bakugou! Me, Mina, Sero, and Kaminari are gonna get some lunch and talk about our last days. Wanna come?”

Kastuki cleared his throat, of course the redheaded bastard wouldn’t see him that way, right? He invited him to lunch! You don’t do that with someone who- who-

“You want a good performance report, right?”

“Can’t come, I got some shit to do.” He grimaced at the raspiness of his voice.

“Oh, alright.” There was a pause, and the blond wondered if he missed something the other had said. “You okay, man? You sound sick.”

Now, Katsuki’s the one who paused. He didn’t deny that the worry made something flutter in his chest. A familiar feeling he’d gotten around the other boy since he’d first befriended him. 

What if he…? What if Katsuki just blurted it out? Right then and there? What if Katsuki told him what Best Jeanist had done to him? 

Would Kirishima see him differently? Would he be disgusted by him?

“I’m fucking fine. Seeya in the dorms.” He taps the End Call button, heart beating out of his chest. 

There was no way he’d ever tell the other how he felt now. Katsuki was a mess, he got dirtied. Even if he knew it wasn’t his fault, Kirishima didn’t deserve to deal with the mess he’d become in the last hour. He didn’t deserve to find out what broke in Katsuki that day, what got torn into shreds.

His walk outside was a blur. He’s sure he just had to take the train back, but he didn’t know if he should.

Instead, he feet brought him to a hospital. 

The receptionist at the ER asked what happened and Katsuki stuttered to all hell. “I got, uh. My boss- my mentor- uhm.” He blinked, a screaming baby overloading his senses behind him. “I got- my ass was- wait.” The lady was patient, she didn’t get annoyed despite the eye bags and dark circles she sported. She kind of reminded him of Aizawa. He swallowed, “I just got assaulted.”

She pressed a few buttons on the office phone next to her, “What type of assault, hon’?”

Her green eyes were full of empathy and pity when he told her, “Sexual.”

Everything was another blur of movement and empty reassurances as he got lead to some hospital room. He got asked permission for a hell of a lot of things that he forgot seconds after he said it was fine. 

A male nurse with red hair that was more orange looking asked him, “Did you sustain any injuries that you’re aware of?” He was already in the hospital bed when he got asked this, another nurse having taken his vitals already.

“My ass hurts. I was bleeding. I might still be.”

He saw his adam’s apple bob. “This is going to be uncomfortable, but we have to check down there and treat your wounds. Is that okay?”

Katsuki confirmed it was fine even though he didn’t think he had a choice here. They gave him some antibiotics before he’s flipped on his stomach again for the second time that day.

While someone cleaned him back there and did whatever the fuck else, Katsuki’s mind wandered to that empty space from before. A space where he’s not a person, and none of this was happening. He imagined stars were twinkles in the dark vastness of space he could actually touch. He imagined a twinkle of a star two inches away from him, glowing brightly against the dark sky.

Soon enough, the female nurse shook him out of his fantasy like Kirishima’s call had. She told him to pee in a urine cup, and he didn’t ask why, but she told him anyway after he stood up. 

It was to check for any STIs, and the thought made him want to vomit. When he got back, there was someone new. A woman with brown hair and a scar that ran through her eyebrow. The nurse who’d given him the urine cup took it from him, “Sweetie, in about two weeks, just know that the stitches we put on today will either dissolve or fall off on their own, okay? No need to come back in. Some blood in your stool in the next two weeks is gonna be normal too.”

He froze, was it that bad? “Stitches?”

She gave him a sad smile. “We’ll give you some antibiotics before you leave to make sure you recover all good, okay?”

He nodded stiffly at her. “Okay.”

She waved her hand at the brown-haired lady. “This is Miss Kuroiwa, she’s an advocate for the Crisis Program we have here. She’s just gonna ask you a few things, alright?”

“Okay.” 

After she left and he sat on the edge of the hospital bed, he looked at the Kuroiwa lady warily. “Hi, what’s your name?”

She sort of reminded him of Auntie Inko. “Bakugou.”

“Nice to meet you, Bakugou. Are they treating you well here?”

He nodded at her. “Fine.”

“How’re you feeling about everything that happened?”

He chewed on his lip. “Like shit.”

She smiled at him, round eyes made him feel like he was five and playing with Deku. “Where would you like to start?”

“Nowhere.” He crossed his arms, he didn’t know why they were asking him these things. He just wanted to go home, get his homework done, and spend some time with Kirishima. 

She nodded at him like he had told her just what she wanted to hear. “If anything, what do you remember before it happened?”

“I was gonna go get dressed to go back to my dorm.”

“Are you in college?”

“No, I go to UA. Today’s the last day of my internship.”

She noted some things down on a tiny notepad. “How old are you, Bakugou?”

He frowned. “I’m sixteen.”

“Okay. And what happened after?”

“I came here.”

She smiled again. “Got it. Sometimes we can get valuable evidence from the clothes you were wearing. We would like to collect the clothes you were wearing at the time of the assault as evidence. Is that alright?”

He gulped. “Yeah, they’re in my gym bag.” He’s more than happy to never see that hero suit again.

She looked up at him again with her big, brown eyes. “Can you tell us if you had been drinking or taking drugs at the time of the assault? We’re just worried for your safety and about what happened to you. This helps us to establish an element of the crime and get a better picture of what was happening during the assault and provide you with better support.”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve never touched any of that stuff.”

“And where exactly did it happen?”

“It was at the bathroom of… his agency. He followed me in and locked the door.”

She wrote more stuff down on her notepad, turning the page. “Did his behavior change after he locked the door?“

Katsuki looked down and fiddled with his fingers. “Yeah. He’s usually normal, but he started telling me that- that if I fought back he’d make sure I’d never get my Pro-Hero license.”

Her short hair was brushed back behind her shoulder, hand beginning to tie her hair up with a band. “Are you able to recall doing or saying anything during the incident?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t say anything. I just… took it.”

“People can feel powerless in situations like that, it doesn’t matter how strong your quirk might be. A lot of people end up freezing up.” She paused before continuing. “How did this make you feel?”

He looked up, red eyes tired. “Like he’s right. He’s Top Five, what the fuck else am I supposed to do?”

“Nobody can be protected from an accusation like this, Bakugou. It doesn’t matter how high-ranked of a Hero they are.” She paused again, and she continued when he didn’t say anything. “Can you tell me if there was anyone who could’ve seen something or suspected anything?”

“You okay, man? You sound sick.”

“No, I don’t remember.” 

“Has this person done anything like this to you in the past?”

“No.” She closed her notepad, and she leaned forward with her hands clasped together.

“Bakugou, what you went through today is something that is severely traumatic and something you can press charges for. The man who did this to you would receive consequences for his actions. Would you like that?”

Katsuki thought about Best Jeanist’s threats, and he honestly believed him. What’s a random counselor gonna do against the Number Four Pro-Hero? How much legal power did Best Jeanist hold? How many millions could the man pour into covering this up, just for Katsuki to be blacklisted from the Pro-Hero industry?

“No, I don’t wanna press charges.” He just wanted to pretend this never happened. He just came to the hospital because he didn’t know what else to do with the blood on the back of his thighs.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a card that landed in Katsuki’s hand. It said TELL Japan, her name was there too: Kuroiwa Yoriko. Along with her number and the service’s number, there was just the logo. “You can always call us if you change your mind.”

Katsuki went back to the dorms, no one was there to greet him except Todoroki who’d been sucked into some book. Back in his room, he thought about how Best Jeanist was a Hero who was supposed to help people. He thought about how many more kids like him were swept under the rug to keep an image squeaky clean. 

He put the TELL Japan card in the drawer of his desk. 

Katsuki wasn’t so sure what to think about Heroes anymore.

The coming Monday, Katsuki found himself going up to Mr. Aizawa after class. The weekend had been an empty, hollow experience. Katsuki had spent it trying to pretend his strained smiles and weird reactions to things like doors and bathrooms were normal. He’d looked at himself in the mirror before heading to class and decided he looked good enough. The dark circles and gray skin were just from studying late, no big deal.

“Do you need something, Bakugou?”

Kastuki shoved his hands in his pockets, that’s what he usually did, right? It was getting harder to act like himself with each minute that passed. “Yeah, I need a new suit.”

Aizawa raised a brow at him. “What’d you do with yours?”

“Blew it up.”

His teacher sighed, fingers pinching at his nose bridge. “Of course you did. Alright, I’ll go put in the request. Next time, you can just go to the office and ask to speak with your Costume Developer.”

“Can I make a change to it?”

“What change, Bakugou?” The man sounded exasperated. 

“Can the top cover me more? Like, sleeves and shit. Chest covered."

Aizawa noted some stuff down on a post-it note. "Sure. Did you get cold?"

Katsuki grunted, "Yeah, whatever."

He looked up and really looked at Katsuki for the first time since the conversation began, and Katsuki couldn't help but shift under his gaze. Could he tell? Was it obvious? Could older people tell? He didn’t want Aizawa to know, he didn’t want anyone to know. He planned on taking this shit to the grave. “You feeling okay, Bakugou? You look sick.”

“You okay, man? You sound sick.”

Katsuki clenched and unclenched his clammy fist in his pocket. “Everything’s fucking dandy.”

“Language. If you need a day or two off of classes, let me know. Don’t force yourself to go to class if you’re not feeling well.”

“Whatever.”

A few weeks later, his new suit got handed to him by Aizawa at the end of class. Katsuki tried it on as soon as he got back to his dorm room. Apparently, whoever designed his suit really liked his arms. 

The new one was still sleeveless, to his distaste. However, there was a thick and wide turtleneck on it now that covered his chest and neck. Wearing it was more soothing post-internship. The turtleneck was so big it covered his mouth most of the time. 

He wasn’t as exposed as before. It was enough. He hasn’t had the balls to look at that TELL Japan card yet. 

Katsuki was excused from his finals for now. Instead, he’s stuck in a closed room with his parents and some fancy lawyer.

The lawyer’s a stern-looking woman. She’s got some dark purple hair that’s slicked back in a tight bun, and she’s got thin glasses resting on her nose. She’s passed both the American Bar Exam and, most recently, the Japanese one too. 

“Bakugou Katsuki’s reputation is not an easy one to deal with, Mrs. Bakugou. I hope you understand that the court will be biased based on the Sports Festival.”

His mother’s sitting next to Katsuki, blonde hair still styled perfectly. “I understand that, but there’s no way my baby’s going to prison. That’s just inhumane.”

He watches as the lawyer’s eyebrows shoot uo for just a moment, and he knows what she’s thinking. Inhumane is what Katsuki is. What he’s done. She shuffles through the papers in his manila folder. “Your son has, undeniably, committed an act of murder. What we can argue, however, is that it was an Unintentional Homicide rather than Intentional.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “There’s simply no way he’s not going to be given a prison sentence. This— him being able to walk under house arrest— is only possible because of his position at UA and the PR disaster they’re trying to avoid.

That’s right. No one’s vouching for him. It’s just a way to keep him away from more public eye.

His dad inhales a shaky breath on his right. “How many years would he serve?”

Alright, so there’s no escaping this new reality. Katsuki’s going to prison. 

The lawyer looks at all of them with her stern gaze. “A minimum of three years, depending on what Bakugou Katsuki’s reasonings were. Given he was saving a hostage situation, I can confidently say I can argue a three-year sentence instead of a longer one.”

Three years locked away in a cell while everyone he knows is working and training. Counting down days while Deku builds his heroic status. Three years while Eijirou inevitably forgets about him and moves on.

It might as well be a death sentence.

He breaks his own silence. “Can I go back to UA after I get out?”

The lady, who he hasn’t even bothered to learn the name of, seems to think for a moment. “Not UA, specifically, since it’s a high school, and you’re not being held back by the institution. A prison sentence will expel you from the school. However, you can pursue a USSEE. An Upper Secondary School Equivalency Examination. After that, you would be eligible to pursue a Pro-Hero License, just not with the backing of UA.”

Katsuki was aware of Pro-Heroes that that got their licenses just by studying and taking an exam. Those never got their names out, though. No connections to any teachers or classmates. No internships from school either. No one to even commission a new costume from. It was basically just permission to use a quirk in public areas. 

Katsuki nods and crosses his arms. His dreams are over. His aspirations are as good as dead. 

It’s game over for Bakugou Katsuki.  

His dad squeezes his shoulder. “You don’t have to be a hero, KitKat. It’s okay to do something else.” Is there anything else? He’s thought about it since talking to Kariage. Nothing’s come up yet. 

The lawyer lady stands after neatly closing her folder. “Well, the court date is going to be Monday. July 16th. It’s in exactly one week, please be prepared to give statements, Bakugou. I’ll speak with you again on Friday before the hearing.”

Eijirou is laying next to him that night. He’s staring at the cieling with a smile. “Today was the first day of exams. Everyone was freaking out, but I think I did decent.” He’s so positive and optimistic as he rubs soft circles onto the back of Katsuki’s hand. He’s resting it on Eijirou’s bare chest, the fucker loves sleeping shirtless.

Their legs are tangled, and Eijirou doesn’t seem to mind the jab of the monitor against his skin. He’s so beautiful, Katsuki thinks. He hates being sappy, he hates that this boy always makes him weak in the knees somehow. He’ll do anything for him. He’ll lie on his own name if it means making this redhead happy. 

“Ei, do you think I can be a good person?” It’s a stupid fucking question. He knows what he’s going to say. As much as he’ll lie to Eijirou to see that sharp-toothed smile, Eijirou will do the same to soothe the tension in his shoulders. 

The smile drops and Eijirou looks at him with wide, red eyes. “You are. I know things are really awful right now, but you can get through this. We will.”

He wants to say, Will you remember me in three years? Will you remember me when I’m no longer behind bars while your face is plastered on posters everywhere? Will you remember me when you smile at the camera while I try to adapt to the outside world again? Will you remember me while I think about you every night?

Instead, Katsuki doesn’t move much as he stares at Eijirou. “They said I’m probably going to prison.”

Small eyebrows scrunch up, creasing Eijirou’s forehead. His body turns so they’re both fully facing each other. Eijirou whispers, “How long?”

Katsuki feels his eyes water, but he fights them away with sheer willpower. “Three years. Minimum.”

Eijirou doesn’t force anything. His face twists immediately and tears roll down. He grabs Katsuki in a tight embrace, holding onto him like he’ll never see him again. And he won’t. Not after Monday. 

Eijirou sobs loudly and stuffs his face into Katsuki’s blond hair. Katsuki’s own hands tighten around his boyfriend’s broad back. His breath is unsteady, and he knows he won’t be able to hold it in for any longer. Not with Eijirou hiccuping on him like this. 

The redhead lets go only to cup Katsuki’s face in his hands. His face is all red, his hair’s a mess, and his cheeks are soaked. His eyes are red and puffy. Eijirou’s voice shakes, “You’re still- we’re still gonna be heroes together, ‘kay? I’m gonna send you letters. I’ll visit you all the time. I’m gonna call you. ‘Kay?”

Katsuki knows when Eijirou lies, it’s to make him feel like he matters. He lied when Katsuki was kept in jail, and it was to make him feel like his friends still liked him.

This time, it’s to make Katsuki feel like anything matters anymore at all. Like Eijirou won’t get tired of Katsuki being stuck in an orange jumpsuit. Like they’ll actually fight side by side one day.

When Katsuki lies, it’s to see Eijirou smile. “Okay.” He does smile when Katsuki cracks him a half-hearted grin. Katsuki doesn’t even realize he’s crying until Eijirou’s calloused fingers start wiping at his eyes. 

“Say it. Say we’re gonna save people together one day. That we’re gonna- gonna share a future.”

Katsuki holds his wrists gently. His voice is rough and rusty. “We’re gonna save people together one day. We’re gonna share a future.” Eijirou nods hurriedly at him. 

It’s only been two months of dating, three of knowing the other boy, but Katsuki can’t help but feel like he’s the missing piece. What Katsuki’s needed his whole life.

It’s painfully funny how quickly he’s getting this happiness in his life taken away. 

They fall asleep like that, in each other’s arms and faces wet. 

It’s Tuesday. It’s less than a week before the hearing, and Katsuki’s spending this school night with a villain.

Dabi leans back on his chair, face mask tucked under his chin. “Y’know what I think?” He says, pointing his chopsticks at Katsuki.

The cheap ramen isn’t that bad, but he could make a better dish. Katsuki growls, “What?”

“I think you’re a masochist.”

Chomping down on the noodles in his mouth, Katsuki frowns. “Why the fuck would I be a masochist? I’m not psycho.” Dabi raises an eyebrow with a sly smile, challenging him. “I’m not fucking psycho. It’s just circumstance.”

“Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Why’s the broth red?”

Katsuki looks down at his bowl. The broth is red, the spiciest thing on the menu. Even the eggs are sort of stained red. “Because it’s fucking spicy, dumbass.”

“Yeah. What’d I say? Masochist.”

“Not my fault you have some pussy shit taste buds.”

Dabi barks out a laugh. “I don’t have pussy shit taste buds. ‘S more like I wanna savor my food.”

Katsuki eyes the guy’s face. “Yeah? How am I the masochist when you’re the one stapling your face? Can’t stitch it?”

Dabi waves a hand. “I look better with staples. Matches the piercings with the silver, don’tcha think?”

Katsuki jabs his chopsticks into Dabi’s bowl, stealing a rice cake. “An infection’s what it’s gonna cause.”

Dabi’s smile drops. “First you kill a guy, and now you’re a thief? Five-star criminal.”

Katsuki snickers, chewing on the rice cake. “I dare you to even try my ramen. Bet you can handle it with the bullshit you put your skin through.”

Dabi chews on his rough lip before grabbing a couple of noodles, broth dripping onto the table. Katsuki sneers and aggressively wipes it away with a napkin. The man shoves it in his mouth, jaw shifting as he tastes it. Katsuki smirks when he sees him swallow it all in a big gulp. 

Dabi sticks his tongue out and gasps. “What the fuck.” He grabs his glass of water and chugs the whole thing. He starts to sip on his own broth, but his eyebrows are still all scrunched up. 

Katsuki guffaws at him. “You fucking pussy!”

Dabi frowns at him, face offended. “Shut the fuck up, you little fucking gremlin.”

Katsuki slaps the table and keeps laughing. “Hey, hey, come on, Scarface. Try another bite. Second time’s the charm.”

“You’re a fucking nightmare.”

Katsuki’s laugh dies down into chuckles. “You’re the one paying though, right?”

Dabi slurps up some noodles. “Yeah, whatever.” He grabs a rice cake from his own bowl. “So, you figured out how to take it off on your own?”

Katsuki shrugs. “I saw you do it, didn’t I?”

“Smart kid.” Katsuki feels an old pride swell the tiniest bit in his chest. He feels Dabi eye him before speaking again. “So, I joined this group. I’m taking you with me.”

Katsuki looks up at him. “Group?”

“Yeah, a group. Got this other girl with us too recently, about your age.” He makes a so-so motion with his hand.

Katsuki plays around with his food a little. “And what does… what do you guys do?”

Dabi’s smile returns. “Take down the Heroes. Show ‘em what they’ve got coming. Same thing I wanna do.” He leans closer to Katsuki. “Same thing I know you wanna do.”

Katsuki nods. “How’re you fuckers planning on doing that?”

“Chaos. We’re gonna attack the Tops, make a name for ourselves. We’ve got the manpower,” he waves at Katsuki, “the quirks. You and me, we can combine ours. Your explosions, my fire. It’ll be flashy.”

“And… USJ. Was that the group you’re talking about?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

Katsuki thinks about the weird creatures that had fought them. The guy leading everything. “What were those things?”

“Fuck if I know. Some weird experiments they’ve got behind the scenes. It’s none of my business. I don’t care. I don’t see why you should either. ‘S not like they won’t be on our side.”

It’s true. Katsuki doesn’t have the energy for that type of stuff anymore. “Hm.” He’s got nothing left to lose. “If you want me to come with you, it’s tricky.”

“Aw, come on, Bakugou. You’re still-”

“I’m not saying I don’t want to. I’m saying I’m going to prison. They’re sentencing me to three years minimum on Monday.”

Dabi snorts, and Katsuki raises an eyebrow at him. “Who says you’re actually going to prison?”

“Huh?”

“You forget, firecracker? Villains don’t have rules. If we did, I’d be locked up already.”

Katsuki pauses. He supposes he could just… not show up on Monday. Damn it all to hell. “And what? Just ditch the hearing?”

Dabi shrugs. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t you? It'd be a waste of time and energy. Unless you wanna make a big show out of breaking out. We could help you out with that."

Katsuki shakes his head. “Nah. I’ll do it quiet. I won’t show up, and I’ll help you guys out.”

Dabi crosses his arms. “Problem is, how’re you gonna be our mole if you’re not even in UA anymore?”

Katsuki wonders the same thing. He could sneak out some lesson plans from Aizawa, steal them during their lunch period. There’s gotta be some type of field trip in there. Some type of way that’ll get some Pros to show up if something were to happen.

He’s not going to use Eijirou for information. He’ll have to use someone. Question is who, and how he’ll get them to agree.

“Why do you want a mole in UA anyway? I thought you just wanted me for my quirk. Combine fire and explosions, and all that.”

“Boss wants All Might and his little protégé. He’s got beef with the Number 1. Goes way back. I couldn’t give less of a shit. As long as it gets me to the Number 2, and it gets you to the Number 4.” 

Katsuki nods before he pauses. “How’d you figure I was after Best Jeanist?”

He shrugs. “You said Top 5, and you beat the shit out of a jean couch chair. Put two and two together.”

Katsuki swirls the broth around with his chopsticks. “I’ll figure something out. I’ll get some info for your boss. That way, I’ll be owed my Number 4.”

Dabi snatches a boiled egg from Katsuki’s ramen. “Beautiful.”

Katsuki’s never been one for in-betweens. He commits.

Eijirou is sort of glad Katsuki decided to skip out on lunch that Wednesday. He needs to talk to their friends. Their friends who are very much anti-Katsuki at the moment.

“So, uh, some stuff is going down. I think we should all try to get along better.” Eijirou tries. 

Before Sero manages to get anything out, Mina smiles at Eijirou. “I think you’re right. I’m- I’m tired of this bad air all around us. I hate that we’re acting so different. It’s like a knot that I can’t get loose.” Eijirou smiles back at her. His back straightens with hope.

Sero gets his two cents in. “I get that you’re dating him, Kirishima. Mina and you are the same way about this type of stuff too. He killed someone, though. Some random guy!”

Kaminari jumps in, and Eijirou sees his friend’s hand grip the chopsticks in his hand tightly. “Sero, man, it was a hostage situation. That random guy was gonna shoot that kid.”

Eijirou looks back at Sero. “C’mon, dude. It was in the moment. What else was he gonna do?”

Kaninari slouches. “Well, d’you know if he’s on meds at least?”

Eijirou frowns. “Meds? Why?”

The blond shrugs. “I mean as much as I think it’s good he stopped the guy, Bakugou’s never been all that… normal. Something like this was bound to happen.”

Eijrou l feels his face twist. “Not normal? What’re you saying?”

Kaminari throws a nervous glance at Sero before looking at Eijirou again. “Dude, Bakugou’s always trynna blow everyone’s head off about everything. He almost dusted Midoriya back in April for breathing wrong. What’s to say he wasn’t gonna go too far with a villain one day?”

Mina leans forward. “Well, y’know he’s just a hothead. Same way I talk too much sometimes. Doesn’t make him a bad guy. Besides, it’s not like he’s tried anything after he and Kirishima got together. Kiri’s good for him that way.” 

Eijirou’s happy about how Mina sees them, but he feels an ugly thing stir in his gut at the implications. “Mina, he’s not some type of animal I tamed. I like him the way he’s always been.”

Black scleras squint at him. “You can’t deny he’s been calmer, though. Right?”

Sero breaks his silence and scoffs. “Yeah. ‘Til now.”

Katsuki was like a quieter version of himself since the internships. Since they started dating. Eijirou was proud for a while. He thought he made Katsuki feel more relaxed and at ease. 

Now he knows the blond had been simmering, just on the edge of blowing up. Something had happened months ago. Something Katsuki didn’t want to tell him. It ate at Eijirou’s insides. 

Kaminari drops the chopsticks on his tray. “C’mon, Sero. Lay off it a little. The guy’s got issues. People with mental issues do stuff they don’t mean to.” Eijirou knows his friend’s heart is in the right place. He can’t help but sigh at the way he goes about saying things sometimes. 

Sero crosses his arms and leans back. “Fine. I’ll be more civil. This stuff still rubs me the wrong way.”

Eijirou nods, satisfied. They’ll all come around. Mina always had his back, and Kaminari was… on the right path. He prepares himself to tell them his little plan. Hopefully Katsuki won’t kill him over this. 

“So, uh, Kats isn’t really gonna… be here anymore. Soon.” He swallows a bile at the thought.

Kaminari’s eyes bulge out. “He’s getting a death sentence?!”

Mina yells, “Kami!”

Eijirou grimaces. “Dude, no.”

Sero rolls his eyes at Kaminari. “So, what’s wrong?”

Eijirou bites his cheek before continuing. “He’s going to prison for a few years. After the trial, he’s gone.” His eyes water, but he tries not to let the tears fall. He wants to be strong. “I want us at least to make his last week at UA as good as it can be. If our class can’t be decent, we should. We’re his friends.”

The table quiets for a moment, and Eijirou thinks they’re gonna tell him to forget it. Sero looks at him. “Yeah. I can do that. He’s… still our friend. I’m just frustrated. And confused.”

Mina claps her hands. “Let’s give Blasty a good last week!”

Kaminari pumps his fist in the air, but Eijirou doesn’t miss the anxious darting of his eyes. “Yeah!”

He feels a sudden tap on his shoulder and turns. Uraraka. “Hey, Kirishima, did you finish copying my notes?”

Eijirou nods with a smile. “Yep! I put them back in your desk in the classroom.”

She brushes a strand of hair behind her ear. “Ah, okay. I kinda didn’t do the homework. Do you think the classroom’s open during lunch?”

Some memories of sneaking in during lunch hours with Katsuki flash through his mind. He tries not to stammer at the images popping up in his mind. “Uh, yeah! Hundred percent!”

“Oh, thank god. See you, Kirishima!”

“Buh-bye, Uraraka!” 

Turning back to his friends, Eijirou hopes Katsuki has the best last week of UA possible. 

Katsuki gives a silent thanks to whatever gods had been fucking him over that Aizawa isn’t in the classroom today during their lunch period. No one was going to come looking for him either. No one even tolerated him anymore, and Eijirou probably thought he needed space. 

Aizawa’s desk is a mess in the drawers. Papers stuffed in thick packs that could burst out of the drawer. The ones in the bottom drawer were old lesson plans. When he moves to the top drawer of the desk, he’s met with graded papers. Kaminari’s scoring an average of 70s on his stuff. Being honest, it’s better than usual. Kirishima’s doing pretty good, in the 80s.

He moves to the front of the ordered papers. Grabbing a recent assignment he did in class, Katsuki eyes the neat Bakugou written at the top. 

67%. 

He wasn’t very keen on studying these days. Katsuki shuts the drawer.

Moving his sights to the desk top, he shifts his focus to the letter tray to the left. He flips through the papers, but he just sees copies of class assignments they were going to do today. 

On the last tray, he sees a paper with highlighter circles and his classmates’ names grouped in different ways. Katsuki pulls it out. 

It’s a school trip plan. In the second week of August. Three days of all the students being out of the dorms.

All Might will be there with them. That’s what Dabi’s boss— what their boss wants. If Katsuki gets these plans to Dabi and their group, they’ll trust him. An ex-UA student won’t sound so bad to them if he tells them where exactly All Might will be for three days. 

It’s perfect. Dabi was right. Katsuki’s getting a giddy feeling at the thought of Best Jeanist showing up. Those lazy eyes under that stiff, blond hair widening in shock. In shock of his former mentee turning on all of them. Katsuki turning on them, socking Jeanist in the face amidst the shock, and—

And he gets his revenge.

Katsuki likes the adrenaline that bubbles within him.

He feels himself blanch when he hears a doorknob click. Katsuki shoves the paper in his pocket, it crinkles, but he doesn’t pay much mind to it. 

Brown eyes widen at the sight of him. “Bakugou. Why’re you back there?”

Katsuki narrows his eyes at her. “Why do you care?”

Round cheeks furrows her eyebrows. “I care because you’re behind the teacher’s desk. What’re you doing?”

Katsuki shrugs. “I can’t sneak a look at my grades?” 

She crosses her arms. “I find that hard to believe. Y’know, I heard Kirishima at lunch.”

He frowns. “The hell’re you talking about?”

“You’re going to prison, so it’s true that you actually… killed that guy. Why?”

Katsuki scrunches his face up. He’s uncomfortable with where this is going. “He was gonna blow some kids’ brains out.” He shrugs. “Doesn’t fucking matter why anymore, does it?”

Uraraka steps towards him. “Really? The straight-A, obsessed with being Number 1 guy in my class makes a mistake like that?”

“Wasn’t a mistake-”

“At the Sports Festival, that stunt you pulled could’ve killed me. But your concentration was so good, it just blew the wind out of me.”

Katsuki shrugs. “So?”

“How does the same guy just make a mistake that costs him everything?”

And Katsuki doesn’t know what to tell her. He could barely get it out in front of Eijirou. Nobody knows. Nobody knows. Nobody knows that he’s been on the edge since the internships. Nobody knows. 

He’s too far gone now. He’s in it with Dabi, he’s got three years at the least waiting for him in a prison cell, and that damn monitor on his ankle feels like he’s dragging a cinder block. He hates that it bothers him so much. He’s taking class plans to bring to a villain so they can beat down All Might. All Might. For revenge. 

So that the man who ruined Katsuki can suffer. So Katsuki can rest easier at night knowing he’s not roaming around anymore. 

He’s already crossed the line. 

So, like a real villain, Katsuki grabs Uraraka’s shirt collar. He growls at her. “Shut the fuck up. You don’t know shit, Cheeks. You don’t know fucking anything.”

Her resolve powers through. It’s the same he saw at the Sports Festival. “I know how to tell when there’s something wrong!”

Katsuki leans closer. “Yeah? If you know so much, you’d know I’m not past blowing some extra’s brains out either.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He charges up his free hand, heat permeating from it with a waiting explosion. “Wanna believe it?” He hovers it beside her head. 

Five fingers touch his wrist, and Katsuki panics. He goes against gravity and begins floating. The panic welling up in him makes the hand he’d heated up explode, the impact sending him flying backwards. He gasps at the hit his back takes against the classroom wall. 

He wheezes when he stands, hand against the wall balancing his weight. “Fuck, asshole.”

Uraraka looks surprised. “I- I just meant to make your hand go away.” What she said feels painfully familiar to Katsuki. Her face does a bunch of conflicting things that Katsuki doesn’t have the energy to decipher. She leaves the classroom. He has no idea why she even came here in the first place. All he knows is that he’s gotta get these plans to Dabi and fast. 

His hands pop loudly with explosions, and Katsuki growls. “Tell anyone you saw me here and you’re fucking dead, Cheeks.”

Uraraka’s brown eyes twitch with caution, but her brows harden with bravery. “You don’t scare me.”

“You gonna snitch on me for doing what? Plus, you just threw me at a wall.” He grins, and he feels like he’s standing over Deku with his two middle school lackeys behind him. “Who’s gonna get punished more, huh?”

She pales, and Katsuki knows why. He’s got something over her. “What were you doing back there?”

“I told ya. I was checking my grades.”

“Why? You’re going to prison. Your grades don’t matter anymore.”

He crosses his arms. “I can’t check Eijirou’s? Wanna know my boyfriend’s doing good before I’m locked up.”

Uraraka’s mouth twitches. “You’re lying. I know you are.”

Katsuki shrugs. “You want me to tell Aizawa you just tried knocking me out unconscious?”

“He wouldn’t believe you.”

“He’s already got one murderer in his class, what’s to say he won’t take an assault too?”

Uraraka licks her lips. “Fine. You’re a criminal anyway.” She’s almost mumbling the words, the lack of kindness foreign to her tongue. “Like you said, it’s not like whatever you do matters anymore.” With that, she turns and leaves. 

Katsuki’s adrenaline shoots like a bullet through his body for a split second.

Oh, she’s got no idea what he’s got planned with that Scarface motherfucker.