Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tar was filling his lungs. He tried to escape, tried to scrape it off, tried to get it out. It was hopeless. There wasn't a source he could blast, only endless oil pouring from inside him, encasing him, pulling at him, drowning him.

Katsuki Bakugou had just enough time to see All-Might reach for him before he was gone. In that single moment of darkness, of being totally lost, of what he imagined death must be like, he had a single thought burning in his mind.

'If God exists, I'm going to kick his ass for putting me through this shit twice.'

Air rushed back into him, he was coughing and hacking, he was alive. Red eyes blinked open and he stumbled back. Back from what? Where was he?

Looking around, it seemed he was in the epicenter of a new battlefield. There was a large masked man in a suit in front of him, who seemed unconcerned by what just occurred. Everything about him set Katsuki's nerves on edge, but he didn't cower. Katsuki dropped himself into a fighting stance, ready for whatever this fucker had in store. The man only tilted his head, amused. 

Nothing he was doing screamed villain, but Katsuki knew to trust his gut. Whoever this asshole was, he was bad news. Quickly, he glanced around to assess his situation, never turning his back to the man.

Hm. Okay. Still in the city. From the looks of it, he didn't appear to have gone far. The sirens from outside the bar were now a distant screech, but still audible. The heroes would be here soon.

Hopefully, he would still be here when they caught up.

"My apologies, young Katsuki. I know that's not the most pleasant way to travel. Don't worry, you shouldn’t need to do it again."

The goop returned, but further from him, shaping other forms. Other people. Fuck, it was the assholes from the bar. Katsuki was surrounded again, his only comfort being that the others didn't seem to know what was going on either.

Part of him was itching to fight. The element of surprise was the only advantage he had, but he held himself back. Stalling for time was going to be his best option. He didn't know what the new guy's powers were, and the other heroes would be here soon. Hopefully. 

The hand-covered fucker spoke first.

"Sensei, I'm sorry. I failed you."

So, this guy was the boss Mr. Hands had mentioned before? What the fuck?

"Don't worry Tomura, we all make mistakes sometimes. It's all a part of the learning process. You still have plenty of time to try again. I'll help you as I always do, just don't give up."

What The Fuck.

Katsuki bared his teeth as the villains’ attention swung back to him. Oh, fuck no. They weren’t getting away with that shit.

"Oi asshole, the only ‘lessons’ any of you fuckers are learning from me is how much it hurts to get your fucking teeth punched in, and what a goddamn jail cell looks like!"

The man chuckled in response, tone uncomfortably pleased. 

"What fire this one has! You've chosen wisely Tomura, he'll be a very important pawn."

Part of Katsuki really fucking wanted to tell this asshole that there was no such thing as an important pawn. Pawns were identical and all worth the exact same which was the damn point of them. A pawn could be in an important position, but the pawn itself wasn't actually important. Also, he was a fucking human being, and he sure as fuck wasn’t ‘chosen’ or Shigaraki’s pawn.

However, calling this dickhead out for not knowing how chess worked wasn't currently high on Katsuki's list of priorities. Probably higher than it should be, but not as high as ‘not letting the asshole who turns shit into marbles’ grab him. Which, it turns out, was a big part of his life right now.

Dodging forward, Katsuki managed to zip between the clone guy and Ms. Stabby. This put him closer to 'Sensei' than he would've liked, but oh well. Better than being a marble.

Surprisingly, the man made no move to grab Katsuki, Instead, he extended out a weird tree formation towards the mist-guy on the ground, opening up a portal.

Katsuki had no idea where that portal went, but he was not going to fucking find out. Using his explosions, he managed to duck away from Mr. Compress and the woman who could magnetize shit just in the nick of time, hopping back a fair distance from the portal. Alright, he could do this.

"Take him and go Tomura. I'll handle things here."

"Good luck with that, asshole!" Katsuki shouted in response before the guy with the crusty lips could reply. Fuckhands swung his head towards him, and instead of replying to his Sensei, he lunged for Katsuki.

Fuck.

At the very least the guy was grabbing with four fingers, he was trying to catch Katsuki rather than kill him. That meant Katsuki didn't really have to worry about him. He was a distraction. Just had to keep away long enough for the heroes to catch up. That was all.

What was taking them so long?

Shigaraki grabbed at Katsuki a second time, and this time Katsuki decided he needed a more aggressive offensive. He’d given Shigaraki an explosion to the face earlier, but he’d been trying to make noise more than hurt him. Seriously injuring the guy might’ve triggered the others to kill him regardless of how much energy they’d put into catching him. Katsuki no longer gave a fuck about that. 

Rather than dodging like Shigaraki expected, Katsuki launched himself forward towards Shigaraki’s grasp. It was a risky as fuck move, but it paid off. Shigaraki jerked backwards, hands snapping into fists to avoid accidentally decaying Katsuki. The movement threw the asshole off-balance, giving Katsuki the perfect opening for a full force two-handed explosion. Those stupid hands were knocked off in all directions as Shigaraki flew clear across the battlefield, slamming into a building. Probably not going to take him out of the fight, but that must've hurt like hell. 

It seemed that Mr. Suit hadn’t been expecting that, one hand darting out and posture going tense as he shouted after the blue haired man-child. 

“Tomura!”

The other villains were thrown off by the move, and Katsuki was able to whip around, giving the marble guy a face full of explosion too. It wasn’t as strong as the one he hit Shigaraki with, but it still knocked him back quite a ways.

Spinning himself with another explosion, Katsuki had been about to make a break for it when something grabbed his collar, slamming him to the ground.

That was going to sting in the morning. Right now he didn’t have time to feel the pain, he jumped back to his feet, only to freeze when his eyes unblurred. 

The man in the suit was now 10 or so paces in front of him. Bad, but not impossible to deal with.

What was much, much worse was the blue-clad figure now in his grasp. 

Best Jeanist looked like he was on death’s door, he clearly wasn't conscious, and this asshole had one hand hovering above his face. 

“That wasn’t very polite Katsuki.”

He couldn’t breath, couldn’t move, couldn’t think of a plan. When had this fucker managed to take down Best Jeanist? What was the guy even doing here? He hadn’t been a part of the rescue team at the bar, at least not that Katsuki had seen. 

The guy didn’t seem offended by his lack of response, pressing on. 

“You’re quite the troublesome child, particularly with that quirk of yours. I wasn’t planning to do this, but unfortunately I can’t risk letting you hurt Tomura any further.”

What the fuck was he talking about? Katsuki glanced towards the other villains, but none of them seemed to know shit. Shigaraki had stumbled back to his feet while the rest were staying back, allowing the boss to handle Katsuki. The man took a step towards him. It took everything Katsuki had to suppress his instinct to attack, but he managed. Couldn’t risk the guy taking it out on Jeanist. He waited for the other to either make a clear threat or do something, glaring the asshole down. The other paid his angry gaze no mind, his tone conversational. As if they were discussing the goddamn weather. 

“I’ll be honest, I don’t particularly mind if I have to kill him today. However, it does seem like an awful waste, doesn’t it? He was so brave earlier, so strong, so heroic when he protected his allies. I was going to spare him for that. I’m still willing to let him live. In fact, I’ll even heal him now to make your choice a little easier.”

As the man spoke, a glow spread out from the hand that was holding Jeanist up, and the heroes wounds began to close. He was still out cold, but his breathing evened out and the only sign he had been damaged was his battered clothing. The glow reappeared, now seeming to pull something back from Jeanist. 

“There we go, all better now.”

Katsuki hated this asshole's fucking voice. Hated how the man sounded calm, polite, formal. How he sounded like he was talking to a toddler or something. The other's free hand reached down to cradle Jeanist’s face. Katsuki’s own palms twitched as he barely suppressed the powerful urge to launch himself at the fucker and blow those hands off his fucking body. 

“Now Katsuki, if you’d like him to stay alive, you’re going to come here quietly. If you try to attack me or escape, I’m afraid I’ll be forced to kill him.”

It felt like his teeth would shatter from how hard he was gritting them, but Katsuki didn’t have a choice. There was no way in hell he was going to let this asshole kill Jeanist. All he could do was slowly shuffle forward, drawing out the movements as much as he dared, hoping it might buy time for the other pro-heroes to catch up. 

One step away from the man, he paused, unsure of what the guy wanted from him now. 

“Hold out your arm. Either one will do.”

Probably going to drug him if he did it. Unfortunately, Katsuki didn’t have any other options. Slowly he extended his right arm, careful to keep his palm downwards so it didn’t look like an attack.  In a single smooth movement the man tossed Jeanist aside, reaching out to grab Katsuki by the wrist. It took everything Katsuki had not to startle and dodge or try to catch Jeanist. The hero was tough, and the guy in the suit hadn’t thrown him hard, he’d be alright.

Besides, Katsuki had a much more pressing problem to deal with. 

“This will hurt a bit, my apologies. Don’t fret about the loss though, I’ll give it back once you’ve learned to behave.”

There was no time for him to puzzle out what the fuck that meant because there was a searing pain in his arm where the man grabbed him. His hand was glowing just like it had before he healed Jeanist, but it was pretty fucking clear the guy was not trying to heal him. It felt like he was trying to pull out Katsuki’s blood from under his skin.

Katsuki didn’t know what the fuck was going on, he didn’t know what this asshole was trying to do, or what this pain was, but he knew he wasn’t going to go down without a fucking fight. With Jeanist safely out of the guy’s reach, Katsuki pulled back with everything he had. 

There was no physical movement involved. It wasn’t like the guy was yanking on his arm or something. In all honesty, Katsuki wasn’t sure what the fuck either of them were actually doing, but it felt like tug of war with his soul. 

The man in the suit seemed…Tense? Upset? Confused? It was hard to tell. His voice came out as a hiss. His pull weakened ever so slightly.

“What the...” 

Katsuki took the chance, he grabbed hold of whatever the fuck it was they were fighting for, and he yanked as hard as he fucking could. 

At that very moment, All-Might finally caught up to them. Katsuki didn’t hear him arrive, laser focused on not letting this asshole win. The man in the suit did notice All-Might’s arrival, startling. As All-Might rushed towards him, he lost his focus while Katsuki redoubled his own efforts. 

In both the physical and metaphysical sense, Mr. Smith lost his grip on Katsuki.

There was a heartbeat or two where Katsuki could only feel the weird combat they’d been locked in. When the guy let go of his end of the rope, it was like Katsuki was flung backwards from the force he’d been using, the rope coming with him as he fell off a cliff. Then the world came crashing back around him, his legs giving out from underneath him as he struggled to breath again.

 All-Might smashed into the man sending him across the battlefield, catching Katsuki as he stumbled. 

“Young Bakugou, please tell me I wasn’t too late, did he manage to-” 

“I’m fine.” His limbs felt like they were made of lead, but Katsuki wasn’t injured. There was no reason for him to be this fucking exhusted. All-Might set him down gently, and Katsuki pushed away from him. Even though he almost fell, he really did not want to be touching All-Might right now. It was making him feel sick to his stomach for some reason. 

Instinctively he threw his hands out to the side to steady himself, letting out little explosions to rebalance his weight. For some reason, All-Might tensed up behind him, mumbling something Katsuki couldn’t make sense of.

“He didn’t? but…” 

Neither of them had time to think about it. The asshole in the suit had recovered from the blow and was pushing himself back to his feet. Even without eyes, Katsuki could feel the man was staring at him. From his posture he appeared unsettled, shocked by something. Actually, now that he was able to look around a little more, all the villain assholes were watching him in shock. Shigaraki’s creepy grin had been wiped off his face, a look of disbelief in its place.

Glancing behind him, even All-Might was watching him with a shocked expression. Katsuki did a mental once-over of himself. 

Did he sprout horns or wings? Nope. Still the same size as before. Skin was the same color. He didn’t feel any different. Or well, he felt really fucking tired, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. So what the hell?

Whatever it was, All-Might shook it off first. 

“The others are almost here, you need to go now Young Bakugou. I will take care of everything here.”

Right. Katsuki quickly evaluated his position and the others near him. The villains tensed, ready to grab for him again, but the only ones he was really worried about were on the other side of the battlefield, well away from him. Still, they were in a city. He couldn’t risk leading them on a chase through the streets. His eyes darted to where Jeanist’s body had fallen. All-Might wouldn’t be able to fight safely with either of them nearby. 

“Can you make a smokescreen? I’ve got a plan.”

His teacher grinned at him and his fist slammed towards the ground without pause. Katsuki darted forward at the same time, spurring the villains out of their shock and into action. Too late, assholes. 

When All-Might’s fist hit the ground, it shattered the already damaged and rubble filled landscape, kicking up a huge cloud of dust that covered the entire battlefield. None of the villains could see to target their attacks or try to catch Katsuki. The fucker in the suit lunged forward, but All-Might intercepted him, holding him back. 

One of the tough things about using explosions to fight, was they were bright as fuck. Katsuki’s eyes had adjusted to the constant sudden bright lights, so they didn’t stun him or leave him blinded afterwards. However, that didn’t mean he could see while he was using them. Instead, he had to fix locations in his mind and navigate without seeing 80-90% of what he was doing. It was hard as hell to learn at first, but it sure as fuck came in handy now. The smokescreen didn’t do shit to hinder him, but none of the other fuckers on the field knew how to fight blind. 

He grabbed Jeanist with one hand and launched himself with the other. Since the other had been healed up, Katsuki was able to maneuver the other without fear of harming him.

Flying one handed was a pain and a half, not to mention how fucking tired he was, but the threat of death was a pretty fucking good motivator. He could hear the villains yelling below him. They couldn't reach him though so he paid them no mind. All his focus was on getting as far from the fight as he possibly could. It paid off too, Katsuki's flight took him higher than he'd ever gone before. The good news was it meant he'd land pretty fucking far from the battlefield, and none of those assholes could fly. The bad news was that he wasn't exactly sure how he was going to land. The explosion he'd launched himself with had taken almost everything Katsuki had left.

Oh, and apparently the fuckers were trying some shit behind him. He could hear something else whooshing through the air and braced himself to get hit.

There was a sudden shift in air pressure behind him, and Katsuki twisted his neck just in time to see Mt. Lady expanding to her full height, blocking the assholes who'd gone after him.

So, that just left him with the issue of landing. He was in the clear now, at least as far as he could tell, so he aimed for a nearby park. Jeanist was flipped so he was now on Katsuki's back, if worse came to worst, he should be alright at least. There was some comfort to be had in that if nothing else about this stupid night.

He did try to slow himself down, he launched several smaller explosions, but they were little more than sparks by this point. Alright.

This was going to hurt.

Katsuki braced himself as he slammed into the ground. God he wished he had his hero costume on right now, his boots and gloves were made for exactly this sort of shit.

Skidding through the dirt and grass, his arms got scratched up pretty badly and his whole body felt the force of the impact. Ugh. Didn't feel like he broke anything though. Small mercies.

After giving himself a few seconds to breathe, Katsuki pushed himself up into a sitting position. It only took a moment for him to get Jeanist off his back and laying next to him. The guy was still out cold, but he seemed alright otherwise. Nothing more than a few scratches. His pulse felt strong under Katsuki's fingers.

Katsuki wanted to do more. He wanted to get back up and see if there was any way he could help. See if there were people who needed evacuating, or find his way to whatever the closest police station or hero agency was. Escaping on his own had taken the last of his energy though, and Katsuki found his vision going dark. There were people nearby, civilians. At least one of them was approaching him, wide eyes and tense posture. They were saying something, but Katsuki couldn't make it out. His hearing felt fuzzy.

"C’an yo’u ‘all 911?"

It was mumbled out. Fuck. He couldn't even form words properly. The impact might've shaken his brain a little more than he'd been anticipating. Thankfully, the person got the message, they turned to someone else nearby and he could see them dialing. That was good. Someone would be here to help soon.

Emboldened, the first person came closer, getting a good look at Jeanist. Ah. Yeah. The guy probably looked a bit dead right now. It was hard to see his breathing through the costume. He was also pretty easy to recognize as a pro-hero.  

"He's a’live."

Katsuki didn't know if the person heard him or not. All he could manage was getting those words out, and then he felt his body finally give up. Darkness overtook his vision, and he was falling backwards into an empty void.

Fuck.

He hoped he'd gotten far enough away.

Guess he'd get to find out when he woke up.

“Kacchan?”

It felt like he’d been hit by a bus filled with bricks. 

“Katsuki?” 

 Ugh. Both his boyfriends were here then. Maybe he could fake being asleep for a few more minutes. 

“Katsuki, we know you’re awake.”

Damn it, Shouto. 

With a sigh, Katsuki forced his eyes to open. Bright light assaulted him, and he reeled back. After several seconds of blinking, he managed to get the world into focus. 

Shouto and Izuku were at his bedside. Izuku was already teary eyed and Katsuki only had a moment to catch his breath before his crybaby boyfriend was on him, sobbing into his shoulder and clutching him.

For once, Katsuki didn’t protest. He let Izuku cry, moving his hands to rub at his shoulders and waiting for him to calm down. Red eyes moved to look up at his other boyfriend, who wasn’t much better off. While the other wasn’t crying his heart out like Izuku was, he was shaking, and both of his hands were clasped to the hem of Katsuki’s shirt. As if Katsuki might vanish if he let go. 

“Did anyone die?”

It wasn't the first question he should ask, but it was the one he needed to know. It had been in the middle of a city. Attacks like that were bound to cause casualties.

"No, no deaths reported. The heroes evacuated the surrounding areas before they moved in for the rescue attempt."

Shouto answered him in a too calm tone that Katsuki hated because it meant there was something else wrong. Something else that he didn't want to say. He'd need to keep prying then.

"How many injured?"

"Only a handful of serious injuries. One civilian who was drunk and didn't evacuate. The injured pro-heroes are all receiving treatment and mostly in stable condition."

"Did they catch any of the villains?"

Both his boyfriend's tensed, and Katsuki knew he'd hit the nail on the head. Fuck. Seconds ticked by in the hospital room that now felt too large and too empty.

"They... Three villains were captured at the training camp. All three have been arrested and dealt with. They also were able to destroy almost all the Nomu that were at the factory."

That was all he needed to hear.

"But the rest of them got away. All the actual villains."

Izuku pressed his face more firmly into Katsuki's side. It told him enough.

"All-Might, he was able to seriously injury the man known as All for One. He won the fight, but... All for One had been cautious. He left himself an escape route. Said something about needing to live to try another day."

Ah fuck. So he was never going to sleep again. That seemed like the only reasonable and fair response to the threat left hanging over him. There was something else there though. He looked down at Izuku, knowing the other could feel his gaze and would give in. His boyfriend squirmed and tried to ignore it for almost a full minute, a new record for him, before finally giving up the ghost.

"All-Might, he. He's retired. It's-. It was coming for awhile, but, he, he used the last of his power to beat All for One."

Oh. 

“He- He ended up pretty badly injured. It’s- well- I mean.” Izuku had to pause for a few seconds, and Katsuki could feel the tears against his side. He already knew what his boyfriend was going to say, but he needed to hear it out loud. Finally, Shouto cut in to say what Izuku couldn’t. 

“All-Might had several pre-existing injuries including lost organs. He’s not dead yet, but… they’re not sure if he’ll make it to the end of the year. The injuries are too severe and his body was already heavily damaged.”

Katsuki had fucked up plenty of times in his life. Plenty of times. Anything from social interaction, to homework assignments, to trying to use his quirk. You name it, he'd messed it up.

He never thought he could ever fuck up this badly though.

Getting the world's best hero killed because he hadn't been able to stop some gang of assholes from kidnapping him.

Fuckers got away too.

"Best Jeanist is okay though, it was really weird, he was totally fine once he woke up. Just some bruises from when All for One tossed him around. He came by to see you yesterday, said he hopes you make a quick recovery. It was really good that you got him out of there, All-Might's fight, well, it was totally badass but he wouldn't have been able to use any of his big attacks like he did if there'd been someone else on the battlefield."

There was some comfort in that if nothing else. Katsuki closed his eyes and listened to his boyfriend ramble on about the battle, comparing quirk use, tactics, raw strength. Then he turned those words over in his mind again.

"Wait."

Instantly Izuku stopped talking, frozen like a statue. Weird.

"How long was I out for?"

Both his boyfriends relaxed. So, there was something else they were hiding from him. He’d need to get to the bottom of whatever that was too. For the moment he waited for Shouto’s answer. 

"About 3 days now. You had three fractured ribs and a lot of little injuries. The ribs weren’t completely snapped, but when your landing in the park jostled them and caused a bit of internal bleeding. Between that and exhaustion, they had to do surgery instead of Recovery Girl healing you right away. Yesterday you were finally well enough for her to heal you, and since then we've been waiting for you to wake up."

Alright. Three days wasn't bad. He could live with three days missing. Now time to figure out what it was that these two were trying to keep from him, because Katsuki was many things, but he was not dumb. He could tell when people were trying to hide shit from him. Particularly these two, since they were both absolute crap at lying.

Before he could begin his interrogation, a figure appeared in the doorway. 

It took several seconds for Katsuki to recognize his teacher out of his hero costume and with how fucking exhusted he looked.

Aizawa took in the three of them before sighing and dropping his head. Despite the slump to his shoulders, there was a slight smile on his lips Katsuki could just barely make out. Said smile faded when he looked up, face growing serious as he looked towards Shouto for some reason. Katsuki’s eyes darted between the two, trying to figure out what he was missing.

“Did he lose it?”

Well that was fucking rude, even by Aizawa’s standards. Sure, Katsuki could be a bit temperamental at times but he’d only just woken up and- wait. Nope. Something else was going on here. The look on Shouto’s face as the other glanced at Katsuki’s hands before replying only confused him further. 

“He only just woke up, there hasn’t been a chance for…”

That’s it. They were done playing the ‘don’t tell Katsuki what’s wrong game’. 

“Alright fuckers, what are you hiding from me?”

Thankfully, his teacher also lacked the patience for that game. 

“Use your quirk.”

Katsuki narrowed his eyes, but was cut off as he opened his mouth to ask how the fuck he was meant to do that in a hopsital bed.

“I don’t mean blow up the entire damn room, just test it. Anything works.”

At some point he better get some fucking answers for what the hell was happening here. With a roll of his eyes, Katuski lifted the arm Izuku wasn’t clinging onto and opened his hand. It took a few seconds, he was still fucking exhausted and his nitroglycerin production always went down when he was injured, but sure enough a set of sparks flew from his palm. 

Everyone else in the room slumped in relief like puppets with their strings cut. Izuku redoubled his efforts to meld with Katsuki’s side, Shouto dropped into one of the chairs by the bedside with his hands still gripping Katsuki and Aziawa brought his hands up to rub tiredly at his face. What the fuck were the rest of them so relived about? His hands hadn’t even been injured, why would his quirk be fucked up?

“Now will one of you assholes tell me what’s going on?”

It was Aizawa that answered him.

“Good question. As far as we can tell, you might be the most contrary kid to walk the damn planet.”

Red eyes narrowed back down to a glare. That was not a damn answer. Izuku piped up beside him to elaborate. 

“You know the man in the suit who warped you away? All for One?”

A nod, yeah, of course, how could he forget the dickhead? 

Actually, wait, the fucker was called All for One?

What a stupid fucking name. 

Okay, not the most important part of this conversation. 

“Well his quirk, it lets him transfer other people’s quirks. He’s been doing it for a long time, stealing quirks and stuff, and we also think it’s how he makes Nomus. It requires physical contact for him to do it…”

“So he was trying to take my quirk? That’s what he was threatening Jeanist for?”

“We think so, yeah. It’s also how he healed Jeanist, he transferred over a healing quirk and took it back.” 

Huh. Well, that whole encounter made a lot more fucking sense now. Still didn’t explain why all of them were so scared about him having lost his quirk.

“Why were you lot being so weird about me still having my quirk then? I mean, sure, the guy tried to take my quirk, but he didn’t have enough time to do it. I used it to escape from that whole mess. Why would I have lost it after that?”

Aizawa spoke up again, stepping further into the room to drop himself into a chair to the side of Katsuki’s bed.

“Well, we still don’t know why the hell you still have your quirk. Ragdoll lost hers during the attack, consistent with every other case we’ve discovered. Everything we know about his quirk says you shouldn’t have been able to use it to escape, so it was anyone’s guess whether or not you’d keep it.”

Before Katsuki could ask more questions, Izuku filled in the blanks for him, voice quiet with awe.

“His quirk… it’s not supposed to take time. Or well, it takes a few seconds at most. Once he makes contact, a person’s quirk is as good as gone. That’s how it’s supposed to work anyways, but somehow you broke the rules. It was a solid minute between when he made contact and when All-Might finally arrived on the battlefield. There’s no recorded cases of that happening before. All-Might’s been fighting this guy for ages and even he had no idea how you did it. All for One himself seemed really confused about it too, I don’t think he’s seen this before either.” 

That… that was a lot to take in. Katsuki gave himself a little bit of time to think it over. Even though he didn’t want to, he replayed the memories of that moment in a new light. His dual-toned boyfriend was the one who finally spoke up, asking what all of them had been thinking.

“How’d you do it?”

Grimacing, Katsuki struggled to find an answer that would make sense. 

“I dunno, I could… I could feel him tugging at something but I didn’t really know what was happening or what it was he was doing. Felt like he was trying to steal my soul or some shit like that. Even though I didn’t understand what the hell he was trying to do, I knew that I wasn’t going to sit there and let that asshole take it. So I grabbed hold of whatever the fuck it was and tugged back with everything I had.”

He finished with a shrug. Aizawa nodded, leaning back in his chair as he contemplated Katsuki’s answer. As much as Katsuki wished he could say there was a magic off button he’d found, there wasn’t. Just his own instinctive, spiteful refusal to let a dickhead like that win. 

“Well, good to know it can be resisted. Keep checking your quirk for the next couple of days to ensure there’s no lasting effects. Anything feels off, let us know right away.”

It was Katsuki’s turn to nod, silence filling the room as all of them thought over this new information.

Izuku shifted himself so he could lay more comfortably against Katsuki’s side, now fully stretched out on the bed. If he didn’t know better, Katsuki would swear he had a leech quirk of some kind. Sucking out Katsuki’s natural intimidation abilities by shamelessly snuggling him every chance he got. Shouto had shifted himself too, so he was now slumped on top of Izuku and Katsuki’s mid-sections. Now that he had a moment to really look at them, both his boyfriends looked exhausted. 

Actually, now that he was looking at them, he noticed a red mark on Shouto’s wrist. There was one on the other wrist too. 

“What the fuck happened to your hands Icyhot?”

Both of his boyfriends going red in embarrassment wasn’t the result Katsuki was expecting, but it was amusing to see regardless. Interestingly enough, Aizawa answered him with a snort. 

“That would be from the restraints I had to put on him after his third attempt to break out of house arrest. Your boyfriends and several of your classmates decided that it was a good idea for them to attempt to rescue you themselves. Thankfully, I had a feeling they were going to try something and managed to stop them before they got themselves killed.”

As much as Katsuki loved them, sometimes (most of the time), his boyfriends were total idiots. Neither of them would make eye contact with him, refusing to meet his unamused gaze. 

“We were worried... “

Izuku couldn’t even finish his weak justification before he was burying his face in Katsuki’s chest again. Even though he was disappointed in both of them for even thinking about something that stupid, and the thought that they might’ve gotten hurt because of him was terrifying, Katsuki couldn’t help being a bit touched. 

They were both idiots, but they were his idiots, and it warmed a deep part of his heart to know they cared about him that much.

Huffing sigh he let his eyes fall closed again. Whatever. He could yell at them when he wasn’t so fucking tired. 

When Katsuki woke up next, both his boyfriends were gone. Unsurprising as the clock in the room said it was 2 AM. Visiting hours were over. He felt oddly watched though. 

Probably just paranoia. 

No more than a few minutes later he was out like a light. 

All-Might was nearby. Even though he was confined to the hospital, the former symbol of peace was in high spirits. When Katsuki finally worked up the courage to visit him, accompanied by both of his boyfriends, he’d been greeted by that same big smile. 

It was nice of him to pretend he didn’t hate Katsuki. Probably for Izuku’s sake. Really, Izuku should hate Katsuki more than anyone else for taking away the closest thing he had to a father figure. Izuku should hate Katsuki for whole fucking lot of reasons. He didn’t though, for some stupid reason he still loved Katsuki like the idiot he was. More than once Katsuki had wanted to tell him he ought to leave, tell Izuku he ought to run as far away as he possibly could, but he was selfish at his core. He couldn’t bare the thought of losing Izuku, not with All-Might laying on what would probably be his deathbed. 

So instead he sat in the hospital room and pretended alongside everyone else. Thanked All-Might for saving him, smiled and pretend this wasn’t all his fault. If he did anything else, Izuku and Shouto would be upset and he’d already hurt them enough. 

The next day he was cleared to leave the hospital. As glad as he was to escape the unnaturally white rooms, and headache inducing lighting, Katsuki couldn’t help but regard his departure bittersweetly. 

It wasn't all bad. Kinda.

He was escorted home by Best Jeanist and Aizawa, they didn't want to risk too large of an escort drawing attention, but they were also well aware he was still at risk. At the very least current information suggested the villains were too busy recouping to bother with him. That was nice.

His house was only about half an hour from the hospital, but it took them about two hours to get there. Taking long, twisty routes to avoid being followed. He didn't need to ask to know they'd already pulled his address and any trace of where he lived from his file.

Of course, that only helped if the villains hadn't already stolen the information.

Katsuki stepped out of the car to see his house at long last. Home sweet home. Or something like that. It was hard, but he tried to keep the tension out of his shoulders, keep his gaze level and didn't spark off his palms. It'd look weird if he acted like a bitch about going back to his own goddamn house. Didn't want that. Didn't want to look weak, not when he'd already fucked up and gotten himself kidnapped. Couldn't be any weaker.

After hesitating for only a moment, he grabbed his bag and slid out of the car. Jeanist and Aizawa stepped behind him, both looking like they had something to say. For fuck's sake, he was going to have to deal with emotions, wasn't he?

The two shared a glance before Jeanist took the initiative. Aizawa stepped back a little ways, just enough to give them a vague concept of privacy. Unsure, Katsuki couldn't do much but eye the man in front of him and wait for him to get it over with.

Jeanist's eyes softened, shoulders slipping down from their usual formal posture, one hand moving out ever so gently to take Katsuki's shoulder.

It took a lot not to flinch at the contact, but he managed. Lots of practice helped.

"I..." The hero paused, considering his words. "I wanted to thank you, and apologize."

"For what?" Katsuki didn't mean to blurt out his words like that, but he was too shocked to control himself. If anything Katsuki owed him an apology, he'd almost gotten him killed twice trying to save him from some two-bit gang of dickheads. Green eyes scrunched up a bit in concern, but he wasn't scolded for the outburst.

"For my own failings on that battlefield, I was horrified to find out that you were very nearly taken again by the villains, and had I dealt with All for One properly, you would never have had to face him. Let alone the fact that my life was used against you." A beat passed before Jeanist continued. "Should a situation like that ever occur in the future, please know I would never want you to put yourself in harm's way for me."

That got a snort from Katsuki. "You had me as an intern, you know exactly how much I care about doing what you want."

Alright, that might sound a little mean, but it was true! Probably should add to it though. 

"That guy had like 15 fucking quirks and every advantage in that fight, it took everything All-Might had to take him down. It's not your fault you couldn't do it. If anything, you being there bought me a good amount of time. I was only able to stall because he decided to grab you as a hostage instead of just grabbing me and going for it. Even putting that shit aside, I still would've done it because that's what a hero is fucking supposed to do. I’d do it again too, if it comes down to it." After a second of thought, he added, "Heroes don’t make excuses; they do whatever they have to do, right?"

Jeanist's expression was hard to read. Maybe frustrated. Maybe worried. Maybe a little bit proud. He ended up staring at Katsuki for a few seconds before sighing. It wasn't a disappointed sigh, more like resigned.

"You know, before I took you on as an intern, I was warned about how stubborn you could be. I thought they must've been exaggerating, there was no way you were that bad.” He huffed a small laugh. "I suppose I was wrong. Though I think the real mistake was I was warned as if it was a bad thing."

Katsuki wasn't exactly sure how to reply to that, he felt like it was a compliment but he wasn't quite sure. After a moment, Jeanist's gaze softened again.

"For all that it might make your life more complicated, your determination is one of your better traits. I hope it's something you hold onto as you grow."

All Katsuki could do was nod. He felt like any praise was unearned right now, but he also felt like maybe determination was something he could accept praise on, if nothing else. At the very least, even though he'd been weak and fucking stupid and gotten himself caught, he hadn't given up. He hadn't stopped trying. It was the only redeeming part of the whole situation. Jeanist took his nod for acceptance and glanced back towards Aizawa.

"Stay safe Katsuki, and I'll look forward to seeing where you go as a hero."

With that, he was stepping away, going back to the car while Aizawa stepped forward. Katsuki was still left stunned by his former mentor's parting words so it took a few seconds before he could look up at his teacher. Aizawa was patient, waiting for his gaze before he started on his own little speech.

"Alright, I'm sure you already know most of this but I'm supposed to go over it with you anyways. Stay in your house, we'll be keeping in touch with you, and your family over the summer, but the less you're outside the better. Keep your phone on you at all times, and if anything feels wrong you call me, the police, or another teacher. Even if it's not a full attack or you're not sure, we'd much rather be safe than sorry. Obviously, don't go talking to strangers or anything like that."

At that Katsuki rolled his eyes and snorted, having recovered from his flustered state.

"I'm not dumb. I'm not going to go looking for these assholes or try to get myself caught."

His teacher glared at him for a few seconds, but relented when Katsuki held his gaze steadily.

"I know you aren't dumb kid, just... be careful. Don't try to handle this on your own." He paused for a moment. "You'll call if anything strikes you as suspicious or if you see anything? No trying to pretend it wasn't that bad or brushing it off?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll let you know if anything's up. I know better than to ignore that shit."

While Aizawa didn't seem entirely satisfied, he didn't protest any further. Instead, he just sighed. Looks like Katsuki was good to go. He adjusted the bag on his shoulder, ready to head towards his house, only to be stopped when his teacher spoke one last time, voice much softer than it was before.

"I'm glad you're alright kid. I'm proud of you too. You did a damn good job in that fight. Makes me happy to know at least one of you brats was paying attention during classes."

Once again Katsuki was floored. Of all the things he'd been expecting, a lecture on not getting himself caught, maybe telling him off for requiring other heroes to rescue him, or letting him know just how much danger he'd put everyone else in, he'd never considered praise from Aizawa of all people over this mess.

Had it been anyone else, Katsuki would've assumed they were saying shit to make him feel better. Or maybe they were making fun of him for getting his stupid ass kidnapped in the first place. Aizawa was one of the few teachers Katsuki had come to respect though. He didn't give out participation trophies, or praise them for doing basic shit. When they fucked up, he called them out on it, and when they did well, he'd let them know.

So instead of making a sarcastic remark or taking offense, Katsuki’s gaze fell and he replied in a voice that was quieter than he would've liked.

"Thanks."

There was a lot more he should probably say, questions he wanted to ask. Some pathetic part of him wanted to ask if his teacher really meant that? Ask how he could possibly mean it, when Katsuki had fucked up so much. He didn't though, instead he just turned back to his house.

"Keep yourself safe, kid."

The words sound like something between an order and a request. A weird tone to his teacher's voice.

"I will." He replied, unwilling to let his voice waver. Unwilling to let any of his doubt or fear spill out from his lips.

Aizawa had to leave after that, had to head home. Katsuki needed to do that too, even if he didn't want to.

He braced his shoulders and pushed his way through the door to his home.

Silence greeted him. Blessed, wonderful silence. Oh thank fuck, they weren't home. No wonder he'd been able to talk with his teachers without her coming out to start in on him.

With a sigh of relief, Katsuki made his way to the kitchen. There was a note on the table.

Katsuki,

Your mother and I are working late today. There’s some of your favorite in the fridge. Don’t leave the house, don’t invite anyone else over. We’ll talk when we’re home. 

Be Good,

Dad

His favorite food wasn’t in the fridge, it was some takeout from a local restaurant. It wasn’t bad by any means, but that particular restaurant hadn’t been his favorite for years. At least his dad was trying. Of course, the effort went to waste because nerves had settled into Katsuki’s stomach, twisting it into knots. 

The food was left in the fridge, and he went upstairs to try to nap. He’d need any extra energy he could get for the impending arrival of his mother.

He didn’t sleep. Not for a nap, one that he desperately needed, and not that night either.

Katsuki Bakugou was 16 years old. He was a hero in training at the best school in Japan. He had a strong quirk. He got good grades, third in his class. He’d fought high level villains four times now and survived all four times. He never wavered, never backed down from a fight, never showed fear even in the worst circumstances. 

None of that saved him from his mother. 

Lead overtook his limbs at the rumble of his parents car in the driveway. The air in his room turned to water, filling up his lungs just like the man in the suit had. Throughout the entire fight with the villains who’d abducted him, his hands had held steady and true. Now it took two tries for him to get the doorknob to his room open. He knew better than to try and hide from her. It’d only make everything that much worse. Make him that much more of a coward.

There was no reason for him to be this scared of her.  Usually he wasn’t. Usually he’d stomp downstairs, slam the doors, pick a fight with her just to prove he didn’t care what she thought. 

Tonight, he couldn’t find that courage. 

Tonight, he already knew what she was going to say, as he shuffled down the stairs into hell.

Tonight, he knew she was right, and that made it all so much worse. 

Stepping into the living room, he could feel both of their gazes on him. Pulling himself together, he managed to look up to meet her eyes. Mirror images of his own. 

Both pairs of eyes were red, the exact same shade. Both were tired, angry and cold. Both of them could see Katsuki for what he was, a complete and utter fuck up. 

She didn’t yell at him. Not tonight. She didn’t need to. Hell, she only hit him twice. A smack upside the jaw before she set into him, one on the back of the head before she stalked out of the room.

Neither hit hurt. Fuck, with what he’d lived through they were practically pats instead of hits. What got to him was everything in the middle. 

It must’ve been at least an hour, an hour of her tearing him to shreds in her low, snide, vindictive  tone. Letting him know what a weak bitch he was. How pathetic it was that other people had to go save his stupid ass. How he’d gotten exactly what he deserved for how he acted. How the pros should’ve left him there to rot. If he’d been stronger. If he’d been better behaved. If he’d been smarter. If. If. If. 

By the time she was finished with him, Katsuki felt numb. Hollowed out, worn down, split apart and emptied. 

Afterwards his dad finally bothered to speak up, having stayed silent during his punishment. 

“You know she only says those things because she cares about you.” He didn’t want to hear that. His dad didn’t care. “We were really scared for you Katsuki.” No they weren’t. “We love you, we want you to be better, we want you to be safe. ”

Katsuki turned his back on his father, heading straight back up to his room with robotic steps. Shaking fingers touched his pillow ever so gently before he lost it, pulling the fabric up to smother his near silent sobs.

This was going to be a long fucking summer. 

Two months.

Two months passed Katsuki by trapped in his house. 

He wasn’t allowed to leave. He did anyways, sometimes. Just enough to keep up with his training. He had workout equipment in the house, but he had to keep using his quirk or he’d lose his progress with it. Obviously, he couldn’t use his quirk in the house, not at the level he needed to. Katsuki left only when he had to and never when there was chance of her catching him. She’d probably put a fucking collar on him if she found out. Every waking moment he felt eyes on him, even when he was in his own room. It suffocated him.

Beyond that, he was stuck in his house for two fucking months with no outside contact. Nobody was allowed to come over. Not his boyfriends, not his friends, not even his fucking teachers. His mother’s excuse was that she didn’t want to risk anyone tracking down the house. The real reason was it was part of his punishment. Leaving him to his own thoughts and fears. Everyone bought her reasoning, bought his excuse that he didn’t feel like seeing people, left him alone with sickeningly kind words and promises that they’d see him at school.

At the very least he still had his phone. While using a touchscreen was hard for Katsuki, nitroglycerin fucked with how the devices registered his touch, he managed.  His classmates had a group chat that he started using to keep himself entertained, and he texted his boyfriends almost every day. 

It was just out of boredom. It wasn’t because he was feeling lonely or scared or lost. It wasn’t.

At the end of those two months, an end to his confinement finally appeared, in the form of the U.A. dorms. 

Katsuki almost cried again when he laid down on his new bed, for the first time not worried about when his mother was going to get home or when he’d next to be able to work on his quirk. The window to his dorm room was wide open and there was nobody to yell at him for it. 

The others were having some dorm room competition, which he’d steadfastly refused to take part in. Partially because he didn’t want those fuckers snooping around in his room, partially because he was already overwhelmed from being around this many people again. Even now he could still feel all the eyes on him, watching him when they thought he wasn’t looking. It faded though as he lay in his bed, relaxing for the first time since he’d gone home.

Somewhere far away, a man without eyes broke the connection. Yet again releasing Katsuki from his quirk and letting the boy fade from his mind.  

His face was twisted in a grimace, 

“No answers yet, I assume?”

The man made of smoke spoke politely, sympathetically. Anyone else would’ve been punished with how bad a mood the eyeless man was in, but his question was a kind one.

“None. Still no sign of it.”

Silence between them. They’d had this conversation before so many times. It was endlessly frustrating, a game of what-ifs and calculating the risks of a second capture attempt. The eyeless man spoke at last, tone firm.

“We’ll try again tomorrow.”

And that was that.

Back in the UA dorms, Katsuki had fallen into a light sleep, worn out from the exhausting days leading up to the move. 

Nearly five hours passed before he was awoken by a knock on the door. 

He knew who it was before he opened it. Shouto had a unique sort of knock, quiet but firm. 

Katsuki wasn’t expecting his tear-stained face. Before he could speak, he had been damn near plowed down, the door swung shut behind them and several steps stumbled backwards before they fell onto the bed. 

Several seconds ticked by before he realized the hitch in Shouto’s breath was sobbing. 

Not knowing what else to do, he brought his hand up to comb through his boyfriend’s hair, holding him as he cried. This was the sort of thing he’d expect from Izuku, but he tried to be comforting regardless.

It took awhile for Shouto to explain around his tears. A nightmare. Of course. His father had been downright awful before Shouto left, and now he couldn’t help but see him wherever he looked in the mirror. Couldn’t help but hate himself that much more. Couldn’t help but wish his fire gone yet again. 

He hadn’t wanted to go to Izuku, unable to hear gentle encouragement or a talk on how it was his own fire. 

Katsuki could understand. Sometimes endless positivity wore you down. If it had been just that, they could’ve managed. Unfortunately, Shouto’s emotions got the better of him as he tried to repeat what his father had said. Katsuki hardly felt the tiny flame that flicked out from Shouto’s palm, it didn’t even leave a mark. 

That didn’t stop Shouto from jumping backwards like he’d just killed him.

After that he was damn near inconsolable. Unable to deal with the idea that he might’ve hurt his boyfriend with his flames. Even though Katsuki was pretty damn fireproof, Shouto launched into sobbing again and it pulled at Katsuki’s heart. Made him feel that much more guilty.

How dare he be upset for having to stay inside for barely two fucking months and a couple mean words when his boyfriend was dealing with the worst shit imaginable? He was so fucking weak, so useless, couldn’t even get Shouto to stop crying.

All he wanted was some magic way to take the pain away, to make it all better. To make his boyfriend not hate himself this much. As he clutched his boyfriend close, holding him as best he could, trying to provide any comfort, all Katsuki wanted was to make this better. 

In their tearful, pained, panicked desperation, neither of them noticed the odd sensation pulsing through their bodies for a few seconds.

Chapter Text

Neither of them slept well that night, but Katsuki somehow managed to pull himself out of bed at 6 AM. Shouto grumbled at him when he slide out of the other's arms, but resettled with a kiss. For the first time in two months, Katsuki was able to go for a jog in crisp morning air. It left him feeling refreshed and free for the first time since he’d been kidnapped. Dawn sunlight on his skin made him feel reborn, and he extended his run to savor it. Afterwards, he made breakfast for three and rounded up his boyfriends both of whom had only started waking up. 

Shouto was quiet, but he was doing better than last night. Though his movements were still sluggish, and he’d stolen Katsuki’s blanket from upstairs, which was kinda weird. Whatever, with the night he’d had, he deserved all the comfort in the fucking world. Despite his own lack of sleep, Katsuki didn’t feel tired. If anything he was feeling borderline fucking peppy. His morning run had done a world of good for him.

Breakfast was quiet, their classmates moving in and out of the kitchen, mumbling greetings as they went. As soon as Shouto finished his food, he tugged the blanket around his shoulders tighter, burying his face into it. Izuku noticed the movement, making eye contact with Katsuki who could only shrug.

“You okay Shou?” 

Sleepy mismatched eyes glanced up in confusion. 

“ ‘m fine, just cold is all.” 

Huh, strange. Icy-hot was usually the last one bothered by the temperature. Maybe he was getting sick? The dorms were pretty damn warm, almost uncomfortably so.

Katsuki didn’t have long to ponder his boyfriend’s health since it was almost time for homeroom, but he made a mental note to check Shouto’s temperature later. If it got worse, he'd drag him to Recovery Girl.

Classes passed by in a blur. It was a lot, being thrown back into a flurry of activity with people constantly around him. At lunch he ended up staying in the classroom with Shouto just to have a break from it all. There was too much happening, and overstimulation itched under Katsuki’s skin. 

Izuku had wanted to stay behind with them, but he'd been unable to see quite a few of his friends over summer, so Katsuki told him to go. After the bell rung Shouto pretty much conked out at his desk anyways, and Katsuki needed the alone time. 

He was actually a bit concerned by how badly being around other people was affecting him. While some difficulty with adjusting to the sudden change was expected, Katsuki could hardly handle friendly contact. Somehow his notes still got taken, but all his attention had been on his classmates. It felt like there was something new about them, an energy pulling his focus away from the classes. Physical contact only made it worse. A burning feeling settling under his skin. The sensation of unused potienal singing in his viens whenever someone brushed him. Probably his combat instincts kicking into high gear after two months on the back burner. Hopefully he'd be able to get rid of the feeling during training.

When heroics class rolled around, Katsuki and Izuku both double checked with Shouto that he felt well enough to participate. He had improved since his nap, but he still felt uncharacteristically cold to the touch. Despite their concern, he insisted on training, and there wasn’t much they could do to stop him.

Well, if nothing else, they were working individually today to create super-moves. So he wasn’t at risk of combat injuries. Still, Katsuki kept his eye on Shouto as he made his way to the training ground. Even though his own palms were already sweating (god it was warm in the gym today), he wanted to make sure Shouto was okay before he started. Aizawa had pulled Shouto for a minute, and from how his posture went tense, Katsuki could guess what he wanted. Today of all days was a bad one to push Shouto to use his fire, but he nodded nonetheless, settling into a practiced stance as he faced off against one of Ectoplasm’s clones.

His left hand reached forward, eyes narrowing in focus, and Katsuki waited for the burst of flames. 

Ice shards flew from Shouto’s hand, and Katsuki froze in shock.

What the fuck.

From the look on his face, Shouto didn’t understand what the fuck was going on either. His other hand reached forward and ice came from it too. 

Again he tried to call on his fire, but there was only ice. 

Aizawa ran onto the field to Shouto’s side, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. The rest of the class caught on too, people stopping to look over and puzzle out the situation. 

Katsuki felt panic rising in his throat. Not fucking this. Hadn’t Shouto dealt with enough shit in his life already? Now his fucking quirk was going out too? One fucking month before their provisional exam? He could already see all the problems this was going to cause between Shouto and his asshole of a father, and last night’s feelings of rage and helplessness rushed back into him. It filled his veins with a burning sensation. Like all his nerves had been lit up.

“Uh, Bakugou, dude?” 

Spinning around, Katsuki found Denki staring at him with wide, scared eyes. 

“What?!” 

Suddenly he felt more eyes on him, and whirling back around he realized everyone was looking at him. Even Shouto and Aizawa were staring at him with horrified expressions.

Frustrated, he shouted again.

“What are all you assholes looking at?!”

“Katsuki…you’re…” It was Eijirou that finally gave him an answer but he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence. 

That was okay though, he didn’t need to. 

Because as Katsuki opened his mouth to demand answers for a third time, he realized he was on fucking fire. 

Shit. 

His instinctive response was to panic.

Luckily, Katsuki was not Izuku, and so he didn’t fucking do that. He closed his eyes, took one breath in, let one breath out. Opened his eyes again. Still on fire. Fuck.

Alright then. Panic was still not going to help anyone. Stay calm. Analyze the situation rationally. 

Good things about this situation;

The fire did not appear to be harming him. While it had burned off his shirt, Katsuki himself was not burning. 

Shouto did not appear to be panicking about his ice anymore. 

Katsuki’s bracers and gloves were designed to handle high temperatures, so they were undamaged. They were also empty. No risk of setting them off. 

Bad things about this situation;

He was on fucking fire.

That was something he could work on. His plan had been to head to the showers and try to douse the flames, but Aizawa snapped out of it before he could take a step. 

Erasure had a particular feeling to it, as your quirk factor was deactivated. The sensation was a bit annoying, but not painful. Like the pins and needles of numbness almost. 

Pins and needles swept over the flames, putting them out and leaving Katsuki standing there. Shirtless, but no longer on fire. With a whole lot of questions. 

Izuku had run forward at some point. No idea what he was planning to fucking do, but Katsuki could say with certainty it was a bad idea. Green eyes looked from a smouldering Katsuki, to Shouto who was surrounded by ice, to Aizawa’s red gaze that had somehow put out the fire.

There was a two second delay between when Izuku figured it out and when Katsuki figured it out. The two of them locked eyes. 

Someone broke the silence. Katsuki couldn’t make out who but instantly the rest of the class set about panicking. Ectoplasm’s clones tried to get them under control, while Aizawa let erasure drop. 

Katsuki didn’t burst back into flames, which was good, but now he knew it was an option, it only took a second for him to conjure flames in the palms of his hands. Dismissing them was a little harder, but he figured it out. His eyes had been drawn to the flame, but now they looked back towards his teacher. Desperately searching for some sort of guidance. 

To his credit, Aizawa sighed, rubbed his face to try and smooth out the ever growing wrinkles, and then spoke. Everyone else fell silent, his voice not loud but strong. Commanding. 

“Bakugou, Todoroki, Midoryia, with me. The rest of you return to your training. Absolutely nobody is to speak of this to anyone until you hear otherwise. Am I understood?”

After he’d gotten a chorus of confirmations and nods, Aizawa turned and led the way. All the three of them could do was follow, glancing at each other without having any answers to offer.

The trio was sat down in Recovery Girl’s office while Aizawa went to fetch the nurse. Katsuki and Shouto were side by side on the exam bench while Izuku sat across from them, mumbling under his breath. 

While they were waiting, they decided to conduct a quick test to confirm the condition. Katsuki also tested his explosions and found he was able to trigger them separately from the fire. He could also trigger both at once. Meanwhile, Shouto confirmed once again ice was now coming from both sides. Izuku had retrieved his notebook and was frantically scribbling in it.

“When did you start feeling cold again? This morning?”

“Actually… I remember feeling a little cold when I was falling asleep last night. I didn’t notice it as much then, Katsuki was warm enough to drive it away.”

“Kacchan, do you remember anything strange last night?”

He thought the night over carefully. 

“I-. Shouto was pretty upset last night, his fire caused a panic attack. I remember wishing I could do something about it. That still shouldn’t have caused this shit. We weren’t hit by any quirks, let alone something capable of transferring someone’s quirk.” 

Something Katsuki said must’ve turned gears in Izuku's head because he went stock still. Then he madly flipped through his journal until he reached a recent page which he quickly reviewed. Green eyes looked back up at Katsuki, with something between awe and fear. Before Katsuki could question him, he spoke.

“I think- I have an idea. I mean, it’d be an insane longshot but Shouto was tired this morning and it would explain why-“ Izuku cut himself off, refocusing on the situation. “Okay, Kacchan, put your hand on Shouto’s arm and try to give the fire back.”

“What the fuck do you mean by that? I don’t want to burn him!” 

“No, just-” Izuku huffed a sigh. “Just try to give his quirk back. Like, think about it really hard.”

That still didn’t make any fucking sense, but Katsuki rolled his eyes and grabbed Shouto’s arm anyways. Oddly enough, when he made contact, there was….

A connection. 

It was the same sensation that he’d been feeling all day when someone touched him, of potential. Now though… now that he was trying to do something, it seemed to expand. Becoming more solid and forming a path of some kind. 

Brow furrowed in confusion, Katsuki felt around the connection mentally. He could give something or take something. It felt… like he had two options as to what to give. One thing he could take. Closing his eyes, he tried his best to focus on his options for giving. They weren’t particularly different, both felt warm, but one felt more sudden. Explosive. Not that one. The other then? He took the less sudden one and pushed it into the connection. 

Aizawa returned to the room just in time to see the glow travel from Katsuki to Shouto. 

The transfer almost knocked Shouto out, but when Katsuki released him, he managed to lift up his left hand. All of them already knew what would happen, but seeing the fire flicker in Shouto’s palm made it real. 

Well, shit. 

He looked up to his teacher with helpless eyes. Katsuki had no fucking idea what the hell he was supposed to do here. His teacher pulled the black sleeve of his hero costume and held his arm out to Katsuki. The directions were clear but Katsuki desperately wanted to not follow them. Life didn’t seem to fucking care about what he wanted though. So, Katsuki reached out and touched his teacher’s arm, feeling that connection again. It was easier this time. Now he had a sense of what he was doing, he was able to pull the numb feeling energy from Aizawa with ease. 

Katsuki was fucking terrified by how easy it was. How quick. No more than a second or two passed before he released Aizawa and turned to Shouto who still had fire flickering in his hand. With a bit of concentration, Katsuki put out the flame. He could feel his hair stand on end, and energy crackling around him. A distant part of him wondered if his eyes changed color or if they stayed red. 

Releasing Erasure, almost in a panic at the implications of this revelation, Katsuki twisted back to grab his teacher’s arm, shoving the quirk back to him. He needed it gone more than he’d needed anything else in his life.

The air had been stolen from his lungs, tar was filling them again. Izuku reached for him, awful, awful pity in his eyes. Violently, Katsuki threw himself backwards, the mere thought of touching his boyfriend sending him spiraling deeper into his panic. The idea of taking Izuku’s quirk, of stealing that from him, after everything. Katsuki couldn’t handle it. 

Actually, fuck that, Katsuki couldn’t handle any of this shit. Not after two months of being locked away. Two months of not touching another human being. Two months of nightmares, fear, and shame. 

Villains he could face down. Pain he could take. Anger. Hatred. Disgust. Katsuki would fucking look All for One in the eyes he didn’t have anymore and call him a weak bitch without a second of hesitation if given half a chance. 

The only thing Katsuki had ever really feared was himself, and now that fear was smacking him upside the head. 

His only saving grace was how he panicked. It was a hard lesson he’d learned as a child, he couldn’t panic like Izuku could. Like most other children could. If he lost his shit, his quirk went out of control, and people got hurt. So when he was really upset, well and truly lost for what to do, Katsuki shut down. Everything got louder and louder until he couldn’t hear anything at all. While his eyes still worked, he wasn’t able to process what was in front of him. Instinct overtook him.

Aizawa was saying something, and Katsuki was nodding. His boyfriends were leaving, worried eyes following him. With his body moving on autopilot, he followed his teacher as they walked to a location he didn’t know. 

A childish part of him wanted to ask, why him? Wanted to say this was too much. This was unfair.

It wasn’t though. It was perfectly fair. He knew damn well that he deserved whatever shit life threw at him.

Would his boyfriends hate him after this? It was entirely possible. They might not want to go near him. Might not want to ever touch him again. Not like he could blame them. Katsuki already didn’t understand why they put up with his bullshit, this could easily be the straw that broke the camel’s back. What finally made them realize they were better off without him dragging them down.

Oh.

He was supposed to sit down. Aizawa was guiding him gently towards a chair.

Slowly his visual processing chugged back to life and he realized he must be in the teacher’s lounge. Neat. Maybe they were going to expel him. The amount of shit he’d caused for the school was more than worthy of an expulsion, this was the cherry on top.

Taking in the expressions around him though, nobody seemed angry. Upset, for sure. Nervous, disbelieving, worried. Check, check and check. Not angry, even though they really should be. Nobody was looking at him either, all eyes were on Aizawa as he explained the situation.

Katsuki took in a deep breath. As much as he would love to keep wallowing in his panic, that wasn’t a fucking option. He needed to figure out how the hell he was dealing with this, and he needed to do it now. If he stayed unresponsive for too long or spazzed out they’d lock him up without question.

Two more deep breaths as he worked to get control over himself again. This was fine. Well, alright, that was bullshit, this was not fine. It was manageable. Much better.

The quirk transfer only worked through physical contact. Physical contact could be limited or eliminated entirely. They made shit for people with unsavory contact quirks. Hell, since he usually had his gloves on anyways, he could just add light sleeves to his hero costume and he’d be good to go. While he wasn’t a hundred percent on it, he was pretty sure it’s a voluntarily triggered quirk too. That helped a lot. He may not have meant to take Shouto’s quirk, but the general idea had still been his. Now that he knew about it, it’d be way easier to keep under wraps. All he needed to do was... not use it. Pretend it wasn’t there. Easy. Life could go back to normal and they never needed to talk about this again.

Katsuki may only have two methods of solving problems, blow it up or ignore it, but they hadn’t failed him yet, and today was no exception.

Slowly, he managed to start focusing on the words being said around him. His teachers had started talking over his head, from the side look Aizawa was giving him it was probably to give him time to calm down.

Had Katsuki mentioned that Aizawa was his favorite teacher ever? No force on earth would ever get him to admit it out loud, but the man was a saint in disguise. If there was anyone Katsuki could trust to help him figure this shit out, it was him.

Midnight and Mic were going back and forth to his left. At some point, Snipe had joined them, with Cement Toss standing off to the side. It seemed most of the staff was getting called in to help handle this situation. His hearing fully tuned in just in time to catch Mic finishing up a long-winded spiel.

“-obviously it’ll have to be done carefully, since we don’t know if there are negative effects from repetitive or long-term use, but assuming nothing comes up he should be fine to use it just like any other quirk for training. There’s no need for additional rules.”

“I’d have to disagree, don’t you think it would be unfair to the other students? We also don’t have any regulations that specifically require a quirk be returned, so even if Bakugou wouldn’t keep one, we should still clarify the policy.”

“We gotta remember, these kids are training for fightin’ real villains, and the bad guys have had this power for ages ‘n ages. Ain’t ‘bout fair, it’s ‘bout givin’ them realistic experience. They need’ta learn ways around this sorta thing in a safe environment ‘fore they gotta do it for real.”

“Snipe’s right, and while we might not have a rule that specifically requires a quirk be returned, training regulations already say students need to release or undo the effects of their quirk after a training session ends. It would fall under that clause regardless, adding a new rule would be a waste, and it would look very targeted. Our rules are public records, and we don’t want to broadcast the wrong message.”

“I suppose-”

Katsuki felt himself slip from a shocked panic to a confused anger. His mouth was moving before he could think his words through.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

All eyes were on him now. Panic surged in his chest because fuck, that was ruder than he’d intended, but his panic was overruled by indignation. Present Mic bounced back first, purposefully relaxing his posture and giving Katsuki a bright smile that usually pissed him off. Today it made him feel a bit safer. His words, on the other hand, well.

“Sorry! Wasn’t trying to set your ears on fire, we were discussing the implications of your... new ability. Nezu will need to make the final call, but odds are it’ll be fine to use in training like you would your explosions, so long as you return any quirks afterwards. Man, this was one hell of a way to kick off a new semester! I was worried today was gonna be boring.”

Aizawa gave a nod, and it seemed like Mic was ready to go off on another spiel before Katsuki recovered enough to speak again.

“I repeat, what the hell are you talking about?”

Worried glances were exchanged between his teachers, so Katsuki clarified before Mic could open his mouth again.

“I mean, what the hell do you mean ‘use in training’; I’m not using this shit in training. Fuck, if I can help it then I’m never using it again.”

Of all of them, only Aizawa didn’t look shell-shocked by his declaration. While there was a grimace on his homeroom teacher’s face, it was an accepting one. Still, Mic was the one to reply after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“You- I mean-.” Pausing, the English teacher collected his thoughts. “Bakugou, kiddo, you can’t mean that. Sure, that probably wasn’t a very fun way to find out you somehow ended up with a new quirk, but it’ll get easier as you use it more. Todoroki wasn’t hurt, just a bit tired and shocked, that’s all. This is an incredible gift, think of all the potential applications in hero work. You should be excited!”

Now if Katsuki was asked to name three things he hated, his mother and villains aside, he would name the following:

1. Interacting with other human beings.
2. People telling him he didn’t mean something because Katsuki fucking Bakugou didn’t say shit he didn’t mean.
3. People trying to tell him how he should feel.

Somehow, Mic had acquired a particularly large hammer and he was hitting all three nails on the head simultaneously. Impressive for a man who managed to fuck up IKEA furniture.

Through grit teeth, Katsuki snapped back at the other blond. Usually he wouldn’t be talking to a authority figure like this, but Katsuki was too fucking pissed to play nice.

“I don’t give a shit about the ‘possible applications’. I’ve already got a perfectly fucking good quirk, I don’t want anyone else’s. I’m not a fucking cheater who needs to steal shit to get ahead, and I’m sure as hell not going to become a hero with some dickhead’s transfer quirk. I never asked for this!”

Mic opened his mouth, only to be cut off by a raised hand from Aizawa. The other teachers wore mixed expressions, but deferred to him. Katsuki’s shoulders were hunched, his teeth bared and his hands were curled into fists. Wound tight like a coil, barely restrained. Burning red met dark black coals, and he waited for the words that would either defuse or make the explosion twice as large.

“While I understand this is an interesting development, Bakugou is right. He’s under no obligation to use the quirk if he’s uncomfortable with it. Bakugou’s already dealt with quite enough negative media attention and has more than enough unpleasant associations with the League of Villains.” As the tension in Katsuki’s posture eased, Aizawa addressed him more directly. “We will probably need to conduct some tests to determine the triggers and limits of the quirk. Other than that, we won't ask you to use it if you don’t want to. Should you change your mind, I’d be happy to discuss training options and quirk application with you, but it’s on your terms.”

With a grimace, Katsuki nodded. Midnight spoke up next, eyes darting between Katsuki and Aizawa.

“I hate to be the one to say it, but is that really the best option? I mean, with a quirk like this, imagine the amount of good that could be done. Part of being a hero is pushing past what makes you uncomfortable to help others. Shouldn’t we be encouraging him to do the most good?”

Katsuki damn near growled, but Aizawa beat him to it. Black eyes narrowed and his tone grew increasingly formal.

“No, we will not. Our top priority is looking after the health of our students and that includes both their mental and physical health. Bakugou has dealt with quite enough trama for a lifetime, and we will not add to that by unfairly pressuring him into using a quirk he has accidentally ended up with.”

It was Mic who spoke up next, now looking more thoughtful.

“I agree with Shouta, and my apologies for how I spoke there Bakugou, that was unfair of me. However, Midnight does have a point about the amount of good the quirk could do. So, what about a compromise of sorts?”

A compromise? While he wasn’t sure how the fuck there was meant to be a compromise in this situation, Katsuki was willing to hear the guy out.

“Bakugou, if you don’t want the quirk, why not pass it on to someone else whose willing to handle it?”

Huh.

He hadn’t considered that.

Aizawa looked ready to protest, but Katsuki replied first, tone evening and posture loosening as he realized there was a way out.

“Okay.” He paused, realizing the one flaw in this plan. “Who?”

All the teachers fell silent. Right. Asking who should have this sort of power was a fucking complicated question. If the wrong person got it, everyone was fucked.

In the end, it was his call. No matter what his teachers recommended, it was on him to make the final choice. Pretty much anyone was going to be more worthy of it than Katsuki, but that didn’t mean he should be stupid about who he picked.

Katsuki considered his options. The ideal person was someone he could trust, someone uninterested in power. Someone who wasn’t too well known, so they could keep it under wraps until they had a handle on it. Someone who could use an unconventional ability effectively.

The answer was obvious, red eyes looking back up to meet black, a question in them. His teacher’s face tightened, coming to the same conclusion Katsuki had.

“Kid... You don’t need to make any decisions right now.”

“Won’t change anything if I wait.” Eyes falling, Katsuki hesitated for a moment before deciding it needed to be said. “You’re the one I’d want to have it. Even if you wanted to pass it on, or something. I’d- I’d trust you to make that choice.”

The room fell silent again, but a different kind of silent. When Katsuki finally gathered his courage to look up, Aizawa’s gaze had softened. A particularly large part of him wanted to take it all back and explode because he was not nice and he didn’t say sappy shit. That instinct was stopped in its tracks by the scar on his teacher’s forehead that reminded him Aizawa gave a shit about his students. Katsuki could put his need to be the toughest guy in the room aside to let him know it hadn’t gone unnoticed. There was a final question in that tired stare, and Katsuki nodded. He was sure about this.

With a sigh, Aizawa dropped his gaze and rolled his shoulders. Under his breath he mumbled what sounded like ‘This fucking class’, which was fair. After a moment, he refocused and made eye contact with Katsuki again. 

“Alright kid, if you’re sure about this, I’m willing to hold onto it while we figure this out.” 

Katsuki gave a nod, so Aizawa took a seat next to him on the couch, lifting his arm upwards and offering it to Katsuki. His touch was hesitant, it took a lot to not let his hand shake as he reached upwards to grasp the lifeline. 

As before, it was more a set of feelings than anything else. Now they were in contact he could feel Aizawa’s Erasure, and his own Explosion, and he felt the ability to move either of them. Neat, but not what he wanted.

Feeling around a bit more, his face started to scrunch up. Confusion and frustration overtaking him in equal measure. Finally he yanked his hand away, needing to spark off the collected sweat before he lost control. The tension was back in his shoulders and his hands curled into frustrated fists as he felt all eyes on him.  

“I can’t- There’s no option to do it.” He spat out at last, unsure how to communicate his failure.

“What’s it like when you’re using it?” Asked Mic, who had shifted into analytical mode. Katsuki bit the inside of his cheek and tried to find the right words.

“It’s like- Fuck. I dunno, a video game menu? I mean, obviously not exactly, there’s no visuals or any shit like that. But like, it feels like that sorta set up. It’s only there when I’m looking for it. I can feel my quirk, and I can feel his, and there's an option to move one or the other, but that’s it. There’s no feeling for the transfer quirk itself, no way for me to move it over.”

Black eyes narrowed thoughtful before Aizawa spoke, a pillar of calm next to Katsuki’s chaotic fear. 

“You said before, when All for One grabbed you and attempted to take your quirk that you felt the ability to grab hold of something and pull back, right? Describe that feeling again.”

The memory hadn’t faded over the months, if anything it had grown stronger. Replayed in his mind over and over just like the goop, accompanied by a million ‘what-ifs’ and a strange feeling he missed something. 

Katsuki paused. 

Well, shit. This explained a lot. 

Okay, putting that in the pile of ‘unhelpful now but good for beating yourself up later’, let’s focus on the task at hand.

“It felt like tug of war. He was pulling on something in me, and I was pulling back. When he lost concentration, I fell with whatever we’d been pulling.” Reanalyzing that memory, it was easier to pinpoint where the transfer occurred. “I think… I think that was when it must’ve happened. I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was grabbing, so I think I somehow grabbed ahold of his quirk too. He looked pretty fucking confused too, so maybe it was a glitch or something?”

“Maybe the quirk can only be taken during a transfer? I looked through the reports of quirk theft, and from what I could tell, All for One usually only took quirks from someone after he’d defeated them. Between that and the shock of the transfer, it would explain why you were the first one to successfully resist him. Nobody else had thought or had the ability to try before you. You reacted instinctively and it worked. So we’d need to replicate that, maybe try taking Shouta’s quirk again? This time, Shouta will just need to do the same thing you did, grab and pull!” 

That seemed like a good plan, so after taking a few deep breaths to calm down, Katsuki gave it a shot. 

It didn’t work. At first he tried pulling gently at Aizawa’s quirk, but then when Aizawa finally figured out how to pull back, it broke the connection entirely. They determined the problem was that Katsuki wasn’t establishing a strong enough connection, but when he pulled harder he ended up taking Erasure. 

Two hours went by like that before they gave up. Each of his teachers tried it with him, and none of them came close to being able to pull back against him. This was some sword in the stone type shit.

At least he ended up learning some shit about the quirk during the trials. Most importantly, he discovered he could put quirks ‘on hold’ in the back of his mind to await activation. That didn’t mean shit for emitter type quirks, but it was handy as fuck for mutation quirks. Less importantly, he realized he didn’t need to be in contact with someone to know what their quirk was. At about seven feet away he could get a strong sense of their quirk. No specifics, but enough to tell what kind it was and roughly what it did. People gave off certain vibes. Beyond that, Katsuki learned he fucking hated this stupid quirk, and not much else.  

All of the trials had left Katsuki exhausted, so Mic and Aizawa escorted him back to the dorms for safety or whatever the fuck. 

The moment he stepped in the door he was swarmed. Thank fuck for Mic’s quirk because he got everyone’s attention and put a stop to that real fucking quick. The entire class was informed that they weren’t entirely sure what was going on, but they were supposed to leave Katsuki alone and not tell anyone else.

Obviously, none of them were going to actually listen to that, but it was enough for Katsuki to get back to his dorm room unharassed which was all he could ask for right now. 

For one blissful hour he was left alone. 

Then his boyfriends showed up. 

Katsuki seriously considered telling them to go away, they’d listen if he said he needed time, but they brought food with them. Not to mention he was still feeling pretty fucking guilty for all the shit he’d put them through today.

Neither of them tried to touch him, cautious movements he knew rationally were out of respect for his space but which fed that nasty voice in the back of his mind. They were trying to play the ‘pretend nothing’s wrong’ game too, which didn’t help anything. 

Izuku broke first. 

“All-Might heard about what happened.” 

‘Because Izuku told him without asking you.’

“He says he hopes you’re okay, and he wasn’t aware that this was something that could happen.”

‘He knows what a monster you really are now.’

“And… he suggested a test. There’s- All for One had a limit on his ability. If the limit’s still there… we would know whether it really is his quirk or if it’s a copy somehow.”

‘Did you become the monster or are you just following in his footsteps.’

“What do you need me to do?” Katsuki asked, instead of voicing the thoughts screaming in his head. Green eyes lit up with excitement and nerves, a smile meant to calm him on Izuku’s face. So this was going to suck then.

“Well, it’s super easy! You just need to try to take my quirk.” 

Dead silence. The look Katsuki leveled Izuku with said all he could never hope to verbalize. Even Shouto looked uncomfortable with the idea. Quickly, Izuku started babbling reassurances.

“It’s okay! If we’re right and it really is All for One’s quirk, you won’t be able to take it. Even if you can, it’s totally fine, I trust you with it.” 

‘He shouldn’t!” screamed that awful voice which was usually right. With a sigh, Katsuki ignored the voice and gestured for Izuku to come closer. 

“Let’s get this over with.” 

There was a flurry of gangly limbs and green hair, and then Izuku was squirming to get comfortable in his lap. After a few seconds of spluttering Katsuki managed to glare at that unabashedly happy face.

“You know I only need minimal skin contact for this shit, right?” 

“Yep!” Izuku replied, pressing his face into Katsuki’s shoulder and settling down, clearly having no intentions of leaving his angry boyfriend’s lap any time soon. It shouldn’t have made Katsuki feel fuzzy, and yet he found himself pressing his face into that green mop of hair to hide a smile.

Reaching up with one hand, Katsuki delicately put one palm on Izuku’s shoulder. The other didn’t flinch or even tense up. If anything, he wiggled into the contact. God, Izuku’s complete lack of self-preservation instincts was going to get one of them killed one of these days.

Probably Katsuki, from his damn heart exploding.

Focusing, Katsuki reached out to feel Izuku’s quirk. 

That was the last thing he could remember before blacking out.

Red eyes fluttered open and right away Katsuki could tell he wasn’t in the real world. 

For one, the floor he was currently staring at had no detail to it. For two, there were like eight people peering at him who hadn’t been there before.  

The closest one of them had a skinny frame and light shaggy hair that made Katsuki jump back before he could control himself. He reached for his explosions only to realize it wasn’t Mr. McHandFace in front of him. They did look alike though. Not-HandFace smiled at Katsuki kindly, making him feel at ease against common sense. 

“Sorry about that! I didn’t mean for this to be quite so sudden, but I needed to speak with you to be sure.”

“Sure about what, fucker?” Ah, there was Katsuki’s anger. Welcome back, it’s been like a whole three minutes since they'd last seen each other. 

The other gave a soft laugh before replying, even as the others around him looked unsure. 

“Sure my brother’s quirk truly had been passed on, and that you were not the sort to repeat his mistakes. It appears both are true.”

Well that explained absolutely nothing and brought up a fuckton of new questions. The image in front of Katsuki’s eyes blurred for a second and he realized he didn’t have long here. Right. Focus on important shit.

“Wait, so I really got All for One’s fucking quirk? How? How do I get rid of it?” 

The man in front of him startled at his questions, as did the other weirdos around him. He glanced to them before his eyes resettled on Katsuki and softened. 

“You did. My brother’s quirk opens a transfer pathway, but it does not allow him to take a quirk unchallenged. Instead, it comes down to the force of a person’s will. He was forceful, collected, and had near unbreakable willpower. Nobody before you had a strong enough will to put up a fight. Your determination won out when he lost focus, and by accident you took the pathway as you reclaimed your own quirk.”

“Great, how do I get rid of it?”

Again, a confused look. 

"The quirk cannot be passed on like our own. It can only be taken by force, when both sides are fighting with all they have and the pathway is completely open. If you were trying to get rid of it, it would never open to that point. It is a quirk that may only be passed from enemy to enemy, through fierce battle.”

The world wobbled again, but Katsuki glared at the person in front of him regardless. Several long seconds ticked by.

“Is this god’s way of fucking with me for something specific I did? Or is it more of a general ‘fuck you’ for everything?” 

Concern overtook the person in front of him, but the world was gone before they could say anything else. Katsuki felt himself being yanked away, back into the void.

When he woke up, it was 2 AM. He was in the infirmary. Staring at the ceiling, Katsuki wondered if he should wake up his boyfriends who were asleep on one of the beds next to him. Nah. Probably not. Katsuki went back to sleep instead, because this was going to be an emotionally draining clusterfuck no matter what he did. It might as well be an emotionally draining clusterfuck at a reasonable hour. 

Chapter Text

“Could you describe the other people around the man you saw?”

“I didn’t get a great look at them, the clearest one was a black haired woman with a mole. Looked a lot like Nana Shimura. So she was a previous bearer of One for All, right?”

Katsuki had gotten the whole One for All situation explained to him. He’d been able to guess most of it, neither All-Might or Izuku were particularly subtle and both were absolute shit at lying.

“Yes, she was. Nana was my mentor and the one who passed One for all to me.”

From his seat next to All-Might’s bedside, Katsuki could see the range of emotions playing across his hero’s face. Nostalgia and worry danced in equal measure across his hollow features. The two of them were alone in the hospital room together. All-Might wasn’t confined to the hospital ( yet ) but he was here more days than not. More tests, more treatments.

His true form had always looked gaunt, but he looked more bone than skin these days. It was hard for Katsuki to look at him, guilt anchoring him to the bottom of a sea of nasty thoughts. Even as he tried to put on a brave face, both their smiles were getting more and more strained as the days slipped by.

Izuku visited every day, even during the summer and school days. Most days Shouto went with him. As much as Katsuki wished he could too, he hadn’t been allowed out of his house during the summer and now he wasn’t allowed outside of school grounds without an escort. Besides, it wasn’t like All-Might wanted to see him of all people. What sort of person would want their murder by their side as they died? He was already so fucking selfish, there was no need for him to waste people’s time and put that burden on All-Might. Even now, Katsuki’s eyes stayed on the floor, having trouble looking at the man beyond quick glances.

Today, Aizawa and Present Mic brought him over so he could speak to the hero after the incident. Nobody else had any answers, and unfortunately Katsuki needed help with this shit.

“Then the one who spoke to you must’ve indeed been the first One for All user. Odd to think a piece of one’s soul is carried on with the One for All quirk.”

Will Izuku will see All-Might there in a few months, or did you somehow manage to fuck that up for them too?

Unhelpful, but thanks for that extra thing to feel guilty about, voice in his head.

“Guess he’d be a reliable source for information on this shit, if he’s All for One’s brother.”

A beat of silence passed between them.

“To get all this straight; I somehow got a villain's quirk by accident, which lets me move other people’s shitty quirks around. I can’t get rid of it unless someone manages to out-willpower me, and that person has to be someone I’m trying to steal a quirk from? Oh, and I have to hate them like I mean it?”

“That would seem to be the logical conclusion here, yes.” All-Might’s voice was filled with sympathy, and it made Katsuki want to scream at him.

Of all the fucking people in the world who didn’t want or deserve All-Might’s sympathy, Katsuki was right near the top of that list. Maybe All for One would have a leg up on him. Maybe . He couldn’t handle that shit.

“…What’s the actual name of his quirk? Like, we call the guy All for One, but we’ve been calling it ‘his quirk’.”

“Technically speaking, both the man and his quirk are referred to as All for One.”

“Whose dumb idea was that?”

It was the pettiest detail of this whole shitstorm, and realistically it was the last thing Katsuki should be worrying about, but it was one of the very few things that should’ve been under the heroes’ control. Yet they pick the same shitty names, for what? To confuse everyone?

With a light chuckle, All-Might gave him a soft smile, shrugging his shoulders as he glanced out the window, taking in the afternoon bustle of the city.

“Our policy is to refer to villains and their quirks by the names they give themselves unless they’re particularly misleading or inappropriate. All for One selected both names.” A thoughtful pause, sunken eyes turned to Katsuki, staring down into his soul. “Though, now it is no longer his quirk, you would be welcome to rename it.”

Fuck if that wasn’t a weighted statement and a half. No chance in hell was Katsuki letting that bastard get the quirk back, but that didn’t mean he considered this shit his either.

Still, he detested the idea of calling it ‘All for One’. The less reminders of that asshole he had in his life the better. Anything would be better than that shit.

After a few seconds of thought, he reached a decision.

“Quirk Transfer. No need for any dramatic naming nonsense.”

“Then we’ll call it that.” The comment was oddly weak. Red eyes looked up from the floor tiles properly to scrutinize All-Might. After a few seconds, the hero relented, his tone softened and his voice carrying no judgment.

“Knowing you can’t pass it on, have you changed your mind on using it?”

It was an honest question, some-fucking-how. This quirk was indirectly responsible for the current state of the man in front of him, and here he was acting like there was no blood staining it.

Acting like there was no blood on the hands of it’s new user.

Acting like Katsuki wasn’t just as bad as the one who came before him.

Those thoughts were shoved deep down to the bowels of Katsuki’s mind. They would resurface to haunt him later, but right now he needed to focus.

Whatever he answered, All-Might would accept. He wasn’t going to pressure Katsuki on this shit. Aizawa wouldn’t either. Nezu had already accepted his choice too, even if he seemed unhappy with it.

Knowing that he was pretty much stuck with it, Katsuki took a deep breath, put his knee-jerk reaction aside, and thought it through.

First and foremost, it wasn’t his power. He hated the idea of using it. The very concept of it, stealing other’s quirks, made him sick to his stomach.

Second, it could be dangerous. If Ragdoll was any indication, forcefully moving quirks around could take someone out of a fight, and they had no idea what the long term effects of quirk loss were.

Third, it opened up a whole new fucking world of legal problems. A quirk like Aizawa’s or Monoma’s was one thing, both were temporary for one. Erasure didn’t fuck with mutations, and again, it only stopped shit during the fight. Copy did work with mutations, but it didn’t take anyone else’s shit. Meanwhile, Quirk Transfer was potentially permanent. Heroes were suppose to minimize lasting injuries dealt to villains as much as possible, so how the fuck did taking someone’s quirk work with that? What if he took a quirk, gave it back after defeating the villain and then the person got away or killed someone with the quirk? Could he live with that weighing on him? Whose fucking call was that anyways? Hero licenses legalized quirk use ubiquitously for combat, but this felt like a major fucking gray area. 

Fourth, what the hell was he even meant to do with other people’s quirks if he did take them? Learning new quirks would be a pain and a half, and he had no idea how mutations quirks and shit might affect him. Sure, he could put them on hold, but for all he knew they might activate when he lost focus or something. Side effects could compound or fuck with his ability to use his main quirk. There were any number of things that could go wrong. God help him if he got into trying to give stolen quirks to other people. What a shit show that would be. The public would have his head on a platter.

Yeah, all things considered, this quirk was more trouble than it was worth.

Still, he could see a very limited uses he might be willing to consider. Maybe if he had absolutely no other choice. Or if someone’s quirk was killing them and he could negate it. 

All-Might waited patiently for Katsuki to collect his thoughts.

‘Wasting the precious time he has left waiting you to figure your shit out.’

Yeah, well, wallowing in self-pity would only waste more of his time, so Katsuki focused on answering the question.

“I don’t want to use it during training, and I don’t want-. No. I won’t use it normally. I’m not going to become the fucking Quirk Transfer hero or some shit like that. But, if there’s some situation I can’t fix otherwise, and people’s lives were at stake… I mean, I’m not going to let people fucking die because I don’t like the idea of taking some asshole’s quirk away. Or, I guess if a kid’s quirk was completely out of control or something. If there’s absolutely no other way for me to fix the problem, then I would use it.”

He could feel All-Might’s approving smile on him, and for a heartbeat Katsuki felt warmed by it, that awful voice slipping to the back of his mind.

The man opened his mouth to respond, but blood came out instead of words, splattering the white sheets. 

A nurse bustled in right away, several more following, and Katsuki was ushered out of the room.

Sometime that evening he got a text from All-Might apologizing, as if it was somehow his fault his body was failing him. The following message reassuring Katsuki that he thought he’d made a good choice felt as hollow as the man himself looked.

Even with the guilt weighing him down like cement shoes, Katsuki kept swimming. His head was only barely above the water, but fuck it, he was breathing.

His teachers accepted his choice without any further issue. They ran a total of five tests with him after his visit to All-Might. One upperclassman ( Mirio or something like that? ) was brought in to try taking the quirk as well. It didn’t work, Katsuki overpowered him after a few seconds of struggle, though he got closer than anyone else did. After that, it was about testing his limits. Aizawa quirk did work to halt the transfer, there didn’t seem to be any quirks he couldn’t take beyond One for All, and once he had an extra quirk he could tell whether or not someone was compatible with it. Some people were really open to new quirks, some people would shatter if they got one even slightly different from their current one. 

Yeah, he’d made the right call to not use this shit. That would only end poorly. 

After he’d finished all five tests, he was free to go back to the dorms and forget the quirk existed. Or that’s what he was trying to do. All of class 1-A had been given a full briefing on the situation to prevent rumors and so they understood the importance of keeping it under wraps. Their reactions ranged from Eijirou to Mineta.

Eijirou was a fucking angel about the entire ordeal. Tuesday night when Katsuki returned from his visit with All-Might was supposed to be their usual study night. While Eijirou had been respectful of Shouto and Izuku’s need to keep an eye on Katsuki, he’d gently prodded them for his own alone time with Katsuki.

In total, he asked three questions. Was Katsuki really okay? What happened? What did Katsuki want to do about it? After Katsuki wrapped up his answer to the last one with his intention to pretend it didn’t happen, Eijirou nodded, took out his notebook, and asked if he knew how to do the math homework due tomorrow.

Since then, Eijirou had done just what Katsuki requested, he pretended it didn’t happen. Or, no. No, several of Katsuki’s other classmates pretended nothing happened. Eijirou acknowledged what happened, but also acknowledged it didn’t change anything and moved on. Unlike everyone else, Eijirou treated him normally and it was a breath of fresh fucking air.

In all fairness, Izuku and Shouto were also trying to help in their own ways. They were just bad at it. Izuku was desperately torn between touching Katsuki as much as possible to reassure him he wasn’t scared of him, and not touching Katsuki at all for fear of making him uncomfortable or triggering another vision. It left both of them on edge, dancing around each other and neither quite sure what the other wanted. They should really talk this shit out. They weren’t going to though. Neither of them had any fucking idea where to start.

Shouto, at the very least, knew what he wanted. The problem was he went overboard. Any chance he got, Shouto was cuddled up with Katsuki. Before the other had never been a big fan of PDA, but now he was glued onto Katsuki whenever possible. While it did help settle the fear in Katsuki’s stomach that other’s wouldn’t want to touch him again, it was also suffocating. Now that he knew he could transfer quirks, it was hard to not pay attention to it. He could feel the fire and ice dancing under Shouto’s skin. There wasn’t room for much else. Shouto would be a bad candidate to get another quirk. He didn’t want to think about the possibility, but was hard when it was constantly right there. 

On some level, Katsuki had a sneaking suspicion Shouto was trying to get Katsuki to take his fire quirk. Not on purpose, his boyfriend wouldn’t ask that of him, but subconsciously.

The two of them had only talked about the new quirk once, near 1 AM on Tuesday night, Izuku curled up on Shouto’s left and Katsuki on his right. 

“...Pretty hypocritical of me to get mad about you not using your fire, huh.”

“It’s different.” The reply was instant. Shouto must’ve thought out this conversation already. “My fire was mine from birth, up until this whole mess there was no getting rid of it. Not using it actively put myself and others in danger, and honestly it was and is unpleasant.” That was true, Katsuki knew how fucked up his boyfriend’s temperature regulation could get when he didn’t use both halves of his quirk.

“You got a new quirk thrust on you against your will, which you only discovered a day ago, and you’ve got valid reasons to not use it. Sketchy legality, potential health effects, and a number of other risk factors, each of which would be a fine reason on their own, let alone put together. It’s not a fair comparison.”

We both got them from monsters. Both our monsters tried to shape us into their image. It’s not that different. 

Katsuki ignored the voice in the back of his mind and nodded. The room they were in was near pitch black, but Shouto could feel the nod against his shoulder. There wasn’t much else for him to say.

All in all, as much as his boyfriends set him on edge, their willingness to try helped quite a bit. 

The rest of their classmates were also mostly tolerable. His personal collection of idiots tried to follow Eijirou’s lead. While they gained a newfound respect for Katsuki’s personal space, it was exactly that, respect. None of them flinched back out of fear, they just weren’t as quick to touch him when he’d already growled at them to fuck off. 

Mina and Denki spent five minutes complaining about how of course Katsuki would get an amazing power and not want it, only to promptly drop the topic at Eijirou’s warning glare. Neither of them brought it up again. Hanta made a grand total of three teasing remarks, and honestly they were all fair so Katsuki only blasted him for the last one. Nothing out of place for their group.

Some of his classmates got a bit more flinchy, not that Katsuki had ever been touchy-feely with anyone, but he still noticed how certain students drew back from his presence more so than before. Oddly enough, Tooru was the second worst one, going out of her way to steer clear of Katsuki. She’d already apologized for it twice, being sure to add that it’s not that she thinks he would . It’s the could that bothers her.

It still stung when she quietly requested a different partner for CPR training, even though Shouto was more than happy to trade places with her. 

Katsuki knew her fear was perfectly valid, he didn’t blame her for it in the least, but it dug into his heart all the same. Whatever. He’d get over it.

And then there was fucking Mineta.

Their whole class had been told to keep their damn mouths shut about the new quirk. Since Katsuki was applying for a provisional license, Aizawa legally had to alert the Hero Commission to the change by Sunday. Luckily, Katsuki’s records had already been sealed for his safety after the kidnapping, so it wouldn’t be public information. The media had no way of learning about the change, which meant the only people who knew Katsuki’s secret should’ve been class 1-A, his teachers, that one upperclassman, and the Hero Commission.

Maybe if karma wasn’t coming for him, Katsuki might’ve actually been able to move on with his life and pretend this never happened.

Karma did come though, in the form of the grape haired asshole.

Mineta made his fear of Katsuki very apparent. The first day it was whispers to the more fearful 1-A students, the ones who wouldn’t talk shit about Katsuki, but who would stay quiet while someone else did. 

After that, it was refusing to spar with Katsuki in training Wednesday morning. Aizawa forced him to anyways, but the entire match was Mineta running like a coward. Whispered comments changed from ‘what a scary power’ to ‘maybe it suits him’. 

By afternoon, the dickhead worked up the nerve to inform Katsuki of his disapproval directly. 

Let it be said, Mineta was the best and worst person to start shit with Katsuki over his new quirk.

The best, because Katsuki gave absolutely zero fucks about what that asshole thought of him. If anything, he would much rather Mineta hate him, it let him know he was doing something right.

The worst, because as much as he hated Mineta, thought the guy was the scum of the earth and knew his opinion was absolutely worthless, the shitlord was only saying what Katsuki already knew.

Losing the moral high ground to someone as shitty as that hurt. Having to listen to someone like that talk shit about you and not being able to fight back because you know they're right got under his skin.

It was just a stupid comment during a training session on Wednesday, it shouldn't have gotten to him this badly. He’d been on the opposing team, having cornered Mineta after the fucker had been going after Momo, disguising his attempted groping as combat. It was supposed to be a good moment, it really, honestly was. Nothing was more satisfying than blasting Mineta right in the face, other then the rare opportunities he’d had to take down real villains. He could unleash his explosions without a trace of guilt or restraint.

That was how it should've gone anyways, but when Katsuki reached for Mineta with his manic battle grin in place, the asshole decided to launch those stupid balls at him (an annoyance at best), and shout,

"You're not getting my quirk! Not today, villain!"

Last semester, it had been normal for the entire class to jokingly call each other villains over anything, from training sessions to posting a dumb meme in the group-chat. They all knew nobody meant it. Or, almost nobody meant it. Everyone had completely dropped the habit since the kidnapping. Another one of the little changes that reminded Katsuki he didn’t belong here anymore.

Not that he ever really did.

In any case, most of the class had stopped. Meaning it had been quite awhile since someone called Katsuki a villain to his face. It was also the first time someone had said what everyone else must be thinking.

That Katsuki would steal everyone else's quirks if they didn't protect themselves from him.That he was no different from the monster he’d gotten this stupid fucking quirk from. 

Katsuki flinched back, now unwilling to touch the grape fucker. The other saw the opening and tried to take it, but thankfully Katsuki's combat skills hadn't abandoned him.

The AP Shot to Mineta’s chest should've been satisfying, but all Katsuki could feel was a painful tightness in his chest. Nausea burned his throat as he was forced to again remember he would never be normal again. Never be able to touch someone without that faint sensation, the restless feeling of being able to take.

Mineta was down, so Katsuki spun on his heel and went to rejoin his partner. His pace was slower than what it should've been. They had almost won anyways. It was fine. He could take his time. Momo would be fine without him. 

She’s better off with you far away, everyone is. 

Their team returned victorious, and no more than a few seconds passed before Katsuki could feel concerned green eyes boring into him. Luckily, it was time for Izuku's match, so there was no time for his boyfriend to interrogate him. Shouto was busy preparing for his own match-up, leaving Katsuki in the clear for at least the next fifteen minutes.

It only took five for him to come up with a plan. The moment Izuku got back he'd make a big deal out of this shit, and he wouldn’t stop until he figured out what had Katsuki so upset. Then it’d be a big deal and they’d waste their time trying to make him feel better for shit he absolutely deserved. He didn’t want to deal with that right now. Besides, he’d taken a few hard blows during that match (not from Mineta, but from Sato, who had been the unlucky asshole paired up with the purple fucker), so he had the perfect excuse.

"I'm going to go see Recovery Girl, I think I bruised a rib."

Aizawa's concerned gaze was on him instantly, picking him apart down to his soul. It was rare for Katsuki to leave heroics training early for healing, but he had done it before. Unlike a certain green haired martyr, Katsuki knew his damn limits and knew to get himself patched up before his injuries got dangerous. After bearing that black gaze and feeling uncomfortably exposed for several long seconds, he got a nod of approval. Excellent.

"Go ahead, good job keeping on top of your injuries. Will you be returning to class afterwards?"

"Nah, I'm already pretty tired. I don’t think I’ll be able to stay awake after healing."

That got his teacher's eyes back on him, looking a little more closely. Shit, Katsuki couldn't tell him he was tired because of stupid fucking nightmares keeping him up last night. Okay. Can't lie, but need a better reason than that shit.

"I pushed myself during my morning training, it’s not a big deal, I’m just tired."

Lame excuse? Maybe, but it was true, he had done nearly double his normal morning workout. Because he’d been unable to sleep. Aizawa didn’t need to know the second part. For a moment, Katsuki was sure he wasn’t going to get away with that explanation. A resounding crash from the battlefield saved him just as Aizawa was opening his mouth. His teacher’s focus flickered back to the match and Katsuki was waved off. Fuck yes. 

Without waiting, Katsuki made a beeline towards Recovery Girl’s office, ignoring Shouto and Eijirou’s concerned gazes as he went. 

He'd been hoping to get himself patched up, drag his ass back to the dorms, and pass the fuck out.

Well, okay, he still got to do that, but there was a slight hiccup in his plan.

As it so happened, Mineta had finished getting patched up when Katsuki arrived. When the purple bastard stepped out from the office, Katsuki a few paces down the hall and their gaze locked. Katsuki's eyes narrowed to dangerous points.

Usually, Mineta would cower out of his way, but today he'd finally grown a little bit of a spine. Maybe it was the realization he'd finally found something to hurt Katsuki with.

Whatever, Katsuki didn't give a fuck. He was here to get healed and leave. To that end, he tried to stride past Mineta, only to have the other jump out of his path with an exaggerated yelp.

"Oi! I don't want you near me, you'll steal my quirk too!"

Alright, that was fucking it.

"As if I'd want a pathetic-ass quirk like yours. I like having decent fucking hair, and you're the last asshole who gets to complain about personal fucking space."

The other was probably trying to yell something back at him, almost certainly offended by the hair comment, but Katsuki tuned him out as he pushed his way into Recovery Girl's office.

There was no way she hadn’t heard Katsuki’s insult. Thankfully, she was well aware of how much of a dickhead Mineta was, so she let his outburst slide. In fact, she didn't say anything as she patched him up, beyond a warning to be more careful next time. He rolled his eyes even as he nodded, and finally he was cleared to return to the dorms.

Healing had taken more out of him than he thought it would, by the time he stumbled into the common room Katsuki felt ready to fall asleep on the damn couch. Somehow, he dragged himself up the stairs to his room anyways, passing out the moment his head hit the pillow. In his exhaustion, Katsuki forgot to lock his door.

Despite the panic that overtook him when he woke up and realized he’d forgotten, it wasn't actually a big deal. Shouto and Izuku did let themselves in, but they only did so to join him for an afternoon nap. He’d been expecting them to question him about earlier in the day. Both of them had apparently concluded his foul mood was because of his injury. Thank fucking god because he didn’t want to deal with them going after Mineta too.

Honestly, despite it’s rough start, Wednesday evening was quite pleasant.

Dinner was nice. Katsuki cooked for the rest of the dorm (minus a certain rat) since he was in a good enough mood after his nap. His classmates appreciated it, and he sat with Momo as they reviewed Aizawa's feedback on their match earlier in the day. Mineta must’ve been spooked by him earlier, since he didn’t even make an appearance.  

That night, Katsuki was left tired and sore enough to justify curling up with both his boyfriends again. Aizawa didn't give them shit for not being in their own rooms after curfew, even though it was the third time that week. Katsuki was too damn tired to even dream, so his sleep was blissfully peaceful. 

Normally, such a good evening would put Katsuki in a good mood the next day. Yet Thursday morning he woke up with dread curling in the pit of his stomach.

He still had three days until the Hero Commission was supposed to find out about his new bullshit quirk. They weren't going anywhere for training, so today would a stupid day for an attack. Both Katsuki's boyfriends were okay. His morning workout felt good, and breakfast tasted just fine. Thursday wasn't usually a homework heavy or project assignment day. He'd tripled checked and all his homework was already done and ready to be turned in.

Something felt wrong regardless, like it was looming over him. It had him on edge, trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

Good news; it didn't take him long to figure out what it was. In fact, as soon as Katsuki entered the bustling hallways with Eijirou on one side and Sparky on the other, he got a pretty good fucking sense of what was happening.

Bad news; everyone knew.

The moment he entered school, all eyes were on him. People turned and started to whisper. His hearing was shit so he couldn't make out what they were saying, but from how people shifted, careful to avoid even the risk of contact, it wasn't hard to fucking guess.

Eijirou looked like he wanted to say something, but Katsuki was not having it. One hand went to each idiot beside him snagging their sleeves so he could drag them through the hallways to their classroom. Behind him, the rest of the idiot squad, and his now very worried boyfriends followed them closely.

He refused to talk about it. Refused to acknowledge the issue. 

So what if everyone fucking knew. People were going to find out eventually. It didn’t fucking matter. It didn’t.

Lunch changed that.

The teachers hadn't caught on to the leak yet, although he was 99% sure they would figure out on their own. He sure as fuck wasn’t going to bring it up. 

When Katsuki went to lunch, it only became more apparent that the whole school had somehow found out about what happened. All eyes were on him, people cleared out of his fucking way, and no matter how his class tried to surround him, to pretend there was nothing wrong, it was a matter of time before someone started shit.

It was some dickhead from the general course who said what everyone else was thinking. Katsuki had never seen the guy before in his life, he had no idea who he was, or who the guy thought he was. If he had to guess, it looked like someone who hadn't made the cut for the heroics course. Not like Shinsou, who had actual talent and was unfairly overlooked, but like a rich boy whose daddy hadn't been able to bribe a seat for his kid.

"So is it true?" The sneered word came from behind him, and Katsuki thought about turning around, but there was no fucking reason to. His focus stayed firmly on eating his food, no matter how sick to his stomach he felt. Seconds ticked by, his classmates frozen around him.

"Don't ignore me! We have a right to know if there's a quirk stealing monster hiding in our midst!"

Katsuki didn't want to let the words get to him. It shouldn't mean anything. It didn't mean anything. The asshole was just looking for a fight, and he wasn't going to get it. Not fucking today. His classmates seemed unsure, but willing to follow his lead and not give the dickhead any satisfaction.

"I knew it! You really did become a quirk thief after those villains whisked you off!"

Okay.

The quirk thief comment was bothering him a little.

The use of the word 'whisked' to describe being violently kidnapped was pissing him right the fuck off. He'd been about to spin around, about to get up and fucking fight whatever dickhead thought he had the right to talk shit here, and he was pretty sure that his classmates were ready to do the same.

Only, all of them were beaten to it.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!"

That got Katsuki (and just about everyone else in the cafeteria) to look up in shock.

Never did he think he'd see the day that fucking Monoma of all people was defending him, but Katsuki was quickly learning his life was fucking weird. Copycat didn't seem deterred by people's shocked gazes, he was right up in that dickhead’s face. For once, Kendo wasn't holding him back.

"He was kidnapped! Kidnapped! By a number of powerful and dangerous villains! I don't know how he ended up getting a new quirk from it, if he actually did, but I do know I'd much rather he have it than the villain who nearly killed All-Might! Or do you like dangerous villains having the ability to steal other people's quirks?"

The dickhead was left stunned by that, lips flapping and eyes bulging.

"Not only that, but he hasn't done anything! You can't harass him just because he could maybe take someone's quirk. Literally out of everyone in this damn school, Bakugou is the last person who steal someone’s quirks. Did you miss the entire sports festival where he refused first place because he didn't think he earned it fairly?"

Monoma was going red in the face now, angry, defensive and righteous. The other kid had yet to find a response, so Monoma kept up his rant.

"So you can fuck right the hell off with that! It's not like anyone would want a shitty quirk like yours anyway. Clearly it wasn't good enough for the heroics course, nobody needs to drag themselves down with shit like that."

Rage contorted the dickhead's face as Monoma’s words hit him, and in a moment of stupidity, the asshole actually lunged for the blond. Thankfully, said dickhead was stopped by a familiar capture weapon and a crackling red gaze. The whole cafeteria froze and all eyes went to Aizawa, who had appeared in the doorway. 

“Bakugou and Monoma, both of you head to the staff room. You may bring your lunches with you. I’ll handle things here.” 

Weird that it was both of them, but whatever. Katsuki gave a nod to his classmates, grabbed his lunch and walked purposefully out of the room. Even if he felt like shit, he was keeping his head held fucking high. None of these extras were getting a reaction from him. 

He was halfway down the hallway before he heard the lunchroom door swing open again. Katsuki expected Monoma to catch up to him or call after him or something, but the other kept an even pace behind him. 

It wasn’t until he reached the door to the staff room that Katsuki paused. Not for long, just a beat or two. Long enough for Monoma to almost reach him. Then he pushed the door open, not bothering to knock since Aizawa had sent them there. 

While he didn’t exactly hold the door open for the other blond, he did make sure to push it extra wide and keep his hand on it until he was sure Monoma’s own had reached out. The other probably noticed, but didn’t have a chance to comment. 

“Hello Listeners! What brings the two of you in here? Is everything alright?”

“We’re fucking fine, Aizawa-sensei sent us in here because some shit went down in the cafeteria.”

All eyes were on them now, and he could almost feel the raised eyebrows. Right. It was weird for Aizawa to send them to the staff room instead of Hound Dog’s office if there was a fight.

“Secret’s out and the whole school knows about my new quirk. Not sure if you lot noticed yet or not. Either way, some dickhead tried to start shit during lunch because of it. I was ignoring him, but Monoma told him off for it. Guy tried to get physical,  Aizawa-sensei put a stop to that and sent us here. Dunno why yet.” 

The entire room went tense and silent. Yeah, alright, they hadn’t noticed the school had heard. Wasn’t like there was much to be done about it now. He’d be shocked if the media hadn’t already gotten wind of it, and the villains would definitely know. 

Mic was the first to recover, his smile now forced and the pep in his voice feeling flat. 

“Well, I suppose that’s not great! Any chance you know how word got out?”

“The Class 1-A student with the purple balls on his head, Mineta? He stopped by our dorm yesterday evening to speak to a few of the more… chatty members of our class. Given how quick he was to move on, I can safely assume we weren't the only class he visited. I heard the rumor shortly after that.” 

Oh, of course it was the grape fucker. Of course. Just his fucking luck.

Actually, wait, Katsuki was taking that back. Mic’s gaze had gone straight up dark in a way Katsuki hadn’t seen before. This might be fun after all. 

“Thank you, Monoma. That’s very useful information. Why don’t the two of you sit down and finish your lunches? I need to have a word with Aizawa.” 

With that, Mic was ducking around them out the door, leaving them with Snipe and Cement Toss at the other end of the staff room. Well, no sense in standing around. 

Katsuki took a seat on the closest couch, setting his food down on the coffee table. It only took a few seconds for Monoma to follow suit. Silence reigned between them.

Picking at his food, Katsuki wondered if he should say something. 

Probably.

What the hell should he say though? He hadn’t asked Monoma to defend him. Hell, he’d never even considered Monoma on the list of people stupid enough to speak up for him. 

The whole situation felt weird, like it had been personal for Monoma somehow.

Quirk Thief. 

Hm. Maybe. Worth a shot. 

“Guess that asshole hit too close to home for you?” 

Gray eyes went straight to the floor, refusing to look at Katsuki. Yeah, that was it then. 

It made it easier for Katsuki to accept Monoma standing up for him, knowing it was a projection thing. If the guy was trying to deal with his own issues by proxy, well, more believable than the ridiculous thought that Monoma was actually trying to defend him. 

This was something Katsuki could understand. 

“Well, whatever the fuck your deal was, I gotta admit it was satisfying as fuck to hear you chew him out.”

Monoma looked like a goldfish with his eyes wide and mouth gaping. As funny as it was, Katsuki couldn’t have him getting the wrong idea here, he needed to bring the asshole levels back up.

“Just don’t make a habit of it. I don’t need other people fighting my goddamn battles, and I don’t like these extras thinking their bullshit is worth a response.”

Several long seconds of silence passed as Copycat got himself together, dropping his gaze back to the ground. 

“Never thought I’d see the day I was defending you of all people, but… it wasn’t fair. I’ve- I’ve lived through that. It hit a nerve, and… I couldn’t not say something.” 

Katsuki gave a nod, understanding and maybe a bit of approval all rolled up into one. 

Silence again.

“So… it’s true then? You actually got a new quirk from the villain attack?” 

Ugh. Why did people have to ask questions about shit that didn’t concern them? Stupid human curiosity. 

Maybe if he told Monoma he’d passed it to the rest of the school so Katsuki didn’t have to deal with any more of this shit. 

“Yeah, Quirk transfer. Let’s me move almost any quirks around. Got it by accident from All for One. I didn’t ask for it, I can’t get rid of it, and ’m not using it. We don’t know shit about it, legality on it’s sketchy as fuck, and for all I know it could seriously fuck with people’s health.” 

“Oh.”

Silence. 

“You can’t get rid of it?”

“Like I said, I can move almost any quirk. Key word is ‘almost’.” 

“Ah.”

The conversation ended there, both of them turning their focus to picking through their food.

It took way too long for Aizawa to show up again, Mic in tow. Hours had passed by, with teachers coming and going in frazzled states. Nobody had told either of them to go back to class, so they waited for Aizawa to arrive. Katsuki moved on to doing his homework, and Monoma followed his lead. Every so often, Katsuki glanced over to check the other’s work. Any mistakes he saw were quietly pointed out with a hint to put Monoma on the right track. It had nothing to do with gratitude, he just didn’t like seeing incorrect shit.  

When Aizawa finally made it to the staff room his hair was a mess, the bags under his eyes had grown and everything about him screamed exhaustion. It fucking sucked that this was was slowly becoming the new normal for him. 

Katsuki watched his teacher practically collapsed into one of the armchairs, waiting patiently for answers, even as Monoma startled beside him. Right, Vlad King was a lot more energetic so Copycat wasn’t used to this shit. He at least knew enough to stay quiet until Aizawa’s black eyes blinked open and focused in on Katsuki. 

“Well, it’s as much of a clusterfuck as it can be. Media’s gotten wind of it, there’s reporters swarming the place, parents are finding out, and I just called the Hero Commission to let them know about the situation. No official statement from them yet, but odds are they’ll have something ready by this evening.” 

Yeah, that was about what he’d been expecting. 

“So, since the secret is already out, and Monoma here already got himself involved, we’re going to test one last theory before giving up on transferring the quirk.”

All of three seconds ticked by before both he and Monoma realized what Aizawa meant. 

Huh. He hadn’t even considered the possibility. 

“Wait! I mean-” Concerned gray eyes jumped between Aizawa and Katsuki, trying to read their emotions. “...Do you want to transfer the quirk to someone else?” 

“Hell fucking yeah I do. We’ve been trying for ages, but nothing worked. There’s a stupid fucking clause on the quirk which says I can only transfer it to an enemy. If you can use a copy to move it to Aizawa-sensei though, that’d be a pretty fucking amazing loophole.” 

Monoma seemed hesitant on the idea, which Katsuki could understand. Metaquirks mixing might not turn out great. Katsuki didn’t care about the risk, he wanted this shit gone. 

Holding out an arm, Katsuki raised an eyebrow in challenge. That concern narrowed down to a glare and Monoma took the challenge, grabbing onto Katsuki’s wrist with more force than was strictly necessary. 

Silence.

The gray eyed glare shifted from Katsuki to some point in space, confusion and frustration growing more intense as each second ticked by. 

So much for that plan. 

A full minute passed before Monoma finally released Katsuki’s arm, his own hand fall down to the couch. He looked like he might actually cry or some shit, shameful defeat painted all over his features. Katsuki still waited for him to choke out the words, to seal his fate. 

“I can’t- it’s not there. I can’t even copy it.” Alright, fuck, Copycat was way more upset by this than he should be. “Sorry.” 

“You don’t have to fucking apologize.” Comforting was not on Katsuki’s list of skills, but what kind of asshole would he be if he said nothing? Fuck. Okay. Say something else. “This quirk’s fucking weird; it’s in a category of it’s own. Not your fault the rules are shitty.” 

Aizawa stood up, moving slowly to Monoma’s side. His movements were careful, and his eyes were soft.

“Bakugou’s right, as far as we can tell this quirk appears to operate on different rules as a function of its existence. It was worth a go, but I wasn’t too hopeful it would work out. You’ve already done quite a bit of good today, and there’s no use beating yourself up over a longshot.”

It took a bit for Aizawa to calm Monoma down fully, while Katsuki sat awkwardly to the side. Once he did, the conversation turned towards the other shit that had gone on. 

“The student who decided to pick a fight in the cafeteria already had several warnings on his record. The final choice is Nezu’s, and his homeroom teacher needs to be consulted, but expulsion is likely.” 

As he paused, something between vindication and disgust flitted across Aizawa’s face. Katsuki felt hope surging in his chest, even as he tried to stomp it down.

“Present Mic was able to confirm Mineta told the school about your condition. He was on his last warning, and has since been expelled. His things are being collected from the dorms now. You shouldn’t see him again. Thank you for informing us of his involvement Monoma.”

Hell fucking yeah. 

Knowing that purple bastard was gone almost made the rest of this bullshit worth it.

Almost. 

After a few more questions, and a few other minor updates, Monoma was sent back to the dorms. Classes had ended awhile ago. Vlad King was waiting outside to escort his student back, pausing only to make eye contact with Aizawa, a silent message passing between them as Aizawa shook his head. Giving grim nod in reply, Vlad set about ushering Copycat off. 

That left Katsuki and Aizawa alone in the staff room. 

“So, what's next?” 

The tired sigh he got in response wasn’t a great sign. 

“Well, part of it will depend on the Hero Commission’s response. The other part depends on how your parents respond. We haven’t had a chance to contact them yet, since protocol says to wait for the Hero Commission’s response. I know you were told not to tell anyone else outside the class about your condition, but did you tell them anything? You aren’t in any trouble if you did, we just need to know now.”

Katsuki damn near laughed at the idea. Holy shit, the day he willing told either of his parents about anything was the day hell froze over. He couldn’t say that though. Not unless he wanted a lecture on respecting his elders or whatever. 

“Nope, haven’t even spoken to them since I figured it out.” Actually, now he was thinking about it. 

Pulling out his phone (which he kept off during school hours for a fucking reason), he confirmed his suspicions. Twenty-six missed calls, fifteen voicemails, and about a million texts.

“Yeah, my mom definitely knows, and she’s not happy.” 

Shit. She was going to be a pain and a fucking half to deal with. Aizawa’s hand came up to rub at his face, clearly coming to the same conclusion. After biting his lip for a few seconds, Katsuki reached a quick decision. His teacher had been through enough shit today. 

“Don’t worry about her, she’ll be fucking pissed with me but she’s not going to give the school shit over it. You lot had nothing to do with it. Worst case she’ll demand I drag my ass home for a weekend so she can tear me a new one. If you need approval for some plan or whatever, I’ll get her on board with it. Or get my dad to sign it. Whichever.”

Black eyes narrowed. Katsuki didn’t like the look on his teacher’s face, a mix of suspicion and concern. It was too fucking close to pity, and he didn’t want it. There was no damn reason for pity either, he was getting what was coming to him. Fair and fucking square. 

Again, Katsuki was saved by an outside force. Aizawa’s phone rang before he could question that statement, and Katsuki didn’t have to see the caller ID to know who it was. 

“Wait here, this shouldn’t take long.” 

Nodding, Katsuki set about answering texts from his classmates. 

The phone call took five minutes and ten years off Aizawa’s life. By this point, the man should be legally considered dead. 

The Hero Commission was requesting Katsuki’s presence tomorrow after classes. 

‘Requesting’ meaning he had no say in the matter whatsoever. 

“You don’t have to go.” Aizawa said, and Katsuki wished he could believe that. Not a chance in hell he was running from this though, it was the least he deserved.

“I’ll do it. Less shit to deal with down the line if I go now.”

His teacher nodded, and for a moment they sat in silence, staring down the future looming over them.

The school still didn’t have a plan in place, not a real one anyways. There wasn’t a plan for this shit. What they did have was a list of rules for him to follow.

Katsuki was on house arrest. Nobody was calling it that, but they all knew what it was. He couldn’t leave the dorms anymore without an escort. Even for the walk to and from the fucking school. Before it had only been for leaving school grounds entirely, and now he couldn’t even go for his morning jog. Both his boyfriends were barred from staying over in his room. As apologetic as Aizawa was about that shit, they had to follow protocol to the letter. No visitors from outside the school (not that that mattered), no talking to anyone outside an approved list about his condition, and his teachers were checking in on him every few hours. 

When he got back to his room, the first thing he did was call his mother. It was the last thing in the world he wanted to do, but the worst case scenario was her deciding to pull him out of UA. He’d be completely fucked if that happened, and if she thought UA let him hide from her, she’d do it in a fucking heartbeat. Particularly now she had an easy excuse. 

So Katsuki called his mother, and he spent three hours staring lifelessly at the wall as she let him know how badly he’d fucked up. 

The voice in his head got louder and louder the longer he listened, reminding him of every mistake, every place he could’ve done better, every flaw he’d never forget. 

At some point, her voice blended with the one in his head. Maybe they had always been one and the same. 

Katsuki was too numb to care.

The school could do whatever it wanted with him. She didn’t give a fuck. After the shit he’d pulled, they could throw him in Taurus for all she cared. Stick him in the cell All for One should be in, since he’d taken the guy’s quirk he might as well get that too. 

Aizawa only needed to know the first part, in the form of a signed set of paperwork from his mother and father. The papers were usually used for custody shit, serious family sickness, parent death, or rare situations where parents might be out of contact for long periods. 

In Katsuki’s case, the paperwork was there for emergency use. It gave Aizawa the right to make disciplinary, medical, safety, or basically any other choice without the usual parental consultation. Practically speaking, it meant they could move him to a new location, place whatever restrictions on him, or make calls on medical shit without risking compromising information. 

He’d only managed to get her to agree to it by pretending he didn’t want her to sign it. A few minutes of acting like he thought his teachers were planning to do something to him, and she jumped right on board with the idea. 

When his mother handed over the forms, she had smiled at Aizawa sweetly. Unlike Katsuki, she was good with people, charming when she wanted to be. It was nothing new. Her words were honey-sweet as they always were with people she wanted to like her.

“We trust UA with him, you don’t cut him slack like his middle school did. You see him for what he really is. My husband and I are glad for all you’ve done for him, and we’re more than happy to make your lives a little easier. Katsuki will keep us updated with what we need to know.”

Aizawa was disinterested in most people, but he was oddly focused at that meeting. Black eyes watching her every movement, tracking Katsuki’s reactions. It put him on edge. There was no reason for Aizawa to be looking this closely. Wasn’t she already saying exactly what his teacher wanted to hear? 

“We appreciate your cooperation, we’ll do our best to keep you informed regardless of the forms. Though obviously, Katsuki’s safety is our top priority right now.”

It really fucking shouldn’t be. 

And yet. 

That had been Friday morning. 

Friday itself passed him by in a daze. 

None of his teachers called on him. None of them gave him shit for not paying attention. 

He really should be paying attention, he couldn’t afford to fall behind. 

Despite his best efforts, it was hard to find any motivation. Any reason to care. His mind kept being pulled back to the dreaded meeting that evening. Even when he was escorted back to the dorms, back to his room for an hour before they left. 

They’re probably going to put you in jail. It’s where you belong, villain.

Maybe he did, but it’d cause a media shitshow for them.

Oh, they won’t call it jail, they’ll tell everyone it’s for your own safety. People won’t pay attention beyond that.

His teeth grit together. Just ignore it.

I wonder if they’ll keep you all alone, locked away and never able to see another person again. Can’t risk you using that nasty quirk after all. 

Solitary confinement was illegal for minors. 

Maybe you’ll get to see your old friend again. The Slime Villain is still in jail, isn’t he?

Fucking stop that.

Maybe you could even take his quirk. You seem to love becoming what you claim to hate. 

Fuck off, fuck off, fuck off, fuck off.

Or maybe they’ll just lock you up in a lab. Cut out the legal part of things. Nobody would go looking for you.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-

“Bakugou?”

Several sharp knocks on his door. 

Showtime then.

“I’m coming, hold your fucking horses!”

He hadn’t changed out of his school uniform. Fuck it. This was fine. 

Aizawa looked him up and down when he stepped out of the room. Thank fucking god his teacher didn’t comment on the lack of dressing up. 

“Come on, the car’s waiting.”

It only took half an hour to get there. When they’d arrived, he’d reached for the car door before Aizawa held up a hand to stop him. 

Black met red, those eyes looking into his soul.

“Bakugou-” His teacher paused, then started again. “Katsuki, you aren’t alone in this.” 

Katsuki didn’t have a response to that.

“I don’t know what they want, and I’m not allowed in the room with you, but that doesn’t mean you’re alone. You don’t have to do anything they say, and they don’t have any right to you. They may try to get you to think otherwise, but they don’t have any legal control here. No crime has been committed, you don’t have a license so they can’t ask you to do any missions, and they don’t have the right to remove you from UA’s custody. No matter what they tell you, they don’t have any real power. Even if they threaten withholding a license, we will handle that. Best Jeanist already reached out to offer his support, as have several other major pro-heroes. The Commission can’t risk any bad publicity right now.”

He deserved whatever they did to him. Whatever punishment they devised, he’d accept it. This was all his fault. From the multiple media shitstorms, to the symbol of peace wasting away in a hospital.  

 Aizawa probably knew he wasn’t listening, since he sighed and gave up on the speech.

“Kid... Just promise me you won’t sign anything?”

A nod was the only reply Katsuki could muster. 

Good enough. It had to be, since they had to get going.

Before he knew it, Katsuki was in front of too many fucking people. It wasn’t a courtroom, but he was on trial all the same. The Commission was in front of him, spread out with too many eyes watching him. 

The entity of the Commission was sitting down, but he had to stand at the center of the room. Ten paces back, just in case. The guards were watching him as closely as the Commission itself was. 

While his memories were hazy, he was pretty sure they’d gone through all the formalities, his responses coming on autopilot. Now it was time to get to the heart of the matter. 

“The report from your teacher says that you acquired a new quirk, can you confirm that?”

 “Yep.”

“Can you tell the Commission what quirk you acquired, and how it was acquired?” 

“Quirk Transfer, formerly known as the All for One quirk. I got it during my confrontation with All for One at the start of the summer. The transfer was accidental, I didn’t know what I was doing, and he didn’t know either to my knowledge.”

“And for clarity, what does this quirk allow you to do?”

“Transfer quirks with skin to skin contact. I don’t know that much about how it works, but hypothetically it lets me take almost any quirk, I can then keep that quirk and use it or give it  to someone else. I can replace quirks after I take them. Moving a quirk from one person to another can be dangerous if their body is unable to handle the new quirk. Right now, taking someone’s quirk while they’re willing and replacing it doesn’t appear to harm them, but it does tire them out.” 

“When did you discover this new quirk?”

“Monday. I accidentally initiated a quirk transfer Sunday evening, but we didn’t see the effects until training the next day. I was able to reverse the transfer without about issue ten minutes after we figured out the quirk was gone.” 

There was muttering between the Commission members. 

“Why did it take you so long to discover the new quirk? If the transfers can be initiated  accidentally?” 

Shit. He’d hoped they wouldn’t ask about that. Okay. Not a problem. Don’t lie, just… tell the right truth. 

“Due to the kidnapping, I didn’t have much contact with others over the summer. There were very few times the transfer could’ve happened, and nothing to trigger it. The accidental transfer only happened because the other person was having trouble controlling their quirk, and I was attempting to help them. I didn’t know I had the ability to take their quirk, but I wanted to do something in the situation. Hence the accidental trigger.” 

More muttering. They seemed to accept his answer, but he could feel questions lingering.

“Can you demonstrate the quirk for the Commission?”

Katsuki’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at the Commission for a long, long moment. Trying to puzzle out what the fuck they meant by that.

The demonstration request he’d been kinda expecting. Gotta see it to believe it after all. 

But he was standing in a room, at least 10 feet away from any other human beings, and he wasn’t going to walk up to some fucking rando and fuck with their quirk. 

After damn near a full minute of his confused stare, someone in the Commission finally realized the flaw in their request. The chairman flustered when that person finally leaned over to whisper into his ear. 

“Ah, sorry. Um, hold on a moment please.” The Commission mutter amongst itself again, before a guard stepped forward from her post. Of all the guards, she was the only one who hadn’t been glaring Katsuki down since he stepped in. Her posture was relaxed, even as all eyes turned to her. 

“I could help out, if the Commission is alright with it?” 

She got a nod of approval, and crossed the wide floor to stand next to Katsuki, rolling up her sleeve for him. Unlike everyone else in the room, she seemed comfortable near him. As she held out her arm she even gave him a bright smile 

It made him nervous, how trusting she was.

Foolish. 

“You sure?” He needed to hear it. Needed to know he wasn’t stealing. Even if he was going to put it back, he refused to steal.

“Yeah, I’m sure kiddo. You’ll put it back afterwards, so it’s no big deal.” 

Okay. Right. No backing out now. 

Really though, they should do this right. With her standing this close he could tell it was something to do with earth, and it wasn’t a high energy quirk. It was concentrated around her hands too. 

“Alright, can you demonstrate your quirk first?”

With her grin intact, she wiggled her fingers, closed her hand and opened it again. A handful of sand slipping out from her grip to fall onto the floor. Katsuki couldn’t help but stare. No wonder she didn’t mind risking it. 

“Not super useful, I know. Can’t even do more than a handful at a time.”

Whatever, it’d work for this shit. 

“You ready?” 

After getting a nod, he reached out doing everything in his power to keep his grip from shaking, and ghosted his fingers along her wrist.

He hated how easy it was this time. How little time it had taken for him to become used to this. 

The glow started in his hand, slide up her arm, and back into Katsuki’s hand. Pulling back once he had it, he gave the quirk a poke, opening and closing his hand just like she had.

Sand fell out of his palm too. 

There went the muttering again, it was like they thought he couldn’t hear them. 

“Woah.” Looking back to the guard, she was opening and closing her hand, a grin still on her face. 

Reaching out to snag her wrist again was a bit rude, but Katsuki absolutely did not want to hold onto her quirk for longer than he had to. The glow returned, he felt the quirk leave him, and he let go. Air rushed back into his lungs. Done with that shit. 

All eyes were back on her now, and she opened and closed her hand one last time, sand tumbling out of her palm.

The tense silence in the room could be cut with a knife. It felt like it was once the chairman finally gathered himself enough to speak.

“Thank you, you may take a break if you need one.”

Even as she yawned, the guard shook her head as she walked back to her post. 

“Nah, I’m good. That was cool though.” 

So now Katsuki was left alone again in the center of the room, with a pile of sand next to him. 

When had this become his life? 

The Commission went back to talking amongst themselves for what felt like hours before they reached an agreement. He had to wonder if they were going to try and pretend locking him up was for his safety. They didn’t need to, not to him anyways, but he did hate the pretty lies. At best, he hoped they’d let him say goodbye. A selfish part of him wanted to steal one last kiss from the boyfriends he didn’t deserve. A last hug from the friends who would be safer without him. Maybe he could even visit All-Might, the hero he’d killed, and have his hair ruffled affectionately one last time. 

They almost certainly wouldn’t let him go to the funeral, he didn’t deserve to. He could only hope they’d let him say goodbye now. If not, he could probably get a few texts out. Or ask Aizawa to take a message. 

“You are currently enrolled in the heroics course at UA, class 1-A, correct?”

Okay, weird question they should know the answer to, but whatever. 

“Yep.” 

“Even with this new development, and with your experience last summer, you still plan on becoming a hero?”

This felt like a fucking trap, but he wasn’t going to lie. 

“Yeah, my plans haven’t changed.” 

“How do you plan to use your new quirk as a hero?”

Katsuki’s postured tightened at that. Nope. Not going down this path. 

“I’m not. I plan to use my original quirk for heroics. If I end up in a situation that I cannot resolve without Quirk Transfer, I’ll do what I have to do, but I have no intention of using it outside of when there is no alternative.”

Oh, they were murmuring again. Great. Exactly what he wanted. 

“Do you have a reason for refusing to use your new quirk?”

Why the fuck were they asking him that? They were the fucking Hero Commission, they should know damn well why. 

“I don’t want anyone else’s quirk. I don’t know what health risks it could pose to myself or others. Current laws and hero protocols are not equipped to handle it. Realistically, it’s not that useful during combat since it takes a few seconds. Not to mention trying to use a new quirk is a pain and a half.”

“Have you considered it’s potential use outside of combat?” 

He didn’t like where this was going. 

“Yes, but it doesn’t change my stance on it. If I were in a rescue situation or handling a quirk accident, and I didn’t have any other options, then I would use it. Outside of that, I’ll stick to my original quirk.”

The Commission exchanged glances and nods, before the chairman refocused on him. Katsuki didn’t like the look in the man’s eyes.Too interested. 

“Katsuki Bakugou, the Hero Commission has been hearing about you for quite awhile now. Even prior to your admission to UA, you were on our radar as a candidate with a lot of potential. Obviously, we never expected a development like this, but it opens the door to a new world of heroics.” 

Nope, he didn’t like this one bit. 

“While you may see a lot of risk in your quirk, there’s also an astounding amount of good that you could do. We want to help you do that.”

Not. One. Bit. 

“Usually, a full hero license requires you be 18, among a number of other things. However, we can make exceptions when the need arises. This is such a case, where we would be willing to grant you a full hero license to allow you to use your new quirk for the betterment of society.”

What?

“You would need to leave UA, but you would be able to work directly under the Hero Commission on a special project.You would also be working with an approved agency so you could get experience in practical heroics, but your primary job would be removing quirks from convicted high-risk villains to prevent them from causing further harm. Depending on the specific quirk, health risks, and availability of candidates, you would then give those quirks to worthy heroes selected by the Commission. Regulations would need to be established first, but you wouldn’t be at risk of any legal repercussions.”

What. 

“The Commission feels this would be the best utilization of your new ability. You would be helping keep people safe as we’ve never been able to before. It would also let you become a hero three years ahead of your class, and Commission chosen heroes tend to do very well in the rankings.”

Oh, fuck no .

Did these assholes learn nothing from the fucking sports festival? Or his fucking kidnapping?

Katsuki wasn’t a fucking cheater. Not a chance in hell. He’d rather give up on becoming a hero than take an underhanded offer like that. Not to fucking mention how much of a slippary slope it was. Sure, it’d start out as him taking quirks from only the worst of the worst, but soon enough there’d be people demanding he take every villain’s quirk, regardless of their crime.

Nope. No fucking way. 

He wanted to curse them out for daring to suggest he’d go along with that shit, but he just barely held himself together. Gotta stay civil, even if he shattered his teeth from how hard he was grinding them together. 

“While I… appreciate the interest, I have to decline your offer. I’m not willing to forcibly take quirks outside of emergency situations, and I’m not interested in taking the easy way to becoming a hero.” After a pause, Katsuki decided to add onto that. “I’m not ready to become a fully-fledged hero anyways. I still have a lot to learn, and I think UA is the best place for me to do that.” 

Ooo, they had not been expecting that. Mr. Chairman’s face got ugly with Katsuki’s rejection. 

“Be sure in the choice you make. Becoming a hero is not an easy task, no matter what route you take. If you pick a more difficult path on purpose, you might find it’s beyond your abilities.”

“I’m sure.”

Yeah, they did not like his rejection one bit. More muttering. 

“The Commission would like to ask you to reconsider, but we understand you might need a bit of time to do so. For now, you may leave and return to UA. Your presence will be expected at the same time after your classes on Monday, once you’ve had time to think the offer over carefully.”

Oh for fuck’s sake. Why couldn’t they just listen when he said no?

Punishment he was willing to take without question, but he wasn’t going to take some shitty bribe to be their fucking lap dog, no matter what they tried. 

“I don’t need any extra time. I’ve made my choice.”

“This isn’t a decision to be made hastily. Take the weekend to think through your options. The hero world has suffered a great loss this year, and your cooperation would go a long way towards restoring the public’s faith in the heroic system. Be sure to consider that before you make up your mind. For now, you’re free to leave. Thank you for your time, Mr. Bakugou.”

Well, that was a low blow. 

Katsuki didn’t bother to reply. The Commission was already packing up anyways. 

Turning on his heel, he marched out the door, back to where Aizawa was waiting. It took all the self-resistant he had left to not stomp his feet like a goddamn toddler. The bad mood was written all over him, so he didn’t bother beating around the bush as they walked back towards where the waiting car. 

“I have to come back on Monday. They made a bullshit offer I don’t want, and even though I said no, they want me to think it over or some shit like that.”

Silence filled the air for a few seconds as his teacher thought the situation over.

“Alright. We’ll come back on Monday, and you’ll tell them no again. If they try to push you anymore, you walk out and tell me. I’ll handle it after that, whether they like it or not.”

Katsuki slide into the car. His hands were shaking badly, but he nodded. One weekend. One shitty weekend. He could do this. 

“Thanks.” 

Even though his voice was quiet, Aizawa caught it. The smile he got from his teacher made it worth it. A hand moved to rest on his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. It was enough to make him consider saying it again sometime. 

“This isn’t going to be fun, but you’ll be alright kid. My job is to look out for you brats, and I’m not going to fuck that up a second time. No chance in hell.”

He didn’t deserve Aizawa, didn’t deserve his comfort, or the dedication the man had to his students. Katsuki was fucking selfish though, so he let himself lean into that comforting hand and let himself believe his teacher. 

Just for a little bit.

Maybe tomorrow will be better.

Katsuki could only hope it would be, and given how shit this week had been already, the bar was so low they might actually clear it. Once that shit was already touching the ground, it couldn’t get any lower.

That was what he’d thought anyways.

He’d forgotten how far down the universe was willing to dig. 

When he woke up, he’d known something was wrong. 

The world felt off, wrong, bad. 

What could it fucking be now? What could possibly make this situation worse?

The answer to the question he didn’t mean to ask came in the form of his green eyed boyfriend. 

Izuku had gone to visit All-Might early that morning so he could update the hero on Katsuki’s situation. He’d said he’d be gone for two hours. It was close to six before he showed up again, not answering any of Shouto or Katsuki’s texts. 

The worst part was, he wasn’t crying. Green eyes were dull and lifeless, his body looked like a puppet being dragged along. Katsuki knew that feeling all too well, and he hated the thought of Izuku dealing with it.

There wasn’t much he could do though, not when Izuku explained why’d he’d been gone for so long, his voice quiet and flat. 

The doctors had been there, another set of tests results had come back.

Before, they’d all known All-Might was dying, but it had been abstract. He was dying the same way they all were. It wasn’t real. Not yet.

Not until the doctors had put a timer over his head.

Two months. Maybe three, if he was lucky. 

Two months, and Katsuki’s childhood hero, his boyfriend’s mentor, the symbol of peace, would be gone for good. Because Katsuki killed him. Two fucking months. 

There was nothing Recovery Girl could do. Too much had been lost already. All-Might was too weak for her healing to do much anyways. 

Katsuki couldn’t go see him until next week. 

One week out of the eight that he had left.

He felt like he shouldn’t go see him at all, shouldn’t waste any of the precious time he had left. Izuku should have that time. Fuck, Shouto deserved that time more than he did. Any of his classmates did. 

All-Might had asked to see him regardless, probably to make Izuku feel better. Or maybe it had to do with the quirk.  

So Katsuki agreed to go in a week. What else could he do?

That was all he could remember of Saturday, the two month time limit looming over him.

Sunday, things managed to get even worse. 

The League of Villains knew for sure now that he’d gotten their leader’s quirk. Intel suggested they were going to be going after him soon. Aizawa suspected a leak at the Hero Commission. 

Despite his teacher’s best attempts, the Hero Commission still demanded to see him the next day. 

At the very least they agreed to an increased escort for safety. None of them wanted to risk Katsuki falling back into the wrong hands. 

Sunday, Katsuki spent as much time as he could snuggled into his boyfriend’s sides, pretending he wasn’t scared. He didn’t complain when Eijirou hugged him too tightly, he didn’t push away Denki or Mina when they pressed too close to him on the couch, and he didn’t say a word when Hanta ruffled his hair. 

Monday passed by in a blur. Like someone had hit fast forward, until Katsuki found himself in a car. 

A car fucking flipping over that was about to hit the ground. 

People were yelling. 

Something was grabbing him. Pulling him out of the way. 

He was out of the car now. 

Aizawa pushed him behind the heroes’ lines, shielding him. Told him to stay. 

The pro-hero escort wasn’t doing a bad job. Even with All for One on the villain’s side, they were almost holding ground. 

A voice was yelling at him again, and then he was being told to go. To run to the nearest agency, where there was a lockdown ready.

So he ran. Mind numb, knowing there was a battle behind him but not able to understand it.

As he ran, he caught a glimpse of Best Jeanist taking on the bastard who decayed stuff with his hands, binding his fingers. All for One was moving in then, forcing Jeanist back. Aizawa was somewhere in there, the only thing keeping All for One at bay. 

Someone landed a hit on All for One, a nasty one. He yelled something, and the other villains moved. Dabi tore away from his own fight to summon up a wall of flames, enough that it must’ve broken Aizawa’s line of sight. Not for long, but it only took an instant for the injury to heal over.

Katsuki’s mind flashed to that day; Jeanist, beaten within an inch of his life, body torn to shreds, healed in a few seconds by that quirk. 

It didn’t seem to work for All for One’s face, but maybe, maybe it could be enough?

Didn’t the guy have some quirk for living fucking forever too?

He was still running. There was someone behind him now. That someone was not friendly.

The agency wasn’t far. If he launched himself now, gave it his all, he could escape. That was what he’d been told to do. That was what he was supposed to do. 

His mind was back on that quirk, a regeneration quirk like nothing they’d ever seen before, one that could heal near any injury in moments. Back on the only chance he might have to get ahold of that quirk. 

Back on All-Might, dying in a hospital, all because of Katsuki. With nothing anyone else could do to save him.

If he was caught, the villains would leave. They’d flee the battle once they had what they wanted. Nobody else needed to get hurt. 

It was such a stupid idea. There was every chance they’d kill him. At best they’d torture him, at worst, they’d make him a Nomu or something. Even if he survived, he wasn’t going to come out of it okay.  

He only had seconds to decide, seconds before the person was on him. No time to think it through.

In the end, he only really had one choice anyways. His palms didn’t ignite.

No real hero would let All-Might die, not when there was something they could do. 

Besides, he thought, as he felt that hauntingly familiar sensation of his body being compressed, he deserved this. Whatever came next, whatever they did to him, he deserved it.

Katsuki wasn’t going to let them win, but he let them take him. Even knowing if his insane plan did work, it wouldn’t redeem him, his soul would never be clean. 

It was his fault. His fault All-Might was dying. His fault Izuku was losing the closest thing he had to a father. His fault the villains were after him. His fault people got hurt. Were getting hurt. All of it was his fault, and it was far more than he could ever make up for. 

Despite all his mistakes and flaws, Katsuki still desperately wanted to be a hero. Heroes didn’t make excuses, they didn’t let impossible odds deter them. They did what they had to do, with no hesitation. A true hero always did whatever they could, even when they knew it wasn’t going to be enough.

Katsuki Bakugou wanted to be a hero, so he plunged back into the void once more. Hoping this time he might find more than the water filling his lungs.

Chapter Text

When Katsuki woke up, he had three seconds to startle before there was a rag pressed over his face.

He couldn't breathe.

The void took him back once more to it's oily grasp.

The next time he woke up, he was retching.

Where was he? Why couldn't he move his arms? Why couldn't he get the fluid in his lungs out, out, out-

Everything was gray. Stone and metal.

Something wasn't right. His dorm room wasn't made of stone and metal. It shouldn't be this cold either.

There was something on his arms, pinning them behind his back. Why? Why was he here-

Oh.

Right.

They left him alone in that room for what could've been minutes or hours. It was hard for him to tell. There were no windows. No clocks. Nothing to tell him time was passing by. Maybe it wasn’t. 

His head hurt. Why was he here again?

Katsuki tried to itch his face, the muzzle was digging into his cheeks. Oh wait, his arms were still bound. Because.... they didn't want him to explode things?

That was something he could, right? He could explode things with his hands? Maybe? Why couldn’t he do that now? 

When someone finally entered the room, it was the man with the suit and the mask. He had a name, Katsuki was pretty sure. It was a dumb name. Katsuki couldn't recall what his name was, but he knew it was dumb.

The man did not seem happy when Katsuki told him so. Or maybe he was happy. It was hard to tell. Katsuki couldn't make out what the man was saying, and he couldn't see his face either.

The man shook him a few times. That was rude of him. Why would he do that when the room was already spinning? Was he trying to spin in the opposite direction so it would hold still? Maybe that would work. He should try it again.

The man gave up, growling out words Katsuki couldn't understand to a portly man with strange goggles and a weird mustache. Katsuki didn't like that man. He didn't like either of them. In fact, he wanted both of them to go away right now.

They didn't listen to him, they came closer and closer until there was a pinch in his neck and the void came back.

When he woke up for a third time, Katsuki was still disoriented.

This time though, the disorientation cleared as he focused on making sense of  his surroundings. His memories came back to him, of All-Might in the hospital, of his first escape, of his stupid fucking choice on that battlefield.

Well, nothing to be done about it now. Nothing but make sure he actually got that goddamn healing quirk so this shit wasn't in vain.

All he needed was a distraction. He couldn't risk trying to take the quirk when All for One had the upper hand. For all Katsuki knew that would let him get the transfer quirk back. While Katsuki knew he was stubborn as all hell, he couldn't trust his determination to hold up when the guy could stab him.

At least they’d taken the muzzle off at some point.

His arms were still bound behind his back. Chains on the arm restraints lead to the wall, matched by a set of chains on his ankles. At best he could stand and take one step in either direction. Sitting was uncomfortable with the chains so he laid on his side as he tried to figure out a plan.  

Time still didn't make sense to him, even though he was pretty sure he wasn't drugged anymore.

This time, it was just the weird guy with the goggles who came by.

"You've caused my employer quite a bit of trouble."

"Thanks, I’m trying my fucking best here."

Not his best comeback, but whatever. It's not like he was getting scored.

"Now, that's no way for you to talk. Didn't anyone ever teach you to respect your elders?"

"Being old doesn't mean you get any fucking respect from me. All it means is you're that much closer to dying."

Dr. Goggles sighed, like he was disappointed in Katsuki. As if, in whatever delusional world this man lived in, Katsuki gave a shit about his opinion.

"Well, I suppose there will be time to work on that later. I suppose you already know what I'm here for?"

The smart choice here, was to stay silent. That's what he should've been doing from the start. Usually, Katsuki was smart.

Today he had a fucking headache, his arms hurt, and his emotions were all fucked up from this whole situation. He could be smart tomorrow. Today, he looked that fucker right in the eye and did everything in his power to keep his voice as deadpan as possible.

"Oh, of course I do. Obviously, this is all because you want my curry recipe."

Dr. Goggles didn't look particularly impressed by that, so Katsuki couldn't help but add,

"You won't get it from me. That shit's coming with me to my fucking grave."

Several long seconds ticked by as the man contemplated Katsuki, before sighing again. Like he was dealing with a fucking toddler or something.

"It doesn't have to be like this, you know. I'd really rather not hurt you. All for One has requested I keep you in good shape. It'll make you more useful later. Really, if you could only behave, this could be so easy for you."

Katsuki straight up fucking laughed. Not a snort or a little giggle, nah, it must've lasted a full minute at least. Right in that dickhead's face. 

“Tell me, how well did that speech work out last time, huh? I mean, fuck, you assholes must’ve been spying on me for awhile, how has that shit worked out for fucking anyone whose ever interacted with me?”

He paused, needing to catch his breath.

“I don’t do ‘behave’ motherfucker. Never have, never will.” 

Those stupid goggles meant Katsuki couldn’t see the guy’s eyes, but he glared at them anyways. They could try whatever they fucking wanted, they weren’t going to break him.

Can’t break what’s already shattered to pieces.

Once more the man sighed, his head shaking and Katsuki swore to god he heard him tut. 

“You have quite the fire in you, it’s such a shame we’ll have to put it out.”

Before Katsuki could reply, there was a needle going into his neck. Well, fuck. Whatever. They couldn’t get the quirk from him when he was drugged. Just meant less shit he’d remember later.

Back to the void then. 

It bothered him how familiar the darkness felt these days.

After that, the narrative in Katsuki’s mind fell to pieces. Time didn’t seem to move in a linear fashion anymore. People seemed to shift and change. Morphing from one person to the next as if they were one and the same. 

Sometimes he saw All for One. Not often, but sometimes.

It hadn't taken them long to discover Katsuki either wouldn't or couldn't transfer the quirk back to him. Nor could All for One find a way to force it from him. Much like Monoma’s copy, his forced activation trick didn’t work on it. So the man himself kept away, unwilling to risk Katsuki getting ahold of one of his strength quirks to escape. 

When he did come by, he was always polite. Always well-spoken, even when Katsuki was coughing up blood.

What Katsuki hated most about it was how sympathetic he sounded. As if he wasn't the reason Katsuki was there. As if this situation was somehow out of his control.

Handsy called the man 'Father' a few times, and Katsuki didn't like to think about how much the man reminded him of his own father.

Sometimes, during those rare visits from All for One, on the worst days, Katsuki would see brown hair and glasses where he should see a mask. The voice would change, from the villain's lower bass, to his father's soft coo. They blended together. He couldn't tell which one of them was really there. 

Not that it really mattered. Both of them asked the same thing of him. Neither would do shit to help him. All they had were empty words.

Just stop fighting Katsuki. It's so much easier if you don't fight. I don't like seeing you like this. You just need to behave. It'll be better if you do. I want things to be better, don't you? Just behave.

Just behave.

behave.

Behave .

They could implore him all they wanted, in their low, honeyed voices. It wasn't going to fool him.

The man with the goggles, Dr. Daruma as he liked to remind Katsuki, he was the one Katsuki saw the most. Sometimes it was to inject him with some new drugs. Other times he was just there to hurt him.

When Katsuki’s vision started to blur, the man would be replaced with his mother. Leering over him. Trying to break him down, trying to shatter him even further. Making sure he knew this was all his fault.

They were only doing this for his own good. He'd understand one day.

Katsuki considered himself lucky. Or, well, he didn’t, but he probably should. He should be grateful.

Lots of heroes got tortured. He'd seen some of the results of it. Not firsthand, but in newspaper accounts. Photos passed around online. Rumors that circulated.

When you compared his situation to those stories, Katsuki got off fucking easy. The villains couldn't risk killing him, and they couldn't risk breaking his mind completely, as either one could mean All for One's quirk was lost forever. That meant they were limited in what they could do. Sure, whatever it was would fucking hurt, but they weren't trying to mind control him or chopping off his limbs.

A lot of it had to do with taking things away. Food was the first one. Water too. Movement. Time. Awareness.

They did feed him, but not enough for him to feel full. Only enough to keep him alive. The same for water.

If he behaved, then he could have more. They loved to remind him of how easily he could end his torture. He didn’t have to give up the quirk, all they wanted was for him to address them a bit more politely, be a little kinder, behave a little. Lies upon lies filled his ears, but it didn't sway him. It couldn’t.

Katsuki was incapable of behaving. He was bad to his core.

Besides, he'd lived through all of this before. It made him want to laugh. In a way, his mother had prepared him to survive this.

How many times had she sent him to his room without dinner? Locked him in his room well past when he would've eaten breakfast? Straight up told him he didn't deserve to eat when he'd fucked something up yet again?

That summer alone had been an exercise in surviving without people around. This wasn't so bad. At least now when he eventually escaped, he'd be able to tell people about it. He could complain about how bad it was, and they wouldn't give him that awful look of concern or ask a bunch of probing questions. Wouldn't give him yet another lecture on how he should be grateful to his parents for taking care of him.

When he escaped this hellhole, he'd be free to bitch about it as much as he wanted, and that thought was often the best thing he had to keep himself going.

Sometimes, Katsuki saw other villains. There was no rhyme or reason to when they came. His best guess was they came by when they got bored. To see if he was really still holding on.

Twice and Mr. Compress only came by two times each.

The first had been okay company. He'd seemed uncomfortable with Katsuki's state on his second visit, blood splattered on his chest and ribs showing. After a bit of talking to himself, he'd left and come back with a towel to clean off the blood and grim. That was nice. It was one of the few times Katsuki came close to feeling clean. Twice didn’t visit him again after that. 

The latter had been quiet. He hadn't stayed long either time that he'd visited. Katsuki didn't care much for him.

He'd apologized. Guilty words whispered under his breath before he left the second time.

It pissed Katsuki off more than almost anything else. That motherfucker was the one who'd brought him in both times. He didn't get to say sorry. He didn't get to say sorry and not do shit about it and make himself feel better because of some meaningless fucking words.

Whatever.

Toga was weird, but better company than almost anyone else. She'd come down to visit regularly. Unlike the others, she was bright and bubbly about the whole experience.

This girl was fucking crazy. Like, seriously messed up sorta crazy.

Katsuki found he didn't mind. The fantastical story she had going on in her head was an enjoyable reprieve from the rest of this bullshit.

When she was around, he would usually play along with whatever weird fucking world she lived in.

He'd greet her with a smirk, and he’d act like they were pals. ‘Course he still grouched at her and made sarcastic comments. That was how he was with his actual friends. The difference was the warmth behind it, which he let shine through just a little for her. 

Not because he actually believed her nonsense, but because she'd be super fucking smily no matter what he did. Might as well have some fun with it. If nothing else, she was interesting as fuck. She’d bring gossip with her or tell him some batshit crazy tale that would entertain him long enough for him to forget where he was.

Plus, Dr. Goggles hated him getting along with her. Guess the guy couldn't stand someone else getting positive responses from Katsuki while he kept failing.

Sometimes, Toga would fade out. He'd see Eijirou in her place. Mina. Denki. Bright smiles, happy tones, eyes lighting up with joy.

Stupid fucking sunshine children, finding light in the darkest of hellholes.

Maybe that’s why he played pretend with her.

Who fucking knew.

Dabi came by more often than All for One did.

Of all of the villains, Dabi was the most confusing to Katsuki. The guy didn't make any fucking sense. For the first while, Katsuki pegged him as one of the psychos. Probably an entitled only child or something. That idea didn’t hold up for long. 

Dabi was different from the others. The others were either nuts, or they acted guilty. He was in some weird third category. Not quite either, but not separate. 

During his first two visits, he was quiet when he stopped by the cell. Not the guilty quiet like Mr. Compress. A contemplative quiet. Unlike the two cowards, Dabi wasn’t upset by the state Katsuki was in. He wasn’t overly happy about it like Toga either. Dabi just accepted it for what it was, and there was an odd sense of relief in that.

On Dabi’s third visit, Katsuki was high out of his fucking mind. He couldn't stop talking, and Dabi found amusement in holding a conversation with him. Random shit that didn’t mean anything. It had trailed off eventually, as Katsuki's tongue got heavier and heavier. Then, as his vision started to blur, he heard Dabi say something. The comment wasn’t intended for him to actually hear, but somehow Katsuki managed to puzzle out the words.

"Man, for a 16 year old brat, you're holding out against this shit way better than I thought you would. I'll be honest, I thought you’d drop the tough guy shit after a day or two."

He couldn't stop his mouth from moving, slurred words falling from his lips out against his will.

"S'not l’ke I've n'ever dea't wi’th th'is s'hi,t 'fore. My m'om does wor'se 'hen she's n'ot pi’sed a’ me."

Dabi went quiet. When Katsuki managed to get his vision to focus, he saw blue eyes watching him far too intently. God, he hated that look. For half a moment, one blue eye was replaced by brown, mismatched eyes narrowing in concern and knowing after Katsuki slipped up and mentioned his mother. Katsuki squeezed his eyes shut, he didn’t want to think about that right now. 

A few minutes later, he passed out. Dabi was gone when he woke up.

The next time Dabi came to visit, something had changed. Uncharacteristically pleasant conversation flowed between them. It had been two days since the last time Katsuki had had water, and he was saving his anger for whenever the doctor came by next. The guy was probably going to try and get him to 'address him respectfully' or some shit like that. Not that he would, he knew they were trying to break him down slowly. Katsuki also knew damn well they weren't going to let him die; he could deal with the discomfort.

Dabi stayed for about an hour. Towards the end of his visit, he'd seemed... nervous. What the fuck did he have to be scared of?

Katsuki was about to call him out on it, when Dabi turned to check his phone for the fourteenth time. Before he could, the phone pinged. Apparently, that was the signal Dabi had been waiting for. His mood shifted to something calmer.

Five minutes passed by, and Katsuki had been about to write it off, when Dabi stood and entered the cell.

From how he glanced back and forth, Katsuki was pretty sure Dabi wasn't supposed to enter his prison. Most of his visitors stayed outside the cell. Toga, he knew for a fact wasn't allowed in the cell, she had told him as much.

Dabi didn't seem to care, he pushed his way in and knelt down near where Katsuki was lying on the cold stone floor. For one, terrible moment, Katsuki worried the other was going to kill him. Maybe he saw it as a mercy killing or some shit like that. 

Instead, Dabi pulled a water bottle from his jacket. 

Wait. What was that for? Katsuki watched it suspiciously as the villain uncapped the bottle. A bribe? What could he possibly want from Katsuki enough to try and bribe him? Depending on the demand, Katsuki might consider it. If only to be able to spit in the doctor’s face during his next visit. 

No demand came. A rough hand pushed Katsuki up into a semi-sitting position and the bottle was held to his lips. What the fuck? Red eyes met blue, his hesitation not going unnoticed. 

A shrug was his reply. 

“Kid, if I wanted to drug you, I’d use a needle. Take the water or don’t, but make up your mind quick. Cameras will be back on eventually.”

Well, he had nothing to lose. Katsuki tilted his head so he could drink from the bottle, keeping one eye on Dabi in case it was a trap. 

The whole thing took him less than a minute to finish. He felt nauseous from how much he’d drunk in the short time span, but it was better than the endless desert he’d been stuck in. Fuck, it’d been so damn long since he wasn’t thirsty.

Dabi recapped the empty bottle, tucking it back into that jacket pocket. 

You weren’t supposed to look a gift horse in the mouth. 

Fuck it. 

“Why?” His voice was weak, but he knew Dabi heard him.

Blue eyes found his own again, and for a second, Katsuki was sure he saw guilt in there. It smoothed over, replaced by some sort of determination. Another shrug. 

“You looked like you could use a break, and what can I say? You’re impressive for some random brat.” 

Katsuki wasn’t sure how to respond to that, he sure as fuck wasn’t going to say thank you. It still felt like he needed to say something though. There was more to this story. Unlike, Mr. Compress, whatever guilt Dabi was feeling was enough to drive him to actually do shit. The right words might go a long way to getting him an ally. 

“I’m not expecting your gratitude or any shit like that. This is mostly to fuck with the guy running this place. Just don’t mention it to anyone, okay?”

Fair enough. 

“Alright.” 

Those burning blue eyes inspected him for a long moment before deciding whatever they saw was good enough for Dabi to return to his seat outside the cell. 

There was silence between them for awhile. 

Red eyes found themselves pulled towards one corner of his cell. The top-left. From the sounds of footsteps he’d been able to figure out that was the vague direction of the dungeon's exit. The corner was identical to the other four, but sometimes, Katsuki could swear there was light coming from it. 

Probably the drug talking. 

Whatever mood Dabi was in, he seemed content to sit outside Katsuki’s cell in their comfortable quiet. This might be Katsuki’s only chance to get some information.

Some hope.

“How long have I been down here?”

Nobody else would tell him anything related to time. The closest gauge he had was Toga, who sometimes dropped hints as to how long it had been between her visits.

Quiet. Well, it had been worth a shot. It didn’t really matter. Wouldn’t change anything.

“Two weeks and a day.” 

The reply was soft, Katsuki had to strain his ears to catch it. 

Huh. Two weeks. 

“Feels like longer.”

“I don’t doubt it. Some of the shit they’re giving you will seriously fuck with your sense of time.” 

“Oh.”

Did he want to push his luck?

Yeah. 

Nothing to lose after all.

“During the battle, the last one, did anyone die?”

The quiet was longer this time. It made Katsuki wonder if Dabi was going to lie to him.

“Nah, no serious injuries on either side. Your teacher had a lot to do with that. All for One was pissed about it, and he was extra pissed that he couldn’t grab the guy’s quirk to make up for it.”

“Aizawa-sensei’s cool like that.”

“He’s a damn good hero, I’ll give him that much.”

Hm. This next question might break him. It was dangerous, to give Dabi this much power. To risk revealing his motivations. He couldn’t help it. He needed to know.

“Is All-Might still alive?”

Dabi’s answer came surprisingly quick.

“Yeah, he’s up and kicking last I heard. Worried you’ll miss the funeral?”

Thank fucking god for that unintentional out. 

“I never got the chance to say goodbye.” 

It wasn’t a lie. He hadn’t. Katsuki didn’t need to mention he had no intention of saying goodbye, if this shit actually worked.

Silence.

There wasn’t anything else he needed to know. 

His lips formed a quiet question against his will. Voice weak, fucking childish. Despicable. It made him want to gag. 

“Are they still looking for me?”

Dabi didn’t say anything. The question had been so quiet, Katsuki was pretty sure he didn’t hear it. Fuck, Katsuki had hardly been able to hear it. 

Time ticked by them, until the man stood up and stretched. Probably had other places to be. Oh well. Now that he wasn’t parched, Katsuki could grab a nap. His eyes fluttered closed, and his breathing started to slow. He’d gotten good at falling asleep. Had to get it whenever he could. It only took a few seconds now. Something held him back from passing out.  

Why weren’t there footsteps? 

It was weird enough Katsuki almost opened his eyes to check if Dabi was there. Instead, he kept his eyes shut and breathing steady. Focusing, he could hear the other man breathing. Why was he still here?

If his ears hadn’t already been straining, he would’ve missed what the other said, under his breath. As it was, it took Katsuki several seconds to puzzle out what Dabi said as he left the dungeon. The words clearly hadn’t been meant for him, the tone was far too soft. 

“Don’t worry kid, they’re still looking for you.” 

He should feel bad. Searching for him put them in danger. The last thing Katsuki wanted was for someone else to get hurt because of his stupid, stupid, stupid plan. It was his weakness that got him caught the first time, and it was his job to bear this pain until he could fix his mistake. Nobody else’s. 

A selfish, childish, cruel part of him still felt happy hearing they hadn’t given up on him. 

Hope was for babies, but Katsuki couldn’t help the spark that flickered in his chest. 

Dabi stopped by several times after that. 

Whenever he visited, he’d bring something with him. Water. Food. Some method of lengthening the chain so Katsuki could take more than a single step. 

Katsuki hated that he started to look forward to those visits. Rationally, he knew Dabi was a villain. The guy had killed people. He’d tried to kill his classmates. These little gifts shouldn’t mean shit to him.

It didn’t stop him from perking up whenever he heard telltale shuffling footsteps. From seeing dark hair, and thinking it was longer, that those bags under the man’s eyes weren’t burns but were from exhaustion. Blue fading, sometimes entirely replaced by solid black, sometimes only partially giving way to a warm brown. Either was a welcome sight. 

For fuck’s sake, he hadn’t fallen for this shit from All for One or that asshole doctor. Why was the emo serial killer different? 

Even as he questioned it, Katsuki knew the answer. 

Because unlike the others, Dabi meant what he was doing. The guy was a dickhead. A murder. A villain. He was honest about it though. Never tried to pretend he was anything but a villain, or that these little gifts somehow redeemed him. Dabi didn’t apologize, never acted like Katsuki owed him shit, and Katsuki could respect that.

The honesty was refreshing. A nice relief from the bullshit lies the others tried to beat into him. 

He also had a fucking sense of humor. That helped a lot too. 

Shigaraki was the second most confusing visitor Katsuki got. 

Now, Katsuki already knew the guy was nuts, but his visits were… straight up weird. 

While the other villains, sans Dr. Goggles, kept outside his cell, Shigaraki always came in.  

The hands he wore into battle were gone most of the time. Once or twice he brought them in a pocket. Seeing him without them was uncomfortable. Without the weird hands covering him, the guy looked almost human. He also wore gloves.

Their first few interactions had been mostly what Katsuki expected. Shigaraki tried to convince him to join, with words parroted straight from his ‘Sensei’. The only difference was Shigaraki seemed to actually believe the shit coming out of his mouth. Honest to fucking god, the guy thought All for One was some kind of saint, and in his fucked up mind, he thought Katsuki would jump on board with him any day now.

On his most recent visit, the dear doctor had put Katsuki through the ringer. His body was bloody and bruised, and he’d groaned when he’d heard the shuffled approach. 

Shigaraki let himself into the cell, like all the times before, only to freeze when he saw the state Katsuki was in.

For several long minutes, he stared. Katsuki could feel those red eyes on him, and he fucking hated it. If he wasn’t so tired he would’ve started shit over it. As it was, the only thing on his mind was taking a goddamn nap. 

Instinct screamed he shouldn’t fall asleep while this asshole was here, but he was too fucking exhausted to care. 

Or he was, until the creep had reached out and touched him. 

Out of all the memories Katsuki could recall, this one struck him hardest. This one haunted him.

Fear sealed his throat shut with that initial touch, not of death, but of what Shigaraki could do to him while he was chained up. All the stories Katsuki had heard of 20-something manchildren with power complexes pointed towards the only form of torture they hadn’t tried on him yet.

None of them had sunk that low, it seemed even Dr. Daruma and All for One had limits. Shigaraki might not.  

That fear morphed into confusion as the touch continued. 

It didn’t feel like... that sort of touch. There were three fingers tracing his injuries, but it was too light to hurt. Nothing in the touch felt possessive or lustful. 

Katsuki stayed frozen as Shigaraki traced his wounds. Like a curious child. 

Eventually, sleep overtook him. When he awoke, Shigaraki was gone. He hadn’t been moved. As far as he could tell, the guy hadn’t done anything.

After that, the tone of the visits had changed. Shigaraki no longer tried to win him over, no longer spouted that bullshit about how this was for his own good. Usually, he was quiet. Red eyes would look over Katsuki’s battered form, and Katsuki had to wonder who Shigaraki was seeing. 

“Why keep fighting?”

The voice was quiet, hesitant, almost pleading. It didn’t sound like Shigaraki. Katsuki had refused to respond before, but this felt important, so he answered honestly.

“Giving up isn’t an option for me. I’ve got shit left to do.”

At least two visits passed without another word. Somewhere along the way, Shigaraki had become Tomura in Katsuki’s mind. The person who came to his cell was not the same villain he’d faced down on the battlefield. For whatever fucking reason, Tomura had taken to touching him whenever he showed up. It never escalated, never went anywhere inappropriate, never even felt like Tomura was capable of that sort of thing. The touch was always careful, never more than three fingers, never pressing. There was never any skin to skin contact, the gloves stopped that. There was never any pain either. 

Katsuki considered telling the guy to stop. He should. This was a super fucking dangerous game. For fuck’s sake, the guy wore decapitated hands that he called his family. 

In the end, he never told Tomura not to touch him. Sure, it was weird as fuck, but everything about this situation was weird as fuck. At least the touch was somewhat pleasant. Plus, he was pretty sure if he did tell Tomura to fuck off, the guy would.  

And…

There was something different about Tomura now. The vibe was strongest whenever Katsuki was injured, but it was a constant undercurrent. What it was, Katsuki had no fucking clue, but it felt important. An odd sort of familiarity. 

“If there was no one coming, if you had nowhere to go back to, would you still fight?”

The question sounded like it wasn’t really meant for Katsuki, but he replied anyways. 

“Yeah.” 

“Why?”

Flashes played in Katsuki’s mind. His mother had been the first one to say it, that he’d end up a villain. Almost everyone had repeated it to him at some point or another. Teachers. Classmates. Strangers. More recently, the headlines on shitty news sites. 

Katsuki wasn’t Izuku, his soul wasn’t pure. He didn’t have a heroic spirit. Didn’t have his boyfriend’s kind instincts. Katsuki wasn’t Shouto, he didn’t have his path chosen for him. Didn’t have his destiny planned out for him. There was no predetermined fate for him to follow or rebel against. 

So why did he keep fighting? Why did he refuse to become what everyone thought he would be? 

“Spite.” 

It was a shitty answer, but it was the best he had. Tomura left with fingers digging into his neck. Upset about something, though Katsuki couldn’t fathom what. 

“How does your quirk work?” 

A more dangerous question this time, something solid and real. Tomura was tracing the restraints that kept his explosions at bay. They only took them off when he was drugged out of his mind. It was a dumb idea to tell this guy anything. Really dumb. 

“I sweat nitroglycerin from my palms.”

Deadly hands completed a full circuit of the arms restraints in silence. 

“Can you turn it off?”

Shouldn’t Doctor Asshole know this shit? The guy had definitely been recording info on Katsuki’s quirk. Why wasn’t Tomura asking him?

“Nah. I can force out more, but I can’t do less than the baseline.”

Two circuits. 

“Is it toxic? Like regular nitroglycerin?”

When he’d started dating Shouto and Izuku, it was one of the many little things he’d warned them about. One of the many reasons on his secret list of why they shouldn’t be dating him in the first place. 

He didn’t want to answer the question. 

“It’s not quite as bad, but yeah. It’s toxic.”

One circuit. 

“Is it hard to control?”

“Sometimes. I’ve gotten better at it over the years. Mostly just gotta pay attention to it and keep burning it off. As long as I’m careful about touching shit, it’s not that bad.”

“Oh.”

Tomura was quiet for the rest of the visit. 

Tomura wasn’t touching him this time. He wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not. On one hand, he should probably be relieved. On the other, this was unfamiliar ground for him. Unfamiliar was dangerous. 

Today, Tomura had brushed the light blue hair out of his face. It wasn’t exactly neat, but it was tucked behind his ears leaving his face exposed.

With his hair back, Katsuki could see Tomura’s eyes clearly. 

Red looked into red. They were the exact same color. 

Katsuki knew a few other people with red eyes, but always been a different shade of red. The only other person he knew with his shade was his mother.

Tomura’s eyes didn’t look like his mother’s. They looked like Katsuki’s. 

That didn’t make much sense, but he was at the tail end of a drug high. Fucking whatever. 

Hm.

Now that he thought about it, Tomura hadn’t come by after he’d been drugged before.

Looking back into those red mirrors, he thought there might be a reason for that. 

Words flashed into his mind unbidden. The same words he’d thought of the first time he’d met Tomura. 

‘Heroes and villains are two sides of the same coin.’ 

A single heartbeat, and blue hair slid to blond, the scars faded from those lips, and the face he was looking at seemed younger. The image was gone as soon as it arrived, but he couldn’t unsee it. 

For once, Katsuki broke the silence. He shouldn’t. He did anyways. 

“How long’s he had you for?” 

Tomura’s posture tensed. Katsuki was convinced he was going to lose it. The smart thing to do was backing down. 

Katsuki held Tomura’s gaze, red meeting red. 

It was Tomura who broke eye contact, looking to the floor. When he mumbled out an answer at last, his voice was almost nothing. 

“...Awhile.” 

There was a long pause. Tomura’s hand dug into his neck, sharp fingernails leaving painful looking lines down his skin. He wasn’t wearing the gloves. First time Katsuki had seen him down here without them. Finally, the other muttered something to himself, words Katsuki barely caught.

“Gotta be ten years at least.”

Well that explained a lot. 

They sat in silence again. Again, Katsuki couldn’t help himself. 

“Why me? Out of all the shitty kids out there, why pick me?”

“I thought you’d understand.”

The hand fell from Tomura’s neck, to his lap where it wrapped around his other hand. Red eyes inspected those deadly fingers for a long time, before looking back up to meet their twins. There was something different about them now. A spark, flickering, dim, but burning nonetheless.

“Maybe you do.” 

Tomura left not long after that. It was the last time he visited Katsuki.

Katsuki didn’t see anyone for what felt like a long time after that.

When the doctor came back, he was upset. Past experience told Katsuki he was going to be in for it. He braced himself for the pain. 

There was none. Food and water were shoved down his throat, and he was left alone again.

The next visit was much of the same. 

And the one after that. 

Toga was the one who gave him answers. Her tone was unusually concerned. 

“Mr. Shigaraki got really upset with Mr. All for One about how they were treating you. I thought the blood looked good on you, but it was making him sad all of a sudden. Mr. All for One was confused, but he didn’t want Mr. Shigaraki to be sad so he told Dr. Daruma ‘ta be nicer. Like Dabi said, it wasn’t like it was doing much in the first place. Big-Sis backed him up.” 

“Huh.”

“Yeah, it was kinda scary. Mr. Shigaraki’s been acting strange in general. I’m worried about him actually. He’s jumpier now, and I’ve heard him muttering about people he’s never mentioned before. You know his family’s hands that he usually loves, right? Now he keeps acting weird towards ‘em. Sometimes he can’t stop staring, and other times he acts like he’s freaked out by them. We keep finding him staring off into space too. He’ll mumble under his breath, or start digging into his neck if we don’t snap him out of it. If it’s real bad, we have to get Kurogiri or Dabi. Otherwise he’ll startle and try ‘n decay us.”

“Wait, Dabi?”

“Oh, yeah! I guess word hasn’t gotten to you yet. It’s so cute! Mr. Shigaraki and Dabi have been getting along a lot recently. I asked Mag about it, and she said they’ve finally warmed up to each other. Mr. All for One gets nervous about it, but I think he’s just jealous that Mr. Shigaraki's been spending time with other people.” 

Weird. 

“That reminds me! Mag showed me a new way to do my eyeshadow-”

It couldn’t have been that long after Toga’s visit that Dabi finally came by. He looked like shit, hair a mess and eyes wild. 

Normally he waited outside the cell until he got a ping on his phone which meant the cameras were down. Today, Dabi didn’t bother. He pushed his way right in. 

Katsuki hardly had time to sit up before there was a container thrust in his face. 

“Drink.”

Tilting his head slightly, Katsuki could see it was a smoothie of some kind? Maybe? After taking a few seconds to consider his life choices, he leaned in to snag the straw. 

Not a smoothie. Tasted like a protein shake. Not awful, but not great either. 

By this point, as long as it wasn’t making him gag, Katsuki didn’t care.

He finished the whole thing, releasing the straw and looking to Dabi for answers. 

Dabi tucked the drink away and dropped to sit beside Katsuki, head twisting back and forth. Antsy. 

Blue eyes regarded him for a long moment. Staring into Katsuki’s soul and weighing his heart against a feather. Like he had any fucking right to judge. 

“It’s an energy boost, with some other shit mixed in. Won’t fix everything, but it’ll do you a lot of good. You’re going to need it.” 

“Why?”

A long pause that set Katsuki’s every nerve alight.

“Since he talked to you, Tomura’s been getting… testy with All for One. Apparently some of his childhood memories started coming back. They got into a nasty spat today, and I'm making a choice about where my loyalties lie.”

“...I won’t go with you. I’m not- I won’t be- I can’t-.”

If it had been anyone else, Katsuki’s words would’ve been shouted. They would’ve confident and powerful. Dabi made him doubt himself. As much as Katsuki hated it, Dabi was the only one who’d been kind to him. The only real friendly face he’d seen in what felt like years. The only one who’d bothered to actually do shit to help him. For all his words, if it came down to it, he might follow Dabi if All for One was the alternative. Might. 

“Don’t worry kid, I’m not dumb. Tomura really wanted to take you with us, but I talked him out of it for now. Convinced him you’d be better off going back to the heroes. You aren’t a villain, and we can’t change that. ”

Katsuki wanted to cry. It shouldn’t mean shit to him what Dabi of all fucking people thought of him. Still, to hear someone say it? Someone who had every reason to tell him otherwise, and still tell him he wasn’t a villain?

His eyes might be watering. 

“I’ve gathered up the people actually worth shit, and we’re leaving. I’ve already sent your friends a message with some info that’ll unlock as soon as we’re gone. The problem is, All for One is going to know the moment we’re gone. I don’t know how long it’ll take for your friends to get a team over here who can handle him and the other dickheads we’re leaving behind.” 

“He’ll be after me as soon as he knows.”

A grim nod in return. 

Alright. 

This was going to be his only chance to get out of here. He couldn’t fuck it up.

“I’ve already put an override code into all the shit down here. Everything should deactivate when we leave. After that… good fucking luck.”

“Thanks.” 

He meant to say that sarcastically. Unfortunately, it came out sincere. Shit. 

A scarred hand moved up to ruffle his hair, and Katsuki hated himself for leaning into the touch.

Hated himself for not even thinking to try and take Dabi’s quirk until the other had broken contact.

Hated himself for knowing he wouldn’t have done it, even if he had thought of it in time. 

“Be careful kid. You’ve been down here a month with limited mobility and on a fuck ton of drugs. Move slowly, keep yourself in dark, quiet places away from anything producing heat, and he’ll have a tough time finding you. Take a left at the top of the stairs once you’re out, that’ll get you to the warehouse which should be perfect for playing keep away.” 

Dabi pushed himself back to a standing position, pausing for a moment to look at Katsuki. 

“If you’re smart about it, you’ve still got a chance to say goodbye.”

Then he left, pushing his way out of the cell, footsteps echoing down the hallway.

He wouldn’t say that unless-.

Unless All-Might was alive. 

Katsuki wasn’t too late yet. He still had a chance to save him. 

It couldn’t have been more then five minutes before the lights started to flicker and the restraints around his wrists fell away, chains clattering to the ground. No time to waste.

After a month of hell, his first few steps almost sent him crashing to the ground, but whatever was in that drink was helping a fuckton. It only took seconds for him to be out of the cell and up the stairs. 

The warehouse was to the left. From the right he could hear increasingly loud cracks and smashes. 

If he went left, he could say goodbye. 

If he went right, there was a chance he wouldn’t have to. 

A hero should always be ready to risk their life. 

No excuses. 

Katsuki Bakugou didn’t do losing, he didn’t do shit he didn’t want to do, and he didn’t do anything less than his best. 

He went right.

Chapter Text

Aizawa was having the worst month of his fucking life. So far. Two months. Year.

Of course, Katsuki being kidnapped wasn’t enough. No, he had to come back to school a month before their provisional license exam with a brand new fucking quirk. Just about the most complicated quirk he could’ve gotten too. 

For fuck’s sake, couldn’t the universe give this kid a break? 

Apparently not, because it only took a week from when Katsuki found out he had the quirk, just when they’d finally gotten a handle on things, and then he was fucking kidnapped again. 

This time, there were no leads. No trackers stuck onto Nomu. Nothing. 

They had to resume classes after three days. Policy said to keep things going, so that’s what Aizawa did. Shinsou was selected to replace Mineta in Class 1-A. Nobody dared suggest they fill the other empty seat.

Every homeroom started the same way, with Kirishima asking him if he’d heard anything.

“There’s no new publicly available information.”

He dreaded saying that awful phrase every morning. 

He dreaded the morning Kirishima didn’t ask even more.

Three weeks went by, and they still had nothing. 

All Aizawa had to comfort himself was the knowledge Katsuki wasn’t dead yet. Probably not dead yet. The kid was smart, he knew better than to give up the quirk, and they couldn’t take it from him without a transfer. As long as he had it, they wouldn’t kill him. 

The class hadn’t given up hope, but he could see how it was crushing them. 

He hadn’t wanted them to take their provisional exam, not with the emotional state of the class being what it was. They had insisted. Midoriya looked like was going to breakdown if he wasn’t able to make progress. Wasn’t able to help somehow. So, he let them. What else could he do?

All 39 students passed with flying colors. Class 1-A and 1-B.

They got a lecture on work-study from his third year students. Even Mirio couldn’t bring up the classes’ mood. Not when there was an empty seat in the room. Mirio wasn’t exactly his usual sunny self either. His eyes lingered on where Katsuki normally sat, guilt clear in his eyes though there was no cause for it. It wasn’t his fault UA had failed Katsuki yet again.

Mirio’s lecture was followed up by Aizawa’s own addition delivered in a voice that left no room for argument. 

“None of you are allowed near the case. All prospective hero agencies have already been made aware of that.”

As unhappy as they were, all of them understood. 

Aizawa called Mitsuki Bakugou once a week now, to let her know there was no news. She didn’t seem to care that much, diverting the conversation into angry rants about her son. If- No, when they got Katsuki back, he had some serious investigating to do into exactly what was going on in that household. 

A week passed. Slowly, each of his students was picked up by agencies. The passion behind it was lacking. 

There were no new leads.

Until one day, a month after this entire mess started. A month after Aizawa had failed his student. A month after he’d been sedated because he lost his shit when he found out the villains had gotten away with Katsuki. 

One month later, he got an email. Everyone associated with class 1-A did, students and teachers alike.

The sender was some randomly generated account. The subject line read “Soon”. 

Inside, there was a link. Nothing else. 

Clicking on it was a really stupid idea, which is why Aizawa didn’t do that. Several of his students did, and all of them were getting a lecture on cyber security. 

All-Might had clicked on the link as well, but he wasn’t getting a lecture. Not much point to it now. 

It didn’t really matter anyway, the link didn’t lead to anything. Just a blank page. 

“From what we can tell, it’s a placeholder. Even in the code of the webpage there’s not much we could find. It’s waiting for some sort of signal.”

Great. Just wonderful. 

So now, Aizawa had the entirety of Class 1-A and 1-B (because somehow word had gotten over to them too, he strongly suspected Kirishima or Shinsou) sitting in the school gym. The doors were locked, and none of them were leaving without an escort. Classes were canceled, and all non-heroics students were on lockdown in the dorms. All the gathered heroics students were watching him with wary gazes. 

Aizawa had exactly one chance to do this right. 

“We have no confirmation this has anything to do with Katsuki. For all we know it’s random spam or something completely unrelated.” 

“But?”

And there it was. Aizawa sighed.

“But, investigators are suspicious. It’s been exactly a month today, and it’s not easy for someone to get a hold of this many UA email addresses. We assign random IDs for a reason, and they didn’t get anyone outside of Class 1-A. The easiest way for someone to pull this off would be getting access to a Class 1-A email account.”

“Kacchan’s phone.”

Midoriya’s tone was breathless as he put it together. Green eyes narrowed.

“He kept it locked though. With a pin, not a face ID or thumbprint.”

Silence, as the class wondered. If maybe, maybe Katsuki hadn’t been able to hold on forever. Aizawa refused to think about it. Refused to consider it as an option. The kid was made of fire, spite, and determination. He wouldn’t have broken.

“There’s plenty of ways around a pin when you have the physical device and time. Regardless, it’s still entirely possible this has nothing to do with him.”

“That’s why you’ve locked us all in the gym?” Black eyes narrowed in on the blond student who was glaring right back at him. Monoma, one of Vlad’s. The one who had stood up for Katsuki in the cafeteria. With a sigh, Aizawa’s glare softened. 

“We’re being cautious. If this does have anything to do with Katsuki, none of you can be involved. Even with your provisional licenses, this is going to be a dangerous operation.”

None of them were happy with that, angry looks and tense shoulders all around. They might stage a revolt if he didn’t put a stop to this now. 

“Need I remind you all, if this does involve Katsuki, there’s every chance it’s a trap?” 

All eyes back on him, good. Maybe he could use this as a teaching experience. As much as he wished he could say they’d never deal with this again, this shit happened to pro-heroes. No time like the present to learn to handle it. 

“Assuming this is actually the League of Villains, and they sent this message specifically to Katsuki’s class and teachers, what would their motivation be? After a month of no contact, when supposedly they already have the person they want?”

Quiet again. They were starting to put it together. Finally, Todoroki raised his hand, shoulders slumped but meeting Aziawa’s gaze nonetheless. 

“They haven’t gotten what they wanted, so they’re trying a new approach.”

Or they had gotten it, and this was to rub it in. Aizawa put that possibility to the side though, there wouldn’t have been a delay for that kind of thing. He hoped. 

“Exactly. Any ideas as to what they could be trying?” 

It was Yaoyorozu who replied to him this time, not bothering to raise her hand. Her voice was quiet, eyes downcast. Of all his students, she had been the most realistic about the situation. Being smart had its downsides. When your strategic thinking was off the charts, it meant you knew what a lost cause looked like. 

“Two options. First, they’re trying to lure one of us into a trap. If Katsuki isn’t breaking on his own, they’d need someone he cared about to threaten instead. Second, it could be an attempt to break him through humiliation. Depending on what kind of message they release afterwards.” 

He didn’t miss how his students shifted closer to one another. They were all too fucking young for this. Still, he kept the conversation going. Helping them understand the situation would help them rationalize it and make good choices if it came down to it. 

“While the second one is a possibility, they would probably do a completely public broadcast. Under the circumstances, we’re most likely looking at the first situation. Now, usually, if you’re luring someone into a trap like this, you’d want to force them to make choices independently and quickly. Why delay it?” 

Midoriya was the one to pipe up this time. 

“A show of power? If they give us piecemeal information about him it would create desperation. Then they could make demands.” 

“That’d be my best assumption given the evidence. So, considering all of that, what’s our best response?”

All of them were quiet for a full minute. It was Iida who answered him, subdued. 

“Be as emotionally distant from the situation as possible. It should only be handled by people that don’t have an attachment to Katsuki, since the villains specifically targeted people who are emotionally attached to him.”

They understood the weight of the situation at last, guilt settling over the room. Aizawa hated crushing their dreams of running in to save their classmate, but he had to be sure they wouldn’t try anything. If this really was about Katsuki, the situation could go south quickly and he couldn’t risk any of them getting involved. 

“Good. That’s why all of you are now in the gym and will not be allowed to interfere with the situation if it does turn out to involve Katsuki. We can’t risk playing into their hands. There is a team of professional heroes working on it as we speak, and we need to put our faith in them. Understood?”

A chorus of yeses, and nods. He let them have silence to process their emotions, until Kaminari raised his hand. Not the one Aizawa expected to have questions first, but not entirely out of character. 

“If- if it does yield something, and they send out a rescue team; will you be going?”

Oh, all eyes were on him now. Reading the emotions of the gathered crowd was hard, what with the amount of  conflict in their expressions. He’d been asking himself the same question for the past month. 

God, why had he let Midnight talk him into teaching?

“If I’m picked for the team, yes. It’s possible I will be.” Before their indignant cries could start, he held up a hand. “Normally, I would not be. If it were another group of villains, I would recluse myself from the team because I’m too emotionally invested in the situation to act rationally. However, there are special circumstances.” 

Of all of them, Yaoyorozu and Midoriya were the only two who put it together.

“I’m currently the only counter to All for One, if he’s involved, my presence may be required regardless of emotional involvement.” 

None of them were happy, but they got the point. Without All-Might around, Aizawa was the only remaining option. That got him another minute of quiet until Todoroki raised his hand again. 

“Even if we aren’t allowed to interfere in the situation, are we at least allowed to monitor the link? They said it looked like it was waiting for a signal, so the webpage could change. We won’t intervene, but shouldn’t we be allowed to know what’s going on? If a message appears, it could also be directed towards one of us, so our input could be important.”

It was a bad idea. They were all young and emotional. There was every chance that even with his lecture, they were still going to try and interfere in the situation.

If he didn’t let them though, they’d find another way to watch it, and he wouldn’t be able to monitor what they were seeing. 

Besides… As much as Aizawa was trying to be a responsible adult, he was dying to know what was going on. A selfish part of him wanted any information about his student as soon as possible. 

“I’ll get a projector and a quarantined computer in here, and we can watch the link on it. Don’t open it on any personal devices.” Biting his lip, he looked them all over again. “I’m letting you all watch it under the condition that if something does happen, I may shut it down. If I make that call, all of you need to respect it. No matter what was said or being shown before I cut it off, if I say it’s enough, you leave it. Understood?” 

They were hesitant, but agreed. Good. 

Getting everything set up only took a few minutes. The link was the same blank webpage from before. The browser was set to refresh the page every 5 seconds unless something changed.

While they waited, he was able to get a few other things brought in for his students. Blankets and pillows, because the gym was not the most comfortable location to spend the day. Food and drink since none of them had had breakfast yet. Pens and paper so they could work on projects if they felt like it. 

None of it made the situation better, but it made him feel like he was doing something. 

His phone’s notifications were all on. Aizawa still found himself checking it every minute or so for updates. 

An hour passed like that. He’d settled into the idea that it was probably just a spam email. Probably had nothing to do with his missing student. 

Then someone gasped. 

Swinging his gaze to the laptop in front of him, the page was changing. There was a new loading symbol on it. 

He almost closed the window, scared of what his students might see. 

Thank fuck he didn’t, because when the pages loaded, it was quite possible the best thing he’d ever seen. 

There was a whole interface, at the top of the screen was actively updating GPS coordinates. That wasn’t what got their attention, no, Aizawa couldn’t take his eyes off the security footage taking up most of the screen. 

Katsuki was on the screen, looking absolutely awful, hair far worse than normal, frame gaunt from what must’ve been malnutrition, clothing tattered, body covered in cuts and bruises. 

He was alive though, alive, with all his limbs, and from the looks of it, he was free. His movements were slow down the hallway he was in, but he was clearly sneaking through. There were no restraints on his arms, and sparks came from his palms when he stumbled. 

Aizawa’s relief was near instantly replaced by fear. Why were they being shown this? If whoever had access to this knew where Katsuki was, and knew he was escaping, why would they broadcast that out?

Distantly, he realized his phone was buzzing. 

Opening it, there was someone from the investigation calling him. He should answer that. He needed to answer that. 

Instead, his fingers were pulled to his other notifications.

1 New Email

None of his students had gotten an email. He had several of their phones up with him, confiscated for safety. 

The same sender as before. 

Subject: Re: Soon

Message:

You’ve got one hell of a kid on your hands. Decided since we were splitting off, we might as well give him a hand. Site should be tracking him, but it has access to any of the cameras. All for One is probably going to be after him now he knows were gone, so I’d hurry if I were you. 

 

Good luck. 

Another ping and a second message appeared. 

Subject: Re: Re: Soon

Message:

By the way, just in case you do get him back alive, I’m mailing you a drive with some interesting footage. Probably worth checking out before you send him home.

There was every chance this was a trap. Numbly, he forwarded the first email to the investigation team. 

Heroes shouldn’t get their hopes up like this. Shouldn’t take something like this at face value. 

Still, the very idea that maybe, just maybe, this was actually a betrayal. Maybe they had actually just been sent Katsuki’s location, along with every possible advantage for a rescue. God.  

He had to rub tears away from his eyes as he finally picked up the phone. It was Hizashi. Hizashi who was currently with the investigation team. 

“You’re seeing it too?”

“Investigation team’s looking into it, but Shouta, they think it might be legitimate. Everything’s pointing at this being a live broadcast, and the location appears to match what the security cameras are showing. We still don’t know why they would send this though.”

“I-.” It felt like his throat was closing up, tears dripping from his eyes against his will. Fuck. This might be real. “I got an email, just forwarded it. I don't know if it's real, but-."

"It implied there's a coup or something of the sort going on?"

Oh, oh. There was hope in Hizashi's voice. Aizawa knew his husband, and he knew that voice.

"What have people heard?"

"There's been rumors going around about unrest in the League of Villains since Katsuki got kidnapped. Word on the street was they weren't doing quite as much because of it. It's only been rumors up until this point, but it would make sense. If a group of them wanted to split off, setting Katsuki free would be a good distraction, and it'd draw hero attention to the hideout they're leaving behind."

It would explain why they would send so much information on a delay. How Katsuki escaped his prison in the first place despite his condition. Why he hadn't been recaptured yet.

"Are they sending a team?"

The tense silence from the other end of the line was not what he wanted to fucking hear.

"As soon as they can ensure it isn't a trap, yeah. Right now people are scouring the other security cameras to confirm the coup theory, and see whose left. We can't just run into this sort of thing."

Rationally, Aizawa knew that.

On an emotional level, he was staring at grainy footage of his fucking student , a child, who has been in enemy hands for a month, who is still in the enemy base, carefully sneaking his way around corners.

"How far away is the hideout?"

"It's fairly isolated. We're expecting it to take an hour or two to get there."

That was not what he wanted to fucking hear.

"They're working on it Shouta, I promise they are."

"I know."

Silence between them. Aizawa's hearing tuned back into the rest of the room, which seemed torn between eavesdropping on his phone call and excitedly discussing everything Katsuki did on screen. Midoriya and Todoroki were holding onto each other, looking as if they were one second away from saying 'fuck it' and trying to rescue Katsuki anyways.

"Call me if I'm needed, I've got to deal with the kids."

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too."

After hanging up, he had to take a moment to breathe, ignoring the imploring gazes on him.

When he looked up again, all eyes were on him. All those young, desperate, hopeful eyes.

He should tell them nothing was certain. They were still verifying all the information.

For once, he said fuck what should be done.

"They think it's legitimate. From what we can tell, this may be about a splinter in the group letting him go as revenge."

He could hear their excited voices, Ashido was actually bouncing where she sat.

"They're working on verifying everything now and getting a team ready to go to his location. It's pretty remote, so it's going to take some time. I'll repeat, none of you will be going."

"How long will it be until the team arrives?"

"Probably two hours."

The temperature in the room dropped, he could feel their anger and discontent like a physical blow, but he had to hold firm even if he agreed with them.

"We have to do this right. This might be our only chance to get him back safely, and if we move in too soon, it could put him in further danger."

They weren't happy, but the anger simmered down, eyes turning back to the screen.

Aizawa's gaze was drawn back to the screen too.

He was not a religious man, but there were silent prayers on his lips as he watched Katsuki stumble around another corner.

The first thing on Katsuki's mind, was how much he fucking ached all over.

It wasn't any one specific spot that was in pain, it was his entire body. Everything fucking hurt no matter how he moved.

He was pushing through the pain as best he could, but it didn't make it any less distracting or annoying. Fighting was going to be a bitch.

Dabi had said he was taking people with him when he left. From what Katsuki understood of the villain's dynamics, that probably implied a good chunk more than just him and Tomura. Almost all of the high ranking villains who'd kidnapped him the first time around hadn't known shit about All for One. Implying Tomura was the one they'd actually worked with, and the one who'd hold their loyalty.

If they'd split off into their own group, that meant he for sure wasn't going to be fighting Dabi or Tomura. Toga would’ve gone with them for sure, Dabi definitely cared about her and he wouldn’t leave her behind to deal with All for One’s shit. Magne was one of the two villains he’d never met, but from how Toga talked about her, she’d almost certainly follow Tomura as long as Toga was onboard. If Toga went with them, Twice would’ve followed her as well. Spinner would’ve followed Tomura, at least based on what Katsuki knew about the guy. That left Kurogiri and Mr. Compress up in the air. Kurogiri seemed loyal to All for One, but the few times Katsuki had interacted with him he seemed to care for Tomura as well. Katsuki didn’t really know shit about Mr. Compress. Either of them could’ve stayed or gone with, and either villain would cause him a new set of problems. 

Guess it'd be an adventure to find out.

And by adventure, Katsuki meant 'trip through hell'.

For right now, following the extremely loud noises seemed like his best bet. Whatever was going on, someone was pissed. Really fucking pissed.

Katsuki could related.

He staggered his way through another set of hallways, all long and narrow with little variety between them, before he reached a door with noises coming from inside. It wasn't the loud crashing sounds, but the room looked important enough to warrant a look inside. Unlike many of the other doors, it was worn. Scuffed up, with plenty of scratches on it.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully reached out and gently turned the doorknob, pushing the door open as softly as he could.

"What is he doing?"

Aizawa couldn't tell who hissed out what everyone was thinking, all his attention was on the screen. While he was at least being cautious, Katsuki was going against common sense and entering a room that clearly had someone inside it.

In this case, the infamous and mysterious Dr. Daruma. Someone with access to enough drugs and equipment to take Katsuki down with ease.

"Oh! The lab has an exit, the windows to the far left are big enough for him to slip out of. Maybe he's trying to sneak out? It'd be a lot harder for them to catch him again if he makes it to the woods."

Huh. Okay, that actually made sense. It might work too, Katsuki's entrance had gone unnoticed as Dr. Daruma worked fervently at his computer. Red eyes flickered around the room, taking in the environment.

He noticed the windows. Good. All he'd need to do was-

Nope.

The smart thing to do, the thing Aizawa was ready to beg his student to do, was to make his way to the window as quietly as he could and slip out before he was noticed. Katsuki's eyes had narrowed in on Dr. Daruma instead.

Aizawa had seen this kid pissed off more times than he could count. He'd seen him upset, he'd seen him angry beyond belief, facing down villains, facing down death itself. He had never seen Katsuki this angry. This level of hatred was unprecedented.

There were an awful lot of bruises and cuts on Katsuki's body. Far more than could've been caused by accidents.

Oh.

On a very selfish and petty level, Aizawa wanted his student to murder the man he was now slowly making his way towards. Any other students driven to that degree of hatred would've already thrown themselves into battle. Katsuki kept himself restrained, but a damn near thing. Those red eyes screamed vengeance. Well, whatever he decided to do, it wasn't like there were going to be legal consequences. Even if he killed the man in cold blood, nobody would hold a 16 year old who'd been kidnapped and tortured for a month responsible for killing one of their captors.

Keeping himself low to the ground, Katsuki crept through the lab. Quick and smooth movements, eyes never leaving his target. It reminded Aizawa of a cat stalking a mouse, not a sound to be heard, no warning before the first strike. Sharp teeth gleamed in the dim light of the lab.

No more than a handful of steps from the doctor, the blond paused. Red glanced down to examine his palms, which were coated in sweat. He seemed to consider them. Then his eyes were back on his prey.

Closer and closer Katsuki crept, and the gym collectively held it's breath. Aizawa couldn't tell what the hell he was planning that required him to get so close.

Katsuki waited until he was a few feet from the doctor, and then he pounced. Lunging out from his hiding spot, Katsuki’s usual explosions were absent from the attack as he clamped one hand over the doctor's mouth, wrenching the man back from the computer he had been furiously typing away at. The doctor's hands came up to scrabble at Katsuki's arms, but with all his tools out of reach there wasn't much he could do. What next though? Neither of Katsuki's hands were on the man's neck, which meant he wasn't going to choke him. Just restraining him wasn't going to work forever.

The whole room watched as something rather strange happened. The man in Katsuki's grasp struggles started to falter and fail, before he slumped and stopped fighting all together. What?

"Kacchan's nitroglycerin!"

Midoriya was the most excited Aizawa had heard him in months, voice filled with awe and hope. All eyes were on him for an explanation as Katsuki dropped the man who was now completely passed out. It took Todoroki poking him in the side, but Midoriya jolted from his revere and quickly started on one of his rants.

"I- Well- we've talked about it a little before. It's the other reason Kacchan has to be careful about touching people. I mean, obviously, nitroglycerin explosive and that's not good, but it's also pretty toxic. Kacchan's is a little less dangerous, since it's a slight variation that makes it a bit easier for his cells to move around, but if he's at battle concentrations right now, with how much was on his hands? That's enough to have that guy down for a solid few hours! I'd almost forgotten that he could do that! He's never used it in training, since it's dangerous to do. Obviously, he doesn't want to risk poisoning anyone, and it's not as precise for him as his explosions-"

Thankfully, Todoroki quieted his boyfriend before he could go on for too much longer. At some point, Aizawa was going to need to sit down with Izuku and get a detailed report from him on all his classmate's quirks. It should've been done sooner. The amount of information Midoriya collected was near obsessive, but extremely useful for teaching. Aizawa also needed more details on Katsuki's quirk in particular, because he'd had no idea his student was apparently dealing with a toxic substance dripping off his hands whenever he worked out.

Putting that aside, he was relieved that the maneuver worked out. Now all his student needed to do was escape. It was a clear shot to the window from his position, and there was nobody else in the room.

Why was Katsuki looking around the laboratory?

Aizawa felt himself tense as Katsuki picked his way through the various bins, picking up certain items and leaving others. He took a hunting knife. Bandages which were wrapped around the worst of his injuries. A heavy stick. A bottle of halothane. 

Those weren't the choices of someone about to escape. Those were the choices of someone who was planning on fighting. Again, Aizawa pleaded with any god that would listen. Katsuki was smarter than this. He knew better than to pick a fight he had no chance of winning. There was no reason for him to. As much as Katsuki could hold a grudge, he wouldn't throw his life away for revenge, right?

Right?

It seemed Katsuki was almost done, when he happened upon one last bin. A small one tucked out of the way. The bin looked slightly out of place. As if it were new. Katsuki hesitated and pulled it open.

Aizawa wanted to cry with joy. 

Inside there was a familiar cell phone sitting atop Katsuki's clothing from when he'd disappeared. There were a few other things in there, but the cell phone was the important part.

Katsuki obviously thought so too, because his hand darted down to grab the device. It flicked to life. Oh thank fucking god, it still had power. The rescue team would be seeing this too. They already had Katsuki's phone number, so they could call him and give him directions.

Though from Katsuki unlocking the device, they might not need to. Right. It took everything Aizawa had, but he tore his eyes from the screen to look at the devices in front of him. His own phone was there, however, there was every chance Katsuki would call Midoriya or Todoroki instead. Or he might call his parents, which wouldn't be great, but would be understandable. If he was smart, he was calling 911.

As it turned out, Katsuki wasn't calling anyone. He spent a minute or two tapping at the keyboard instead, and sent off a quick series of texts. That made sense too. Several of the phones buzzed. After that, he turned on his phone's GPS and began broadcasting his position out. Unnecessary, they already knew where he was, but a smart move nonetheless.

Then, for reasons Aizawa wouldn't ever understand, Katsuki turned his phone to silent and tucked it into his pocket.

Stretching himself out, he took one last look around the room. Red eyes lingered on the windows, and Aizawa knew in that moment his student understood what they meant. Katsuki knew damn well that he could escape then and there. He knew that was the smart choice. He knew that was the safest route for him to take.

Guilt flashed over Katsuki's expression, only there for an instant and then gone, but Aizawa caught it. Why? What could there possibly be that would have Katsuki feeling guilty at a time like this?

Aizawa desperately wanted to know what could be so fucking important at a time like this, because Katsuki turned away from the window. He grabbed the supplies he'd collected, and he started back towards the hallway. Back towards where All for One was currently having a fit.

Aizawa wanted to scream, but he was interrupted by his husband, who pushed open the gym doors. The two of them made eye contact, years of working together meaning that neither had to say a word. For the sake of the students around them, Hizashi spoke anyways.

"Rescue team is almost ready to go, they want you on it. I'm taking over babysitting duty."

He was trying to keep his tone light, but Aizawa knew his husband, and they both knew what was going on.

This wasn't a race to get to Katsuki before the villains found him. This was a race to get to Katsuki before he found the villains. And Katsuki wasn’t wasting a damn second. 

Jumping to his feet, Aizawa almost ran from the room.

What else could he do? It wasn't like there was anything that would disude Katsuki from his current course.

That kid had always been too damn stubborn for his own good.

Hopefully, this time his determination wouldn't get him killed.

Having acquired weapons and bandaged up the worst of his cuts, Katsuki still didn't feel ready to take on All for One, but like fuck that was going to stop him.

At the very least he'd had the chance to send out a few messages before he got back to his stupid, suicidal quest.

He could almost hear Aizawa screaming at him to turn back around. Unfortunately, Katsuki had mistakes he needed to make up for. All for One wasn't going to stick around long, not when the heroes were on their way and his own forces were depleted. No chance in hell. If Katsuki did manage to hide from him, then the bastard would slip off again. He wasn't going to get another chance like this.

Katsuki's biggest concern was making sure that the bastard was thrown off enough that he could get the quirk he needed. Sure, losing Tomura probably fucked with him a little, but Katsuki wasn't delusional. He'd been able to take this stupid quirk the first time because he'd gotten lucky and All for One wasn't ready for it. Not to mention Katsuki was in pretty bad fucking shape right now. For fuck’s sake, he couldn’t walk without pain. Focusing was going to be a challenge and a half. 

So, he was going to need to take this asshole down a peg before he tried anything else.

He was also going to need to not die. Not before he fixed things.

A surprise attack wasn't going to help much, but it was his best shot. Katsuki would bet anything that the dickhead wasn't expecting him to come after him. If it threw him off enough, with some lucky hits, Katsuki had a shot.

However, before he even got to that shit, he had another asshole he needed to pay a visit to first. Dr. Googles very handily had the security cameras up, something about fixing a breach, and from those cameras, Katsuki knew who stayed behind.

Mr. Compress hadn't, thank fuck. No marble creating asshole this time. Kurogiri was hanging around though, down near the Nomu. There was no way Katsuki could leave him to do whatever the fuck he was doing. All for One had already escaped using him once. Katsuki wasn't going to let him pull that shit again. 

Briefly, his mind flashed back to the messages he’d sent out. Five in total.

To: Nerd <3

None of this shit was your fault, don’t you dare try to blame yourself.

You're so fucking strong, and you're going to be a damn amazing hero.

I love you 'Zuku, take care of yourself.

To: Icyhot <3

You don't deserve the shit he puts you through.

I wish I could've done more to help you.

You’re going to be such a fucking amazing hero, nobody will even remember his name.

I love you, don't ever let him convince you otherwise.

 

To: Sharky <>

Out of everyone on the fucking planet, you decided you were going to be friends with the angry explosion kid.

I don't know what the hell I would've done without you.

You're the best friend I could've ever asked for, and I don't deserve you but I'm so fucking grateful for you.

 

To: Aizawa-Sensei

You're the first teacher I've ever had that gave a shit about their students.

It's not your fault we keep getting put through this shit, I know you've done everything you fucking could to protect us.

Thank you.

Sorry I wasn't a better student.

To: All-Might

I don’t know how you’re doing, but he said you were still alive.

If you are, I know you’re sick, but I need you.

Please, I need you to come find me. 

Now more than ever.

The words had come easily. He'd been thinking of them over and over during this past month. Planning just what he’d say if he got the chance.

Now though, he had a war to win and a hero to save. Taking a deep breath, Katsuki braced himself and set out for the Nomu pens.

Back in the gym, Izuku was a mess. He'd sent Kacchan a thousand texts by now, Mic had given them their phones back so they could see the messages.

It didn't matter, nothing they did mattered. Kacchan had already turned his phone off. Shouto hadn't bothered to send a reply, knowing it would go unread. He was curled up against Izuku's sobbing form. Still and quiet as he read Kacchan’s message over and over again.

Ochaco was trying to comfort Izuku. It wasn't doing much. Her efforts were pretty half-hearted anyways. There wasn't any comfort in a situation like this.

All of them watched the screen as Kacchan dragged himself down the hallways towards his enemies. The mood in the room was desolate. Near defeated.

The rescue crews weren't going arrive onsite for an hour, let alone however long it would take them to find Kacchan in the hideout. With the pace Katsuki was moving, there was no way the villains wouldn't have found him by then. Or more accurately, there was no way Kacchan wouldn’t have found the villains by then.

They had come so fucking close and they were going to loose him again. For what? His need for revenge? What could he possibly be planning to do? What could be worth risking his life?

Mic had tried to cheer them up too, but there wasn't anything he could say that didn't sound empty. They'd been hearing to "trust the pros" all damn month. It wasn't fucking enough. Not when they were about to watch Kacchan die.

Kirishima was the one to break the silence, as Kacchan stumbled through a doorway, only barely catching himself in time. He was almost to Kurogiri, who had just finished transporting the last Nomu out of the facility. Once Kacchan reached him, there was no escaping without fighting his way out.

"Katsuki's going to make it."

Nobody else could reply to him, nobody else had the nerve to agree with him or the nerve to let him down gently. Not with how the situation was weighing on them.

Kirishima's hands curled into fists at his sides, teeth grit and eyes aflame.

"I dunno what he's doing, I dunno why he thinks this is the best route, but this is Katsuki we're talking about!" Wild eyes turned on his classmates, pleading- no, demanding that they agree with him.

"Katsuki's going to fucking make it. He's going to get through whatever plan he's concocted, and he's going to make it out alive!"

It was a statement, not a question, but Izuku felt the need to answer him anyways. Bringing up one scarred hand to rub the tears from his eyes, he felt Kirishima's determination infecting him.

"Kirishima's right. Kacchan- Kacchan is the strongest person I've ever known. He's going to make it. I don't know what his plan is, but it's going to work. He wouldn't be doing it if he didn't think it would."

Slowly, their determination spread through their classmates. 1-B seemed more hesitant, but Monoma piped up, eyes desperately hopeful.

"Maybe he has more information then we do? We know the part of the league that split off were the ones who let him go, so maybe they told him something before they released him? He might know exactly what he's doing."

Izuku hadn't even considered that possibility. Around them, excited whispers started up, their determination and trust in their classmate renewed.

Their faith wouldn't do anything to help Kacchan, but it sure as hell was helping Izuku hold on as he watched his boyfriend sneak through the last doorway. Mouthing a silent plea, Izuku retightened his grip on Shouto and braced himself for whatever came next. 

'Please Kacchan, I need you to know what you're doing. I need you to be strong. I need you to come back to us.'

Katsuki pressed his way through the last door. Alright. Fucker should be somewhere in here. He kept himself in the shadows of the doorway, sliding over to the wall as he listened for any movements.

There was a rustle of movement, and as he crept around a corner he finally got a visual on Kurogiri. Red eyes narrowed down as Katsuki considered his options.

On one hand, he couldn't use his quirk too much in this fight. Even with the drink Dabi had given him, Katsuki's nitroglycerin took a fair bit of energy to produce. Using it up would only increase his exhaustion. On the other, there was no way in hell he'd win this fight without it.

Kurogiri turned slightly, muttering to himself as he messed with a set of controls. All the Nomu were gone. This guy wasn't sticking around for much longer.

It was now or never, and Katsuki didn't fucking believe in never.

Launching himself forward, Katsuki pinpointed the physical part of Kurogiri, his shoulder, and slammed his full weight into it. The moment he made contact, he ignited an explosion and knocked the misty form clear across the room.

The villain was completely taken off guard, though he wasn't defeated just yet. He managed to stumble to his feet as Katsuki launched at him again. Fuck. Instead of hitting the villain, Katsuki found himself slamming through a portal.

Luckily, Kurogiri was heavily dazed from the attack and his portals were limited, it only took Katsuki to the ceiling. It was disorienting as shit, but Katsuki hadn't been training to fly for 9 years of his life for nothing. One blast reoriented him while his head spun to lock onto his target and then Katsuki launched himself forward. Gravity helped him this time, slamming him into the unprepared villain with the force of a meteorite.

If he survived this, he was going to be sore as shit, but it was worth it to watch Kurogiri smack into the wall across the room.

Everyone was tense. Nervous energy filled the room to the brim. Some of them didn't dare breath as they watched Katsuki continue his assault of the villain. Others couldn't stop themselves from vibrating in excitement. Katsuki had the clear upper hand despite his condition. He'd fought Kurogiri before and already knew his weak points, and Kurogiri's portaling wasn't an effective deterrent.

It looked like he might actually win the fight, though they were all still confused as to why he was fighting in the first place. Or they were until Momo suddenly bolted upright. Momo’s mood had swung from a tense nervousness to bouncing in her seat almost as much as Mina was.

"Of course! He's taking down Kurogiri so he can take his quirk! I can't believe we didn't think of that!"

Her words brought a wave of understanding and relief through the group. Even Mic looked surprised and then thoughtful at her words. Izuku latched onto the idea, his mind running at a million miles a second.

"Oh, I can't believe-, yes, that'd make so much sense! Kacchan would know they'd have cameras, and maybe All for One put some kind of tracker on him to prevent an escape. So if he tried to run they might catch him. He'd need a way to get far enough away that they couldn't get to him again. First he had to take down the Dr. Daruma who might've been monitoring the cameras, and then all he needs to do is get Kurogiri's quirk. I'm sure he knows UA's coordinates. Kacchan has always liked maps, and he uses a GPS system when he's hiking sometimes so it'd make perfect sense."

Hope was resurging in the room as Katsuki delivered another blast. The matchup was bad for Kurogiri, Katsuki was too fast and too destructive for him to combat without help. As Kurogiri got more and more disoriented, it looked like Katsuki's victory was certain. For all they knew, he could be in the room with them in minutes.

Katsuki was running out of steam, but like hell he'd show it. The asshole he was facing didn't seem to be much better off either. He'd stop even trying to portal Katsuki around and was now attempting to dodge. Probably stalling for All for One. Sucks to be him, Katsuki wasn't having that shit.

He gathered what energy he had left and slammed a full sized blast into the warper's side, right where he knew part of Kurogiri was. When he did so, the two of them had been pretty damn close to one of the walls, and Korugiri slammed into it at full force, rattling the building. The endlessly swirling mist slowed and slumped down as he fell unconscious. Most of the villains reformed, though parts faded off to mist and back again in a pulsing pattern.

Fuck yeah.

Okay. There wasn't a chance in hell All for One didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Pulling the bottle of halothane out of his pocket Katsuki soaked the remainder of the bandages and tied them around Kurogiri’s now solid mouth. Great, that would keep the guy down for an hour or two. The next step was hiding the body. Katsuki grabbed the half-formed body as best he could, able to heft the other onto his shoulder, and darted over to one of the now empty Nomu pens. They were deep, dark and would work perfectly. Didn’t Dabi say something about All for One having trouble seeing in dark, cold areas?

That sounded right.

Once he'd thrown the body down, Katsuki was left with an empty warehouse. Closing his eyes to rest for a moment, he could hear thunderous footsteps. Faintly, he could feel an overwhelming presence approaching. 

He would be here soon.

After catching his breath, Katsuki took in the warehouse again. There were rafters, dark and the perfect height for launching an attack. 

Using the knife he’d stolen, he darted up the wall closest to him and situated himself up in the solid wood beams, crouched down and poised to spring as soon as his target entered his sights. 

“Well then.” 

"Yeah."

The exchange between Monoma and Denki summed up the classes’ feelings fairly well.

"I- What else could he possibly be doing?" Momo asked, as they watched Katsuki rest before turning to scale the wall.

"He can't-. He can't be thinking of taking on All for One? Right? There's no reason for him to do that, he wouldn't." Despite the desperation in her voice, Mina knew as well as everyone else that was exactly what Katsuki was about to do.

"Who knows, maybe he'll win?" The words sounded flat even to Izuku's ears, but at least Kirishima was trying to bring their spirits up.

Nobody had the energy to reply this time, all intently focused on their classmate as he positioned himself in the rafters and his doom walked closer and closer to him.

Meanwhile, in a truck hurtling down an old forest road, Aizawa put his face in his hands.

"He didn't take Kurogiri's quirk and escape, I assume?"

"Kid dumped the body and now he's hiding in the damn rafters."

Best Jeanist sighed in response. He had been the most doubtful when they'd heard of the potential plan from Hizashi, and he didn't seem surprised Katsuki hadn't escaped. Gritting his teeth, Aizawa switched through the cameras on his phone, helplessly watching All for One stalk down the hallways. It would be minutes at most before he reached Katsuki and it would be close to half an hour before they arrived. Rubbing at his eyes, he had to set his phone down for a moment. Fuck.

"Why, now of all times does he chose to lose his damn mind? He's supposed to be the one with common sense! He should know better than to pull this shit. There’s nothing for him to gain, and he’s already in awful shape!"

It was unfair to put all these expectations onto a child, but Aizawa couldn't help himself. He'd been so relieved, so sure that Katsuki would get himself out of there and instead his student was feeding himself to the wolves. All while Aizawa was helpless to do anything but watch.

"Katsuki has been held captive for a month. We don't know what they've been doing to him in that time. It's entirely possible that he's not thinking straight right now. The ones who left also may’ve lied to him to get him to fight as a distraction."

Fair. Didn't mean Aizawa had to like it. Jeanist paused for a moment, eyes going back to the livestream.

"Though... his actions do strike me as oddly purposeful. I'll admit I may not know him as well as you do, but putting motivate aside, how he's carrying these actions out seems to be consistent with what I would expect of him. That's not to say this can't be the result of a month of torture, or some lie he's been told, but I must wonder if he doesn't have a reason to engage them we don't know about."

That. That actually made a weird amount of sense. This entire time Aizawa had been assuming that Katsuki would act like himself, and would take the logical route to safety. Everything else about Katsuki's actions had been in character for him. The only missing puzzle piece was the why.

"I don't know what he thinks is so fucking important that he's getting himself killed over it, but if he survives this, I'm going to kill him myself."

Jeanist quietly snickered at his declaration, and the situation lightened for a heartbeat. Then both their weary eyes turned back to the cameras. Any trace of a smile faded from their features and the mood grew somber once again.

"He'll make it out alive. He did the first time."

Aizawa didn't like to have false hope. This time though, he was willing to play along.

"If it was going to be anyone, it'd be that fucking kid."

Only seconds before All for One arrived. All they could do was hope Katsuki knew what the fuck he was doing, because they absolutely fucking didn’t.

When All for One entered the room, it took a lot for Katsuki not to launch himself at the man. Gotta wait for a better position.

"Kurogiri, where are you? Come out this instant!"

Hm. Weird. Didn't the guy have a tracking quirk? Or the teleporting quirk?

All for One was furious, footsteps cracking the ground he walked on, but he didn't seem to realize Katsuki was in the room. His head swung back and forth like a bloodhound looking for his lost servant.

Then he... shuddered. Katsuki saw it only for a moment, how those strange tree formations from before grew from his back for a moment before vanishing. How his muscles rippled. Huh.

The man was almost in a good position for Katsuki to attack, but he hesitated. Something more was going on here, and he needed to know what before he start his attack.

For almost a full minute he watched as All for One searched for Kurogiri, and again he saw that shudder. This time, a bit of the goop appeared by him before fading away. A violent shake of his head indicated something else happened too.

He couldn't control all his quirks. Katsuki almost startled and gave away his hiding spot when he realized it. The man genuinely had lost control of himself.

No wonder. Katsuki already knew people could end up mindless Nomu if they got the wrong set of quirks shoved into them. Intel reports from the currently captured Nomus told them that much. Katsuki himself had noted those feelings of... rightness or wrongness of quirks. That vague sense of how well a quirk would fit a person outside of it's original owner.

Obviously, All for One had a fuckton of quirks. When he had the original transfer quirk, that wouldn't have been an issue. Now that he didn't, he couldn't put them on hold anymore like Katsuki could. All of them were active all the time. Might help explain why he'd been so desperate to get his original quirk back.

It also meant Katsuki had a chance in this fight if he played his cards right.

He waited for All for One to get a bit closer, bunching up his limbs and timing it. Wait for the next shudder. The timing seemed a bit random, but from how the guy was shouting and losing his shit, his emotional state was probably causing at least some of it.

Seconds ticked by, and they felt like centuries and moments at the same time. Then he saw it start and let go.

An explosion shattered the beam he’d been hiding on as he flew forward, just as All for One dropped his head to try and contain another quirk glitch. He couldn't react in time to escape Katsuki's explosion. Couldn't activate any of his own shit in response, and took a damn nasty blow right to the face.

The blast knocked him clear across the room, blood dripping from the wound that was starting to close up. Katsuki saw his chance and followed, reaching out to grab All for One’s arm just as the man had done a few months ago.

Now, Katsuki would be the first to say that he hadn't though this plan through. That was a fair and valid criticism. Still, he'd had a general sense of how he was going to pull most of this shit off.

What he hadn't considered at all, was how the fuck he'd know which quirk to grab. All for One had so fucking many of the damn things in him, they were practically trying to escape his body. Katsuki couldn't make heads or tails of them in his rush, meaning he had only the vaguest idea to go off of when he grabbed hold of one and yanked.

The interaction only lasted a few seconds, and All for One was too stunned to fight back mentally, so Katsuki managed to grab one quirk before a hand came up to swat him aside.

As he slammed into the wall, feeling several ribs snap, he took a closer feel at the quirk he'd just grabbed.

Fuck.

Dodging to the side to avoid All for One's rush attack, Katsuki realized he had the wrong fucking quirk. This wasn't the healing quirk he needed, it was something to do with longevity. Not fucking helpful right now. He tucked the quirk to the backburner and turned his focus back to the fight.

Just in time to be smashed in the face.

Shit. That was going to sting in the morning, if he lived that long.

Katsuki groaned and pushed himself back to his feet, stumbling to avoid another attack and launching an explosion in the general direction of All for One. It didn't connect.

He felt a hand grab him by the arm, yanking him off the ground and slamming him back down.

Yeah his leg was probably fucking shattered. How the fuck did Izuku keep going at the training camp after having this happen to all his fucking limbs?

Hm. Now he was being held above the ground by the neck. All for One was saying something, but fuck if Katsuki knew what it was.

Probably a demand of some kind. In all honesty, Katsuki didn't particularly give a shit about what this asshole wanted from him.

What he did give a shit about was getting slammed into the wall again.

If that happened again, he was out. No chance of getting the quirk he needed, no chance of saving All-Might.

Katsuki had really been hoping for better circumstances, maybe getting the asshole injured first or something, but he'd take what he could get. In this case, emotional distress and panic were going to need to do the trick, because this was his last fucking chance.

Hands shaking, Katsuki pulled one up to grab a hold of the arm on his throat. There wasn't a bone in his body that wasn't bruised by now, but he pressed on because he was Katsuki fucking Bakugou, and he didn't fucking do losing.

Reaching out mentally, he felt All for One jolt at the connection. Realizing what he was doing. The man made no move to throw Katsuki away. Maybe he'd finally figured out this was the one shot he had at getting his stupid fucking quirk back.

Connection established, Katsuki reached out and felt through the quirks more carefully this time. Sifting through them took moments he didn't have, but he grabbed onto the one that felt brutally comforting. Like Recovery Girl's kiss, forcing broken bones back into their place.

As he grabbed hold, he felt All for One do the same. Fuck. Well asshole, time to see who's really the stubbornest fucker on the planet.

"Finally, you little thief, time to give back what's mine ."

Katsuki felt the other's pull and yanked back even harder, gritting his teeth and biting out a reply.

"That's re’al fuckin’ ri'ch comin' from y'ou."

All for One slammed him back against the wall, though much more softly, not wanting to risk the connection. Katsuki bore the pain even as he felt his grip slip for half a heartbeat before he regained it.

"As soon as I have my quirk in my grasp, I will force you to watch as I kill each and every one of your little friends. You'll watch and you'll know it was because of you. You’ve stole what’s mine twice now, and I will see you suffer for it."

With his hissed threats, All for One's pull got stronger and stronger. Until Katsuki was struggling to hold on. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Just as he thought his grip might slip. Images flashed to the forefront of his mind.

Izuku and him when they were kids, before quirks, before kidnappings, before they'd understood how awful life could be. Smiling and laughing as they played some made up game. There was that stupid grin on Izuku's face, his eyes shining as he looked at Katsuki like he was the fucking sun in the sky.

Shouto and him sitting quietly side by side after the sports festival. A mere minute or so after he’d been let out of those damn chains. They hadn't even let him get water before he'd been hauled up there, and Katsuki was almost too dehydrated to stand. Shouto had been the one to bring him a water bottle, apologizing for what wasn't his fault. He hadn't quite been ready to forgive Shouto then, but his anger at the other had faded. Enough to not hold a grudge. At the time, he’d just nodded and Shouto had given him a hesitant twitch of the lips. The start of so much more. 

Eijirou and him on I-Island, fighting side by side. His friend had dragged him around and made him have fun even when he was grouchy about both his boyfriends being busy. In the end, he had ended up having a good time taking down villains. The red-head was always there, supporting him with that bright, friendly smile. Eyes looking like they saw something in him that he himself couldn't find.

Aizawa giving him a smile and telling him he was proud, even after all the shit he'd put his teacher through. His teacher standing up for him, giving him space and kindness when he desperately needed it.

All-Might trying his best to be encouraging, even though he was kind of shit at it. Big bright smile and stupid catchphrases that Katsuki wouldn't admit he had memorized. His teacher who was so fucking strong, laying on that hospital bed. Still smiling on death's door, still smiling at Katsuki, the reason he was at death's door.

Scene after scene filtered through Katsuki's mind, of his boyfriends, his classmates, his teachers, his friends, his family .

Red eyes snapped open and Katsuki felt fire surging through his veins. He was not going to lose now. This asshole was not going to stop him from saving All-Might. There wasn’t a force on heaven or earth that was going to keep Katsuki from saving his goddamn family.

"Too." He tightened his grip on the quirk.

"Fucking." Shoulders tensed, bracing for the mental pull.

"Bad!" As he shouted, Katsuki yanked with everything he had in his fucking body, explosions blasting from his palms. One burned the arm holding his throat, the other aimed towards All for One's midsection and it hit dead on.

The blasts weren't Katsuki's biggest, but they were fucking powerful all the same, more than enough to send that asshole sprawling. As the connection broke, once more Katsuki felt his victory. The quirk he'd fought so hard to get, and the rope fell back with him.

He barely managed to catch himself, one hand braced up against the wall behind him. All for One was injured, and it wasn't healing this time. Didn't seem to be enough to kill him though. Shit.

For a moment, Katsuki considered using the quirk he'd just stolen. It'd probably be enough to keep him alive. The thought was dismissed near instantly. If he did, it'd take what little energy he had left. With how injured and exhausted he was, he was going to be out of commission for a week or two at least, even with the healing quirk. There was every chance All for One would kill him while he was knocked out.

Not to mention he couldn't risk a week or two recovery to get the quirk to All-Might. His hero might not have that long left.

The healing quirk was also tucked  to the side as All for One pushed himself back to his feet. Katsuki dropped his hold on the wall, breathing coming in short, ragged pants and blood dripping off him. His leg was still fucked, but he could take some of the weight off with his explosions.

The fury contorting All for One's face was pretty fucking satisfying.

"I see now there's no hope for you. You are a pest that needs to be exterminated here and now. I'm sure we can find a way to retrieve my quirk from your corpse."

Venom dripped from All for One's voice, and Katsuki knew he meant that shit. Baring his teeth in a facsimile of a smile, Katsuki let madness overtake his eyes and the thrill of battle overtake his face as he taunted back, his words starting to slur together.

"How many times I gotta tell you? This shit isn't yours anymore, dickhead. I e'ven re'name'd it. N'ow it's not fuck'ng stu'id."

He saw the attack coming and threw his weight to the right, barely escaping the air cannon blast. Fuck. His explosions were barely anything. Body probably didn't have the energy for nitroglycerin anymore.

Pitching himself forward as best he could on one broken leg and with blurred vision, Katsuki blindly tried to dodge. A second blast from All for One's air canon clipped his left side and shit that fucking hurt like a bitch. His whole side was torn up now. Fuck. Fuck. Can't stop.

A large hand grabbed him, and Katsuki knew he was done for. This was it.

He was spun around to face his death.

Well, if nothing else, he'd fucking tried. Katsuki had given this shit his all, and it wasn't fucking enough.

Story of his fucking life right there.

With what little energy he had left, he forced his eyes open. He refused to be the sort of coward that looked away. If it was his death, he would face it head on. When God greeted him, Katsuki was going to spit in that bastard’s eye for all the shit he'd put him through.

All for One raised one hand, summoning what seemed to be another air cannon. Execution style then.

Katsuki braced himself and kept his blurry vision on that hand.

Only to watch the air canon fizzle out. All for One looked just as shocked at Katsuki did for a heartbeat before the two of them were being yanked apart. Katsuki felt himself flying through the air as if something was pulling him.

After a moment, he realized something was. The tattered remains of his shirt. There were blasts of energy around him. Voices shouting. Someone had grabbed him out of the air and they were talking to him in a soothing tone.

Oh.

The heroes had finally gotten to him.

He'd forgotten they were coming.

Blinking his eyes a few times, he was able to make out a blue form. Probably Jeanist? Hm. Funny how these things worked out.

Katsuki could feel the man's steps jolting him. It hurt like hell, but everything hurt like hell right now.

Blackness was encroaching at the edge of his vision, even as daylight hit his eyes for the first time in a month. He forced his mouth to move, forced words to come out around the blood.

"I, I needta- needta see A'll-mig't."

He was being pressed down onto a flat surface, and everything was too damn white. Forms shifted and buzzed past his vision as he tried to repeat himself.

A familiar form was peering over him then, and he felt a large hand gripping his own. Bright yellow hair was over top him, attached to a watery smile. All-Might must've gotten his text then.

Among the din all around him, comforting words cut through everything else.

"It's alright my boy, I am here. You're going to be okay."

Even though All-Might's voice was shaky, the sap was probably crying, Katsuki still found himself grinning at how much it reminded him of home.

He could feel All-Might through their connected hands. Feel the emptiness, the faint ghost of another quirk that left behind unused potential. Perfect. There was room for at least two quirks there.

Katsuki summoned the dregs of his energy and focus, and once more summoned the connection. It only took a moment, taking both quirks from where he'd held them and shoving them over. He could feel them starting to take effect even as All-Might startled.

The transfer took everything he had left. Darkness overtook Katsuki’s vision and he could feel himself fading. People were shouting his name, pleading with him not to go. There wasn’t enough strength left in him to move his mouth, to tell them that everything was okay now. Oh well, they’d figure it out eventually. 

If this killed him, at least he’d die having finally succeeded at something. His plan might’ve been bullshit, but it worked. He’d managed to get one part of this hero shit right. 

With his rib cage shattered, fluid filling his lungs, and blood pooling in his mouth, Katsuki finally found himself able to breathe easy even as the void enveloped him once more, knowing he’d fixed his mistake in the end.

Chapter Text

All for One was captured in under ten minutes. Between the damage Katsuki dealt before their arrival, the energy loss associated with having two quirks forcibly taken, and with Aizawa’s erasure it was an easy fight. The other two remaining villains, Kurogiri and Doctor Daruma, had already been taken out, leaving little for the pro-heroes to do beyond clean-up. There wasn’t a single reported injury among the pro-heroes involved.

Toshinori heard about all of that second hand. He had no memory of the battle, of their victory, of his greatest enemy’s defeat. 

In fact, he could only recall three things from that day. 

He recalled the message he’d received from his lost student, asking for him above anyone else.

Really, that should’ve tipped him off. Katsuki had never asked someone to save him before, why would he start now? 

He’d had to call in several favors and guilt-trip Detective Naomasa, but they’d finally allowed him to come along on the rescue mission. While he was forbidden from leaving the medical car, it let allowed him to be there for Katsuki as best he could. 

The doctors didn’t want him to leave, but they didn’t have a say in it as far as he was concerned. What was the point of confining himself to a hospital? He’d be dead in a month anyways, and Toshinori would be damned if he died knowing he failed his student a second time. 

Driving over was a blur of colors and emotions, watching alongside everyone else as Katsuki fought his way through the villains. It had been incomprehensible to him at the time. Left Toshinori wondering what exactly this child was trying so desperately to prove. 

God, he should’ve figured it out then. 

Toshinori vividly recalled the sight of Katsuki cradled in Tsunagu’s arms. Bloody, beaten, bent, but alive. 

He could still hear his student desperately calling for him, words slurred and torn up hands reaching for something. He hadn’t thought before gently taking his student’s hand, trying to offer what comfort he could. Laying on that stretcher Katsuki had looked so painfully young. Blood staining the medically white sheets he laid upon, while people yelled in the background. 

The sight of those red eyes haunted him, how wrinkles formed around them as Katsuki’s face lit up with a grin when he recognized the figure above him. Toshinori had tears dripping down his cheeks, but he found his own lips curling up into a smile while reassurances he couldn’t remember tumbled from his mouth. 

He’d never seen a smile like that on Katsuki’s face before. Soft, childish, so openly happy without a trace of fear or anger. For a few moments, that smile was all he could see. 

Warmth swept through him, and it took him a second too long to realize the sensation was more than just his relief at having his student back in his grasp. 

As his own eyes widened in horror, Katsuki’s fell shut. Smile remaining on his face even as his body went lax. The medical personnel's shouts got louder and Toshinori felt himself being pulled away. There was something writhing in his chest, pain overtaking him as his vision went black.

When he’d woken up the first time, it was in a panic. He’d flung himself out of his bed, and it took Aizawa and Mic’s combined strength to drag him back. They sedated him after that. 

Another twelve hours passed before he woke up again.

Tsunagu was waiting by his bedside this time, ready to restrain him if need be. The other had a grim look about him. He waited for Toshinori to get his bearings before answering his questioning look.

“What’s the last thing you can remember from before you passed out?” 

“Katsuki- he. He asked me to come, and he was calling my name, and then he-. He was smiling. Why- Why was he smiling?” 

Only then did he realize something wasn’t right. One large hand came up to grasp at his stomach. The skin there was smooth and soft.  

“I-.” His eyes flew up to take in Tsunagu’s bittersweet smile. “My scar- It’s not?” Now that he was thinking about it, it wasn’t just his scar. His breathing felt easier than it had in years, no blood came up his throat, and for the first time in a long time his body was completely free of pain. 

“There’s still some faint scarring, but the doctors think it will fade soon. All your internal damage has healed completely, even the old wounds. That quirk really worked wonders.”

The very idea was impossible to consider. Toshinori’s impending death had become such a sure facet of his life, he’d never dared to hope for survival. A thought struck him then, the slouch of Tsunagu’s posture, the bags under his eyes, the gloom hanging around him-

“Katsuki, is he-?” 

He couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. Green eyes fell causing cold horror to fill Toshinori’s body. A tired sigh left Tsunagu’s lips before he looked back up.

“He’s not dead yet. It’s been about twenty-four hours since we got him back. He’s been in surgery for most of that. The doctors are doing everything they can, but... he’s in bad shape.”

As Toshinori quickly discovered, ‘bad shape’ was massive understatement. It took five minutes of being poked at before he was cleared to leave, after which Tsunagu lead him to where Aizawa was waiting to update them on Katsuki’s condition. The other hero didn’t beat around the bush.

“They kept him near starving and dehydrated for a month. The amount of drugs pumped into his body over such an extended period means drug residues, withdrawal, and developed tolerances are messing with the anesthetics and complicating everything else. He sustained a number of minor injuries prior to the fight, all of which add up quickly. Put it all together and you’ve got a 16 year old in an extremely weakened state, with his immune system shot to hell before he fought anyone.”

Taking a long breath in, Aizawa evened his tone before pressing on. 

“Fighting took pretty much all the energy he had left, not to mention overusing both of his quirks. All for One shattered his left leg. His entire left side was pretty badly torn up, to say nothing of his ribs. There’s a hairline fracture at the back of his skull, so we’re almost certainly looking at a concussion, if not brain damage. Internally… it’d be easier to list organs that didn’t sustain damage. The doctor told me odds are he won’t make it to tomorrow.” 

Tears were welling up in Toshinori’s eyes again, limbs heavy with guilt and fear. 

“But,-” 

Aizawa’s voice took on an oddly light edge, face hard to read,

“-they told me the same thing yesterday.”

Hope was a dangerous game. Aizawa knew that as well as any of them, but when Toshinori looked up, there was no mistaking the look on his fellow teacher’s face. It was Tsunagu who voiced what they were all thinking. 

“Most people wouldn’t survive something like this, but he’s never been most people.”

“I’ve spent this entire month reminding myself of the statistics, even when the messages came in, I had to give the ‘it could be unrelated’ speech. I’m done pretending the odds mean anything to him. I think there’s a good chance he’ll pull through, if only to spite the doctors for saying he wouldn’t.”

Despite everything, Aizawa sounded convinced. 

Toshinori couldn’t help but believe it too. 

“If anyone could survive this, it would be Katsuki. He has an endlessly resilient soul.”

For a few long moments they stood there in silence before Aizawa pushed himself off the wall he’d been leaning against, stretching himself out with a wince. 

“My class has been sectioned off into a private waiting room. We probably shouldn’t leave them with Hizashi for too long. They’ll be glad to see you’re doing better, maybe you can get Midoriya to calm down a bit.” 

The three of them started down the hallway together, Toshinori almost wanted to run because he hadn’t thought about how badly this turn of events must be affecting Izuku. The poor boy must be devastated. Guilt resurfaced in his chest, but his internal monologue was cut off by a hesitant question from Tsunagu. 

“Have his parents shown up yet?” 

Aizawa’s mood darkened instantly. Both Toshinori and Tsunagu tensed in response. When the other teacher spoke, he was damn near spitting his words out in cold fury.

“No. They’ve been informed that we’ve retrieved him, but they haven’t been told where he is. I’m waiting on further information to decide if they will be told at all.” 

It took a few seconds for Tsunagu to reply, stunned by the amount of venom dripping from Aizawa’s words. 

“...Not that I would stop you if you think that’s for the best, but is that legal? I was under the impression that parents had to be informed immediately when their child is hospitalized, even if there’s a security risk.”

“Under most circumstances, we would need to tell them. In this case, after his new quirk was discovered, both his parents signed custody paperwork allowing UA to act as his guardian. The paperwork was intended as a security measure given the high risk of a secondary kidnapping, but it applies regardless of why I choose not to inform them.”

Now it was Toshinori’s turn to speak up, voice low and serious. 

“Did something occur that leads you to believe they might put him at risk?”

He hadn’t met either of Katsuki’s parents before. Only heard of them when Izuku mentioned them in passing a few times. 

“Prior to meeting his mother, I was already concerned about several off-hand comments he’d made. When she dropped off the paperwork her… attitude towards him and their interactions reinforced my fears. I didn’t get the chance to investigate further, but throughout this month I’ve been in charge of keeping her updated. In all that time, I haven't heard her say a single kind word about him. I’ve barely even heard her express concern for him.”

Aizawa had to pause and take several deep breaths, his words had been growing in intensity and they were getting close to the waiting room. 

“I also received a second email that I did not forward to the investigation team. Apparently, there’s footage on it’s way to me which has something to do with his home life. Whether or not I’ll be allowing them anywhere near him may hinge on what I find there. "

Toshinori had never considered, had never paused to wonder if Katsuki's anger and fear might've stemmed from his home life. 

"Not now, he won't be in any state to talk about it now, but later, speak to young Midoriya as well. He's known Katsuki almost all his life, and he's made a few odd comments about Katsuki's mother before. I like to think he would've said something if he knew something serious was going on, but it’s worth following up on regardless."

Each of them took a few moments to process the new information, before Tsunagu spoke once more.

"If we've learned anything from this entire experience, it’s that Katsuki isn't the sort to ask for help or allow others to see his suffering. However, he won't lie if asked directly. When he recovers, you may need to press him to get any information, but it wouldn't be impossible if you ask the right questions."

"If he recovers." Aizawa corrected, voice taking on a tired edge.

They all fell silent as they rounded the last corner, slowing to a stop in front of a plain looking door. One of Aizawa's hands touched the doorknob before pausing, glancing back at them. Tsunagu considered his gaze for a moment and offered a slight shrug of his shoulders. Good enough apparently, as Aizawa twisted the knob and pushed his way through the door.

The waiting room was covered in students. All of Class 1-A was present, and nearly half of Class 1-B was clustered around Monoma in the far corner. Chairs had been rearranged, students had formed circles of quiet comfort, and various items were scattered around the floor.

Toshinori couldn't take in any of that yet. He couldn't even take in how all eyes went to him or how several of his students bounced up in delight.

The entirety of his focus was on the green haired boy in the far right corner, curled up against young Todoroki. Green eyes were rimmed with red, his face screaming exhaustion and fear. When that tired, sad, desperate gaze made contact with Toshinori’s own, he was frozen in place.

Guilt churned in his stomach (the stomach he actually had now, intact, functional, not spewing blood). It felt wrong for him to be standing here, healthy and strong, while one of his students was barely clinging to life. While one of his protege's boyfriends, the one Toshinori had never fully understood, had never quite seen what Izuku had saw in him, had never quite managed to make sense of the motivations of, was lying on an operating table, fate uncertain. All to save an old hero past his prime who was supposed to have been protecting him.

Izuku didn't care. He flung himself across the room so quickly that Toshinori swore he must've used One for All to do it. Thin arms were thrown around Toshinori's waist and he could hear sobs. It was impossible to tell what kind of sobs they were, fear blending with relief as Izuku held him tighter and tighter.

There was nothing Toshinori could do for the child under the surgeon's knife, but at least he could do some good here.

Carefully, he moved his arms to wrap Izuku up in a hug, pulling him over so both of them could sit. He rubbed small shoulders, waiting for his sobs to slow while murmuring familiar words. 

"It's alright my boy, I am here."

His voice felt hollow, but he whispered the reassurances nonetheless. Hoping that maybe there was still comfort to be had from them. 

It didn't feel like enough. He wasn't sure anything ever would. Still he offered what words he could, as they sat in that room. As they sat waiting to find out if the world would lose an amazing hero it hadn't gotten to meet, or if by some miracle they would be granted another chance.

Izuku could remember very little from after they rescued Kacchan. Only an overwhelming sense of terror and the blood.

Faintly, there was the memory of a voice, maybe Aizawa’s or maybe Mic’s, telling them Kacchan had apparently transferred at least one quirk to All-Might, and both had fallen unconscious right after.

In that moment he had realized what Kacchan’s plan had been the entire time. Even before they’d been told two hours later that All-Might’s condition had significantly improved, before anyone else said they suspected Kacchan had transferred All for One’s healing quirk to him. Izuku knew exactly what his boyfriend did. 

As he sat beside Shouto, numb from pain and fear, he struggled to figure out how he felt about everything. 

Fear for Kacchan, yes. Protectiveness, helplessness, stupid pathetic Deku . Can’t save anyone. Couldn’t save Kacchan from the slime villain, couldn’t save him from the league of villains, couldn’t save him from his own stupid self. 

Anger, yes, plenty of anger. At Kacchan for not escaping when he had the chance. At the rescue team for not moving faster, even though he knew that was unfair. At the world in general for not giving his boyfriend one fucking break. At himself for not having done more. 

Relief, tainted by guilt. All-Might wasn’t going to die. They actually thought he might make a full recovery. He could live for ages after this, and Izuku was so fucking grateful for the years with his mentor he never dreamed he’d have. All-Might had given his life to heroics, to protecting people, helping whomever he could. If anyone deserved a long and peaceful retirement, it was him. Was it worth the cost though? Was it worth Kacchan’s life to save All-Might’s? 

Had it been his choice, Izuku knew deep down who he would’ve picked. Kacchan had always come first in his life. 

That was just the thing though, it wasn’t his choice. It never had been. It wouldn’t ever be his choice. 

Katsuki would do what he wanted, with his head held high, and those ruby red eyes blazing. He wouldn’t be stopped, wouldn’t be swayed, wouldn’t let anyone command him. All Izuku could do was chase after him, and hope he might someday be half the hero Katsuki was. 

Pressing his tear stained face into All-Might’s skeletal chest, feeling his mentor’s pulse strong for the first time in months, Izuku felt his emotions settle at last. 

There wasn’t anything he could’ve done. If it had been his own life on the line, he would’ve probably done the same thing. Katsuki made his choice. Izuku accepted it, and quietly prayed his boyfriend would choose to come back to them too. 

36 hours of surgery. 

36 hours of surgery, and they still didn’t know if he was going to make it. 

Shouto was in one of the waiting room chairs, sitting next to Momo. Izuku was with All-Might right now, between the lack of sleep and emotional distress Izuku’s quirk had started slipping out of control. They didn’t know when he would be able to come back, but Shouto was somewhat glad for the break, as selfish as that sounded.

It was hard to piece out his own emotions. Outwardly, he looked calm. He'd comforted Izuku throughout this entire process, holding his boyfriend close as they waited to find out if Katsuki would live. As with most emotional situations, Shouto found himself lost for how he was supposed to be feeling or how he felt.

At some point, he wasn't sure he was feeling anything at all, and that made him feel guilty in a paradoxical way.

While Izuku was a crying mess, Shouto couldn't find tears. All he had was an emptiness in his chest and his own confusing thoughts to be lost in. Each breath feeling like he hadn't taken it. Not like he was suffocating, but like he hadn't needed to breathe in the first place.

He'd always been this way. Going quiet and curling inward, numbing himself to everything around him because it was out of his control and there was nothing else for him to do.

36 hours.

36 hours since he'd watched his stupid, idiotic, brave, hero of a boyfriend take on three villains after a month of being held captive.

36 hours since Katsuki had won, claiming what he wanted and almost losing his own life in the process.

36 hours, and here Shouto was, still unable to believe it. Unable to even consider the thought that they could lose Katsuki for good this time.

This entire month of hell had gone the same way. He just... He hadn't been able to believe Katsuki was really gone. On a rational level, he knew his explosive boyfriend wasn't there. Yet he kept glancing towards the empty seat in class when there was a particularly difficult question on the board. Kept instinctively saving an extra seat at lunch. Kept rolling over in bed, grumbling under his breath as he felt around for the other body that was supposed to be beside him before realizing why Katsuki wasn't there.

At no point during this whole ordeal it ever crossed his mind that they wouldn't get Katsuki back. It had never been an option. Of course Katsuki would come back to them. He had promised when they started dating, he'd promised he'd always come back. It had been their agreement for hero missions. None of them would stop the others from leaving, regardless of the risk, but they all promised to come back. 

Katuski wasn't a liar, so he had to keep his promises. He had to. 

There was a part of Shouto that knew he was being childish; the universe didn't consider promises an unquestionable force. They were only words in the end. 

And yet,

“Words don't mean shit unless you back them up. You want your promises to mean something? You gotta fucking make them. I don’t tell lies, and I keep my damn promises, so when I say something people know I fucking mean it.”

That conversation had started about something silly, not long before summer started. Shouto had asked why Katsuki was so committed to honesty. He'd never quite understood the importance of it. Hearing Katsuki explain, voice gruff and eyes narrow, Shouto thought he got it.

Sitting in the waiting room, he knew he’d been wrong back then. He didn't understand how much a promise could mean before. Now though, now Shouto was holding his phone and rereading the last message Katsuki had sent him, 36 hours after his boyfriend went into surgery, and that promise was all he had left.

Katsuki had promised he'd come back, no matter what. He meant what he said, and he kept his promises.

Shouto held onto that promise with everything he had, replaying the words in his head over and over again. Hoping beyond fucking hope that those words would be enough.

At 41 hours, there was still no news.

No news was good news right now.

Aizawa-Sensei had said that to them more times than Eijirou could count. Repeating it over and over to himself in his head, he tried to believe it.

It had been 41 hours, and most of the class was passed out around the room.

None of them wanted to risk missing any new developments, but they'd all wake up if someone came in. They were still in the waiting room after all, and it'd been too long for most of them to stay awake any longer.

Eijirou couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he was.

When the others had been awake, he'd forced himself to smile. Forced himself to say it again and again.

"Katsuki's gonna be alright. He's tough as nails, and he's not going to let something like this beat him!"

He meant it too. Honest to fucking god, he meant it every single time he said it. Eijirou knew Katsuki wouldn't let something like this stop him. He couldn't.

But now that it was quiet, now that it was just him left alone with his thoughts, it was hard to not recall Katsuki with the gaping hole in his side. Bones shattered to bits. So much blood. So much fucking blood.

'I should've been there. I could've protected him. Could've taken the blow, and I would've been fine.'

Guilt twisted his stomach in knots, poking holes in his thin veil of confidence. Leaving gaps for other thoughts to seep in.

‘He’s going to be alright.’

Keep repeating it. 

‘He is. Katsuki’s tough as hell and he’s going to be okay. He has to be.’

Distantly he felt his breathing start to speed up.

‘Katsuki’s going to make it. We’re going to become amazing heroes together. He’ll be okay.’

Couldn’t consider any other options. 

‘Please, Katsuki, I need you to be okay.’

The blood was flashing through his mind again. Fuck. There was so much of it. 

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry. You need to live anyways. Please. Oh god, I’m so sorry. You need to survive I can’t lose my best friend like this. Please, oh god I can-’

“-Kirishima!” 

A harsh whisper and solid hand gripping his own snapped Eijirou out of his thoughts. Looking down, he saw his hardened fingers digging into the flesh of his arms. Shit, he was bleeding. When he looked up, worried purple eyes were on him. Glancing back down, it appeared Monoma had copied his quirk to stop him. Face flushing and eyes falling in shame, Eijirou released his quirk, letting his hands go limp.

“Sorry. I just- I just got in my own head for a minute. It’s all okay, thank you for snapping me out of it!”

He tried to throw his mask back up, fixing the Class 1-B student with a cheery grin. Monoma didn’t buy it. The other settled into the seat next to him. After a few moments, Monoma released his copy of hardening too. 

“It’s okay to be scared, you know that, right? It's not- It's not your damn job to be all smiles all the time to keep everyone else happy.”

Letting the smile slide off his face, Eijirou managed to glance back up towards Monoma, tears welling in his eyes against his will.

"Sorry- I. Katsuki used to always say the same thing. He'd yell at me to stop trying to cheer up everyone else when I was sad."

Both of their gazes fell, saying his name aloud reminded them why they were there.

"He'd probably be pissed at me for crying over him too."

Monoma snorted, shrugging his shoulders. "Let him be pissed. He's the one who decided to fight fucking All for One when he was injured, he doesn’t get to tell you off for crying over it."

A light giggle forced it's way out around the tears. "I suppose you’re right. Though if he does survive this, I'm sure he'll claim he knew he'd be fine the entire time. I mean, he did sorta win in the end."

That got Monoma to pause, eyes narrowing at the floor. "God dammit, he's going to be insufferable after this, isn't he?"

"To be fair, he did put up with being held hostage by villains for a month. He's earned the right to be a little insufferable."

The mood sombered between them, as they were reminded once more just how much their classmate had suffered through. Eijirou rubbed away the last of his tears, the weight of the world slamming back down on him. A hand moved to grasp his shoulder, holding it up to ease the burden. He looked up to meet Monoma's concerned gaze.

"Like I said, you’re allowed to be scared. This whole situation is downright dreadful, and it's okay to not be okay. Even if you're sure he's going to make it, having a close friend hurt and near death is terrifying on it's own. Alright?"

Eijirou nodded, repeating the words in his head a few times. Taking a few deep breaths, he let go of the guilt lingering in his chest. He was scared, but this was a scary situation. He was worried for Katsuki and that was okay. This was exactly the sort of situation where is was normal to be worried.

With a gentle hand, Monoma carefully tugged Eijirou out of his chair and guided him over to a group of sleeping students. The room was dark, but Mina's pink skin and the static from Denki told him exactly who was in the pile.

"Get some rest. Staying awake forever won't do Katsuki any good."

"Thank you."

The 1-B student gave a nod of acknowledgement and shuffled back to his own classmates while Eijirou curled up with his friends, letting his eyes drift close at last.

Eijirou awoke to absolute chaos.

Denki was shaking his shoulder, and for a moment Eijirou almost told him off. Then his vision unblurred, allowing him to take in Denki's tearstained face.

A single, terrifying, gut wrenching second ticked by before Eijirou realized Denki was also smiling. The whole room was animated, excited, and filled with energetic sounds.

He didn't even have time to ask before Mina launched herself onto him, almost sending him sprawling.

"Katsuki's out of surgery! They- He's still on life support, so nothing's for sure yet, but they weren't expecting him to make it out of surgery and he did! No flatlining or anything! The odds aren't great, it's- god it's still really bad- but they're better now. I think- I think he's got a real shot of making it Kiri!"

Eijirou found himself crying again, but now his tears were out of relief. Fuck. This was the best day of his life. Burying his face into Mina's shoulder he let himself sob as she did the same. There was a chance. There was a chance Katsuki was going to be okay and by god, if there was a chance he knew damn well Katsuki would find a way.

When he regained himself, he managed to look around the room properly to see how everyone else was doing. Izuku was clutching Shouto, tears falling down his face freely. Almost all his classmates were in some state of shock or joy as they took in the news.

Turning his gaze towards the front of the room, Eijirou could see his teachers gathered together.

Aizawa-Sensei was buried in Mic-Sensei's arms. It was the first time Eijirou had seen his teacher really cry. Throughout this entire mess, he had kept a brave face on for his students, but this pushed him over the edge. Biting his lip, Eijirou looked away. Staring wasn't polite.

All-Might was on one of the chairs, head in his heads. Best Jeanist was next to him, rubbing his shoulder lightly. The pro-hero seemed just as relieved as everyone else. He’d been waiting for the news alongside the rest of them. Eijirou had almost asked why until he remembered Jeanist had been the one to carry Katsuki out. He must've seen his injuries first hand.

Eijirou had only seen a glimpse of Katsuki's damaged body and he wasn't sure he'd ever clean the memories from his mind. To have seen that up close, being covered by Katsuki’s blood… it was devastating to even imagine. 

That wasn't important right now though, right now Eijirou forced himself to breathe in and out, in and out, reassuring himself Katsuki would be okay.

He had to be.

The first day of Katsuki on life support was rather uneventful. At the end of it Aizawa shuffled all of his kids out of the hospital waiting room and back to their dorms. Classes had to keep going after all, and there wasn't anything left for them to do there.

It was strange how much and how little had changed. Each morning, Kirishima asked him if there was any news. Each morning, Aizawa told him he hadn't heard anything. The same words as before, only with new meaning behind them.

Students still glanced towards the empty seat in the classroom, but the sight no longer put out the fire out of their eyes. If anything, their missing classmate fanned the flames. The passion had been relit in their hearts, and he saw staggering improvements in almost all of his student’s performances.

On the fourth day after they recovered Katsuki, he was allowed to have visitors. Five people at a time at most. Don't touch anything, not the machines, not Katsuki, not even the bed he was sleeping on. Alert the doctors if they see any changes at all, even small movements could be important.

A month and four days since his student had been taken from him, Aizawa finally got to really see Katsuki again. Not as an image on a screen or as a quick glimpse. He let the rest of his students go first, along with All-Might and Tsunagu. Hell, he even let Kirishima, Todoroki and Midoriya stay until visiting hours were almost over, nearly taking the rest of the allowed time. If it had been left up to him, he might not have gone to see Katsuki at all that day. He only went because Hizashi had taken one look at him after the last three students left, and raised a single eyebrow in challenge. No words were spoken between them. None were needed. 

Knowing he couldn't run from it any longer, Aizawa stood, braced himself mentally, and pushed through the doorway.

Nobody else was in the room. There wasn’t much to the room, no decorations on the walls, no windows to see the outside world, just one bed surrounded by chairs and machines. On that bed lay a silent form that was too fucking small to be there. Covered in wires, tubes and softly beeping machines. Aizawa found himself across the room, falling into one of the chairs as tears fell from his eyes against his will. It took everything he had to not reach out and try to scoop Katsuki up into his arms. God, he wanted to so fucking badly. 

He wasn't sure if he was crying from relief, fear, desperation or the sheer injustice. Maybe it was all of those things; mixing and rolling inside of him into an uncontrollable ball of emotions.

Hizashi shuffled into the room after him, sliding into the seat beside him, reaching out to stabilize him. Aizawa leaned into his husband's embrace, letting his tears fall as he tried to keep his eyes on Katsuki. On his student who was laying on death’s door.

Katsuki looked nothing like the student Aizawa lost a month and four days ago. His skin was pale as a ghost, bruises and cuts adding the only color Aizawa could see, his frame was skinny, muscles atrophied. Blonde hair looked awful from a month of being unkempt. It was longer now too. Even though it must’ve been thoroughly cleaned since his imprisonment, it still seemed dirty. 

Distantly, Aizawa wondered if the villains had somehow shrunk Katsuki. While Aizawa was sure the teenager was the same physical height as before, he felt impossibly smaller than Aizawa remembered. Katsuki had always seemed larger than life. His personality, his determination, his bravery, his very presence filled the room like nothing else could.

Now all of that was gone. Torn away, broken down and beaten to dust. Leaving behind the child that was now comatic in front of Aizawa.

"It's not fair."

The words were childish, but Aizawa didn't give a single fuck. He was feeling pretty damn childish, and after this month of hell, he felt he had a right to be.

"I know, Love. I know."

Hizashi whispered soothingly to him, rubbing his shoulders as Aizawa willed his tears to subside.

It took what felt like ages to regained his composure. Once he was calm, he made himself look at his student again. It was hard, but he owed Katsuki this much. He had failed to see his student too many times to repeat his mistake. 

This time, Aizawa forced himself to look past the bruises, past the sickly paleness of his student's skin, past the bandages covering him head to toe, past the wires, tubes, and past the machines surrounding him. 

Beneath all of that, he could see the faint rise and fall of Katsuki's chest. The slight movements of his mouth where the oxygen mask was strapped on.

Katsuki was alive. His kid was here, and he was breathing. It was a damn close call, but he was still fighting against all expectations.

Aizawa knew the damn odds. He knew what the doctors had said, he knew how easy it would be for this case to go south. All it would take was an infection, or Katsuki's body giving out, and that would be it.

Despite all of that, now that he was watching the slight rise and fall of Katsuki's chest, Aizawa couldn't see his student dying. This entire hellish month, he'd known deep down Katsuki was alive. Even now, staring at his student who should already dead, the little signs of life screamed out to him that it wasn't over yet. He could almost hear Katsuki's voice in his head, growly and annoyed, rolling his eyes as he huffed that only a weakling would die from something like this. How he’d grumble about how he wasn't that hurt, and everyone was making a big deal out of nothing. The ever familiar declaration that all of them were embarrassing, and they ought to go find something better to do than bother him.

This kid was made from determination, stupid levels of bravery, and a selflessness he'd never admit to in a million years. He was loud in everything he did that was unimportant, but quiet about what he cared about. Honest, all while carefully tucking vital truths away where nobody could find them. Putting on a sneer so nobody looked any closer.

After taking everything in, sure he’d seen what he needed to this time, Aizawa closed his eyes and pressed his face into Hizashi's chest. His breathing slowed and evened out completely.

Katsuki was hurt, beaten down, pushed to the edge of the cliff and almost shoved off of it. Yet somehow he was holding on with his heels dug in and a snarl on his face. He was Aizawa's fucking student, and there wasn’t a hell Katsuki would give up here. Not after he’d come so far already. 

"He's going to make it."

Aizawa couldn't see Hizashi’s smile, but he could feel it warming him. His husband stayed quiet though, so Aizawa spoke again.

"If he doesn't, I'm expelling him."

That earned him a laugh, and Aizawa found himself laughing too. The corners of his eyes were still damp, but hope had taken root in his chest, easing the painful tightness he’d felt since this mess began. 

Later that night, Aizawa stopped by his apartment for the first time in days. Hizashi was back at UA, probably asleep in one of the teacher’s rooms by now. He hadn't meant to stay long, all he needed was some papers he’d left behind in all the chaos, and then it was back to the dorms to check in on his kids. 

That plan went out the window when he opened his door to leave. A small brown carefully wrapped package was sitting just outside his door. Reaching out with a careful hand, he scooped it up to check the label.

The package was addressed to ‘Aizawa-Sensei’. There was no return address. In fact, there wasn’t any other writing on the brown paper beyond his name, not even his address. It must've been delivered by hand.

He should call this in. He really, really, really needed to call in and report this right away. It could be a bomb. This was exactly how you would address a bomb to someone to get them to open it.

Aizawa didn't call the investigation team. Nor did he call his husband, or any of his fellow teachers. He turned around, package in hand, and he pulled out his phone. Clicking through his contacts, he called the only person who already knew about the situation, who might go along with his bullshit plan, and who had the ability to enable him to do it legally. 

"This is Best Jeanist, What's the situation?"

"Tsunagu? I need you to come to my apartment. I may have... encountered new information regarding Katsuki and I may need to have you open a off-the-records investigation."

There was silence from the other end of the line. Aizawa wondered if Tsunagu was going to tell him to call the investigation team.

"... Does this have to do with the second email you said you received? The one that was not forwarded?"

Hm. All or nothing here.

"Yes. The details of Katsuki's kidnapping will almost certainly end up publicly released at some point, and the media will be on any new developments like vultures. I didn't want potentially unrelated private information being added to that case file."

More silence, and then a sigh.

"Alright, text me your address and I'll be over as soon as I can."

"Thank you."

With that, Aizawa hung up and texted Tsunagu his address. Flipping over to his conversation with Hizashi, he paused. His husband would know something was up if Aizawa asked him to look after his class. Couldn't risk it. Instead, Aizawa switched to Vlad King. The man knew enough about the situation from Monoma, and he wouldn't ask too many questions.

-> would you be able to watch my class tonight?

-> i was supposed to relieve ectoplasm, but a paperwork issue came up with the investigation and i need to take care of it.

The response came no more than a moment or two later.

-> Of course, the classes are next to one another so I can check in on them easily. Is there anything that needs to be done tonight?

Biting his lip, Aizawa ran through his to-do list and picked out the important items.

-> check on todoroki, he's been too quiet throughout all of this.

-> he'll probably brush you off, in which case, direct yaoyorozu at him.

-> kirishima could also probably use an adult checking that he's taking care of himself

-> and keep your eye on kaminari, if he's particularly crackly, send him to go burn off the electricity.

-> also all of them are probably staying in each other's rooms right now. don't give them shit for it.

-> Understood. Are you okay? It's unusual for you to let paperwork stop you from being with your class.

Fuck, he had been hoping Vlad wouldn't pick up on that. Considering his options carefully, Aizawa opted for a half-truth.

-> i'm worn out, worried, and this isn't something i can put off.

-> i do have a friend coming over to help me with it.

-> hopefully i'll have it resolved by morning.

-> Alright, do be careful of your own health.

-> I know you're worried for all your students, but remember to give yourself time to heal too.

-> i will

-> thank you vlad

It wasn't exactly a lie. As it so happened, Aizawa's method of healing meant finding out what other shit had been going on in his student’s life during this clusterfuck. 

Tsunagu arrived after what felt like forever, but couldn’t have been more than 20 minutes. The man was out of his hero costume. Shit, Aizawa must've called him while he was off-duty. Nothing to be done about it now. A spare computer was already set up on his dining room table, the package on his coffee table, and two chairs by the computer. Tsunagu took in all of it, and fixed Aizawa with a considering look.

"What did they tell you in the email?"

"That whoever sent the messages was mailing me footage of Katsuki, and they thought I should watch it before sending him home. Assuming we got him back alive in the first place."

Green eyes went straight to the package on the table and then back to Aizawa.

"You are aware this is a serious breach of protocol, with significant risk of emotional manipulation, false information, or an attempt to lure you into a trap, correct?"

"I am."

Seconds ticked by them, it was a staring contest now. Good thing Aizawa had always been good at those. Tsunagu conceded, his eyes going back to the package.

"Well, if you believe it's important enough to justify the risk, that’s more than enough for me to open a off-the-records investigation."

Opening an off-the-records investigation was the legal equivalent of Tsunagu writing himself a permit to do whatever the fuck he wanted regardless of standard procedure. Only, said permit actually held up in court, barring explicit evidence of foul play. It was an investigation route usually kept out of the public eye, and only accessible to the top 10 pro-heroes or with explicit permission from the hero commission.

Aizawa wasn’t particularly concerned about using the footage in court. He already had the legal ability to take custody of Katsuki through UA without reason thanks to the pre-kidnapping paperwork, but legitimizing his investigation added powerful layer of safety to this bullshit. Better safe than sorry. 

"Thank you. I don’t know if we'll have enough evidence to go to court, but odds are we won’t have to. Luckily, I still have the ability to take full custody without a court order, and I doubt his parents are going to care much if I do. Given how they’ve spoken about him this entire month, I’d be damn surprised if they even put up more than a token fight."

Tsunagu gave a nod, not saying anything more. Right. Well, time to get this over with. Aizawa stepped forward, intending to grab the package, only to have Tsunagu beat him to it. The paper wrapping and cardboard unraveled into fibers, appearing to melt away and leaving behind a flash drive in a puddle of what had formerly been the packaging. Huh. He’d forgotten Tsunagu could control more than just fabrics. Picking up the exposed flash drive, Aizawa inspected it gingerly. Nothing about it stood out to him.

"I assume you have a computer prepared?"

"Yeah, it's never had any identifying information on it, and I’ve quarantined it so it can’t connect to anything else. If this ends up being a virus, it shouldn't be able to get anything from there."

"Not even location data?"

"This was hand-delivered; they already know where I live. Regardless, yes, it shouldn't have any location access either."

Tsunagu nodded, and Aizawa brought the drive over to the computer, plugging it in and clicking through the dialogue options to scan it's contents. Only video files were found.  

A hand touched his shoulder, a heavy gaze settling on him.

"Are you sure it’s a good idea for you to watch these? Katsuki... he’s likely to be in a bad state if these really are from his time as a prisoner. Are you emotionally stable enough to handle that?"

"Whoever sent this, they sent it to me for a reason. Katsuki survived whatever is on here, so I can survive watching it to help keep him safe."

There were several long beats of silence before Tsunagu dropped his hand, accepting the other hero’s choice with a silent nod. 

Pressing play on the first video, Aizawa held his breath, posture tense and tired eyes glued to the screen.

It wasn't great, but it wasn't as graphic as he was expecting. All the videos were shot from the same angle at the top of the cell. Aizawa had seen the cell in the aftermath of the hideout raid, had walked through it, touched the heavy chains and tried not to throw up at the blood stains decorating the room. Seeing the empty room and knowing Katsuki was once there didn’t prepare him for the sight of his student in chains. He held on, fighting down the ache in his heart to focus on figuring out why he’d been sent this. 

Each video was different, though all were snippets from Katsuki’s imprisonment. From how he was acting, he was drugged during most of them. Aizawa doubted he’d remember most of what he said. Whether that was for the best or not, he didn’t know. 

Most of the scenes were only a minute or two long, though two reached a little over ten. All of them fit together to paint an ugly picture of Katsuki’s home life. Most of the shorter videos were offhand remarks about how his mother had done worse, or how he’d dealt with some torture method before. In a few, he called his captors by the wrong names, clearly hallucinating his parents in their place. All of it was bad, but not conclusive. The longer videos though, well.

The longer videos both featured a drugged out Katsuki and Dabi outside his cell. 

Aizawa highly doubted Katsuki would have any recollection of either incident. His speech was slurred and his eyes were unfocused. Despite his compromised state, he answered all of Dabi's questions with what Aizawa was unfortunately certain was the truth.

Dabi must've been planning to send someone these videos, his pointed questions were undeniably intended to establish what was going on, and get answers from Katsuki that Aizawa would never be able to get himself. The villain patiently kept Katsuki on track, getting him to divulge the isolation, the emotional torment, the neglect, the instability of his household. Together, the two videos were practical a documentary on how much shit Katsuki had been dealing with before and after his first kidnapping. 

One section in particular from the last half of the second video hit him hard. 

“You ever talked to your teachers ‘bout this shit? Or thought about it?”

Painful silence as Katsuki considered the question.

“Nah. They wo’uldn’t c‘are. S’not like I d’on de’serv’e it.”

 

Then he paused, head lolling to the side before adding to his first statement.

 

“A’ctuall’y, I d’id th’nk ‘bout te’llin’ A’izaw’a a f’ew t’mes. He’s- he’s- he’s s’oft ‘n us. Y’lled a’t th’ med’a ‘in st’uff ‘or me. D’dn’t, ‘caus’e it wa’sn’t- it wasn’t tha’ bad. He’s g’t ‘ther sh’t go’ng on.”

 

“Aizawa, huh. You’d trust him to not pull the same shit with you?”

 

“Y’eah.”

 

Fuck.

He wanted to pull his own hair out, bang his head on the table, do anything to ease the feeling of failure. All of this had been happening right in front of him, and he hadn't caught it. Worse than that, he’d somehow convinced his student he was too busy to help him out of an abusive situation. The signs were glaringly obvious in hindsight, but at the time he’d dismissed them.

Maybe if he hadn't, Katsuki wouldn't have ever gotten into this mess in the first place. Maybe if he'd paid a bit more attention to his student and picked up on what was going on Katsuki would've never been kidn-

"Aizawa, stop."

Tsunagu was looking at him with something between concern and a glare.

Right.

Taking a few deep breaths, Aizawa dragged himself away from his pit of despair and self-loathing. It wouldn't do any good now.

"Sorry, just- Fuck. I had some suspicions, but to miss all of this when it was right under my nose? And he never said anything because he thought I had more important things going on than keeping my goddamn students safe?"

"It's disheartening, yes, but as we’ve been reminded yet again, Katsuki is quite dedicated to handling his problems on his own. He would’ve found any excuse to avoid asking for help, especially since he doesn’t seem to consider it a problem in the first place."

"I know, but it doesn't make it any easier."

After taking a few moments to calm himself again, Aizawa's eyes were drawn to the timestamps on the videos, calling Tsunagu's attention to them too. Quickly doing the math in his head, both videos were from several days prior to Katsuki's escape. Huh. 

"Does it strike you as weird that Dabi recorded these almost a week before his group split off? I thought Intel said it was a sudden fight between Shigaraki and All for One that initiated the fracture."

"That was my understanding of the matter too, though reports did indicate tensions were building for quite awhile prior to the fight. What little footage we recovered from the rest of the base strongly suggested Dabi grew significantly closer to Shigaraki throughout the time Katsuki was held hostage. He may have simply anticipated what was coming and prepared for it."

"I suppose, but that wouldn’t explain why this was a part of his preparations, or why he went to the effort of creating these videos at all."

The conversation trailed off, neither of them had any idea what could’ve motivated the villain to go through all this trouble. An apology of sorts to Katsuki? Or more accurately, an attempt to make up for what he’d been put through? Neither really fit the villain they knew, but there was little else to explain his actions. 

Putting motive to the side for now, Aizawa pulled himself back together enough to start drafting a proper case file with the newly documented footage. He sent a message to Nezu informing the principal that the full custody clause needed to be put into effect, and that Aizawa would explain why tomorrow.

Tsunagu drafted his own witness statement and signed as the case lead, so Aizawa could justify having reviewed the videos without the kidnapping investigation team being involved. By the time they were finished, it was nearly 2 AM.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Aizawa had been ready to thank Tsunagu, collect his things, and head back to the dorms to check in on his students. Tsunagu, it seemed, had other plans.

"Isn't someone else taking care of your class for the evening?"

"Well, yes, but I still need to head over. Vlad agreed to watch them for the night, but I need to check in on Yaoyorozu and Asui. Both of them are likely to wake up soon and end up wandering down to the main dorms. I'd rather they not end up in a self-deprecating spiral together. Any number of them could be woken up by nightmares tonight, and depending on who it is, they almost certainly won’t feel comfortable going to Vlad for help. Not to mention I have patrol tomorrow evening which I need to prepare for at my office-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he found his own scarf binding his arms which had been reaching for his keys. His crackling red glare was met by unamused green eyes.

"When was the last time you slept for more than an hour?"

Aizawa narrowed his eyes further to try and cover up the fact he actually couldn’t remember. Goddamn it, he hadn’t anticipated Tsunagu being so observant. Or caring in the first place.

“Either you go to bed on your own, or I will make you and call your husband to keep you here.”

Shit, he'd made a mistake in calling Tsunagu. He should've just watched the videos on his own, legality be damned.

As he had no other choice, Aizawa turned on his heel and started towards his bedroom, glaring Tsunagu down the whole way. Tsunagu, the asshole, was definitely grinning smugly under his stupid turtleneck. He'd planned on faking sleep until Tsunagu went away, but Aizawa found his eyelids growing heavy the moment his head hit the pillow. Somehow he was way more tired than he remembered being. Black eyes drifted shut against his will. Maybe he’d rest them for a moment. That sounded nice.  

When he reopened his eyes, morning light was streaming through his window. Startling and full awake now, he glanced around to find it was 7 AM and Hizashi asleep next to him on the bed. Shit. At least he wasn't late for homeroom yet. Moving quietly, he was able to slide out of bed and make his way out of the apartment without waking his husband. There was no way Hizashi wouldn't have questions later, but the longer he could put off that conversation, the better.

Days passed them by, and Aizawa found himself growing more and more hopeful. As he worked through custody paperwork, which took far less time than he thought it would, he could see a glimmer at the end of this emotional devastating tunnel. Katsuki was healing well, and even though he was still on life support, he was getting stronger each day.

On the sixth day of Katsuki's recovery, the last set of papers were signed to completely turn Katsuki over to the school's custody. Neither of his parents were happy about the arrangement, but they didn't fight to keep him. Not after Aizawa subtly hinted they had video evidence that could be made public. Aizawa was convinced Mitsuki Bakugou was more upset about how it would affect her image than she was about losing her child. Her flippant attitude left Aizawa feeling sick to his stomach, but he took comfort knowing she wouldn't be going near Katsuki any time soon.

That same evening he let Tsunagu know the investigation was closed, and footage had been placed under lock and key at UA. If any further developments arose, they might need a more formal investigation, but for now Aizawa refused to risk leaking the footage. He had already been concerned about the custody transfer itself, but thankfully the media hadn't caught wind of it. Custody matters weren’t publicly discussed by the school, and if pressed they could vaguely imply it had to do with the kidnapping. Still, it seemed like they might not need to make any statement at all.

Maybe, just maybe, things were finally going to be okay. The hospital was hoping to remove Katsuki from life support in two days or so. Class 1-A had finally gone back to as close to normal as they could and Aizawa found himself able to relax a little. 

Then, at 1:34 pm on day seven, Aizawa got a phone call. He was in the staff room grading a recent homework assignment, sipping at some coffee his husband had made for him. The hospital’s caller ID was enough to make him nervous, but hearing the nurse’s hurried voice shattered any confidence he’d pieced together over the past week.

Iida was already outside the staff room, hand raised to knock on the door before Aizawa yanked it open. Making eye contact with him, Aizawa knew all his students must have already found out from someone. Pulling himself together, he took command of the situation. 

"Class is canceled, we’ll head over as a group."

The class president nodded and raced back towards his fellow students. Face determined, even though Aizawa could make out tears at the corners of his eyes.

It took 19 minutes to get everyone to the hospital. Aizawa had probably broken a number of traffic laws to arrive so quickly, but he couldn’t find a single fuck to give. 

Already he had texted Tsunagu to update the other hero. All-Might had been at the hospital when it happened, the pro-hero was rarely away from Katsuki’s bedside. Thank god the man had been there, because if he hadn’t been, Aizawa would be planning a funeral.

Some of the internal stitching holding Katsuki's organs together had come undone. The thread was meant to dissolve, but not until he had healed over completely. Unfortunately, the doctors had failed to account for Katsuki's unique chemistry. His cells were adapted to transport high volumes of nitrogen around his body, and handle a number of other usually toxic chemicals needed to produce the nitroglycerin in his palms. Those same adaptations caused his body to break down the thread far more quickly than it normally would.

Aizawa wanted to break down sob as he sat outside the waiting room all his students were in. He wanted to hit the fucking wall. He wanted to destroy everything in his path until he reached All for One himself and killed the man in cold blood.

More than anything else, he just wanted his fucking kid to be okay.

Not for the first time, but more than ever before, Aizawa hated his job. He hated the heroics system that encouraged kids down these stupid, awful, self-sacrificing paths, and the Hero Commission who put a child at risk for their own gain. He hated that they let them start training this young, and the public that accepted it without question. He hated the monsters that stole Katsuki from him, and he hated himself even more for not protecting Katsuki from them.

It left him desperate, overwhelmed by the unfairness of the situation, guilt, and fear. Filling him up, up, up until there was no space left inside him and he burst, no longer able to hold any emotion at all.

Aizawa couldn't even cry anymore. Fuck, he was so tired.

Numb hands found their way into his pocket, pulling out his phone, opening that email that he'd gotten a week ago. He found himself read over the words that had given him hope and fear in equal measure. Again. Again. At some point he wasn't even reading them, instead his eyes were moving back and forth as he replayed the memory of them. Unaware of the bustling world around him.

One finger reached up, tapping once and leaving him with a white space and blinking black cursor. The emptiness of the page taunted him, like an awful sort of mirror.

What the hell was he even doing? There was no way he'd get a reply. Whoever created the account would've ditched any access to it ages ago.

Yet he still found himself typing out a message, words spilling from his fingers like the tears he no longer had. Without thinking he sent it out into the uncaring void.

Somehow, it didn't make him feel any better.

Eventually, Hizashi found him. Aizawa had no idea where he'd been, only that his husband was here now wrapping him up in his arms, pressing kisses to his forehead and cheeks, whispering soft, pleading words. It didn't make him feel better. It couldn't, not with his student on the operating table for the second time.

Not with the words 'internal bleeding' and 'wounds reopened' ringing in his ears.

Closing his eyes, numb to the world, Aizawa leaned his head into his husband's chest and he waited. There wasn't anything else he could do.

Some fucking hero he was.

In the waiting room, Toshinori found himself seated in a large chair once again. It felt like nothing and everything had changed since he sat in this same chair a week ago.

Izuku was to his side, once more pressed up against Todoroki whose expression had gone blank again. Retreating back to an empty mask and numb looking eyes. It worried All-Might almost as much as Izuku's endless tears, but there was little he could do to help. Not while he was drowning in his own guilt. 

This past week....

This past week, Toshinori had gone back to his apartment for the first time in nearly a month. Everything was as clean as he'd left it.

He'd spent an hour looking through the collection of legal documents he'd prepared, his will, instructions for his funeral, final letters he'd written, and documentation for all the odds and ends that had to be taken care of when someone died. The lawyer and accountant he'd hired had been very thorough in their preparations, assuring him that the entire process would be as easy as possible for the ones he cared about.

Strange to think all that work would go to waste now.

The carefully organized set of files went to the back of his closest. It was too much for him to handle.

In fact, it was almost too much for him to look at anything right now. Everything in his apartment, and even the apartment itself felt fundamentally wrong.

A month or so ago he'd left his home, knowing he probably wasn't ever coming back to it. At most he might visit it once more if he'd forgotten something. 

At the time, everything had been so simple. His death had been looming over him for years now. Every breath he took was accompanied with pain, every time he coughed up blood reminded him his time was limited. Perhaps it ought to have scared him more when he heard the doctor say he only had two months left to live, but he could say in all honesty that it hadn't. Toshinori had lived his life as the hero he'd dreamed of being. It had been quite the fine life, if he did say so himself. 

In fact, the only part of his death that had upset him was seeing how it hurt those around him. The tears welling in young Izuku's eyes, the frustration in the press of Aizawa's lips, the pain apparent in how Detective Naomasa's face fell, the look of resignation on Sir Nighteye gave him when he broke the news to his mentor. Each expression of grief weighed on him heavily. But despite how he hated his death hurting those around him, Toshinori still couldn't say he had regretted it. 

No, his only regret had come in the form of an explosive blonde child sitting by his bedside in the hospital. Toshinori had only seen it for a moment, there for a heartbeat and gone the next, but guilty red eyes had fixed themselves on the bandages hiding his battle wounds. Young Katsuki's smile had been forced at best as he fought valiantly to keep his head above water while navigating a dangerous time in his life.

If Toshinori had been faster on that battlefield. If he had left the nomu to Endeavor instead of pausing to fight them. If he had done more, Katsuki wouldn't have had his life torn apart at the seams. He wouldn’t have faced choices far beyond what was fair to ask of a child. He wouldn’t have been kidnapped a second time, held for weeks and tortured. 

He would have never ended up on that final battlefield, facing down the man Toshinori failed to defeat, all to save the person who should've been saving him.

Throughout the entire week Katsuki had been on life support, Toshinori had found himself drawn back to his hospital bedside again and again, only to get lost in his own thoughts. Each conversation he’d had with the teenager was replayed in his mind's eye, going over their exchanges with a fine toothed comb, trying to find just where he'd gone wrong.

Desperately searching for where he had fucked up so badly that he'd convinced a child he should risk his life for him.

He couldn’t find it, and his failures tormented him.

It didn't help how each and every little aspect of his life had changed now. When he had been dying, when it had almost been his time, it had been easier in a strange sort of way.

Beyond wanting to see young Katsuki returned home, and the guilt that churned in him at being unable to save the boy himself or offer young Izuku any comfort, Toshinori had tied up all his loose ends. There were no more places he wanted to see. No more people he wanted to meet. No more battles he could win.

There were a million medals that every political figure wanted to award him. He had declined them all, declined any public appearances at all. Maybe it was a bit selfish of him, but it was his final month alive so he had allowed himself to be selfish.

He'd allowed himself to eat what junk food he still could. Allowed himself time to do puzzles, time to slow down and watch the city, time to do all the little things he'd always pushed to the side in favor of heroics. 

When his death was set in stone, each choice was simplistic. There was no long-term planning. No more grand end goal he was working towards. Nothing was permanent to him, and the temporariness of it all had been freeing in a way he hadn't expected.

And now, he found himself pausing when he picked out his food for the day. He wasn't limited by his destroyed stomach anymore, but now he was no longer living with the idea that he'd be dead and gone in a few short weeks.

Now, he had to think about buying groceries again. Planning out his meals had value when he would live to see its effect on him. Doing puzzles felt like a waste of time when he ought to be preparing to return to his teaching duties. He still had yet to make any public appearances, but he couldn’t put it off forever. Catching up on the news mattered now. 

Each little thing that had fallen to the side was suddenly important again, reminding him that he was no longer dying, and in turn reminding him of why he was no longer dying.

It made him wonder if he should stop teaching. To prevent any of his other students from following in Katsuki's footsteps.

As it was, while he hadn't formally resigned from UA, Nezu had told him to take the month off from teaching even though he was now fit to return to his full duties. Just to ensure his recovery went well.

The principal wasn't talking about his physical recovery. That much Toshinori knew.

As he sat taking in the pale as death boy laying in that hospital bed, guilt clutching at his chest and cutting him deeper than any battle wound ever had, all he could do was desperately wish he could trade places with the child in front of him. It felt unfair to return to his life when his student couldn’t do the same.

His guilt hadn't gone away as young Katsuki had recovered over the week, but it had eased and transformed. It had morphed from an awful guilt that drowned him in memories to a guilt that drove him to plan endless speeches.

Some of them were written down. Pages filled with all the words he prayed he'd be given a chance to say. Lectures, pleas, apologizes, anything and everything that he hoped might stop Katsuki from doing this again.

One week from when Katsuki had been brought in, Toshinori had been sitting by his bedside once more, words bubbling in his mind as his eyes traced the various machines wrapped around his student's body. Supporting him on his slow journey back to them.

It was only because he'd been watching those machines for so long that he'd realized something was wrong. While he hadn't been able to pinpoint it, the IV had started to flow differently. The beep had gone off rhythm. Everything shifted just slightly, and his hero instincts slammed into him like a bullet to the chest.

He'd run for a nurse in a blind panic. It took minutes too long to get across that something was wrong, and too many more minutes for the doctors to realize he was right.

The last he’d seen of Katsuki was burned in his mind, the child convulsing and blood spewing out of his throat to coat the tube that had been keeping him alive. Every time he shut his eyes the image was there to haunt him.

Hours had passed since then. Now he was back in the awful, awful waiting room. 21 children in the room with him.

Aizawa was elsewhere. Probably having as much trouble handling this as Toshinori himself was.

If Toshinori were a better hero, he would be doing more to comfort the children around him. He would be talking to them and lifting their spirits. He would be helping care for his fellow teacher who had already been through too much this month.

But Toshinori wasn't. For all that All-Might was hailed as the world's greatest hero, the symbol of peace, he was sitting here, repeating empty words as he was barely able to to process anything around him.

How could he hope to offer his students any comfort when it was his own fault their classmate was laying at death's door?

Tsunagu had come by again. He'd gotten invested in Katsuki's case. Unlike Toshinori, he was put together, moving through the collected children to check on each of them. Offering soft words of comfort, getting small smiles in return, and helping where he could. They weren't even his students, most of them he’d never meet outside the walls of this hospital. Yet he still managed to offer more comfort than Toshinori could.

Aizawa rejoined the waiting room at some point, though he didn't speak. He was guided to one of the chairs by Mic and he stayed where he was placed, looking numb to the world. Toshinori could understand how he felt.

At some point, young Izuku stopped crying. He still held onto Toshinori’s arm with an iron grip, his other hand clinging to young Todoroki. When his tears ebbed, they were replaced by a stubborn determination that Toshinori didn’t quite understand but tried to encourage regardless.

It wasn’t until 11:54 pm, mere minutes before the eighth day, that a nurse stumbled into the waiting room. Her eyes were ladened with exhaustion, but there was a smile on her lips. While he couldn’t recall her name, Toshinori knew she had been working on Katsuki’s case since the day he was brought in to the hospital. Even in his haze, her words rang clear.

“He’s out of surgery. You lot already know the ‘no guarantee he’ll survive’ disclaimer, but otherwise he’s as stable as he can be. I dunno what the hell that kid is made of, but I don’t think he’s giving up the ghost anytime soon.”

All Toshinori could remember after that was the wave of relief sweeping through him and the blinding smile on young Izuku’s face. 

After the scare they’d had, the entirety of Class 1-A plus Monoma elected to stay in the hospital for the rest of the night. They were supposed to go back to class in the morning. All of them still had school, somehow. Yet when 8 AM rolled around, not a single one of them made to leave the waiting room. No one had dared even suggest it.

Izuku knew damn well neither he nor Shouto were going anywhere but to Kacchan’s hospital room today. Not even All-Might would be able to drag him away this time. It wasn’t like any of their teachers were in better shape anyways.

At some point after they’d heard the news, Mic-Sensei had guided Aizawa-Sensei out of the room, leaving All-Might technically in change of them.

That had been quite awhile ago, and they hadn't seen any of their teachers outside of All-Might. Jeanist had taken over watching them instead, and he hadn't said anything about going back to class. It was possible he wasn't aware they were supposed to have class today.

It was also just as possible he didn't care.

Either way, 8 AM rolled around and all of them were still there. Some of them were sleeping. Izuku hadn't managed more than a few hours after they'd gotten the news, but Kirishima, Mina, Uraraka, Denki, and Shouto were all still resting near the center of the room.

Or they were until the nurse came back.

She looked even more tired than before, and Izuku felt guilty. Despite her exhaustion, she gave them a reassuring smile as she stepped into the room, looking first towards where All-Might was sitting next to Izuku, only for her eyes to pass over the both of them to make contact with Jeanist's. Fair enough, as much as Izuku loved All-Might, the hero was in no shape to handle anything right now.

"Mr. Bakugou has stabilized enough that he can have visitors again. He's back in 302, and as long as nobody touches him, there's no limit on visitors this time around. Again, if anything seems off please alert us right away."

"Absolutely, thank you for letting us know."

With a nod, the nurse slipped back out of the room. Standing, Jeanist turned green eyes to All-Might, a silent question there. All-might shook his head quickly.

"I'll have time to see young Katsuki later, the children ought to go in first."

"The nurse said visitors aren’t limited anymore. The room is large enough for everyone. Besides, it will probably be for the best if you're sitting with him. You were the one to notice something was wrong the first time."

Biting his lip, All-Might looked like he wanted to protest, so Izuku grabbed his mentor's arm, startling the hero who had probably forgotten Izuku was there.

It was hard to speak, Izuku's voice felt dry and worn even though he'd said very little over these past few days. He forced the words out anyways.

"I want you there."

The soft appeal worked perfectly. All-Might’s mood softened and he nodded, moving to stand so he could walk with them. Good. Izuku turned to pull a sleepy Shouto up from the floor so they could get going. 

Katsuki looked much like he had when Toshinori last saw him. The tubes and wires spilling out from him, skin pale, and body unnaturally motionless. Pain throbbing in Toshinori’s soul at the sight.

Some of the other students spoke to their lost classmates. Young Kirishima was the most talkative, dutifully updating Katsuki on the goings on of their class. He was matched by Ashido and Kaminari who took turns interjecting to defend themselves or add details.

Izuku stayed silent by All-Might's side, young green eyes fixed firmly on the rise and fall of Katsuki's chest. Faint but present all the same. Despite everything. Beside him, young Todoroki was slumped onto his boyfriend's shoulder, silent and calm. No, not calm, still . Like a deer in headlights. 

On Toshinori’s other side, Tsunagu sat quietly while his eyes roamed over the quickly formed clusters of students. He had helped herd the children into the hospital room, and even now he was keeping careful track of them. Toshinori was ever grateful to the fiber hero for helping him watch over them. It made him feel guilty, that he couldn't even handle the students he was meant to be in charge of, but Tsunagu had told him several times now that it was no burden for him.

For an hour or so, they stayed like that, with various students taking turns talking to Katsuki's quiet form, reminding themselves and each other that he was still here. All of it was oddly peaceful until Aizawa stumbled through the doorway.

The bags under his eyes had shrunk slightly, if nothing else Mic must’ve forced him to sleep recently. His ever present glare had returned strong as ever, and it seemed split between Toshinori and Tsunagu.

Ah, Right. It was close to 9 AM now. All of the students were meant to be in their classes by now, weren't they?

Tired black eyes took a long, calculated look around at the defensive and protective students crowded around Katsuki's bedside. Dropping his head, Aizawa let out a soft sigh.

Before anyone else could speak, the other teacher rolled his shoulders, lifted his head back up and stepped into the room.

"Guess we're having class in here then."

Young faces lit up as they processed his words, and Aizawa quickly set about establishing order in his makeshift classroom. Leaving Toshinori in awe of the man's ability to make the most of an awful situation.

Guilt gnawed at his chest once more, for everything he should be but wasn't. Perhaps if he had been a better teacher, more like Aizawa, all 22 students would be in their respective classrooms learning as children should. Not gathered in a hospital room around one of their own.

Visiting hours only lasted so long, and all of them had to leave eventually. When the time came Aizawa set about getting his students back to the dorms with Mic’s help. While Toshinori had also offered to assist, he'd been brushed off with a pointed comment about how he hadn't been back to his apartment in well over 24 hours. Although it was fair, it still took quite a bit for Toshinori to not call Aizawa out as a kettle. Instead he’d merely rolled his eyes and stepped out to begin his journey home.

Tsunagu caught up to him after no more than a few steps. With a silent gesture, the other hero lead Toshinori off the main street. They didn’t go far, just away from the crowds so the two of them could talk freely. 

It took several seconds for Tsunagu to speak, and when he did it in a soft tone Toshinori knew the man reserved for delicate situations. Hearing it used on him made his chest clench tighter, a sense of helplessness settling into his bones.

"You know, none of this is you fault. "

Those words made a petty part of Toshinori want to scream, made him want to act like a child, made him want to rant and yell until Tsunagu understood it was his fault. All of it was. He knew better though. Put on your own mask first, right?

"I appreciate your kind words Tsunagu, but I'm afraid I can't help but feel guilty regardless. It's the sort of wound only time will heal."

While Tsunagu was clearly unsatisfied with his answer, it was the only one Toshinori was willing to give him. He didn't have the strength for debating the matter. Not today.

"I do hate to be rude, but I am quite tired after these past few days, and I really should be getting home."

It was a gentle prompt, polite but enough to convince Tsunagu to allow him to leave without further conflict. After all, it wasn't a lie. Toshinori really was tired, though it was less from the time he'd spent awake and more from the guilt that weighed his limbs down with each step.

He slept uneasily that night, dreams plagued by the last smile he’d seen on young Katsuki's face. The white teeth, the childlike innocence, the red of his eyes just barely visible. How much pain the boy must've been in, and yet he thought only of someone who had already been given a good life.

The next day he woke up early, the clock by his bedside reading 6:04 AM. Big, glaring, red letters right in his face. Taunting him.

It would be two hours before he could visit the hospital again. Should he even go? A text revealed that all the students were back in their classes, so it would only be him there until the afternoon.

Toshinori lay in bed debating for several minutes if it was more selfish of him to stay or go back to Katsuki's bedside. The choice to go did not come easily, but the thought of another complication occurring and going unnoticed... it was enough to drive him from his bed.

That morning, he found his gaze drawn to the mirror as he stepped out of the shower. For the longest time he had preferred not to look at his own body. As much as he told himself to take pride in his scars, the skeleton looking back at him had never felt like his own. The gaunt face didn't connect to the big smile he was used to seeing in photos.

Now his body had started to change. It wasn't much, but there was a bit more weight on him. Having a proper digestive track again allowed him to slowly build up more than just skin and bones again, restoring what he'd lost.

Even with the healing quirk, he couldn't use One for All for more than a second or two, and not over more than a single limb. Regardless, now that his organs were whole, he could probably start building up muscle. Not to the same levels he'd reached in his youth, but it would be something.

Did he want to? Was that something that appealed to him, or was it just something he felt he ought to do now that he could? What would be the point to it? Maybe it would help him teach his students better. Or maybe it wouldn't. Would he consider fighting again, if he could now? After all, he did have a hero-worthy quirk again, against all odds.

As he went about getting dressed for the day, Toshinori found himself realizing for the very first time that he had a future now. A real one. It had been ages since he'd thought about what he would do if he had more time, yet here he was, a former hero with nothing but time on his hands.

Toshinori arrived at the hospital with two minutes to spare before visiting hours started. They let him go up to the room early.

Staring down at the young form on the hospital bed, Toshinori was able to truly understand the gift young Katsuki had given him. More than healing, more than putting off his impending death, more than giving him back the organs and parts of himself that he'd lost. More than all of that, Katsuki had given him a brand new life. One free of direction, free of responsibilities and the predetermined deadline Toshinori had resigned himself to.

If only Toshinori could find some way to give that same gift back to the child on the bed, the one who actually deserved it.

Izuku raced over to the hospital as soon as classes were over for the day, Shouto beside him and the rest of the class hot on his heels. Rationally, he knew Aizawa would’ve told them if anything changed, but a fearful part of him needed to see Kacchan breathing with his own two eyes. 

There was something about the gentle rise and fall of his love's chest that made it real.

All-Might was waiting for them, Izuku knew without asking his mentor had been there the whole day. While it was comforting to know Kacchan had a guardian watching over him, Izuku was worried for his hero. As each day went by, All-Might seemed to slip further and further into a guilt driven depression. He never said it out loud. No, he was never that direct. But it showed in his eyes, in the shaking of his hands, in how he hesitated over meaningless things.

On some level, Izuku could understand his mentor's guilt. God only knows how awful he'd feel if Kacchan had done the same thing for him. Yet all the same, Kacchan was uncontrollable and stubborn. He would have done it regardless of any of their feelings on the matter. None of them could've stopped him. Not Izuku, not Shouto, not Aizawa and not All-Might himself.

He'd tried to communicate that a few times, in soft words and side hugs but his message wasn't getting through. Frustration boiled in his stomach as he watched his mentor's blue eyes lingering on Kacchan in the hospital bed. Guilt and pain pulling him down as he put on a sunny mask to greet Izuku and the rest of the class.

Today was a quiet day, there wasn’t much to be said. A number of their classmates had formed a study circle in the corner of the room. Izuku took up a spot next to All-Might, Shouto on his other side. Kirishima sat on the opposite side of the bed, giving Kacchan a whispered update on what’d they been learning and random bits of gossip from the school. While a part of Izuku wanted to join in, speaking just didn’t feel right, not when he didn’t have anything valuable left to say. Instead, he took in his stubborn boyfriend's comatose form, staring blankly as thoughts raced through his mind.

"I wish we could touch him."

Shouto's soft words almost flew right over his head. They were faint, maybe not something he'd meant to say out loud. Nobody else had heard him.

Sweeping his gaze over Kacchan's still form, Izuku couldn't help but nod in agreement. A moment passed before Shouto whispered again.

"It feels like he's not really here. Like it's a picture of him or his ghost, and I wish I could touch him and make sure."

Nodding again, Izuku had to fight down the instinct to reach out and do just that. In a way, Shouto was right. Kacchan wasn't really here, not yet anyways. Kacchan wasn't quiet or idle, he grumbled in his sleep, rolled around and stole the covers even though he always denied doing the last part. He wouldn’t let machines breathe for him, and he would never let this many people into his room. 

Silence overtook the two of them, engulfing them for almost a full minute before Izuku found words of his own.

"We just need to be patient. Kacchan will come back to us when he’s ready."

"He promised he would, so he has to, right?"

Unshed tears glimmered in Shouto's eyes, but there was a thin smile on his lips Izuku couldn't help but return.

"Kacchan would never break his promise. It's just going to take him longer than we expected to keep it."

Their conversation had stayed quiet, but glancing to his other side, Izuku caught All-Might's eyes slipping away from the two of them and back to Kacchan. Oh. Well, he was sitting right next to them. Even if he wasn’t trying to listen in, it would be hard not to overhear. Izuku wasn’t bothered by All-Might knowing about their somewhat childish promises, but the guilt on his mentor’s face had intensified. It was more than Izuku could stand, he refused to make All-Might feel any worse about this situation.

Words pulled themselves free of his lips before he could stop himself, a little louder than he would've liked, but not loud enough for the whole room to hear.

"It wasn't your fault that Kacchan got hurt. He made his own choices, and he's going to be okay. He just needs more time, and when he wakes up he’ll tell you that himself. Okay?"

Izuku desperately wanted All-Might to believe him, he wanted that to be enough, but he could already tell his words had no effect. His hero forced a smile to his lips. A twisted, awful, smile.

"While young Katsuki made his own choices, it was my own failings which led to those choices in the first place. As one of his teachers, it was my responsibility to keep him safe and I failed to do that. It's kind of you to worry young Midoriya, but my guilt is my burden to bare for now."

Soft words, kind and placating. Izuku had to bite his lip to stop himself from screaming in response. How could he make his mentor understand this wasn't his fault? That it wasn't fair for him to blame himself? That this was the last thing Kacchan would want?

Searching himself, Izuku couldn't find anything. The best he could do was try to repeat what he said before, and he opened his mouth to do just that.

Only someone else beat him to it.

"Bullshit!" Kirishima stood up, eyes blazing and voice too loud for the hospital room. The entire class startled, those who had formerly been wrapped up in their own conversations falling silent. Before anyone else could speak, Kirishima pressed on, glaring their teacher down.

"Katsuki would've made his choice the same way no matter what. You could've been in that stupid cell with him and begged him not to, and he would've still gone to do it twice if he needed to. There wasn't a single damn thing you could've said to stop him. Hell, there's nothing any of us could've said to stop him!"

Taking a deep breath in, Kirishima let his glare soften as bright red eyes dropped to the hospital bed, taking in the battered form of his best friend.

"It wasn't your fault and you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Katsuki's his own damn person, he doesn't care what anyone else wants him to be doing. He went after All for One to get those quirks because he thought it was the right choice. I never would've told him to do it, but I don't think he was wrong either. I mean, isn't the whole point of being a hero to save people's lives? Isn't that what we're training for?"

Their gathered classmates murmured in quiet agreement. Izuku looked back towards All-Might, hoping that maybe that had gotten through. A sigh left All-Might's mouth, blue eyes unable to even look at Kirishima as he shook his head ever so slightly. When he spoke, his words were soft again, though slower now, as if he were imparting some universal truth. As if he were speaking to young children. 

"While it’s a heroes job to save others, Katsuki is far too young to be risking his life like that. None of you should be expected to sacrifice yourself for another, let alone for someone who is responsible for protecting you. For him to have gone up against an opponent like All for One, putting himself at great risk for no good reason... he should never have been in a situation where that was an option, let alone convinced it was the right choice."

Kind, sweet, understanding Kirishima dug his heels in, sharp teeth bared in frustration. Rust colored eyes lingered on Kacchan’s sleeping form for a heartbeat, seeking truth in the faint rise and fall of his best friend’s chest, before swinging upwards to meet the sunken eyes of the former symbol of peace. Anger was bubbling in him, turning him from hardened stone to lava pouring through the landscape, reshaping the world around him. 

“A hero risked his life to fight All for One to save someone else, and he got heavily injured to the point where he might die! I wonder where I’ve heard that one before?”

 Glare narrowing, Kirishima was tone was colored with a ferocious sarcasm completely unlike the classmate Izuku knew. 

“I mean, it sounds weirdly familiar. I could’ve sworn I heard that exact story a few months ago.” 

All-Might tensed beside Izuku, shoulders hunching defensively. He stood up as well, trying to fix Kirishima with a stern gaze. 

“Those were completely different events and you canno-” 

“No, they fucking weren’t! They were the exact same damn thing. You can pretend it’s different because you’re older or whatever, but we all know you’d be feeling the same way even if it’d been Aizawa or another pro-hero.” 

If there was one thing Kirishima excelled at, one thing he was known for, it was holding his damn ground. Here was no exception. 

“You don’t get to do this. You don’t get to go risking your life constantly, saving other people, and sacrificing your own health for them only to turn around and act guilty when someone else does the same thing for you! You put yourself at risk to save all of us during the USJ attack, should we all feel guilty about that? The whole reason you almost died was you risked your life fighting All for One so many years ago, and you lost your organs saving the entire damn country. Should everyone feel guilty about that? Should we all blame ourselves for your near death?” 

“Of course not! That was my own choice and I would never want-”

“Exactly! It was your choice and nobody else’s. Just like it was Katsuki’s choice to save you. Not yours, not mine, his.” 

Tears pricked at the corners of Kirishima’s eyes as he took in a sharp breath. 

“I get it, I really do! You feel bad because he put himself in danger for you. He could’ve died. He could still die. I mean, we’re all staying hopeful, and I believe in Katsuki, but we all know the odds aren’t great. But just because he could die, doesn’t mean you should wallow in guilt. Katsuki didn’t risk his life to make you feel guilty. He risked his life to save you.”

A slower, deeper breath, the anger fading from Kirishima’s body, leaving him looking empty and tired. 

“If- If this kills him, I know the last thing he’d want is you blaming yourself. It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to him. He made the choice to risk his life to save yours. Katsuki made his choice like a real hero, and saying it was your fault is an insult to how brave and selfless he was.”

All-Might’s shoulder’s fell, the words finally, finally getting through to him. It only took a few steps for him to skirt the hospital bed and wrap Kirishima up in his arms. As harsh as the other student’s words had been, Izuku could see his mentor letting go of his guilt in favor of trying to comfort the crying teenager in front of him. The rest of the class was quiet, unsure of how they should react. 

“My apologies, young Kirishima. You’re right. Blaming myself for what happened is foolish. It’s selfish of me to treat the gift Katsuki gave to me so poorly, and unfair of me to stubbornly insist on holding onto useless guilt. I promise I won’t repeat my mistake.” 

His words were soft, but they were sincere and enough to stem the soft flow of tears from red eyes. Izuku watched quietly as Kirishima collected himself enough to reply. 

“Good. I’m holding you to that, otherwise Katsuki will be really pissed off when he wakes up.”

The room let out a collective breath, eyes slowly turning back to their own groups. Everyone reassured that the crisis had been averted, and they were all back to insisting Kacchan would live.  

Letting his own green eyes fall back to the source of their conflict, Izuku took in a deep breath of his own. Minutes passed by as the tension faded from the room, All-Might moved to sit by Kirishima, comforting his student carefully. 

After some time, Shouto leaned over, close enough to whisper words meant for Izuku’s ears alone. 

“He’s going to give us both a lecture about slacking off on our studying.”

Izuku was unable to help his soft giggle, the light feeling his chest, already hearing Kacchan’s lecture in his head. 

“We should probably start catching up so he won’t know.”

“Probably.” 

Not right now though, right now they stayed and reminded themselves their boyfriend was still here. Despite everything, he was still making his way back to them. Keeping his promise, even if it was taking him awhile.

Two days after Toshinori was lectured by one of his students, young Katsuki was taken off life support. His body was breathing on its own now, his heart stable, and his internal organs healed enough to support themselves again. 

There was a sparkle in the nurse’s eye when she relayed the good news. Against all odds, he had survived. Although, his odds may not have been as bad as they originally suspected. Infection had been one of the primary risks, given the extent of his injuries, and how bad his condition was. Even in a best case scenario, the doctors had been expecting mild infections, fevers, swelling, and all the complications they brought with them. Yet somehow, Katsuki hadn’t shown a single sign of infection at any point in his healing process. 

Yaoyorozu was the one to point out what none of them had considered, after overhearing Toshinori discussing the improbability of it all with Aizawa. Medical records were pulled and Izuku was consulted to confirm her theory. 

The same nitroglycerin in Katsuki’s blood which had pulled apart his stitches too early, almost costing him his life, also may have saved him. Most bacteria and viruses couldn’t survive the toxicity of his bloodstream. Every part of his body had traces of the dangerous chemical, and that meant only highly adapted microbes could survive in him, and those microbes had little to no ability to function outside of their particular niche. As his records showed, he had never had an infection prior to the surgery, and it was unlikely he’d have one afterwards. 

Though, even with the risk of infection taken out, it was still miraculous that he had survived with how extensive his injuries were. Let alone that he was healing up relatively quickly, with no further complications now the stitches had been redone.

Toshinori kept visiting the hospital every day, but he limited the amount of time he spent there now. So as to allow others time to visit Katsuki alone, and to allow himself time to find his footing in his new life. He saw Izuku almost every day. His successor, Todoroki and Kirishima all came by after school when they could. Internships couldn’t be put off forever though, and sometimes they had to work. The rest of their classmates showed up when they could, though not quite as consistently. Aizawa came by most days to herd his students out of the hospital near closing, and to linger by Katsuki’s bedside for a few minutes. It was hard to read his emotions, but Toshinori swore he caught a few small smiles. 

The day Katsuki was taken off life support, he was moved to a new room. Toshinori helped transfer the flowers, trinkets and cards that had collected in his old one. While the new room was certainly nicer, fewer machines, less wires, and plenty of sunlight; it had an uncomfortable permanence about it. Everything, from the bed to the chairs, to the nightstand all suggested an extended stay. It was all too similar to the room Toshinori had been a few weeks ago. 

He wasn’t sure if he was the only one bothered by it. Aizawa took one look at the new room, stepped out for a few minutes, and returned to tuck a set of files into the drawer of the nightstand, locking it afterwards. Papers for Katsuki to review when he woke up. Some Toshinori assumed must be regarding his custody situation, but from the brief glimpse he’d gotten, there seemed to be more to them. It wasn’t his place to pry, so he didn’t, even if he wondered. 

Two more days went by. 

Prior to his injury, Toshinori kept a small collection of workout equipment in his apartment. Simple weights and a machine, it was all meant for having something to do while he thought rather than any serious training. After it was no longer safe for him to use, he’d tucked it all to the back of a closet. Getting rid of it would’ve been more sensible, but a hopeful part of him had refused to let go. 

He pulled out the weights again one day, contemplating them for a few minutes before making up his mind. Lifting the heavier ones across his apartment gave him some trouble, but he managed. On the second day he set up a proper workout routine. Nothing intensive, just enough so he could build his body back to more than skin and bones. 

Another day passed, and Katsuki’s prognosis improved further. Now the doctors thought a full recovery was possible. Already, Toshinori could see the injuries fading. The boy’s entire left side had been torn up, more blood than skin. Now the more mildly parts of the wound had healed over without so much as a scar left behind. Only the epicenter of the worst injuries were left, and even they were on the mend. 

The nurse who had been overseeing Katsuki told him they thought his healing was related to the nitroglycerin too. It was nothing compared to the healing quirk he had given to All-Might, but the substance was known to aid in healing tissue damage, and in Katsuki’s case it seemed to wipe away any scars as soon as they formed. Keeping his skin soft and smooth, as if there had never been an injury in the first place. 

“It’s a bit funny how it all keeps coming back to nitroglycerin.” Tsunagu had commented idly when he last visited. Raising an eyebrow, Toshinori tried to make sense of his words. It was late and his brain wasn’t quite up to speed.

“Why would that be funny?” 

“Whenever I thought of his original quirk, I only thought of the explosions. I must’ve read the details of his quirk in his file prior to taking him as an intern, yet my mental picture of it was a modified pyromancy quirk. I felt perfectly confident that I understood it, and look at how wrong I was. His quirk, nitroglycerin, something that seems so simple, is in fact incredibly complicated and impacts so much more than we ever thought it could. Even now we’re still guessing at the extent of its effects. It suits him.”

There was a pause as both of them considered the fiber hero’s words. After a minute or two of silence, Toshinori found a reply. 

“Katsuki’s original quirk is certainly reflective of him. I suppose his new one is too; a quirk stolen by sheer force of will and used to save the one it’s original owner hated most. The ability to take almost any power, passed from someone who wanted everything for themselves, to one who detests the very thought of taking another's strength as their own. A story shaped by spite from start to finish, much like young Katsuki himself.” 

“There’s certainly more to him than nitroglycerin and spite, but each has played a large part in making him who he is. It’s a strange combination to say the least.”

“Strange, yes, but young Katsuki has never been normal. It wouldn’t make much sense for him to have been forged by anything less than strange.”

“I suppose not.”

They fell back into silence, left to their respective thoughts. 

Three more days flew past. Internships and school started to pick up again, and despite Izuku’s and Shouto’s best efforts, they weren’t able to stay more than an hour or two most days. 

Toshinori started coming later in the day, catching the later part of their visits to catch up with his students and sitting quietly beside Katsuki after they left. He’d gotten a number of new books on teaching that he was slowly making his way through so as to not get lost in his own thoughts again. 

The routine was peaceful. Step by step he was building a future he never dreamed he’d have, at the bedside of the child who had given it to him. 

On the fourth day, time got away from him, and it wasn’t until he finished his most recent book that he noticed it was dark outside. Startling, he checked the time only to discover it was almost 11 pm, hours past when visiting should’ve ended. The hospital staff must not have noticed he was still here. It would be awfully rude of him to stay around any longer, he didn’t want to cause them any trouble after all. 

Pushing himself to his feet, Toshinori quickly collected his things and turned to take one last look at Katsuki. Intending to whisper a quiet goodbye and take his leave for the evening. It should’ve only taken a moment, his mouth opening as he took in the child on the hospital bed. His visual sweep started at the leg still encased in a cast, shifting to a torso covered in wires and bandages, up to shoulders which had mostly healed over, and finally up to his fac-

Toshinori froze, air stolen from his lungs, body going rigid, words dying on his lips.

For the first time in weeks, drowsy red eyes were open and staring back at him.

Chapter Text

It could've been seconds, minutes, or decades that Toshinori stayed frozen in place. Time didn’t move in this odd pocket of the universe, staying as still as it’s two occupants. Toshinori’s mind desperately tried to process the sight in front of him; hardly daring to believe it was real. In the dim hospital room, with moonlight and muffled city sounds filtering in from an unimaginably distant outside world, the softness of reality made the sight of those red eyes feel like a particularly cruel dream.

Then Katsuki blinked, mouth stretching into a yawn as sleepy eyes drooped shut for a heartbeat before flickering back open. The child’s movements jolted time into restarting, and before Toshinori could control himself, his hands dropped whatever unimportant things they'd held so they could wrap around the child on the bed. Toshinori was careful, ever so careful, not touching any of the many wires or beeping machines (steady beeps now picking up the pace, a wonderful, wonderful sound) . But even in their caution, his hands held firmly. An irrational fear in his chest that if he didn’t hold on, the child in his arms might be stolen away again. 

For days upon days he had been planning out speeches, consulting guides created by teachers, poets, scholars, and every corner of language as he knew it to try and find the right words. Toshinori’s mind raced with all that he'd prepared as he pulled back from the hug to meet a tired red gaze. His mouth opened to let the tide of curated thoughts spill forth, feeling for once he had a plan he could follow through with. 

However, Katsuki had never particularly cared for others’ plans.

"If you're gon’na tell me not ta do tha’ again, save your breath. 'M too tired to list'n, 'n also I don't care. Izuku would've be’en a tot’al mess if you bit tha’ dust ‘n I didn't wanna deal wit’ ‘im bein’ a crybaby."

Those red eyes settled into an ever familiar annoyed glare, though it was diluted by exhaustion. If he hadn't known better, Toshinori would've thought the boy was annoyed in class, not lying on a hospital bed after having stared death in the eye until death blinked first.

The words Toshinori had planned so carefully, his speeches, his organized thoughts, his pleas, all of them fled him. His lips opened once again, but his mind wasn't connected to them, and tears were welling at his own eyes.

Somehow, Toshinori found himself laughing even as he cried, pulling this stubborn, determined, ever confusing child closer once again.

For awhile, that was all he could do. And for all his words, all his bravery and his walls, Katsuki allowed himself to be held. Toshinori would never point it out, but he felt a few small tears fall onto the side of his shirt.

It took time for him to recover, and when he did, he pulled back again. Now the words that came to him felt natural and right.

"Katsuki," He had to wipe his face again, catch his breath, remind himself that this was real. God, to say that name again and have it be heard, "Katsuki, I am extremely grateful for what you did. You saved my life. More than that, you gave me a second chance that I never thought I would have."

Katsuki's own eyes fell, shoulders tensing ever so slightly. Looking uncomfortable at the praise. Toshinori half expected him to protest.

"With that being said, although I won't lecture you on how dangerous what you did was, but know this; I would never want you to be harmed for me, I would never want any of the students under my care to be hurt for my sake. I would always rather you protect yourself and your own life."

"And when 'xcatly 'ave I car'd 'bout what any'ne else w'nts?"

Katsuki's words were mumbled out around a yawn, but still held his usual stubborn, spiteful bite and it was all Toshinori could do to not break down laughing or crying again.

In that exact moment Toshinori understood the vastness, the danger, and the power in Katsuki's uncontrollable nature. There wasn't a force on earth or in the stars that could break him. Not a month being held by villains, not a near death experience, and not even a plea from the one who he had almost died to save. Katsuki simply couldn't be forced from the path he'd chosen. So, Toshinori switched tactics with a gentle sigh.

"Even if you don't care what I or anyone else wants, please, remember your own life has value too. I know I don't have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to telling others not to risk their lives, but that doesn't mean you should toss yours aside carelessly."

There was still a glare in those fiery eyes, still a determination to fight. Toshinori searched for the right words to get through to the child in front of him that this wasn’t a battle in the first place.

"You are quite possibly the bravest, most determined, selfless young hero I have ever met. You are strong and smart beyond your years, and it would be an awful shame to deprive the world of such a hero. Don’t you think?"

Katsuki opened his mouth, clearly ready to protest, but Toshinori hushed him softly, pulling him back in for another hug.

"I know you have your own opinions on the matter. Just know that your life has value too and there are people who need you as well. No matter what choices you make, keep that in mind."

Katsuki still seemed to not quite agree, but he let his gaze drop, eyes starting to droop a little again. Willing to accept that for now. He shifted in the bed slightly, grimacing as he did so.

Right. He was still injured, and would be for quite some time. It was only then that a thought struck Toshinori.

"Can you take the healing quirk back?"

Red eyes blinked up at him in shock, taking a second to process what he was saying before starting to nod his head and then shaking it. Lips pressing into a line and brow furrowing, confused and unable to explain something. Before Toshinori could ask, he found the words.

"No’t an op’tion."

A pang of guilt struck at Toshinori’s heart, and he quickly scooped up young Katsuki's hand, making sure there was enough skin to skin contact.

"I promise you, I am fully healed. There's no harm in you taking the quirk back now so that it might heal you too."

Katsuki shook his head, looking frustrated for a moment before clearing his throat enough to speak again.

"S'not wha’ I me’an. Couldn’t 'ven if I wanted to."

He must’ve seen the confusion on Toshinori’s face, because Katsuki offered up an explanation without further prompting, even as his eyes were falling closed again.

"You pass’d on One fer All, but it’s still kinda th’ere. Whe’ I add’d tha' new quirks, they fused or somethin'. It's like w’th 'Zuku, I can't take ‘em."

Toshinori had to take a few seconds to process all the implications of what Katsuki had just told him. One particular part jumped out at him though.

"What do you mean quirks? Did you transfer more than one?"

Katsuki gave sleepy nod in reply. There was more Toshinori wanted to know, but he'd need to ask his questions later; Young Katsuki's eyes had fallen shut as he returned to his slumber. It was a different sort of sleep now. The rise and fall of his chest was stronger, and his body was no longer lifeless or silent. His fingers twitched, breathing now audible, body shifting every so often, all parts of him gearing up for living once more. 

Toshinori took a moment to collect himself, then he scooped all his books back into his bag, and went to alert the hospital staff. The nurse he found scolded him lightly for staying past visitor hours while she checked over Katsuki. After a minute or two, she reported his vitals were much stronger now, as were the signs of brain activity.

"He'll only be awake for short periods at a time for the first while, but we can expect him to wake up again soon."

That was the last thing she told him before he'd been ushered out of the hospital.

It was only then, standing out in the crisp night air with soft street lights illuminating the light traffic buzzing past, that he realized he had a wonderful phone call to make.

Part of him wanted to call Izuku first, but he knew who he needed to call above anyone else, and he knew that person had earned the right to let their students know.

Clicking on the call button, he waited through three rings before a familiar tired voice answered.

"It's almost 11pm what-"

"He woke up."

Silence from the other end of the line for several long seconds.

"What?"

"Young Katsuki- He woke up."

"What happened? Why are you the one calling me?"

"I was there, I got too caught up in a book and when I went to leave, he woke up."

"Was- did he remember everything?"

The 'was he still all there, or have we lost part of him' went unsaid.

"As far as I could tell, yes. He seemed to remember the attack and though he was awfully tired, he seemed as himself as ever."

The faint, choked up noises from the other end of the line told Toshinori everything he needed to know. Unable to stop himself, he kept talking.

"He- God, I tried to tell him not to do that again, but it went as well as telling him to do anything does. Even after all this time, after everything he's been through, he's as determined as ever."

"I-fuck. He made it. That stubborn fucking kid actually made it out alive. A month of being held hostage, followed by three dangerous fights, including one of the world’s most dangerous villains, and he woke up."

"That's Katsuki for you."

"I guess so."

Both of them took a moment to breathe, letting silent tears of relief fall before Aizawa spoke.

"I'll let the class know first thing tomorrow morning. Can you call Tsunagu and let him know too?"

"Of course. The nurse said he was probably going to wake up again soon. I'd imagine his classmates will probably want to be there if they can."

"Thank god it's Saturday tomorrow."

"Small mercies I suppose."

Aizawa hung up, and Toshinori took a moment to look around him.

It was the dead of night. A few stragglers were out shuffling their way home or to another unknown destination, but it was relatively calm. Above him, the sky was clear, stars shining brightly down, a half moon hanging high above the world. Endless city stretched around him, buildings lit up and faint noises blurring together into a background hum. For that moment, all he could see was the life bursting forth from every corner of the world around him. Taking in a deep breath, he let that life fill him again.

Blue eyes shifted back to his phone as he scrolled through his contacts, pulling up the next number he needed. As he clicked the call button, he took a step forward into the city, rejoining the world of living at long last as he started for home.

Hizashi almost certainly guessed what the phone call was about, but he still waited with baited breath as Aizawa wrapped up the conversation. When Aizawa finally looked up to his husband, he couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face or the tears of relief still dripping from his eyes. 

“He woke up?” 

Nodding, Aizawa was unable to find words, reaching out to grab his husband and hold him because what else could he do? At some point he was pretty sure Hizashi cried as well, but for the life of him he couldn’t focus on anything but the certainty of it all. 

Katsuki had woken up.

“All-Might, god, he said he’s still- he seemed to remember everything. No sign of brain damage.” 

Saying it aloud made it real, tangible. 

“Fuck- Hizashi- He’s alive. He’s really- holy shit- he’s really made it through. We didn’t lose him.” 

There was a lightness to his voice, a sense of calm that Aizawa hadn’t felt in too damn long. It swept through him, clearing away the lingering traces of doubt and dread. 

“Can’t say I expected any less of him. After all, he wouldn’t be Katsuki if he wasn’t pulling off some impossible stunt that’s equal parts stupid and impressive.” 

“I supposed not.” A beat of silence. “I’m still going to kill him.” 

Hizashi broke at that, laughter overtaking him and Aizawa couldn’t help but grin into his husband’s chest. It took nearly a minute for the other hero to recover, and it made Aizawa glad that Hitoshi was staying in the dorms this weekend so they didn’t have to worry about waking him. When Hizashi caught his breath, he gave a teasing reply. 

“Good luck, at this point I think he might be unkillable.”

“We’ll see about that.”

The growl to his voice set Hizashi off again and Aizawa would've been content to lay in his husband’s arms until he fell asleep, but his phone buzzed again. Two pulses; a new email. He tried to keep himself relaxed, tried to pretend it wasn’t anything important. Hizashi caught his shift in mood anyways. Damn it. Sometimes, it sucked to have someone know you so well.

“Who's emailing you at this time of night?”

“Probably spam.”

“Do you want to check it to be safe?”

“It’s not anything important.”

Hizashi gave him an unimpressed look, he’d been caught. 

“You wouldn’t mind if I checked it then?”

“I’d rather you not mess with my phone.” 

“Would you like to check it while I look away?”

“...Yes.” 

He'd need to explain afterwards, but for the moment Aizawa flipped over to open up the new message. Same sender he'd been corresponding with for the past two weeks.

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soon

Message:

Can’t say I’m surprised, Kid’s stubborn as hell. I thought he’d be done within the first week, but he wasn’t even starting to wear down.

Nothing particularly telling or important. Were the message from any other sender, Aizawa wouldn't have cared about hiding it in the least.

Only... this was probably Dabi he was corresponding with. A villain who was still at large and who apparently knew his address.

Any contact was a bad idea. Contact that he hadn't reported to the proper authorities was an even worse one. It was not technically illegal, he didn't have any idea where Dabi was. Hell, he didn't even know for sure that Dabi was the sender, but was still a pretty terrible idea.

And yet, Aizawa found himself typing out a quick reply. He was careful, this might be stupid but that didn't mean he was going to give anything away. But he replied all the same, even though he absolutely shouldn't. The reply was sent off before he could think too hard about it.

Then he turned back to his husband and waited for the question to come.

"...So?"

"I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty confident I'm emailing Dabi."

Hizashi took several long seconds to take that in, clearly adding up all the puzzle pieces in his head before speaking again.

"The mysterious sender of the first email I assume?"

"That's what it looks like. Could still be someone else, but I'm as sure as I can be it’s him."

More silence, Aizawa refused to look up at his husband.

"I assume you made first contact?"

"Yeah. Wasn't actually expecting a reply. Haven't gotten anything useful to the investigation."

"Okay." Seconds passing them by. "Okay, what'd you message him about?"

"During the second surgery, I asked him if he'd put Katsuki up to fighting All for One. I already knew it was probably the kid's dumbass decision, but..." He finished with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You wanted to see if there was someone else you could blame for what was happening?"

"Pretty much. He said it wasn't him though, and given his reply I'm inclined to believe him."

"That's fair I suppose."

They lapsed back into silence, thoughts turning around in each of their brains.

"Come on, we ought to get to sleep. If nothing else, we'll both need to be up early tomorrow to bring the kids the news."

Aizawa let out a sigh of relief, happy that they were apparently not going down that particular train of thought right now.

"That sounds good to me."

At 6:30 AM sharp, a half hour before visiting was allowed at the hospital, Aizawa shuffled into the dorms for his morning check in. Only a handful of the kids were awake; the early risers and the poor few getting ready for their internships. Kirishima was the only one present who fell into both categories. Bright and sunny as ever, despite the fact that it was way too early to be alive.

"Morning Sensei! There's coffee already brewing, should be ready in just a minute."

Aizawa had to fight to keep a smile off his face, giving his usual grumble and a nod instead. Glancing around, he could see Iida, Midoriya, and Yaoyorozu, with the half-asleep form of Ashido slumped over the kitchen counter. He settled into his normal stool at the breakfast bar and waited for the question he knew was coming, just as it did every morning.

"Any changes with Katsuki?"

"Well, if the conversation All-Might had with him last night is any indication, not much has changed. He's the same stubborn kid he was before this whole mess."

Kirishima had been asking him that question for nearly 2 months. It was a part of their morning routine. In those two months, he’d grown used to Aizawa’s ever constant response of ‘No news yet’. As such, he gave an automatic sagely nod, opening his mouth to give one of a few programmed replies, and turned to focus on the food he was trying to cook.

Only to freeze as his brain processed what his teacher had actually said. Everyone in the kitchen froze too, and Aizawa couldn't suppress his grin any longer as the implication of his statement washed over his students. He could almost hear the gears turning in their heads. 

The explosion of noise that followed almost certainly woke up the rest of the dorm. Hell, it probably woke up the whole damn school. Ashido was on her feet in an instant, all of the kids abandoning their prior tasks ( someone needed to move those eggs off the stove before they burned ) to ask him a million and one questions. It took nearly a full minute, but he waved his arms at them until he finally got them calm enough to ask one question at a time, starting with a choked up Kirishima. 

“Katsuki- He really woke up?! When?!”

“Last night at about 11 PM. All-Might stayed late accidentally, so he was there when Katsuki woke up.

Midioriya was next, practically vibrating as his eyes tore between Aizawa and the stairs. 

“Is he still- How long was he- Did he seem okay?”

“He fell back asleep after a few minutes. No obvious brain damage, but the doctors didn’t get a chance to do any formal tests.” 

Yaoyorozu was next, eyes bright and her mind whirring away. 

“Are they expecting him to wake up again soon? Did he recall anything from how he got injured?”

“Yes and yes. They’re expecting him to wake up again soon. It’ll be for short periods at first, and we’ll see how it progresses from there. While he wasn’t able to explicitly confirm what Katsuki remembered, Katsuki was able to hold a conversation regarding the events.”

Iida interjected his own questions right after that, excitement and concern present in equal measure. 

“Will we be permitted to visit him still? If so, and he does wake up, are there any rules we need to follow?” 

“You can still visit him, however, no more than 5 people at a time until he’s waking up consistently. We don’t want to overwhelm him. If he wakes up again while you are there, alert the doctors and nearest teacher. Keep in mind that he’ll be tired and slow to process things for awhile.”

Ashido gave a squeal of delight, bouncing on her heels before black eyes lit up with a thought, and then she was off up the staircase shouting as she went. The rest of the class would be down here soon enough. Somehow, Aizawa couldn’t find it in himself to feel grouchy about the impending chaos. 

His students switched to chattering eagerly among themselves until Kirishima came to some realization and his mood dropped like a rock. He went from elated to conflicted and anxious. When rust colored eyes went to his backpack, all packed up for his internship, Aizawa understood why.

“I can call Fatgum for you. He’ll understand if you need to take today off.” 

Those eyes went wide as Kirishima snapped out of his thoughts momentarially only to fall back into them as his student tried to come up with a reply. Sharp teeth biting gently at his lower lip as an of internal debate waged on. 

“It’s just… we’re already kinda behind on getting real life experience. And I know Katsuki wouldn’t want me to skip for him.” 

Ah. 

“You only have a morning shift today, right?”

“Yeah, shouldn’t be out longer than 1 pm assuming everything goes well. So, I guess I could go by in the afternoon? Visiting will still be okay then, right?”

“Go to your internship. We don’t know if he’ll wake up this morning, and it probably won’t be for long if he does. The doctors will need to assess his condition before he can spend time with visitors anyways.”

That seemed to do the trick, his student’s eyes lit up with determination. 

“Right! I wouldn’t want to get in their way, and he’ll wake up again soon. It’s not like I’ll be missing much.”

“Just let Fatgum know what’s going on, and if you change your mind you can come in. Otherwise, there’ll be plenty of time to catch up with him afterwards.”

Kirishima gave him a nod, taking in a deep breath and refocusing. He looked towards the clock and must’ve realized he was going to be late because he quickly ran through the rest of his morning routine before racing out the door. 

The common room kitchen was buzzing with activity as more people woke up. It wasn’t going to be long before he was swarmed with questions and the inevitable debates started on who was going to go wait for Katsuki. Closing his eyes, Aizawa allowed himself a moment to enjoy the excited energy around him, confident that things would be back to normal soon enough. 

The first that hit Katsuki was the ache encompassing his entire being. Everything felt fuzzy, with the ache only present at the very edge of the fuzz, but there and overwhelming nonetheless. He was probably on painkillers. 

That would explain why his body felt weighed down, as if it’d been turned to lead. Even his eyelids pulled back against his attempts to open them. Seeing would need to wait for a bit then. 

In the meantime, Katsuki tried to focus on his surroundings. He didn’t seem to be in his cell. For one, his arms weren’t bound behind him. His entire body was warm and enveloped in something soft. 

Huh. Okay, on painkillers, somewhere warm and soft, not dead. Why would he have been dead? His mind was moving slowly, but he knew must be answers to the half-formed questions tumbling around in his brain. It felt like there was a mental block holding him back from grasping the obvious explanation. For a minute or two he tried to figure out any logical solutions on his own, before coming to the conclusion that the only way forward was through the blockade.

Squaring his shoulders, Katsuki settled on his usual approach. If something’s in your way, blast it to bits. Sure, it was more of a metaphorical blasting in this case, but that wasn’t going to stop him. He slammed into the mental block with everything he had, feeling it groan under the pressure. Harder and harder Katsuki pushed, the block shuddering and buckling under his strength until something in it gave way and he found himself falling forward. 

Everything came back to him at once. Dabi setting him free. The battle. Transfering the quirks. Waking up once before, that sleepy conversation.

Katsuki startled, eyes flying open and breathing picking up as he tried to take in his new surroundings. 

White sheets overlayed by black and gray lines ( wires? ). His own hands on top of the sheets ( was that really his skin? it looks so pale? ) hooked up to some of the wires ( probably shouldn’t move them, really want to though ). Faint beeping noises right at the edge of his hearing ( seemed to be changing, he might need to pay attention to that ). 

To his left, a window. Sunlight streaming in illuminating the city beyond the glass ( how long had it been since he’d seen sunlight? how long since he’d seen a city skyline? ). The windowsill was blanketed in flowers, bright splashes of color spilling out from glass vases ( his eyes hurt seeing so much color after so long spent among gray ). His eyes swung to his right, and Katsuki felt himself freeze.

Green eyes were staring directly into his, wide with shock. Beyond them Katsuki could make out a mismatched pair, wide brown, and yellow ringed with black. There was so much he should say, so much he wanted to say. His lips parted, voice hoarse from disuse.

“It’s been awhile, huh?” 

Izuku fucking launched at him. Lightning crackling around him, no hesitation or thought to the consequences. Thank fucking god for Ochaco who started moving the moment Katsuki’s mouth opened and managed to hold his boyfriend back. 

Guilt slammed into Katsuki in Izuku’s place, flooding over him as tears welled up in those familiar green eyes. Shouto was still frozen. Behind him, Mina had jumped to her feet and was glancing rapidly between him and the hallway, engaged in some sort of mental war with herself. He opened his mouth to try and smooth over the situation, only to be cut off by Shouto.

“You came back.”

Breathless words, matched by the awe spreading across that stupid face he’d missed so fucking much and tears gathering at the corners of his boyfriend’s eyes. 

“Well duh , I promised I would. You know I keep my damn promises.”

A smile split Shouto’s face as a few tears fell from his cheeks. Yet when he spoke, his conviction was unshakable. 

“Yeah, I do.”

Mina made up her mind at that apparently, bouncing onto the balls of her feet and pining Katsuki with a look between relief, frustration, and joy. 

“I’m getting the doctors, don’t you dare go back to sleep Blasty!” 

And with that she was racing out of the room. Leaving Katsuki to turn to the next person by his bedside. Ochaco had released Izuku from her quirk at some point, but she still had one hand on his shoulder, ready to hold him back if need be. He met her gaze and she gave him a grin.

“I’m glad you’re back, these two have been absolute disasters without you.” 

Ignoring how his chest clenched, Katsuki returned her smile with a smirk of his own. 

“They’re like that all the time. But thanks for looking after Deku while I was gone.”

“Don’t make a habit of it.”

Katsuki snorted. “Not planning on it, Round Cheeks.”

She stuck her tongue out at him. If his eyes hadn’t turned to Izuku he probably would’ve laughed.

For once in his life, Katsuki couldn’t make out the emotion on Izuku’s face. There was too much going on. When Izuku finally managed to speak, his voice was watery. 

“Kacchan…”

God, he’d missed that stupid fucking nickname. His toothy grin softed, but he didn’t manage to find words before Izuku did. 

“I told them you’d make it.” 

With that, Izuku’s face was splitting into a grin of his own even as his tears fell freely. Still such a fucking crybaby. 

Opening his arms as best he could with the wires, both his boyfriends took the damn hint and they were on him in a heartbeat, Shouto rounding the bed so both of them could press into him ever so gently. Long seconds passed by as Katsuki let himself take in the feeling of two warm bodies against him. Familiar scents washing over him, their clothing under his fingers, Izuku’s hair tickling his nose, Shouto’s light breath on his neck. All the little things he’d missed so fucking much over the past month. A childish part of him wanted to stay like this forever, but realistically he knew the doctors would be here soon. There were lots of things he needed to say, almost none of which he’d have time for. He’d have to settle for the most important thing, whispered just loud enough for them to hear. 

“Thanks for believin’ ‘n me.” 

“Always have.” Izuku murmured. 

“Always will.” Shouto added, tilting his face so his quiet firm words could be heard clearly. 

The corners of Katsuki’s eyes felt damp, and he wanted to wipe away any trace of weakness, but that would require letting go of his boyfriends. Whatever, he could cry a bit if he fucking felt like it. If nothing else, the ache in his chest eased the tiniest bit as he sat there holding both of them with faint tears of his own running down his cheeks. 

Any amount of time could’ve passed them by before Izuku piped up again, louder this time. A serene smile on his face. Words soft, sweet, and deadly serious.

“But if you ever scare us like that again, I’m going to kill you myself.” 

“You can fuckin’ try nerd.”

Shouto groaned, and Katsuki was pretty sure Ochaco was laughing, but he didn’t care in the least. He was going to savor every damn minute until the doctors finally got here. 

When the doctors arrived no more than a minute or two later, everyone else had to clear out. For what felt like ages, a number of medical professionals poked and pried at him. They made him answer stupid questions about his name and the year, and then they made him do a dumb series of test.

(Rationally speak there was a reason that they made him do all that shit. He should be happy they were checking for brain damage. That shit could get really fucked up by healing quirks. But for fuck sake, he'd only just woken up and he'd like to have longer than five minutes to spend with his boyfriends before being put through the ringer.)

Once he’d looked at all the flashcards, watched screens for stupid flashing squares, and repeated back a number of lists to them, he was given the all-clear at last and allowed to lay back down. By that point he'd been ready to fall back asleep, assuming he'd be left alone or maybe his boyfriends would come back.

After the last nurse cleared out, his eyes fluttered closed, when the creak of the door pulled him back from sleep. Katsuki eyes opened just in time to see a tired figure staring at him from the doorway.

It was hard to read the expression on his teacher's face, though it reminded him an awful lot of the one he'd seen a few months prior, the first time they'd gone through this mess.

"You're alive."

Was that a question or a statement? Katsuki didn't know so he wasn't exactly sure how he should respond. Eh, whatever.

"Well, I'd sure fucking hope so."

Aizawa was across the room in three strides, dropping himself into a chair and letting his head fall into his hands, shoulders almost shaking. A baffling sight indeed. Katsuki had never seen his homeroom teacher this emotional before and he didn't have a damn clue how to handle it.

The first thing that came to his mind was words he spoke incredibly rarely, but which felt appropriate given hell he'd put his teacher through.

"Sorry-" His words got caught in his throat as he choked on the tar slowly retaking his lungs. Fuck, wasn't he supposed to be over this by now? What else did he need to do to relieve this stupid guilt drowning him? "Sorry I got caught again."

That was all he meant to say, but more words spilled out past his lips. "I didn't- I didn't mean to get you in trouble or anything. Wasn't trying to put anyone in danger. I know I should've-"

"Kid."

Red eyes snapped up, unaware of when they'd fallen, to meet his teacher's stare. Disbelief, guilt and frustration were easy to pick out on Aizawa's face, and Katsuki didn't know what to do with that. Should he keep apologizing? Maybe it was too late for that to mean anything. Wasn't like it'd stop them from expelling him, something he definitely deserved after all the shit he'd put UA through. Still, shouldn't he say it anyways? Let his teacher know he hadn't been trying to hurt him? Should he-

Strong hands firmly gripped his shoulders, pulling him back to the present. His eyes had dropped again but he couldn't bring himself to look back up, trying not to tremble as he waited for the lecture. Waited for the yelling, the tears, the punishment.

"Katsuki."

It was spoken softly, too softly. Like it was intended to comfort, but that was wrong because it was directed at someone who absolutely did not deserve kindness. All Katsuki could do was squeeze his eyes shut and wait for what he knew must be coming. Fuck, he was tired and all this emotional shit wasn’t helping at all. He didn't want to pass out because that would make everything worse, but his teacher would be pissed if Katsuki told him he was too weak to take a punishment he'd damn well earned by this point.

"Katsuki, I need you to listen to me carefully, okay?"

Giving a jerky nod, he braced himself for the worst.

"You don't have a damn thing to apologize for. I was scared for you, I’m pissed that you were put in that situation, but I’m not mad at you. Even if it was a stupid choice to go fight All for One, I get why you did it, and I'm not going to give you shit for it."

That- That wasn't right. That wasn't what he was supposed to say. Aizawa was supposed to be mad at him and tell him all the ways he'd fucked up and should've done better. He wasn't supposed to be nice to Katsuki or trying to tell him everything was okay.

"You aren't in trouble. You aren't being expelled. None of this crap was your fault. It’d be insane of us to expect you to be able to handle anything of this level. I wouldn’t expect a full trained hero to be able to deal with that, let alone a damn kid who's got the entire universe out to get him."

There were protests on the tip of his tongue, lists of all the ways he'd fucked up and could've done better. All the people he'd put at risk because he wasn't stronger. The age-old 'you've got a strong quirk, this should be easy for you to handle' that had been drilled into him again and again and again.

"It's not fair that all this shit happened to you, and all things considered, you handled it fucking amazingly. You thought things through, even when you were pulling a dumb, death defying stunt with next to no chance of working. That's damn impressive all on it's own, not to mention how you managed to survive an entire fucking month of being held hostage without giving them a damn inch, let alone breaking."

Katsuki felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes that he tried desperately to hold onto. Fuck. He wasn't supposed to be this pathetic. Why wouldn't his body listen to him? His mouth wouldn't move, his words wouldn't come, he was being crushed by the weight in his chest and fuck-.

"Despite the universe’s best efforts, you survived. It was a damn close thing, but in the end you managed to pull it off some-fucking-how and came back to us. That’s all that matters, and I’m damn proud of you for staying alive. You got that kid?"

Steady hands moved from his shoulders to cup his face, tilting his head up to meet his teacher’s determined gaze. The voice in the back of his mind screamed at him that it had to be a lie. Keeping himself alive wasn’t the important part. His mistakes were the important part, every way he should’ve done better. He had to make Aizawa understand or it would all be worse later.

But-

But, his teacher had never lied to him before. Aizawa-sensei wasn’t like All-Might who would grin wide and say everything was fine to spare other people’s feelings. When Katsuki fucked up, he told him as much. Aizawa-sensei didn’t beat around the bush or use pretty words to make everything seem okay. The ugly voice in the back of his mind wasn’t always right. Aizawa-sensei wasn’t a liar, so the voice had to be wrong this time.

Maybe, just maybe, it was enough that he came back alive. He’d made sure All-Might didn’t die, and he’d made it out alive. Sure, he’d made a lot of mistakes, but maybe they were forgivable this one time. As long as he did better next time, maybe this time was okay. Aizawa-sensei said he was proud of Katsuki, and he wouldn’t say that unless he meant it.

The voice raged at him about excuses and lies, but Katsuki tuned it out. Firm hands shifted slightly so his teacher could brush away the tears that had started falling without his permission. Shit, Katsuki didn’t want his teacher seeing him weak like this, not after Aizawa just said he was proud of him. Way to fuck that up in record time. Giving a jerky nod, Katsuki tried to duck his head. Only for his teacher’s hands to refuse to release him. Not gripping, not forcing him, but gently guiding his head back up.

“None of that crap kid. There’s no shame in crying, especially not after the hell you escaped from.”

That wasn’t supposed to be true either, crying was supposed to be for weaklings that wanted other people’s pity. Still, Katsuki couldn’t help but trust his teacher once again. Trying to keep his face steely and his eyes clear had been exhausting anyways. When he let go, letting his tears run freely, a weight was pulled from his shoulders. Now that he wasn’t hiding he could focus on breathing around the tears instead. Salt water spilled down his cheeks, and each breath came easier and easier as it did.

Aizawa stayed quiet, hands only leaving to snag some tissues to wipe away the flood of pent-up emotions. He didn’t try to say there was nothing to cry about, didn’t tell Katsuki to get over it, didn’t try to say everything was okay. No, Aizawa waited until the tears slowed on their own, petering out as all things must eventually. Hitched sobs subsided to a near silent shaking. That’s when he spoke.

“Feeling better?”

It took a minute, but Katsuki managed another nod in reply. Crying took almost everything he had out of him, and his eyes wanted to close again. Questions worried at the tip of his tongue, keeping him from letting them shut. After a few tries, he got his voice working again. Hoarse and low, but loud enough for his teacher to make out.

“Did they cat’ch ‘em?”

“Everyone you fought was caught. All for One, Kurogiri and Dr. Daruma. There was no sign of the rest of the League.”

That was a fucking relief. The first part, not the second part. The second part was… expected and acceptable for now. Did his teacher know about the split though? That struck Katsuki as important information.

“Other’s left. Let me out ‘n fucked off.”

“We gathered as much, though we still don’t have many details. I know you’re reaching your limit, but is there anything we should know about those still at large? Any planned attacks or risk of them coming after you again?”

“Probab’ly no’. Think they’re mo’stly tryin’ to get ‘way from ‘im.”

He meant to add more, but his words felt too heavy to escape his lips and his eyelids must’ve turned back to lead when he wasn’t paying attention. Or maybe the painkillers were kicking back in. Could be both.

“Alright kid, get some rest. There’ll be plenty of people waiting to talk to you once you wake up.”

“Ugh.”

Katsuki was pretty sure his grumbled protest got a laugh out of his teacher. He almost wished he’d stayed awake so he could’ve heard it properly, but the call of sleep was too tempting for his weary soul to resist any longer. 

Red eyes flickered back open after what felt like a few seconds. Though it was almost certainly not a few seconds, given that the entire room had changed. Bright morning light had been stretched out and softened into an afternoon glow. Chairs had been shuffled around, as had their occupants. All the changes felt like too much to take in, he wanted to fall back asleep, but something pulled at him to stay awake. 

Izuku, Shouto, and Mina returned, but Ochaco was gone. In her place was a familiar face topped by spiky red hair. 

It took a few moments for them to notice he’d woken up again. A few moments for him to take in the bags under his best friend’s eyes, before those eyes turned to meet his, going wide with shock. 

“Hey.” 

This time he did get tackled, although Eijirou was far more gentle than Izuku would’ve been. Katsuki let his eyes fall shut again. He moved his hands ( less wires on them now, but still need to be careful ) to wrap around shaking shoulders, and lifted his chin to tuck Eijirou underneath it. Letting his friend cry against him. 

“Fuck- You really-” Anything else Eijirou tried to say was lost to his sobs. Humming softly, Katsuki waited for his friend to sort his emotions out as he did his best to not fall back asleep. Eventually, Eijirou pulled back, eyes still glimmering but that stupid sunny grin on his face ( sharp pointy teeth reminding him of knives and- nope. Not thinking about her right now. ) 

“Holy shit. Katsuki, you- you actually made it.”

“Of course I did! There isn’t a damn thing on this stupid planet that can kill me. It’d have to beat me first, and nothing beats me.”

Eijirou outright laughed at that, Izuku dropped his face into his hands, Shouto gave an amused snort, while Mina rolled her eyes and replied.

“Dude, don’t tempt Death like that! We already almost lost you twice now.”

Giving a snort of his own in reply, Katsuki took half a heartbeat to school his expression before shooting back. 

“If Death wants me then that coward can get off their ass and try to take me themselves.”

That broke Eijirou into a full on giggle fit, joined by Mina and maybe Izuku. It was kinda hard to tell if he was laughing or crying. Might’ve been both. This time it was Shouto who replied, fixing Katsuki with a long, deadpan look.

“How are you still alive?”

“Spite ‘n explosions mostly.”

“You really haven’t changed at all, huh?”

“Not even a little bit fucker.”

More laughter followed, and it took a minute or two for everyone to regain themselves. When Eijirou got himself under control, he launched into a detailed update of all the goings on of the school. All the little things Katsuki wouldn’t care about in a million years, but regardless of the words spoken his friend’s voice was happy and soothing. This time when his eyelids grew heavy, Katsuki didn’t fight them and let himself fall back asleep. 

It was early morning the next time Katsuki woke up. Staying awake was easier now, but focusing on anything in particular was hard. In between moments of people entering or leaving were lost to him, with only snapshots of conversations sticking with him. 

Izuku and Shouto visited him first in the early morning, that much he was sure of. Both of them had their internships all day which he had told them both to go to, that the visit had been brief. It served as a subtle reminder of how much he’d need to catch up on. That particular pang of anxiety was dulled by how Izuku’s eyes gleamed while promising to do his best, and by the soft smile on Shouto’s face after Katsuki pulled him in for a quick goodbye kiss. Izuku had also brought him his sketchbook so he had something to do, and that would be nice once his mind cleared enough to draw. 

The self-proclaimed ‘Bakusquad’ had come by sometime after that, sans Kirishima who was doing something else; though for the life of him, Katsuki couldn’t remember what it was. Denki had apparently been barred from his hospital room yesterday because he kept losing control of his quirk in his excitement. Even now he had rubber gloves on and wasn’t allowed to touch Katsuki or the bed frame lest he short out the machines. 

“While I’ll admit you looked super badass doing it, I think you should leave pulling dumbass stunts to me. Otherwise one of us has to be the sensible one, and that doesn’t work out well for anyone.”

“Hey, I can be the sensible one if I need to be!” Hanta’s indignant protest made everyone else in the room laugh, Katsuki included. 

Light conversation flowed through the room after that. Probably. He remembered Hanta leaving him a phone charger, though he didn’t know where his phone was currently. Mina also hugged him before they left, unshed tears of relief adding a star-like shine to her eyes. It was a bad look on her. The ache in Katsuki’s chest intensified with the knowledge that he was the cause of it.  

Kyoka came by after the others left. Or maybe she came in with them and stayed longer. Either way, she was there. She’d brought him an mp3 player loaded with music she’d thought he’d like. The two of them had similar tastes, and there was a period where they sat together listening to some of the songs that had come out since his imprisonment. There were a lot of songs, and those were just the ones she thought he’d like. 

Distinctly, he recalled asking Kyoka if she’d stopped being a pussy and asked Momo out while he was gone. Her red face and spluttered excuses told him everything he needed to know, and he’s pretty sure she promised to say something before she’d taken her leave. 

For a short time after that he was alone, listening to some of the softer music. His brain was too fuzzy to piece together the lyrics, but the slow steady beat helped him remember where he was. Safe for now. 

Either he turned off the music or a nurse did because there was a period of silence in there. After the silence, an unusual group had shown up; Tsuyu, Tooru and Ojiro. None of them had ever been close, though he considered all three decent classmates. Still, it was odd for them to visit him in the hospital. They had no reason to be concerned for him. 

Tsuyu was as direct as ever, asking after his health, saying she was glad he was recovering ( Strange, but she wasn’t the sort to lie so he accepted it at face value ), and then stepping aside to let the other two talk to him. A few awkward glances before Ojiro took the lead, politely adding his own well wishes, and then lightly prodding Tooru to speak. It took her a moment to work up the nerve before she finally let out a stream of words that Katsuki understood absolutely none of. 

Part of the issue was the haze filling his brain. Part of it was she was unsurprisingly, still invisible, meaning he couldn’t see her lips to help make out what she was saying. Processing words was already difficult enough, and all together it was too much for his tired brain to puzzle out. His blank look must’ve said enough because she repeated herself a little more slowly. Still nothing. Thank fuck for Tsuyu because she seemed to pick up on the problem and repeated it for him.

“Tooru said she’s sorry for how she acted before you were kidnapped. She didn’t want you to think she thought you would take her quirk on purpose, and she realized it was very unfair of her to be frightened of you when you were already dealing with a lot emotionally.” 

Oh. Well that kinda made sense, even if it was stupid. 

“Wasn’t unfair, ‘n I’m not mad. Didn’t have any ex’perience with it ‘n I’d already taken a quirk by mis’take. It’d be pre’tty fucked up if I took hers on acci’dent.” 

The conversation continued for a little after that, but it wasn’t important so he didn’t remember it beyond the bounce in Tooru’s step when she left. 

Ochaco had come by again with Iida and Momo sometime after that. He’d kinda been expecting Ochaco to visit again with Izuku, but her coming by on her own was a bit weird. Sure, they had a mutual respect for one another and all that shit. Didn’t mean he expected her to visit him. Respect was one thing, caring enough to waste time in a hospital was another. The weird feeling in the pit of his stomach grew ever deeper as Iida not only gave him a sudoku puzzle book, but also stuck around while Ochaco recounted tales of all the stupid shit his boyfriends had gotten into while he was gone. The class president split between ranting about their dumbass stunts himself and scolding Ochaco for uncouth comments. All of which would be perfectly normal if they were visiting someone they actually liked, but they weren’t. They were visiting Katsuki. Right? 

Unlike the other two, Momo didn’t stay for very long. She was only there for a few minutes. A few kind words ( Again, weird. ), and then she was off to work on some project. 

At some point during the day, Toyokami had come to visit with Shouji and Kouji in tow behind him. The drugs were making his brain fuzzy, and he wondered if maybe the three were a weird mundane hallucination. Because alright, Tooru’s group he could understand kinda because she had that weird apology thing going on. Ochaco and him were on okay terms, and it had been a pretty damn long time; not to mention Iida’s weird sense of duty towards his role as class president. The voice in the back of his mind could find excuses, any number of weird reasons that most of his classmates would stop by to see someone they shouldn’t care about.

Toyokami’s group left him stumped. They’d brought a large soft black blanket with them, one that was now thrown over his bed to cover up the hospital sheets. 

“We thought you might be tired of all the white.” Was the only thing said on the matter, and while Toyokami was right, it didn’t explain why he’d bothered to bring a gift or come by at all. 

It wasn’t just him either; Kouji, who Katsuki had interacted with a handful of times at most, had brought him a sleeping mask and noise canceling headphones. 

“You were in the cell for a really long time, and he thought all the sudden stimulation might get overwhelming once you’re on less pain medication.” Shouji translated for Kouji. He didn’t need to; Katsuki could make out Kouji’s slow signing even through his blurry vision. But again, Katsuki was left with more questions than answers. 

The gift was thoughtful as shit, and Katsuki was almost certain he’d make good use of it once his mind was clear. However, there wasn’t any good reason he could come up with for said thoughtfulness to be directed at him . 

These questions danced around on the tip of his tongue, none of them spoken because his mind was too hazy to form words beyond a simple ‘Thanks’. The group stuck around for a bit after that, offering meaningless updates about the world. Soft chatter and gentle hand movements to fill the silence. It was pleasant and confusing. By the time they departed, Katsuki was left chasing half-formed thoughts around his drug-addled brain, trying to make sense of why his classmates were acting like they cared. 

The voice in his mind was left speechless by the displays too. Sure, it tried to twist them. Creating selfish motives and hidden plots for his humiliation, but it’s reasoning was weak at best. Whenever he thought about it too hard the ache of tar in his chest returned full force and he felt tears pricking at his eyes that he fought back. Fuck, he didn’t have the brainpower for this. 

Shinsou came by last. Not only was it super fucking weird for him to come by at all, but it was even weirder that he was there alone. Katsuki knew for sure there was no damn way the guy gave a shit about him. They’d never spoken, and Shinsou wasn’t the sort of bleeding heart to stop by a hospital for a guy he didn’t know.

A nurse had come by not too long before Shinsou and lowered his painkiller dosage. Katsuki could finally think at the cost of an ache settling into his body. Whatever, he could deal with a bit of pain. Even with a clearer mind though, he couldn’t understand the other teenager in his hospital room. 

The guy sat by his bedside for a few minutes making idle sarcastic comments before his tone shifted towards something more serious. 

“Dunno if anyone told you, but I ended up in Class 1-A.” 

“About fucking time.” A terrible thought hit Katsuki even as he said that, an explanation for why Shinsou would be visiting him of all people. Aizawa had said he wasn’t going to be expelled but… He kept his tone casual all the same, as if the answer didn’t matter to him at all, “You replaced Mineta?” 

“Well yeah, wasn’t like there were any other open seats.” The answer came with a snort and Katsuki found himself relaxing minutely, settling into the conversation more comfortably. Even though he was back at square one for figuring out why the fuck the guy was here.

“Gotta wonder if they picked you to keep the color scheme consistent.”

Purple eyes went wide and a look of surprise, horror, and indignation flash across the usually deadpan face before Katsuki broke down laughing. Shinsou glared half-heartedly at him and muttered something insulting under his breath, which was fair enough. 

Once Katsuki regained himself, the mood in the room shifted. Both of them could feel it. Tension strung in the air like falcons poised to dive at the first sign of movement. 

Shinsou looked away, suddenly very interested in the flowers on the windowsill. Seconds ticked by during which Katsuki prepared to demand an explanation, only for Shinsou to break first.

“My birth parents were villains.” 

Well, that sure was a fucking statement and a half. How it was relevant to this situation or something Katsuki needed to know was a goddamn myster- Unless. No fucking way. 

“Like, you mean, one of the-”

“Oh, fuck no, no. Not like, not like any of them. They were like, small time villains or something. Both in jail. Have been for awhile.”

“Thank fucking god.” Wait, that came out wrong. “I mean-”

“Nah, it’s cool. Both of ‘em were pretty shitty parents. I’m glad they’re locked up.” 

“Okay.” 

Katsuki had no idea what the fuck he was supposed to make of this conversation now. All he could do was wait while Shinsou struggled to find the right words.

“I got lucky, they got thrown away when I was still pretty young. Went into foster care for awhile and it wasn’t great but it wasn’t the worst either. Got adopted eventually, and that’s been pretty fucking amazing. I’m really happy where I am now. My dads are pretty awesome. Don’t have any siblings or any experience with ‘em, but it seems like an adventure.”

Seconds ticked by in silence as Katsuki tried to figure out what the fuck he was missing. Shinsou opened his mouth to say something else, then shut it, he repeated the process a few times before giving a soft growl of frustration. 

“Listen, I know this conversation is probably pretty fucking weird to you right now. But, just… Keep it in mind? It’ll make sense pretty soon.” 

“... You know how fucking ominous that sounds, right?” 

“Yeah, sorry. Can’t think of a better way to put it. It’s not- It’s not a bad thing. Promise. Wait a bit and you’ll understand. Okay?” 

“Alright, Mind-freak. Whatever.” 

Shinsou left not long after that, leaving Katsuki to his now even more confused thoughts. 

Not too long after Shinsou’s weird-ass visit, Aizawa shuffled into Katsuki’s hospital room. It was late afternoon by now, the shadows in the room stretched out by the sun hanging low in the sky. Katsuki was wide awake, listening to music and trying to sketch for the first time in ages. His mind was clear enough for it, and his hands were fully healed, but he found himself struggling all the same. The pencil was shaky in his hands, the old sketches made him think too much of how long had gone by since he’d last held this book, and the blank page in front of him was daunting. There was too much racing around in his mind to be put to paper, any time he lowered his pencil to try the tar squeezed around his lungs, stealing his breath and forcing him to recover before he could make another attempt. 

He was so focused on the task that he didn’t notice his teacher until the other sat down beside him. Thank fucking god his quirk was still heavily weakened while his body was recovering, otherwise he might’ve destroyed half the room when he startled. 

“Sorry kid, should’ve said something when I came in.” Was Aizawa’s response to Katsuki’s glare once he’d yanked off his headphones, and it sounded weirdly sincere. Fucking whatever. 

Letting his glare drop, Katsuki eyed the still blank page in his hands. Ugh. When had it become so fucking hard to just draw? It wasn’t hard before. Aizawa tilted himself just enough that he could see the blank page, taking it in before Katsuki flipped the sketchbook shut and dropped everything onto the nightstand to deal with later. 

“You draw?” Again, the question sounded honest instead of mocking. Katsuki narrowed his eyes, internally debating for a heartbeat before deciding it was harmless information. 

“Yeah, used to anyways. Before all this shit.” His annoyed answer was accompanied by a shrug. Aizawa eyed the sketchbook for a moment, before reaching out to hover his hand over it, eyes darting up to take in how Katsuki tensed at having someone else so close to something so important to him. 

“May I?” There were very few people Katsuki allowed to look through his sketchbook. None of it was graphic, no real secrets hidden away in the unassuming pages; all he drew was scenes from his life and people he knew. Moments and memories preserved in pencil and paper. All the same, it was deeply personal to him. 

“Knock yourself out.” His gaze went out the window, trying to keep his body language causal as Aizawa carefully took the sketchbook and opened it. A minute or so passed by while his teacher thumbed through his older drawings. Katsuki couldn’t help but notice how delicately he handled each page, as if it was something precious and not just some asshole kid’s shitty doodles. 

“You’ve got an excellent eye for detail.” 

That was… not the comment Katsuki was expecting. He hadn’t been expecting much of anything when Aizawa finally put the sketchbook back on the nightstand. Giving a half shrug, half nod, Katsuki waited for his teacher to tell him why he was there. There had to be a reason. 

“How are you feeling kid?”

“Like shit.” 

“Sounds about right for what you went through.”

Katsuki waited a few seconds more before deciding to ask one of the questions pressing on him.

“How bad was it?” 

The sigh Aizawa gave wasn’t a great sign. 

“You shouldn’t be alive right now. Anyone else wouldn’t be. I’d say you got lucky, but luck doesn’t cut it. Three weeks ago they brought you here with your entire left side torn up, damage to almost every organ, severe blood loss, several shattered bones, and about no chance of surviving. Not with how much shit you’d gone through before the injuries. Somehow, you pulled through anyways. Didn’t even flatline, though you came damn close a few times.”

Numbly, Katsuki nodded. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about that. Scared? Proud? Both?

“Though, it would’ve been a lot worse if it wasn’t for your original quirk. We did almost lost you because the doctor’s didn’t realize you had nitroglycerin in your damn blood. Despite that, it also seems that nitroglycerin is the only reason you didn’t get an infection, and it may’ve sped up your healing rate.”

Oh, yeah. He’d almost forgotten about that shit. 

“Speeds up my healin’ ‘n cleans up any scar tissue. Handy shit most of the time.”

“Any other side effects we should know about?”

“Prolly not. I mean, shit’s toxic and I’ll need to start clearing it off once my system’s recovered enough to start producing it again. That’s about it.”

“Noted.” 

Only then did Katsuki turn his teacher’s words over in his mind and realize something he’d missed before.

“I’ve- I’ve been out for three weeks? On top of the month I was with those assholes?” 

“Yeah. Three weeks and a month today.” 

Shit. He was going to have so much school work to make up, assuming they didn’t just hold him back a semester. Fuck, he’ll probably have to wait until his second year to get his license, and even though he could do it, it’d put him so far behind everyone else. 

“Guess I got a lot of shit to catch up on.” 

He’d meant that to be lighthearted, but his teacher let out another sigh and that wasn’t going to be anything good. With bated breath, he waited as his teacher shifted, pulling a key from his pocket and opening the lower drawer on the nightstand. From the drawer, three manilla folders were pulled out before Aizawa turned back to him. There was a serious tone to the air now. 

“That’s one way of putting it kid.” A pause as his teacher shuffled the folders. “You wanna get the hardest shit over with first?”

Katsuki nodded, might as well rip the bandage off now. 

“Right. Well, no easy way to ask this. Putting your most recent kidnapping to the side for a moment, how would you describe your relationship with your parents?”

Several seconds passed in which Katsuki couldn’t figure out if he’d heard his teacher right. His hearing was shit sometimes, but it wasn’t that fucking bad, right? Was this some weird joke? The look on Aizawa’s face wasn’t giving anything away. 

“... Normal?” What the fuck was he supposed to say? Not that apparently because Aizawa’s face twisted into a grimace. 

“Let’s try more specific questions. Do either of your parents hit you?” 

This felt like a trap. This was absolutely a trap. 

“Not- Not hard. That hard. I get worse in training most of the time. And it’s only when I earn it.”

“What do you mean ‘earn it’?”

“Like- I dunno. Whenever I’m a shitty kid. You know what I’m like.” 

His teacher’s face contorted into something that seemed pained, but that didn’t add up at all. 

“Do both of your parents hit you? Your mother and your father?”

That got a snort out of him. “My old man’s never fucking tried it, he’s a damn coward so he just let’s the hag handle that shit.” 

Why did Aizawa look upset? Was there something Katsuki was supposed to be saying here?

“Do either of them every deny you food or water as punishment?”

“Not water, not really. Most of the time I’d just forget my water bottle outta my room before they locked me in there, ‘n if it was really bad I could get my dad to grab it for me when they’re home.”

Fuck, why couldn’t he find the right thing to say. His lungs heaved to breathe against the aching pressure filling them. Why was he such a fuck up that his teacher was looking like he might cry over fucking nothing?

“But they did deny you food?”

Ducking his head, Katsuki could only give a jerky nod, confirming something that felt deeply shameful.

“Kid-” Aizawa took in a breath, letting it out again and taking a second to focus himself again on some unforeseen goal. 

“Katsuki, how much can you remember from when you were held captive?” 

Well, that was a fucking shift in the converstation.

“Bits ‘n pieces. Not all of it. Was pretty drugged up for a lot of it. Kinda hard to piece it together.” 

“I assume you remember Dabi? B-ranked villain, heavy burn scars and uses blue fire while fighting?” 

Fuck, fuck, fuck- Breath. Guilt surged in Katsuki’s chest. He hadn’t- He hadn’t told Dabi anything. At least as far as he could recall, he hadn’t given away anything important. If he needed to, he could still fight Dabi. Probably. It wasn’t an issue. Maybe. But he’d formed an emotional attachment and that was such a fucking stupid thing to do. Katsuki was supposed to be fucking smarter than that. He had to answer though or it would be worse. 

“Yeah. I remember him.” 

“We’re pretty sure he’s the one who sent us the information that helped us get back to you.” Aizawa meant to say more, but Katsuki couldn’t help but jump in. 

“He was. He- He told me. Sorta. Gave me an energy drink, ‘n told me he was leaving with Tomura ‘n the others. He was the one who let me go, and said he was sending you guys my location.” 

Aizawa’s gaze saw way too fucking much and Katsuki hated it. Reading into his every word. When his teacher spoke again, his words were measured. 

“Do you think he cared about you?” 

While his knee-jerk reaction was no, Katsuki refused to lie to his teacher. So he dodged the question. 

“Dabi… he’s the only reason I made it out. And he did a lot of shit that could’ve bitten him in the ass pretty easily to help me out, when he could’ve just left me to rot. He’d bring me water ‘n food when he wasn’t supposed to. Tell me shit I wasn’t supposed to know. I dunno why, but he seemed interested in givin’ me a hand.” 

No angry accusations came, only a soft nod. 

“I can’t say I understand it either, but from what I’ve seen he definitely formed some sort of attachment to you. Enough that he cared about more than just getting you out of there. During your captivity he realized you were in an unhealthy home situation and decided to do something about that.”

Freezing, Katsuki tried to process the various implications of what Aizawa said. What the fuck did he mean ‘unhealthy home situation’? And what the hell did Dabi do? 

The first folder was dropped into his lap, opened to reveal a set of papers that looked an awful lot like the ones he’d gotten his parents to sign before this whole mess. Custody paperwork? His mind went as blank as his sketchbook as he pawed through the papers. Below the paperwork was a list of some kind. Phrases like ‘physically abusive’, ‘neglectful’, and ‘severe emotional abuse’ jumped out as he skimmed it. 

“Dabi sent me a flash drive with a number of video files on it, most of them were circumstantial comments, but there were two long segments in which he questioned you while you were drugged. In those videos it was clearly established that you were in an abusive household, though you didn’t seem aware it was an abusive household. I already had suspicions based on comments you’d made previously and the videos confirmed them. I enacted a clause in the paperwork your former parents signed to remove you from their custody.” 

Several emotions slammed into Katsuki all at once, but fuck if he knew what any of them were. All he knew was that everything was too much to handle. 

“As of right now you’re in the school’s custody. You have a few options for what happened next. Remaining a ward of the school until you turn 18 is a possibility, it won’t change much about your day to day life beyond staying at school during the breaks. Foster care would be complicated but not impossible if it’s what you wanted. Or, adoption is an option if there’s an adult you’d trust to take on that role.” 

Katsuki was still reeling, but he knew that he needed to give some sort of response. Alright. Start by eliminating choices.

“Not adoption, there’s no one who’d-. It’s not an option.” 

Why did Aizawa look almost hurt when he said that? That should’ve been an easy no. There wasn’t anyone who’d consider adopting a shitty kid like him. Foster care was probably out for the same reason. So he’d stay in the school’s custody, easy. 

“Before you decide, you should know there’s already a qualified couple who has offered to become your guardians. They’ve adopted once before, another kid your age in the hero course.”

It took a few seconds for Katsuki to process that anyone was interested in adopting him in the first place. That was already baffling and incorrect. Then his brain tried to figure out who the fuck would make such a terrible decision. Someone who’d already adopted one kid? Who did he know that was-. Oh. 

Oh. 

All the pieces slotted together and his conversation with Shinsou made a fuckton more sense. No fucking wonder the guy had come to visit him. Who knew Shouto’s weird theory about him being Aizawa’s kid would actually end up kinda right? Putting that aside, he had a choice to make. First though…

“Are you-” Serious? Aware of what a fucking stupid choice that was? Aware of what a fucking disaster he was signing up to deal with? Fucking with him right now? “-sure?” 

The words were weak, but they got his point across. Aizawa took them seriously, his posture straightened and shifted so he could look at Katsuki directly. Voice calm but firm as ever. 

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t sure. Hizashi is sure too. Hitoshi said he already told you his opinion on the matter, even though he wasn’t allowed to talk to you about the custody shift until I did.” 

A million thoughts were racing in Katsuki’s mind, getting louder and louder until none of them made sense. Above the din he could pick out that voice screeching about how he needed to fix this. Needed to make Aizawa understand he’d deserved what his parents did. Couldn’t fuck up one of the few bonds he’d formed by letting his teacher make a mistake like this. 

Katsuki felt like he was trying desperately to keep afloat in a vast ocean while a thunderstorm of doubt and self-hatred shattered the sky and sea around him. Waves tossed him back and forth with no way to get his bearings. Anytime he opened his mouth to breathe only water filled it. Even when he’d been sure his head was above the surface. None of this was right. Katsuki wasn’t the one who needed saving, wasn’t supposed to need other people. He was supposed to be able to handle shit on his own. He didn’t deserve other people’s help. 

But…

What sort of idiot stubbornly insist on drowning themselves when there’s a hand reaching out to help them?

The voice was smaller, softer, but close by so he could hear it above the storm. It was gruff. Determined, unwilling to accept any sort of bullshit, but not unkind.

It reminded him of his own voice when he was younger. Before everything he did was picked apart, before the harsh slaps and harsher words that had been drilled into his brain. 

"You don't have to decide today kid, you've got plenty of time to think it over. If you want to talk to someon-"

In that moment, Katsuki decided, fuck it, and cut his teacher off.

"If- If you really are okay with it. I'd want you as my guardian."

Maybe it was stupid, maybe this would ruin one of the few good relationships he had managed to forge. Maybe he didn't deserve help, and maybe Aizawa would come to realize that eventually.

But fuck it, that voice had a goddamn point. Katsuki was sick and fucking tired of drowning. He was sick of going back home after having tried his fucking hardest, after having giving it everything he had, only to be reminded of a million different ways that it would never be enough. That he would never be enough. All he wanted to do was breathe without having to fight for it.

Tears were dripping down his face, something he only noticed when careful hands brushed them away. Katsuki let his body cry as he focused on breathing and keeping himself steady. 

By the time Aizawa spoke again, Katsuki’s chest felt lighter than it had in awhile. 

“Katsuki, I know you’re dealing with a lot of shit right now, but I promise it’ll get better kid. I will make sure it does. Okay?”

Remember how to speak took several seconds. When he did, his voice was quiet, shaky, and tasted like ocean air when his tongue wrapped around it to form a single word.

“Okay.”

Trusting someone else, an adult at that, with any part of his future was terrifying. It took his control from him, and Katsuki hated being out of control. Even now a part of him still screamed it was better to drown alone than be pulled up by someone else. But it wasn’t like he’d actually had any control when he was drowning either; he’d been at the mercy of the waves and the sky, with only the illusion of having any say in where he was swimming to. 

Taking a few deep breaths, Katsuki let the thoughts racing in his mind slow. He still had a million questions, denials, and fears, but none of them were within his control right now. Instead, he focused on what was.

As he calmed down, he found his gaze drawn to his hands. They were healed over. Mostly normal looking, soft and no scars left behind on them. Letting his gaze trail upwards, he took in his arms, really took them in, for the first time since he’d woken up. 

Rationally, he’d known he’d lose muscle mass. Near starvation and limited movement did that. 

That didn’t prepare him for the reality of how thin his arms had become. Scanning his eyes over the rest of his body, it wasn’t just his arms. His ribs were visible even through the bandages, and his legs looked like sticks. 

While he knew better than to try walking, he was still on painkillers after all not to mention hooked up to a million and one machines, he wanted to just to see if he still could. It felt like it’d be near impossible in this body that didn’t feel like his own.  

“You’ve got a long journey ahead of kid, but the doctor’s think you’ll make a full recovery. It’ll take time and effort, but you’ll get there.”

“Guess two months out of commission takes its toll on you.” Katsuki paused, biting his lip before trying to break the gloom settling over them both. “At least I’ve got plenty of time to get back into shape before June.”

That did the trick; he could feel Aizawa’s mood lighten, though there was an odd spark of mischief to his teacher’s eyes. 

“What’s going on in June that you need to be in shape for?”

Katsuki gave his teacher a disconcerted glare. His teacher knew damn well what was in June, so why was he playing dumb? Without bothering to hide the suspicion in his voice, Katsuki humored him. 

“I dunno, just the provisional license exam I gotta take to get my damn career back on track? Unless they changed the date while I was out.”

Aizawa lazily propped his head up with a hand leaned against the bed rails, eyes shifting to nonchalantly stare out the window. 

“Nah, it’s still offered June and September. No idea why you’d want to take it when you already have your provisional license though.”

Katsuki opened his mouth to snark back before his brain caught up with what his teacher said and promptly short circuited as if he’d suddenly been possessed by Denki. 

“What the hell are you talking about? I don’t have my provisional licenses, I was in a damn cell during the exam!” 

Now Aizawa had a hint of a grin on his face, entirely too pleased with himself. 

“You were, however, the exam isn’t the only way to get a provisional license. It’s just the most common route. The Hero Commission can also grant them directly to individuals under special circumstances.”

Well duh, Katsuki knew that but why would that- Oh. Aizawa waited for him to put it together before he elaborated. 

“I submitted a request on your behalf as soon as you stabilize. The Hero Commission was more than happy to approve it, particularly considering they were largely at fault for putting you in a position to get kidnapped and subsequently miss the exam in the first place.”

After taking a second to process that, Katsuki found himself torn. On one hand, not waiting 8 months before starting work-study would be a huge relief. But on the other, if there was thing Katsuki would never be, it was a damn cheater. 

“I don’t want their fucking pity license. I didn’t take the exam, I didn’t earn that shit, so it’s not mine.” 

With a huff and a roll of his eyes, Aizawa dropped the second folder on Katsuki’s lap. 

“Kid, the whole point of the damn license exam is to ensure prospective students can handle a villain attack before they’re allowed to do it for real. You’ve already proven you can do that four separate times during real attacks, all of which were well beyond what someone with a provisional license would be expected to deal with. In each situation you kept a level head and acted like a pro. You’ve earned this damn thing a lot more than most of the wanna-bes who got one for passing a single simulated attack with no real stakes.”

That… That did make sense, but it still didn’t feel quite right. Sensing his lingering doubt, Aizawa reached over to flip open the folder. 

“Read through the application before you dismiss it.”

Hesitantly, Katsuki turned his attention to the stack of papers and started skimming them. 

The first page was just standard information, but the second was a reference letter. Words he’d never expect to see describing him jumped off the page. ‘Unwavering moral code’, ‘level-headed and strategic even under extreme duress’ and perhaps most surprisingly of all ‘selflessly heroic in the face of danger’. The messy signature at the bottom of the page, ‘Shouta Aizawa’ cemented the words and the odd feeling blooming in his gut. 

Turning to the next page, it was a similar format, only this letter was written by All-Might. ‘Endlessly determined’, ‘Fearless in the face of impossible odds, without being foolish’ and ‘Compassionate in his own ways, despite what he likes others to think’ felt like words written about some other Katsuki he’d never met. And yet… 

After the reference letters were two evaluations, one by Nezu and another by an agent for the hero commission. Both were written more formally and focused on his technical abilities. Those weren’t quite as strange, Katsuki knew he was damn good at combat if nothing else. 

The last page was a signed approval form from the Hero Commission. Nearly everything was filled in already, but two blank lines stood out on the sheet; Hero Alias and Licensee Signature.

“I figured you’d probably come up with a better hero name since the last time you were asked, but none of your classmates knew what else you would’ve picked, so I left that for you to fill out.”

“What if I still wanna go with Lord Explosion Murder?” Katsuki meant it as a joke, voice more watery than he would’ve liked. Instead of scolding him or joking back, Aizawa just gave a shrug.

“Kid, by this point you’d earned the right to pick whatever name you damn well please.”

The spiteful goose residing in Katsuki’s soul screamed at him to take that as a challenge, but his self-control was just barely strong enough to overrule it. No life-altering decisions were going to be made out of a desire to be petty. Not today, inner goose. Not today. 

Besides, he still wasn’t confident he should write anything at all. The thought of it made his stomach twist in doubt. Sure, maybe he’d handled a few villain attacks but that didn’t mean-

A pen tapped his hand, breaking him out of his internal monologue. Katsuki took it instinctively before realizing what it was for. Doubt flooding back into him. 

“Katsuki, it’s not cheating to be recognized for going above and beyond. You know I don’t let my students take shortcuts, but kid, you’ve already climbed two mountains trying to get to a 1 mile trail. You deserve a goddamn break.”

Aizawa’s tone left no room for argument, and his words were the last push Katsuki needed to shove his uncertainty aside. His hand was moving before he could second guess himself, scribbling a shaky version of his usual signature on the dotted line. Moving the pen up it only took him a moment to commit to the name he’d been idly considering for most of his month in captivity.

When he lifted the pen from the page his hands were shaking, but he had no regrets. Aizawa peered over to see what he’d written, one eyebrow lifting as he took it in. 

“Not what I was expecting, but a good choice all the same.” Pausing, Aizawa thought over his choice. “When’d you come up with that one?” 

Nervously fiddling with the pen in his hands, Katsuki gave a soft shrug as he replied. 

“Third day in the cell. Didn’t have much else to think about, so I figured I might as well come up with something that fit… All of me.” 

The subtler implications of his words weren’t lost on his teacher who nodded, expression thoughtful and maybe a bit proud. 

“Well, it’s a damn tiny silver lining, but it’s better than none at all. Your classmates will be excited to hear about it. I’m pretty sure they’ve got a running bet on what you’d pick.” 

Why they’d be wondering about it in the first place was beyond Katsuki, but as he’d come to realize, his classmates were fucking weird. 

“With the amount of homework and training I’ve got to catch up on, I’m happy enough to have gotten even one thing off my damn plate.” Speaking of which, now he was semi-coherent he could start working on the backlog of homework he knew must’ve accumulated while he was out. Izuku and Shouto were coming by again tomorrow. He could ask them to grab his textbooks for him. 

As if he could read Katsuki’s thoughts, Aizawa gave a slight nod. 

“You definitely have quite a bit of catching up to do. The good news is I took the liberty of preparing an intensive study schedule for you that I’ve cleared with your other teachers. It’ll go a week longer than everyone else’s, so you’ll miss a bit of winter break, and heroics class will be entirely contingent upon your recovery speed, but it’ll get you ready to start spring semester in the same place as everyone else.”

That sounded almost too good to be true. Sure, it’d be a lot of work, but Katsuki could handle hard work. 

“...What’s the catch?”

Black eyes fixed him with a deadly serious look. 

“This plan doesn’t start until two weeks from tomorrow. During those two weeks, you are completely banned from any studying, homework, tutoring or anything other than resting and focusing on your recovery.” 

Katsuki’s jaw might’ve actually dropped in horror. Before he could start protesting, the file on his lab was swapped for the final file Aizawa had pulled from the drawer. 

“The two weeks are not up for debate. Class 1-A and Class 1-B have all been informed they are not allowed to discuss classwork with you on threat of suspension. That file has the academic plan for after the two weeks are up, and a specific list of rules for those two weeks. I had the damn legal department review it to make sure there weren’t any loopholes. 

The unimpressed glare Katsuki gave him did nothing to sway his teacher so he switched tactics. 

“What the hell am I supposed to do lying around for two whole weeks?”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to find ways to entertain yourself. You’re still allowed to work on hobbies if you feel up to it, just no schoolwork.” When his glare didn’t let up, Aizawa continued. “You were kidnapped for a month and you’ve been in a coma for nearly three weeks, so you are taking a damn break to recover before throwing yourself back into the fray.”

Come hell or high water, Katsuki was going to find a damn loophole in these stupid rules and make Aziawa regret this two week rule. For now though, Katsuki settled for grumbling under his breath and pointedly ignoring his teacher’s exasperated expression and muttered “Only you, kid”

Oh well, if nothing else, ideas for his sketchbook had started to buzz around in his head. It’d just have to wait until visiting hours ended. And under he’d had a fucking nap, because now that he was thinking about it, Katsuki was starting to get tired again. But once he was out from his teacher’s watchful gaze and less tired, he’d have his revenge. 

“Hey, I said I would do it again if I needed to, and I fucking mean it when I say shit!” 

It was hard to tell if Jeanist wanted to laugh or cry. He settled for fixing Katsuki with a long look. Katsuki had woken up an hour ago expecting to spend Monday morning alone, only to have his former mentor stop by. Apparently, the hero had heard from All-Might that he was doing better. Why Jeanist cared if he was doing better or not was beyond Katsuki. Whatever, Katsuki gave a half-shrug and turned his gaze out the window as he kept arguing. 

“Besides, I couldn’t have died there. After all, I’ve got promises I gotta keep.”

There was the obvious one he’d made to his boyfriends, but there was also a smaller promise that he hadn’t had the chance to fulfill yet. One between him and the hero sitting beside him. Katsuki had to wonder if Jeanist even remembered the challenge the man had issued him. It felt like it’d been ages since then, but he intended to hold to his word. 

Really, the whole thing was dumb and pointless, but Katsuki found himself gripped by an uncharastic nervousness as he waited for a reply.

“I suppose you do.” 

Jeanist’s voice was undeniably fond, if a touch exasperated, and Katsuki managed to gather up enough courage to glance back at him. Green eyes had softened, and Katsuki could tell even after everything that had happened since his internship, his former mentor hadn’t forgotten. The other paused for a few moments, but when Katsuki didn’t reply he went after what the two of them were dancing around.

“Aziawa mentioned that you’d made up your mind, and that he approved of your choice, but he didn’t tell me what you picked. I must admit, I’m rather curious what you decided on.” 

Steeling himself against the sudden irrational fear of disappointing his former mentor, Katsuki responded as firmly and casually as he could. 

“Nova.” That was all he meant to say, but an explanation pulled its way from his lips, desperate to justify his chosen name. “Had a lot of time with nothing better to think about. I figured a fuckin’ huge explosion triggered by a transfer between stars would fit. Everyone thinks of the explosion part when they hear the word, but the transfer is in there too. That’s how I want people thinking of me as a hero.” 

Alright, he was cutting off this stupid ramble before he could go any further. Katsuki didn’t care if Jeanist approved of his chosen hero name or not. Except that he really really did because he wasn’t good at this sort of thing and doubt was clawing at his throat. He wasn’t sure if it was too obvious or if he shouldn’t included any reference to the transfer quirk or if-

“I think Nova is a wonderful choice. Beyond being appropriately tied to your quirks, it’s a name befitting a rising star such as yourself.”

Jeanist’s voice held a light teasing edge, but it was overpowered by sincere approval and a tinge of pride that brought a faint blush to Katsuki’s face. 

Relief flooded through Katsuki’s veins even as he tried to shrug off the compliment. He let his shoulders relax a little, tension he hadn’t noticed forming now easing from his muscles. Actually, now that he wasn’t getting himself worked up over something stupid, Katsuki realized he was pretty tired. Letting out a barely muffled yawn, he steered the conversation towards lighter ground. 

“At least I was able to get something done, one less thing I need to catch up on now I’m finally outta there. I can’t even get stuff done while I’m stuck in here ‘cause Aizawa-sensei’s got a stupid two-week ban on me doing anything productive.” 

That earned him a soft laugh, he tried to glare at Jeanist in response, but his eyelids felt too heavy. 

“Yes, I heard all about that from him. Taking a break isn’t the worst thing in the world, though I can understand your frustration. I don’t do well when idle either. However, I’m sure these two weeks will pass quickly and you’ll be throwing yourself back into the fight soon enough.” 

Pausing in consideration for a few moments, his former mentor’s tone shifted to something more serious.

“While I’m well aware it’ll be quite some time before you’re well enough to start your work-study, do know there’s a place waiting for you at my agency if you want it.” 

It’d been ages since Katsuki considered anything beyond keeping himself alive and getting back on his feet, let alone the distant abstract concepts of internships and agencies. The mere thought was overwhelming, but all the same he found a slight smile on his lips and his reply coming easily, if a touch sleepily.

“Wouldn’t be the worst place fer me to go.” 

Katsuki meant to say more. However, his eyes were falling closed against his will. It seemed he’d reached his limit for being awake; a tempting warm darkness creeping in at the edge of his vision. Valentely, he waged a war against sleep’s attempt to reclaim him, trying to move his mouth to form more words that wouldn’t come. He was so focused on staying awake that he startled when a hand settled on his head to ruffle his hair gently. 

“Go back to sleep, your body needs the rest to recover. I’ll be back again soon and we can talk more then. Maybe we can see about trimming your hair too.”

Any number of sarcastic retorts rested on the tip of his tongue, but Katsuki was tired and Jeanist’s hand was warm and comforting. So he mumbled out a simple“ ‘Kay” and let himself slip back into the welcoming embrace of sleep.

Blinking awake, Katsuki took a few seconds to steady himself. Thankfully, the same medication that exhausted him left him too tired to dream. That didn’t stop the few moments of resigned terror between when he registered the needle in his arm and when he remembered he wasn’t there anymore. He was still really fucking ready to get the IV taken out so he could leave behind the senstation of metal under his skin. 

After taking a few deep breaths, Katsuki realized he wasn’t alone in the room, though the person by the bedside wasn’t the one who’d been there earlier. If the early afternoon light was anything to go off of then he’d been asleep for a couple of hours at least, so it wasn’t a surprise Jeanist had left. What was a surprise, though it probably shouldn’t have been, was the former hero who’d taken his place.

Less than 72 hours had passed since he last saw All-Might, but it felt like it’d been years. Taking in his childhood hero again with a clearer mind, Katsuki found himself struck by how much better the man looked. If he hadn’t known the man in front of him was the same skeletal form he’d seen dying in that hospital bed, he might not’ve believed they were one and the same. The man had put on weight, no longer skin barely clinging onto thin bones. While he was still far thinner than he probably should be, he didn’t look like a damn clothing hanger anymore.

When he looked up to meet All-Might’s eyes, there was a light in them Katsuki hadn’t seen before. One that he didn’t understand and that made him feel… uncomfortable. It was the sort of look meant for someone like Izuku. ( Not you, never meant for someone like you. ) ( There isn’t anyone else in the room, so it must be fucking meant for you, moron. ) 

“How are you feeling?” 

“Debating if it’s worth cutting back on the painkillers so I can get rid of the annoying fuzzy edge to everything.” 

All-Might chuckled softly. 

“I’ve had that debate many a time. From experience, I’d recommend waiting until you’re allowed out of bed to request a lower dosage. The pain is easier to ignore when you can move around.” 

Probably wise. He still didn’t know when he’d be allowed to move around properly yet. Hopefully it’d be soon, even though he spent most of his time sleeping he was still starting to feel an itch to move under his skin. 

“Yeah, I guess it would be.” Taking another look around the room, Katsuki had to wonder how long he’d be stuck in here. Not wanting to consider the thought, he changed the subject. “You look less like shit.”

Alright. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. Whatever, it got his point across. All-Might wasn’t offended, gaze still watching Katsuki in a unfamiliarly fond way.

“I suppose that’s one way of putting it. I certainly feel better than I have in years, having all one’s organs intact helps with that.”

“Can’t relate.” Well o-fucking-kay then mouth. Just go off saying shit without permission, why don’t you? Fuck, the painkillers were really messing with his self-control. Ugh, and now All-Might was looking guilty which was wrong and Katsuki didn’t want that shit. Luckily, the guilt was quickly replaced by curiosity as a thought struck his teacher.

“The first time you awoke you said you were unable to take back the quirks because of One for All, and though young Izuku has offered up many a theory on why, I was wondering if you could explain that any further? Izuku was also curious if it has something to do with why the quirks were able to heal my old wounds completely even though they were unable to restore All for One’s sight.” 

Right. Honestly, he’d kinda forgotten whatever he said that night. Any answers he’d figured out during that brief period of being awake were lost to the haze of drugs and sleep. Thankfully, it was easy enough to rederive them. Without bothering to ask permission, Katsuki reached out to snag the closest of All-Might’s large hands. Getting his transfer quirk to cooperate took a few seconds of fighting through the fuzziness, but he managed it. From there it was easy to understand what’d happened. As he released the former hero he let his eyes fall shut while he tried his best to explain. 

“You already know about how One for All lingered around even after you passed it on fully, right? Like, even though you can’t access it anymore, it’s still kinda there?” 

“Yes, I’m aware it has not left my system entirely.” 

“Okay, so basically, it’s a quirk that acts like a box for other quirks. When you gave it to ‘Zuku you gave him a box of his own and then the rest of the quirk moved from your box to his box. But even though everything in the box was transferred over, the box itself stayed behind. So, when I stuck the new quirks in you they went into the box.”

All-Might nodded in understanding, eyes focused as he considered Katsuki’s words. 

“As best I can tell, One for All also messed with the quirks when it was putting them in the box. I dunno how or why it did it, but I’m pretty sure it fused ‘em together. That’d be why they had a different effect.” 

“Ah, I meant to ask you about that too. I know you must’ve transferred the healing quirk that All for One possessed, but what other quirk did you transfer? And why a second one?” 

Oh, right. Katsuki had only had quirk transfer for a few months and he’d already forgotten that most people couldn’t feel what quirks they or someone else had. 

“Pretty sure the other one was a cell restoration quirk, though I didn’t exactly have tons of time to study it. It’s the one that kept that asshole up and kicking for way too fucking long. I grabbed it by accident the first time I went for his healing quirk. When I touched you I could tell you could handle both of ‘em, so I figured I might as well shove it over too. Glad I did. On it’s own it just messes with aging, but One for All mashed ‘em up so the healing quirk worked on the older shit.”  

“Well, that certainly answers a number of my questions, though it raises quite a few new ones.” 

“Yeah, I’m sure Izuku’s started a whole new notebook dedicated to figuring this shit out. He’ll be after me for answers soon enough.” 

“Young Izuku’s curiosity can certainly be overwhelming at times. Still, it can also be quite useful in tackling difficult problems.”

“By this point I’m just glad he finally grew out of licking people without permission to collect data.”

Izuku would die if he knew Katsuki mentioned that particular period of his life to All-Might, but it was worth it for the resigned expression on his teacher’s face. 

“I can’t say I’m too surprised he had such a phase, although I am somewhat surprised he survived it.”

With a snort, Katsuki decided to go on all on embarrassing his boyfriend. “It was a damn near thing; his stupid habit was how we found out the sweat from my hands was toxic. He had to go to the hospital and everything.”

All-Might sighed and gently shook his head in disbelief, though his eyes looked fond despite his exasperation. Silence stretched between them, each lost in their own thoughts. 

When All-Might broke the stillness his voice was soft, quiet, kind, but unwavering. The sort of voice that made the hair on the back of Katsuki’s neck stand up and his muscles tense. That sort of voice meant this was a serious conversation involving emotions, strange amorphous concepts he didn’t understand; unfamiliar ground where his answers were always wrong but nobody would tell him what the right ones were. Or if there were any right answers at all. 

“I know you care little for words of gratitude, but I would like to offer mine regardless. You don’t need to respond. All I ask is you listen, knowing that I am speaking honestly and plainly.”

Words stuck to Katsuki’s tongue like a thick heavy syrup when he tried to speak, so instead he gave a quiet nod. As he nodded, he found himself suddenly and inexplicably fascinated by the black blanket covering up the white hospital sheets. Like a black hole it drew in his hands and gaze, fingers moving to pick at the soft fibers, brushing shapes and patterns into the darkness. In his chest there was a strange yearning for the blanket to melt and engulf him as all voids did, to return him to a world of silent drowning. Such a darkness would without a doubt crush him until there was nothing left to crush, but at least it would be familiar. The void of lightless water was painful and painfully simple. There was an awful addicting sort of comfort in familiar, understandable, simple pain. For all that Katsuki was sick of drowning, for as much as he hated the ache in his lungs, and the endless waters that seemed to reside within him, some part of him still preferred pain he knew to uncharted territories. 

In any case, the blanket did not heed his unspoken desires. It did not turn to liquid and consume him. Rather the cover remained as fuzzy and warm against his skin as it was when Tokoyami had given it to him. The soft shelter was alien to Katsuki, but maybe there was comfort to be found in it too. Moments ticked by until All-Might spoke again. 

“I will never be able to properly thank you for what you did. You gave me a life I’d never dreamed could be mine, and years I never thought I’d be allowed. While I would’ve been content to die knowing I’d lived the life of a hero, and seeing you nearly killed for my sake was terrifying, I am still incredibly grateful for the future you gifted me.”

All-Might had said he didn’t need to respond. Yet mumbled words spilled from Katsuki’s lips anyways, his shoulders giving a slight shrug as he tried to play off how his childhood hero’s words pulled at his chest, how they brought the aching pressure up to the back of his throat where it choked him. 

“Was my fault you were dyin’ in the first place, only fair I do somethin’ ‘bout it.”

Being on unfamiliar ground, Katsuki had no idea what reaction his words might bring. Despite his lack of expectations, he still found himself shocked when All-Might stiffened beside him for several long beats. Then one large hand was under his chin guiding his gaze to meet fiercely serious blue eyes while the other scooped up both of his smaller hands to hold in a gentle but firm grip, pulling him away from the void. 

“Young Katsuki, listen to me and hear my words; you were not in any way shape or form at fault or responsible for my prior condition. My death had been looming for years before I met you, but even if it had not been, even if I had been in perfect shape before my fight with All for One, you would still not be at fault in the slightest. The only one responsible for my near death was All for One. Perhaps some blame could extended to the villains who stole you and aided him, but it could never be placed on your shoulders.”

“But-!” 

“No, there is no argument here. Nothing that happened, not the first time and not the second either, was your fault. You handled both kidnappings with strength, determination, and cleverness beyond your years, but even if you hadn’t; even if you had given up, faltered, were foolish, or lost all of your battles, it still wouldn’t have been your fault. You are not to blame for others’ cruelty, and you are not to blame for my choice to go on that rescue mission.”

All-Might paused, worry now clouding his gaze. He was searching for something in Katsuki’s face. When he didn’t find it his eyes saddened, words softer now. 

“I made my choice to risk my life protecting you that day, just as you chose to risk yours to protect Best Jeanist and later to save mine. I have never and would never blame you for what happened that day. It was my own choice, and even if it had killed me I would not have regretted it. I would make the same choice now if asked, because you are worth protecting.”

The storm inside Katsuki was reaching climax, tar suffocating him from the inside as he tried desperately to not let it all flood out. Even the thought of opening his mouth to formulate a reply was too overwhelming. If Katsuki opened up any part of him the dam would break and, all the water would come rushing out. All-Might spoke again, shifting his hand to cup Katsuki's face.

"I know you're experiencing a lot of emotions right now and that's normal, but I need to be sure you understand this. Do you think you can repeat words back to me?"

Formulating his own words was near impossible, too many thoughts all fighting to escape him, but repeating things sounded manageable. With a slight nod, Katsuki pushed back the flood.

"You are not to blame for what happened. You are not at fault for being targeted, and you are not guilty for others choosing to protect you."

Not protesting took effort. That voice snarled of lies and Katsuki wasn’t a liar. All-Might wasn’t a liar either though, not about stuff like this. Taking in a deep breath, Katsuki focused on forcing himself to believe his teacher as he quietly repeated his words. 

“I- I am not to blame for what happened. I am not at fault for being targeted, and I am not guilty for others choosing to protect me.”

The words felt wrong on his tongue, heavy and waterlogged, but Katsuki said he could do this so he would.

"You deserve to have others help you."

“I-” ( LIAR LIAR LIAR ) “I deserve-” ( WRONG WRONG WRONG WRO- ) “-I deserve to have others help me.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Katsuki did everything in his power to hold back the flood. It was too late though, too much water was left in him and it forced its way out. He didn’t want to cry. Already over these past few days he’d shed so many tears, but there were still more within him and they refused to be held back any longer. 

Maybe they were overflowing him now because he’d held them in for so long, spent so many years pushing them back and back and back. He had only so much space within him it seemed, and now that he’d faltered and let some escape they were all leaking out the cracks in his carefully formed mask. 

All-Might didn’t tell him to man up and stop crying, didn’t lecture him on weakness, or call him pathetic. The former hero released Katsuki’s hands in favor of pulling him in for a hug, waiting patiently as ocean waters found their way to pour over him at last. 

Time slipped by, though Katsuki couldn’t recall how much. All he recalled was the flood falling freely from him followed by emptiness when the tide finally subsided. The aching in his chest had eased to a faint pressure. Pulling back from the hug, All-Might had an expression on his face that spoke of softness and pride, and part of Katsuki still screamed wrong but it was fainter now, easier to ignore. 

“Though it may take you time to believe it fully, I care about you Katsuki. Aizawa, Hizashi, Tsunagu, they do as well. I’m sure you know care Izuku, Todoroki and Kirishima all care deeply for you, but the rest of your class does too, as do so many others. All of us missed you greatly when you were gone, all of us were worried and scared for you when you were hurt, and all of us are relieved to have you home again. I won’t tell you how you should make your choices in the future, I’m aware that’s a futile battle, but know there are people who care about you here. Who want you to come back to us, who are hurt when they see you hurt, and who would miss you if you left again. Okay?” 

Katsuki’s only response was a hesitant shaky nod. That was enough for his teacher who pulled him back into a gentle hug. Even though he was no longer crying, Katsuki still held on with an iron grip as he tried to deal with the new void inside of him. A darkness unlike the familiar void of cold murky water, pulling him under to drown him in it’s waves. Instead, the new void was like the blanket still wrapped around his waist and legs. Unfamiliar, soft, and insulating. This void didn’t fight him, didn’t crush him or drown him. It merely wrapped around him, covering him in it’s kind undemanding presence. Maybe, just maybe, Katsuki thought, with time he could get used to it too. 

Monday afternoon came and went with a visit from Katsuki's boyfriends, best friend, and Shinsou, who Katsuki was undecided on how he ought to refer to. The visit had been quieter, but pleasant nonetheless. All four of them already knew about the custody transfer that was taking place. Shinsou knew for obvious reasons, and he had texted Katsuki an hour before the others arrived to ask if Katsuki was okay with the other three knowing. Though he wouldn't admit it, it was a relief that Katsuki didn't have to tell any of them himself as he was still struggling to understand himself. It’d only been mentioned once, in a quiet comment reserved for Shouto and Izuku’s ears, to which he got a promise that Shouto was working with Aizawa as well about his own home situation.

Beyond that, conversation flowed between the group easily. Katsuki complained about the injustice of Aizawa's schoolwork ban, grouching about all the things he could be getting done. All four of them groaned and teased him, sarcastic comments swapped back and forth. It was a dance of near normalcy Katsuki greatly appreciated after such an emotionally draining day.

Tuesday morning he woke up with the sun. His body had started readjusting to his prior sleep schedule. Even after so long it fell easily back into his old rhythms. A few hours passed while he sketched out various moments that flitted around in his mind. Most of the shapes were foggy and hard to make out, but that felt right since most of the memories he could recall were too. Half formed faces, too bright smiles, gloved hands. Eyes that he didn't color in, but that he knew were blue from the emotion hidden in them.

At 9:00 AM sharp, Recovery Girl bustled in, a familiar looking nurse and two doctors following right behind her. Katsuki had honestly expected a lecture from her, even with everyone's odd determination to not yell at him, she was usually the exception. After all, how many times had she told Izuku off for whatever stupid heroic shit he'd pulled that day?

Recovery Girl took a long look at him, eyes expertly sweeping over his still damaged form, no doubt making a mental list of his remaining injuries. Then she gave a sigh and a shake of her head, though both actions were far fonder than he had seen from her before.

"You know what you did was incredibly dangerous, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you regret your actions at all?"

"No."

She gave another shake of her head, still fond rather than angry.

"Well, I can't say I approve of you putting yourself at risk, but I understand why you did. Don't go making a habit of it though. I don't want to see you coming in with broken bones every week too."

"I won’t, ma'am."

"Good. Now, let’s go over what the next steps for you are.”

From there Recovery Girl outlined what remained of his injuries as she unhooked him from the last of the machines. All his bones were properly reset and thanks to the help of several medical quirks, they were largely healed. Most of his injuries were at the tail end of the healing process, although there were so many of them that it would take several healing sessions to completely patch them up. If all went well, he’d be out of the hospital in a week or so. The hard part was the road to recovery after he finished healing. These past two months had taken a toll on Katsuki’s body, and undoing that damage would be a long and complicated journey. 

Every journey had to start somewhere though.

“-so with that in mind, we’ll start by seeing if you can stand today. The sooner we can get you moving again the better. Soreness is to be expected as are pins and needles, but if you feel any sharp pain then stop immediately. Understood?”

Katsuki nodded as he rubbed at his arm to try and erase the feeling of the IV needle under his skin. No sense in delaying or dragging this out. In a single steady but smooth movement, Katsuki swung his legs over the side of the bed. His feet made contact with the ground and he paused for only a heartbeat to ensure there was no sudden pain before pushing himself up and forward. 

Balancing was harder than he thought it’d be, and he stumbled several steps forward, only barely managing to keep himself upright. His legs were weak and wobbly like a newborn fawn’s. Somehow they held him up anyways, likely by sheer determination. Sticking out one hand to steady himself on the wall, Katsuki managed to get the trembling under control. One deep breath in, one deep breath out. Air came to him easily and the sensation was damn near euphoric. For several seconds he let himself breathe. Legs underneath him, no chains binding him down, no endless tar filling his lungs. Just him, supporting nothing but his own weight at long last.  

It wasn’t until Katsuki looked up to see the nurses who had frozen halfway through leaning out to catch him that he realized he was probably supposed to do that slowly. 

Oh well. Too late now. 

With a third sigh that spoke of an unsurprised exasperation, Recovery Girl beckoned him to take another step forward. Katsuki couldn’t help the childish grin that split his face as he shifted his weight, took a long, easy breathe in, and did just that.

It only took a few minutes of walking to wear Katsuki out. He returned to bed exhausted, proud, light, and free despite how his muscles ached. Recovery Girl left him to rest, completely free of IVs, wires, and with permission to leave his bed for short walks as long as someone else was there. At some point his eyes drifted shut, and when they reopened, one of the nurses had brought him lunch. Previously, he’d been sustained off a nutrition paste. The new stuff wasn’t much better, but at least the paste had some flavor to it and there was jello to go along with it. After his month in captivity Katsuki had perfected the art of choking down disgusting pastes anyways. 

Three or four hours passed him by after lunch. He split the time between resting, working his way through the Sudoku puzzles Iida had brought him, and sketching hazy memories. The MP3 player and headphones from Kyoka and Kouji kept out the bustle of the hospital, letting him relax in his own blissfully empty world.

Aizawa shuffled through the doorway just as Katsuki’s had put his sketchbook back down to switch to the sudoku puzzles. There was an odd vibe around his teacher, nothing bad, but enough to make Katsuki’s eyes narrow in suspicion as he slid his headphones off. 

“Several of your classmates are waiting to see you, but the hospital wanted me to check if you’re well enough to handle more than four visitors at a time before I let them loose in here. So?”

Rolling his eyes, Katsuki nodded. 

“Yeah, I’m fucking fine. Even allowed to walk now so I can kick ‘em out of my room myself if I need to.” 

“I’ll let them know then.” 

Okay, no returned eye roll, sigh, or sarcastic comment. Something was definitely going on and Aizawa was in on it. Katsuki tensed himself, ready for a herd of his classmates to storm in after his teacher left.

A minute passed before the door creaked open again. To Katsuki’s surprise, only one person slipped into his room, a carefully wrapped package in their arms. 

Monoma wasn’t the last person Katsuki expected to see, but he was decently high up on the list. The other blond strode across the room with purpose, deposited the package in Katsuki’s lap,  and plopped down into a chair without explanation. It was only after several seconds of stunned silence that Monoma spoke, gaze averted and voice defensive. 

“I- We wanted to make you something to remind you who you are, and where you belong.”

Well that was still pretty fucking suspicious, but whatever. Katsuki flipped the ( soft, probably cloth? ) package over to carefully pull apart the wrapping paper. It only took a few seconds for him to get it open to reveal soft black fabric. He unfolded the fabric to reveal a hoodie, the sight of which took him a moment to process.

The base fabric was black, with a familiar orange ‘X’ across the chest. Both sleeves had a dark green square pattern with a silver border, mimicking his signature grenade bracers. Orange cuffs and a green hem around the waist matched his gloves and belt, with a silver ring around the base of the hood and orange outlining the front pocket. Flipping the shirt over, his chosen hero name was written in bold orange letters down the back. 

Before he could formulate a response, Monoma sent off a message on his phone that was apparently a cue for the others. The door was thrown open and in paraded about half his damn class. On its own, that wouldn’t be too shocking, but all of them were dressed with black hoodies identical to the one in his lap. All-Might and Aizawa brought up the rear of the group, both teachers looking far too amused by their student’s stunt. 

Luckily, most of his idiots had their hoods down so he could make out who was who. Izuku, Shouto, and Eijirou were at the front of the pack, with Mina tugging along Hanta and Denki behind them, followed by Ochaco, and Kyoka who was fucking finally holding hands with Momo. All of them were wearing the black hoodies in different sizes. Shouto’s hoodie was obscenely well cut and form fitting, while Izuku’s was unfairly giant and completely swamped his smaller boyfriend. For fuck’s sake, Katsuki was trying to be annoyed at them right now. This was just rude.

Glancing back at Monoma, the fucker had acquired a hoodie of his own and pulled it on while Katsuki wasn’t looking. There was a sparkle to those purple eyes now. Goddamn it, they were all in this. Izuku didn’t waste any time, launching right into an explanation when he saw Katsuki’s confused glare. 

“Do you like it? It was Monoma’s idea-”

 “-It was a group project!”

“- and so we wanted him to give you yours even though he was nervous about whether or not you’d like it.” 

“I was not!”

“He’s right though, we did work on it as a group! We were hanging out with Class 1-B on Saturday so we could catch them up on how you were doing and people mentioned they wanted to bring you gifts on Sunday. Monoma wanted to make something for you, so Shinsou suggested a hoodie and we all thought it was a cool idea. Aoyama, Honenuki, and Asui helped design the pattern. Then we realized we wanted to put your hero name on it, but we didn’t know it yet, so we asked Aziawa-sensei and he promised to tell us after he found out on Sunday. While we were waiting on that we were trying to figure out the best way to sew it when All-Might asked Best Jeanist to give us a hand! He came by on Monday after he visited you, so we already had your hero name and the design all finished up. At first we were only going to make one for you, but they looked so cool that I wanted one, and it wouldn’t be fair if only I got one. Anyways, Momo and Monoma figured out they could make smaller versions of the pieces we needed and then Kodai from Class 1-B made them all full-sized! Satou made them special meals too so they could handle all the creating quickly!”

“ ‘Zuku, holy shit, take a breath.” 

Not that Katsuki didn’t enjoy hearing the story behind the hoodies, but Izuku was going to actually pass out if he kept up with his excited ranting. Izuku jumped, took several quick breaths and then launched right back into his story. 

“Right, sorry! Anyways, so they made all the pieces after Kendo got everyone’s sizes and we figured out how to adapt the hoodies for some of the students with different body types. That was when Jeanist came by and he helped us get them all stitched up and adjusted to fit correctly in under an hour! He showed Monoma how to use his quirk too to make it go even faster, so now everyone has their own Nova hoodies!”

Shouto waited for Izuku to finish his rant before adding onto their boyfriend’s statement.  

“We thought it’d be a fun way to remind you that you’re a hero, and more importantly you’re our hero. No matter what any villain tries or if any morons say otherwise.” 

God fucking damnit, Katsuki thought he’d had his fill of crying over these past few days, but it seemed there was still a few tears left in him. He scooped up the hoodie in his hands and tugged it on to distract himself and to hide the wetness near his eyes. To his surprise, the hoodie was oddly large on him, everything was right length wise but there was quite a bit of room in it, particularly around the arms. Getting his arms through the loose sleeves took a minute and way more concentration than it probably should’ve. Finally though, his head popped out of the hood, letting him see the mixture of grins and suppressed laughter on his classmate’s faces. It was kinda hard to glare at them all from his cozy new hiding place, but Katsuki had never been a quitter. Hanta and Kyoka were definitely giggling now, and that broke the last bit of his forced annoyance. 

“Well, I suppose it’s better you lot wear these than the fashion monstrosities you usually parade yourselves around in.” 

Most of the room broke down laughing at that, with muffled protests from Kirishima and Monoma. Ochaco rolled her eyes and muttered a, “Oh like you’re one to talk.” which Katsuki couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter at. While the rest of them were recovering his attention turned to adjusting the hoodie. 

“It’s probably a bit large right now, we went off your old measurements. That way you won’t rip it in a few months when you’re back to being ridiculously muscular.”

Monoma almost certainly meant his comment to be sarcastic and spark an argument. Two months ago it probably would’ve. Today, Katsuki just felt weirdly touched by both the thoughtfulness and the other’s confidence in him. So instead of growling back a sarcastic comment of his own, he let his voice go a bit softer than he normally did. 

“Thanks Copycat, I appreciate it.” 

Absolutely worth it for the shocked look on Monoma’s face, and the flustered confused spluttering as he tried to respond to the unexpected gratitude. Katsuki ignored him in favor of ducking his head down into the hoodie to hide the grin on his face. The buzz of his excited classmates around him was as comforting as the soft void wrapped around him. 

Katsuki’s mind drifted to the two weeks he had ahead of him. His classmates’s project had given him an idea for something that would both be a productive use of his time and almost certainly make his teacher regret forcing Katsuki to take two weeks off. Aizawa’s rules had strictly forbidden him from engaging in any activities related to his hero coursework or the general education coursework, but the sheet hadn’t said anything about the support department. Besides, there were a million little annoying things Katsuki had wanted to change about his classmate’s costumes for ages now, and this was the perfect opportunity. He should have the number of that girl from the sports festival still, what was her name? Hatsume? She seemed like a good partner in crime. Obviously, he’d have to wait until his classmates cleared out to start though.

For the time being, Katsuki let the last of the tension in his body drain away as he took a moment to enjoy the strange and pleasant feeling of being safe, of being surrounded by people that cared about him some-fucking-how, and of being able to breathe easily. The tar, the murky endless waters that he'd drowned in for so long were finally gone from his chest. Tucking one arm back into the hoodie so he could wipe away the last of his tears, Katsuki couldn't help but think that maybe the secret he’d been searching for all the time to get the water out of his lungs was finally letting down his carefully maintained walls so the water could flow freely. Or maybe he was just getting fucking sappy because of the painkillers. Either way, Katsuki was back on dry land now. He was surrounded by a new sheltering void with plenty of room to grow, and he intended to fucking use it.