Archive of Our Own ^beta

Green.

Such a familiar color.

To some, it reminds them of airy forests or dewy plants in the rain.

To others, it disgusts them, reminding them of bitter vegetables or spicy wasabi.

But to Katsuki, it’s a nostalgic color. A color all too familiar. It reminds him of a certain person in his life from a long, long, time ago.

Not that he likes being reminded of said person.

Especially not when verdant, decaying, sewage water pools around his socked feet, shards of glass scattered around his apartment floor as his hands tremble and his eyes are blown wide with trauma, the stench of sewage stinging his nose and making his head spin with dizziness.

“Deku?”

He remembers thinking.

He hasn’t uttered that name in a very long time. He’s pretty sure that was the last time he had spoken it out loud (or the last time he tried to, at least).

He sees the green-haired boy, his eyes bigger than they already were with his mouth agape in shock and terror, standing a few feet away from him — so close yet so far away.

He hated that look.

As if he would be killed by some stupid, good for nothing, sludge villain.

He thought at least Deku should’ve known better, but why would he?

The nerd’s always looked down on him, anyway.

His thoughts were interrupted when the sludge villain used his quirk again, setting fire to the buildings surrounding them and suffocating him all the while.

“Fuck!”

Katsuki steps backwards, his hands gripping his hair as his chest heaves, tears springing to his eyes as painful memories flash through his mind. He feels a sharp sting on the sole of his foot as he does so, accidentally stepping on a shard of glass from the broken jar — the jar that contained the remains of the sludge villain that attacked him nearly a decade ago — that he dropped.

He hisses a curse, stopping in his tracks to avoid stepping on glass and giving himself more injuries than he needs at the moment. He groans as he limps away to his couch (being mindful of the glass) to inspect his newly-sustained wound.

Katsuki plops down, resting his head on the backrest as he tries to even his breaths. He closes his eyes in an attempt to clear his mind of the long-past memories of that fateful day.

Finally setting his head on right, he throws both his wet socks off and inspects his injured foot.

A small but deep cut bleeds out from the sole of his foot, staining his sweatpants as he rests his foot on his other knee.

“For fuck’s sake..”

He runs a hand through his blond spikes in exasperation, thoroughly exhausted from the shitshow that was his week.

Was this karma? Or does the universe just hate him?

He mulls it over a little before concluding it was a little bit of both.

It all started with that bitch, Karen.

Katsuki had been on his patrol — making sure everything was in order and sniffing out bad guys — as per usual. His route was located in the middle of a plaza, so he passed plenty of stores and shopping districts, which were unfortunately really crowded most of the time (Katsuki didn’t pay any mind to the dirty looks he received from passers-by).

He was on his third or fourth round when he stopped in front of a restaurant, not because he was hungry or anything, but because of the amount of ruckus and yelling that were heard from the inside. Katsuki would have burst in if it weren’t for the little boy that ran out and latched onto his leg.

“Wh-What the fuck?!”

Katsuki cursed, not caring that there was a child slobbering all over his hero costume.

“Kid, where’s your-”

His sentence was interrupted by a red-faced woman yelling to whoever the fuck was in the restaurant, her dyed blonde hair dry and frizzy as she pointed accusingly at (presumably) the staff inside.

She had followed after her kid but not without a final “I’m suing!” to the poor workers in the restaurant. A look of realization dawned on the angry woman before she turned around, her expression turning aghast.

Her heels clicked as she stomped towards Katsuki and her son, looking even more furious than before.

“Get your dirty, explosive, mitts off my son, you poor excuse for a hero!”

The sudden insult wasn’t unheard of but definitely uncalled for, hurting Katsuki’s pride and causing him to act on the defensive.

“What the fuck is your problem, you bitch?!”

The blonde woman yanked her son away from him, the boy wailing louder as he tried to reach for Katsuki again.

“ My problem is that you are assaulting my child!”

“Hah?!”

The little boy is now hiding behind his enraged mother’s leg, peeking at him with tears in his eyes.

It reminded him of-

“What the fuck are you on?! I didn’t even touch him!”

“Don’t you dare yell at me, number one hero ! Don’t think just because you’re number one that you can raise your voice at me, you hear?!”

Jesus Christ, she’s starting to act like my mother.

The blond hero sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he counted from one to ten. He doesn’t want a homicide on his record.

He spared the woman a glance when he noticed that she’d stopped yelling at him, only to see her reprimanding her child in front of him.

“-don’t you dare go near this man, okay?! He’s not a good hero and he’s-”

Katsuki nearly fucking snaps.

Sure, he was used to his haters talking shit about him behind his back, but the audacity of this woman to tell her child that he wasn’t trustworthy enough of a hero to be around kids?!

The blond hated it.

He hated the fact that the position he worked so hard for felt like such a pain in the ass because of how much everyone (so very loudly) despised him for it — for his personality.

(His actual fans were quiet, if not, non-existent. It doesn’t matter either way.)

This wasn’t what he dreamt about when he was a little kid watching All Might from a TV screen. This wasn’t what he had wished for when he was younger, dreaming about being a hero in the future.

He tells himself every day that those people can spout their bullshit all they like and he wouldn’t give a damn about a word they say. It isn’t like fame or popularity with people was his main focus anyway. On the contrary he’d say he couldn’t give a flying shit about it.

But at that point, he felt like more of a villain than a hero.

Heroes don’t get jeered and booed at. People love heroes.

So why didn’t anyone love him?

Before the blond could hurt anyone, he stormed off, attempting to continue his patrol like nothing happened.

Unfortunately, while Katsuki was blinded by his rage in the midst of his arguing with the woman left in his dust, he didn’t notice the paparazzi capturing every moment of his fury with a camera while hiding around a corner.

The mysterious man put down his camera and fished a phone out of his pocket before dialling a number on it. It rang for a few seconds until someone picked up and spoke on the other line.

“I got the pics. I’ll be there in ten.”

“Good. We better have a story by then.”

The man ended the call and hurried off to who-knows-where, but little did he know that he wasn’t the only one stalking Pro Hero Ground Zero that fateful day.

“Bakugou Katsuki. Care to explain this?”

Asks a grey-haired, middle-aged man with a peculiarly angled nose and a stern voice, dangling a phone with an article on the screen in front of Katsuki’s face. The man sits in an office chair that’s a little too big for his size, behind an enormous desk with a desktop computer and numerous papers scattered on its surface.

That middle-aged man would be the manager of Katsuki’s PR agency.

The blond snatches the phone from him and looks at the article.

Written in big, blocky, letters, the title reads:

“PRO HERO GROUND ZERO KIDNAPS HIS OWN CHILD?”

In any other context, that sentence would’ve caused the blond to cackle at how ridiculous it sounded. But right now, this was no laughing matter.

His eyes grow bigger as he continues reading line after line.

“Pro Hero Ground Zero has been spotted in Main Plaza arguing with a supposed former spouse over their child, shown to be hiding behind his mother in what presumably would be fear.

A witness claims that he was attempting to take the child with him, disregarding his lack of custody over the child.-”

Katsuki has to stop reading.

A chortle bubbles out of the blond unintentionally, causing his manager to pinch his thin brows at him.

A rumble of laughter turns into howls, the blond nearly tearing up from how much his side hurts from laughing.

“S-Sorry, it’s just- hah! This is- This is fucking outrageous! What the fuck are you tryna pull on me?”

He knows this isn’t a laughing matter, but c’mon, do they really expect him to take this seriously?

All Katsuki gets in response is a sympathetic sigh and a look of pity.

“I really hope this is the first and last time you’ll hear this, but your hero license is in danger of being suspended if we don’t get your statement out.”

His boss continues,“You’d no longer be the number one - no. You won’t even be a pro hero at all. You’d be a criminal. ”

That stops the blond from laughing.

His PR manager leans forward and grabs the phone back from the pro hero but still faces the lit-up screen towards him. The lanky man points at the picture in the article.

“That’s you, isn’t it?”

Katsuki only grunts in agreement.

“I know for a fact you’re single and that you have no child, custody or no custody. Am I correct?”

The blond only stared at him incredulously in reply, as if the answer isn’t clear as fucking day.

His manager huffs and shakes his head.

“You’re gonna have to explain everything in relation to this picture and on the day it was taken, got it, Ground Zero?”

Katsuki sighs.

Things just keep getting worse, don’t they?

“Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Why are there stars in the sky?”

Karen sighs and rolls her eyes, replying to her six year old son,

“Because I said so, sweetie. Now eat your dinner or I’m not giving you any dessert later.”

The little boy pouts, unsatisfied with his mother’s answer, but eats his food anyway.

“Good boy.”

As she was about to feed him another spoon, her phone that was placed on the kitchen counter began ringing.

The blonde woman gets up and walks towards the counter, leaning against it before picking up her phone.

It’s an unknown number.

“Hello? Karen Cunningham speaking.”

“Perfect. I’ll get straight to the point.”

The unfamiliar and deep voice startles Karen, causing her to straighten up and lower her voice, not wanting to catch her son’s attention.

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“I’m calling from Pro-Dust, the journalism company. We’re the ones who published the article featuring Pro Hero Ground Zero and you .”

The blonde mulls it over, trying to jog her memory, then it clicks.

“Th-The article that said that he was trying to kidnap my- no, our child?”

The mysterious man on the other end of the line chuckles, responding an affirmative,

“Yes, that one. May I interview you over the phone, Miss Cunningham?”

Karen sighs, thinking it over for a little bit and decides, why not?

“Sure. Go ahead, try not to take too much time though; I’ve got a kid to care for.”

“Of course, don’t worry. It won’t take long.”

The man clears his throat before continuing,

“What is your opinion on Pro Hero Ground Zero?”

The blonde glances at her son, who’s now preoccupied with a box of crayons and sheets of paper, before huffing and replying,

“He doesn’t deserve the #1 spot. He lacks respect and his language is nothing short of vulgar. He defeats villains, sure. But can he even compare to the All Might that we had less than a decade ago?”

“Thank you for your honest opinion, Miss Cunningham.”

Karen hums in reply and waits for the next question.

“How would you describe your financial status right now? Are you in the lower, middle, or high class?”

“Hmm… I’d say I’m in the slightly above average middle class.”

“I see. What would you say if we offered you five million yen to press charges against Ground Zero for attempting to kidnap your child?”

The blonde nearly drops her phone in shock.

Five million yen? I could get Charlie into a prestigious school with this kind of money!

“A-Are you serious?”

The man laughs, amused by her reaction.

“Of course, Miss. We’ll have it sent to your bank account once you’ve met the condition.”

It’s a win-win for Karen. She absolutely despised Ground Zero, and she’s getting paid five million in yen to ruin him? She doesn’t care if it’s shady as hell, this is an opportunity she cannot miss.

“Yes! Yes, I will press charges, you have my word! You’ll see me at his trial, I swear! Thank you, sir!”

“Our pleasure, Miss Cunningham.”

The call ends, and her son, Charlie, stares at her curiously, her sudden excited outburst distracting him from his coloring.

“Mom? Who was that?”

Karen turns towards him with the biggest smile on her face. Charlie isn’t used to seeing his callous mother so happy, tilting his head in confusion as she briskly walks towards him before crouching down in front of him.

“Mommy is about to make a lot of money, baby! You’re gonna go to a really good school and guess what?”

“What?”

The mother holds his tiny hands in hers, clutching them tightly and still grinning widely.

“Remember that really mean hero that yelled at mommy before?”

Charlie nods.

“We won’t see him anymore! Aren’t you glad, Charlie?”

Not even waiting for a response, Karen stands back up abruptly before cleaning up the dinner table, humming all the while.

Charlie gulps and hugs his knees to his chest, sparing a final glance to his drawing of Ground Zero before stuffing it into his pajama pocket.

If I won’t see Mr. Ground Zero again, at least I’ll have this drawing of him to keep with me.

Katsuki drags a hand down his face in exasperation. His injured foot is now bandaged up and he has swept up the broken shards of glass off the floor.

Where did the sludge remains go? A casual observer may ask.

And coincidentally enough, Katsuki wonders about the remains as well — except not about where they went, but rather where they came from.

He had scraped the remains off the floor (much to his disgust) and migrated it to another glass jar that was now currently sitting on the coffee table in front of him. The blond stares at it for a good few seconds, glaring at it as if it had insulted him and his ancestors, until he exhales a sigh of defeat and deflates against his couch.

There was only one person who had a connection to the sludge villain and him at the same time.

Someone he’d rather not remember or meet again — but does he have any other choice?

The blond finally decides to get up and limp towards his office, jar of sludge in hand. He kicks the door closed with his good foot before plopping down on his office chair and unlocking his desktop computer.

Click. Click. Click.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

…

Katsuki doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting at the computer but he’s frustrated and disgruntled.

He was limited to researching on the internet because, -

“Dear Mr. Bakugou,

I hate to inform you, but right now, the public sees you as nothing more than a kidnapper and an abusive father, so it’s best for you to stay at home until we sort things out.

In related matters, I’ve just found out that Karen Cunningham had already pressed charges against you and that there will be a trial very soon. The same magazine that published the original article has leaked this information publicly already. You can find out more below:

[link attachment]

From, Ground Zero PR Agency.”

Great. As if they didn’t hate him enough already.

But that doesn’t even matter because he couldn’t find any useful information anyway. 

It’s ironic, really. Looking at Katsuki’s search history, you’d think he was the stalker.

The blond runs a hand through his spiky hair before staring into space.

It’s been a while Deku. But I’m gonna find you, whether you want me to or not.

“Eh? What the fuck are you talking about, you brat?”

Mitsuki scrunches her eyebrows in question, surprised at the sudden request her son had asked of her. 

“Auntie Inko. Midoriya Inko, you old hag. Don’t tell me you already forgot-”

“Of course I remember your Auntie Inko you dumbass! I was asking about why the fuck you suddenly wanted me to ring her!”

The blonde woman rolls her eyes to the sound of her son’s exhausted sigh through the phone, tapping her painted nail on the kitchen counter impatiently.

“I need you to ask Auntie to try to contact Deku.”

Mitsuki raises a brow at that.

“Deku?”

There’s a pregnant pause before the mother realizes what her son is talking about.

Or, more accurately, who he is talking about.

“Oh! You mean sweet Izuku who you bullied half to death in middle school?”

Mitsuki hears her son’s breath hitch at the mention of their horrid past and immediately regrets her words, but before she can apologize, Katsuki is already speaking again.

“Yes. That one. Just do me a favor for once and get through to him. Please. ”

She bites her lip in concern but knows better than to ask.

“Okay. Sorry about what I said, you aren’t like that anymore, Katsuki.”

No reply.

“I love you, kid.”

“You too, mom.”

It’s hesitant, but Mitsuki appreciates his effort. The call ends but she doesn’t let go of her phone.

Instead, she scrolls through her contacts before tapping a familiar name, causing her phone to ring violently.

It took a while but Inko finally picked up.

Or at least Mitsuki thought so until-

“Inko?”

“...Auntie Mitsuki?”

“Oh! You mean that sweet Izuku that you bullied half to death in middle school?”

Katsuki ruffles his blond hair in irritation.

He’s not annoyed at his mother bringing up his (no, their ) regretful past.  He’s annoyed because she was only telling the truth.

Whatever. It doesn’t matter anymore. He doesn’t matter anymore. Their past was the past.

Or that’s what he tells himself.

Ignore the guilt eating away at your conscience. Ignore the voices screaming in your head. Ignore them. Ignore. Ignore. Ignore.

Just on the verge of an emotional breakdown, his phone rings.

Finally, a distraction. Perfect timing.

He slips his phone out of his pocket lazily, before turning it on and checking his notifications.

1 new text message from an unknown number

As if things weren’t fucking weird enough already.

But things only get weirder when he realizes who the message is from.

Unknown number: Hi kacchan. Did u miss me?

What kind of fucking question was that?

Why the fuck are you doing this to me Deku? I don’t have time for your shitty games. :You

Unknown number is typing…

Don’t you know I’m going through enough shit already, stupid Deku?

Unknown number: I saw the articles

Unknown number: And i also saw it happen

Unknown number: I was there kacchan. I watched everything happen

Unknown number: I’m on your side, kacchan.

Looks like you do know how much shit I’m going through, damn nerd.

Meet me tomorrow evening @ Midnight, the bar. 6:00PM sharp. Don’t be late. :You

Unknown number: Looks like you did miss me kacchan

Unknown number: I missed u too. A whole lot.

Katsuki turns his phone off after the last text.

This Deku isn’t the Deku he remembers making fun of and insulting on a daily basis. This Deku isn’t the same one that shivered at the sight of him (maybe not in fear, but in something else now. Something far more dangerous than fear.)

This Deku is different.

But any Deku is a good Deku if he can help him out of this shithole that is his life.

Life works in funny ways. You hated him for trying to help you, didn’t you? Now you need him. Pathetic.

5:13 PM.

Katsuki is already dressed in his casual attire — a leather jacket over an ash colored hoodie, with black jeans and a pair of tawny colored sneakers on his feet — and was about to step out of his penthouse when his phone vibrates violently in his back pocket.

“Someone better be fucking dyin-”

“Mr. Bakugou, I hate to remind you again but as I mentioned to you before, you are not allowed to leave your home.”

Fuck.

Katsuki can’t believe he’d forgotten that. He usually has a particularly sharp memory, but he guesses because of all the shit that’s been happening to him, he had completely forgotten.

He hisses in reply,

“Hah?! So what if I’m tryna leave my own house? It’s not like you can stop me-”

“Mr. Bakugou. If you still haven’t noticed, we’ve installed three remote security cameras in your home so we can monitor your activities. So, yes — we can and will stop you if you attempt to leave your house.”

What the fuck? Cameras? In my house? 

Judging from the silence on Katsuki’s end, his PR manager chuckles and continues, “You’re getting a bit rusty, Mr. Bakugou. You’ve always been an observant one, I’m surprised you haven’t noticed yet-”

Katsuki ends the call.

He can’t focus on finding the hidden cameras with all the blabbering from his manager. He’s such an asshole sometimes.

That’s rich coming from you.

The blond shakes off his negative thoughts and starts his treasure hunt for three cameras hidden around his house.

But before he could even begin, his phone buzzes again.

For fuck’s sake-

Oh shit.

It was Deku.

Deku: hey kacchan. Are you gonna make it to the meet-up later?

Katsuki glances at the time on his phone.

5:34 PM.

I’m under house arrest now, but I’m still gonna find a way out of here. :You

Deku is typing…

And don’t think I need your help for this part. I already have more than enough from you with you volunteering as my witness. Leave this to me. :You

Deku: I’ll be expecting you then. If you’re wondering kacchan, I’m already waiting.

Deku: You don’t mind if i get a few drinks while i wait, do u?

Knock yourself out, but stay sober enough so I can actually have an intelligible conversation with you afterwards. :You

Deku: Of course, kacchan! Can’t wait <3

Seen, 5:36 PM.

Katsuki huffs before stuffing his phone back into his jeans and starting his search for the three hidden cameras.

One.

Two.

Three.

…

Four.

Five.

Katsuki stares at the five miniscule cameras in his open palm.

Why the fuck are there five cameras, he thinks, more in a statement than a question. Maybe he doesn’t want to know why.

“-we’ve installed three remote security cameras in your home-”

Three. There’s only supposed to be three cameras. But he found five of them.

The blond glances around his house in paranoia, there might be more of them. He catches a glimpse at his wall clock and realizes it’s already past six o’clock.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

No, stop fucking panicking. You can do this.

He breathes deeply in an attempt to calm his nerves down. Maybe he lied about there being only three cameras.

Yeah, that makes sense.

He fishes his phone out of his pants again and dials his PR manager. It rings for a short while before someone finally picks up.

“Mr. Bakugou? How may I-”

“You fucking liar . You told me there were three cameras!”

There’s a pause before the other end of the line replies,

“Yes, Mr. Bakugou. There are three cameras.”

“Then why the fuck did I find five of them?!”

Another pause.

“Mr. Bakugou, where did you find the other two? We only planted the three cameras around the first floor of your home: in your living room, your kitchen, and your office.”

Katsuki shudders when he realizes where he found the extra two cameras.

“In my bedroom and bathroom.”

His PR manager only responds with a sigh before continuing,

“I apologize for this inconvenience Mr. Bakugou, but staying in your house is no longer safe. I hate to say it, but I’m locking your house down. Though the privacy in your house has already been invaded, going outside on your own will prove to be more dangerous, so please wait patiently for our men who are coming to pick you up-”

Katsuki ends the call.

His chest heaves as he feels the walls literally closing in on him, his eyes darting around his house as he sees steel security plates slide over his glass walls and front door, effectively locking him inside his own house.

He grips his hair as he paces around his now much darker home, the only source of light coming from the ceiling lights.

Ping.

Katsuki stops in his tracks and glares at his phone.

1 new message from Deku

He opens it hastily, expecting to see messages about him cancelling because it was already getting late, but instead he saw:

Deku: Kacchan? What’s going on?

Deku: Are you still gonna make it?

Deku: My mom’s gonna be worried sick.

Huh? His mom? He still lives with his mom? (It doesn’t matter.)

Probably not, Deku. My house is in lockdown and I’ve got no way to get out of here. :You

Let’s just discuss it over text. :You

Deku is typing…

Katsuki rubs his face in irritation. He feels like such an asshole. Because you are.

Deku: Really kacchan?

Deku: You’re gonna stand me up?

Deku: Ditching me?

Deku: Like you did back in middle school?

Deku: Do you still hate me that much?

Deku: I came all the way here, leaving my sick mother all alone, just to see you and you’re gonna tell me you aren’t gonna make it?

Deku: I’ve been here for two hours.

Deku: And I can wait longer.

The flurry of messages causes Katsuki to furrow his brows in confusion and shock.

What the actual fuck?

Deku has never talked to him like this before. Never used anything against him before. What the hell happened? (You know you deserve all of it.)

You’ve got any better ideas? :You

Deku is typing…

Katsuki sighs deeply and plops down on his couch, closing his eyes as he tries to muster up any strength left to continue living. I’m so tired.

Deku: Go to your bedroom and stand on your bed.

Seen, 6:24 PM.

What the fuck?

Katsuki was about to question him, but he knows better not to. He follows his instruction.

He pads to his bedroom and shuts the door, before hopping onto his bed and replying to Deku’s message signalling that he’s done it.

Deku: Look up.

Deku: See the crack in the plaster?

Seen, 6:25 PM.

Katsuki does as he’s told and looks up. And to the blond’s surprise, there is a crack directly above his bed on his ceiling. He texts Deku an affirmative.

Deku: Rip it open and get in.

Seen, 6:25 PM.

He pinches his brows in confusion but follows, scratching at the paint on his ceiling until his nails catch the edge of the crack before tearing it off. Bits of plaster fall onto his face and bed as plumes of dust shower over him, causing him to cough and rub at his eyes.

Once the dust had settled, he peered up into the darkness in his ceiling. Not being able to see anything, he turns on the flashlight on his phone and points it towards the gaping hole above him.

He glances at Deku’s message and does the final part of the text, using the bed as some sort of boost as he jumps into his fucking ceiling and musters up all his arm strength to pull him up into the darkness of his roof.

He coughs again due to more dust, the sounds of his sputtering accompanied by the scurrying of rats.

Fucking gross. Deku better not be making a fucking fool outta me.

I’m in my fucking roof now. What the hell do you want me to do in here? :You

Deku is typing…

Katsuki looks around, phone in hand, and discovers a..

..ladder?

There was an extendable ladder hidden in the cranny of the roof, already fully extended but lying flat on the floor, as if it was standing before but fell afterwards.

What the fuck is going on?

He looks at Deku’s new message, and it seems that the nerd knew about the ladder too.

Deku: See the ladder? I think it’s to your left somewhere.

Deku: Go to the ladder and look up towards the top of the roof. Make sure you don’t move the ladder. It’ll make it easier for you.

Deku: Find the small incision right above you. Try using a light, you’ll see the night sky.

Deku: Have you found it yet?

Seen, 6:27 PM.

Katsuki stalks towards the ladder, minding the wooden planks supporting the ceiling so he wouldn’t trip and get a concussion, eyeing it as if it would come alive and kill him on the spot.

He finally makes it a few centimeters away from the ladder, huffing a sigh of relief; his nerves going crazy with all the shit that’s been happening.

He looks up, pointing the flashlight of his phone at the ceiling, and starts searching for the supposed incision in his roof.

After a while, he finally finds it, seeing the tiny crack of the night sky contrasting against the bright light of his phone. He places his hand on it so he won’t lose sight of it before replying to Deku.

Deku: Push it open enough so you can use the ladder on it.

Deku: Then get out of there.

Deku: Once you’re on your roof, follow your rain drainage pipes until you find the ladder attached to the wall of your house.

Seen, 6:29 PM.

Katsuki points the light at the incision again, pushing it enough so it stays open. The sky’s real starry tonight.

He crouches and picks up the ladder, adjusting it so that the top step stays wedged into the incision of the roof. He carefully steps on the ladder, having to duck a little as he ascends.

He finally makes it out, trying to balance himself on his roof. He can’t risk using his quirk to fly off right now or else he’ll draw unwanted attention, so he slowly but surely follows the path of his rain pipes until he spots the ladder.

As he was making his way along the rain pipes, he accidentally steps on a loose tile and slips, his leg giving way and nearly sliding him off the roof. His heart lurches and his stomach drops, but thankfully he catches himself right before he could’ve fallen off.

Jesus fuck. Could’ve broken a few bones there.

He’s nearly on the edge of his roof when he sees it, creeping towards the ladder and descending down his house slowly.

He finally makes it to the ground and dear god , it’s never felt so good to have both feet flat on the ground before. Phone still in hand, he looks at his screen and types a message to Deku.

I’m out. Better keep your ass still in that fucking bar, Deku. Expect me in 20. :You

Deku: I will, kacchan. I knew you would make it <3

Seen, 6:34 PM.

Izuku traces the rim of his shot glass, mind wandering. His tired eyes observing his surroundings out of boredom. His only company consists of a very exhausted looking bartender, some passed out junkies, and a couple making out in one of the loveseats in a back corner of the bar.

He breathes a sigh hopelessly, stealing a glance at his phone.

7:01 PM.

Where’s Kacchan?

Knowing that he’d meet Katsuki tonight, Izuku had made an effort to dress up and seem presentable for once — he wore a daisy-colored graphic turtleneck, tucked into a pair of black slacks with a belt looped around his waist, under a caramel-brown coat and his favorite red pair of sneakers — and he doesn’t want his efforts to go to waste.

About to shoot Katsuki another text, the bell above the door of the bar jingles.

Izuku turns around, expecting to see the man he’s been waiting for, only to see just another extra stumble into the bar already drunk.

He releases another sigh, resting his head on his folded arms, unintentionally dozing off.

…

He jolts back into consciousness when he feels a warm hand on his shoulder.

Familiar red eyes stare back into his green ones.

“Kacchan?”

Izuku whispers breathlessly, feeling as if he were in a dream.

“Deku.”

Izuku smiles. Katsuki looks away.

“Kacchan. I knew you’d make it.”

Katsuki sits down in a bar stool beside Izuku’s, carding a hand through his blond spikes and simultaneously pushing the hood of his hoodie down. He clears his throat, meeting Izuku’s eyes again.

“How much d’you drink?”

Izuku giggles, “Not enough.”

He beckons the bartender, both men ordering their drinks, the bartender nodding in reply.

Izuku looks back at Katsuki.

“I’ve missed you, Kacchan.”

The latter breaks eye contact and looks away again, much to Izuku’s disappointment.

“I know. You’ve told me multiple times.”

Izuku laughs, “Saying it directly feels much nicer though.”

Katsuki rests his chin on one hand, eyes still refusing to meet Izuku’s.

“Did you miss me?”

The blond doesn’t react for a moment, until he puts his hand down and locks eyes with the man beside him.

“I didn’t want to.”

Izuku’s breath hitches, his eyes widening. He won’t be able to contain himself if this goes on. Fortunately, the bartender interrupts their exchange by placing their drinks in front of them and the blond changes the subject.

“What’s up with you and that secret passageway in my house?”

Izuku bites his lip. 

I hope you don’t hate me more for this, Kacchan.

He rubs his arm and fidgets in place. This time, it’s Izuku who breaks eye contact.

“W-Well..”

The blond furrows his brows.

“Spit it out, Deku.”

I can’t lie about it, can I? Nothing gets past Kacchan. Heck, he might already know...

“You know I love you, right?”

This renders Katsuki speechless. His beautiful ruby eyes widen in shock and his mouth agape. Izuku can’t help but chuckle a little.

“Judging from your reaction, I guessed you didn’t.”

The blond fails to respond.

“Whether you like it or not, I do — so, so much. I can’t help it if I want to see you every other night, y’know?”

Katsuki’s eyes widen more, if that’s even possible. Although he’s beside Izuku, his body is angled in a way so that he’s facing Izuku directly and he leans back, creating some distance between the both of them.

“You sayin’ you made that secret passageway in my house.. just to see me..?”

Izuku gulps nervously and starts tracing the rim of his shot glass again. He nods in reply.

Katsuki shakes his head and downs his shot in one go, his eyes squeezed shut in the process. Izuku can’t help but stare at how his Adam’s apple bobs in such a mesmerizing movement.

Izuku’s ogling is interrupted when Katsuki slams his glass down, exhaling afterwards in a way that reminds him of soda commercials he sometimes sees on his mom’s TV. The blond stares at him, his brows furrowed, as if he were mulling something over in his head.

So he’s the reason I hear things go bump in the night, huh?

“So am I wrong if I assume that the two hidden cameras I found in my bedroom and bathroom were planted by you too?”

Izuku looks away guiltily, and shakes his head.

No wonder why I couldn’t connect to them earlier.

“What the actual fuck, Deku?”

Katsuki is confused, and he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t creeped out. Izuku begins to feel anxiety well up in him.

Oh god, he hates me. He hates me. He hates me. He hates me.

Deku had always followed me back then, but never to this extent. What the fuck happened?

“God, Deku. How long has it been since I've last seen you?”

“L-Last year of middle school, seven years ago.”

Katsuki continues asking, “But when’s the last time you saw me ?”

Izuku stares down at his hands that were clenched in fists against his lap, willing his tears to go away.

“A-Around five o’clock, two hours ago.”

Izuku’s voice died somewhere near the end of his sentence, small whimpers coming out instead.

Shameful Izuku. Shame on me. Shame on me. I’m disgusting. Kacchan thinks you’re disgusting. I am disgusting. Rotten, disgusting, shameful, Izuku.

Katsuki interrupts his spiralling with another question, his voice louder and tone accusing.

“Were you the one who sent me the jar with the sludge villain remains?”

Izuku nods, causing tears to fall onto his balled-up fists and his lap.

“Why?”

Katsuki asks incredulously, as if it was unnecessary or disgusting .

It may be the latter, but it was most definitely necessary.

“I knew you wouldn’t want to see me unless I made a big deal out of it.”

“So you decided to send me the fucking remains of a villain that attacked me nearly a decade ago?!”

Izuku flinches at the sudden rise of Katsuki’s voice. It isn’t like he didn’t expect it, but it’s not like it doesn’t scare him. The blond notices and pipes down, guilt eating him away at the familiar reaction.

“Fuck, Deku, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

Izuku shakes his head, sniffling.

“No, Kacchan.. It’s okay. I deserved it.”

“Like hell you did. You didn’t deserve it way back then in kindergarten, elementary, and middle school and you don’t deserve it now.”

Now, Izuku’s the one who’s speechless.

I thought I couldn’t love him more than I already do, but he always finds a way to prove me wrong, doesn’t he?

Katsuki cards his hand through his hair again, eyes stealing glances at Izuku nervously.

“Thank you, Kacchan.”

Izuku hides a smile, eyes not meeting Katsuki’s. The blond rubs his face with his hand.

“So, why did you want me to see you?”

Katsuki asks. Izuku sighs.

“I saw the articles, remember?”

Katsuki replies, “Yeah, and you mentioned when you first texted me that you were there too.”

Izuku nods, taking a sip of his drink.

“But do you even have any proof that you were there?”

Izuku smiles against his glass, peeking at Katsuki from the side as he responds, “I do. A lot of it.”

Katsuki smirks, “Oh yeah?”

“Uh huh. But I wanna keep it a surprise for you, is that okay, Kacchan?”

The blond raises a brow but chuckles, and maybe it might be the alcohol taking effect, but he agrees. Izuku giggles in satisfaction.

“Alright, but you can’t keep it a secret from my PR manager. You are going to be a witness at the trial, right?”

“Of course! I’ll be there with you, Kacchan.”

Izuku chirps, Katsuki shaking his head,

“With the stuff you told me tonight, I’d think you’d be with me wherever I go.”

Izuku laughs, but his eyes don’t meet the blond’s.

“Maybe.”

For a moment, the both of them share a little moment of normalcy, but neither can avoid the elephant in the room.

“How long have you been doing this?”

Katsuki’s piercing red eyes seem to bore holes into Izuku’s very soul, causing the latter to break eye contact.

“It began when you left for UA high school. It felt wrong when I didn’t see you everyday anymore. It started with me casually watching the first Sports Festival — wow, Kacchan. It’s such a long time ago but it feels like it was just yesterday. You won first place and I couldn’t take my eyes off you the entire time.”

The blond listens intently, turning away at Izuku’s last sentence. The latter looked at him apologetically, but he didn’t see him. Izuku continues,

“Then I realized, just watching from behind a screen wasn’t enough for me. I had to see you for myself. Of course I knew that it was impossible, so I used the internet to my advantage. But nothing ever seemed enough.”

Izuku takes another sip of his drink before continuing,

“Obviously, I couldn’t just break into UA premises, I’m not that stupid or brave to try. But the day you graduated with the rest of your class, I couldn’t help myself. I’ve waited for so long and I needed to see you again.”

Katsuki raises his brow, expecting him to go on with his explanation — but he doesn’t, so instead, he continues for him, 

“So you found my address, broke in, and decided to plant cameras in my house to watch me?”

“Yes.”

The blond stared at him long and hard, as if he couldn’t believe what he’d been told.

Or maybe he doesn’t want to believe it.

Izuku fidgets his fingers and squirms under Katsuki’s stare, eyes welling up with tears again.

“ Why? ”

Because I love you.

“Because I can’t stand being without you! It feels so wrong, I feel so wrong. L-Like a part of my life is missing! It hurts, Kacchan-”

I’m hurting without you.

“Then why didn’t you just try and contact me like a normal person?!”

Deku is anything but normal.

“God, do you even hear yourself, Kacchan?! I am not normal! If I could be, I would, but I’m not! I’ve known that better than anyone else!”

“You’re just a Quirkless nobody! As if you could be a hero!”

“Sorry kiddo, but there are plenty of honorable professions out there. Quirkless kids just aren’t meant to be heroes.”

“Sorry, Izuku! I’m so sorry!”

“Mama, will I ever get to be a hero?”

“What’s the fucking point of just watching me then?! Didn’t you say nothing seemed enough for you?! Why is it that you only talk to me when I was the one who reached out first?! When you hide in my goddamn fucking ceiling and watch me as I sleep?!”

Why’d you only tell me you love me when you know that everyone hates me? Sounds more like fucking pity to me.

“Because I know you hate me! You always have! How could I forget when you constantly reminded me back when you were still in my life?! Why would I even try talking to you when I know you’ll just push me away like you did all those years ago?! What choice do I have?!”

Hot tears roll down Izuku’s cheeks, his voice cracking as he yelled the very things he never wanted to acknowledge. Katsuki didn’t reply, defeated, when he realized that the very root of the problem was him.

The blond huffs a deep sigh and drags a hand down his face. He’s so exhausted.

But this is all my fault, isn’t it?

“Deku.”

He sighs, not meeting the other man’s eyes, only getting a sniffle in response.

“I’m sorry you ever met me.”

Izuku scrunches his brows at this.

What’s Kacchan saying?

“Quit lying to yourself. You don’t love me. Nobody does, nobody can. I’m an asshole to my very fucking core and you know that the best. Quit putting me on a goddamn pedestal and wake the fuck up. Once you do, you’ll realize how better your life could be without me in it.”

What?

“What.. What are you talking about, Kacchan?”

Katsuki turns to him, angry tears of his own tracking down his cheeks, and replies,

“Stop playing fucking dumb! The only reason you’re in this entire mess is because you refused to let me go!”

Katsuki’s tears take Izuku aback, the latter not used to seeing that expression on him.

Oh god, I made Kacchan cry. I hurt him. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

“N-No, Kacchan, I-I’m sorry! I-I swear I’ll stop, I’ll stop! If you hate it that much, I’ll stop! I’ll take back all the cameras and I’ll never step foot in your house again! I don’t want you to hurt because of me!”

Izuku’s hands are hovering over Katsuki’s form, wanting to touch and comfort but knowing he has no place to. The blond squints at him, not believing the sudden change of heart, but after seeing Izuku’s own pained expression, he decides to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Katsuki rubs away the tears on his cheeks with the sleeve of his jacket, blinking away the remaining tears welled up in his eyes.

“You fucking better, Deku. I’ll let all of this slide if you promise that after all of this is over, you’ll forget about me, take care of your sick mom, and live a better life. Got it?”

The blond says firmly, not taking no for an answer.

Izuku gulps and wipes his own tear tracks away, forcing a smile for Katsuki.

“If it makes you happy, Kacchan.”

I’ll do anything if it makes you happy. 

They both sigh, both tired and both with their own inner turmoil, but when Izuku notices that both their glasses were empty, he beckons the bartender for another round.

“You planning on staying here longer? It’s getting late; didn’t you say your mom would be worried?”

The blond asks, his brow raised for the n th time that night. The familiar expression combined with the unfamiliar look of his puffy eyes was a strange sight for Izuku, to say the least.

But any sight of Kacchan is a good one.

“Don’t worry about my mom, she’s probably asleep by now. I’m only staying longer because I wanna stay here with you.”

“Didn’t I just fucking say-”

“I know, Kacchan. But this is our first and last time we’re drinking together. Could you at least sit with me a little bit longer?”

Katsuki gives him an exasperated look but agrees anyway, the bartender placing their second round in front of them.

“Cheers, Kacchan?”

“Cheers, Deku.”

11:58 PM.

It’s already late into the night when Katsuki gets back home. He comes in the way he went out, having to climb onto his roof and falling through a hole in his ceiling; his house still under lockdown. He’s a little buzzed, but not drunk enough to pass out on his bed without changing, so he gets up and dusts the plaster off his bed before throwing his closet doors open.

He undresses and changes into his pajamas, sparing a glance at the hole in his ceiling before turning his phone on.

Shit, it’s nearly dead.

The blond plugs his phone to his charger and flops onto the bed, phone still in hand. He slides his finger across the screen and checks his notifications.

12 missed calls from PR Manager.

God damn it.

He sighs and closes his eyes as he rings his PR manager, preparing himself for a long lecture. His manager answers, immediately scolding him through the phone,

“ Mr. Bakugou, where have you been for the past four hours?! Our men arrived at your place to find nobody there and a hole in your ceiling! What were you thinking?!”

Katsuki sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, his manager’s yelling causing his head to throb even harder.

“Look, I know I shouldn’t have gone out — but I did it because I was meeting someone who could be a witness for me.”

That causes his manager to pause.

“A witness, you say?”

The blond grunts an affirmative, explaining it more in detail.

“His name is De-Izuku. Izuku Midoriya. He’s twenty-two years old, only a few months younger than me and I’ve known him since I was a kid. We lost touch after middle school, seven years ago, and I’ve only met him this one time since then.”

His manager hums curiously,

“Your childhood friend, huh? What a small world we live in.”

Katsuki nearly chuckled. You could call it that. He stares at the gaping void above him as he explains it more to his manager.

“He says he was there during the whole thing on the day of the alleged attempted kidnapping and that he heard and saw everything.”

“Does he have any evidence of that?”

“He says he wants to keep it a surprise for me, but I told him to contact you. You’ll know when he calls.”

“Alright. I’ll expect an Izuku Midoriya to call me, then?”

“Hell yeah, you should. If he doesn’t, I’m kicking his ass.”

His PR manager sighs in exasperation, but Katsuki could tell there was a hint of amusement there.

“Anyway, while you were on your secret getaway, I decided to add a new lawyer to your legal team for your upcoming trial. Karen already underwent her hearing, after all.”

Katsuki’s brows raise in pleasant surprise.

“Huh, finally some fucking initiative from you. Who’s the lawyer?”

“About that, he told me that he knows you-”

“Of course he fucking knows me, I’m the number one hero!”

He hears another sigh from the other end before his manager continues talking,

“Enough of your cockiness, Mr. Bakugou. What I meant was, he knows you personally — meaning he’s met you in person outside of your hero career.”

This piques Katsuki’s interest.

“Oh, really? Drop the name, then.”

“Mr. Shinsou, Hitoshi Shinsou.”

Shinsou? That sounds familiar.

An image of wild, purple, hair and a set of dark eyebags flashes in Katsuki’s head, finally remembering who the hell this Hitoshi Shinsou is.

“What the fuck?! Fucking eyebags?! So he’s a lawyer now, huh?”

“So I’m guessing you know him too?”

“No shit, Sherlock! He was in Gen Ed back when I was in UA!”

“Ah, so that’s where you know each other from.”

The blond sighs deeply, his head aching harder by a tenfold now.

“Was he really the only lawyer you could fucking find?”

“Well, with the incredibly small selection we had, I don’t think we can be picky right now, Mr. Bakugou.”

Katsuki groans, throwing his arm over his face and covering his eyes with his forearm.

“God fucking damn it. Whatever, as long as he’s a good lawyer, that’s all I fucking care about.”

“As do I. If there’s nothing else you’d like to inform me, you should get your rest now, Mr. Bakugou. Sorry to have kept you.”

Katsuki only grumbles in response before ending the call. He turns his phone off and throws it on his bedside table before turning over onto his back, staring into the darkness above him — half-expecting emerald eyes to be staring back at him — as he drifts off to sleep.

Said owner of those emerald eyes is on the way home at the moment, his body shivering in the chilly spring night air, his hands in his coat pockets to keep them warm. Izuku is staring up at the stars, smiling melancholically.

It’s only been barely ten minutes, but I already miss you, Kacchan.

I wonder if he’s sleeping already.

It’s been a while since he wondered things like that, because usually he’d know for sure. He would either check on the hidden cameras he’d planted in his house or heck, he would’ve been watching him sleep.

I can’t do that anymore.

He reminds himself, taking a hand out of his coat and fishing the two cameras out of his back pocket, juggling them in one hand as if they were a pair of dice. He sighs, watching as a plume of his breath becomes visible in the cold evening air.

He continues to reminisce about twenty minutes ago, when he was still beside Kacchan, so close to him, close enough to touch. (He didn’t, of course. He’s not sure whether he regrets that or not.) When he heard someone.

Someone struggling.

The moment he sees a pair of men dressed head-to-toe in black, he immediately goes into a fight or flight response. He chooses the latter. Luckily, there’s an alleyway nearby and he ducks in, hiding himself in its darkness by crouching behind a dumpster. He watches as the pair of goons, who are also wearing strange gas masks on their faces, drag a little boy with them towards a black van. The boy looks terrified — his eyes are wide with panic, but his mouth is covered with a handkerchief by one of the men — and then he passes out cold. They throw him into the back of the van and hop in after him, driving off.

The look of fear on the boy’s face is so, so painfully familiar to Izuku.

He looked just like Kacchan when he was being attacked by the sludge villain.

Kacchan’s mouth was covered with rotten sludge, only being able to use his eyes to express his feelings — feelings of fear, panic, and save me.

Save me.

Izuku’s head snaps towards the direction in which the van had left, thinking he’d heard the poor boy scream for help, but it’s only his imagination.

A single tear falls unnoticed down Izuku’s cheek, and the man wipes at it in confusion.

Why am I crying?

You know exactly why. You couldn’t save Kacchan when he needed it the most. You just watched him suffer from the sidelines, like the rest of them.

You tell yourself you love him when you couldn’t even save him.

“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up! I love Kacchan, I love Kacchan, I love him!”

Izuku’s nearly tearing his hair out with both his hands gripping his head, eyes blown wide with remembered trauma, tears now fully flowing like a faucet.

No. I’m not letting it happen again.

He fumbles while trying to dig out his phone from his coat pocket, the bright light from its screen nearly blinding him in the dark alleyway. Despite his tears, he does his best to dial 119, the ringing of his phone echoing in the silence of the night.

“119, what’s your emergency?”

“I-I just saw a little boy being kidnapped! I’m in between block 58 and block 57, and they went in the direction of block 54!”

“Okay, sir. Calm down, we’ve dispatched our officers to come pick you up, okay? Please stay put until they get there, alright?”

“O-Okay.. Yeah, I will.”

Wait.. No..!

Wait, please, stay!

No, no, no..! Come back, please!

My hand reaches out to him.

Almost there..! I’m almost there..!

The moment my hand catches his, he turns to look at me.

He has the most beautiful smile. He picks me up and pulls me into his arms.

But why do I still feel cold?

He kisses me, but I feel worse. It’s not supposed to be like this.

Every time he touches me, I feel my heart break even more.

I don’t understand.

Until I blink, and suddenly, I’m no longer in my own body.

Or more accurately, I wasn’t in the right body in the first place.

I stare as he holds another woman in his arms, kissing her deeply like he did with me.

He whispers to her, but for some reason, I hear it in my own ear,

“I

love

…”

Karen jolts awake, sitting upright in her bed, her chest heaving as tears cascade down her cheeks, sweat dripping down her forehead.

She groans into her hands, realizing it was only a nightmare.

Why can’t I just forget him?

She shakes the thoughts off and gets up from her bed, her bones creaking as she does so.

God, I’m getting old.

Her throat feels dry, so she leaves her bedroom and groggily finds her way into her kitchen.

Getting a glass of water, she leans against the same counter she did when she was on the phone call with the man from Pro-Dust, the memory cheering her up a little.

At least I’ve got Charlie and five million yen in my account.

She smiles against her glass as she sips on her water, peering out the window of her apartment and up at the night sky. The moon was brighter than usual, and the buildings outside clearer than she’s used to seeing them.

Odd, she doesn’t remember leaving the window open.

Her brows furrow as she sets her glass down beside the kitchen sink, walking closer to the window to inspect it.

I was sure I closed it before I put Charlie to bed earlier tonight.

A hurricane of thoughts run through her mind as paranoia begins to settle in her stomach. Then she realizes.

Charlie.

She runs to his room, throwing the door of his bedroom open.

It’s dark.

Doesn’t Charlie have a night light?

She gropes the wall for the light switch, but when she had finally turned the light on, half of her wishes she hadn’t.

No.

No..

No..!

This can’t be happening. This has to be another nightmare. Karen, wake up, wake up, wake up!

In a childish attempt to wake up , she pinches herself, but unfortunately for her and for her Charlie, this isn’t just any nightmare.

This is reality.

She lets this thought sink in as she stares at the mess of Charlie’s room. His night light had been thrown off the bedside table, the plug coming out with it. His blankets were on the floor, when it was supposed to be on him, keeping him warm and safe.

Tears stream down Karen’s cheeks again, her chest heaving with panic and fear.

Wait, no..!

Charlie could just be playing a prank on me!

Haha! Yeah! That little Charlie!

She forces a laugh that sounds more manic than cheerful, and staggers off into her dark hallway. In her unreasonable denial, her pace quickens, running to every room in her house and yelling out Charlie’s name in each of them, hoping that little boy of hers would jump out from under a desk or inside a closet and scream, “Surprise mommy!”.

But after seeing that all of her rooms are empty with no sign of her little boy, she could no longer deny the horrible reality that her one and only son had been abducted from their home.

Please… Charlie, come back to me…

You’re the only love in my life I have left…

She makes a beeline back into her bedroom and grabs the phone off her bedside table, not even caring that the charger comes along with it. She dials 119 as fast as she can, and though her phone only rings for a few seconds, it feels like an eternity.

“119, what’s your-”

“My boy! My sweet Charlie! M-My name is Karen Cunningham and my son has been abducted! Please send help! I live in [redacted] on block 58! Please, please, I need-”

“Ma’am, I’m gonna have to ask you to calm down. I’ve got your address and the police are on their way. Lock all your windows and doors in the meantime, and stay on the line until the police arrive, is that alright, Miss Cunningham?”

The blonde chokes out an affirmative, unplugging the charger from her phone before going to do as she was told. She closes all of the windows and makes sure that her front door is locked, pacing back and forth in her living room as she waits for the cops to arrive.

Charlie, my sweet, sweet, boy..

Please come back…

Come back to Mommy..

She sniffles, crying harder. Her wails bounce off the walls of her apartment, not even caring if her neighbors wake up and tell her off. It’s ironic because it’s usually her doing that.

A loud series of knocks interrupts her sobbing abruptly, the blonde mother stumbling towards her front door and unlocking it.

“This is the po-”

Karen flings open her door, her body wracking with even more tears.

“Is this the residence of Karen Cunningham?”

She nods feverishly, allowing the police to come inside. The police inform her that they will do a sweep of her house to find any evidence of a forced breaking and entering, Karen acknowledging them with a curt nod.

A tall man with short, black, hair approaches her. Karen assumes he’s a detective from his uniform.

“Miss Cunningham, I’m Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi, and I’m here to escort you to the police station for some questioning, if that’s alright?”

The blonde woman looks dazed as she nods her head slowly.

He looks just like him.

The interrogation room is bland and cold. Whether it was from the midnight air at two o’clock in the morning or the air conditioning, Naomasa doesn’t know. The detective comes in with a steaming cup of tea, placing it in front of the blonde woman.

Karen sits across him — paying no mind to the tea — an empty, stainless steel table separating the both of them.

“What time did you find out that your son had been abducted?”

The first question.

“I awoke at one o’clock in the morning from a nightmare, and got thirsty. I went to the kitchen and got myself a cup of water when I noticed that the window was open, although I remember closing it a few hours prior. Out of paranoia, I decided to check on my son.”

The blonde woman describes, her voice dead and monotonous, but the tear streaking down her face says otherwise.

“I opened his bedroom door and I couldn’t see a thing. It was dark. But I know that my baby was terrified of the dark, so he always had a night light on. That’s when I knew something was very, very, wrong. I turned the light on.. A-and-”

She starts choking on her words, more tears begin to cascade down her already tear-streaked face.

“His room was a mess. His blankets were all on the floor and his night light was thrown off his bedside table. And no Charlie in sight.”

Naomasa sighs sorrowfully.

“I’m so sorry to hear that, Miss Cunningham.”

She only sniffles in response.

“Do you have any idea on who the abductor or abductors might be?”

Karen seems to mull it over before shaking her head.

This causes Naomasa to raise a brow. He shuffles through some files he had prepared for her and looked for a particular one.

Aha.

“Are you sure you don’t have any clue on who might’ve kidnapped your child, Miss Cunningham?”

She shakes her head again, her eyes not meeting the detective’s.

“Didn’t you press charges against Pro Hero Ground Zero for attempting to kidnap your child less than a week ago?”

Karen perks up at this, her eyes going wide with realization.

“O-Oh, yes! I-It must be him then!”

Karen’s sudden change of heart makes Naomasa skeptical of the woman. Is she really being wholly honest?

He hums as he thinks it over.

“So Ground Zero should be our prime suspect, then, Miss Cunningham?”

She nods hesitantly, as if she doesn’t want that to be the case at all.

“If you say so,” Naomasa replies, his focus going back onto the files.

“Alright, I’ve kept you for long enough. The police are currently sweeping your house for evidence, so I advise you to stay at a family’s or friend’s place for the time being. Thank you, Miss Cunningham.”

She nods, standing up with Naomasa, both their chairs screeching against the tile floor. The detective holds the door open for Karen, letting her leave first.

Files in hand, he goes to the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

“Hey, how’s the night treating you, sir?”

The Deputy Commissioner — a balding man with white hair and soft eyes — looks up at the detective, offering him a welcoming smile.

“Not bad, kiddo. Got anything for me?”

“I do actually.”

Naomasa places the files down on the desk in front of the older man, arranging and facing them in such a way that it makes sense to the Deputy.

“Remember that call from that boy, Izuku Midoriya, earlier this evening?”

The Deputy furrows his brows, jogging his memory.

“Oh! The one who witnessed a kidnapping?”

Naomasa hums in agreement.

“You heard of Karen Cunningham?”

The older man chuckles heartily before replying,

“Gosh, who wouldn’t? That woman calls in noise complaints nearly every single week! I’m surprised she hasn’t moved yet!”

“Well, she just might.”

The Deputy eyes him curiously.

“Whatever do you mean, Detective?”

Naomasa sighs before replying,

“Miss Cunningham had just reported that her son was abducted an hour ago.”

The smile on the Deputy’s face vanishes completely, his expression turned aghast.

“Oh dear. That’s horrible.”

“It is. And the reason why I’m here is because I think Mr. Midoriya witnessed the kidnapping of Miss Cunningham’s son.”

The older man questions it at first,

“How would you know that?”

Naomasa clears his throat,

“Mr. Midoriya described the boy, didn’t he?”

Naomasa watched Izuku as his green eyes darted around the interrogation room, the boy fidgeting his fingers nervously.

“Don’t be so nervous, Mr. Midoriya. You did a good deed here, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

The man across him forces a small smile, but Naomasa could tell none of his nerves calmed down.

“What time did you see the kidnapping happen?”

“A-Around eleven o’clock in the evening.”

“Did you see the boy’s face.”

“Y-Yes, but only half of it. His mouth was covered by a handkerchief that one of the men was holding. He had short brown hair and brown eyes.”

“Short brown hair and brown eyes. That matches Charlie’s description, doesn’t it?”

The Deputy argues,

“Yes, it does. But a little boy with short brown hair and brown eyes? You’d find that everywhere in town! It isn’t much to go by.”

Naomasa nods, but defends himself,

“Hardly anything big happens in this town, how many kidnapping cases have we got right now?”

The older man pauses before huffing, deflating against his seat in defeat,

“Alright, alright. You are our best detective after all. I won’t argue with you anymore.”

Naomasa chuckles light-heartedly,

“Don’t worry about it, sir. Keep an eye out, alright?”

The detective says as he closes the door behind him.

“That’s our job, kiddo.”

Karen shivers as her heels click against the concrete street, the chilly night breeze causing her fingers to go numb.

She’s on her way to a nearby hotel when she gets a call from an unknown number.

“H-Hello?”

Her voice barely comes out as a whisper, a small plume of her breath dissipating into the night sky.

“Karen Cunningham, a pleasure.”

The voice on the other end of the line is high-pitched and shrill. It does nothing to calm the blonde’s nerves down.

“Who is this?”

“Why, I’m your new babysitter!”

Karen’s eyes go wide and she freezes on the sidewalk, her numb fingers clenching her phone tightly.

“Ba-Babysitter? What the hell are you talking about?”

My baby’s gone.

A maniacal laughter bursts from the phone, causing the blonde woman to pull the phone away from her ear.

“What I mean is, I’m taking care of your baby, but don’t worry! I don’t need any money.”

My baby?

“Y-You have my baby?! Charlie?!”

The woman on the other end chuckles, replying,

“Uh huh, your sweet, little, boy, Charlie Cunningham.”

Tears sting Karen’s eyes, the pain worsening because of the cold breeze. Her figure is shivering, but she doesn’t make a move towards the hotel, staying frozen in place.

“Charlie! Where is he?! You bitch! Where the fuck is my kid?!”

The unknown woman cackles in amusement at Karen’s enraged response,

“Don’t worry, Miss Cunningham, I won’t hurt your poor, baby boy. Under one condition.”

The blonde doesn’t reply, waiting for her to go on.

“I’ll let him go, only if you sit through the trial with Ground Zero, but don’t win it. Don’t be stupid and out yourself either and waste my god damned money. You won’t win against them, hah, you can’t, or your kid’s as good as dead.”

Karen can’t even form a response for that, her teeth chattering and shoulders shaking in the cold. Or maybe it was fear. Both, probably.

“Oh, and I’m not done yet, Missus — once Ground Zero’s found not guilty, tell the detective about Pro-Dust and that the editor of the magazine paid you to press charges, and that he’s in his office right now. Nothing more, nothing less, got it?”

The blonde releases a shaky breath, a tear falling down her cheek as she replies,

“U-Understood. Please, please, just give Charlie back to me.”

The mysterious woman guffaws, replying, “Don’t worry. If you don’t get him back, you can blame Ground Zero for killing your kid for real! ”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The call ends, only the sounds of Karen’s sobbing follow as she falls to the ground on her knees, her face buried in her palms.

I’m so sorry, Charlie.

I hope you can forgive Mommy.

The sounds of utensils clinking against each other are muffled by cars zooming past, the traffic loosening up right after the morning rush hour.

“So, the trial’s in a few hours, how are we feeling?”

Katsuki’s PR manager attempts small talk, much to the blond’s displeasure.

“ Fucking great. I love being accused for shit I didn’t do.”

“Kacchan, don’t be so rude.”

Hitoshi, seated beside Katsuki’s PR manager and across from Izuku, sighs as he dabs  his mouth with his napkin.

“Listen to your friend, Mr. Bakugou . The judge won’t take your sharp tongue so nicely, so it’s good that I’m here.”

The blond rolls his eyes and retorts,

“The fuck are you on about?! You saying I can’t do this on my own or some shit?!”

“You said it not me,”

“Gentlemen, gentlemen, can we refrain from arguing please? We are in a restaurant.”

Technically they’re not in a restaurant, seeing as they’re sitting atone of the tables outside, but none of the men argued with him.

The four men — the suspect: Katsuki Bakugou, the witness: Izuku Midoriya, the lawyer: Hitoshi Shinsou, and the manager — are having brunch, hoping to discuss or calm some of their nerves before the trial.

But one of them can’t seem to do the latter, and that someone is Izuku. The kidnapping that happened the previous night haunts him — he barely slept a wink last night because of it.

The poor boy. He looked so familiar.

He glances at Katsuki, who is sitting beside him, playing with his food using a fork. The blond notices his staring and raises a brow at him,

“The hell you lookin’ at, nerd?”

Izuku snaps out of it and turns away, muttering an apology.

But Katsuki isn’t having any of that. He nudges the smaller man beside him, causing Izuku to look at him questioningly.

“What’s going on in your big-ass head, Deku?”

He pokes Izuku on the head, earning a disgruntled pout from him.

“Kacchan! My head is not big.”

“Whatever. What’re you thinking so hard for?”

Izuku shakes his head, Katsuki about to bug him more about it when Hitoshi interrupts their exchange,

“Detective Tsukauchi informed me about the kidnapping of Miss Cunningham’s son. Mr. Bakugou, you do realize you’re the prime suspect, right?”

Katsuki looks at his lawyer incredulously and replies,

“Fucking duh. Manager over here told me about it. Her son actually got kidnapped in the middle of the night, and since she accused me of kidnapping her kid before that, I’m obviously the fucking suspect.”

Izuku sighs, turning his attention from Katsuki and towards Hitoshi.

“U-Um… Mr. Shinsou, you don’t happen to have a picture of Karen Cunningham’s son, do you?”

Hitoshi swallows the food in his mouth, placing his knife and fork down before replying,

“I do. I contacted the detective and he gave me some information on our prosecutor.”

“C-Could I look at it?”

The lawyer nods and retrieves his phone from his pocket, unlocking it and putting the photo on display before handing it to Izuku.

Short brown hair. Round brown eyes.

Sharp nose and thin lips.

Izuku only ever saw his hair and eyes, but he definitely felt that…

That was the boy.

“I-It’s him.. It’s him..!”

The other men around the table eye him curiously.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Deku?”

“Ch-Charlie, his name is Charlie, right?”

Hitoshi nods, his expression confused, taking his phone back from Izuku.

“Charlie..! I-I saw him, he got kidnapped!"

“Yeah, Eyebags just said that-”

“No! I mean I saw him get kidnapped!”

The men around him look at him like he’d grown two heads.

“ What? ”

Izuku breathes in slowly before he begins explaining,

“I saw a boy get kidnapped last night, a-and I started panicking so I called the police. I couldn’t see his entire face because it was being covered by a handkerchief a-and..”

Izuku sniffles, the waterworks running again,

“Deku, are you okay? Did they see you?”

Katsuki asked, face scrunched in concern.

Kacchan’s worried about me?

“N-No, they didn’t see me. I-It was just really scary..”

The blond’s hand hovers over Izuku awkwardly, before patting him on the shoulder lightly and replying,  “Quit thinking about it. At least you witnessed both the attempted kidnapping and the actual kidnapping itself.”

I don’t get why people hate you so much, Kacchan.

You’re amazing.

Izuku nods in reply, wiping his tears away, embarrassed about crying in front of Katsuki’s manager and lawyer.

“Does the detective know about this?”

The blond asks Hitoshi, his brows furrowed.

“I’m not sure. I can contact him right now.”

“Then fucking do it!”

His lawyer sighs but does as he’s told, pulling his phone out of his pocket and dialling Detective Tsukauchi.

“Hello? This is counsel Shinsou speaking.”

The other men watch Hitoshi as he converses with the detective on the other end of the line.

“Yes, yes. I’m with Mr. Bakugou right now, including his PR manager and witness. His witness, Izuku Midoriya, told us something that I’d like to check up on with you.”

Hitoshi spares a glance at the others before continuing,

“He said that he witnessed the kidnapping of Charlie Cunningham. He only mentioned this now because he couldn’t recognize him during the incident itself, but when I showed him an image of Charlie, he recognized him as the boy he saw getting kidnapped last night.”

Hitoshi hums a little before handing the phone to Izuku, mouthing “the detective wants to speak with you”.

“H-Hello?”

“Hello, yes, is this Mr. Midoriya speaking?”

“Y-Yes, this is Midoriya.”

“Are you sure that the boy you saw getting kidnapped is Charlie Cunningham?”

Izuku gulps, second-guessing himself, but relents when he sees Katsuki’s pinched expression.

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Okay. Thank you for the information, Mr. Midoriya. See all of you in the trial later.”

“Yeah, s-see you.”

He ends the call and returns the phone to Hitoshi. The men surrounding him looking at him expectantly.

“Detective Tsukauchi says he speculated that your report and Miss Cunningham’s were connected, and since you confirmed it, I think our trial is gonna go smoother than we expect it to.”

12:05 PM.

The trial has begun.

Katsuki sits at the defendant’s table beside his lawyer, Hitoshi. They’re positioned in the left side of the well of the court, while the plaintiff’s table is positioned at the right, Karen and her lawyer seated there.

The blond’s sharp eyes scan the area — the courtroom.

The judge’s bench is empty, but the bailiff and jury are already present. Directly in front of the judge’s bench are the clerk and the court reporter. There’s a witness-stand to the right of the judge’s bench, in between the judge’s bench and the jury box, the plaintiff’s table sitting closest to it.

Katsuki turns around and sees that his witness is sitting in one of the benches behind the rails that separates the well of the court and the rest of the courtroom, but another familiar face catches his eye: Detective Tsukauchi. But instead in his usual detective uniform, he dressed up in a navy blue formal suit and tie.

“All rise.”

The bailiff announces, everyone in the courtroom standing up obediently.

“The court is now in session, honorable Judge Meiyoshi presiding.”

On cue, the judge — a woman with golden eyes and brunette locks that stopped at shoulder-length — enters the courtroom and proceeds to sit behind the judge’s bench.

“Thank you, you may all be seated.”

Everyone sits down.

“Court is now in session; we call case number #20496: Karen Cunningham versus Katsuki Bakugou is now in session.”

Judge Meiyoshi thumps her gavel on the table, emphasizing that court is now in session.

“Is the prosecution ready?”

Karen’s lawyer stands up and nods his head,

“Yes, your honor.”

He sits down. Judge Meiyoshi faces Katsuki and Hitoshi,

“Is the defense ready?”

Hitoshi stands up and replies,

“We are, your honor.”

Hitoshi resumes his seat, Judge Meiyoshi continuing,

“We will now hear opening statements from the prosecution.”

Karen’s lawyer —  a tall redhead with a long face — gets up and thanks the judge,

“Thank you, your honor. My name is Felix Dimworth and this is my client, Karen Cunningham; I will be speaking on her behalf. Today you will hear how Katsuki Bakugou — the defendant in this case — attempted to kidnap, and successfully kidnapped Charlie Cunningham, who is Karen Cunningham’s son, on the morning of April 19th 20XX. We will prove that he trespassed into Karen Cunningham’s residency to abduct Charlie Cunningham, and your Honor, this is why we ask for a verdict of guilty. Thank you.”

Judge Meiyoshi nods and responds,

“Thank you, counsel.”

She faces the defendant’s table again,

“Would the defense like to give their opening now or would they like to wait until the prosecution rests their case?”

Hitoshi stands and replies,

“We would like to give our opening statement now, your Honor.”

The judge nods, “You may.”

“Your Honor, ladies and gentlemen of the court, my name is Hitoshi Shinsou and this is my client, Katsuki Bakugou; I will be speaking on his behalf. He is being accused of attempting to kidnap and kidnapping Charlie Cunningham, who is Karen Cunningham’s son, even though he was at home that morning. He never kidnapped Charlie Cunningham. Your Honor, we ask for a verdict of not guilty.”

Hitoshi finishes his opening statement and sits back down, Judge Meiyoshi responding with, “Thank you counsel.”

The judge faces the plaintiff’s table and requests,

“Will the prosecution please call their first witness?”

Felix stands up, replying,

“Yes, your Honor, the prosecution would like to call Karen Cunningham to the stand.”

“Karen Cunningham, please take the stand.”

The blonde stands up, dressed in formal clothing but looking exhausted — her dark eye-bags could give Hitoshi a run for his money — her heels clicking as she walks towards the witness stand.

She sits down, crossing one leg over the other.

“Miss Cunningham, please introduce yourself.”

“My name is Karen Cunningham and I’m the mother of Charlie Cunningham, my son who has been kidnapped by Mr. Bakugou. “

“On the day of the attempted kidnapping, April 18th of 20XX, 1:00 PM, what were you doing?”

The redhead counsel asks his client. Karen sighs before replying,

“I was accompanying my son to a restaurant, ‘Tofu-Tabemasu’ .”

Felix nods, shooting her another question,

“At what time did you leave the restaurant?”

“I left the restaurant at 1:30 PM with my son. That’s when I encountered Mr. Bakugou.”

Felix nods, going on,

“How did Mr. Bakugou find you?”

“H-He stalked me and my son to the restaurant.”

Katsuki exhales deeply, trying to maintain a poker face, so as to not give the judge a bad impression.

I’m already seen as a villain by the general public; the last thing I need is the judge seeing me that way too.

“How did Mr. Bakugou attempt to kidnap your child?”

Karen’s counsel asks, his expression one of false sympathy. Karen explains,

“Mr. Bakugou, in his panic of being found out that he was stalking me, pulled my son away from me, but luckily I was able to pull him back and escape before Mr. Bakugou could do anything serious.. yet.”

What the actual fuck is this bitch talking about? Doesn’t she realize lying about her son’s kidnapping will only make it harder to find him?

“On the 20th of April, 20XX, at 1:00 AM, what were you doing?”

The redhead asks. Karen sighs shakily as she recalls the traumatic memory of her losing son.

“I woke up from a nightmare and got thirsty, so I went to my kitchen to get a glass of water. That’s when I noticed that my window was open when I clearly remembered closing it before I put Charlie to bed. In paranoia, I decided to check up on my son; but, once I entered his bedroom, I couldn’t see anything. I turned the lights on and came upon the horrible sight of his messy room and Charlie... gone. I reported it to the police; obviously, it was Mr. Bakugou who abducted my child.”

Felix nods, standing up and announces, “Pass the witness.”

“Thank you counsel.”

Judge Meiyoshi says, turning her attention towards the defendant’s table.

“Would the defense like to cross?”

Hitoshi rises and replies, “Yes, your Honor.”

“You may begin.”

Hitoshi walks out from behind the defendant’s table and goes in front of the witness stand, looking straight into Karen Cunningham’s eyes.

“On April 18th, 1:00 PM, you were at ‘Tofu-Tabemasu’ with Charlie, am I correct?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi begins pacing back and forth in the space between the judge’s bench and the counsel tables.

“You claim that Mr. Bakugou stalked you to that restaurant, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Were there any instances prior to this that you would accuse Mr. Bakugou of stalking you?”

Karen gulps, averting her eyes from Hitoshi.

“No.”

Hitoshi stops pacing, tilting his head so that it’s angled towards Karen, his brow raised and expression skeptical, and asks,

“So it is possible that Mr. Bakugou was merely on his patrol, following his assigned route, instead of him stalking you?”

Karen’s breathing turns ragged as she responds,

“Y-Yes. But i-it's still possible that Mr. Bakugou was stalking me.”

“But this is just speculation?”

Karen tries her best not to glare at Katsuki’s lawyer and replies, “Yes.”

Hitoshi begins pacing again, not looking at Karen as he asks the next question,

“In the article that was published in the magazine ‘Pro-dust’ , the title and content claims that Mr. Bakugou is your former spouse. Is this true?”

Karen’s eyes widen at the question, the blonde woman wringing her hands together nervously.

“Y-Yes.”

Katsuki raises a blond brow when he hears this, his eyes darting to Detective Tsukauchi in the public area, to find the man’s face pinched with suspicion.

I’ve worked enough times with Detective Tsukauchi to know what he’s thinking.

The blond tries hard to suppress a smug smirk.

Hitoshi continues questioning Karen, seemingly unsurprised with the blonde’s hesitant answer.

“Do you claim Mr. Bakugou to be your first and last former spouse?”

“Yes.”

The purple-haired counsel smirks, facing his body towards Karen as he crosses his arms, continuing,

“Because the original documents of your real divorce papers prove otherwise. Since you have claimed that Mr. Bakugou is allegedly your one and only former spouse, it is not possible for you to have any other records of your marriage and/or divorce, correct?”

Karen sighs in defeat and bows her head, not meeting Hitoshi’s hard stare.

“...Y-Yes.”

Katsuki watches as Judge Meiyoshi furrows her brows at Karen’s response, noting something down as she continues to listen to Karen’s cross-examination.

Hitoshi changes the subject, knowing that the truth has already been revealed,

“When you left the restaurant with your child, the plaza CCTV footage shows that your child ran out first, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And when your child ran out, Charlie saw Bakugou and latched onto him, yes?”

Karen purses her lips, her gaze averted from the attorney in front of her,

“I-I don't know. I wasn't looking. The next thing I know is that Mr. Bakugou already had my child.”

“But earlier in your direct examination, you claimed that Mr. Bakugou grabbed Charlie in panic at being caught stalking you. This contradicts your response, doesn't it?”

Hitoshi asks, his tone feigning innocence but the glint in his indigo eyes prove otherwise.

Tears begin to sting Karen’s eyes, the blonde woman losing all hope in her situation.

“...Yes.”

“Then after seeing that Mr. Bakugou was with your child, you began insulting him, right?”

“Yes.”

“And he began arguing in retaliation, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Did he physically put either you or your son in danger during this ordeal?”

“No.”

Karen replies, her tone sorrowful as if she wanted to be in danger during the past incident.

“Then he left shortly afterwards, correct?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi moves on to the date of the actual kidnapping,

“April 20th, 1:00 AM. According to your police report, you woke up and saw your window open, and assumed someone had broken in your house, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Thus, you went to check on Charlie, who was supposed to be sleeping in his bedroom.”

Karen sniffles, the horrid memory of losing her son causing her to become emotional.

“Yes.”

“Instead, you found his room in a mess and Charlie missing, so you call the police and report that your child's been abducted, yes?”

A tear rolls down the blonde’s cheek, the woman wiping it away quickly with the sleeve of her blazer.

“Yes.”

Hitoshi crosses his arms again, standing in front of the witness stand, his firm gaze refusing to soften even though Karen was already in tears.

“Did you see any evidence or clues left behind by the intruder that could point to who it could be?”

The blonde pinches her thin brows together, trying to recall anything that she saw, but to no avail.

“No.”

But that is a mistake on her part.

“So there was no evidence of Mr. Bakugou being the one who kidnapped your child?”

Karen’s head perks up with her eyes wide in realization. Hitoshi had planned for her to say that.

“N-No.”

Ironically, her tone of voice is offended, even though her response proves her own testimony false.

Hitoshi offers her a half-smile, which only seemed to offend the woman more, before returning behind the defendant’s table and resuming his seat.

“Pass the witness, your Honor.”

Judge Meiyoshi sighs and thanks Hitoshi, “Thank you counsel.”

The judge looks at Karen’s lawyer with a raised brow, as if daring him to defend his client,

“Would the prosecution like to redirect?”

Felix bows his head and responds, “No, your Honor.”

“Karen Cunningham, you may sit down.”

The blonde woman uncrosses her legs and stands up, her heels clicking quickly as she brisk-walks behind the plaintiff’s table to resume her original seat.

“Does the prosecution have any more witnesses to call?”

The redhead attorney stands up and replies, “No, your Honor, the prosecution rests,” before sitting back down.

“Thank you counsel.”

Judge Meiyoshi turns to Hitoshi, her golden eyes glancing at Katsuki before requesting,

“Will the defense please call their first witness?”

The purple-haired attorney stands and announces,

“The defense calls Katsuki Bakugou to the stand.”

Hitoshi sits back down, muttering a quiet “keep calm” to the blond beside him before the judge announces, “Katsuki Bakugou, please take the stand.”

The chair drags behind Katsuki as he stands up, adjusting his black formal suit before making his way to the witness stand.

“May I give my line of questioning, your Honor?”

“You may.”

The purple-haired attorney returns to the front of the witness stand, so questioning Katsuki would be easier for the both of them.

“Would you please state your name for the benefit of the court?”

“My name is Katsuki Bakugou.”

“What were you doing on the day of the attempted kidnapping, April 18th, 1:30 PM?”

Katsuki huffs, not believing that he has to explain that he was on fucking patrol, but he replies anyway.

“I was on patrol, going along with my assigned route.”

Hitoshi nods, asking the next question,

“On your assigned route, you pass by the restaurant, ‘Tofu-Tabemasu’, right?”

“Yes.”

“When you passed by the restaurant, what did you do?”

The blond cards a hand through his spikes and replies,

“I stopped by the restaurant because I heard some noise coming from the inside.”

“And that’s when you encountered Miss Cunningham and her son, am I correct?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi catches a glimpse of Karen, who looks in despair and seems like she isn’t even listening to Katsuki’s direct examination, before asking the next question.

“When Miss Cunningham exitted the restaurant, what transpired?”

Katsuki averts his eyes, trying to recall the event. He tends not to wallow in his memories, especially the bad ones; he prefers to focus on the present instead of the past.

“Her kid latched onto me right after he ran out of the restaurant crying, Miss Cunningham following afterwards.”

“And what did Miss Cunningham do after seeing you with her child?”

Katsuki refrains from letting some of his bite get into his tone as he explains what happened,

“She pulled the kid away from me and began insulting me.”

Hitoshi sighs and continues,

“Then you argued back, yes?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi crosses his arms and continues his line of questioning,

“You didn’t endanger Miss Cunningham or her son in any way or form, right?”

“I did not.”

The attorney then proceeded to discuss the day of the kidnapping with Katsuki,

“The following evening, April 19th at 6:30 PM, what were you doing?”

“I left my house and went to the bar, ‘Midnight’ .”

Hitoshi nods, and continues,

“At what time did you arrive at the bar?”

“7:05 PM.”

“What time did you leave the bar?”

“11:30 PM.”

“You stayed inside the bar the entire time before you left, right?”

“Yes.”

The purple-haired attorney uncrosses his arms, shoulders lax.

“Where were you headed when you left the bar?”

“Home.”

Katsuki responds curtly, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible.

“And at what time did you arrive at home?”

“12:00 AM.”

“You stayed in your house until the next morning, correct?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi crosses the well of the court and returns to his place behind the defendant’s table, but before sitting down, he announces, “Pass the witness, your Honor.”

“Thank you counsel.”

“Is the prosecution ready to cross?”

The redhead lawyer stands up and replies, “Yes, your Honor.”

“You may begin.”

Felix proceeds to the front of the witness-stand, glaring at Katsuki and earning an equally heated stare back.

“On the 18th of April, 1:30 PM, you were outside of ‘Tofu-Tabemasu’ , correct?”

“Yes.”

Karen’s attorney crosses his arms and raises a brow accusingly as he asks,

“So it is possible that you were stalking Miss Cunningham, because she was also in that restaurant at the same time you were outside it, right?”

“No.”

Felix furrows his brows at the blond’s response, but presses on,

“Why not?”

“I’ve never seen Miss Cunningham before I encountered her after she had left the restaurant on that day.”

The redhead huffs, unsatisfied with Katsuki’s answer.

“Why did Miss Cunningham begin insulting you when she saw you with her son?”

The blond crosses his arms at this, averting his gaze as he responds,

“Because she thinks I’m a ‘good for nothing hero’ .”

Felix smirks, sensing some insecurity from the blond hero. A weakness.

“And why does she think that?”

Katsuki suppresses a growl and tries to reply as calmly as he can,

“ I don’t know .”

The attorney’s smirk falls from his face; he had been hoping for an actual answer.

“Why did you argue with Miss Cunningham when you could’ve just left them alone?”

The blond huffs in an attempt to even his breathing. His temper’s starting to rise, but he can’t burst out in a tantrum during court.

“Because she insulted me, and I have a right to defend my honor.”

He emphasizes the word “insulted” while stealing a pointed glance at Karen, which didn’t really do much because she isn’t even watching them. The redhead decides to change the topic.

“On the evening of April 19, where were you and what were you doing?”

“I was in my house until I left at 6:30 PM to go to the bar, ‘Midnight’. I arrived there at 7:05 PM and stayed there until 11:30 PM. I returned back home at 12:00 AM and slept there until the next morning.”

Katsuki replies without a pause for breath, already tired of explaining the same thing over and over again. But Felix wasn’t having any of it.

“But you were accused of attempting to kidnap Charlie Cunningham the other day before the actual kidnapping happened. Are you saying this is all just a coincidence?”

The hero thinks this over before responding, “No.”

The attorney raises his brow in genuine curiosity in Katsuki’s unexpected answer.

“What is it, then?”

Katsuki furrows his brows and replies confidently,

“I don’t believe that this was all just a coincidence. It seems like someone planned this out to sabotage me.”

Felix stifles a chuckle, eyeing the blond in disbelief, much to Katsuki’s irritation.

“But that is all just speculation, right?”

The hero averts his eyes as he admits, “Yes.”

Katsuki can’t claim his statement as a fact just yet, and he isn’t a liar. Felix seems satisfied enough and announces, “Pass the witness.”

“Thank you, counsel.”

Felix returns to his seat beside a dissociated Karen, the judge continuing,

“Would the defense like to redirect?”

“No, your Honor.”

“Does the defense have any more witnesses to call?”

“Yes, your Honor. The defense calls Shouta Aizawa to the stand.”

Katsuki furrows his brows, nearly whipping his head towards Hitoshi but remembers to keep a poker face, so as to not alert the judge.

Fucking what? Who the hell is Shouta Aizawa?

“Shouta Aizawa, please take the stand.”

A man in a clean-cut suit stands up, his medium-length raven hair falling around his shoulders, tied up in a half-bun, walking over to the witness-stand. The blond’s eyes widen when he recognizes him.

It’s the fucking bartender from Midnight.

Hitoshi is already in front of the witness-stand when Katsuki finishes staring at the onyx-haired man.

“Mr. Aizawa, could you please introduce yourself for the benefit of the court?”

Shouta nods and replies,

“My name is Shouta Aizawa and I'm 37-years-old.”

“Could you tell us about your profession?”

“I’m a bartender at ‘Midnight’, which is a 24 hour bar. I work the night shift.”

Hitoshi paces again, and begins asking about the night before the kidnapping.

“What time was your shift on April 19th?”

“My shift started at 4:00PM and ended at 12:00AM.”

So far he’s been answering honestly and curtly. Not bad.

“Mr. Bakugou wasn’t alone when you saw him during your shift, correct?”

“Yes.”

“What time did he arrive, and who was he meeting?”

Shouta’s brows furrow as he tries to recall the time of when the two men arrived at his bar that night, before finally responding,

“The man he met up with arrived a little after 4:00PM, and Mr. Bakugou arrived around 7:05PM.”

For someone who looks exhausted all the time, he has pretty sharp memory.

“So they met when Mr. Bakugou had arrived at 7:05 PM, correct?”

“Yes.”

“What time did they leave the bar?”

“They both left at 11:30 PM.”

“Did they leave the bar at any time before 11:30 PM?”

“No.”

Hitoshi hides a small smile, seemingly satisfied with his surprise witness, before announcing, “Pass the witness, your Honor.”

“Thank you, counsel.”

The purple-haired attorney returns to his seat beside Katsuki. Though the blond’s a little disgruntled because nobody told him about the fucking second witness they apparently had, the more help, the better, right?

Now it was time for his cross examination.

“Is the prosecution ready to cross?”

“Yes, your Honor.”

“You may begin.”

Felix appears in front of Shouta, his brow raised and expression doubtful, and begins,

“If Mr. Bakugou and this person he was meeting arrived at such different times, how did they even ‘meet’ ?”

The redhead emphasizes the word “meet” with air quotes, clearly baffled by how early Izuku arrived at the bar that day.

“His companion arrived at 4:00PM, yes, but he stayed at the bar until 11:45PM with Mr. Bakugou.”

Shouta responds, his tone a little defensive, clearly not liking the attorney’s tone of voice. The redhead furrows his brows at his reply.

“Did you happen to hear their conversations while they were in the bar?”

The raven-haired man seems to mull it over before answering, “Yes.”

Damn, so bartender’s been eavesdropping, huh?

“Were they saying that could possibly seem like they were plotting a kidnapping?”

“No.”

Katsuki breathes a silent sigh of relief at his response.

I guess it’s a good thing he’d eavesdropped on us.

“At any time during their conversation, did they mention Karen or Charlie Cunningham?”

“No.”

Felix starts to look a little agitated with the lack of new information, and makes his questions a little more general.

“At any time during their conversation, did they mention a trial?”

“Yes.”

The redhead’s eyes light up at this, a hopeful smile slowly creeping onto his face.

“Could you describe what they said in relation to the trial?”

Shouta thinks it over again, his brows furrowing as he ponders,

“Mr. Bakugou asked him if he was going to be at the trial and he affirmed that he would.”

That makes the smile fade from Felix’s face, the light in his hazel eyes dying out like a candle in the wind, those same eyes scanning the audience with his brows furrowed, trying to look for someone when he didn’t even who to look for.

“Anything else?”

“No.”

At this point, Felix starts to look as hopeless as his client, who was still not paying attention to the trial.

“Did they say anything that could hint to them being partners in crime?”

“No.”

The attorney begins to look frustrated, and asks,

“How would you describe Mr. Bakugou and Mr. Midoriya's relationship?”

The bartender raises a brow at the sudden personal question, but thinks over it as he recalls their conversations during that night.

“Childhood friends that lost touch.”

The redhead sighs in defeat and announces, “Pass the witness,” before returning to his seat.

“Thank you, counsel. Would the defense like to redirect.”

Hitoshi looks up from his notes on the table and replies, “No, your Honor.”

“Mr. Aizawa, you may sit down.”

The raven-haired man stands up, pats off his suit, and goes back to his place in the public area.

“Does the defense have any more witnesses to call?”

“Yes, your Honor. The defense calls Izuku Midoriya to the stand.”

Felix whips his head towards the public area, his eyes darting within its audience and looking for said Izuku Midoriya.

Katsuki breathes deeply and closes his eyes, muttering a quiet prayer for the nerd, and he isn’t even religious.

Deku’s changed. He’s no longer the anxiety-ridden, muttering mess he was back in middle school. He’s an adult now who knows how to take care of himself.

I believe in you, Deku.

“Izuku Midoriya, please take the stand.”

The freckled man stands up from his seat in the public area and walks over to the witness-stand, shooting a glance at Katsuki and Hitoshi before sitting down. The blond offers him an encouraging smile. Or at least he tries to.

It seems to work because Izuku’s eyes light up and his chest puffs, rather than his usual slouching posture. His eyes shift from Katsuki to Hitoshi, who’s already in front of him.

“What were you doing on the 18th of April, 1:30 PM?”

The purple-haired lawyer starts off straight to the point, no beating around the bush. Izuku looks determined, which settles Katsuki’s nerves a little.

“I was eating at a restaurant, ‘Tofu-Tabemasu’ .”

“While you were at that restaurant, you happened to see Mr. Bakugou on his patrol, correct?”

The man can’t help but steal another glance at the Katsuki. Seeing him watching the direct examination intently gives Izuku more confidence.

“Yes.”

“Was he stalking or following anyone?”

“No.”

The hero can’t help but think it’s so ironic how Hitoshi is asking his stalker if Katsuki was a stalker himself.

“You saw Miss Cunningham and her son leave the restaurant on April 18th at 1:30 PM, right?”

“Yes.”

“Could you describe what happened when Miss Cunningham and her son exitted the restaurant?”

Izuku replies without missing a beat. Katsuki is a little surprised at the lack of stuttering, but not in a bad way.

“Miss Cunningham’s son ran out of the restaurant first, crying. He saw Mr. Bakugou and latched onto him, while MIss Cunningham followed a few moments after.”

Damn. He didn’t even stumble when he said “Mr. Bakugou”. I was kinda anticipating an accidental “Kacchan” slip, but for once, Izuku’s nailing it.

“What was Miss Cunningham’s reaction when she saw her son with Mr. Bakugou?”

“She was angry. She began insulting him and they both ended up arguing.”

“During this argument, did Mr. Bakugou ever threaten or endanger Miss Cunningham or her son in any way?”

“No.”

“Mr. Bakugou left MIss Cunningham and her son alone shortly afterwards, yes?”

“Yes.”

Hitoshi huffs and shows Izuku a secret half-smile, satisfied with how their direct examination went.

“Pass the witness, your Honor.”

“Thank you, counsel.”

Hitoshi plops back down in his seat beside Katsuki, the blond’s eyes still fixated on Izuku. His purple-haired attorney steals a glance at him before whispering as quietly as he could, “He did much better than I expected him to. You should thank him later.”

Katsuki doesn’t reply. He might not admit it out loud, but Hitoshi’s right. The examination had gone so smoothly it seemed rehearsed, and it being Deku, he wouldn’t be surprised if the nerd actually did.

“Is the prosecution ready to cross?”

Katsuki doesn’t realize he’s been staring, and that realize Izuku was staring right back at him, until the question pulls him out of his thoughts, breaking eye contact abruptly.

Ah shit, here we go.

Katsuki shakes off the weird staring contest. All Izuku needs to do is to get this cross examination finished as smoothly and as quickly as possible, at least as well as his direct examination did.

The attorney turns towards Izuku, his arms crossed and his gaze sharp and heavy. He’s going to pick him apart piece by piece if he has to.

Felix decides to go in strong and personal. If he can’t find anything on Izuku himself, he’ll at least find out what’s going on in between Izuku and Katsuki. It’s suspicious how close they are when Katsuki’s never mentioned an Izuku Midoriya before.

“What's your relationship with Mr. Bakugou?”

“We're childhood friends.”

The freckled man’s answer comes quick and precise, and vague , much to Felix’s discontent. He squints his eyes at the emerald-eyed man in doubt.

“When was the last time you spoke to Mr. Bakugou before you two met in the bar on April 19th?”

“7 years ago.”

The attorney raises a brow at how fast Izuku answered. It’s like he already knew the questions he’s going to be asked, and Felix will not allow it.

“How did you suddenly reunite with Mr. Bakugou?”

“I was at Tofu-Tabemasu when Mr. Bakugou happened to be there on his patrol as well.”

The redhead huffs, highly doubting such a lucky coincidence to happen.

It’s a small world.

“So you witnessed Mr. Bakugou's attempt to kidnap Charlie Cunningham?”

“No. I witnessed Miss Cunningham unreasonably insulting Mr. Bakugou resulting in the both of them arguing.”

Felix purses his lips. He was hoping that Izuku would slip up and mess up his wording.

“So you're claiming that Mr. Bakugou never attempted to kidnap Charlie Cunningham?”

“Yes.”

The attorney paces as he continues his line of questioning,

“Did you try to reconnect with Mr. Bakugou when you saw him that day?”

“No.”

Felix raises a brow, glancing at Izuku over his shoulder with his back turned.

“Why not?”

“Mr. Bakugou is a Pro Hero on patrol. I didn’t want to cause him any disturbance.”

The lawyer turns towards Izuku and faces him again, a sly smirk on his lips.

“Then why did you suddenly decide to meet him the next evening?”

“I read a magazine article that spread false information about Mr. Bakugou, and since I witnessed what really happened, I wanted to help him out.”

Felix’s smirk morphs into a scowl. Izuku’s quick wits and calculated replies are starting to get on his last nerve. He decides to move the subject to the following incident.

“What time did you arrive at the bar on the evening of April 19th?”

“A little after 4:00 PM.”

The redhead grinds his teeth; his hope to find any inconsistencies going down the drain.

“Why did you decide to arrive so early when Mr. Bakugou only arrived past 7:00PM?”

“I got excited about meeting Mr. Bakugou again after all those years.”

Izuku answers truthfully, his verdant eyes meeting Katsuki’s for a split second before directing his attention back to the attorney questioning him.

“So you knew Mr. Bakugou was going to arrive late?”

“Yes.”

Heh, Izuku did a good job at hiding the disappointment in his voice.

“When you met up with Mr. Bakugou, were either of you plotting the kidnapping the following morning?”

“No.”

“Did either of you mention Karen or Charlie Cunningham?”

“No.”

The lawyer cards his hand through his slicked hair, messing up the form that the gel helped maintain.

“Both of you left the bar at 11:30 PM, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Where were you headed after you left the bar?”

“Home.”

Felix begins pacing again.

“Did you encounter anything on the way?”

“Yes.”

“What did you encounter?”

“I witnessed the kidnapping of Charlie Cunningham.”

At this, Karen’s head whipped towards the witness-stand, staring at the freckled man in a mix of disbelief and hope. The redhead huffs and stops pacing, his back facing Izuku.

“How do you know it was Charlie Cunningham that was kidnapped?”

“He looked exactly like Charlie Cunningham.”

Katsuki glances at Karen, who hangs on every word Izuku says — a stark contrast to her attitude less than five minutes ago when she didn’t even look up from her table.

“Would you describe what Charlie Cunningham looks like?”

“Short brown hair, round brown eyes, a sharp nose, and thin lips.”

The blond watches as the light returns to her eyes, making them glossy.

Wait, no, those are just her tears.

“How would you describe the kidnappers?”

“There were two men fully dressed in black, both wearing matching gas masks.”

The hero stops staring at Karen and focuses his attention back onto Izuku, knitting his brows together as he listens to Izuku’s response.

Gas masks, huh? For fucking style? Deku didn’t mention anything about them needing to wear gas masks.

“Do you have any idea who those kidnappers are?”

“No.”

The attorney sighs and bows his head, one hand on his hip and the other pinching the bridge of his nose, as he tries to think of another question.

A few moments pass — Judge Meiyoshi resting her head on her hand as she observes — before Felix sags his shoulders in defeat and announces, “Pass the witness.”

“Thank you, counsel.”

Katsuki watches as the attorney resumes his seat beside Karen, whose moods look like they’ve switched, the blonde looking somewhat hopeful in contrast to the redhead who’s in utter despair.

The blond hero can’t help his smug little smirk, meeting Izuku’s eyes which were already pointed at him. Katsuki mouthed, “Not bad,” earning a bashful smile from Izuku.

“Would the defense like to redirect?”

The blond breaks eye contact with Izuku when he realizes the judge’s attention is on his table; Hitoshi replying, “No, your Honor.”

“Mr. Midoriya, you may sit down.”

The freckled man nods and walks back to the public area, but not without sending Katsuki a cheeky wink before looking away. The blond smirks at Izuku’s retreating form.

Smug fucking nerd.

Hitoshi rolls his eyes at their exchange, but Katsuki pays him no mind.

“Does the defense have any more witnesses to call?”

The purple-haired attorney stacks the documents on their table neatly before patting them down, aligning them, and replying,

“No, your Honor. The defense rests their case.”

“Thank you, we will now hear closing statements on behalf of the prosecution.”

Felix stands up and announces their closing statement,

“Your Honor, today, you saw Katsuki Bakugou’s guilty of kidnapping. Our witness, Karen Cunningham, told us she saw Katsuki Bakugou breaking the law. We ask for your verdict of guilty.”

“Thank you, counsel. Would you like to save any remaining time for rebuttal?”

Felix purses his lips and shakes his head before replying, “No thank you, your Honor.”

The red-headed attorney sits back down, sighing as he does so.

They didn’t want to let up, huh?

“Defense, you may give your closing statements.”

“Thank you, your Honor. May I begin?”

“You may.”

Hitoshi clears his throat before beginning,

“Your Honor, today we have the burden of proof and have succeeded in proving it. The prosecution had not shown beyond original doubt that Katsuki Bakugou did indeed attempt to kidnap or kidnap Karen Cunningham’s son, and be guilty of child abduction. As the prosecution has not proven this, we request a verdict of not guilty.”

“Thank you. All rise.”

Hitoshi remains standing as everyone else rises from their seats.

“The court will now be in recess while I deliberate.”

Judge Meiyoshi exits the courtroom, the jury following after her.

“Detective.. May I have a word with you?”

Naomasa hears Karen’s hushed plea looks up to see her worried expression, interesting him in what she has to say.

“Of course, Miss Cunningham.”

They both leave the public area and out into the hallway of the courtroom. It’s empty.

“What did you want to tell me, Miss Cunningham?”

Karen visibly gulps, averting her eyes as she takes in a deep breath.

“-tell the detective about Pro-Dust and that the editor of the magazine paid you to press charges, and that he’s in his office right now. Nothing more, nothing less, got it?”

“I was paid.”

“What?”

The blonde sighs deeply.

“The editor of Pro-Dust called me on the evening of April 18th, the day I encountered Mr. Bakugou. He offered me five million yen to press charges, so I did.”

She confesses, tears stinging her eyes because she knows she’s going to get in trouble for it, but..

Anything for my baby boy. I’ll make sure you’re safe, even if I won’t be there with you anymore.

Please remember that Mommy loves you so, very much.

“Oh. That’s-”

“Detective Tsukauchi, he’s in his office right now.”

The detective tilts his head in confusion, but Karen only whimpers,

“Please save my son, Detective Tsukauchi. Please, I beg you .”

Naomasa furrows his brows in concern and puts a hand on the woman’s shoulders reassuringly.

“We will. I assure you, Miss Cunningham. Leave it to us.”

“Thank you.”

Karen returns to the courtroom first, leaving Naomasa behind. The detective fishes his phone from his pocket and dials the deputy.

“Sir? Yes, it’s me. We’ve got an investigation to do.”

“All rise.”

Not long after the recess, Judge Meiyoshi returns to the courtroom, proceeding to her bench as the bailiff continues,

“Court is now in session, honorable Judge Meiyoshi presiding.”

“Thank you, you may be seated.”

Everyone in the courtroom resumes their seats.

“In case number #20496: Karen Cunningham versus Katsuki Bakugou, I find Mr. Bakugou not guilty of kidnapping.”

She thumps her gavel for the final time after she announces the ruling.

Katsuki breathes a sigh of relief, earning a playful punch on the shoulder from Hitoshi.

“Ya did it, Mr. Ground Zero. You won the case.”

The blond only grunts in acknowledgement but fails to hide the proud smirk from his lawyer.

“Don’t forget what I told you earlier,” Hitoshi reminds him, getting up and collecting all his papers before retreating toward the public area.

“He did much better than I expected him to. You should thank him later.”

Right. Fuck. I’m not good at.. being good to people. Especially Deku.

Speaking of which, said Deku was staring at him expectantly, gazing happily from his seat in the public area.

Katsuki sighs and walks over to him, crossing the swinging door that separates the well of the court from the public.

“Deku.”

“Kacchan.”

Izuku looks into his eyes with pure happiness and admiration. Nothing new.

The blond averts his eyes, not being able to get his words out.

God, this is so fucking embarrassing.

“Y-You did it, Kacchan. You won the case!”

Familiar territory. Good.

The blond smirks, putting his hands on his hips as he puffs his chest out.

“‘Course I did.”

This is it, just fucking say it.

Katsuki’s hands drop, one of them scratching at the nape of his neck awkwardly.

“But I couldn’t have done it without you, Deku. Surprised me how well you did.”

The hero’s eyes don’t quite meet Izuku’s. When Izuku doesn’t reply right away to his very heartfelt thanks, it irks Katsuki a little. Until he actually looks up.

Izuku looks like he has stars in his eyes, no, not the usual twinkle or sparkle or whatever the fuck, but he stares at Katsuki as if he was the reason the world goes ‘round. His lips are slightly parted, leaving his mouth agape in wonder.

When Katsuki locks eyes with him, that’s when Izuku snaps out of it.

“I- uh.. You- um.. Th-Thank you, Kacchan!”

Stupid nerd, thanking me when I'm the one who's supposed to be thanking you.

"Whatever, Deku." 

"Hello, gentlemen! Congratulations on winning the case, Mr. Bakugou, I'm extremely happy for you. Your agency will be pleased with the news, but they might've already heard about it before I'd get to tell them! So, I was thinking.." 

Katsuki's PR manager pauses for dramatic effect, which is lost on the other two men. 

"Spit it out already, Jesus. "

"Why don't I treat all of you to an early dinner party this evening? There's a really nice restaurant we could try that's just around here!" 

So fucking extra. Whatever, if it'll make him shut up about it. 

Izuku lights up, a smile gracing his face at the thought of having dinner and spending more time with Katsuki. 

"That sounds lovely! Kacchan, let's go!" 

And that's how Katsuki finds himself dragged into a restaurant with Deku, Eye-bags, and PR guy. 

"I've already made a reservation, so don't worry about it!" 

PR guy announces, the three other men following him to their table.

Already reserved? Is he fucking serious? 

They all sit down in the same position as they were in their brunch meeting earlier: Katsuki across from his PR manager, with Izuku beside him across from Hitoshi. 

They all pick up their menus and start scanning their food selection. Despite the blond's dwindling patience, his PR manager decides to make small talk. 

"So, Mr. Shinsou, how did you get that.. um.. Mr. Aizawa, was it? To be a witness at the trial?" 

Hitoshi only gives a mysterious smile and replies, "I've got connections."

The blond rolls his eyes at that, but it causes him to recall the trial. 

"Deku, how the hell did you not stumble and say 'Kacchan' instead of 'Mr. Bakugou'? It was fucking weird."

Izuku giggles and responds, "I did a lot of rehearsing so…" 

"I fucking knew it." 

Izuku laughs, his eyes crinkling in an eye smile. Katsuki can't help the small chuckle that bubbles out. 

This dinner party is gonna be a long one, but maybe Katsuki doesn't mind. 

They pause at the door of the editor’s office, busting it down when there’s no response from the inside. 

The armed police raid the room first, signalling Detective Tsukauchi to come in when they find that it’s all clear. 

A painfully strong odor of copper hits Naomasa like a semi-truck, causing him to scrunch his face and cover his nose with the back of his hand. 

There's a dead body on the seat behind the desk, limp and lifeless.

It's the editor. 

Naomase furrows his brows as he nears the corpse, inspecting it closely. 

There is a post-it note stuck to his forehead. The detective carefully peels it off, revealing a bullet hole straight through the head. 

Naomasa looks around. No gun anywhere. 

He turns his attention towards the sticky note itself, checking if there was anything written on it. 

There was. It read:

SuperMall parking lot building. Block 70.

4:45 PM.

I've got Charlie Cunningham hostage, only send Ground Zero. If not, expect the child dead.

Naomasa is beginning to feel really bad for Katsuki.  

And he just won his court case too. 

Shaking his head, he reads the note again and thinks it over. 

SuperMall parking lot? Didn't that mall close down last year? And why is someone targeting Ground Zero? 

The detective reads it again.

They've got Charlie Cunningham. I guess Mr. Bakugou's speculations were right. Someone did plan this entire thing out. 

Naomasa huffs before putting the note in a zip-locked bag and dials the police captain. 

"Hello? Detective Tsukauchi?" 

"Yes, it's me. Get your men armed and surrounded at the SuperMall parking lot building at Block 70 by 4:45 PM. And contact Ground Zero's agency to alert him that this is an emergency — he must be at the scene immediately. Thank you." 

"Understood, detective. I'm on it." 

Naomasa stuffs his phone back into his coat pocket. 

Good luck Ground Zero. 

"May I take your order?" 

"Yes, we'll have-" 

Katsuki's phone rings suddenly, making them all jump. The blond huffs in annoyance and picks up the call. 

"What-" 

"Ground Zero, this is an emergency. We need you at the SuperMall parking lot located at Block 70 immediately, understood?" 

"Fuck- yeah, yeah, I got it." 

He ends the call and meets the expectant looks of the other men. 

"There's an emergency and I have to get the fuck out of here. Cancel my order, PR dude. Thanks for the offer though." 

He leaves without another word, the rest of the men staring at him in confusion. 

"Well, at least you only have to pay for three now," 

Hitoshi jokes, trying to lighten the mood. Katsuki's PR manager laughs it off and replies something along the line of, "He's the number one hero, after all," but Izuku isn't listening because he's too busy staring at Katsuki (or in the general direction of where the blond had run off to). 

Stay safe, Kacchan. 

And come back soon.

Ground Zero stands in front of an abandoned parking lot building. It's dark and most likely empty, save for hopefully Charlie Cunningham and unfortunately a villain or two holding him hostage. The detective had given him the details over the communicating device in his ear as he sped to the location. 

"Are you in position, Ground Zero?" 

"Fuck yeah, I am. I'm going in now."

The building's a six-storey one, so it shouldn't be too hard to sweep. 

He goes in, eyes open for any sign of Charlie or a villain. It's a little dark but he manages without using his quirk, hoping that the element of surprise would be in his favor. 

First floor, nothing. 

He ascends to the second one but gets the same result. Then, as he sweeps the second storey, he hears a thud from the ceiling directly above him. 

He creeps up the ramp from the second floor to the third, hoping to catch a glimpse of where the enemy is before they do. 

But they’re already expecting him. 

There's three of them. The one in the middle looks like the boss. She is green everywhere . And not the good Deku kind of green, it's the neon green that hurts Katsuki's eyes to look at. Her wavy hair that's tied up in a right side-ponytail is green, her eyes are green, her make-up's green, her off-the-shoulder dress is green, the feather boa around her arms is a pale green, her nails are green, her thigh-high platform boots are green, every part of her besides her skin is green.

The two lackeys on either side of her look like a pair of skater boys. The one on her right is the shorter one. He's got a cap on backwards and a jersey with matching basketball shorts on, his sports shoes looking a little too big on his feet. The one on her left — he's wearing his cap properly, unlike his friend, with his hands shoved in the pocket of his hoodie and his sweatpants sagging a little too loose for it to be comfortable (that's rich coming from Katsuki), while wearing sneakers — is the taller one. 

What ties their mismatched looks together are the green glow-sticks around their necks, three on each of the woman's wrists but only one on each of the men's. 

Ground Zero squints, trying to make out the fourth figure. He realizes it's Charlie — tied up, gagged, and unconscious — just laying there on the cold concrete floor behind them. 

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the one and only Ground Zero." 

The greenette announces with her hands on her hips. 

Classic villain introduction. How fucking original. 

"Who the fuck are you and what have you done to Charlie?"

Ground Zero growls, baring his fangs at them. The woman cackles, 

"You can call me Neoplasm, and these are my boys: Kiki and Tsutsu."

Kiki’s the short one, eating a banana. The tall one must be Tsutsu.

"And we're here to fight you." 

"Then why the fuck did you have to bring a fucking kid in the picture?! Why'd you go through all the effort to frame me for kidnapping?!" 

Neoplasm guffaws, burning down Katsuki's quickly shortening fuse. 

"Because I wanted you to know that I'm a threat to you, Ground Zero. I wanted you to feel like a villain for once. So you know how I — no —  how we feel." 

"And what the fuck do you get out of that?!" 

I already feel like a fucking villain everyday. 

"Satisfaction."

Apparently, that’s their signal because Kiki and Tsutsu charge at him, the former suddenly gaining a shit ton of muscle mass out of nowhere. 

What the fuck? Where did all that muscle come from? Looks like he levelled up in a video game or something. 

Kiki swings his right arm toward Ground Zero's face while Tsutsu sweeps his right leg under the blond's feet. Ground Zero dodges by cartwheeling to his right, successfully missing Kiki's punch and jumping over Tsutsu's kick. 

The moment his feet are flat on the ground, he shoots two huge explosions out of both his palms at the same time, causing the two lackeys to fly to the other side of the parking lot, their backs smashing against the concrete wall, heavily damaging it. 

Besides the grey clouds of dust from Kiki and Tsutsu's impact, Ground Zero notices some strange green gas coming into the mix. He realizes it's from the woman's quirk that she's emitting from her hands. 

Not knowing what the gas is, he tries his best to avoid it. He figures it isn't deadly to inhale because she releases it with her lackeys still around, and neither of them are wearing gas masks.

Still gotta be careful about that gas.

The two other men get up slowly, refusing to back down that easily. Tsutsu charges first though, because Kiki is preoccupied with...eating a banana? 

I guess Kiki's quirk works like Sugar Rush. Gets big and bad when he eats bananas.

Tsutsu's mouth widens and morphs into something that's akin to a shark or piranha, his jaw unhinging as he opens his mouth wide as if to devour Ground Zero whole. The hero releases a series of targeted explosions, yelling "AP Shot!" as he does so. 

It flings Tsutsu back, hitting Kiki like a domino and throwing them back into the wall. 

Ground Zero decides to take matters into his own explosive hands and closes the distance between them quickly, using his explosions as a speed boost. He knocks them both out cold by knocking their heads against each other, leaving them unconscious to the side. His vision blurs and his head spins for a few seconds, throwing him off and leaving him in confusion.

I guess the fucking gas does have an effect. I really have to avoid it now.

He turns towards Neoplasm, who's now glaring daggers at the hero. Charlie is still unconscious behind the woman, which worries Ground Zero. But he can’t dwell on Charlie’s situation because Neoplasm is now shooting balls of bright green liquid at Ground Zero.

The hero dodges them by speeding around the parking lot. They're circling each other, so when the hero runs another lap around the lot, he sees the green liquid turn into a lime frost. 

He’s slowing down, and when he’s momentarily distracted, Neoplasm shoots another ball of green from her hands towards him. He nearly fails to dodge it. The blond feels the icy-cold air around the liquid as it just grazes him, freezing his skin. 

As Neoplasm shoots her balls of green liquid, more of the green mist seeps from her hands. Even though he's barely even been fighting for an hour, his head is throbbing and his vision is blurring, the entire lot being smoked up by the green gas.

But like hell am I gonna give up. I've got a kid to save. 

The villain doesn't stop shooting, leaving no opportunity for Ground Zero to counter-attack. That's when the hero notices the still unconscious Charlie lying on the ground, a few feet away from Neoplasm. 

She's going to trip if she doesn't notice him. I'm gonna have to keep her distracted while keeping her going in that direction. 

So Ground Zero keeps on running, and a few moments later, Neoplasm meets her own doom as her hostage plan backfires on her. She trips over the boy and falls on her butt, giving Ground Zero the opening he needs. He grabs her by the dress, throwing her to the middle of the lot to put distance between Charlie and the fighting.

She hits the ground with a thud and an "oof!", rubbing her lower back at the impact. Ground Zero shoots an explosion at her before closing in and giving her another one right in the face, knocking her out. 

He huffs, his chest heaving and body dripping with sweat from the fight. He presses the communicator in his ear and calls for the police to apprehend the unconscious evil-doers, the gas already clearing out because Neoplasm is out cold. 

As he waits for the police to ascend the building, he goes to the still-unconscious Charlie. 

Jesus Christ, what the fuck did they do to this kid? 

He unties the child and removes the gag from his mouth, throwing the ropes and cloth off to the side. He checks Charlie's pulse, making sure he's still alive. The soft pulsing on his wrist reassures him that he is.

Ground Zero sighs in relief, watching as the first few police arrive at the scene. He carries Charlie downstairs and outside, where the paramedics are already waiting. 

"Take care of 'im. He's been unconscious for a while now but at least he's still got a pulse." 

The paramedics nod and take the child off his hands carefully, entering the back of the ambulance with him. 

"Great work, Ground Zero." 

At first, he thinks the voice is from his communicator, but when he turns around he's met by a smiling Detective Tsukauchi. 

He returns a tired half-smile. It's the best he could muster right now. 

"Just doing my job." 

Naomasa nods in acknowledgement and leaves him alone, knowing he needs to rest. Katsuki appreciates this gesture, watching as the ambulance leaves and the police disperse, going back to their police stations. 

I should go back home too. 

The bus rumbles as Katsuki, who is still in costume and dirty with dust, watches the passing scenery outside through the window. He’s still a little woozy from the gas and he left his car back home, so he resorts to using public transport. It isn’t too bad.

The sun's already setting and he's hungry and exhausted, wanting nothing more than to eat dinner then pass out on his bed. 

His phone starts ringing. 

"Detective?" 

"Hello, Ground Zero. I don't mean to bother you but I'd like to thank you again for apprehending Neoplasm and her lackeys." 

The hero grunts. 

"Apparently, her real name is Seibutsu Tsumaku, the daughter of a tyrannous mafia leader. She could be a good source of information on organized crime. Thank you again for your hard work." 

Katsuki raises his brows at the information, and replies, "Don't worry about it. I just did what I had to do."

"Yes, thank you." 

The blond hums in response before ending the call and checking his notifications. 

1 email from PR Manager:

Dear Mr. Bakugou, 

We are glad to inform you that Pro-Dust closed down and that Hero Daily published a glowing article about your most recent victory today! I congratulate and thank you for your utmost hard work, Ground Zero. Below is the link to the article:

[ Ground Zero Saves The Child Hostage He Was Falsely Accused Of Kidnapping And Defeats The Daughter Of A Highly Wanted Mafia Gang Leader! attachment] 

From, Garu Totomi,

your PR manager :-)

Garu Totomi? So that's his name… 

Katsuki huffs a laugh, smiling as he reads the article. He’s no stranger to being written about, but it’s so rarely anything good.

Right after reading the article, he realizes that he's already at his stop and gets off the bus. He notices the other passengers stare at him but.. 

Huh, no dirty looks today?

The hero shrugs it off but is secretly relieved. He starts his walk home, but he’s stopped in tracks when he feels a small figure latch onto him. 

Charlie? 

Of course it isn't Charlie, but it is indeed another child. A girl, this time. Looking up at him with eyes filled with wonder. 

Her mother chases after her, bowing in apology as she tries to pull her little girl off him.

"M-Mama! It's Ground Zero! Look, you look like my plushie!" 

Plushie? 

He looks at the small plushie she's holding, examining it and its tiny little details. 

I do look like her plushie. Heh, didn't know people made stuffed toys of me. 

"Y-Yes, sweetheart, that's Ground Zero..! But I'm sure he has places to be and things to do so let's not-" 

"It's alright. Your kid's cute." 

He pats her head softly, as if she were made of glass. The girl stares up at him in admiration. 

Deku looks at me like this. 

He offers her a half-smile before waving them goodbye, the little girl still staring at him as he leaves.

But I'll never see Deku again. 

"-I’ll let all of this slide if you promise that after all of this is over, you’ll forget about me, take care of your sick mom, and live a better life. Got it?”

Or so he thought until he stepped back into his house. 

"Deku?" 

Izuku startles, accidentally dropping the spoon he's holding over Katsuki's dining table. The table's set with a variety of food, more specifically, Katsuki's favorite food. Spicy food. And.. a cake? 

"K-Kacchan..! I-I'm sorry! I know you told me never to come back and I know I promised but.." 

"But..?" 

Izuku fidgets his fingers, averting his eyes as his face flushes, 

"H-Happy birthday, Kacchan..!" 

The blond raises a brow, then raises both of them. 

Oh, right. I fuckin' forgot it was my birthday today.

Katsuki rolls his eyes but smirks, "You didn't have to, you dumb nerd." 

He approaches him, scanning the selection of food on the table. 

"I know. I just wanted to leave you on a good note." 

The blond doesn't reply, and Izuku takes that as a dismissal. 

"Goodbye, Kaccha-" 

"Wait." 

Katsuki catches Izuku's wrist before he can leave, causing the freckled man's breath to hitch. 

"Wh-What is it, Kacchan?" 

The blond doesn't meet his eyes, muttering, 

"Stay a little longer," he continues, "please." 

Izuku can’t reply. He doesn’t know how to. 

"It'll be sad to celebrate my birthday alone, wouldn't it?" 

This time, Katsuki locks eyes with Izuku, watching as the latter's eyes turn shiny with tears, a wobbly, crooked, smile on his face.

He jumps into his arms and hugs him tightly, as if he'd disappear if he didn't hold him close enough. His tears dampen his shirt as he cries, 

"I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you so much, Kacchan! I'll never leave if you want me to stay."

Izuku's face is hidden in the crook of Katsuki's neck, so when he is met by silence, he asks again, 

"You do.. want me to stay, don't you?" 

The blond huffs and pushes Izuku away, before pulling him back into a kiss. It’s unexpected and awkward, their lips just pressed together without any movement, until Katsuki breaks away from the kiss and changes the subject. 

"Tch, since when did you learn how to cook, nerd?" 

When there’s no answer, the blond turns, only to see an awestruck Izuku staring at him as if he hung the moon in the sky. 

"Can you... Can you kiss me again, please, Kacchan?" 

Katsuki's eyes widen but he obliges, blushing just as much as Izuku. 

Izuku wraps his arms around Katsuki's neck, and Katsuki slides his arms around Izuku’s waist, pulling him closer until their noses touch before leaning in again. 

One kiss turns into two, then two turn into three, until it all just blends together. The food on the table gets cold and the candles on the cake melt as the two celebrate Katsuki's first (and best) birthday together in years.