Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

I said I don't know what to do anymore as if I knew what to do before
I can fuck up almost anything
I don't think that I would exactly call it love
But it's dripping down my consciousness
As you're slipping down my lungs

The fan held a stuttering, steady beat as it swept overhead. The air barely managed to quell the oven-like heat that suffocated the room. Katsuki managed to fight the heat by fanning his shirt repeatedly. Sweat had coated his body like a second, unwanted skin.

"Man, Izuku." Katsuki groaned."I can't believe you're stuck here!"

The aforementioned Izuku was a small, pitiful looking thing swaddled in All Might printed blankets. He brought a shaking hand into the open air, and dived right into the tissue box that was laying in front of him.

"I told Mom I'm okay. I just feel really hot and cold." A semblance of color had risen over Izuku's washed out skin. "What if this is my quirk, Kacchan? Like Dad's fire breathing— "

Katsuki snorted. He dispelled the notion with a wave of his hand.

"A quirk wouldn't hurt you like that, stupid. And we're too young to get quirks." Katsuki said haughtily. He doesn't react to the flash of hurt that had buckled Izuku. It was an eyesore. "You're just unlucky enough to get yourself sick."

Izuku let out a painful wail and blew out his nose once again.

Katsuki wrinkled his nose. "You're going to spread your icky germs to me!"

"You're the one who came over!" Izuku retorted.

It was because his Mom and Dad had forced him to- because Izuku was feeling bad and a good friend should try and make him feel better. Katsuki restrained the urge to complain to the imaginary Mom and Dad in his head, and simply dug around in his pocket.

Katsuki threw a pebble right on Izuku's face.

"Score!" Katsuki threw his hands in the air.

"Kacchan!" Izuku wailed. He rubbed the sore spot on his forehead. On his other hand was the pebble that Katsuki had just thrown. "What's this?"

"My gift, duh." Katsuki put two hands on his hips. "My rock skipped ten times on the lake today. Tsubasa almost cheated, but I saw him."

"Kacchan..." Izuku muttered petulantly. He was still rubbing his forehead. "That hurts."

"Don't be a baby." Katsuki wrinkled his nose. "Anyway, that's the rock that made me win today. It's gonna bring you good luck."

Izuku held the pebble between his hands. He held it aloft, as if it were another All Might figurine like the ones sitting on his desk.

"Really?" Izuku said.

"Duh! It came from me." Katsuki said.

"Okay." Izuku nodded. The unfocused haze from his eyes had lifted almost completely. "Then I wanna play a game with you, Kacchan!"

"Izuku." Katsuki said dryly. "You're sick."

"No, no. We're not going anywhere." Izuku said.

Izuku had gotten to his feet. He had stuck his elbow on one of the open drawers— Katsuki couldn't help but notice how messy Izuku's room is—  and he fished out his well loved pack of cards.

"You're gonna play Pro Cards with me?" Katsuki grinned. "I win all of my matches, Izuku!"

"Not all." Izuku said nonchalantly. He returned back to his spot. He began to set up the cards.

"Oh, really?" Katsuki said. His smile dropped from his face ever so slightly. "Ya think you can beat me, huh? I've never had a a good match for so long."

"You gave me your lucky rock, Kacchan." Izuku said earnestly.

Izuku's bright demeanour was tempered by the sickness that had clung to him like his All Might blanket. He was still pale with the snot that made a steady trail down his nose, eyes half-lidded due to exhaustion, his other hand curled around a piece of soiled tissue— 

But Katsuki's chest ached in a way he couldn't understand—  Izuku had always looked up to him with those big, green hopeful eyes, looking at something Katsuki could not see—  and just like that, the memory would be locked in his head for years to come.

Katsuki ignored it by picking his own set of cards. A winning set, how could it not be, with both Endeavour and All Might by his side? That was a rookie move, Izuku, to leave All Might behind.

Katsuki's grin returned with a vengeance. "Bring it on, Izuku."

Izuku nodded, his light green curls bouncing around his face. "Good luck, Kacchan!"

Katsuki didn't need luck.

The game proceeded with how Katsuki had expected it to be. He was steadily chipping away at Izuku's defenses, though sometimes he may pay the price by sacrificing his own cards. The final phase of the game was about to begin.

"All Might and Endeavour combo!" Katsuki yelled. "All Might's California Smash deals huge damage! Endeavour's Pro—  Pronim — Burn fills the room with fire!"

"Counterattack!" Izuku slammed down his own card. "Iida Tensei: Ingenium's Rec —  Reciper — Reciperburst, he would jump up into the air and fly away! He isn't going to be that hurt."

Katsuki got to his feet. "Hey, unfair! That was my special move! "

"I know." Izuku said breezily. "Kacchan, you use that move every time you fight. So I made a counterattack."

"No fair!" Katsuki whined. "You didn't even say his special move right."

"But the game isn't over yet." Izuku offered.

"That's my special move! I can't believe you cheated your way out of my special move!" Katsuki said.

"I wasn't cheating, Kacchan— "

Katsuki's quickly impending tantrum was halted by the three sharp raps that cut across the room. Midoriya Inko politely entered the door, an apron tied around her chest.

"Boys," Auntie Inko said in that all too charming lilt. "Am I interrupting something?"

Katsuki laid his head low, abashed.

"Nope." Izuku said.

"No." Katsuki echoed in a quieter voice.

"You two look like you're having fun." Auntie Inko sat between them, her legs tucked under herself. She was holding a tray of muffins on her hands. "But it's time to eat. Do you boys want some?"

"Me, me!" Izuku said. He happily dug into the snack that he had snatched away.

"Katsuki?" Auntie Inko offered.

Katsuki continued to hang his head low. He felt the way that Auntie Inko's calloused hands had pried into his small, softer hands, where she deposited his own muffin.

"Tastes yummy, Auntie." Katsuki nibbled.

Auntie Inko's smile was the reflection of her son's only moments prior. Katsuki couldn't hold her gaze for long.

"You should visit more." Auntie Inko said. "That way, you get to eat my muffins."

"Yeah, Kacchan." Izuku nodded enthusiastically. "I want to see you again soon!"

"I wanna see you again too." Katsuki sheepishly huffed out a breath.

"Think about it." Shigaraki said. 

Shigaraki made for an unnerving sight. Black shirt and jeans— a normal, if not boring wardrobe. It was everything else that stood out. The multiple plastic hands that were attached to his body, the flaking off skin that made up his being. Katsuki always had to double take to see if someone was actually holding onto him.

Him and Tokoyami were the only ones taken from the training camp. It was better this way— it meant the others were being taken care of in the hospital, and it meant that Katsuki can team up with someone so there was a bigger chance of escape. They didn't know Dark Shadow's weakness.

"He's awfully silent." Patchwork Face— Dabi said. He was as disinterested as they go, not even looking at Katsuki or Tokoyami. His arms were crossed as he propped himself against the wall.

In contrast was Shigaraki, who was too interested. He was facing their direction, but his eyes were well-hidden by the hand that obscured his face.

"We must be getting through to him." Shigaraki said.

You wish. Katsuki thought.

"Hey, why aren't we complete?" Toga said. She made for a sight too— a schoolgirl in a uniform with her hair tied up in pigtails. She was in the thick of the crowd, but she wasn't diminished by the slightest.

"He must be shy. Call him out here, we have to stand as a united front." Shigaraki inclined him head towards her.

Toga considered for a moment. "Alright." Toga skipped off.

They must be talking about another member of the league. Katsuki saw everyone who went through the portal with them, including Muscleman, who was bragging about killing a kid. It made him sick, seeing Muscleman grin at him, as if he was one of their own.

Kota. Katsuki thought. He remembered the kid who punched Ojiro in the balls when he shook his hand. He was a little shit, but he didn't deserve to die. Katsuki shook himself out of it soon after— Worrying wasn't doing him any good. It only meant that he should get out of here so he can finally figure out what happened to everyone else.

Assess the situation. The unnamed league member wasn't part of the USJ attack. They also hadn't come through with them from the portal, meaning that they weren't part of the attack from camp either. That left the mystery member's role a mystery. Kurogiri was holding Shigaraki back, meaning that Shigaraki wasn't the real boss. And if Kurogiri was the head of everything, then why would he let Shigaraki run wild?

Obnoxious humming gradually drew closer. Katsuki locked his muscles, teeth gritted against each other, glaring at the door— he was expecting the worst, it was possible that he would face the boss—

"I'm back!" Toga sang. She had a ditzy smile on her face. Wrapped around her arm was the other member—

Katsuki's blood truly went cold.

Katsuki couldn't forget.

He couldn't forget when every person that had glared at him, looking at him as if it was his fault. He couldn't forget with every All Might figurine that he had been gifted with as a child. He couldn't forget every time he saw Midoriya Inko with that haunted expression, nearly a shadow of herself.

Midoriya Izuku was hunching over, a notebook tight in his hands. He was taller than Katsuki remembered, a few inches taller than Toga who was clinging to him like a leech. He had a sickly glow contrasted to his chubby cheeked face. This was emphasized by the hospital mask tucked under his chin. He was wearing a blue hoodie, the same blue hoodie he had worn to the school field trip all those years ago.

Izuku was staring right at the floor. His knuckles had gone white.

How could he forget—

"Deku?" Katsuki gasped. His blood rushed through his ears and right into his brain, electrifying him alive.

Katsuki prepared for the worst, but not— not this. Deku, who went missing all those years ago and the League of Villains, who relentlessly attacked UA since they introduced themselves— they didn't fit.

Katsuki finally caught Dabi's attention. He side-eyes them. "So he speaks."

"What took you so long? It's rude to be late." Shigaraki was addressing Deku now.

Tokoyami had finally snapped up, looking at Katsuki. Questions were visibly rattling in that big bird brain of his. Tough shit, Katsuki was having a lot of questions right now too.

Deku stuck out like a sore thumb against the rest of the villains. He was timid, his hand reaching out for Toga once she had slipped out of the fray. His other hand was desperately clutching on his notebook, nearly crumpling the cover.

Deku was able to look at Shigaraki, who broke into USJ and peeled off layers of Aizawa-sensei's skin and gave him a new limit to his quirk.

Deku, who would cry when Katsuki would hide his All Might doll.

"The— FUCK are you doing here?" Katsuki heaved. The cuffs tied to his wrists clinked and scratched, but he couldn't even raise them with the block that was securing his hands.

Deku looked at him. His eyes were darker than he remembered, though it might be the lighting of the bar. He remembered himself, blinking away his malice, receding back into himself. He stepped back to join the League of Villains, and then, Mr. Compress shuffling away to accomodate him, as if Deku, Deku was part of them.

"Izuku, he's talking to you." Shigaraki said.

"Izuku?" Katsuki said, his stomach lurching outward. "Izuku?"

Izuku was finally looking at him again. He was meeting his eyes with a deadly glare, shadows gradually obscuring his face.

"Why, Kacchan?" Kacchan. He hadn't heard that name in a very, very long time. "Are you surprised that he has the guts to call me by my actual name?"

"NO!" The leather strapped around Katsuki's chest struck back at him. He staggered back and took a breath. "I just never thought that you would join this bunch of low lives!"

"Who are you calling a low life?" Muscleman growled.

Shigaraki threw out a hand, signalling him to stop. Spinner held him by the back of his shirt. Muscleman looked like he was about to protest, but another glare from Spinner forced him to back down.

In retrospect, it wasn't smart to reveal that Katsuki wasn't convinced— but fuck that, what the hell was Deku doing here?

Deku, at least, recoiled as if physically hit.

"Shut up. You don't know anything." Deku glowered.

"Explain it to me, then!" Katsuki yelled. "You realized that you can't be a hero, so you went ahead and became a villain? How the hell does that make sense?"

Deku snapped. He took a decisive step forward.

"Shut UP!" Deku roared, drowning Katsuki with the sound. What's even more surprising was the ball of fire that erupted from his lips.

Katsuki reeled back, physically throwing himself back of the chair that it nearly toppled over.

The fire in his mouth grew until it grew as a second mask, a small sun in place of where Deku's face was supposed to be. This unknown, almost grotesque creature scrambled over with frantic, sure steps, with the intent of-

It might have been karma. After years and years of tormenting Deku, he would finally snap back. It would have been perfect, where Deku held all the power with all his allies at his side while Katsuki couldn't use his quirk.

The same quirk that Katsuki lorded over Deku time and time again, relishing that he didn't have a quirk of his own.

Until now.

The creature stopped when he was looming over him. He was close enough that the heat was searing his bare skin, a low, constant boiling in contrast of the quick intermittent explosions that Katsuki emitted. He was bracing himself for the fire to rise, to scorch him completely—

The bar went dark.

Deku was standing in front of him once again. It was hard to parse his expression, clouded by the inky darkness that seemed to leak from Deku's eyes that was starting to drown the room.

The room went cold.

A small, bony hand went to Deku's throat. Upon closer sight, the mask was charred by the edges, spots of black smearing the otherwise white cloth.

"I'm not— I'm not the quirkless kid you picked on anymore." Deku's words were wrapped in gravel that was crunching into every vowel.

Deku's green eyes were bright, glowing, not in the way that they used to do, back when he had one hand in Katsuki's hand and the other with his Auntie Inko's as she guided them along the winding, never ending street into a hero merchandise shop. The light in Deku's eyes were all too bright, something simmering inside of him, despite the fact that they weren't actually glowing at all.

The same thin, pitiful looking fingers find their way into the string of the hospital mask, tucking the cloth in front of his face and securing the string behind his ears. Just like that, his entire presence had diminished once again.

Deku's eyes wander, distracted, and find their way back to the League of Villains— his allies, and completely discarded his attention from Katsuki. Katsuki felt like he was disappearing into the background behind him.

Katsuki couldn't even hyperventilate properly. The leather strapped on his chest pushed back every time he breathed, but he couldn't stop himself.

Besides, he already said too much. The rest of them were already glaring at him.

"Villain is just a label that society puts on people they don't understand." Shigaraki said.

You can't slip up again. Don't talk. Katsuki thought inwardly.

Then he couldn't help but wonder— with the boy who was dwarfed by nearly everyone beside him— what convinced Deku to come here? Deku, the biggest All Might fanatic that he knew. Deku, who had helplessly aimed to be a hero even when Katsuki tried to stomp it out of him.

If you come closer, I'll never forgive you!

Deku wasn't looking at him, but infuriatingly, on his damn notebook. He looked out of place, short and nerdy and still looking like Deku, but at the same time, with the hollowness in his eyes and his fire quirk, he wasn't Deku at all.

"The heroes aren't coming. So think on it, alright?" Shigaraki pulled himself off his stool.

Then, to the others. "Alright, it's time to go."

"You're just going to leave us here?" Katsuki asked, disbelief betraying his composure. His little spat with Deku left him too exposed, too vulnerable.

"Nope!" Toga giggled. "I'd like to know both of you better!"

Katsuki didn't know what her quirk was. Thinking about it, it might be the best time to to attempt to ambush her and escape. There were only certain people that he would rather not get stuck with, such as fire quirks that would certainly drown out Tokoyami's quirk.

Katsuki couldn't help but look at Deku, who spared another glance at Katsuki, his fingers twitching at the doorknob.

Then Deku continued to walk on, and the door shut.

"Oooh, it's you guys!" Toga deftly weaved a knife between her fingers before pointing it to her cheek. It a gross caricature of Asui's signature finger-on-cheek pose. "Wow, look at both of you!"

Toga happily skipped her way to Tokoyami. 

"You don't look very beat up." Toga dropped herself into a sitting position. The knives lined around her legs somehow don't stab her. She was a caricature of childhood curiosity. Both hands flat against the floor. Her head tilted against the side. She blinked her bright, amber eyes. "It's usually hard work to almost kill one of our friends. You're supposed to be tiiiired."

It was only moments ago. An exhausted Shoji barely chasing his breath as he faced both Katsuki and Tokoyami. On his tail was a hideous monster that soon revealed himself as Dark Shadow, who was ruthless enough to fight the tooth villain. A villain that both Katsuki and Todoroki could barely hold themselves against. Once the tooth villain was down, Katsuki made quick work of making Dark Shadow calm down. Damn Todoroki refused to use his fire quirk even under the threat of death. Their ragtag group: Todoroki, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Bakugo started to scour for more villains.  The villains has found them instead. One second, Katsuki was walking in the forest, and the next, he was held hostage along with Tokoyami.

Tokoyami, unlike Katsuki, had kept his composure. The tic at his cheek was the only indicator of his discomfort.

"You're too young to be ensnared by the jaws of villainy." Tokoyami said coolly. 

It was Katsuki's turn to flinch. He didn't know what the hell was running in his stupid bird brain, but engaging the enemy was the stupidest response he could have come up with. He glared at Tokoyami.  Don't fucking talk. Unfortunately, he hadn't mastered the art of telepathy.

Toga happily watched the mental exchange. treating them like clowns in a circus act. Her fingers were laced together, supporting her chin. She was humming lightly.

"Says the hero students." Toga sang. "Say, how is the hero gig going for ya?"

"It's an...." A pause. A bob of the adam's apple. "Experience."

Toga had taken to studying him. A poisonous smile had curved her lips. She was leaning towards him, but gave him enough space to breathe.

"I know!" Toga nodded fervently. "I've never been in a group before, and Shigaraki is such a nag, sometimes, blabbering about a video game or something, I mean, this is fun, but it sure isn't some lame video game."

Tokoyami had gone still. Curiosity straightened his spine, narrowed his eyes, a calculative gleam. "Shigaraki?"

Toga stopped smiling. She leaned backward, suddenly keen on giving Tokoyami his personal space. She inclined her head. "For hero trainees, you guys aren't subtle in gathering intel. Good thing you aren't going anywhere, huh?" A childish lilt.

Tokoyami pulled away so suddenly that it was impossible to miss. 

Toga blew out a breath. Deciding she was tired of Tokoyami, she got to her feet and sauntered towards Katsuki. She took her sweet time circling around him— once, twice, thrice, enjoying the way Katsuki jumped when she got too close.

"Especially you, Kacchan!" Toga said. That earned her another flinch. "Izuku was always talking about you, you know! How strong Kacchan is. How talented Kacchan is! Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan!"

Something was pulling at Katsuki's chest— (Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan, a small boy looking for his pencil, Kacchan, Kacchan, Kacchan, a malicious villain with honey dipped words).

"Stop calling me that." Katsuki rasped.

Toga could barely hide her delight from Katsuki's discomfort. She hid her mouth behind her sleeve in order to stifle a giggle. Her cheeks were bright, cherry red— how that happened, Katsuki couldn't tell.

"Sorry!" Toga wasn't sorry. "Can't help but pick up some things from Izuku, you know! He's always around, you know, being Shigaraki's best friend and all, and he keeps mumbling!"

Deku was a core member of the League of Villains.

"I mean, you should know, right? You're his childhood best friend, though Shigaraki is his best friend now." Toga said. "Don't be jealous, though!"

The realization swept through Katsuki like a wave— surprisingly, instead of a violent reaction, all he was able to muster was a quiet, tired kind of acceptance. The shock must have worn off by now.

"I've never been friends with that freak." Katsuki said lowly. He spat out the words, stringing them with acidic poison. "I'd never look at a fucking villain."

Not the smartest move against the villain. Katsuki knew that. He didn't need Tokoyami vigorously shaking his head to figure that out. Unfortunately, Katsuki had lost control of his agency. There were puppet strings stuffed in his mouth, stuffed to his limbs— pushing him to speak, pushing him to straighten his spine, to raise his head.

A switch had been flipped. Toga was visibly displeased. She wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, Izuku told me that you're a reaaaaaal grump! You were real grouchy at the Sports Festival too, you were tied up like this at there, right?"

A different type of chains tightened against Katsuki's skin— binding him to reality. The imaginary puppeteer lost the battle. It left Katsuki to stagger and succumb into his chair. It was the aftermath of an explosion— vacant, fatigued, winded, without exploding at all.

When he blinked, Toga's amused expression was plastered inches from his own face. The second thing he noticed was the knife biting his skin, hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to draw blood.

"You have such strong arms." Toga murmured. Her breath burned his ear. "I wonder what would happen if I—

Katsuki snapped his head up. He tried to pull his arms away, but there was simply no space left. Katsuki was drowning— in Toga, who was everywhere and too much, the only thing that was anchoring him was a knife point to his arms.

"Bakugo!" Tokoyami. A reminder of reality. "Your quirk!"

There were goosebumps trailing along Katsuki's skin— enhanced by the layer of cold sweat. It immediately clicked in Katsuki's head. Before he knew it, he was able to manage an explosion with the little space he was able to manage. Toga stumbled, startled —

Katsuki took a lungful of air. And another. And another. His surroundings trickled by with each breath he took.

Toga was standing a foot away from him. It wasn't a comfortable distance, but it was enough space for Katsuki to breathe. Interest was sparking in her eyes, her pupils dilated. The smile on her face was chilling.

"You really are amazing, Kacchan!" Toga said. How many times had Deku uttered the same words on a sunny day, when everything was all too big but they never felt small at all? "I'll give you a pass for now. We still have so much time to spend with each other."

"I'd like to urinate." Tokoyami suddenly cut in.

"I'd like to urinate." Toga mocked. "You talk so funny. C'mon, let's go!"

Toga unlatched the chains that bound him from the chair, but did nothing about the block around his hands. With a hand on his back, she pushed him gently out of the door.

Tokoyami turned back to look at Katsuki. He nodded.

Katsuki would never admit it, but he would be thankful that Birdbrain took Toga away from him.

Then again, being alone with his thoughts didn't sound all too appealing either.

Toga returned with Tokoyami soon after, both of them unscathed. She wouldn't stop talking, thrusting the room in her scratchy, high voice— The only marker of the passing of time. She bid her farewell with a Oops, time's up! She brought her manic energy as she skipped out of the room, leaving the space vacant and dormant in her absence.

Katsuki and Tokoyami were frozen. At a loss of what to do. They were looking at each other for at least three minutes. Tokoyami was the first one to snap out of it. He pushed his back against the chair to expose his stomach.

Katsuki followed his cue. He forced both of his arms and legs apart, only to stay trapped in his restraints. He was rendered immobile by the chains on his feet and rendered quirkless by the metal box in his hands.

"Son of a bitch." Katsuki hissed.

"I'm here!" Dark Shadow manifested in front of Tokoyami. Another familiar presence in the twilight zone— and Katsuki's standards must have dropped, because both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow are the founders of the twilight zone. "Maaaaan, those guys are real creepy."

"Tell your pet to hush up." Katsuki said through gritted teeth. A half-hearted attempt at normalcy.

"I'm not a pet!" Dark Shadow was aghast. Both master and servant were equally dramatic, but they stood on opposite sides of the spectrum.

Tokoyami sighed in exasperation. "Scout the area but avoid confrontation."

Dark Shadow didn't bother with a response. He crossed the room in seconds and stood idle by the door. Katsuki couldn't help but feel a sense of dread— there was a very real possibility that he would get caught.

"Going out isn't safe." Katsuki said. "Someone's gonna replace that knife chick soon. Can your lackey fend them off?"

"Dark Shadow isn't suited to clash against their crew. I wouldn't suggest it." Tokoyami said. He didn't need to elaborate for Katsuki to catch on— a dark forest with an even darker monster, with his unfortunate host only being dragged along to his whim. Currently, the line connecting Dark Shadow and Tokoyami glimmer in the light, nearly shifting into something dangerous— but it stopped as soon as it started.

"Right." Katsuki eyed his ally. "We just have to hold out until the heroes come."

"Will they?" Tokoyami spared him a listless glance.

A sense of panic. What the fuck? not here, not now. "Eh? What kinda question is that?"

"Someone's coming!" Dark Shadow said. "Heavier footsteps. Someone different!"

Tokoyami called him over with a nod. Dark Shadow eagerly melted back into Tokoyami's shirt— and just like that, it was like he was never there at all.

Meanwhile, Katsuki can already see the nimble, hesitant fashion that Deku walked that bordered on limping. He wondered how he would fit into these too small and too tight walls, instead of the old worn out open paths that they used to call home.

Katsuki was hyperventilating again. How could he have not noticed with how the leather tightening across his chest? He ignored how Tokoyami had taken to staring at him as if he was some animal in a zoo exhibit.

The door swung open.

It was the man with patchworked skin, stitches stringing along his body. His blue coat swept in the air around him. His cold, impassive eyes swept over the room. His mask of indifference was betrayed by the flare of his nostrils. Anger boiled beneath the surface of his skin, waiting to be called upon.

Katsuki found himself slowly calming down, a slow, heavier kind of dread that weighed along his shoulders.

Air rushed into Katsuki's lungs. He almost forgot how good it felt to breathe once again. Tokoyami was acting as he had always had, calm, if not roughed up, but it was enough for Katsuki to know. He was Katsuki's only ally in this place, the only person who had his back.

Katsuki could still remember the training camp. It had only been a few hours ago, yet it was quickly slipping past his fingers like quicksand. But even quicksand can be held, gathered into his fingers and close to his heart. It was a safeguard from this nightmare.

Jealous? The retort scraped against Katsuki's throat. It was waiting to be spoken into existence, a verbal bullet to be shot in defense. But Katsuki couldn't pull the trigger.