Chapter Text
Katsuki's POV
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The street smelled like rust and rain, a metallic tang that made Katsuki’s throat tighten. Broken glass glittered across the asphalt under the flickering streetlights. He stepped carefully over shards, boots crunching as he passed the yellow police tape and ducked under it. Nothing about this scene felt ordinary. His instincts screamed that this was more than vandalism. More than a robbery. Every nerve in his body prickled with a strange anticipation, a thrill he could not name.
The building was half-empty, the windows shattered, leaving jagged edges that reflected the green glow of some of the streetlights. He shone his flashlight inside. The walls were streaked with paint, a sickly vibrant green that ran in spirals and jagged lines like chaotic veins. It splattered across desks, chairs, and the tiled floor. Every brushstroke looked deliberate, like someone had spent hours creating this macabre installation. Katsuki’s stomach twisted as he stepped inside.
Shards of glass crunched under his boots. In the center of the room, a figure slumped in a chair. Katsuki’s eyes adjusted and saw the pale skin streaked with green paint, the trembling hands tied behind the back, the wide, terrified eyes that followed every movement he made. Breath came in shallow, sharp gasps. Katsuki knelt beside him, scanning quickly for weapons or injuries that needed immediate attention. None that would kill him. Yet the boy’s panic made him seem more fragile than he actually was.
Katsuki tore a piece of tape from his pocket and carefully removed the gag covering the boy’s mouth. The scream that came out was raw, hoarse, and small. Katsuki held a hand over his ear, though the sound barely registered over the pounding of his own pulse.
“What happened?” Katsuki asked, his voice low and controlled. He wanted to steady the boy, but also to get answers.
The boy’s eyes flicked nervously toward the walls. “He… he painted me. He laughed while he did it. He said I should smile, said I should enjoy being alive while he left me here. I didn’t—” His voice cracked. “I didn’t do anything, I swear.”
Katsuki glanced around again. Everything in the room was carefully arranged. Chairs pushed into corners. Paint poured in spirals that converged at a single point on the floor. Nothing was random. He could feel the presence of the person who had done this in every corner of the room. Someone had moved through this space like a ghost, leaving a mark that was meant to be found, meant to be seen, meant to be felt.
Katsuki’s gaze landed on something small, folded into a perfect triangle and sitting on a desk near the center of the spirals. A green origami crane, carefully creased. He picked it up with one hand, turning it over. Inside, written in the same green paint, were the words:
“You’re fun when you’re angry. See you soon.”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened. The message was childish, playful almost, but there was something sharp behind it, something predatory. The handwriting was chaotic but controlled, an extension of the person who had left this scene. Someone who wanted him to feel this. To notice. To react.
He let the crane drop back onto the desk with more force than necessary. It barely made a sound. His eyes flicked back to the victim. “Did you see him?”
The boy shook his head violently. “No! He didn’t even touch me. He just laughed and painted. I swear I didn’t see his face properly. Only… only his eyes sometimes, and they were… wrong. They were like he could see me through my skin.”
Katsuki swallowed hard. That wasn’t fear in him. That was fascination mixed with the heat of adrenaline. He hated how much it made his chest tighten, how alive it made him feel.
He pulled his flashlight around the room again. The spirals seemed to pulse in the light, or maybe it was just his mind playing tricks. The paint had run in places, creating uneven shadows that danced across the walls. It looked alive. It felt alive. Whoever had done this wanted it to feel alive. Wanted him to feel it.
“Did he leave any other notes?” Katsuki asked.
The boy shook his head again. “Just the crane. Just that one. He said it was a game. That I should… wait.” His voice trailed off, terror and awe mixing in a strange way.
Katsuki clenched his fists. His teeth ground together as he took in the room. Everything about it was designed to provoke a reaction, to pull someone out of the ordinary and into something… chaotic, thrilling, dangerous. He hated how much it pulled at him. He hated that he felt something like excitement underneath the anger. That he could almost feel the ghost of the person who had done this in the air, like the faint vibration of laughter before it even happened.
He turned his attention back to the boy. “Stay here. I’ll make sure someone gets you out safely. Can you stay put?”
The boy nodded, still trembling, still painted in green spirals and streaks, still whispering to himself about laughter and games.
Katsuki rose to his full height. His eyes swept over the room one last time. He made a silent promise to himself, though he wasn’t sure to what exactly. Whoever had left this scene wasn’t going to get away with it. But for some reason, he also wanted to see them again. Wanted to find them. Wanted to know them.
The thought made his chest tighten in a way that confused him. It made his pulse race in a way that scared him. He had chased plenty of criminals before, faced plenty of danger. He had never wanted to see the person again before catching them.
But this time, he did.
And the idea made his teeth ache with anticipation.
He turned to leave the room, the boy’s wide eyes following him, the spirals of green paint glowing faintly under his flashlight. Katsuki had a feeling that whoever had done this was already watching. Waiting. Playing. Smiling somewhere in the darkness.
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Katsuki had barely finished making sure the victim was safe before he heard it again. That laugh. High, breathless, sharp. It echoed through the streets outside the building, bouncing off walls and fire escapes. It was playful, chaotic, a sound that made his stomach twist and his blood run hot.
He swung his flashlight toward the sound. On the rooftop across the street, framed by the pale glow of a broken streetlamp and the sliver of moon, a figure appeared.
The boy was slender but not frail, moving with a strange elegance, as if gravity itself were slightly afraid to touch him. Black pants clung to long legs that shifted effortlessly from one ledge to another. The forest green button-up he wore was neatly tucked, the sleeves rolled just above his elbows, revealing pale forearms streaked with what looked like paint. Over the shirt, a black vest fitted snugly against his torso, a gold flower brooch pinned neatly to the chest. At its center gleamed a green gem, catching the light with every subtle movement. It was ridiculous, theatrical, and impossibly precise.
Katsuki’s breath hitched.
There was something about the combination of the formal clothing and the paint-smeared chaos that made the boy appear otherworldly. Like someone who belonged to no place at all, yet somehow to every place he wanted to invade.
The boy’s hair was a bright, unnatural green, messy in a way that suggested complete carelessness, yet it framed his face perfectly. Eyes wide, almost too large for his face, they glinted with intelligence and mischief, sharp and alert. His smile stretched too wide, almost painfully so, a grin that made Katsuki’s stomach flip in both dread and fascination.
“You came,” the boy said, voice light and teasing. “Faster than I expected. I’m impressed.”
Katsuki narrowed his eyes. “Who are you?”
The boy tilted his head, one hand resting against his chin, fingers long and painted faintly with green streaks. “Names are complicated. But you can call me Izuku.”
The name hit Katsuki like a punch. Something about the way it rolled off his tongue, light and soft but full of confidence, made his pulse speed up. He didn’t answer. He only kept his eyes trained on the boy.
Izuku laughed, a sound like glass cracking, echoing through the night. “Oh, I like that silence. It suits you. It makes you… tense. Excitable. Dangerous.”
Katsuki’s fists clenched. He wanted to reach out and grab him, pull him down, make him stop moving, stop smiling, stop being so impossibly alive. But he also wanted to see more. Wanted to understand why this person made him feel like the rest of the world had fallen away.
The boy lifted a foot and balanced casually on the edge of the rooftop, green curls falling into his face. “You’re looking at me like you already know me, Detective,” he said, tilting his head in a deliberate, almost mocking gesture. “Like you’ve been waiting for this moment.”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know you.”
“Maybe not,” Izuku said, taking a small, precise step forward. “But I know you. I’ve seen you. On the television. You chase. You take risks. You get in too deep. You like it.”
Katsuki felt heat surge in his chest. His eyes narrowed. His body shifted instinctively into a stance ready to react, to grab, to fight, to take control. And yet the pull he felt was undeniable, magnetic, and disorienting.
Izuku’s grin stretched wider. “You came here tonight for me. Admit it. You wanted to see what I would do. You wanted to catch me. I can feel it. You’re thrilled.”
Katsuki’s mouth opened, then closed. He wanted to deny it, but the truth pressed against his ribs like a weight he could not shift. He felt it. The thrill. The heat of the chase. The pulse of danger. The whisper of something darker, something obsessive that hadn’t been there before.
The boy moved with a confidence that was unnerving. He stepped closer, just enough to make the shadows of his painted hands brush the edge of the rooftop. “Do you feel it too?” he asked softly, tilting his head, green eyes locking onto Katsuki’s. “The way your heart beats faster when you know I’m just out of reach? That’s fun, isn’t it?”
Katsuki wanted to tell him to stop. Wanted to call for backup. Wanted to do everything he knew was rational. And yet the pull in his chest made him frozen, rooted in place as if the boy’s gaze had anchored him there.
Izuku tilted his head and let his smile falter just enough for the light to catch a flash of something else in his eyes. Hunger. Curiosity. Play. Madness. The combination was dizzying.
“Do you want to chase me?” he whispered, voice low, almost conspiratorial, as though sharing a secret that belonged to both of them. “Or are you afraid?”
Katsuki’s hands curled into fists. His muscles tensed, ready to move, ready to leap, ready to do anything. And still, he did not move.
Izuku laughed again, the sound soft, intimate, dangerous. “Good. That’s what I like. Someone who knows what they want, but still hesitates. Someone who can be… fun.”
He stepped back then, arms lifting slightly, a theatrical gesture, presenting himself like an actor on a stage. His vest glinted under the dim light, the green gem of the brooch flashing as if alive. His paint-streaked fingers fluttered in the air, playful and deliberate. “But let’s not rush. That would ruin the suspense. Don’t you agree?”
Katsuki’s pulse thundered in his ears. His mind fought for control, for logic, for reason. He should have seen this as a crime scene. He should have taken a step back. He should have arrested this boy immediately.
Instead, he felt something else. Something unfamiliar. Something he could'nt quite put his tongue on.. A dangerous craving that made his chest tighten and his teeth ache with desire.
Izuku’s eyes glimmered with amusement, his head tilted like a predator observing his prey, and for the first time, Katsuki understood that the game had already begun. He was not in control. Not yet. And maybe, he would never be.
Katsuki’s hands curled into fists as he stepped onto the fire escape across from the rooftop where Izuku waited. His chest pounded in time with his boots against the metal stairs. The boy’s grin hadn’t faltered, even for a second. He was poised, balanced, and impossibly calm considering the chaos he’d already created.
“Ready to play?” Izuku asked, voice light, teasing, almost musical. He swung one leg over the railing and stepped forward, testing the edge. His green curls fell into his face, and the light from the street below caught the gold brooch glinting against his vest.
“Play?” Katsuki growled, not moving his eyes from the boy. “I’m not here to play. I’m here to stop you.”
Izuku laughed. “Stop me? Oh, Detective, I think you’ll find that you like chasing more than catching.”
Without another word, the boy sprang off the rooftop. His feet landed softly on the ledge of the next building. Katsuki’s stomach lurched, but he didn’t hesitate. He leaped after him, boots slamming against concrete. The city around them blurred, a whirl of streetlights, alleyways, and rooftops.
Izuku moved like he had rehearsed every step of this route. He twisted over railings, vaulted dumpsters, slid down fire escapes, and all the while kept his grin. He glanced over his shoulder, and his eyes sparkled. “Faster, Detective! Don’t fall behind!”
Katsuki growled and pushed harder. His boots pounded the rooftops as adrenaline coursed through him. Every movement felt sharp, alive, as if the world had narrowed to the boy and the chase. The thrill of danger surged in his chest. He should have been angry, frustrated, even furious. But there was something intoxicating in the way Izuku moved, in the way the green-haired boy seemed to delight in his pursuit.
“You think this is a game?” Katsuki shouted, voice raw. “I’m not playing!”
Izuku tilted his head, a mock pout forming on his painted lips. “Oh, you are. You’re playing whether you want to or not. I can feel it. Your heartbeat. The tension in your legs. The way your fists clench.”
Katsuki’s chest tightened, heat rising through his veins. The words shouldn’t have affected him. They were teasing, manipulative. And yet, they did. He wanted to catch the boy, but part of him also wanted to see him smile that wide, manic grin just one more time.
The chase led them over the rooftops, along narrow alleys, and across fire escapes that creaked under their weight. Izuku ran without fear, taunting him at every turn. “You’re getting faster!” he shouted. “I like that. You’re… fun.”
“Fun isn’t the word I’d use!” Katsuki barked. His boots slid against the concrete as he took a sharp corner. Sweat burned in his eyes. He hated how much this thrill consumed him. He hated that he felt something almost like desire in the pit of his stomach.
Izuku stopped suddenly at the edge of a building and looked back, green eyes gleaming, chest rising and falling lightly. “See? I knew you’d come. I knew you couldn’t resist.” He leaned forward slightly, resting his hands on his knees, tilting his head in mock exhaustion. “Do you like this chase, Detective? Being so close, so tense?”
Katsuki’s fingers twitched. “Shut up and keep running!”
Izuku laughed, a light, jagged sound that carried across the alley below. “Oh, I’m going. But you like that I’m teasing you. I can see it in your eyes.”
Katsuki’s teeth ground together. He ignored the heat in his chest and surged forward again, boots hammering the rooftop. He was close now, closing the distance between them with each leap. Each step made his pulse spike, each glance at the boy sent a thrill crawling through him. The excitement was addictive. Dangerous. And it made him want more.
Izuku vaulted over a low wall and landed lightly on the next building, turning to face Katsuki with a grin that made his stomach clench. “Almost there! You’re so close!”
Katsuki surged forward, leaping the gap. His chest burned, muscles screaming, but the boy was still just ahead. Each time Katsuki nearly reached him, Izuku twisted, twisted perfectly out of reach, spinning and landing with ease. The way he moved was unnerving, frustrating, and entirely captivating.
“You’ve been watching me,” Katsuki muttered under his breath. He couldn’t stop the thought, the realization. Whoever this boy was, he had studied him. He knew his moves, his habits. The way he ran. The way he reacted. The way he chased.
Izuku’s laugh sliced through the night again, softer this time, intimate, teasing. “Oh, I’ve seen you on the television. You’re… very impressive. Very… persistent. I wanted to play with you from the first moment I saw you.”
Katsuki froze mid-step. The words hit him harder than any punch. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what he felt. The heat in his chest tightened, pulsing in rhythm with his heart. Excitement, obsession, desire, and fury collided in a way that left him breathless.
Izuku smiled wider, sensing his hesitation. “Don’t stop now. Keep chasing me, Detective. I want to see how far you’ll go.”
Katsuki’s jaw tightened. He could feel the pull of something dangerous and irresistible. Every instinct screamed to grab the boy, to end this chase, to control the situation. And yet, part of him wanted to continue running, to feel the thrill of the hunt, to be near the boy who moved with such reckless grace.
The chase continued, faster now, sharper, each leap and turn bringing them closer to the edge of the rooftop district. The city below them stretched endlessly, dark and quiet, broken only by the flickering streetlights and the sound of their boots on the concrete.
Katsuki’s eyes locked on Izuku, every movement precise, every step calculated yet seemingly effortless. He was impossible to catch, and yet, Katsuki knew he would try until the moment he finally did. The thrill of it was intoxicating, a dangerous fire that burned brighter with each second of the pursuit.
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The chase had stretched across half the city by now. Katsuki’s lungs burned, sweat stung his eyes, and every muscle in his body screamed for relief. And still, he didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.
Izuku moved ahead, effortlessly, teasing, playing, laughing. Every leap, every spin, every glance over his shoulder drove something raw and electric through Katsuki. It wasn’t just frustration. It wasn’t just the thrill. It was something more. Darker. Obsessive.
“Not bad, Detective!” Izuku called over his shoulder, the forest green of his shirt standing out against the shadows. “You’re faster than I thought. Impressive.”
“Shut up and keep moving!” Katsuki growled, barely keeping his footing on the ledge. He could see the boy clearly now, the gold brooch glinting, the green gem flashing like a heartbeat. Every detail burned into Katsuki’s mind.
Izuku stopped suddenly on a higher rooftop, turning to face him with a tilt of his head. He was calm, composed, dangerous, but also smiling that wide, impossible smile. “Almost… there,” he said softly. “You like this chase, don’t you?”
Katsuki’s chest tightened. He should have denied it. He should have been angry, furious even. Instead, the truth pressed against him. He did like it. He liked it more than he wanted to admit. The thrill. The danger. The way Izuku moved, teasing and impossible, was intoxicating.
“I’m going to catch you,” Katsuki spat, voice low, rough. “Mark my words.”
Izuku tilted his head, one hand brushing over the edge of the rooftop as if to invite Katsuki closer. “I wanted to play with you. To see you struggle. To see how you react. To see if you would keep going. Do you like that?”
Katsuki didn’t answer at first. His body moved before his mind could catch up, surging forward across the rooftop. He almost had him. His fingers grazed Izuku’s coat, brushed against the paint-streaked fabric, felt the warmth beneath it.
Izuku laughed, soft and breathless, turning slightly so that he stayed just out of reach. “So close… but not yet.”
Katsuki’s teeth ground together. He lunged again, desperation and desire fueling him. His pulse hammered in his ears, the city blurring around them. Each step, each leap, each glance at the boy made his stomach twist in a way he had never felt before.
“You’re… insane,” Katsuki growled, panting, sweat running down his temples. “You don’t even know how dangerous this is.”
“I know exactly,” Izuku said, tilting his head with that infuriating, perfect smile. “And you like it, don’t you? You like that I’m impossible to catch. That I’m teasing you. That I’m… fun.”
Katsuki froze. The word cut through him, sharp and hot. Fun. He wanted to deny it, to fight it, to shove it down. But he couldn’t. He felt it in every nerve, every pulse, every heated glance toward the boy. He wanted him. He wanted him more than he had ever wanted anything while chasing a criminal.
Izuku’s eyes glittered as he stepped closer to the edge of the rooftop. “I’ve been waiting for someone like you,” he said, voice low, intimate. “Someone who won’t give up. Someone who can match me, even if just a little. Someone I can play with.”
Katsuki’s chest tightened. His mind shouted warnings he ignored. His body moved on its own, following the boy with reckless precision.
“Wait,” he hissed, catching his breath. “You’re insane. You’ve been planning this?”
Izuku’s grin widened. “Of course. I had to know if you were worth it. And you are. You’re thrilling. I like you, Detective. I want to see how far you’ll go.”
Katsuki’s heart hammered. Heat coiled low in his chest, tension building, sharp and undeniable. He surged forward again, reaching for him. His fingers brushed the hem of Izuku’s vest. The boy laughed, soft, breathless, delighted.
“I like that you chase me,” Izuku whispered, just close enough that Katsuki could hear it, just close enough that his chest constricted. “I like that you’re obsessed already. I like that you can’t stop.”
Katsuki froze for a split second, stunned. The words were incendiary. They burned hotter than any threat, any gun, any chase. Heat pooled in his stomach, in his chest, in the back of his neck. He wanted more. He needed more.
Izuku tilted his head back, green curls falling into the moonlight. “But this is the best part,” he said softly. “The edge. The chase. The moment right before everything changes. Are you ready?”
Before Katsuki could respond, Izuku leapt from the rooftop.
His landing was impossible, graceful, smooth. He rolled, barely making a sound, and then he sprang to his feet. He looked up at Katsuki, green eyes gleaming in the shadows, chest rising and falling lightly from the exertion. “Next time, Detective,” he called softly. “I’ll be waiting. Don’t keep me waiting too long.”
Katsuki stood frozen, chest heaving, fists still clenched. His pulse screamed in his ears. The adrenaline, the thrill, the obsession, all coiled tight inside him, leaving him breathless.
He had chased criminals before, fought dangerous people, risked his life countless times. But he had never felt like this. Never wanted someone like this.
Izuku was gone, vanished into the shadows, leaving only the echo of that manic, breathless laughter behind. And Katsuki knew, with an intensity that terrified and thrilled him, that he wanted to see him again. Wanted to chase him again. Wanted… more.
He stayed on the rooftop, frozen for long moments, the city quiet around him. Heat pooled low in his chest. Breath came in ragged gasps. His mind refused to be rational. His body refused to calm.
Somewhere deep down, a voice whispered a single, dangerous thought.
This is going to get worse.
And I want it to.