Conflagration

Chapter 4 of 20

There was a bitter taste in the back of Izuku's mouth and a heavy weight in his gut. It was hard to believe what he'd just sat through and he couldn't tell if it was shame or guilt that burned his cheeks; if it was anger or his feeling of injustice that made his spine stiff as he walked down the hallway with All Might at his side.

So many parts of this situation were wrong. Being near All Might shouldn't make him feel like he was being judged or wronged somehow. All Might was his hero, the one man Izuku had looked up to for as long as he could remember. Izuku was in the hallway of the best hero school and yet, in the back of his mind, he was thinking of the best way to escape and never return.

He was afraid that the teachers would agree with Haruka and expel him. He was even more afraid that she would follow through on her threat and remove Katsuki from Yuuei if he didn't get expelled.

He was terrified that the next time Usagi came out, she'd remember their expressions. That she'd feel the feelings he felt now and she would act for herself.

She didn't do it often and usually only did it to say goodnight to the moon, but sometimes-

"Midoriya," All Might stood a few feet ahead of him. He was half turned, looking at him with concern.

Izuku looked at his chiseled face, his broad shoulders, the visible strength that was, he had learned only hours ago, a facade. The hero of his childhood was more often a shade of his former self than he was the man that Izuku had always felt like he knew. And perhaps that truth was the most unfair thing of all.

All Might didn't deserve to be so battered and broken, after all he'd done as a hero, after all he had suffered. "...Sir?"

"You stopped…?"

Izuku blinked and realized that was true. He had stopped in the middle of the hallway. He looked around and when his eye caught on a nearby door, he realized what he had to do. "Uh. Yeah. Actually, could I go to the bathroom before we get there?"

All Might seemed taken aback and then nodded. Izuku had spent all morning with him, after all. He hadn't any bathroom breaks yet. "Yes, go ahead. I'll wait out here."

Izuku nodded and trotted into the bathroom. As soon as he was inside, he flicked his wrist, dislodging Good Luck from her holster on his wrist. He pushed in the bathroom stall door and locked it behind himself. Getting down on his knees, Izuku unbound the bandages on his neck and pulled them down.

It was a bit gross to be so close to a toilet when he wasn't vomiting and thus too preoccupied with his own sickness that he didn't think of how nasty a toilet was. Still, he didn't really have a choice at this point, did he?

Izuku leaned over the toilet, tucking his tie into his shirt so it didn't fall into the water. He found his jugular with his fingers, searching for the feeling of his own heartbeat. Once he found it, Izuku sank Good Luck into his flesh.

The bite of the metal was sudden and sharp, but intimately familiar. Izuku had just enough strength to pull the knife out again and drop it to the floor before his heart, beating as hard as it was, pumped his blood out in spurts into the toilet bowl.

Izuku came too with the feeling of porcelain digging into his chest and the sensation that he was upside down.

He wasn't, not really, but his head certainly was slumped forward enough that he felt that way. Slowly, shaking off the grogginess rather quickly, Izuku pushed himself up. He flushed the toilet and looked around, checking for any blood on the tile.

Finding a few drops here or there, he quickly wiped them up with toilet paper and then flushed those too.

Picking up Good Luck, he stepped out of the stall and into the main bathroom area.

Izuku didn't expect to see anyone standing there, washing their hands in the sink, but there someone stood. For a second, Izuku stood, frozen in the stall door as his eyes met that of another student's in the mirror above the sink. For another second, there was nothing but the sound of running water.

Izuku could see his own face in the mirror. The way that he had positioned himself over the toilet bowl had prevented his blood from running down his neck to his collarbone and his shirt. Instead, it had run up his chin, over half of his face and into his hair.

His blood was like a garish red mask, making him look wild and frightening, especially with his wide, surprised eyes. It hadn't yet dried and as Izuku stood there, it began to drip down to his collar. "Shit," he hissed, rushing forwards to the other sink. He grabbed paper towels and hurriedly stopped the blood from reaching his clothes. Izuku dampened some of them and began to clean up the rest of the blood.

The other student, one that Izuku didn't recognize offhand (though that wasn't really saying much), stared at him in complete silence. He still hadn't moved, allowing the water from his faucet to run over his hands in a constant stream.

"Head wounds," Izuku said with a bit of nervous laughter, "They always bleed so damn much." He rinsed off Good Luck and dried the blade on a paper towel before putting it back into place on his wrist under his jacket sleeve.

This comment was met with more silence, although the other boy did reach up and turn off his own faucet. Izuku gave him a nervous smile, the kind that was a bit sheepish, as he went back to washing the blood off his face. He turned his head, looking in his peripheral to make sure he'd gotten it all off his ears. He'd almost been caught like that before and wasn't about to let it happen again.

Running a hand through his hair, Izuku grimaced. It was tacky already and wasn't going to get any better. Fortunately, it was after lunch so he had only a few hours left of school. His dark hair would obscure it for that long, at least. He only had to worry about it if Katsuki touched his hair and then only for-

"Are you in the Heroics Department?" The other student asked his voice was flat, but his words carefully spoken.

"What? Oh yeah, I … am…" Izuku blinked slowly. There was a strange filminess that drifted over his mind. He could still feel the paper towels in his hands and the cold edge of the sink from where he leaned his hip against it but… nothing else.

Distantly, Izuku was aware that someone was talking to him. His dazed eyes moved off of the face in the mirror, the one with green eyes and dark hair and utterly vacant expression. He felt compelled to turn, his head moving first and his body following like he was on a set of marionettist's strings.

He faced someone he still didn't recognize, but his eyes took in the information for later. This was the person who was talking to him. Izuku could see his lips moving, but the sound just didn't carry to his brain. There were sounds that followed that, ones that poured out of his throat like blood, echoing in his head as he answered.

Izuku privately thought that whatever he was saying couldn't make any sense, since he couldn't understand what was being asked of him in the first place. But the person didn't look annoyed, just grim. Strange. What a strange expression.

Something happened abruptly, causing the person in front of him to jump and look past Izuku.

In the very next second, clarity rushed back Izuku's mind and he gasped, looking around. He instantly caught sight of All Might, poking his head in the door. "Midoriya?" His teacher asked, frowning slightly, "Are you… done?"

"Ah, yes! Sorry. I just um.. My hands…" Izuku said. He swallowed tightly, seeing the paper towels in his hands were dark with blood and water. He flushed and went to throw them away, checking his reflection for any blood.

"Ahem," an unfamiliar voice said. Izuku blinked and looked over his shoulder. That was right. There was a student here. He'd been here when Izuku had walked out of the bathroom stall… right? The student gestured to the side of his jaw, "You missed a spot, Midoriya."

Izuku glanced to the mirror, seeing the red smudge that the other student saw and hurriedly wiped it clean. "Um, thanks….?"

"Shinsou Hitoshi," was the answer. "And you're welcome." He grabbed paper towels himself drying his hands while Izuku gave him an awkward hand wave and hurried to the doorway.

Once in the hallway, All Might said, "Your neck… You removed the bandage?"

Izuku touched his throat, nodding. "I wanted to see if it had finished healing… It had." He licked his lips, feeling strangely on edge. It was always chancy lying to an adult, especially one like All Might. Katsuki liked to say that most people were useless and stupid, but there were some people who weren't quite so stupid.

Those ones, he said, were just smart enough to be dangerous.

All Might was like that. He had given Izuku One For All, and thus, was knowledgeable enough to know that Izuku's enhancement quirk didn't actually come with the ability to heal.

Still, All Might didn't argue with him when he said that he'd healed. Just said that he was glad that Izuku was no longer hurt and continued to take him to the staff room.

Before All Might even opened the door to the staff room, Izuku could hear shouting. He winced, recognizing Katsuki's voice easily. He stopped his teacher from going in first, wary for the man's safety in retrospect of his condition. Izuku cautiously slid the door open.

Smoke rolled out at his feet and, upon breathing it in, Izuku felt woozy with fatigue. He staggered back, coughing, bringing up his coat jacket to cover his mouth and nose. There was a crack of an explosion. The blast of that explosion dispersed the rolling smoke.

All Might's hand braced Izuku's back, but in seconds that wasn't necessary.

Following the explosion, Katsuki came lunging through the doorway. "Deku!" He shouted.

"Kacchan," Izuku smiled. He barely got his arms up in time for Katsuki's hug. Katsuki squeezed the air from his lungs, making Izuku's bones crack as he held him tight. Izuku opened his mouth to say something but was completely cut off when Katsuki kissed him hard.

"Hey, don't let him- Oh God damn it." Izuku heard his other teacher, Midnight, say. But he wasn't really paying attention to her, couldn't be. Katsuki was demanding all of his attention. Izuku felt one of Katsuki's hands go up, headed for his hair, and he grabbed a hold of it to hold it down.

Katsuki bit his lip for it and the kiss became more of a struggle than before. Izuku didn't mind, because it helped wipe his mind clear of the emotions that plagued him. If he just focused on Katsuki, he could-

"That is enough," Midnight said. Gripping them each by a shoulder, she began to physically pull them apart. She managed to stop their kissing before Katsuki caught on.

"Wait- Don't-" Izuku gasped out. Katsuki's arms tightened harder around him to prevent Midnight from pulling them apart. His breathing became shallow pants as Katsuki practically growled at their teacher.

"You don't get to fucking tell me when I've had enough," Katsuki said.

"I do get to tell you when you've done enough. Don't you have any sense, kid? You're at school, in a hallway in front of your teachers! Do you think this is an appropriate place to suck face?" Midnight said gesturing to the two of them.

"What do you fucking think?" Katsuki snapped, "I was fucking doing it like two damn seconds ago before your ancient ass got in my fucking way."

Izuku winced as he saw points of color rising on Midnight's cheeks. She visibly was holding herself back, teeth clenched and hands curling into fists. At his back, Izuku could feel All Might's disapproval. Izuku sighed gently. He hadn't done a damn thing all day and he still just wanted to go home and sleep.

He couldn't even rest his head on Katsuki's shoulder without fear of smearing blood on him. Everything was awful.

"Midnight," All Might said, "Thank you for your help. I'm sure I can handle it from here."

Midnight opened her mouth, perhaps to argue, or to agree, but all that came out was a sigh. Shaking her head, she muttered that All Might was 'welcome to the little monsters' and she had class anyway. Turning on her heel, she walked off, her back stiff.

"Boys," All Might said with a wave to the door, "If we could go inside and talk…?"

Izuku couldn't see All Might from where he stood, but he could see the expression on Katsuki's face when he looked up at the hero. He was serious, and, in the set of his jaw, Izuku could tell that Katsuki was going to be willful and stubborn today too. "Kacchan," he whispered, "I'm tired… Can we go sit down?"

Almost immediately, Katsuki relaxed his grip on Izuku's chest. "Yeah, okay." He tugged Izuku into the room behind himself, waving his hand through the air a little bit. "Sorry, she kept trying to put me to sleep so I had to keep burning that fucking smoke."

There were wisps of smoke curling along the floor and ceiling. Katsuki left Izuku on the couch and went to a window. He opened both of them before coming back.

Izuku sat in the corner of the couch, legs drawn up under himself. Katsuki sat beside him, turned towards him. A gentle hand brushed Izuku's throat. "You healed…?" Katsuki asked in a whisper.

Izuku nodded, "I found a little Good Luck in the bathroom a while ago."

Katsuki's lips pressed into a thin line.

The door shut behind All Might, who walked slowly into the room and sank down into a chair across from the two of them. He sighed heavily, leaning forward with his elbow on his knee.

Katsuki looked from All Might to Izuku and said, "Tell me what happened."

Izuku nodded. He took Katsuki's hands in his own, rubbing them idly to keep his own hands busy as he explained his morning.

He started with Aizawa's questioning about his 'injury' and how he'd admitted it was Katsuki's 'love bites' that he'd covered. Katsuki snorted when Izuku flushed at how he had to explain that there wasn't a real injury, it was just marks left by Katsuki.

When he brought up All Might's arrival, Izuku glanced to the hero himself. He still had his buff form visible, but his eyes looked more sunken than usual. As Izuku explained that All Might's quirk and the scars from his battles were destroying his body, Katsuki's hands tightened around Izuku's. For all that he boasted about being even better than All Might, Katsuki looked up to the hero as well.

Finding out he was still human, still mortal, wasn't easy.

Izuku didn't hesitate to reiterate the things that All Might had told him. While the horror in All Might's voice as he explained the downfall of his own mentor- of the woman who had given her quirk to him- had been audible in the way his voice had shaken during the story, Izuku couldn't help but be fascinated by it. There was someone else out there who could die and come back.

True, he had been a villain, and true, he'd repeatedly attacked All Might's mentor until she'd cracked her morals in half just to be rid of him- but Izuku was fascinated.

Someone else was like him, undying and intelligent, and he had been all alone. Izuku thought that was what had turned the man into a monster.

Bringing one of Katsuki's hands to his cheek, Izuku presses the rough palm to his skin and looked at Katsuki with earnest belief written across his face. There was a moment of silence as he sat like that. Katsuki's thumb moved gently over Izuku's lips, a tender touch that mimicked the soft expression he had on his face.

He didn't say it, but Izuku thought that part of the reason he didn't feel capable of becoming such a monster himself was because of Katsuki. Maybe he would have been fine on his own, but he was better with Katsuki around.

Katsuki's most visceral reaction came when Izuku said that their mothers had been called and had shown up.

"My mom was here?" Katsuki gaped, "What the fuck does that old hag think she's fucking doing? She's got more important shit than to be down here dealing with my shit!"

"Maybe they didn't bother calling your dad," Izuku said with a shrug, "All I know is that after I brought Usagi out to keep anyone from getting the bandages off, our mothers showed up."

"Well? What happened when they were here? What did she fucking say? Fuck, did she get all bitchy about stupid shit again?"

Izuku licked his lips and did his best to reiterate the argument he'd witnessed. Katsuki's grip on his hands became like iron shackles when Izuku said Haruka wanted Izuku's expulsion or to remove Katsuki from Yuuei.

"She can't do that," he whispered, "I won't let her."

"You can't fight your mom," Izuku countered.

"I will if I have to," Katsuki said. "And I'll win, too."

"...I don't think that either of you will need to fight anyone," All Might said.

Izuku jumped a little, having forgotten that All Might was there. He blinked, noticing for the first time that he had, for lack of a better term, deflated. Katsuki stared openly for a minute before muttering a curse.

All Might's gaze moved from one to the other and then he said, "You really do tell him everything…"

"Kacchan and I have no secrets," Izuku said. Katsuki nodded.

All Might coughed weakly, covering his mouth with one hand. "That's… impressive. But in this case, it could be dangerous too. I have told you about how there is someone with the quirk opposite to mine who is acting against me, against all heroes, correct?"

"All For One," Katsuki said, "Yeah. Deku told me."

"Having you know about him, about all of this, puts you in danger too, Bakugou." All Might said, folding his hands together in his lap. "This isn't a game, boys, this is incredibly serious."

Izuku met Katsuki's gaze. He lifted his brows. Katsuki rolled his eyes. Izuku leaned forward slightly. Katsuki sighed and shrugged. With a little smile, Izuku turned more towards All Might. "We understand that, sir. We aren't treating it like a game either. Kacchan and I train together so that he can be as strong as possible and so that I can be as flexible as possible. Alone, yeah, maybe All For One would be a danger to us, but together?"

"Nothing can defeat us when we're together," Katsuki said, "And I almost feel bad for the fucker who tries to take us both down."

All Might rubbed his hand across his mouth and Izuku heard him whisper, under his breath and muffled, "...might turn out okay after all…"

Elated, Izuku grinned.

With Katsuki at his side and All Might believing in them, was there anything they couldn't do?

"You got detention? Kacchan!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and bumped his shoulder against Izuku's as they walked. They were finally headed back to class, after all the fucking nonsense his teachers had pulled. Katsuki was personally glad that he didn't have to deal with his mother for an extra hour that day, as she was sure to be at home when he got back. "Birdface deserved it. He said that you wanted to be away from me."

Izuku sighed. He squeezed Katsuki's hand, their fingers intertwined, "I'll talk to him, okay? I want to see if I can figure out some stuff about Usagi from him, though, maybe I should look more into that man All Might told us about."

Katsuki shrugged. "Whatever. Just so long as that feathered fuck knows that he was wrong and I was right."

Izuku laughed and agreed.