The Notebook

by Hiddenwriter1028

Summary:

Eijirou understood that he shouldn't have yelled at Midoriya in public. He understood that Midoriya and Katsuki had a rough past. He understood all of this, so he was going to apologize. He didn't have a reason to be jealous.
Except Midoriya's door was open.
Except there was a notebook on his desk.
Except Katsuki's name was on top.
Except Eijirou read the notebook and now no one believes him.

Notes:

• For DarkZelda.

I do not own these characters I just use them to cause emotions.
*
Did I tell someone I would be nicer to Kirishima? Yes. Did I then proceed to say 'What if I...'? Yes.
*
Shout out to DarkZelda for helping me with ideas and the notebook contents!
*
I hope you all enjoy this *fun* little trip
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

Chapter 1: Bakugou Katsuki

Eijirou took a deep breath as he made his way towards Midoriya’s room. He probably had taken their argument a bit too far. He knew that Kats and Midoriya had a rocky past, but the amount of time they spent alone was concerning . Anyone would question things if Midoriya ‘Clingy’ Izuku was always around their boyfriend. He just needed to get over it. Maybe if he asked, they would let him join their training sessions and then he would see that nothing was going on.

But the look in Midoriya’s eye-

Steeling himself with an apology on his tongue, EIjirou knocked on Midoriya’s door, but it swung open soundlessly. No one was in the room, but the light was on, so Eijirou assumed that he just ran down to the bathroom or something. If he just waited inside Midoriya’s room with the door open it would probably be fine. It would give him another moment to collect himself as well. He really shouldn’t have just gone after Midoriya with those accusations even if he was worried.

It had been a long time since Eijirou had been in Midoriya’s room, but it didn’t look like it had changed much between third and first year. There were a few less posters, a few more action figures and another row of those blue notebooks Midoriya always carried, but otherwise the same. During his glance around Eijirou couldn’t help but notice the mess that was Midoriya’s desk. For some reason he always pictured the other teen as a neat freak. It was kind of nice to see that the golden boy wasn’t amazing at something .

There was one notebook sitting open in the middle of it all. Probably the english assignment from today. Eijirou had been struggling with that topic in class. Maybe if he just took a quick peak. Midoriya probably wouldn’t mind, he was always willing to help people with homework, so this was basically the same. Glancing at the still open door, Eijirou crept forward and scanned his eyes over the page only to freeze.

Bakugou Katsuki, a.k.a. DynaMight, a.k.a. Kacchan

He knew it! Midoriya did have a thing for Katsuki. Fury and a bone deep sadness filled Eijirou’s stomach. To think he was about to apologise to the attempting homewrecker! With an angry bark of laughter, Eijirou scooped up the notebook and started reading. He wanted to know exactly what happened in those fucking training sessions.

Eijirou could feel the edge of the paper bending underneath his fingers, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. The more that Eijirou read, though, the more blood drained from his face. His veins felt like ice and sweat was beading on his brow. This wasn’t a diary; it was a manual on how to cause Katsuki to break .

Fuck.

Bakugou’s quirk is called explosion. It is a heat-based quirk. He sweats a nitroglycerin-based compound that explodes once his palms warm to a specific temperature. He is extremely protective of those he cares for and holds a large inferiority complex underneath his superiority complex. To attack Bakugou you would need to hit both at once and in multiple ways.

The best method of persuasion in a sticky situation would be to first dislocate his elbows. His quirk causes a painful recoil that he wouldn’t be able to handle. Once he is pinned cut off his hands and place quirk suppressing cuffs or ropes on him. There is no evidence to support him igniting from any location other than his hands, but risks aren’t worth the possibility.

Once you have him subdued and tied down properly you can ask questions, but don’t expect a response. You have to give him the option, though, otherwise the following steps will be less effective. For Bakugou to answer anything he needs to believe that he made the decision to. He’s stubborn like that.

When he refuses to talk bring in those he cares about-

Eijirou could feel his legs giving out and quickly sat down at Midoriya’s desk. This was terrifying and was just getting worse with every word written. How many people did Midoriya have plans to hurt? Why did he have plans to hurt Kats? He knew that the past was difficult , but was it really enough to try and break him?

Start with Kirishima Eijirou. Kirishima will be easy to lure somewhere and get the drop on if you pretend to be a hurt citizen. His heart outweighs his sense most times. If need be, drug Kirishima, but DO NOT knock him out in front of Bakugou. You want Bakugou to see his eyes and hear his cries. By peeling off his skin you will both disable his quirk and cause pain. Salt water to clean away the blood with be added pain. Once the outer layer of skin is gone electricity should be enough to make him scream.

Once again ask Bakugou the questions. He might answer here, but again there is no guarantee. At this point remind him of the rising crime in Japan after All Might’s fall. Talk about when, why and how that happened. Go into detail and spare nothing. Talk about victims from Kamino Ward as well as how it could have gone better (i.e. if he had not been kidnapped). Again, request information. If that doesn’t work bring in Midoriya Izuku.

Bakugou has a complex when it comes to Midoriya. He believes himself to have failed him repeatedly based on bullying from childhood. Midoriya’s arms are his weak point and to break them in front of Bakugou will not be pleasant. Midoriya has a high pain tolerance, but you must make him scream. By the time Midoriya has passed out and Kirishima is awake again he will be willing to talk. If not repeat the previous three steps until he does.

Eijirou’s stomach churned with bile. He quickly flipped through the book and read as much as possible. Names catching on his vision and his hands shaking harder with every page. Mina, Denki, Todoroki, Sero, Aizawa, Nezu, Yamada . The names just kept going and the methods got more twisted with each entry.

Fuck, with Sero he said to use the videos of everyone before him as well as his parents!

This wasn’t just potential notes for each person, no, this was a plan . This was something that Midoriya was prepared for . A dark chuckle filled the air and had Eijirou’s head snapping upwards. Midoriya was leaning against the doorframe with a twisted little smirk on his face. It didn’t look anything like his usual sunny smile and his eyes were cold and hard. Eijirou felt the sweat that had been beading on his back slowly slip down him with a shiver. Midoriya stepped forward and closed his door with a thundering click.

Eijirou could feel his pulse resounding through his head and the room was spinning just a bit. His mouth drier than ever before. “Kirishima-kun, what are you doing in my room?” The cold twinkle in his eyes left Eijirou frozen in place. He could feel the gold embezzling on the green cover and it felt like his skin was blistering at the feeling. It was, objectively, a nice notebook if the contents weren’t so sick .

“I just-” Eijirou tried to swallow around the lump of fear in his throat. Midoriya flicked the lock on his room with a clunk and Eijirou knew nothing except that he was terrified . “Just, just wanted to t- talk.” Midoriya seemed to glide over the floor, not making a sound, until he was directly in front of Eijirou.

With a raised brow, Midoriya plucked the notebook from Eijirou’s hands and spun around toward his bookshelf. “Is that so?” Midoriya’s voice was different, calmer, more certain. In any other setting it would sound nice, but right now it just made goosebumps raise along Eijirou’s flesh. The hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Eijirou knew he wasn’t faster than Midoriya, wasn’t fast enough to escape before Midoriya caught him. “Because looking through my things is not talking, Eijirou .”

Eijirou heard his gulp ring through the silence. Midoriya began pulling specific notebooks from his shelf to reveal a safe nestled between the paper and wood. “Why did you write that stuff, Midoriya?” Toxic green eyes found Eijirou’s over his shoulder. There was a glint of something close to what Eijirou expected of Midoriya, but it was gone in an instant. The cold, blankness that had been so obvious earlier seemed to chill even further.

Midoriya twisted open the safe and Eijirou felt his soul nearly leave his body. There were nine of the green and gold journals. Next to them was a few deadly looking knives as well as pill bottles. A thick manila folder was pressed against one side. Eijirou couldn’t tell if there was more before Midoriya was clicking it closed and placing those cheap blue notebooks back onto his shelf in their proper place. “It’s always good to be prepared, Eijirou. Don’t you agree?” Eijirou felt sick .

“Midoriya, those plans are about how to torture our classmates. Our friends !” Eijirou could feel his voice raising in both pitch and volume. Fear and anger bubbling inside him, spilling out with fear drowning anything warm.

A flash of anger, a spear of violence. Eijirou saw his life flash before his eyes when Midoriya’s mouth twisted in a mockery of his smile. He wanted to puke. “I thought you didn’t want me to be friends with Kacchan, Kirishima-kun?” Eijirou’s eyes burned. He needed to warn someone. A murderer and psychopath was living with them. Had Midoriya used plans like those before? With the way he was so calm , Eijirou was inclined to believe that he had.

Swallowing, Eijirou slowly stood, his legs still wobbled and his head still spun, but he was standing. He had a slightly better chance at defending himself if need be. “I just don’t want you flirting with him, Midoriya. I- I never said you couldn’t be his friend.” Midoriya smirked again, a dark, wicked thing on such a bright face. It looked wrong in more ways than one.

“I believe your exact wording, Kirishima-kun, was ‘ Stay away from my boyfriend Midoriya. He doesn’t want you and you need to remember that ’. Or am I wrong?” Midoriya’s eyes were slightly warmer than before, but not by much. If anything, that made Eijirou’s fear triple. What had caused him to be happy in that statement?

Eijirou floundered for a moment trying to force oxygen into his lungs. The air was thin and he was dying . Except he couldn’t die here. He had to warn everyone about Midoriya. He had to make them see the type of person they were living with, that they were friends with. Stumbling backwards, Eijirou tried to force his feet to move towards the door, tried to force his way out of the room. The door swung open easily and as soon as it had Midoriya’s face took on a far too familiar innocent, teary expression. “You’re a fucking freak and I’m going to make sure everyone knows it!”

A scarred hand covered Midoriya’s mouth and Eijirou stumbled back another step, not turning around for a second. “It’s okay, Kirishima-kun. I’ll stop training with him and everything. You don’t need to worry. I just want Kacchan to be happy .” Midoriya’s voice was choked and wet. Eijirou felt bile creeping up his throat. He used to think of Midoriya as his friend . Friends don’t plot their friends' torture .

“Kiri?” Shouji’s voice rang through the hall as he stepped off the elevator. “What are you doing?” Eijirou didn’t answer. He couldn’t , not yet. Midoriya was still staring at him and he was still staring at Midoriya. “Mido, is there a problem here?” Those teary green eyes that had Eijirou’s blood running cold not even two minutes ago turned away and looked at their classmate.

“Kirishima-kun just wanted to make sure I understood what was said earlier. It’s okay, I know he’s just worried.” Shouji made a small noise of discontent and his eyes bored into Eijirou, but he didn’t look away from Midoriya as he walked backwards towards the elevator. It didn’t matter that someone else was there, none of them understood .

“He’s a fucking freak and a creep . Don’t trust him Shouji.” Eijirou’s classmate exclaimed a denial at Eijirou, but he didn’t care. Not when that manipulative psychopath was crying and making himself look so innocent. Looking as if he didn’t have plans to murder sitting in his room.

“It’s okay, Shouji-kun. I’m sure Kirishima-kun is just stressed. This- these last few years have been a lot and I understand. I heard Kacchan mention something about taking Kirishima-kun on a date, I’m sure that will help him out.” Eijirou breathed a sigh of relief as the elevator closed in front of him.

He had to warn Katsuki .

Racing down the hall as soon as the doors opened, Eijirou pounded on his boyfriend’s door. He knew he sounded frantic, but he was . He needed to get that creep out of here. He didn’t trust Midoriya not to use those plans. The door was yanked open and the snarl that had been on Katsuki’s face melted away in an instant, ushering Eijirou into his room. “Ei? What’s fucking wrong?” Katsuki’s voice was gruff and warm and everything Eijirou needed after the chilling cold terror of Midoriya.

“Kats, Kats it’s about Midoriya.” Those gorgeous red eyes flashed with something and his mouth set into a slightly harsher line. “Listen, I went by his dorm to apologise because I know I shouldn’t have blown up on him, okay? I trust you and that should be enough, but when I was there I saw this notebook .” Eijirou’s breath was coming in pants and his knees shook violently. Cut off his hands.

“Ei, calm down. You need to fucking breathe slow. Sit the fuck down, okay?” Tight worry filled the air as rough, callused hands led Eijirou to sit at Katsuki’s desk. So incredibly similar to Midoriya’s, but different . Different because this was Katsuki. Katsuki who Eijirou loved. Katsuki who was sane and loud and always said what he meant and never lied. “Breathe, Shitty Hair. Breathe for me.” Stuttering breathes and pants filled the air as Katsuki’s hand rose and fell in a steady rhythm. It took a few minutes, but Eijirou could finally see, could finally think.

“Kats, he had plans . Plans to hurt all of us. Torture , Kats. It’s terrifying .” Katsuki’s eyes widened slightly before falling into a soft sort of acceptance. “Katsuki he could kill us all.” Eijirou knew his voice was shaking again. He could feel the wetness on his cheeks from falling tears. He knew all of this, but none of it mattered because Katsuki needed to know. He needed to understand.

“Ei, Deku couldn’t even kill the fly in the kitchen this morning. I’m sure it was nothing.” Eijirou felt his heart cracking. Katsuki’s eyes were set and his mouth twisted in a way that Eijirou recognized as fear and confusion.

Katsuki didn’t believe him.

“Katsuki, listen it’s bad . He- he wrote about how to break you .” Eijirou opened his mouth to continue, but didn’t get that far. Katsuki wrapped him in a hug and whispered soothing sounds in his ear. It wasn’t often that Katsuki was comforting, only when Eijirou was panicking and spiralling.

“Ei, I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. This is Deku . It’s fine. It’ll all be fine.” Katsuki’s words didn’t match the slight waver in his tone. Most wouldn’t notice, but Eijirou did. He noticed and knew what it meant.

Katsuki was afraid of Midoriya.

Chapter 2: Ashido Mina

Summary:

Mina gets involved

Notes:

*whistles lightly*

Ya know perception really is /everything/.

;)
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

The next few days passed in a blur of fear, looking around corners and avoidance. Eijirou didn’t trust Midoriya not to use some form of retaliation. Eijirou knew his dirty secret now and he had stupidly told the other teen that he was going to spread the word. If he didn’t do so quickly, then there was a chance he wasn’t going to be able to. Eijirou had always known that Midoriya was smart and vicious in battle, he had just never considered the idea that this skill would be turned on people he claimed to be friends with.

Mina had been giving him odd looks all day, but Eijirou wasn’t too concerned. He had plans to hang out with her today and was hoping that she would help him spread the word about Midoriya. It wouldn’t be good enough to just scream this in the common room. No one would believe him about Midoriya. Most of them thought he could do no wrong, fuck Denki had been drooling over the guy for almost a year now. It had been cute before Eijirou knew that Midoriya was crazy .

Mina had been Eijirou’s best friend for years, if anyone was going to help him find evidence of Midoriya’s plans it was going to be her. She had always had a knack for getting into things she shouldn’t be able to and for finding out about things that there was no way she could possibly know. It had infuriated and worried Eijirou in the past, especially when those secrets pertained to him, but those skills were going to be lifesaving.

Literally.

Sitting through class everyday was a level of Hell that Eijirou never knew existed. Having Katsuki so close to Midoriya, not being able to watch everything closely, being too far away if something was to happen… Eijirou hated it. He didn’t like that anyone was near Midoriya, but he especially didn’t like Katsuki near him. The words on that page still haunted him every single time he closed his eyes. That fucking smirk when Midoriya caught Eijirou was engrained into his brain like a steel brand.

Whenever Eijirou caught the freckled teen looking at him he would glare as hard as possible. He might be scared, but he didn’t want Midoriya to think he forgot. No, Eijirou would never be able to forget and Midoriya needed to remember that. The more he glared, the less sunny bright smiles were sent his way. At one-point Eijirou thought he saw fear in those toxic green eyes. Midoriya should be scared. He was caught red handed and it was only a matter of time before everyone saw what Eijirou already knew.

When one of his friends was talking to the demon that was masquerading as their classmate, Eijirou pulled them away. He needed to keep his people close, needed to protect them at all costs. Denki was starting to get a little upset by it, but Eijirou didn’t care. Denki’s safety was more important than his crush. Once they all knew the truth, he knew that Denki and everyone else would be thanking him. Kats might be trying to pretend that nothing had happened, but the others wouldn’t. Midoriya probably had some form of blackmail on Katsuki anyway, they had known each other for a long time.

When Mina showed up at Eijirou’s door he was quick to pull her in and lock the room tight. Midoriya hadn’t done anything to him yet , but there was no point in taking unnecessary risks. Mina squawked in surprise but was still gentle when prying her wrist out of Eijirou’s hold. He loved her like the sister he never had. She was his best friend through thick and thin, without her Eijirou didn’t know where he would be in life. She was his rock and a good portion of the reason he was training to be a hero.

Ashido Mina, a.k.a. Pinky

The flash of a name, the piercing lance of words meant to destroy her made that all too familiar bile creep up his throat. Mina had always had so much passion, so much conviction. She was confident and in control.

Midoriya had realised that in her entry. He had understood that to attack her, he would have to attack fast and attack hard .

Ashido is confident in herself and sure of her placement in life. She had a loud personality and a spirit to rival Miriko. At her core she is a dancer and a hero. To force her into submission you need to make it to where that is no longer an option. The easiest and most practical way to do this is permanently damaging her ankles or cutting off her feet all together. This isn’t a sustainable method for interrogation though.

Black and yellow eyes scanned Eijirou in concern, he just wanted to wrap her in a hug and never let her go. Everything was so much right now and he felt like he was drowning . Katsuki might have sounded afraid, even looked it, but he didn’t seem to be taking the threat seriously. Midoriya might be holding true to his promise not to speak with Katsuki, Kats still sought out Midoriya to ask him questions. This entire mess may have come to light because of Eijirou’s jealousy, rightful jealousy , but that wasn’t important right at the moment. What was important was putting a halt to Midoriya’s plans before he was ever able to put them into practice. He couldn’t risk his friends.

Why would Midoriya even need to torture them? Why would he need information from them? What information could they possibly have? Was it about cases at their work studies? Was Midoriya part of a group that they were investigating? Was there something that connected everyone on a level none of them realised? Was Midoriya already a villain instead of just potentially a villain? Eijirou had barely been able to sleep with his thoughts spinning darker and darker. He might not have the answers he wanted, but he knew that the green haired boy was trouble .

“Eiji, what’s going on? You’ve been so weird this week.”

To gather information from Ashido you need to make her hurt . Her horns are the most obvious weak spot. They are more sensitive than she lets on and cause excruciating pain when damaged. If you were to cut them off, she might pass out, but to do so slowly and mark by mark could provide useful.

“Mina, I need you to trust me on this, okay?” Her eyes hardened and a light flush filled her pink cheeks. Mina was his best friend and Eijirou trusted her with his life , but it wasn’t his life in danger. Well, it wasn’t his life in the long term, it was everyone else’s. It was the fact that for all Eijirou knew, Midoriya was a villain, maybe a Yakuza. Nothing was safe with him under the same roof as Eijirou and Eijirou’s friends.

“You know I trust you. Just tell me what’s going on.” Mina was a gossip and the life of the party. She was happy and bubbly, but she knew when and how to take things seriously. This girl really was the best person to ever enter Eijirou’s life. He might be in love with Katsuki, might have even found the love of his life in the explosive blond, but Mina was his sister. Mina was Eijirou’s ride or die and everything in between.

“It’s about Midoriya.” A small look of concern, a hint of anger. Eijirou understood that. She had tried to convince him not to attack the other like he had. She had tried to tell him he should just trust what Kats was saying, and he knew she was right. He probably shouldn’t have blown up the way he had, but he was so furious . Eijirou and Katsuki had been through so much and here Midoriya was trying to ruin all of that? It was irredeemable and unexplainable.

“Eijirou, you need to leave him alone. I’ve seen the looks these days and we all heard you blow up on him. He’s done what you asked, so why are you still freaking on him?” Her voice was exasperated and Eijirou understood that. He really did, but she only said that, only sounded that way because she hadn’t seen what he had. She didn’t know .

If attacking her horns doesn’t help, then you can use her quirk mutations against her. Ashido’s quirk is called Acid. She is able to produce a liquid chemical from her palms that reaches an acidity higher than battery acid (0 pH). The lowest recorded pH for her sits around the 6.8 mark (just above fresh, purified water). 

To protect herself from this her skin has developed an extreme tolerance. This comes at the cost of being weak to bases (anything lower than 7 pH). When counteracting an acid, you always use a base and to harm her you should do the same. Bleach or drain cleaner poured directly over her skin or on an exposed cut will burn and cause blisters within moments.

“No, it’s not about that! He’s crazy , Mina. I think he’s a villain, the things I saw in his notebook are horrible !” Eijirou could feel his voice raising in pitch, but he didn’t care . He needed her to understand. That stupid smirk kept haunting Eijirou and he could barely breathe . Whenever no one was looking Midoriya’s eyes would flash that chilling cold and his smile would turn just that hint sharper. How many people was he doing this to? Who else was he driving to the brink of a heart attack with fear every day? “He had ways to torture and force people into doing his bidding. He had plans for you . I didn’t get the chance to look at all of them, but what I did see has me terrified.”

A pink hand reached out and pulled Eijirou into a brief hug. Mina had always known when Eijirou was on the end of a panic attack, even if he had yet to realise. He trusted her and he loved her, but right now, even if he was panicking, he needed to tell her as much as possible. “Eiji, this is Midoriya . Are you completely certain you saw what you think you did? Is there even a chance it wasn’t as bad as it seemed?” Eijirou’s stomach churned and the blood in his veins froze.

She didn’t believe him.

“We just need to get the proof. I know what I saw. He has a whole safe full of notebooks like the one I saw. They weren’t his usual notebooks, they were nicer, thicker. I just-” Mina cupped his face with both her hands and she studied him for a moment. Whatever she saw seemed to convince her he was serious. The fear Eijirou was feeling mirrored in her eyes. It wasn’t as prominent, wasn’t as all consuming, but he didn’t expect it to be. She hadn’t seen .

“How did you find this, Eijirou? If we’re going to see anything I need to know how you know.” Eijirou could feel the oxygen in the room finally fill him full. Someone believed him. Mina was going to help him keep everyone safe. He could always trust Mina, that was as much fact as the idea that the ocean was salty.

The two of them sat on the edge of Eijirou’s bed, hands clasped together and frantic whispers leaving Eijirou’s throat. He took her through the entire encounter step by terrifying step. He understood that he shouldn’t have tried to look at his homework, but that wasn’t the point and he would really love if she didn’t give him that look. It wasn’t the important part of his story, the fight before all of this wasn’t the important part. Nothing mattered more than the notebooks hidden in a safe behind cheap, flimsy cardboard.

Mina’s hands tightened over Eijirou’s when a cold sweat broke out across his skin again at the memory of Midoriya’s cold and calculating eyes. He visibly shivered when he recalled the sugary sweet tone in his voice as he plucked the notebook from Eijirou’s hands. The message had been clear when Shouji had spoken to Midoriya, no one would want to believe Eijirou.That was fine. He and Mina would get the proof. They would make sure no one got hurt.

“Eiji, we need to tell Aizawa. We need a teacher to get into his room and find this safe. If he really does have nine of them, then who knows what kind of plans he has tucked away.” Mina was fierce, she was everything that Eijirou had always wished he was. Right now, Ashido Mina was the person who was going to help him make everyone understand. He had never been more grateful to his sister. If this worked, then even Kats would be free.

“Thank you.”

Ashido is a gossip, but she can keep the secrets tight and close if need be. To gain information it needs to hurt and, for her, physical pain will be the fastest and the most practical method. Her heroic nature is high, but she doesn’t have anyone close enough to her that could be used in place. At least not anyone that couldn’t convince her not to say anything.

Chapter 3: Aizawa Shouta

Summary:

Aizawa gets involved

Notes:

This chapter gave me a bit of a hard time because of how much happens. I hope you guys enjoy my struggle lol
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

Aizawa was on a mission. He was gone from classes for a week and Eijirou was the edge of his seat the entire time. He wasn’t able to keep everyone away from Midoriya for that long, but he made his displeasure known to everyone . He refused to partner with Midoriya in classes and training, he would step in if one of his friends was going to willingly partner with the teen and he watched Midoriya like a hawk. Nothing was going to slip past him.

Kats still seemed a little bit nervous whenever Eijirou brought it up, but that was okay. He understood that Katsuki couldn’t understand and he was working as hard as possible to make it to where his boyfriend was free from that stress. Every where Eijirou turned Midoriya could be found. He was always in the common room when Eijirou wanted to be, he was always in the gym or the training room. He was in the kitchen, in the halls, he was always there . 

The more time they spent near each other the shiftier Midoriya was. He kept looking away and trying to curl his shoulders inward. He played the victim well, but Eijirou wouldn’t be fooled. He knew that a killer was lying in wait, watching every move that was made and preparing to strike with deadly accuracy. Eijirou knew who Midoriya was and he wasn’t going to hurt anyone if Eijirou could help it.

While Midoriya was talking with Shouji and Tokoyami, Eijirou just kept playing every instance of injury that Midoriya caused in his head. He didn’t know of many , but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. He killed Muscular. Gentle Criminal and Labrava were petty criminals and they both needed medical attention. Whatever Midoriya had done to Overhaul had been nasty .

And then there was that one night. That one night that Kats came back bruised and bleeding. That night that Midoriya seemed so pleased with himself. The night they got put on house arrest. No one would talk about it. No one would tell anyone anything. Afterwards suddenly Kats and Midoriya trained together? Eijirou didn’t trust it.

Midoriya had been avoiding Eijirou’s eyes all day, felt a sick sort of glee at this fact. He obviously knew that what he was doing was wrong if Eijirou watching him scared him. He had to know that he was going to get caught and probably tossed out of UA on his ass. Any friendship that had once been possible between them was dead and gone because of Midoriya’s actions. What kind of hero wrote the things he wrote?

Aizawa Shouta, a.k.a. Eraserhead, a.k.a. Aizawa-Sensei

A shudder worked it’s wat down Eijirou’s spin at the memory of Aizawa’s name sitting atop a page of that damned notebook. Katsuki turned with a raised brow to Eijirou, but didn’t ask. He had made a point of avoiding talking about Midoriya around Eijirou even if Eijirou could tell he was upset about the shorter teen ignoring him.

Eijirou understood that Katsuki considered him a friend, but he didn’t trust him. He didn’t trust him at all when it came to Katsuki. Katsuki was too important, Eijirou didn’t want Midoriya to kill anyone , but if he did then it just couldn’t be Katsuki. Eijirou couldn’t handle that and with Midoriya knowing that Eijirou knew there was a good chance of him going after Katsuki just for revenge, maybe a warning.

Eraserhead’s quirk is reliant on his eyes, or at least that is the current understanding and how he uses it. He is a very practical and logical person with an astounding pain tolerance. If you are ever tasked with extracting information from him the most difficult part, by far, will be getting him trapped. The recommended method for this is to use either his students or his daughter. Provide him with proof that they are in danger and his logic gets a bit spotty.

On the day that Aizawa was back in class, Eijirou and Mina stayed seated until all of the students had fled back to the dorms or to extra training. Usually they would be right in the thick of it, but they had discussed it late last night after finding out that Aizawa was going to be back. They needed to talk to him today because if Midoriya was trying to hurt people then it needed to be taken care of. Midoriya needed to know that his actions have consequences .

Eijirou didn’t miss how Midoriya took the chance to slide up next to Denki, or Denki to him. It didn’t matter much who sought who out because Eijirou was going to keep them apart, keep Denki safe. 

Packing his things as slowly as possible, Eijirou caught Mina’s eye and she caught Aizawa’s. His eyebrow met his hairline, but he didn’t move to leave right away like normal. His gaze was locked on the board cleaning it, but Eijirou could feel the questions spinning through the air. Mina and Eijirou weren’t exactly the type to stay after if they could avoid it and both of them had done well on the last quiz.

“Kirishima, Ashido, I assume there is a reason you two decided to stay after class.” A bit of the tension that Eijirou had been carrying around eased from his shoulders. Aizawa would fix everything, he had done it before and he would do it again. Eijirou just had to trust in his teacher, his teacher that hadn’t ever let him down before. This was all going to be fine.

His family is the most obvious target, but his students would help as well. If you could gain access to the footage of the building falling in his second year at UA, crushing his friend, then his spirit would break easier. Using that method that killed his friend to torture and harm his students and/or family will have Eraserhead cracking quickly.

“Aizawa-Sensei it’s about Midoriya.” Mina’s voice barely shook. If Eijirou didn’t know her so well, he probably wouldn’t have noticed. After the two of them had sat down and Eijirou had spilled the whole story, he took her through everything he could remember written in the book. She hadn’t taken it well, possibly even worse than Eijirou had taken it. The two had camped out in the common room that night so as not to be alone. Needless to say, it had been a rough few days, always on edge, always watching.

Black ink pools scanned over Mina and Eijirou in a quick assessing manner. Eijirou wasn’t sure what Aizawa was looking for, but he must have found it. He gently placed the board eraser down and gave his full attention to them. The steady set of his shoulders that Eijirou had come to recognize as his battle stance filled him with a sense of calm that had been missing since the moment he picked up that stupid notebook.

Really since before that. Since the morning of the fight that led Eijirou to Midoriya’s room. A tight fear and uneasiness had been lingering around him since before that. It was suffocating, drowning him where he stood and letting up only in brief moments. Usually, when it was just him and Katsuki or Mina.

Taking a deep breath, Eijirou clenched his fists tightly, subtly activating his quirk just over his knuckles. “After the fight last week I went to Midoriya’s room to apologise, but I found a notebook. It had detailed plans on how to torture a bunch of people in the class. He came in when I was reading through it and took it from me. He put it in a safe behind his normal notebooks that had eight others in it as well as knives, a thick folder like the ones we use for cases and three or four pill bottles.” Deactivating his quirk, Eijirou shoved his knuckles into his thigh. Aizawa would take care of it. “He had ways to torture you, Mic and Nezu as well.”

Aizawa was so still Eijirou was tempted to check if he was breathing. Mina had inched closer to Eijirou during his short retelling and her hand pressed against his shoulder in comfort. Aizawa would take care of it. He would know what to do. He had to know what to do. “Kirishima if we went right now could you show me where this safe is at?”

Normally Aizawa’s voice was monotone and unwavering. They had only ever heard it shake a few times. Each time was when something bad, something deadly and dangerous was facing their class. They hadn’t heard it at all since the beginning of second year. “Yes Sir.”

Maybe the things Midoriya wrote held weight. Maybe Aizawa really did get too emotional over his students.

Aizawa walked with a brisk clip to his walk that Eijirou normally would have hated, but today he cherished. Someone else was taking him seriously. Someone who could stop Midoriya, who could keep everyone safe and make sure that none of Eijirou’s friends got hurt. Sliding his eye over the scanner, Aizawa let them all into Midoriya’s room when he didn’t open or answer after the first knock. It felt weird to be there again without Midoriya, but maybe it was for the best. This way he couldn’t convince Aizawa not to look for that notebook.

“Where did you say that safe was, Kirishima?” The slight shake, the evident fear or worry or rage, EIjirou could never tell which, was unnerving and vindicating all at once. He wasn’t wrong for being scared of Midoriya. The plans he had seen, the details included were horrifying . Eijirou was right and now everyone was going to know it. Now Katsuki was going to be free from Midoriya.

Eijirou had heard the stories. He knew how his classmate used to follow Katsuki around like a lost puppy. He had heard all about the shit Midoriya used to spout off about quirks, be that classmates or heroes. Katsuki had tried to make it a joke, but if this was the outcome then how joking was he really? Had it been a cry for help that Eijirou had been deaf to? Had Kats reached out only for Eijirou not to see his hand grasping for assistance?

Moving the row of blue and white notebooks that Eijirou remembered Midoriya shifting, he revealed the dark silver metal of a heavy duty safe. It probably wasn’t quirk proof since those were ridiculously expensive, but Eijirou didn’t know how to tell the different from the outside alone. He thought that his Ma’s had an engraving in the top left corner marking it as quirk proof, but it had been a long time since he had seen that safe that she kept her client cases in.

Aizawa was tapping along the sides with his knuckles when a small yelp came from behind them all. Mina and Eijirou turned quickly to see Midoriya standing with his hand on the door and the other gripping his bag strap tightly. Denki was half a step behind him, the easy going smile slowly sliding off his face, eyes flicking between EIjirou, Mina, Aizawa and the back of Midoriya’s head. “Um, I’ll, uh, go then. Maybe we can study later, Izu. Uh, let me know if you need anything.” Since when were they on a first name, no a nickname, basis?

Midoriya squeaked out a farewell, his eyes never leaving the trio in front of him. Once they could no longer hear Denki’s footsteps, Midoriya swallowed harshly and squeezed his eyes shut. He still hadn’t moved from his door, hand still on the door, fingers still gripping his bag strap. “Kirishima-kun, this is the second time in just over a week I have found you in my room. I don’t really like people in my space without me.” Midoriya didn’t open his eyes until he finished talking and his voice had been quiet, soft. Eijirou didn’t trust the almost sad tone his words held. “Sensei, is there something I can help you with?”

Aizawa’s hand squeezed Eijirou’s shoulder for a second before he stepped in front of Mina and Eijirou. “Midoriya, I need you to open your safe. Some accusations have been brought forward and they need to be looked into.” Burning green eyes found Eijirou over Aizawa’s shoulder and he felt his blood eyes over once again. The look of rage in those eyes, even if the rest of his face appeared sad, was frightening.

The fired emeralds slowly slid back to Aizawa before locking in place. The room grew cold as Aizawa and Midoriya stared at each other, silence thick and tangible. Mina’s hand laced with Eijirou’s as the seconds ticked by. “Do you have a warrant, Eraserhead?” Aizawa’s stance shifted and his hand drifted up to his capture weapon. Midoriya just stared back unflinchingly.

“Do I need one, Midoriya?” Midoriya’s cheek twitched and a rueful, sarcastic smile filled his features.

“By law? Yes, but you don’t always play by the law do you, Sensei?” Midoriya dropped his bag and slowly made his way to the safe with deliberate steps.

Eraserhead is not exactly a good man. He will do what he needs to do to accomplish his mission. If you want to avoid harming anyone then blackmail is a viable option. Eraserhead is stubborn though so large quantities of information would be needed. Begin by looking into his family history and work your way up to the Suzuki case when he was thirty-two.

Mina, Eijirou and Aizawa shifted out of his way so that Midoriya could punch in the code and run his fingerprint over the sensor pad. The safe swung open and Midoriya stepped back to run a hand through his hair. “You won’t find anything. It’s just some journals, my papers and meds. An action figure too, I guess.” Eijirou could hear the bitterness underneath the forced sadness. It dripped from his words like venom and bit into Eijirou’s skin worse than Mina’s acid ever could.

Looking in, Eijirou couldn’t see the knives like he had before. In their place was a battered and beat up All Might toy, arm broken and painted suit rubbed away in spots. Aizawa shifted through the four pill bottles before flipping through the manila folder. Eijirou didn’t blame him for saving the notebooks for last. “What are the meds for?” Midoriya’s lips pursed and his eyes flicked between Mina and Eijirou before his shoulders slumped heavily.

Probably because he was a fucking psychopath.

“One is a sleep aid, two are anti anxiety and the forth is for emergencies when I panic too bad. They’re in my file, Sir .” Aizawa didn’t flinch, but Eijirou thought it might have been a near thing with the way his eyes fluttered in a half blink.

“I’m sure they are.” The wavering was gone from Aizawa’s tone. Eijirou wasn’t sure he liked that Aizawa was dismissing the danger before even looking into the notebooks. “What’s in the notebooks Midoriya?” Dread and fear seemed to fill Midoriya’s eyes and Eijirou sank into Mina’s shoulder. Her hand was still clasped tightly in his. Finally , someone was going to take away Midoriya’s plans, maybe even take away Midoriya. No one good made plans to torture their friends or teachers.

Midoriya’s shoulders rounded over himself and he began pulling them out to flip open. “This one is letters to my mom, this one to my dad and this one to All Might. They might be gone, but it makes me feel better, like I’m talking to them still.” Okay, so three of them weren’t for murder plans, but that still left six others. “These two are for an agency I had been working on with Momo-chan, Kacchan and Sho-kun. We wanted to try and open one for the whole class after graduation.” Midoriya’s eyes glazed over a bit as he handed over the two he held up and Aizawa flicked them open.

Aizawa’s eyebrows rose in surprise before his eyes looked back over to Midoriya. “What about the other four?” Midoriya sighed heavily before handing over two more, one with a cracked and creased side. Eijirou was certain this was the one he had been holding.

“These two are support equipment I was planning with Mei for everyone in the class. We were thinking of hiring her at the agency.” What?

“No. That one is the one I read! I remember crushing the side because of the freaky shit you were writing about!” Mina’s hand tightened over Eijrou’s as Aizawa flicked through the two notebooks quickly. Midoriya’s face was cold and blank. Eijirou couldn’t pick anything from his eyes or expression.

Aizawa tilted the notebook towards Eijirou and flipped through the pages slowly. It looked right, but it didn’t. The words were wrong and the pictures didn’t focus on the right things. It wasn’t right .

Bakugou Katsuki, a.k.a. DynaMight, a.k.a. Kacchan

Kacchan’s quirk relies on his build up of a nitroglycerin like substance in his sweat. His palms heat enough for the explosive to catch and create-

“No, that’s wrong ! What’s in the rest because that’s not what I read!” Eijirou could feel that tension coiling thickly around his shoulders again. A tight pressure building in his chest. He knows what he read. Midoriya’s eyes held a sharp glint of triumph for a split second before falling back into that odd blank mask. A mask that look practised and precarious on his face. How often had he needed to fool people to perfect that mask?

“This one is just a diary, Kirishima . I don’t know what you ‘saw’, but I told you there wasn’t anything to find.” There was a bite to his words and hint of knowing in the slight uptick in his lips. He was messing with Eijirou! He had to have realised that Eijirou was going to tell Aizawa and he was hiding the real notebook!

“Midoriya what’s in the last one?” Midoriya clutched the last book tightly to his chest and his eyes shuttered over in a blank look again. Midoriya took a step backwards with the notebook held tightly to his chest, but Mina slipped around Aizawa and lunged for him. She quickly pulled the book away as he made a move to grab it back and a painful noise slipped from his mouth. Somehow Midoriya must have switched the covers and this was the one that held everything.

Mina flicked open the book and showed it to both Aizawa and Eijirou. Lines of poetry and excerpts from books filled the pages. It was sappy and sweet and not something any of them would have ever associated with Midoriya. He quickly snatched his notebook back and tucked it close to his chest. “I’m making this one for someone. Are you happy now? Did you find what you wanted Kirishima-kun? Find something to convince everyone I’m horrible for daring to be friends with Kacchan even though I haven’t talked to him in over a week ?”

Tear filled green eyes bore into Eijirou, but he didn’t miss the way Midoriya’s cheek twitched. He didn’t miss the light hidden in those eyes. Midoriya had found out they were coming and now he was trying to play innocent. It was one thing to write those psychopath notebooks and probably use them. If he was hiding them then he was definitely using them. Eijirou’s blood ran ice cold and his lungs stalled.

“I apologise Midoriya. We’ll get out now.” Aizawa ushered Eijirou and Mina out the door, a disappointed look marring his usual blank features. “Kirishima, I don’t know what kind of jealous game you’re playing, but you need to knock it off. That was a serious accusation and could have ended up a lot worse if Midoriya had wanted those notebooks to stay private like he very clearly did."

Eijirou’s mouth flopped open and closed as words failed him. His lungs were still trying to start again after the revelation that Midoriya was already implementing his horrid plans. Aizawa slunk down the hall and Mina began pulling Eijirou to his room. “I’m not lying.” Yellow and black eyes found Eijirou’s just outside of the elevator. He could feel the doubt though. He could feel his rock, his person, losing faith in him by the second. “I’m not .”

Mina turned away and started to walk to the common room. Her shoulders not as straight as they usually were. “Okay, Eijirou. Okay.”

He wasn’t lying!

Chapter 4: Kaminari Denki

Summary:

Eijirou does what he thinks he has to.

Notes:

Sorry this one took a bit longer. It was giving me issues *hard* lol.
*
I hope you enjoyyyyy
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

Midoriya had been trying to sneak away from Eijirou ever since the room incident a few days ago. It was getting harder and harder to keep track of the teen with him sneaking around and slipping away from everyone else. Usually, Eijirou would find him again once he found Denki, but that didn’t help. Of anyone, it was most important to keep Midoriya away from Denki. After what he saw, to keep him safe, to keep him good they needed to be as far from each other as possible. Eijirou wouldn’t let Midoriya turn Denki into a villain.

Kaminari Denki, a.k.a ChargeBolt

Eijirou had barely even had time to spend with Kats with him needing to follow Midoriya so closely to keep Denki safe. Luckily, Kats seemed to be spending more time with Todoroki, so Eijirou knew he at least wasn’t with Midoriya. It wasn’t much, but it was something . Kats had recently slipped upstairs behind Todoroki with a slump in his shoulders. Eijirou knew he should make time for his boyfriend soon.

Denki was sprawled across the floor next to Hanta game controllers in hand. Mina was perched on the couch next to Eijirou on the couch, purple glitter nail polish being smoothed over her nails in even strokes. A curled bounce of green came into view and Eijirou felt himself tense, even though he tried to hide it. Mina hadn’t been leaving him alone whenever Midoriya was in sight. He knew that she no longer believed him, but that didn’t make it any less annoying.

Midoriya’s black socks shuffled along the floor coming to a stop a few feet away, still separated by a couch. Eijirou wasn’t a fan of him being so near Denki, or anyone really, but at least Eijirou was there to watch whatever happened. Hopefully, he could mediate the damages. “Um, Denki? Could, uh, could we talk?” He could feel his spine practically crackling in tension. He couldn’t let Midoriya pull Denki away from protection. Couldn’t let him poison Denki.

Kaminari’s quirk turns against him when he goes over a certain voltage or uses it too often in a short period of time. His brain fries and cognitive abilities freeze. Many people have opinions on this, including how useless or funny this is. Evidence suggests that he experiences pain during this time. He is a very insecure person. If shown evidence of his friends and those he is close to speaking ill of him, or making fun of him, Denki may question his loyalties.

“Sure, Izu! Everything okay?” Denki’s eyes were bright and his cheeks flushed. Eijirou had known of Denki’s crush for ages, but it was dangerous now. If Midoriya wormed his way into Denki’s brain, if he was able to make Denki doubt Eijirou, Hanta, Katsuki or Mina, then it could only mean bad things. Not only would Denki get his heart broken, but he could give Midoriya even more ammunition to attack people. Midoriya could convince Denki to hurt people for him. 

Nothing good followed Midoriya.

Preparing to spring from his seat on the couch, Eijirou stared Midoriya down with the coldest look he could manage with the fire filling his veins. “If you want to say something to him you can say it here.” Denki flashed an annoyed look to Eijirou, but he didn’t pay it much mind. He hadn’t been a fan of Eijirou following the two of them around and Eijirou had been on the end of Denki’s complaining enough to know that. Mina made a small sound of protest, but Eijirou ignored her as well.

“Man, let up will you.” Hanta was glancing around at his friends cautiously, voice slightly unsteady. Midoriya took another step back, acting like he was afraid of Eijirou. Like he had a right to be afraid when he was the one everyone needed to be careful of! Blood rushing, Eijirou stood to place himself between his friends and the toxin that was Midoriya Izuku.

Midoriya raised his hands in a surrender motion, that crooked, watery smile flickering in and out. Eijirou could see the fire burning in his eyes, could see the fury . It didn’t make sense that no one else could. Did he have them so convinced of his innocence that even if Eijirou could get hard proof they wouldn’t believe him? “It’s, uh, it’s fine. I- I can say it here, if I have to.” Denki moved to step closer to Midoriya, but neither tried to leave.

Slowly, Eijirou sat back down, barely noticing Mina’s hand gripping his arm tightly. “It’s okay, Izu. I can talk to you alone.” Green eyes locked on Eijirou’s for a moment, annoyance clear as day. Denki’s hand was fluttering an inch from Midoriya’s arm making Eijirou’s skin crawl. Logically, he understood that Midoriya couldn’t taint Denki’s mind from a single touch, but that didn’t make his racing heart calm at all.

“It’s okay. Um, one- one second.” Midoriya looked paler than normal and his hands were shaking. He had probably been planning on saying something to Denki about Eijirou, about how Denki shouldn’t trust them. He couldn’t do that now. Not with everyone watching everything he did. Eijirou might not have stopped Midoriya yet, but he was at least delaying him. “This is for y- you.” Midoriya shoved a green and gold notebook into Denki’s hands. A familiar green and gold notebook.

No . Eijirou moved to rip the notebook away so that he finally had the proof he needed. If Midoriya was already showing Denki his plans then had Eijirou missed his chance? Was Denki already lost to him? Mina’s grip on his arm was iron tight and her glare sent a spear of anger through him. Why couldn’t she just trust him?

“I’m-” Midoriya scrubbed the back of his head and Eijirou was twitching to toss him as far from everyone as possible. “I’m not great with, well, with words. You like words. I, uh, I don’t know how to make words say what I want, but I found some that make me think of you and I thought you might like them. I, uh, I really like you and, uh, was, was wondering if you might, maybe, possibly want to go on a date?” Midoriya’s hands were twisting around themselves and Denki had a hand pressed to his mouth as he slowly flipped through the book.

Eijirou should have known it was for Denki. All signs were there.

Gain Kaminari’s trust. Make him feel special and seen. Point out every flaw in his friends attitude. Place him in scenarios where his friends and classmates don’t or can’t defend him. If he believes you see him as special then convincing him to assist you, to gather information or just to tell you things he already knows, will be simple. Don’t forget to praise him.

The sickening sappiness of that notebook, the way Midoriya had been inching his way closer and closer to Denki for weeks now. Eijirou should have realised that there was more to Midoriya’s plan than he had seen. If Midoriya asks Denki out in front of people, if he makes it known that he ‘likes’ Denki then no one will question when Denki pulls away to spend time with Midoriya.

“I, uh, I was gonna finish the book before giving it to you.” Those cocky, knowing , green eyes flicked over Eijirou and Mina. “But something came up and- and I wanted you to see it before you knew .” Denki snapped the book shut and clutched it tight. From what Eijirou could remember it was sappy. If he didn’t know better, he would think that Midoriya was head over heels for Denki.

But he did know better.

Denki made a noise in the back of his throat and lurched forward to grab Midoriya’s ringing hands. Mina’s grip got even tighter as Eijirou tensed again. “Izuku.” Denki’s voice was choked and soft. Eijirou hated that his friend was going to hurt so badly. “I would really like that too.” There was a glint in Midoriya’s eyes that confirmed all of Eijirou’s fears. “I would love to go on a date with you.” Midoriya was bright red and his face split into a painful, cheery grin.

His eyes were cold.

That night, after Eijirou had to listen to Denki and Hanta gush over the quotes in the notebook, after Kats slid out of the dorms without stopping to speak, after Mina had looked at Eijirou was a stranger. After all of this Eijirou finally wiggled away from his friends to find Midoriya again. He needed to figure out a way to keep Denki from going on that date this weekend. Had to give him a reason to not trust Midoriya.

Which was going to be difficult since everyone seemed to love the fucking fake.

Acidic laughter burned Eijirou’s ears as he approached his floor on the stairs. Just a bit above him Midoriya was tittering on and about. Maybe he could catch him in something. Sneaking up just a bit higher, but still staying out of sight, Eijirou watched as Midoriya bounced about and hugged Todoroki tight. Snaking his phone out, Eijirou started filming, maybe they would finally give him proof. He needed proof and if anyone was going to be in the know about Midoriya’s plans it was going to be Todoroki.

Eijirou was shoving aside the knowledge that he saw what was on Todoroki’s page as well.

“Sho-kun what, what if he doesn’t actually like me? What if he just felt sorry because I asked him in front of everyone. What if he’s just being nice and this is a pity date. What if-” Eijirou noticed the small smile on Todoroki’s face as he leaned closer and covered Midoriya’s mouth with his hand, earning an annoying squeak.

“Izu-kun, he agreed to a date. Kaminari-san has said he likes you. It will be fine.” Midoriya nodded rapidly before shoving his face into his friends shoulder. The two were sitting side by side on the landing of the fifth floor, hidden away from anyone else. Eijirou didn’t like that they were sneaking around, that Midoriya was trying to hide from him. If he was really as innocent as he claimed then he wouldn’t be running from Eijirou.

“What if I mess up, Sho? Kirishima-kun already hates me and I can’t talk to Kacchan. I don’t want to lose anyone else.” Eijirou’s blood was boiling. How dare that fucking snake act as if Eijirou was the problem! How dare he make it seem like Eijirou had no reason to keep him away from people he planned on hurting! “I mean, you should have seen Kirishima’s face when I was talking to Denki. If, if he could kill people with a look I would, would have been dead weeks ago!” Suppressing his vocal chords from calling bullshit was starting to hurt, but he needed to hear what else was being said.

“It’ll be okay, Izuku. Talk to Bakugou, though. He’s… well, just talk to him.” Midoriya said something, but Eijirou couldn’t tell what. Blood was rushing to his head and he knew he was going to blow his cover if he didn’t leave soon. Todoroki had no business telling Midoriya to talk to Katsuki. Katsuki was Eijirou’s boyfriend and Eijirou was keeping him safe from Midoriya!

He refused to be like his birth parents. He wouldn’t let anything happen to those he loved. He refused .

Back in his room, Eijirou went over the shaky phone footage he had gotten and finally had an idea. He might not be able to keep Midoriya away from Denki, but if he could get Denki to avoid Midoriya then it would be okay. It would make certain that Denki would never trust Midoriya and ruin Midoriya’s plans. He didn’t like that Denki would hurt, but it was for the best. Denki would get over a broken heart and he would be safe .

Eijirou didn’t sleep at all that night. He went through the short ten minute video at least fifty times making sure to pause and screen shot at all of the right moments. He zoomed in or enhanced images wherever needed. They might have been a bit grainy, a bit off-centre, but they got the job done. It was unfortunate that Todoroki was being used as collateral, but again, it was for the long-term safety of everyone. Midoriya was too powerful to let rise to the top.

Dropping the photos outside of Denki’s door was easy, hiding outside of Midoriya’s? Not quite as easy. He had found a few hiding spaces throughout the last few weeks of watching Midoriya, but knowing that Denki was probably going to be confronting him today, Eijirou had to always make sure he was somewhere his friend wouldn’t look.

Kaminari is exceedingly smart, but loyal to a fault. He will sell out anyone for the person he trusts most. If he believes someone has his best interests at heart and is going in the correct decision then he will ensure that they will get there. Instead of breaking Kaminari, gain his trust. It won’t even take too much longer and will leave less of a mess.

Tucking himself further against a wall, Eijirou watched Denki approach Midoriya’s door. His eyes were red rimmed and shoulders slumped. It hurt Eijirou to see Denki so distraught, but he had to keep telling himself it was for the best. Midoriya was dangerous and Denki was vulnerable to whatever Midoriya’s plans were. The knock on Midoriya’s door reverberated through Eijirou’s bones even though it was barely a whisper of sound.

Midoriya threw open the door with a cheery grin in place, a grin that only got bigger when he saw Denki before slowly fading. “Denki? What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Eijirou felt another pang shoot through his stomach as Denki’s hand shook handing over the photos. The pang vanished when the anger and fury filled Midoriya’s face. Eyes burning holes into the pictures and threatening death upon those who oppose him.

“Iz- Midoriya if you didn’t like me then why -” Denki’s voice was choked and short. Midoriya’s fingers tightened over the images as he realised that his plan wasn’t going to work. That Denki wasn’t going to trust him.

“Denk-”

“ No . Just… just why ?” Eijirou slipped down the stairs to relax a little. Eijirou didn’t trust Midoriya, but he knew Denki was smart enough not to trust him after this too. Throwing himself onto the couch, Eijioru let his shoulders relax for the first time in weeks. Keeping Denki from Midoriya made everything slower, helped stop Midoriya for at least a little while.

Maybe Eijirou could take Katsuki on that date they had missed.

Everyone in the class was milling about, a slow Saturday morning, nothing important happening. Mina saw the way Eijirou was propped up and her shoulders seemed to slump and the smile on her face seemed easier. He felt a bit bad that he hadn’t realised how stressed Mina had been lately until that moment. Everything seemed like it was finally going back to normal, Katsuki was even coming down the stairs with a small smile on his face.

Everything was going to be okay. Eijirou wouldn’t let anyone else get hurt.

Then Midoriya came storming down the stairs and threw them down in front of Eijirou.

“What the fuck , Kirishima?!”

Chapter 5: Todoroki Shouto

Summary:

POV change and new information comes to light

CW: panic attack and outside descriptions of depression

Notes:

Shit is hitting the fan! And remember what I said earlier about perspective being *everything*? That's important
*
Enjoyyyyyy
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

“What if I mess up, Sho? Kirishima-kun already hates me and I can’t talk to Kacchan. I don’t want to lose anyone else.  I mean, you should have seen Kirishima’s face when I was talking to Denki. If, if he could kill people with a look I would, would have been dead weeks ago!” Shouto looked at his best friend as pain seared through his heart. Everything that he’d been dealing with the last few weeks, everything Bakugou had been dealing with. Shouto knew he was important to Izuku, but Bakugou was Izuku’s best friend and Izuku was Bakugou’s. It wasn’t fair to either of them that Shouto was all they had in this.

“It’ll be okay, Izuku. Talk to Bakugou, though. He’s… well, just talk to him.” Shouto had promised he wouldn’t spill Bakugou’s secrets. Not to Izuku, not to Hanta, not to anyone . It would be easier and better if there was at least one more person there for Bakugou, but Shouto would never go back on his word. Pulling his friend closer to his shoulder, Shouto tried to give as much comfort as he could.

Izuku had been pining after Kaminari for nearly a year. He was head over heels for the blonde and watching him fall deeper and deeper had given Shouto and Hanta both a lot of joy. With Denki being Hanta’s best friend Shouto got to know him pretty well and he was excited for them to finally get together. Hanta had even mentioned a possible double date. “I think I love him, Sho. I just- I just miss talking to Kacchan about this.”

***

Shouto had been watching as Bakugou sunk into himself more and more. It had barely been a week since Izuku stopped speaking to him. He had understood why Izuku did that. Kirishima had been frightening in the gym. Attacking Izuku because of a training simulation was insane. And the way he attacked him was horrible. Going after their friendship and Izuku’s anxiety. He had even broken Izuku’s nose!

Everyone in the class knew Kirishima was a little possessive, slightly protective, but it had never been quite that bad. Ever since then Bakugou had been wilting faster and faster. Shouto approached him carefully after their internship one day after Izuku had already fled the changing room. “Bakugou.” He turned slowly, eyes dull without the fire they normally had. He didn’t make a face or a snappy comment. Shouto hated whatever this was for doing this to the blonde.

“What do you fuckin want Icy-Hot?” His voice held no bite and was far to quiet for Bakugou .

Taking in the slightly limp spikes and oily skin, Shouto made a decision. He was going to help Bakugou no matter what it took. “Are you okay?” Crimson red eyes searched all over Shouto’s face for a moment before falling closed, probably to hide the water Shouto had seen building.

“No.”

***

Shouto and Izuku sat on the stairs for nearly an hour as the green haired teen attempted to calm down. Having helped Izuku scour the internet and books for quotes and having sat with him for hours as he painstakingly drew flowers and hearts and anything he could think of to embellish pages, Shouto understood just a bit. Izuku had had a plan. He had wanted everything to be perfect when he asked Kaminari out and he hadn’t been able to do that.

When Ashido, Kirishima and Aizawa had found the notebook Izuku had been making for Kaminari, Izuku had raced to Shouto’s room and broke down for hours . He wasn’t ready for Kaminari to know, but he hadn’t wanted Kaminari to find out from someone else.

Especially with the way Kirishima was acting. As if he had a right to be treating Izuku like this. It wasn’t Izuku’s fault Bakugou broke up with him.

***

Bakugou was curled in a ball on his beanbag chair, Shouto a few feet away pressed against the wall. “I didn’t want to make it a big fucking deal. Their more Ei’s friends than mine anyway. Just… after everything that happened and I woke up in the fucking nurses only to hear that Ei had attacked Deku… I didn’t take it well. Then Ei came in all happy, as if he hadn’t just broken my best friends nose for training with me…”

Scooting closer, Shouto pressed his shoulder against Bakugou’s to help ground him a bit. Bakugou’s voice was weak and shaky. Shouto wasn’t entirely certain he had eaten at all today and it was already past dinner. “You shouldn’t have to take it well.” Bakugou didn’t move, but Shouto had spent enough time with the blonde to understand the appreciation how it was shown.

“So I told him we were done. I told him if he can ever get his fucking head on straight then he should come find me and we might be able to make it fucking work. Ever since he’s been acting as if nothing is wrong and no one is saying anything so either they don’t know or care. It’s- It’s like this doesn’t fucking effect him at all and now the damn nerd is avoiding me too and-” Sometimes it was very obvious to Shouto that Bakugou and Izuku were friends. This was one of those moments.

The blondes voice was rushed and quiet, tears were thick in his eyes even if he was trying to ignore them. “And you miss him.” Bakugou’s curled body tilted further into Shouto in agreement. “I’m not Izuku, but I’m here if you ever need someone, Bakugou.”

“Thanks, Half-and-Half.”

***

Hanta was waiting in Shouto’s room when he finally left Izuku alone. The lanky teen was sprawled across Shouto’s bed with a manga in hand. Looking up at the sound of the door, Hanta smiled bright and motioned for Shouto to curl up with him. “Hey, babe. What’ve you been up to?” Tucking his face into Hanta’s neck, Shouto breathed in the earthy fresh scent that always clung to his boyfriend.

“Izuku was freaking out about Kaminari not actually liking him.” A deep chuckle rumbled through Hanta’s chest and brought a small smile to Shouto’s face. Between helping Bakugou and training, Shouto hadn’t had a lot of time to spend with Hanta and he missed these moments. “Bakugou is supposed to come hang out tomorrow and watch that new anime.” Shouto let his eyes fall shut at the feeling of Hanta’s lips on his forehead.

He loved Hanta so much. Loved him and loved what they had together. “Mm, you’ve been spending a lot of time with Katsuki lately.” Slowly peaking out of one eye, Shouto watched the soft look filling moonstone eyes. “Everything okay?” Hugging Hanta tighter, Shouto let his eyes close again.

“I’m okay. Bakugou misses Izuku a lot though.” Hanta made a noise of sympathy in the back of his throat before pulling Shouto in tighter. 

At some point Shouto must have fallen asleep because when he woke up the sun was already peaking through the window and Hanta was grinning sleepily. They didn’t let themselves fall asleep together often, but Shouto always loved when they did. Not only was Hanta there for him to hold onto throughout the night, but the look on his face whenever they woke up together left Shouto a bit loopy. To have someone so genuinely happy to see him was still shocking to Shouto even after years in this class and over a year with Hanta. He almost hoped he never got used to it so that he could keep being dazzled by that sleepy grin.

A knock on the door snapped Shouto from his daze making Hanta roll his eyes a little bit. The other teen always claimed he found it ‘cute’ when Shouto stared like he did. Pulling his fingers through his hair to make it lay how it should, Shouto opened his door to find Bakugou shifting about with a bag full of the pastries Shouto loved. His red gaze caught on Hanta’s form still lounging in Shouto’s bed and Shouto’s mused hair.

Shouto could tell that Bakugou tried to force his usual cocky smirk, but it failed miserably. “Hey, man don’t mind me. I’ll be out in a minute we just fell asleep last night.” Bakugou shrugged before shouldering his way into Shouto’s room, tossing the bag onto Shouto’s bed.

“Whatever. Just fucking eat something. Can’t trust either of you to fucking eat any damn breakfast.” Hanta chuckled, voice still deep from sleep, as he dug around the bag to grab a pastry and toss one to Shouto. They really were amazing. Soft, buttery and filled with sweet fruits. Shouto had no idea where Bakugou found them, but he was eventually going to have to ask.

“Sure, Blasty.” Hanta finally pulled himself upright as Shouto sat on the end of his bed and Bakugou collapsed against the wall. He looked like he had barely slept at all and his face was too pale to be healthy. “Hey, Kats, you doing okay? We haven’t seen you much in a few weeks.”

Bakugou’s face scrunched slightly and he looked between Shouto and Hanta. “Freezerburn over here didn’t fucking tell you?” Hanta stared at Shouto in curiosity, but Shouto just shrugged. His friend had asked him to keep a secret and that secret didn’t effect anyone else so why would he break that promise?

“You asked me not to tell anyone.” A strange look flickered over Bakugou’s face as he nodded and then thumped his head against the wall lightly.

“Just kinda assumed you’d tell Elbows over there.” Bakugou flipped them off when Hanta threw a pastry at his face, but he still took a bite. “Just not taking Deku avoiding me fucking well. Not after I broke up with Ei because of that fight bullshit a few weeks ago.” Hanta’s hand reached out and clamped onto Shouto’s arm tightly, eyes wide in disbelief.

“You broke up with Eiji? Kats, man, I had no idea!” Bakugou flashed something that almost looked like his smile.

“Yeah, yeah I figured.” Hanta ended up staying to watch the anime with them. When they finally went downstairs around noon it was just in time to see a furious Izuku throwing something on the table in front of Kirishima. Shouto had decided that Kirishima was now enemy number one. Whatever his problem was needed to be done, or Shouto was going to make it done.

“What the fuck , Kirishima?!” Everyone froze. Izuku didn’t get upset often and he cussed even less. To hear him fuming, yelling and cussing was shocking to say the very least. Bakugou froze in front of Shouto, breath pausing slightly. If Shouto could have removed him from the room he would have, they had finally gotten him to smile and laugh earlier.

Kirishima slowly smirked up at Izuku, standing easily to face the furious teen. “Have a problem , Midoriya?” Green sparks were flying off Izuku’s clenched fists and his chest was heaving. Quietly, Shouto slipped forward so that he was closer. Him and Bakugou were the only ones really able to possibly stop Izuku when he was this pissed. Shouto wasn’t going to ask Bakugou to do that right now, which left him.

“Yeah, I fucking do . I have sat by for weeks as you threaten me, as you stalk me and as you drive me away from everyone . I haven’t complained and I haven’t done anything because I assumed you’d get over it! But now this is beyond me!” Izuku’s voice was vibrating with anger, but he hadn’t stuttered or paused once. It took a lot to get Izuku to this point and Shouto was a bit afraid of what finally pushed him here. “ I did what you asked! I haven’t spoken to my best fucking friend in weeks because you were jealous! I’ve let you get between me and this class countless times! Now I’m fucking done! You hurt Denki ! This could hurt Shouto ! This could hurt Sero ! You know just as well as I fucking do that these are doctored to hell and back. And we both know it was you so don’t fucking pretend it wasn’t!”

Snaking a hand out, Shouto grabbed the papers Izuku had thrown down a sick feeling creeping up the back of his throat. In the images it looked like he was kissing Izuku. The pictures were from the stairway and they had on their clothes from yesterday. The blood rushed to Shouto’s head because he would never . He was dizzy and felt sick to his stomach. Everything around him was blurry and the sound waterlogged. Chest tight and eyes burning, Shouto tried to focus on something else. Anything else.

Smooth hands gripped Shouto’s face and beautiful moonstone eyes swam into view. “I- I would never .” Someone was yelling, but Shouto couldn’t focus on anything except the pale eyes staring straight at him. “Hanta I wo-” There was a lump in Shouto’s throat and everything was fading in and out at the edges.

“I know, Sho. I know . Look at me babe. I know you wouldn’t do that. I’m right here, Sho. Right here.” Everything was blurry. Nothing made sense because why would Kirishima do this? Why did he seem to hate Izuku so much to hurt Shouto like this.

“I can almost understand hating me, Kirishima. You wouldn’t be the first and you won’t be the last, but leave everyone else the fuck out of it.” Izuku was crying. Shouto couldn’t tell much, but he would never forget the sobs of his best friend. Those were engrained on his soul just as the shimmering eyes in front of him were.

“You’re going to hurt people! I won’t let you hurt them!” The images finally fell from Shouto’s hand as he grabbed Hanta’s arms to try and ground himself further.

“I haven’t even fucking talked to your boyfriend! How the fuck can I hurt him?!” Bakugou was suddenly pressed against Shouto’s side, blocking him and Hanta from everyone else.

“Not. Not his boyfriend Deku. I broke up with him after the fight weeks ago.” Hanta pressed their foreheads together and Shouto finally felt a rush of oxygen in his lungs.

“ What did you do to him Midoriya?! ” Kirishima sounded crazy. He voice cracking and strained, yells bordered on the edge of screams. When Shouto finally looked over Bakugou’s shoulder he saw a vein pulsing and Kirishima’s face was somehow both pale and red. No one else was moving and Kaminari looked like he had seen a ghost. Shouto just wanted this all to be over.

Chapter 6: The Class

Summary:

It all comes to a head

Notes:

This chapter was a *bitch* I'm not completely happy, but it isn't going to get better so meh.
*
I hope you guys enjoy because only one chapter remains
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

Back pressed to Todoroki’s arm, foot to Sero’s foot, Katsuki worked through every single breath as fire raced through his lungs. Deku’s fury filled green eyes stared back at him. It had been a long time since he had seen Izuku this angry, since he had been afraid of what the green haired teen was going to do. As much as Deku was his best friend, Katsuki knew that he didn’t always react the best to people he cared about being in pain. It was never for himself , but if you managed to squirm yourself into his too big, too guarded heart, he would burn the world down. At one point, Katsuki was the only one on that list. He had never been more happy to share space than when he realised his idiots made the list.

When Izuku started avoiding him weeks ago, he had at least had the knowledge that Izuku wasn’t alone again. That he had someone making sure he ate, showered and stopped training before he broke into the glued together pieces that life had broken him into. Katsuki didn’t have that. He was floundering and falling apart at the seams without his idiots. They had always been closer to Eijirou and Katsuki didn’t want to force them to pick sides. He had seen it happen too much to cause it.

He was alone until Todoroki noticed.

Eijirou was looming over Izuku with a furious, disgusted look on his face. Katsuki had never seen him like this. He had never once held fear of Kirishima Eijirou, but right now he did. Right now the person standing across the room wasn’t the possessive, overly protective ex-boyfriend that Katsuki was still in love with. He wasn’t the person who helped Katsuki through nightmares and who’s hand he grabbed years ago during his hellish kidnapping. This Eijirou was someone Katsuki would have taken out, because he didn’t look like a hero.

“I haven’t spoken to him in weeks! I obviously didn’t do anything you fucking asshole! Now just leave me alone . Leave everyone associated with me alone . Next time you hurt them I will end you .” And he would. Izuku could make someone’s life a living hell without even trying. The fact that Eijirou made those pictures attacking him and Todoroki isn’t going to gain him any help.

Iida finally pushed through the crowd and stepped up next to Katsuki. “What is going on? I demand someone explain this right now!” Usually Katsuki hated Glasses and how he conducted himself and the class. Usually Katsuki was the first to do the exact opposite of what the class president had to say. Today wasn’t usually, though. Today he wanted to know why Ei attacked Izuku. None of it made sense . This didn’t feel like simple jealousy any more, this didn’t feel like Ei was insecure. This felt different.

Toxic, burning green eyes swung around the room, an angry flush filling those freckled cheeks. “ Kirishima has decided to try and make my life even more miserable by doctoring pictures to look like I was kissing Shouto and leaving them outside Denki’s door this morning.” A few people sucked in air and looked around. Everyone knew about the stupid mutual pining Sparky and Izuku had been dancing around. It was sickening in it’s adorableness.

“He’s going to hurt everyone!” Eijirou was heaving, hands shaking and eyes blown wide as opposed to the pinpricks for pupils Izuku currently had. “He’s going to hurt everyone and no one is listening !” Hands ripping at chunks of his hair, Eijirou’s eyes roved around the room, a manic gleam bright in his eyes. Sparky slid up next to Katsuki with a pale face and shaky hands. He looked like hell and if Eijirou wasn’t looking like he was about murder someone, Katsuki might have lost it. No one was allowed to fuck with his idiots, even if he hadn’t talk to them in awhile.

Lightening crackled along Deku’s arms and his eyes glowed a bright menacing green. Katsuki didn’t blame him, if Eijirou had been pulling the shit on anyone else they would have snapped long ago. “I’m not going to hurt anyone !” Knowing Deku, he wouldn’t. He hated even hurting the villains in a fight. He went out of his way as much as possible to cause minimal damage. After he accidentally killed Muscular during their first year protecting Kota and after he lost control of his power subduing Gentle Criminal resulting in a broken leg. He hadn’t handled those well and had been shoved in therapy so fast after he cried hysterically for hours in Present Mic’s class.

Eijirou lashed out just then. Fist cracking harshly against Deku’s face. Right on the edge of the temple and Katsuki was fairly certain he had hardened his arm. Someone screamed and Deku went down with Eijirou jumping on top of him. Iida raced out of the room to get Aizawa, but no one was trying to help Deku. Why wasn’t anyone trying to help Deku?

Denki grabbed Katsuki’s arm, eyes pleading and fear the most prominent emotion. “Kats, he’s not okay. He’s probably having a mental breakdown. He thinks you two are still dating and that Izu has claws in you. Whatever delusion he has is strong. Just play into it until Aizawa gets here.” Denki’s voice choked and caught on the end as tears started falling. “Please, he’s gonna kill him.” Denki’s chest was heaving as Katsuki shoved away his own tears and stepped closer.

“Ei!” The next hit to Deku’s stomach paused and blown eyes found Katsuki. “Ei, baby, come on and get off of him okay?” Bile was creeping up his throat. Katsuki missed Eijirou so much he felt like he was bleeding every day. He just left him in hopes he would pull his head out of his ass. Was this his fault? Had he caused this delusion? This break?

“He’s going to hurt you! He’s just like him and he killed Mom!” Katsuki’s heart paused in his chest. Eijirou had told him the story of how he got adopted. It wasn’t a pretty story and it wasn’t something that Katsuki liked to think about. Knowing that a five year old Eijirou had watched behind a closet door as his biological father murdered his biological mother before taking his own life. Knowing that if Eijirou hadn’t been hiding his father would have killed him too. Knowing all of that was something that had Katsuki waking up in cold sweats for weeks.

Katsuki kept his eyes on Eijirou’s, refusing to look down at his best friend who wasn’t moving, wasn’t making a sound. “Ei, you got him okay? I’m safe. Everyone is safe.” Those manic eyes raced around the room before landing back on Katsuki, a shine not unlike tears covering his eyes. Katsuki felt like his soul was cracking in two. How had he missed this?

“He’s gonna use Denki. Gonna- Gonna get him to give him information. Gonna torture everyone.” The worst part is that Izuku could . He could do all of that because Katsuki knew exactly how smart Izuku was and how he saw the world. He was also aware that Izuku had showed up to his bed in the nurses office bawling because he had accidentally broken Katsuki’s nose. Katsuki had been an idiot that day and skipped lunch which caused him to pass out. Was that the start of all of this?

Kneeling down next to the twitching, thank fuck he was moving , form of Deku, Katsuki grabbed Ei’s wrists loosely. He just needed to keep the attention on him. That’s what all of the hostage negotiation classes said and, even though Katsuki could never have imagined it, that’s what this was. He just needed to get Eijirou away from Deku. Needed someone to help Deku.

Why hadn’t Deku fought back?

“He can’t anymore. You warned us all. You got him, Baby. You kept us safe.” Eijirou’s eyes were glazing over and his lip was wobbling. Katsuki’s couldn’t keep the lone tear from dripping slowly down his face. He was hoping Eijirou wouldn’t ask. Hoping he wouldn’t say anything about it.

Eijirou started crying and his hands flipped around to grab Katsuki’s hands. He tried to ignore the wet feeling of blood being smeared. “You believe me?” Leaning forward, Katsuki touched his forehead to Eijirou’s just as he heard the door open and feet rushing forward.

“Of course I do. I love you.” Eijirou’s shoulders shuddered and he slumped to the ground as a mist filled the air. Katsuki held his breath as he backed away before letting loose a sob. He couldn’t breathe . He had done this. He had broken up with Eijirou and caused this delusion, this jealous urge to hurt Deku. To hurt Izuku . Todoroki and Sero helped Katsuki to his feet and pulled him to the back of the room where Denki was standing, tears streaming and rocking back and forth on his toes.

“Listen to me Kats. Listen, Eijirou is going to be okay. He’s going to get help and they’re getting Midoriya to Recovery Girl now. He’s strong, he’ll be okay.” Katsuki’s chest was caving in on itself and the only thing keeping him upright were the warm and cold hands gripping his arms. The only thing keeping him present the calming voice mutter in his ear and the sniffles of Denki standing in front of him.

“It’s my fault. It’s my fault . If I hadn’t-” It was Katsuki’s fault and they should all hate him .

Denki released a shuddered breath and slim hands grabbed Katsuki’s face. Normally he would shove them away, but he still couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see through the tears. Couldn’t think beyond the voice screaming it was his fault. “It wasn’t Kats. It wasn’t . It wasn’t yours, it wasn’t Izuku’s. It wasn’t. He’s sick , Katsuki. He’s sick and needs help.” The door slammed shut and Katsuki knew they were rushing Deku away. That they were taking Eijirou away and were going to lock him up.

Katsuki still couldn’t breathe, but as everything went black all he could think about was the fact they none of them caught this. None of them even noticed.

Notes:

The last chapter will be an epilogue of sorts

Chapter 7: Epilogue

Summary:

It all comes to a close

Notes:

I tried to give them all as much of a happy ending as I could with the circumstances. I hope you guys enjoyed and thank you for sticking it out with me!
~Hiddenwriter xoxo

Izuku wasn’t sure he was ready. He wasn’t sure he was ready to do what they asked him to. Kirishima was supposed to be released from the facility today and into his parents care. He was supposed to be able to go home and stay home for the first time in three years, but to do that he had to see Izuku. He had to see Izuku and prove that he can handle seeing Izuku without relapsing again. With his face plastered on several Billboards this was necessary and non-negotiable.

The scar on his face tingled at the thought of seeing Kirishima again. He didn’t know if he could do it. What if he wasn’t ready? What if he attacked again? Izuku hadn’t been able to fight back that first time. He hadn’t even tried to fight back. He didn’t want to hurt Kirishima back then, no matter what he said and how mad he was he hadn’t wanted to actually harm him. He didn’t trust himself not to panic and accidentally hurt Kirishima if that happened again. He still struggled when someone jumped in front of him.

Denki’s hands wrapped around Izuku’s stomach from behind and he pressed his head against Izuku’s in a comforting pressure. “Are you gonna be okay today?” If Izuku didn’t go then Kirishima couldn’t leave. If Izuku didn’t go and see him then Kirishima was going to be stuck in that place and away from his family. He didn’t want Kirishima to be away from his family, to be lonely. He just also didn’t want to see him again.

Pressing a kiss to his fiance’s cheek, Izuku tried to breathe slowly. “Kacchan will be with me.” Humming, Denki’s sunshine yellow eyes searched Izuku’s. A calm, serious look on his face. It had been Denki who figured out what was happening to Kirishima after all. He was the one who figured out the delusion rules. He was the one who got Kacchan to calm Kirishima down and it was him who first told the doctors to look into Schizophrenia. Denki knew the signs, he had to watch his mom deal with it his whole childhood and constantly watched himself for it.

He also blamed himself for not noticing sooner.

Izuku blamed himself for the final breakdown as well.

Katsuki was working on not blaming himself as much.

Pressing his forehead into Denki’s, Izuku breathed in the thunderstorm smell that always followed Denki. It was his favourite scent and calmed him faster than any breathing technique ever could. “We’ll curl up and watch a movie tonight. Just you and me.” Denki’s voice vibrated through his chest and pulled Izuku further into a sense of calm. It was going to be fine. Everything was going to be fine because Kacchan was going to be there and he wouldn’t let Izuku get hurt.

“Just you and me.” Denki smiled slowly and placed a chaste kiss on Izuku’s lips before pulling away. Holding tight to each other’s hands, the two of them left the house to meet up with Kacchan, Shouto and Hanta. The five of them were going to grab a sandwich before Kacchan and Izuku had to go meet with Kirishima. With Kacchan and Izuku being hero partners is was a nonnegotiable that Kirishima had to handle watching the two of them interact. It wasn’t enough just to see Izuku if seeing Izuku with Kacchan would cause another relapse as well.

The first time that the doctors had thought that Kirishima was ready to be released had been a disaster. They had showed him a picture of one of the ads that Izuku and Kacchan did together. He had hurt one of the nurses trying to get out and find Izuku. To say Izuku was nervous was an understatement, but Kacchan was just as nervous. He had been dancing around agreeing to a date with Shouto and Hanta, but was putting it off. He didn’t want Kirishima to find out and regress. Even after all this time he still loved Kirishima, maybe he wasn’t in love anymore, but he loved him.

Walking into the diner, Izuku caught sight of Kacchan and his heart gave a sharp pang. He had bags under his eyes and was paler than normal. Hanta had an hand on his shoulder and Shouto looked like he was protecting Kacchan from the world. Izuku will never be able to thank them enough for how they helped Kacchan when Izuku was keeping his distance. If it wasn’t for Shouto he wasn’t sure where Kacchan would be today since no one seemed to notice him breaking down.

Hanta flicked his eyes over Izuku and Denki a few times, a tight smile pulling at his face. “Hey guys.” No one was excited for today. No one was looking forward to this because in the back of all of their minds was the what if. The what if he couldn’t be released. What if he tried to attack Izuku. What if Izuku didn’t defend himself again. What if he succeeded this time. What if Katsuki couldn’t talk him down. What if he attacked Katsuki. There were so many what if’s that no one could focus on the joy that Kirishima was getting to leave.

“You guys order yet?” Izuku could feel his stomach churning, but Denki’s hand on his back helped ease that just a little. Just enough for him to send a quick smile to Kacchan. Silence passed after everyone sat down pushing that fear back to the front of Izuku’s mind. He hated being scared and hated being scared of someone he had once considered a friend even more.

He could still see the whiteboards of plans for him and his friends.

Denki’s thumb rubbed along Izuku’s hand and he saw Shouto lean heavily into Kacchan’s shoulder. The food turned to ash on his tongue and he felt like throwing up. Forty minutes passed in the tense silence before the alarm on Izuku’s phone went off calling an end to it all. They all slowly stood and made their way out of the diner, Denki was holding tightly to Izuku’s arm the entire way. Standing off to the side, Izuku exchanged another look with Kacchan before pressing a kiss to Denki’s cheek. “Two hours. I’ll be home in two hours.”

Shouto, Hanta and Kacchan all politely looked away as Denki brought Izuku’s shaking hands to his lips. “I’m thinking the mint chip ice cream for the movie tonight. Maybe we can go over the flower choices too?” Izuku loved Denki more than he would ever be able to explain. He was the light and calm in Izuku’s life, he made everything just a bit easier to get through. He’d never be able to take away Izuku’s fear, but Denki would hold Izuku through them.

“I still refuse to let the tables have gardenias Denks.” That soft, warm smile peered back at Izuku and Denki kissed Izuku’s ring slowly.

“Two hours, baby. Go be Hero Deku for two hours.” The fear slowly slipped away as Izuku let that mentality settle. Izuku might be terrified of Kirishima and what could potentially happen today, but Deku was able to push through every fear Izuku held until the day was done. He could be Deku for a few hours. He could do that and then go have a pointless argument about flowers over ice cream and bad movies. They both knew Izuku would eventually cave and let Denki choose whatever flowers he wanted. The arguments were only ever for show.

Kacchan and Izuku walked down the sidewalk in step with each other. It reminded him sharply of their patrols which only solidified the mentality he needed to use for the day. The fierce scowl on Kacchan’s face was set in stone as they stepped into the facility. Everything had changed in the last three years. Everything had changed and Izuku ached for what once was. He wished that Kacchan could have still been happy with Kirishima. He wished he wasn’t scared of Kirishima. He wished him and Kacchan could have a conversation untainted by sadness.

Most of all, Izuku wished that Red Riot got to be the hero he once was.

The receptionist smiled kindly at the two of them paged Kirishima’s doctor. The kindly woman was the one who had originally reached out to Izuku to set this up. She had been adamant that Kirishima’s parents weren’t asking and that this was her idea. Izuku had met the two women, who adopted Kirishima when he was little, only once. They had showed up when Izuku was still in the hospital after the attack and before Kirishima was diagnosed. He never wanted their apology. He never blamed them.

He never even wanted Kirishima’s. He understood that this was mostly out of his control.

“Alright Midoriya-san we’re going to have you go in first. If this goes well then Bakugou-san will follow about ten minutes later. In the room is Kirishima-san and Ashido-san. She has been trained and will be staying with him for the foreseeable future so you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.” Vibrant orange eyes set in neon blue skin forced Izuku to nod once. He was going to do this and help Kirishima. He was going to do this.

The door clicked shut behind him and Izuku had never heard something sound so much like a gunshot. His thumb began twisting the ring on his finger the moment he saw Kirishima. The man was slimmer than Izuku had ever seen him, clearly he hadn’t had as much access to the gym as before. He seemed healthy enough and they still let him colour his hair, even if it was laying flat. Kirishima hadn’t moved since Izuku walked into the room, but his eyes tracked Izuku’s every breath and he didn’t look like he was going to lose it.

The silence passed for a few heartbeats before Ashido stood and approached Izuku slowly. It had been nearly a year since anyone had spoken with her. After everything happened she had pulled back into herself and no one was really able to broach the divide. She had blamed herself more than even Kacchan did. She claimed that she had known something was wrong and hated herself for not doing more to figure out what it was. No one had been able to convince her that she was wrong.

The tension in Izuku’s shoulders seemed to hike even further as Kirishima’s eyes travelled between Ashido and him. He slipped his hands behind his back to hide the tremors wrecking him from the inside out. “Hey Midoriya.” Ashido’s voice finally broke the silence with the subtlety of an ice bucket.

Izuku tried to seem more at ease as he let his gaze slowly cross over to where Ashido was leaning. “Hey, Ashido-san. It’s been a while.” Her sheepish smile and awkward shrug said just as much as any words ever could. More than they could even. She hadn’t been able to look Izuku in the face ever since The Event.

Kirishima still hadn’t stood, but he did clear his throat and Izuku’s eyes immediately snapped in his direction. He had been watching out of the corner of his eye, but direct vision was always better. “You look like you’re doing good, Midoriya.” Kirishima’s voice sounded just a hint rougher and lower than it had three years ago. His eyes just a bit hazy, but he didn’t seem lost , just much calmer than Izuku had ever seen the previously high energy man.

Hero Deku. He was a hero right now. He could not panic just yet.

“Y- Yeah. I’m, uh, I’m doing okay.” He hated the way his voice stuttered over the words, but there was only so much he could prevent. The fact that he hadn’t thrown up yet was telling to the amount of self control he was exhibiting.

Kirishima smiled softly and Izuku saw a hint of the person he had once known peek through. Izuku let his arms drop to his sides for a moment before he began twisting the ring again. He needed something to focus on other than the oppressive weight of the unsaid fear clinging to his skin.

***

Izuku had been released from the hospital after only a week. He had a severe concussion and had to have several abdominal surgeries to repair the internal bleeding, but with the quirks the hospital had and Recovery Girl, Izuku was doing okay. He was stuck using a cane for a few weeks to keep a bit of pressure off his body, but he was alive and that was important.

Kirishima had been taken to a facility for those with dangerous quirks and poor mental health while they determine what exactly happened. They were even checking him over for a slow acting quirk. Kacchan had shown up once to see Izuku and they had both cried during the conversation. Izuku hated himself just a bit for leaving Kacchan when he needed him. Kacchan hated himself for not realising how bad it had gotten for Izuku as far as Kirishima was involved.

Neither of them were at fault, but guilt was powerful. So powerful that Kacchan and Izuku both agreed to help pack up Kirishima’s room so that his parents didn’t have to. Walking in, the first thing they had seen was papers tacked to walls and whiteboards discarded. The way connections were drawn and the list of ‘plans’ Kirishima thought Izuku had were enough to make them both feel queasy.

The thing that had Izuku rushing to the bathroom to throw up was the plans Kirishima had made to make him admit to doing this. The way he had planned to draw Izuku into a secluded area when he was on patrol. The way he planned on using one of Kacchan’s grenades as well as one of Midnights knock out bombs to force him to sleep. The way he had ever single detail of Izuku’s anatomy drawn up and what exactly could kill him versus just causing pain.

It probably would have worked and that thought filled Izuku’s soul in a taint so heavy no shower could ever get rid of it.

***

Izuku could tell when Kirishima caught sight of his ring and he quickly shoved his hand away. He didn’t want to see what Kirishima would do when he found out that Izuku and Denki had still gotten together after his plan failed. Izuku could see his hand shake slightly as he uncapped the water bottle that was sitting on the table in front of him. Izuku still hadn’t take a step away from the door and he probably should, but the idea had him frozen in place. “You’re married?”

Ashido was calm and she didn’t seem to be worried. Izuku was right next to the door. Everything was fine. “Engaged. The wedding is in six months.” His voice didn’t waver. He made sure the fear he felt wasn’t obvious on his face. It was fine.

Kirishima grinned widely and a small piece of that fear vanished. “Congrats. Denki?” Izuku didn’t speak, couldn’t speak, but he nodded. “Good, good. I’m glad you two ended up together after… after everything I did.” Sadness and regret saturated the air in waves. The oppressive feeling had Izuku stepping closer and hesitantly taking the chair across the table. He only had a bit more before Kacchan came in as well.

“Yeah. He’s amazing.” Izuku tried smiling, based in the way Kirishima relaxed and Ashido sighed, he figured it worked. “How have you been Kirishima?” Those slightly hazy red eyes softened and his fingers twisted around his bottle loosely.

“I’m okay. Mom said that they have a place picked out for us all in Italy. Once I get released we’re moving there.” Ashido came around behind Kirishima and placed a hand lightly on his shoulder causing him to look up at her. “It’ll be good to start somewhere fresh I think.” A small bit of worry eased in Izuku’s stomach. He wasn’t sure if that was because Kirishima was moving or if it was because he had people ready to help him live a life.

It wouldn’t be the life everyone thought he was going to have, but it would be a life.

“I hope it works for you, Kirishima. I hope you get to be happy.” That bright grin was back, but this close Izuku could see how his eyes didn’t seem as bright as they once were. They didn’t seem to be happy any longer. More haunted than anything.

When the door cracked open, Kirishima’s gaze snapped to the sound. Izuku was close enough to see the tears that misted over as Kacchan stepped inside. With a slightly wobbly grin, Kirishima gripped Ashido’s hand that was still on his shoulder. “Kats?” Izuku’s heart cracked in two at the heartbreak in that one word.

Kacchan hadn’t come to see him. He hadn’t been allowed at first and by the time he was it hurt too much. He had laid on Izuku’s floor for hours sobbing because Kirishima’s parents had reached out and he had to tell them no. He couldn’t bring himself to face the person he was still in love with at the time when he knew nothing was ever going to be the same. He didn’t want to get his own hopes up only for them to crash. “Hey, Ei.”

Slowly standing, Izuku vacated his seat so that Kacchan could have it if he wanted. If that also put him further away from Kirishima that wasn’t for anyone else to know. Kacchan seemed to get the message and took the seat with a quirk of his lips and a nod. They were in the same room, they were interacting. So far he seemed to be doing okay, but they didn’t want to push anything too far. They wanted him to be able to go home.

Kacchan asked a few questions, he did the pleasantries he never did and Kirishima noticed. His face was tight, but he answered and he smiled. He never moved to touch Kacchan and he never made a comment about Izuku. Izuku had even stepped closer to make sure that Kirishima still knew he was there. They weren’t going to leave him here on some technicality. Izuku wanted Kirishima to be happy, whatever happy looked like.

Ten minutes turned to twenty. Ashido was part of the conversation and Izuku had even made a few comments. He made sure to tell her that Denki wanted her to call. They found out that she had received her degree in psychology and was working on her masters. She told them that she was moving with Kirishima and his parents. Izuku hoped it was the right decision for her. He hoped she was happy. Hoped Kirishima could find something for himself.

Izuku’s phone alarm went off again signally the time for him to leave. He had plans to make after all. Kirishima sent one final smile his way and Izuku knew that he would be okay. He would be okay because he had people who cared about him and he had people who would make sure that he got to have a life. Laying a hand on Kacchan’s shoulder. Izuku squeezed once and said his goodbyes. He wasn’t going to see Kirishima again, but that was for the best for both of them. Izuku could already tell he was going to have night terrors for a few days even though this went well.

When he got home and collapsed into Denki’s arms he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He would tell Denki everything later. He would call Kacchan and ask if he had finally agreed to that date. He would take care of everything that he needed to at another time. Right now he just wanted to be held and ignore the thoughts of what Kirishima could have had. He was going to be fine. Izuku knew that.

Everyone was going to be fine.

Notes:

Chapter count subject to change this is just the current plan.
**
DO NOT ask for updates. I have severe Bipolar Disorder and I will feel bad and probably spiral. So please just don't ask, don't demand, don't request. I love comments and I love to hear theories, but please be kind and remember that I write what I can when I can because I love to write stories.