Endless Bounds

Chapter 11 (Bakugou) Part 1

It doesn't look like him but it is. Those big eyes, the color of his hair. . . and that voice, just like the one he heard at the USJ. How many times had he looked right past him while scanning the crowd?

"Hi," Deku says with a wave.

Bakugou just stares, jaw dropped, at Deku. Wht. The hell. Happened.

"You like it?" Deku asks, gesturing to his new look with a smile.

"You look a villain," Bakugou finally manages, more sharply than he intended.

"I Might as well look the part."

Bakugou steps inside the waiting and shuts the door behind him. He cocks his head, looking down at Deku with soft eyes, not the normal glaring he usually has. "I don't believe that. You can say you're a villain, you can look it, you can even act like it. But we both know that's not what you are."

"Believe what you want," Deku shrugs. "It makes no difference to me."

"It makes every difference! Every single person who's seen you thinks that's all you are. Someone in the League of Villains. That's all they care about. Your being hunted and all you have to say is 'it makes no difference'? What happened to you? Don't you care?"

Deku tilts his head to the side. "You know the answer."

Bakugou lowers his head, hair covering his eyes as his lips curl. He balls his fists; storms across the room; and grips Deku by the shoulders, his eyes widening at the sudden contact. "I know!" Bakugou cries, shaking Deku. "I know. I'm sorry damn it! I'm not denying what I did. If I could go back and change all the stupid things I did, I would. But that's not the only thing, is it?! There's more that you're not telling me. The annoying nerd I knew would never give up. Not because of some idiot insecure bully stuck with his tail between his legs." His voice cracks, tears starting to fill his eyes. "So what the hell happened after that day damn it."

"Nothing."

Bakugou finally looks up.

"Absolutely nothing," Deku says, his eyes narrowed with his chin up as he looks down his nose. "You want the truth? Nothing happened. There's no dramatic explanation of how the LOV took me and forced me into their ranks. Or how villains tortured me or threatened me. Or threatened my friends or family—it's not like I ever had any anyways. I went with them. Willingly. Nothing happened because they are my friends. They are my family."

Friends. . .

. . .

. . . Family. . .

Bakugou releases Deku from his grip and lets him arms hang limply at his sides. "Family? Those people are far from family. They are a menace, destructive, they hurt people. People you always wanted to protect."

Deku raises a brow and runs his tongue along his back teeth, arms crossed. "Funny. You seem to be describing yourself."

Bakugou clenches his jaw and fists. "Maybe. But I've changed since then—still working on it" He corrects. "At least I'm trying! Those villains—" Bakugou abruptly shuts his mouth.

The way Deku looks at him. . . his eyes are like daggers. Dangerous and dark. So-entirely dark.

"Don't forget to include me when you talk about "those villains"." Deku's eyes flash red under the unnatural brown. So bright and red like a raging crimson fire that his contacts are useless in hiding their new color. "I've done terrible things too. Collapsed buildings, stolen, kidnapped heroes, innocent ones too. Tortured people. Burned them. Killed them. Are you really so quick to forget my crimes too?"