The night is darkest just before dawn (BakuDeku!Vampire AU)

Chapter 35: Taken

The moment Katsuki's put the snacks away, he heard a faint footstep slowly heading towards him. Reaching for his gun, Katsuki was prepared for combat if this unknown stranger turns out to be a vampire.

When the owner of the footsteps came into view, he was surprised to see that it was none other than Monoma. He doesn't seem to be badly hurt except for the fact that his head is bleeding a little.

"What the fuck are you doing here?

"Hah, that should be my line. Aren't you supposed to be babysitting that vampire?"

"I could say the same to you. Why are you alone when you're supposed to be working together with dunch face?"

"..." Monoma didn't answer Katsuki's question immediately. Of course, he would definitely ask about Kaminari. They are friends who often hang out together after all. Bracing himself for the anger that Katsuki will throw at him, Monoma finally answers his question, "That guy is already dead. He died in my place."

'Why didn't you protect him?', 'why is a jerk like you alive while he's dead!', 'how dare you show your face when you're one of the reasons for his death!'

Monoma was expecting Katsuki to shout something along those lines at him. Heck, he even expects to get punched in the face. But instead, what he got is just a simple 'I see'.

Katsuki doesn't look angry at all. In fact, he looks like he accepts the news about his friend's death with open arms. In some way, this piss Monoma off. What is wrong with this guy? Katsuki's well known for being quick to anger but why is it that he shows no signs of anger now? One of his close friends just died and all he can say is just 'I see'?

"That's all you got to say? Aren't you angry about it?" Monoma asked.

"Death is unavoidable in this line of job and he knows it too. That guy may look like a scary cat but he's prepared for it." Katsuki replies calmly as he turns around, making his way back to where he left Izuku.

"Isn't he one of your close friends? Aren't you upset about-" Monoma shuts himself when he saw Katsuki clenching his fist tightly. What in the world is he saying? There's no way that Katsuki doesn't feel anything about his friend's death. While he may have accepted Kaminari's death, it's totally normal for him to feel upset about it despite not wanting to show it openly.

Monoma may not be fond of Katsuki but compare to him, he's still way too immature. Allowing his own anger and emotions to get the better of him, he causes someone else to die. Anger tends to clouds judgement and that's true.

If Monoma wishes to become better... if he wishes to stop another person from dying, he'll need to let go most of his anger and hate.

Before he can stop himself, Monoma found himself opening his mouth and asked a question. "Your parents were killed by vampire, right? What will you do when you ran into the one that killed your parents? Are you able to kill that vampire without feeling any anger?"

"...There's no fucking way that I won't feel a thing. I do want to rip that fucker apart with my own hands." Katsuki admitted, stopping in his tracks. He didn't think that Monoma of all people would actually ask him this question. On top of that, this is a very heavy question for him to ask at this timing. Turning around, he continues on, "I'll avenge my parents but I'll not spend my whole life living with rage and hate. At some point of your life, you just have to let go of some things and fucking move on."

"Hah, easy for you to say. Forgetting the past isn't something that's easily done. They will haunt you like a ghost, never allowing you to have a peace of mind."

"If you see images of your friends blaming you for their deaths, that would be you chaining yourself down with false images and voices because you don't want to forgive yourself. If they truly love and care about you, they wouldn't fucking want you to feel guilty about their deaths till the day you took your last breath. You know them better than other people. So let me ask you, are your friends the kind of people that will blame other people when something went wrong?"