The Proximation of Hello and Goodbye

25

*

Katsuki storms into the safe house that Eijiro was able to gain access to through the commission. He shucks off his shoes and throws his keys onto the ground next to his shoes. He marches through the house until he comes across the room where Eijiro and Haru are sitting in. Eijiro is sitting in a chair facing Haru who is sitting on the floor in quirk canceling cuffs and numerous other restraints. "Heh, I can't imagine that you've gotten much information out of him with his mouth taped shut," Katsuki chuckles as he crouches down so that he's eye level with Haru. He tilts his head and looks the man up and down. He scoffs, "Bet you never imagined you'd get caught, you conniving bastard. Now, what's gonna happen is you're gonna talk and I might consider putting you away safely until all of this is over. Then again, you could always keep your mouth closed and I can send you back into the open for Shinobu can find you, which I'm sure isn't going to be ideal for you." He reaches out and removes the make-shift gag from Haru's mouth, "Now, start talkin'. I have shit to do if I want to wrap this up any time soon."

Haru gasps and sputters, "Please don't send me back. I can't return empty-handed, not this time. I'll tell you anything you want to know, please just don't leave me on my own."

"Well, that's a change of pace," Eijiro murmurs. "Definitely not what he was saying before he was gagged."

Katsuki chuckles and faces Eijiro, "I think he understands who he's dealing with right now. He's had time to gather his wits since then." He turns back to Haru and sighs, "Anything, huh? Why not start from the beginning. How'd you end up working for the guy?"

"My older sister was a close friend of his. She was always leaving before sunrise or well past bedtime and would be gone for days at a time. There wasn't much I could really do about it until a year or so ago when I followed her one night. I followed her all the way to some house and sat outside waiting for her, but it wouldn't be until the next day that she'd emerge from the house. When she did, I confronted her about it. To keep things short, I slowly started to help her with small things, like picking up packages and dropping them off or making contact lists. She ended up acquainting me with him a few weeks later and he seemed to take a liking to me. From there on, I just happened to fall into place as a second-hand errand boy, to sum it up. Anything Shinobu needed, I was there to get it done. Especially after Hina died. Now, there's only a handful of people he'll call for something before he calls me," Haru explains.

"So, what is he up to?"

Haru shakes his head, "I can't say."

Katsuki grabs him by the collar of the shirt and scowls. "What happened to telling me anything I want to know? Was that just something you were willing to say until I got too nosy for your liking?"

"N-no! Not at all, I can't say because I don't know! I swear. I don't know anything about what he's doing. Hardly anybody knows what he's up to. As well trusted as I seem to be, I'm not among the three people that he trusts fully. I know enough to do what he tells me to do, and nothing more."

He shoves the snivelling man away. "Tch. That's real helpful," he frowns. "Fine, do you know what he wants with Izuku?"

Haru frowns, "Not completely." He moves so that he can be a bit more comfortable and draws a deep breath before continuing. "All I know is that he can't do what he wants to do until he has him. I don't know why, I don't know how, but for some reason, Izuku seems to be the centerpiece of it all. He's had me trailing him for months now. His every move, his bedtime, what he eats throughout the day... I was supposed to report on. I gave him enough to keep him satisfied, but it always felt wrong. I went into the whole thing ready to do whatever he asked of me, but the more I watched him, the more I realized he didn't deserve to have his life violated in such a way. I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't exactly stop either. Disobedience would have cost me my life. There's just no way out," he sobs. "No matter what I do, I feel as if it's the wrong thing."